I will have some posts coming this week to talk about my experience at re:create but, first, let me tell you about one of the most profound things I was a part of.. ever.. in my entire life.. in the history of the world. Seriously.

If you follow Christian/worship music, then you are probably familiar with the name Michael Gungor. He has written songs that are being sung in churches all around the world – Friend of God, Say So or Wrap Me In Your Arms. You may know those songs and maybe you even sing them but, I promise, you have not heard the best of what Michael Gungor has to offer.

This week at re:create we were part of what I could only describe as a holy moment. 10 incredibly talented musicians, 13 songs, 60 minutes of creativity, passion, devotion and honesty packed in to one incredible holy moment.

“Beautiful Things” is the name of Gungor’s new CD (which releases tomorrow) but it is also the live experience that they have created to accompany the CD. You might call it a concert.. but you’d be mistaken. “Beautiful Things” tells the story of creation, fall, redemption and restoration through music, video and spoken word in a way that brought a room full of “creatives” (whatever that means!) to its knees, figuratively, and to its feet, literally. There was weeping, whooping, silence, cheering and the realization that we were witnessing the birth of something new – something very real – that is about to invade the world.

Am I going over the top on this? Honestly.. No. The only thing that I would be able to compare “Beautiful Things” to would be the U2 tour that came through town in the fall. And yes, there’s been much hype on that tour – justifiably so. The Gungor experience left me in the same kind of place as my night with Bono and the boys. Someone said to me this week that the only thing that they could use to compare Gungor was a live show by Sigur Ros. “And,” they continued, “it compares.” That is high praise.

So, can I give you a taste of what it was like? Sort of. Check this out –

How can you find out more?

Gungor – www.gungormusic.com
Twitter – www.twitter.com/gungormusic
iTunes – “Beautiful Things”

So what can you do? Let me suggest three things –

1. Buy the CD and support the band. You might feel it’s your God-given right to steal music and “share” it from friend to friend but.. honestly.. these people need your money. Quit being selfish and vote with your wallet.

2. Go and be a part of the live experience. There are tour dates listed now on their website.

3. Tell someone else about the CD and the “Beautiful Things” events. If music like this is going to spread around the world it will only happen because people who have been moved by it introduce it to others who will be moved and will tell other who will then be moved. So do it – introduce Gungor to someone who loves good music and good artistry. They will not be disappointed.

And, finally, let me say that this experience, for me, would not have happened if it wasn’t for the community and the event of re:create. Worship leaders, you know that there are a zillion worship conferences for you to attend every year. There are all run by good people who have good intentions and good desires for the church. But if you are looking for something more, something different, something challenging, you owe it to yourself to investigate re:create and be a part of it. More on that later.

Image from stripspiritual

RSS folks – hit the blog on this one, for sure! I really want you to see the new look.

I’m guessing there are still some issues to figure out. Let me know in the comments what’s broken. Is the Internet Explorer version still all jacked up?

For the anal retentive ones in the group, yes the pictures behind me in the video are a little crooked. Apparently Macs are not genius enough yet to figure out how to fix that :)

Alright – so head over to the blog – www.chrisfromcanada.com – and have a look around. Leave some comments and let me know what needs to be fixed. Thanks everyone!

The incredible Digerati team at LifeChurch.tv announced another huge step in online engagement for churches – YouVersion Live. Lots of info online and here are the hilights –

From YouVersion.com –

• Share content on mobile devices during live events and services.
• Invite interaction through polls, notes, prayers, giving, and more.
• Share results and include feedback in your communication.
• Get people actively involved in the message.

From Swerve at LifeChurch.tv -

Here are the details:

• Communicators will be able to share content on mobile devices and get live feedback during an event. Think message outlines and notes, polls, questions, prayer requests, online giving and more.
• Almost anyone with a mobile device will be able to participate and respond—any web-enabled phone will work, as well as the iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, and any laptop or computer with an Internet connection.
• It will be easy to use. To set up your experience ahead of time, you’ll have your own simple admin area where you can drag and drop each element that you want to be a part of your event.
• It’s an extension of YouVersion.com and the Bible App. Since millions of people are already using YouVersion, you’ll have a head start on introducing this new tool to your congregation, organization, etc.
• Not only will people have an engaging way to experience your message live, but they’ll also be able to take it with them on their mobile device and refresh themselves on the the content wherever they are.
• It will be completely free.

From the YouVersion blog –

A pastor would love to be able to get his congregation more involved in his message, ask questions and get answers, survey the room with a simple poll, give them an easy and natural way to take notes on his talking points, and maybe even give them a follow-up thought with a blog post or YouTube video as they’re leaving. And, in a perfect world, they’d be able to keep all that information in a place they look every day so they can refresh themselves on what he spoke about.

When YouVersion Live launches, this pastor will be able to do all this (and a little more) by simply dragging and dropping in a super-simple dashboard on YouVersion.com. During a service, his congregation will pull out their web-enabled phones, open up YouVersion (either on the mobile website or a native application), read the Bible, take notes, ask questions, submit prayer requests, answer polls, find links to external content (event details, blog posts, videos, etc), and give online. Before they leave, they’ll be able to send all that great content to themselves (or a friend) via email for future reference.

Screenshots –

And the icing on the cake? Here’s a quick video from John Saddington over at ChurchCrunch.com talking with Tony Steward from LifeChurch about YouVersion Live and why they’re so excited about it –

I’m excited to see the full release of this. Pretty awesome to see massive changes happening in online engagement in the church – praying that God uses it for great advances in His Kingdom.

Willow Arts, a ministry of the Willow Creek Association, is running a one-day training event for artist who serve in the local church. They are calling it “Green Room” and will happen on Friday, February 19, 2010. Orangeville Baptist Church will be one of the satellite host churches for this event and we are pretty excited about doing this. We are looking forward to gathering together artists from our own church and other churches in our region to learn together from Nancy Beach, Francis Chan and others.

You can read a little bit more about the Green Room event over at the Willow Arts website. There will be lots more info coming shortly but if you are part of the worship ministry at OBC, you will want to put that date on your calendar now.