It’s That Time Again……

Is it really Sunday afternoon already?

Well, this week Brent picked back up with the Vintage Jesus series and spoke on the topic of Did Jesus Rise From Death?. Really good message; to listen to it or download the podcast click here. It should be available this evening.

Of course, preceeding the message, the band led us in worship. The songs this week were:
Come Together (The Beatles)
I Am Free (Desparation Band/Newsboys)
Enough (Chris Tomlin)
Take My Life (Hymn – Chris Tomlin arrangement)
Jesus Paid It All (Hymn – Kristian Stanfill arrangement)
For samples click here.

And for those who may be wondering, “What was that song they played during the Take5?”, click here for the complete iTunes playlist from this morning.

Also wanted to send a big THANK YOU to Kevin Landreth. He has run ProPresenter for us the past two services and has totally reeked of awesomeness, with very little training (aka the “Wing It” method). Love ya dude.

J

AtlantaFest

So I just got back from day two of AtlantaFest at Stone Mountain. Wow. First, I have to say thanks to Telitha; not only did she get me free passes to the concert, but the passes she got for me allowed me access to pretty much anywhere I wanted. The only restrictions were that I couldn’t go on the stage itself or in the office without being accompanied by someone with an all access pass.

So day one was pretty cool. We ate dinner in the artist/staff cafe and then wandered around the grounds a bit. Took the cable car ride up to the top of Stone Mountain which was cool and then got back to the concert grounds in time to catch tobyMac’s performance, which was amazing. Especially considering that he is 43. He had more energy than most of the audience. Of course, Ignition and Boomin’ were awesome live, but for a guy that grew up on dc Talk, getting to hear In the Light and Jesus Freak live was priceless.

Day two we showed up in time for dinner again, but this is where things got interesting. Telitha, Dan and I are eating dinner when a guy asks if he can sit with us. I look over to say yes and it’s Mike from Tenth Avenue North along with his wife. So they joined us and we chatted for awhile. Got to talk about the church plant with him a bit and I gave him an impact card. Not that I expect him to visit, since they live in Nashville, but who knows; networking? Anyways, we’re just talking and then Mark from Sanctus Real comes over and sits down with us. By now I was totally stoked. And both guys were so down to earth. I know that sounds cliched, but there was no attitude or ego from either. Just really genuine, honest, open nice people.

So dinner is over, we say our goodbyes and go our separate ways. Dan and I decide to go back to the car and get the video camera, cause wouldn’t it be cool if we could get someone to do a little Four Points promo on camera? We get back to the cafe area and guess who just happens to be hanging around outside the Chick-Fil-A bus?

Jeremy Camp.

Yes, the Jeremy Camp.

And guess what?

We got the video.

I’ll post it soon enough. I’m gonna edit it a bit so we can display it at church. Then I’ll put it online. But that was just flippin’ awesome.

So after that, we wandered around a bit more. Dan decided he wanted to ride the cable car again, so I went and listened to Barlow Girl for a few minutes before heading to the second stage to check out Day of Fire. Awesome band live. What was really cool was that their front of house mixer was on the floor level, so I was able to go and sit with the engineer and just watch him do his thing. Really cool for a geek like me.

After Day of Fire, it was time to head back to the main stage for Jeremy Camp. What can I say, it was an awesome set. Little bit of new stuff, several classics and even a worship set thrown in. Great show. I was a little skeptical, but I really enjoyed myself the past two days. Really wish I could be there tomorrow (okay, tonight) for Big Daddy Weave, but I’ve got my own band to take care of and I wouldn’t trade them for any band at AtlantaFest.

 

J

Happy Father’s Day!

This morning was a bit hectic. The band had one hour to learn a new song and make sure they were familiar with the others that followed it. All in all, they did a great job. The worship set was We Shine, All We Need, Audience of One, Just Like You and Jesus Paid It All. Click here for song samples at the iTunes Music Store.

 

Brent took a break from Vintage Jesus this week as he had a special message for the men (although it was good for the ladies to hear as well) entitled Manhood: A Biblical Guide to Being A Man. Great message, not just for the fathers, but for all men; single, married, divorced, with or without children.
Click here to see our page at the iTunes Music Store where you can stream or download any of our podcasts for free. Todays message will be available later this evening.

 

Last, but not least, for those interested in what we play before and after service as well as during the Take5, click here.

