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Charles Lee had a conversation with mike foster on ideation over at his blog the other day. (a ling to the post on Charles’ blog)
Check that link out above to get all Mike’s links and what not. It’s definitely worth checking out.
I had a very similar conversation with Mike on the phone a couple weeks ago about this very subjuct pertaining to a specific idea that the good reverend Nate Wells and I are dreaming up (more on that to come! ? ). But I thought I would share this because mike is a stud and says some good things.
Check it!
Tags: Deadly Vipers, ideation, mike foster
My top 5 recent records i’ve recently listened to.
It’s been awhile since i have done a music monday so instead of just giving you one album you should listen to i have decided to give you 5!
Enjoy!
#1. Hello Hurricane :: Switchfoot
(ok, technically you can’t listen to you this until November 10, but that’s right around the corner and the second you can you should, GO GET IT!
My lovely wife reviews CD’s and interviews cool people and stuff like that. She recently interviewed John Forman, lead singer of Switchfoot, i was able to listen in! And we’ve been listening to their upcoming album for a month or so now, and i like it more every time i hear it, it’s really good! Probably the best rock album i listened to in awhile.
So yea, Go check it out November 10th! Or get on Youtube and listen to a few of the tunes now. It’s worth it. Here is the video for the 1st single they are pushing. Not my favorite song but it’s good.
#2. Only by the Night :: Kings of Lion
Also an amazing rock album and a couple of the tunes are “rip your face off” good. I could listen to Be Somebody on repeat for most of a day i do believe. So good!
#3. The Blueprint 3 :: Jay-Z
I have always been a huge Jay-Z fan, he’s probably my favorite rap fello. Common, Tribe Called Quest, and a few others are up there on my hip-hop / Rap list but Jaz-Z has always been tops. And on this, his newest album he doesn’t disappoint. You might want to get the edited version, or not, but it’s really stinking good! Creative, classic and star studded; a lot amazing cameo’s (Kanye, Pharell, Young Jeezy, Alica Keys, Rihana, etc.) So if your a fan you will love this one.
#4. Outsiders :: Need to Breathe
This one came out of nowhere for me. I don’t listen to a lot of CCM kind of stuff but this album was a pleasant surprise. It’s really good! Maybe you’ll understand this statement, this album doesn’t sound Christian. Many of the song could find themselves on pop / top 40 radion easily. It has a bit of the Mark Broussard, Gavin Degraw sound with a bit of their own feel. Bottom line it’s really good. Check it out!
#5. Travel II :: Future of Forestry
This is more of the stuff i listen to everyday. It’s the chill, electronica, vibe music. Great lyrics to get into but a vibe that take you some place. I haven’t heard the other tunes they have put out recently (they are putting out a whole series of these Travel EP’s) but i am looking forward to hearing them because this one is great!
Notable mentions :: Pink Moon :: Nick Drake // 5 :: The Sailor Sequence // How He Loves Me :: The Glorious Unseen // Alive Again :: Matt Maher
Who knows, maybe i will feature one of these groups in the future but check em all out for sure!
Peace
Erik
Tags: Future of Forestry, Jay-Z, Kings of Leon, matt maher, music, Need to Breathe, Nick Drake, Switchfoot, The Glorious Unseen, TSS
I’ve been studying the Sermon on the Mount with some regularity for quite a few months. I spoke at a camp this summer, August, and shared some of my initial thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount. Specifically I shared thoughts on the beatitudes, and what it means to be salt and light.
I confessed to my congregation (the camp) that these were initial thoughts and that the Sermon on the Mount was really working me over and giving me a hard time.
I continue to study it. Currently I am reading some of St. Augustine’s thought and some his old sermons on our Lord’s sermon. I’m reading some studies by John Scott and still thinking HEAVILY about the words offered to me by Dallas Willard, NT Wright and Brain McLaren.
BUT STILL… The Sermon on the Mount is hard! It’s been hard to study, it’s been hard to land on an idea, a theology, a simple reading that I feel confident in when it comes to The Sermon on the Mount.
So I continue to study, read and now, listen to thoughts on The Sermon on the Mount.
I say, “and now listen” because just this past weekend I listened to a couple sermons from Mars Hill Bible Church on The Sermon on the Mount. First Rob Bell on “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and “Blessed are the meek”. And also Father Sirico who preached on “Blessed are those who mourn” which he cleverly entitled “Whistling past the grace”.
The messages were REALLY good. REALLY encouraging. And really on (if you ask me). Maybe not conventional readings, interpretations, or messages on this famous message of Jesus but very good in my opinion.
And to me very affirming.
I preached a message on what it means to be “blessed” (which I previously blogged about). I made the point that I think blessing (largely based on Jesus’ usage of the word) might be more about God’s presence than it is about God’s gifts. Rob, in quoting Fredrick Dale Bruner says, “To understand blessed it to understand a divine ‘I am with you’” and in his message Rob translates the term “fortunate” instead of blessed. I love it!
Well I would encourage you to listen to a few of these messages. Be encouraged that even at your lowest God is with you, i.e. you are blessed!
Grace and peace
Erik
Tags: Jesus, mars hill, Rob Bell, sermon
Aaron VanStrien is the Youth Pastor at Frankfort Church and the event coordinator for the 30 hour famine in North West Indiana :: These are his thoughts…
Doing an event like this is hard. There’s a lot of work that goes into planning a retreat. This retreat is a hard sell. Why? Because you do not eat, you sleep in a box on a gym floor, and spend most of the second day serving someone you may or may not know. This does not exactly scream youth ministry in the tradition sense. Typically at a youth retreat you focus on the student. What do I mean by that? You focus on each individual students walk with Christ. This is easy. Easy in the sense that the students can grab on to it, it’s very tangible to them and personal. At this particular retreat we focus on issues like justice, mercy, and walking humbly with God. Talking about these issues forces students to think outside themselves into a world that they may or may not have ever thought of before. This does not give us any immediate response. These are issues that cannot be resolved in a night, or a weekend, but require a life time of processing, thought, and action. We have to trust that God is working in their lives as we present the gospel to them in a new ways. These are things that are hard for people to grasp, especially students, in one weekend. But God is stirring these issues in the hearts of his people, particularly students. I believe that it is through events like this that God is beginning a journey with these students. A journey that will lead them to changing the world.
Doing an event like this is hard, but ask me if it’s worth it and I would say without a doubt. Some great friends of my did the worship and as usual did a great job. Not only leading the students in song, but getting to know them. Another good friend of mine Erik was our speaker for the weekend; he had the toughest job of all. As usual he did a phenomenal job presenting the gospel to us in a way that kept us engaged, and at the same time invited us to think and question along with him. Finally my students. It was a tough weekend for them, but the hung in there and allowed God to work in their lives. I am very proud of them and am fortunate to be able to call myself their youth pastor. We have committed together to fast every Wednesday so we can more fully rely on God. They have challenged me to give up Twitter every Wednesday for the whole month of November, and I will be happy to do that along side them.
Doing an event like this is hard especially when I am challenged just as much as anyone to take a look at my life. When I have to ask myself, “Am I walking humbly with God, am I doing justice and loving mercy.” God is here and moving, but am I aware and following. That is the question I am asking myself after this weekend. That’s tough. I pray that this was more than just another fun event, but that it was the dawn of a journey with Christ. A journey where we do justice and love mercy because God is rubbing off on us.
Doing an event like this is hard, but maybe that’s a good thing.
Tags: Jesus, Journey, justice, love, mercy, youth ministry
Our spiritual life is his affair; because, whatever we may think to the contrary, it is really produced by his steady attraction, and our humble and self-forgetful response to it. It consists in being drawn, at his pace and in his way, to the place where he wants us to be; not the place we fancied for ourselves.
The Spiritual Life :: Evelyn Underhill (as read in A Guide to Prayer)
I read this quote yesterday and it really got me pondering God’s prevenient grace. How he is drawing me to himself, how he’s drawing my son to himself. How he’s drawing all of humanity to himself. AMEN!
Tags: grace
I posted a new RT (Revolutionary Thoughts)
So go check it out www.RevolutionaryThoughts.com and let me know what you think.
I went into the studio a couple weeks back and recorded 9 more RT. They will be rolling out this month on 89.1 here in Nashville!
Grace, Peace, and a little radio
Erik
PS :: (but an important PS)
I have 2 projects connected with these Revolutionary Thoughts.
One is a devotional book and the other is a CD with your favorite Revolutionary Thoughts as well as some good tunes!
So stayed tuned for these projects to be rolling out (HOPEFULLY) early 2010.
And if you want to help fund any of these projects that would be amazing!
You can donate to this ministry via PayPal.
Erik Willits Ministries is a 501 (C)3 non-profit organization.
All donations are tax deductible.
Hey friends!
along with the re-launch of my website i have open an online store of sorts. This is the location to get all your eMinistries gear and goodies.
As of right now we just have t-shirts in the store. SOONER than later my first book will be coming out as well as a CD containing music and message (my “Revolutionary Thougths” to be precise.) It’s kinda a cool little project i’m working on. (hopefully available Feb. 2010)
But PLEASE, check out the merch store, buy a t-shirt and support the ministry God is calling me to.
Honestly, i have no desire to be a “store” of any kind but selling t-shirts and things really help to financially support the ministry God has called me to.
So check it out! BUY a t-shirts! Show your support!
Grace and peace
Erik
Tags: eMinistries, store, storenvey, t-shirts
Well i’m super stoked about this news! My website is NEW and IMPROVED!
For a couple years i have had this website :: www.erikwillits.com but it hasn’t functioned even close to how i hoped that it would. LUCKILY i have some talented friend here in Nashville (otterball web design) that were able to fix this issue. NOW, my website is a well oiled machine! And i am excited for you to check it out!
:: Some things on my new site that you’re going to want to check out ::
.:: My new video is up and viewable! Check out the media page to view my short film entitled IDENTITY.
.:: My new merch store! My friends over at Store Envy helped me to set it up and we linked it to my new website launch. Check it out my buy a t-shirt!
.:: Revolutionary Thoughts are also up on my website. Just a few of my favorite are up here. But there are a few you can’t hear anywhere else. Check it out!
.:: There are a bunch of new things on the resources page. Make sure to check those things out as well.
.:: And of course the booking page is functioning! So book me for your next event!!!
Over all it’s just looking good, so make sure you check it out and let me know what you think.
Grace and peace
erik