Brooke Fraser has written another amazing tune. She's the author of "Hosanna" a song that we've been singing like crazy at Grace. Check out this one below. Amazing lyrics.
HT: Chris
By the way, according to her MySpace page, she'll be in Kansas City at The Record Bar on June 15.
Recently my Dad decided to go ahead and post some excerpts from the upcoming book "Once an Arafat
Man" over on his blog. I had a chance to read through the book and all I can say is...wow. Last Thursday I opened it up to read a couple of pages then looked at the clock to find forty minutes had passed. It's a book that has the power to change the American churches perspective in it's response to the middle east crises in very positive ways. Too often I hear from many folks who are oblivious to the world beyond our borders and how it impacts our lives. By the way...he's going to be swinging through the U.S. this summer and if you have any interest in exploring the idea of having him share his story at your church or missions conferences, you can shoot him an email here.
Here's an excerpt from the book found on his blog:
Deadly Surprise
The growling of the IDF engines grew louder. My heartbeat began to pound. I positioned myself for steady action as I peered through my scope. The enemy convoy reached the edge of the village. I picked out my closest target. I trained the weapon on his head … and ever so carefully squeezed the Simonov’s trigger.
At nearly the same moment, my comrades in the village began firing from their hiding places. The firefight exploded all at once. The noise was deafening. The Israeli infantry at that time had no flak jackets, so we were able to wound or kill them right away. All hell broke loose that morning in al-Karameh.
Of course, we began taking our own casualties, too. Every Fatah fighter knew this would happen. None of us counted on surviving this day, in fact. We were fully prepared to die. We might never see the moon again, but we would regain our honor. That was in fact the meaning of this village’s name, Karameh. It was the Arabic word for “honor” or “dignity.”
The street battle raged on at full force, while I kept picking off targets from the hillside. Minutes passed, perhaps even a full hour. There was no subtlety to our approach; we were going with every thrust we had to inflict mortal damage on the Jews. Then a massive bomb blast shook the entire valley. Our troops had blown up the Allenby Bridge, cutting off the escape route if the IDF tried to pull back. The Israelis were now trapped on our side of the Jordan—the east side—and would have to fight to the death. Only a miracle of Joshua-sized proportion would save them now.
A few minutes later, my commander shouted at me with alarm in his voice. “Do you hear that? Helicopter gunships are coming!” I had been too focused on my targets to notice. “Get off this hill!” he ordered. “If you stay here, they’ll blow you to bits from the air! Get down into the village with everybody else!”
I scrambled down the hill to join my comrades in the fight. There the conflict grew increasingly close-range. You hardly had room to use a weapon. It became a hand-to-hand brawl with fists, knives and even rocks. We put our karate and judo training to use immediately. The two sides were so intermingled that their helicopter gunners couldn’t sort us out. At this point, I was fighting on sheer instinct. There was no time to think or strategize. I simply kept bashing the nearest IDF soldier before he could bash me.
I could tell the enemy was bewildered at our bravery. They had expected us to act more like classic guerrilla fighters, feinting and withdrawing. Instead, here we were in a no-holds-barred fracas. Guys were screaming, blood was splashing, the wounded were moaning, and all of us were jumping over an increasing number of dead bodies to keep up the attack. I glanced down at several cuts on my arm but paid little attention. The kick of adrenalin was too strong to worry about it.
We Fatah fighters were in fact more agile than the IDF, since we carried less gear than they did and could therefore run faster. We also had our bayonets already fixed on our weapons and ready to use, while the Israelis were still fumbling to get theirs off their belts and attached. At times they literally ran into our knives.
Whenever they tried to regroup behind one of their tanks, a suicide bomber would leap down from a rooftop with a thunderous explosion of nails and other metal bits. Blood spattered and body parts flew through the air.
Once in a while throughout the afternoon, there would be a short lull in the fighting when the Israelis barricaded themselves in a house. We would quickly set up in the house across the street, where we would then open fire again. We stormed building after building.