It’s that time again……

[UPDATE: Added links to iTunes at the bottom of post for those that would like to sample songs.]

 Yes, it’s time for the “What song was that?” blog. Dan led the band in a cover of David Crowder’s We Win!. Afterwards, Jason LeFevers led everyone in worship.

Sing, Sing, Sing

Glorious One

How Great Is Our God

 

 After worship Brent shared part four of the Vintage Jesus series entitled What Did Jesus Accomplish On The Cross?, after which, Dan led everyone in singing Jesus Paid It All.

 
As for what was played before and after service in iTunes:

Viva la Vida by Coldplay

Everything and More by Storyside: B

Be Yourself by Audioslave

When You Were Young by The Killers

Waiting by Since October

A City of Water by Ocean Is Theory

Love Is Here by Tenth Avenue North

We Shine by Fee

You Are Being Loved by Steven Curtis Chapman

Love Colour by Rock and Roll Worship Circus

Made For You by Chris Taylor

Dig by Incubus

You Are The Light by Fee

Cold World by B. Reith

Supermassive Black Hole by Muse

June 8 pre/post service iMix

June 8 Worship iMix

J

Philippians 2:1-11

Just doing my daily reading the other day (which I must admit, has become not so daily) and I began reading Philippians. Chapter two, verses one through eleven really jumped out. I usually use Eugene Peterson’s The Message for my personal study, so that is why I chose to post that version here. I also just love how blunt it can be at times.

 

“1-4 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

 5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

 9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.”

 

 

“Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.”

“Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”

And if those verses weren’t enough, I love how blunt verses 5 – 8 get. Jesus had equal status with God the father, yet He dropped every advantage, every right He held as part of the Godhead to be one of us. To be human. He felt pain, He had His feelings hurt, He lost friends, He was tempted, He loved, even when that love was unrequited; He was human. And when He had the choice to say no, and to leave us to our own devices, He instead chose to follow through with the final reason for His coming: death. And as verses 9 – 11 state, because of His obedience, God the father has honored Him above all else: past, present and future.

So yeah, I got a lot out of that passage.

Then I bought the first North Point album from the iTunes music store.

It should be no surprise that my favorite song on the album so far is Todd Fields’ version of Not To Us.

Kinda funny how it echoes the sentiment expressed at the end of verse 11:

“Not to us, but to Your name be the glory.”

J

Today……

We’re planning on making this a weekly feature, but I’m a day late. Oh well. This will also serve as a way for our members to find out what songs are performed each service as well as what songs are played in iTunes. So if you attend Four Points Church and hear a song you like (live or filler music) and aren’t sure what it is, check here.

Today was unofficially known as Pure Volume Sunday. The band opened the service this morning with an instrumental version of U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday which absolutely rocked. They followed up with Open the Eyes of My Heart, Sing, Sing, Sing and Audience of One.

As for iTunes: A City of Water by Ocean Is Theory (awesome local band from Woodstock), Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz, Uncanny and *Fin by Anberlin, Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult, Vertigo by U2, Glorious One by Fee and Not To Us/Here Is Our King by Todd Fields.

 

J

Love

I was skimming through some blogs and saw Anthony Coppedge had a new one. For those that don’t recognize his name, he is an extremely knowledgable church media consultant. So I’m reading his blog and it really stood out. I’m not usually one to repost other’s work, but in this case, there is nothing I would add or remove. He really hit the nail on the head with this post.

 

During the times of my life when I’ve been really stretched and I learned to grow, God has often shown me an old thing a new way. For me, this has sometimes been through a different translation of the Bible (I usually read the NIV and NJKV). Last night that happened yet again when, on a whim, I used BibleGateway.com to read 1 Corinthians 13 from The Message.

I have a love/hate thing going on with this chapter, as it continually encourages me and then kicks my butt. So when I read it last night, it really popped off the page with a new twist. Here’s how verse 7 read:

1 Corinthians 13:7

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Sure, it’s the same, but the new twist of reading it differently made it come alive in a new way…a way that causes me to rethink where I’m right (dogmatically). As a husband, I can look at Ephesians 5 and think I’ve got a handle on things. But then when I re-read this, with a new twist, I realized that being “right” has less significance than showing love.

I’m a work in progress. I’m learning. But I am getting it…slowly.

Here’s your assignment:

• Man or woman, married or not, are you loving this way?
• When you think you’ve won a disagreement hands-down, does it matter if you’re not loving this way?
• Who you are going to show this kind of love to today?

J

In Search of Sound

The band at Four Points Church is coming together. When we had our first meeting at Brent’s house in September of 07′ we had a guitar and some voices.  A couple of months later as we made the move into our first venue at Mt. Paran we picked up a keyboard player, and another voice. Now, as we are preparing to move into our new venue in Acworth in preparation for our September launch, the band has evolved yet again. This week we picked up our new bass player Jason Gabriel. Prior to that, we were able to attain a solid drummer and friend with Jon Williams (aka Dr. Thumper). As our band continues to grow along with our church we are finding ourselves in a search of sound and rhythm.

On any given Sunday, if you were to walk into a given church in our country you would be somewhat familiar with the music. I believe there are to reasons for this. First, a majority of the music that is being played in most churches is simply over killed songs from decades past. Everyone knows the songs because they have been played and sung over and over again through out their life. Secondly, their are only a handful of places from which music that is replayed in churches seems to originate from. Every worship leader flocks to their resources for their innovation. Examples of these churches would be North Point, Fellowship Church, Gateway Church, Mars Hill, Hillsong. The sad thing is, only about .05% of these types of growing innovative churches exist. That means that the other 99.95% of churches have generally found themselves running in the rut of someone else’s creativity, and never really bothering to step out and explore their own voice and sound.

At Four Points the worship is all about Jesus. The worship is directed to Jesus. The music is played and sung for Jesus. And for that reason, we try to give the music and song our absolute best (scripturally, lyrically, musically) because it is what we are giving to Jesus. Right now we are finding ourselves in a unique place with the band. For starters we are still growing as a group. It is for that matter we are covering other churches songs, simply to learn each others ways. Secondly, we are currently working on some original songs. This is where we are really struggling to find our own God-given tone. We as individuals, as a church strive to be what Christ Jesus has called us to be for our city at this time. As much as we admire many churches presently, as well as many churches and church leaders of the past, we do not want to be carbon copies of them. We will take what we can learn from them and move forward the best we can. 

We are currently in the process of spending bits and pieces of time in the studio working with different sounds and songs. We hope to have some things for you to listen to on itunes in the next couple of weeks.

“If our life is just a breath, gone in just a sec. We’ll breathe in deep, and give it in song to You.”

Dan

Is it Friday already?

Seriously!

It feels like Sunday was just yesterday. 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this week has flown by for me.

I digress; tomorrow is UFC 84: ill will. Anyone interested in watching it with the 4pc crew is welcome to join us at Buffalo Wild Wings in Marietta on Barrett Parkway. Show starts at 10:00 pm; we usually get there around 9:00 or 9:30.

Sunday morning, Brent will be sharing part two of Vintage Jesus: Who Is Jesus?

Also, the band will be debuting a new song.

Here’s a hint: Cream.

See ya there,

J

The Gasoline/Sin Analogy

I recently paid $3.69 a gallon for gas and it was about freaking ridiculous…I then went to Cleveland and paid $3.42/gallon and got ticked off about paying so much for gas in Atlanta.  Well, I started doing the math and it ended up I would save around four dollars…I was like, well that’s not that big of a deal…Four Dollars.
Okay, so my train of thought was this…Sin is like stinking gasoline!!  It gets worse and worse in your life and you keep on telling yourself and other people that, “Man, we really have to do something about all of this crap”, or, “I am about sick and tired of this stuff and somebody has to do something about this and it might as well be me!”  And then…..life settles back in and we start getting excited about American Idol, or Lost, or the season finale of The Office (all admitted vices of mine) and we forget to do anything about it…We continually get desensitized to the world of sin around us…When I was a little boy, I would have never thought that I would have had to endure Girls Gone Wild videos at night without so much as three seconds of warning to turn the channel…and you only have the strength to do that when you are fasting and prayed up!  It is a difficult world for a single man to have cable in…I will tell you that much.   The crazy thing is that this all got this way out of nowhere…We have been gradually desensitized over vast amounts of time and when it finally gets out of hand it is going to be too late…We are stuck with what we have been used to and it spirals out of hand…
Does this make sense to anyone else??  Holler back if it does
Joshua