Creative Arts

Last night we kicked off two exciting new groups at TrueNorth...the Artist Circle and the Writer's Fellowship. We had close to 25 there which blew me away! There was a cool energy from everyone there. I am so pumped about getting these two groups started!

24

Laurie and I have become hooked on "24". I know...where have we been? I think everyone I know watches that show. To be honest, we haven't wanted to become slave to the TV every week, so we recently started renting the DVDs of Season 1. Good stuff!

I've had some people ask me for some more pictures of Ella. Well, here's my little princess practice her yoga...just like her mom!

Lastly, for those interested in the Arist Circle or Writer's Fellowship, we are having our first meeting Monday night at Nacho Mama's. We'll start to gather around 7P. I'm pumped about these two groups getting kicked off!

Until next time...

The Party's Just Getting Started!!!

Wow! Yesterday was an amazing day at TrueNorth! We celebrated two years of joining God in His work. How awesome is it to be able to serve the Creator of the universe? Sometimes I don't completely grasp what a privilege and honor it is to be used by God on Sundays. He doesn't need me...but He wants to use me! How cool is that?

So the turnout was unbelieveable with 1217! That would be our third largest attendance to date. (We had close to 1700 at Easter '06 and then somewhere over 1300 for a Dunk'd service in the spring '06.) Please "hear me this morning" (Stevie D original right there baby!): when I mention numbers, it's not pointing praise to us as TrueNorth. No, it's all about pointing the praise to God, who has grown this church beyond our wildest dreams. We were talking today in staff about how many times we have to adjust what we are doing on the fly because God has sent waves of growth our way.

The coolest parts of the service were these:

1) knowing that 180 TrueNorthers participated in the celebration by voting for their favorite songs. That was cool!

2) The video testimonies were incredibly powerful. Jay and Laura Knotts were in one part and what they had to say hit me hard. They are some amazing friends to us and we been a small part of their journey...so to hear them say that TrueNorth has provided healing and freedom for them, I had to fight back tears. It's a beautiful thing when God's people do what we are designed to do: love God and love each other.

I could talk about so much more, but I'll spare you the long-winded-ness.

Happy Birthday TNC!

Big day planned!

Tomorrow is the big day at TrueNorth! We celebrate 2 years of turning spiritual seekers into passionate followers of Christ. It's been an amazing ride so far, I can't imagine what the future has in store for us.

I would encourage to get there early because we are expecting a huge crowd for both services. Lots of people are hearing about what God is doing at TNC and they want to experience the change for themselves.

See you tomorrow!

THANK YOU!!!!

Well the voting has ended. Thank you, TrueNorth, for particpating in the celebration this past week! We had 180 votes cast, which has just blown me away. So, I'm sure you want to know what songs were at the top. I'd love to share it with you, but you'll have to wait until Sunday!

Something exciting and new that we are introducing this week is our new logo:



It embodies who we are as a church...our motto, Lift Up Love In Live Out, is the centerpiece of the design. So, we'll be bringing out some new t-shirts this week as well as some other cool things.

God is doing some exciting things at TrueNorth and we're just riding the wave of His goodness as long as it goes!

TNC in the news...

TrueNorth made the news this weekend. Diane Cho with Channel 12 news came to video and interview some of our people. It's a very good video about our church!

Also, wanted to remind you that today (Tuesday) is the last day to vote for your favorite songs. The top picks will be in this week's set list. It's a great way for everyone to participate in the celebration.

Oh, if you haven't watched Steve's message from Sunday, you should! It was an incredible message reminding us that church does not exist to consume your life and be your only source of spiritual food. It's purpose is to equip you to do ministry and to feed yourself. Watch it on our website.

There are a lot of exciting things happening at TNC these days. As you may know, we celebrate two years this Sunday! We've also just brought on a new staff member, Gene Jennings. Gene brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and passion to the table. I'm already convinced he's a tremendous asset to our team!

BABY UPDATE - Laurie and Ella are doing well. Can't believe it's already been a week! Of course, the next thing I know she'll be starting school...it's amazing how fast they grow up. And big brothers love her to death! God has blessed us in so many incredible ways!

Ouch!!!

A friend sent me this video the other day. I have no clue what they are saying, but all I can say is "OUCH!!!"

Click Here

We are family...

We left the hospital (or hos-ti-bull as Stephen calls it!) today. It's good to be home! It's even better to have all six of us together. I've missed my boys the past two days and so has Laurie. We are so blessed! Ella is the sweetest thing. How is it that I'm so blessed with this family God has given me? I'll never understand it...but I also won't complain!

Don't forget to vote for your favorite songs that we do at TrueNorth! As a way to celebrate our 2 year old birthday, we are letting you participate in selecting the songs that make the set list. So don't forget to vote! (Voting ends August 15, 2006).

You are so beautiful...to me

That song's been ringing in my ears all day because my beautiful baby daughter is here!!!!! And I have to say, I'm in love. Here are her stats...

