Brandon@Random

Trying something new...

I'm trying to work out the kinks in this...trying to post an audio file into the blog.  Bear with me for a bit.

Download Worship~Pillow to Pyro

Brice McCasland-Artist

Brice is one the "Artists I Dig."  He is an artist living in the DFW area.  Check out his other work at www.bricemccaslandart.com.  Brice is also cool...a great reason to love his work.

This painting is titled "Consider the Raven."

 

Life Without Limbs

Take three minutes and watch this clip.  It reinforces two facts.  

1.  Our "bad days" are relative.

2.  The "joy of God" is possible despite the absence of things we think are necessary for "happiness."

Loved It

I think today was my most favorite experience at Highland Park.  I can't even begin to tell you all the ways God revealed himself today!  After lunch, I came home and wrote 3 pages in my journal...thanking God for as many specific blessings as I could remember.  I don't want to forget this day. 

I loved it!!!

How to Go Pyro

I am talking about worship tomorrow morning.  Using Isaiah 6 for the scripture, I will talk about how worship can go from "pillow" to "pyro."  From "Snore" to "Soar." From "Why am I doing this?" to "I can't stop."

Confirmation Number

Have you ever had a phone conversation go like this?

Associate:  "Mr. Mitts, we thank you for placing an order with us today. If you could grab a pen, we'll give you your confirmation number."

Me:  Fumble, rumble, pretend to be looking for a pen.  "Ok, I'm ready."  (Ready with my imaginary pen that is.)

Associate:  "Mr. Mitts, your confirmation number is 2843672."

Me:  "Ok, got it. Thank you."

Associate:  "Mr. Mitts, do you mind repeating back that confirmation number to make sure it is correct?"

Me:  "Uh...umm...28...92...ummm....  I'm sorry, I can't read my own writing."  (These imaginary pens are hard to handle.)

New Ad

Highland Park has been advertising in the Stillwater Living Magazine for about 5 months.  This month...the ad is a black background with white letters.  Our logo is at the top and then this quote from me...

"We're not asking you to come to our church.  We're asking you to journey with us to be the church." 

It sounds a little blunt...but it's my heart.  You can go to church anywhere...we're looking for people who want to live upside down lives in order to change the world. 

I hope those people read Stillwater Living.

A Little Fun on Friday

I kept the Thursday Midnight Rule...so a little fun on Friday.

This is a great Killers cover of Lauper.  Takes you back to a skating rink in the 80's!

Facebook

I signed up on Facebook yesterday.  Over the past month, I've had a ton of people ask me "Are you on Facebook."  Finally, in order to join the population of cool people, I joined.

Great stuff.  It is nice to see that a lot of people from my high school are alive and out of prison...I mean...alive and well.

If you are a Facebookie, you can add me as a friend.  I've posted a lot of pics from my last big exhibit.

Purpose Statement

In the message today, I talked about the importance of having purpose. 

The part I remember most about my sermon is that, "A purpose statement not only defines what we do...but it also defines what we don't need to worry about."

Then I introduced this statement...

"We exist to introduce people to Jesus

so together we can...

Raise up God's praise,

Grow in God's ways,

and Reach out with God's grace.

It was great to give a message like that and then afterwards to have a lady ask me, "How do I transfer my membership to this church?" 

When our purpose is clear, it is easy for people to see if they want to get on board or jump ship.  I'm glad the first response was a positive one.