Need some more dudes in the blog roll

Seriously guys...we know you've got things to say...where are the dude blogs at the Stirring? I'm calling you out. Don't make me come to your house!

What our blogging community has to say

Kalyn had some cool things to share about our new "We are family" series.

we are family

tomorrow night, we begin a new series called 'we are family' ... thank you Jeremy Coverdale for the brilliant image ...

over these next 6 weeks, our prayer is that we would see and get God's heart for family ... that God is calling us out of a dark room on Sunday nights into family ... 

it's so easy to come each week and sit in a chair, but church is more than a chair ... it's a family ... fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters ... 

in fact, the phrase 'personal relationship with God' is not found in the Bible ... yes, Jesus does love us personally and we can approach God personally, but the way salvation is described in the scriptures is all communal ... Jesus saves us into a family ... this messy, imperfect family that bears His name ... and in this family, we become everything He has created us to be ... 

we are family ... so, how do we become the family God had in mind? 

Work day at Cypress

Posted some pics here from today.
Today was a great first step in a relationship we look forward to starting with this school.

Our people are awesome

I got a call from a friend that just started going to the Stirring. He told us about a women that just gave birth and really doesn't have any resources. He asked if there was anything people at the Stirring could do. Meghan made a couple calls and this is what showed up within the hour. 3 other people are bringing by stuff and we are giving it to her tomorrow. This is what it means to be a family living out God's heart in the city. Good stuff!

erase the dark

15 days and counting ... our first music, art and film festival ... erase the dark ...

everything seems to be falling into place ... we have two new music videos ... at least four short films ... the art gallery will be amazing ... I can't wait to see what people create ...

and some of the featured artists ... Wesley Jensen ... Phil Wickham ... the Myriad ... I spoke with Kim Walker today ... she'll be performing some of her new songs during the night ... amazing ...

and don't forget about the food ... Sean Gafner ...

props to the team ... meghan, emily, aaron, patrick, trisha, and everyone else involved with this festival ... thanks ...

The aftermath

This is what our baptuzi looked like after the onslaught of baptisms we had on Easter. It kind of resembled a swampy lagoon. I'm glad there were no petri dish samples taken.
Easter was amazing and that word doesn't come close to describing how good it was. I talked a little about it here. Over 20 people baptized...lost count because we had about 8 people at the end decide on the spot to get baptized. It was so cool to celebrate so much new life on Easter.
Note to self though: Next baptism be the first one in the water. The last ones in are the truly hardcore.

Happy Easter

We will take some pictures tonight and post them tomorrow. Today we celebrate that Jesus is alive. I cant think of a better way to do that then by throwing 25 people under water and have them come out alive in Christ in a brand new way. So many people. So many stories. I know a few already and I literally can't wait to get to the Stirring tonight. See you there!

stirring shirts

finally, Stirring shirts ... as if bumper stickers weren't enough ...

Under the Chuppah (hoopah) shirts from our money, sex and power series ... for the guys, it's a couple under the chuppah (hoopah) ... for the girls, it's a candle in the window sill ... genius ... Juan designed these shirts ... he does an amazing job ...

I've been wearing my Stirring shirt for two days straight ... ask Dan Lance ... this morning, he asked me if I had slept in it ... to which I replied, "Of course" ... who wouldn't want to sleep in a Stirring shirt ... all night long ...

This week, one of my friends asked me, "what about Stirring boxers?" ... to which I replied, "what would Jesus think about that?" ... my friend stood silent ... to which I replied, "exactly" ...

women's retreat

if you're a woman ...
if you need some time away from your kids ...
if you need some time away from your big kid (husband)...
if you want to get more connected ...

if you're thinking about the women's retreat, sign up ... only 10 spots left ... it's going to be an amazing time for our women ...

my wife and I spent a couple hours last night just dreaming and planning this retreat ... my wife has some great ideas ... jenna is leading worship ...

and of course, I get to watch the kids for the weekend ... guys poker night?