This excerpt is from the forthcoming book "Once An Arafat Man" arriving on shelves September 15, 2008 published by Tyndale House. Visit the blog "OnceAnArafatMan.com"
I think I like Crowder's version better. My 3 daughters would disagree. :) HT: Joel Klampert
Here at Grace Church we've partnered with different organizations to meet various weekend service needs. One of the companies we've partnered with is Real Media.
One of our electric guitar aficionados happens to be the owner of Real Media. I couldn't let this pass without posting a link to one of our local news affiliates here in town that did a story on Real Media. Not only do they work with major league sports franchises, colleges or even commercials, they create video elements and documentaries for ministry organizations as well.
Check out the link here to watch a video on Soakie and his company. Visit their blog for more info.
Here's a video they did for Grace Church that we use during our services:
Check out the new Facebook Group page for my Dad's upcoming book "Once an Arafat Man" here. I had the privilege of reading a copy of it last week and wow. I was blown away by the content, the way it was laid out along with the surreal factor of reading stories I lived through.
Check out these to links:
"Once" on Facebook
"Once" blog
Great job to the team this week! Kudos to Gina with the music. I think I led like one and a half songs this week. Not much to say apart from Happy Mother's Day ladies! Thanks also to Marie for locating and purchasing the nifty little bookmarks. Here's the set list. Don't forget, you can purchase on iTunes by clicking the titles:
Short confessional this week. See you!
-Babu
So I've been at it now on Twitter since March 10. I'm hooked. Here are some things I've noticed about
Twitter:
I've utilized the nifty Twitpic feature which allows me to upload photos taken from my cell phone. Why would I do that? I have no idea. But what I do know is that every time I post a photo there are at least 15-20 people (sometimes more) clicking away to see the snapshots. Glad you 15 or so people care enough to see what I'm eating for lunch. For those who follow the BabuLife blog, you can see my Twitter updates on the right side bar along with my two most recent snapshots from Twitpic. You can comment on photos (be nice please).
One warning to those of you considering adding Twitter to your internet life. If you're a person who holds highly the value of Facebook Friendships, blog stats or anything similar, be ready for some disappointment. When someone follows you, don't hold it personally when that person elects to click the "remove" button. Figure out why you want to join Twitter, who you want to see following you, and what you want to twitter about. I've discovered the same taboos in one on one conversation apply to Twitter as well.
Overall I've found this to be another great way to simply network, inform and communicate to those who care enough to pay attention to what I have to say...not like a blog...but instant communication. Interested in getting yours started? Get your own and follow me!
Check out David's post on his Twitter experience here.
Many Gracers here know we've been on the hunt to add another member to the pastoral team here at Grace. Have we found a potential candidate? See the video below and let us know what you think. Look out front row worshipers.
HT: Preston
Tonight we gather once again for our First Wednesday Worship time. We've got a special song for the kidlets tonight. Oh yes...it's one from last years Summer Breakout that I'm sure they'll be quite fond of. We'll also be playing some of the newer tunes we've been doing recently at church along with a tune requested by someone on the Grace Facebook Group page.
When: Tonight, 7 - 8 p.m.
What: IGNITE - First Wednesday Worship
Where: Grace Church
Who: If you are breathing, you're invited
How: By any means necessary - except by plane....parking lot's not big enough
Why: Because if nobody shows up our feelings might be hurt. :)
By the way...expect to see Sam rockin' on his sweet Gibson Explorer. Here's a little snapshot of Sam and this dangerous weapon. I recommend staying at least 5 feet away from him as he plays. That thing is sharp!
See you tonight!
-Babu
This week our praise team was stretched to cram in a legitimate rehearsal early this morning. Thursday during our usual practice time, we were interrupted several times throughout the evening with tornado sirens which led us to continually shut down and head to the basement. I'm always amazed at how God always comes through with our team. They did great.