Ella Rose Bradford
Born at 11:35A on Monday, August 7, 2006
Weighing in at 7 pounds 7 ounces
Standing at a mighty 20.5 inches

And did I mention she's beautiful?

Momma's doing well. I have to say that she's amazing because I COULD NOT endure what she's been through the past few weeks. She always tells me that men would die if they had to go through labor. I strongly concur!

So we are a family of six now. As a friend of mine told me today, we now reach automatic gratuity at restaurants...yikes! Oh well, as Stevie D says, we're doing our part to grow the church!

Chris Brown Band

We were so blessed to have the Chris Brown Band come and lead us in worship today. It was very nice to have the day off and actually come to church with my family! (Which we have never done at TrueNorth.)

Anyway, Chris and his band have a CD out that you canbuy here. Look for us to be adding their song "Absorb" to our set list very soon!

Also, a shout out to the boys (and girl!) of Stainless. They rocked the house today with Bon Jovi's "Wanted: Dead or Alive". We are so incredibly blessed at TrueNorth to have the talented musicians we have. God is so good!

Well, tomorrow morning Laurie and I are heading to the hospital so she can be induced. We are so excited to meet Ms. Ella! Please pray for us that everything will go smoothly. Until next time...

Tozer Chapter 4

Tozer's next chapter, Born to Worship God, is a reminder to why we were originally created. From the title, you can guess that it is to worship God. He says that, in God's plan, we were created to be in a perfect fellowship based on adoring worship of the Creator and Sustainer of all things. As he says, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."

But, we entered into a foggy state of mind because of sin. Adam and Eve initiated it through their disobedience and each of us continue it every day. And because of this, we no longer know the purpose of our existence. We have become a people who look for hope and pleasure in anything and everything.

Here's the cool part...God refused to give up on us. You see, "He created man so He could look into each of us and see a greater reflection of His own glory than He could see reflected in the starry skies above." (Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship, p53) So He said, "I'm not giving up on these people...I will not write them off and blot them from My memory." Praise God that He didn't!

He sent Jesus, His Son, who was the reflected glory of God, to save us...to bring us back to Him. And through His life, His death, and His resurrection, "the bells in heaven ring out because lost man had now been redeemed. The way of pardon and forgiveness had been opened for sinners." (p55)

We have been created (and recreated) to worship God. Through Jesus Christ, our Marvelous Light, we can reclaim our original purpose for existence...worshiping our God, Father, Son and Spirit, with everything we are...and the rest of our lives will flow out of this relationship in acts of service, love, relationships and much more!

bBlink

My brother, Brian, who happens to be the designer of here.

First Impressions...

Here's a really good video that we should all watch. It's from a worship leader at a church in California. He visited another church and carried his video camera around discretely. Check out his experience...



With viewing this, we should evaluate ourselves at TrueNorth. How do we make people feel when they visit? I'd be curious to see what a first impression video at TNC would be like...

Tozer Chapter 3

After a week of craziness, I read chapter 3 in Tozer's "Whatever Happened to Worship?" Excellent chapter. The title is "Much That Is Called Worship Is Not".

At the beginning, Tozer sets up the framework by proving the point that we are designed for worship. Everyone will worship something. One statement he made that caught my attention right off the bat was that "it is plainly possible to have religious experience and forms of worship that are not at all acceptable to God."

To illustrate his point, he mentions an old church he stumbled upon when visiting Mexico. Shortly after walking in, a woman enters, holding a bag, and walks straight to the altar at the front of the room. She proceeds to bow at the feet of a statue of Mary. He watched her face and the emotion that she was pouring out to this inantimate object. You see, people of all religions (and no religions) will passionately worship something. It could be money...or success...or family. But Tozer's point is that these are not acts of worship that are pleasing to God.

One warning he provides is that many are into picking what they worship about God. It's almost as if they don't like the whole "blood atonement for sin" thing, so they choose to focus on the rewards that you can get from God. Others choose to only focus on the death of Christ and don't celebrate the resurrection. Celebration is a missing jewel from many of our churches today. There must be a mixture of celebration and meditation. Tozer's point is that we must worship God for who He is, not who we want Him to be. There are things about God that may not be comfortable for us to worship, but we must because that is who He is.

He wraps the chapter up by reiterating the point that worship must be done in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). But what does that mean? I think he explains it better than I've seen anywhere, so I'll let him handle this one...

"Worship must be by the Holy Spirit and truth. We cannot worship in the spirit alone, for the spirit without truth is helpless. We cannot worship in truth alone, for that would be theology without fire. Worship must be in spirit and in truth! It must be the truth of God and the Spirit of God. When a person, yielding to God and believing the truth of God, is filled with the Spirit of God, even his faintest whisper will be worship."

Lastly, and I love this, he says that worship cannot happen without the impartation, or revelation, of the Holy Spirit. So worship starts with God, is revealed by the Spirit to us. And then it is reflected by us, like a mirror, back to God. It starts with Him, is through Him, and ends with Him. That is worship that is acceptable to God.

Until next time...