What our blogging community is saying

Here are some responses from last nights gathering at the Stirring: Annie and Jeff. If you are posting in response to things God is doing at the Stirring please send them to me and I'll post them here.
ps. We're gonna miss you Jeff and Jamie!

Thanks Covers!!!

Jeremy Coverdale made our new header for the blog. Nice work!

stirring baptism

in a couple of weeks, on Easter Sunday, we'll be baptizing some men and women in our community ...

Jesus calls us to be baptized ... baptism is all about belonging ... baptism is this way that we show the world that we are in God's family ... that our lives are wrapped up in this God life ... that God does not leave us alone ...

Jesus did not come promoting a religion called Christianity ... Jesus came to draw us into a family ... to draw us into a relationship with the Father ... to show us what it means to be sons and daughters of the living God ...

if you would like to be baptized and you're apart of the Stirring community, please let us know ... we are family ...

Stirring bloopers

So this week Nate is talking about Brent VanAuken and how he knew him when he was a kid. He was trying to say, "he didn't even have hair on his chest," but it came out "he didn't even have chair on his hest." Amazing!
Until next week.

the Myriad

I just saw the Myriad's new music video 'clean shot' ... it's amazing ... little creatures ... hunters on a journey ... an evil presence in the woods ... jeremy shoots a bow and arrow ... unbelievable ...

actually, they may show this music video Saturday night at the Cascade ... don't miss it ... also, Wesley Jensen and friends ...

come on, it's Redding ... what else can you do on a Saturday night?

What our community has to say...

We've had a ton of people in our community talking about our latest series. Check out their stories here, here, here, here, and here. If you have a blog out there and you go to the Stirring, leave me a comment so we can add you to the blog roll. We want to hear your stories.

something that should have been said..

So we have been talking about God dreams, and how God longs to dream through his children.. which essentially means that God loves to see His dreams, that He has given to us lived out..

Well tonight we talked about encouragement, and the fact that we all need to be encourager's, and be surrounded by encourager's..

Well I just wanted to say something that I should of said tonight as an encouragement to everyone out there.. I just feel like there are some people who don't know who they are, or really who God has called them to be.. Well I just want to say.. Ask.. God knows.. He wants to tell you.. He believes in you, even though you may think that their are no encourager's in your life.. He has always believed in you..

You see, God gets excited when we realize, and start to live out who we were created to be.. So be encouraged, God is speaking to you and telling you who you are, who you have always been..

Jedidiah, a clothing company from SoCal, did this campaign a while back where they printed inside their shirts the phrase "Become what you wear".. The name Jedidiah means "friend of the Lord".. So what they were saying is "Become a friend of God." I really liked that idea.. I would like to rephrase this a bit and make it relevant for our series.. So..

"Become who you were created to be.."

wake up and dream

this week we're wrapping up our series 'when God dreams' ...

we've been talking about how God is a dreamer, but when God dreams, He dreams through His children ... when God has a dream, He begins to look for men and women who are God ready to live His dreams with Him ...

there is only one thing that brings God more pleasure than living His dreams ... it's living His dreams through His children ... through you and I ... not because He needs us, but because He loves us ...

over the past few weeks, we have heard so many crazy stories about God speaking and awakening His dreams in the Stirring ... dreams for children and families ... dreams for cities and nations ... dreams for couples and marriage ... dreams for the poor and the hurting and the least ... God is just waiting for men and women crazy enough to believe that WITH God all things are possible ...

for us, this is more than just a series ... I'm convinced that God is looking for a community of God dreamers in Redding who will dream His dreams with Him ... who will lock onto His dreams and refuse to let go ...

so let's wake up and dream ...

Stirring bloopers

This week Nate is doing announcements...I'm sitting in the front row and ask..."why are you talking into the hand held mic?" He's rockin' the over the ear mic but forgot about it and was talking into the hand held. It was making a really loud stereo sound and I put two and two together. I should of let it go and seen if he would of shared all night into two mics! Until next week...