A couple of little hiccups having to do with me occurred this morning. Upon arriving, my AKG Guitar Bug was missing. Never found it. This means I had to actually play with a cord plugged in my guitar. I know, crazy right? Well when you're used to having a wireless system it becomes difficult to adjust to being chained to a direct box. The fear of stepping on the cord then ripping it out of the guitar ate at me while leading today. Never happened, however, when the last song closing out the second service came "Glory of it All", I got to my cue, strummed the opening chord and realized the cord wasn't plugged into my guitar all the way. Kinda messed up the intro to the song but the band just kept motoring which was awesome. Great job team!
Here's the worship set list:
It was cool to see the church pray for my favorite violinist in the world. Lynnora will be leaving us for about a month to serve on a short-term missions trip. She played with us today and at the close of the service the church prayed for her. Awesome. We'll miss you Lynnora!
I have to mention Kent Warden who created and ran the lights this weekend. He spent a good 8-9 hours at the church Saturday learning some of the lighting techniques. He did some experimenting on Salvation is Here and came up with some pretty intense lighting. Thanks Kent for your hard work!
By the way...we're looking to kick start the choir again. It's been two years since we had one join the worship onstage so if you're interested, drop me an email at babusaada@graceks.org and we'll get you on the list to audition.
See you!
Be sure to watch for the Billy Dee (Lando) preacha' man at about 1:25.
Check out Tim Stevens' post regarding a conversation about his new book "Pop Goes the Church". Tim's a part of the team at Granger Community Church which reaches roughly 6,000 in it's weekend attendance. They invest a lot in reaching their community in ways that are compelling and relevant to the people. I like Tim's approach to his criticism. I imagine it'd be tough to hear. I anticipate some criticism regarding my father's upcoming book . My hope is that we'll have the same wisdom in response.
The original bashing calling out of Tim Stevens post.
Tim's response "Is There a Kernel of Truth?".
Here's some Friday randomness for your viewing pleasure:
-Babu
It looks as though the PC market is on the offensive against the Mac following. Check out the entertaining jab from IBM to the Macbook Air. Admittedly, I'm not a computer aficionado, however, I do find the commercial battle between these companies rather entertaining. In this "return fire" ad IBM has provided a message that I can understand...whether right or wrong.
Their message: Everything I need in a computer is built right into the IBM Lenovo X300.
Anxiously awaiting Mac's return volley.
HT: Percussivity
Tim was back in the saddle Sunday. Those are some HUGE shoes to fill in the pulpit. Thank you so much to all who have sent encouraging words, grabbed me between services and sent notes about the message from last week. I appreciate your words and have been extremely humbled to hear how God used last week to impact your prayer lives. Thank you.
This week's music. Click to purchase on iTunes:
This was the first week we've ever played Center. I like this song and chose it based on the content and theme of the message this week as Christ being our atonement. The message was on the Altar found in the Tabernacle and how it pictures how Christ is our sacrifice and atonement for sin. The lyric to Center:
Oh Christ, be the center of our lives,
Be the place we fix our eyes
You're the center of the universe everything was made in You Jesus
There's no possible way we can enter into the presence of God without the atonement of Jesus Christ. He's truly the center of everything and truly holds everything together. Great song great message. Give a listen to the message here.
See you next week!
-Babu
This week my mom and dad spent a few days with us. I had the opportunity to talk about the upcoming biographical book on my pops life. Here are some details:
Dad wanted to jump into the blogging world for this book in hopes of providing a place for people to communicate and get more info. You can visit the blog here. Here's the book cover:
As promised, here are some further notes from the message Sunday that I either didn't get to or I ended up having to axe due to time.
I loved this topic. The illustration of the Golden Altar of Incense being Christ as our intercessor along with the incense itself picturing the prayer of saints is awesome. The text was Exodus 30:1-10, 34-38. Here are some additional thoughts:
I enjoyed Sunday and appreciate greatly the opportunity to teach this important topic. It was extremely refreshing for me to be reminded of the importance of having a real, genuine, fervent and consistent prayer life with God.
