To the right, on the bottom left of my sponsors, you’ll see the new album from Hillsong United: Faith + Hope + Love. It comes out this week. Below you can check out one of the new songs thanks to Ben Arment.
Hillsong “Hold Me Now” from Ben Arment on Vimeo.
Catalyst is about Leaders. Leaders who have a passion to impact our Generation, including leaders in music and the arts.
Catalyst believes there are new anthems and worship songs being written on the hearts of our generation across this nation and around the world. This is a call to leaders who have a vision to share these songs with the body of Christ.
Introducing the 2009 Catalyst Music Project – worship songs for the next generation. Upload your recording before July 1, 2009 for a chance to have your song included on the Album.
As a former worship pastor, I’ve followed Shaun Groves for a while. He’s been in my CD rotation and has greatly encouraged me through his music. I especially appreciate his Kingdom heart, his work with Compassion and the poor. He’s a great guy and I encourage you to get to know him if you don’t.
By the way, his song “Should I Tell Them” is one of my all-time favorite songs. I can’t tell you how it ministers to me before I speak to a group of people. You’ve got to check it out!
I’ve blogged about this before, but the time-sensitive huge discount for Q runs out Dec. 31st!!!! You have 1 week to act on this opportunity. You can register later, but it will cost over $150 more.
I’ll be hosting a Church 2.0 Tribe this year at Q. Q was held in New York last year and I couldn’t make it – I really wanted to . This April 27-29 it will be in Austin, TX. I and many other friends will be there. I’d love for you to join us.
Q is a unique conference for leaders that “get it” and are interested in highly relevant and missional things. Q does cost more than a lot of conferences, but if you register with my coupon code (Church20) – you can register for $525 until 12/31.
More about Q: Q is a gathering where church leaders and cultural influencers from the fields of business, politics, media, education, entertainment and the arts are exposed to the future of culture and the church’s responsibility to advance the common good in society.
Q TALKS are 18 minute presentations given annually at the Q gathering by thought leaders and practitioners on the topics of the future, the church, the culture and the gospel. Be inspired by their big ideas and find ways to discuss and process them with your closest friends and inner circle (the Church 2.0 tribe).
I hope to see some of you in the wonderful city of Austin!
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MERRY CHRISTMAS to all you!!!
So yesterday I was telling one of my interns that at my home in December we listen to James Taylor’s Christmas album. My kids know his music well and it’s kind of a family tradition. I remarked how much I liked “JT’s Christmas album” and he said, “Justin Timberlake is JT”.
Hold up! Wait a minute. No disrespect to Justin Timberlake, but James Taylor is the real and original “JT”. Anyone got my back? Will the real JT please stand up?!!!
My friend, Pace, at Fellowship Church posted this video that they did recently. I love it! Art is about expression. How are you expressing yourself as an artist? Does your church let you express yourself? Do you feel like your church stiffles or depresses creativity, freedom and expression in your situation? Express yourself!
New Creation from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.
EXTRA:
Speaking of expression: I’ve got a lot of thoughts and comments that I’m processing through right now. I’m pretty fired up. I’m greatly encouraged by the many of you that responded to yesterday’s blog post. I’m also greatly concerned by some people’s reaction. Bear with me. I’m trying to handle it Christ-like.
Things are busy around my church (Bent Tree). Here’s what’s going down:
The Art+Music+Justice Tour is coming to Bent Tree on Saturday, Oct. 25.
ART*MUSIC*JUSTICE on tour this fall, benefiting both the International Justice Mission and Food For the Hungry.
The International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. Food for the Hungry works in more than 26 developing countries providing disaster and emergency relief, and implementing sustainable development programs to transform communities physically and spiritually.
Derek is pleased to be joining Sara Groves, Brandon Heath, Sandra McCracken, and Charlie Peacock on this tour, running from September 19th-October 26th, bringing not only the music of these tremendous artists but also telling stories of the great work of these organizations as they work for justice, advocate for the oppressed, and point towards the day coming when all things will be made right. More than just music, these unique evenings will bring with them opportunities to involve yourself in the stories of our poorest neighbors.
EXTRA:
This past Sunday, we were blessed to have Tommy Walker lead us in worship. He, and his band, were a blessing to our church and our worship & arts family. God is still using him!
PERSONAL:
Last night was one of the greatest nights of my life. I attended my first ever Cowboys game with my friend, designer Ben Jordan. The Cowboys/Eagles game was a “Monday Night Football” game on ESPN and didn’t disappoint. It was a VERY intense game until the very end. Amazing!
A couple of things that I’m proud about last week’s Fine Arts Day Camp at my church:
The set built by our Visual Arts team, led by Aaron Bensko, and the lighting done by our own Scott Row:
Side close-up view of the set:
This is what 400 kids on the stage looks like:
