Blake Thompson daht NetI'm just saying….

After being cautiously optimistic about Mississippi State’s football chances this season, they were summarily dashed last night as they made a trip to Ruston, Louisiana. As the first SEC team to ever play IN Ruston, the visiting Bulldogs were a favorite. But poor mistakes and dumb plays doomed them. They started out well. Then the wheels fell out.

So now, what do I have to look forward to this football season? All is not lost. Don’t get me wrong. But Croom and company have their work cut out for them this next week. Yes, we lost big time to another Louisiana team in our opening game last year. But that was Louisiana State, not Louisiana Tech. LSU went on to win the National Championship.

So, my hopes of a surprise season were dashed. Momentum going the wrong direction. And dangit if I didn’t have to wake up this morning in Oxford, Mississippi and go to church with a bunch of Rebels who won their opener last night with a new coach. 

God has a sense of humor.

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As we gear up for our big launch for small groups for the fall, Tuesday night we had a meeting of small group leaders. It was a BBQ dinner at our house. And it was fun. It was great to have a group of leaders together like that and see their desire for the people of our church.

It’s a great team of people. We all laughed a lot at Dave’s jokes [but not @ him at all. right?] And when we had some discussion time it was good. Really good. Makes me really confident in the semester. Also, it almost made me want to keep those people together as a small group! We launch next week. And we’re looking forward to everything that happens.

And then tonight… While in Jackson I worked with the staff at Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson a number of times. We went to the same winter retreat together and attended a lot of planning meetings for it. It is a large church. And they have lots of freshmen here at Ole Miss.

So a few of the parents from Jackson decided to have a “first of the year dinner” for them. There were around 25 freshmen there. You realize that they sent 25 kids to one university. Those 25ish would easily be larger than 90% of the Methodist youth groups in Mississippi.

But we were invited to come out and meet the freshmen. They seem to be a cool group of kids. Wes, their youth minister said there are some really solid leaders among them. A few came to The Orchard on Sunday. Hopefully some of them will call The Orchard their church “home away from home.”

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Better late than never, right? I still made it up before 11pm on Tuesday!

I’m not sure why, but Mr. Brightside is one of my favorite songs by The Killers. And these guys do a really great accoustic version of it. The guitar work is awesome. The singing isn’t awesome, but isn’t bad. But again, the guitar work is, well, killer. [Here's the original. And here's an awesome remix of it!]

What do get when you take Phil Collins + An Officer and a Gentleman. Strip it down. Add some electronica music, and have some talented artists mail music back and forth? Well you get The Postal Service and Against All Odds of course. This song was for the Wicker Park soundtrack, so it’s the video. I really like this one.

Also, the NY Post named this cover #8 of 100 Best Cover Songs of all time. Who knew?

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Yesterday was a big day for us at The Orchard. Probably our biggest service ever. We had over 150 folks there when you count the children and teachers for their classes. There was such an energy in the room.

Services start at 10:30 on Sunday mornings. And at about 10:20ish, it looked to be a normal Sunday morning. Summers have been a little slow for us in a few ways, while at the same time adding quite a few new couples and families. And even when Pat finally shooed everyone into the worship room at 10:33 it still seemed like a regular Sunday. But there was a little more energy to the room. But as Matthew began to welcome people and started the first song, people kept coming into the room. And then more. And more and more.

We were having to continually take chairs off the racks and set them up in the back. And then we ran out of room in the back and had to set them up along the side. It was packed. Part of it was that school started for Ole Miss today, so there were a lot of college students back in town who had been Orchard attenders. And part of it was new college students checking us out for the first time.

There also were a few friends from my old youth group who drove up from Mississippi State to spend the morning with us too. And…I was the one preaching that morning. It was more teaching about why we value Small Groups at The Orchard, and why we see Biblical precedents for them too. We launch SGroups next week and wanted to hit them good. But I was pretty confident about the morning.

So all in all, it was a great morning. And lunch afterward was good to catch up with some old friends.  The video above is dark. I know. But I tried to use my Macbook to capture some quick video. It was still plugged into a few cords and cables. So it’s shakey too.

But we fell that big things are on the way for The Orchard. Be in prayer for us.

How was your Sunday?

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Rick Warren

“Over the last hundred years, the hands and feet of Christ have been amputated. So, basically, in the eyes of the world, we have become a big mouth. Most of the time we are known for what we are against, instead of what we are for. The church must be mobilized for what it is for, not what is is against. I want to be for the poor, the sick, the lost, and I want to be “the friend of sinners.”

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Last year a friend went to a conference in Granger, Indiana. Yeah, Granger. Never heard of it?

Anyhow, It was called Innovate and was at Granger Community Church. I’d kept up with the church for a little while because I read the blogs of some of the staff members. It’s a great church. Very creative. Very missional. And making a big impact on their communities.

Last night I came across it again. Innovate08. I knew it was coming soon. But it had slipped my mind. And if I was to go to a conference I’d like for it to have something specifically related to my area of ministry. But when looking at Tim’s blog he mentioned how it’s possible to grab lunch w/ key staff members to pique their minds about things, and when I saw that there was a BreakOut session specifically about Small Groups…I began to really think about it.

Turns out that there’s already a group of people I know from The Orchard in Tupelo heading up there! How crazy is that? So, I’m looking through details, but I’m really hoping to make it!

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All Along The Watch Tower by Dave Matthews Band

Last week I put up a Dylan song that g liked. So I figured I’d give g one more Dylan song to see if it was up to standards. I think this a much better remake than the one I had last week. Of course, I like DMB better than GnR too.

Welcome to The Black Parade [originally by My Chemical Romance]

If you’ve not heard the original of Welcome to the Black Parade by MCR, then you might not truly appreciate it. To transpose it to piano totally is impressive. I like the original song a lot too.

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I caught the bug first from Pat. But I spent too much time it last night. But it was worth it. Wonder what you would look like if you grew up in a different era? Yearbook Yourself!

Many more of friends here and here (if you are on facebook)

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I’ve been looking around at some alternatives to YouTube. YouTube is the most popular video sharing site out there. That’s more than obvious. But there are better, but less used, ones out there. Two that really catch my eye are Vimeo and Viddler. One of the things that Vimeo is known for are their lipdubs. That’s where someone lipsyncs to a song. Then relays the audio over it for a much fuller sound.

I found one that is HUGE. It’s one big, continuous shot. It is filmed at a German university. It is all in the same class building. And has tons of students and a few professors in it. It’s worth a watch for sure. Enjoy!

University Lipdub (HS Furtwangen) from DASKAjA on Vimeo.

Let me know how you liked it!

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Back for week Two!

If you like Ben Folds, then this is a great impromptu version of possibly The Postal Service’s most famous song.

I used to LOVE this version. Used to sing it all raspy and angrily when I’d mow my lawn w/ my Walkman in. “Knock knock knocking on heaven’s door. Hay Hay hay-hay-hay!”

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So I told you that my oldest daughter has been homeschooled for her first two years of school (K and 1st grade). On Thursday I walked her into her 2nd grade classroom for her first ever day of public school. We’ve had two more since then. She’s had a great experience so far I believe. She likes her teacher. She’s FULL of both questions and details. And is thirsty to know more.

It’s still a “test run” at this time. We’re not sure if she’ll stay in school or go back to home schooling. There are a lot of factors being weighed and considered. And on top of all that a lot of prayers for wisdom being sent up.

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I’ve not been to a ton of concerts. More than some, but lots less than some of my friends. But I can say that a David Crowder Band concert is amazing to attend. He’s such a showman. He knows how to entertain. But he also knows how to bring you into the presence of the Lord. 

DCB* is about to release a new CD from their Remedy Tour that has two handfuls of new songs in a live format. I’ll be getting it. You should too.

You can click “LISTEN” above and get a few samples of the songs. There is also a DVD if you like.

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