Has anyone experienced participating in an event whether it be a concert, a party or church-related activity only to find that the promotional material you received prior didn't quite match the experience?
Within the communications world there's sort of a creed I've been learning about. It's not really an official creed...but it's one that I believe is an important creed any marketing/communications expert might agree with. It goes something like this...
"No logo, no graphic, no website, no commercial can ever replace the marketing of a positive experience."
I think this rule can apply not only to the business world, but within the world of church promotions. We Christians need to embrace some of what the experienced marketers in the world can teach us. After all, our message is bigger and more important than any laundry detergent, any concert or any television show provides.
Here's an example of what we've done at Grace over the past four years. Specific decisions to spend attention, time and yes even money on our weekend experience became a priority. The weekend service time is the one main connecting point to the church body and the main place where the message of Christ is delivered on a weekly basis. Careful attention to crafting the messages (where our Sr. Pastor spends most of his time), crafting a musical worship experience that is done with excellence (where our band spends time), crafting an audio and visual worship experience that is also done with excellence (where our AVL techs spend time) became a priority for us. When these balls started rolling, then came the attention to detail in our branding and marketing. A brand that truly represented the experience people would have at Grace Church became our desire...and I believe it's worked. We've not spent a single dime on mass mailers in our community over the past two years and have seen our attendance double. While having a building is probably the biggest "billboard", our main promotional resource has been each individual attender of Grace. The people who have met with Jesus Christ personally at Grace and have a burning desire to see the same experience happen in the lives of their friends, neighbors and family. There's no mailer, flyer or graphic that can beat that.
To ministry leaders out there, don't get caught up in the promotion, get caught up in the experience you are providing people. Deliver on the promises you've made in whatever promotion you've done and invest heavily in the experience before anything else. There's no greater marketing than the buzz of people inviting others to your events. No flyer, no logo, no graphic, no website, nothing will provide you greater success at being able to share your message than winning the hearts of those attending your events.
Just a little lesson I'm learning in the communications world.
This was my day to preach. No guitar, no singing, no music for me. It was me stepping outside my comfort zone (I'm always more comfortable with a guitar around my neck). I had a great time studying for the message on the "Golden Altar of Incense" found in the tabernacle. As a matter of fact I was having so much fun studying that on Saturday I was tempted to scrap the entire message I had in order to fit more stuff in...however...the Worship Guides had already been stuffed with the message handout. So I elected to keep it as is and maybe post additional notes here on the site like Tim does each week after he teaches. Stay tuned tomorrow for additional notes that I just didn't have time to cover.
I kicked the message off with a quick game asking folks to identify Indy's sidekick. As a matter of fact,
I reached in my closet and pulled out my middle eastern tunic that my folks bought for me on a recent visit there. First service...nobody knew who he was. Second service, one person jumped in immediately shouting out "Sallah"! Good job Susana Gardner! In addition to the message, we closed out the service celebrating communion together. Just an awesome time of worship together. The video was of a song by Kathryn Scott called "At the Foot of the Cross (Ashes to Beauty)". I love that tune. You can click the title to purchase on iTunes. Give a listen to the message here.
I want to extend a HUGE thanks to Michael Foley who did a great job leading the church in the music yesterday. I LOVE the song "King of Glory" and enjoy hearing Mike's huge baritone voice on that tune. It's awesome! I had someone come up to me and warn me that I may need to keep him from singing as I may lose my job! It's nice to hear that people are responding to a different leader....you know how we can be with our preachers and worship leaders...it's hard to follow someone different. Great job Mike!!! Go visit his blog here and drop him a note.
Here's the worship set list. Don't forget you can purchase the songs on iTunes clicking the title.
I'll post my additional notes from the message when I'm back in the office. I'm enjoying a needed break today. See you!
-Babu
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