Day at the Zoo

Genna's first trip to the Zoo. Don't let her face fool you . . . she had a great time! And so did Mommy and Daddy.

She didn't mind the snakes . . .

or a conversation with a lion . . . .

But her favorite animal was Grandpa!

INDULGE ME PART 2

Just a few random pictures of Genna and her not-so-normal family . . .

Easter Sunday

This year, Easter was truly inspired! It was, so far, a highlight of worship at the Rochester Church of Christ.

Something that has become a new tradition for us here at Rochester is bringing flowers to place on the crosses during worship. We place two crosses wrapped in chicken wire at the front of the stage. During communion, families and members come forward and place a flower into the cross. It's incredible to see the cross, a symbol of death, be transformed into a symbol of new life! Families take pictures together next to the newly-decorated crosses.

Next, we had a special guest from Jinja, Uganda. Her name is Ida and is a native of Jinja, a leader at the church there, and friends with many of our missionaries who live or used to live there. She and Sara Barton re-read the story of the resurrection from the Gospel of John. But all of the dialog between Jesus, Mary, and the disciples were translated and read in Ida's native language Lusoga. To hear it read in such a way really communicated that the resurrection was a universal event!

And instead of an 8 member praise team, we had 20 member choir. The sound was just awesome! we sang songs like "The Power of the Cross", "For All You've Done", "In Chrsit Alone" and "Worthy Is The Lamb", but they took on a whole new meaning when sung with a choir. It was off the charts!

I thank all who were involved. We couldn't have done it without all who sacrificed and worked to make it such a blessed day. I still get overwhelmingly positive comments about that Sunday! I know that He was blessed!

-chris

Catching up!

I need to catch up! A LOT has gone on in the last month or so! But to keep all my thoughts organized, I'll post them separately!

First of all, Watershed finally released the new praise and worship album "I Know You Love Me". It is a collection of some of our most requested songs along with a few new ones. I love to the way Everyday turned out! It makes the perfect opener for this album! Another one I'm excited about is "At the Cross" from Hillsong. Darlene Zschech and Reuben Morgan know how to write a song! It is the inspiration behind the title of the album. The lyrics say, "Even when I fail You . . . .In every season . . . . I KNOW YOU LOVE ME". WOW!!But its the bridge is what really gets me in the song . . . "You tore the veil, You made a way, when You said that it is done."

Anyway, if you haven't heard it yet, go to Watershed's Myspace or Shoutlife to hear a couple of the tracks. They are also available for purchase at our webstore at www.watershedworship.com.

Check it out and tell me what you think!

-chris

Megachurches are Desegregating on Sunday Mornings

We just got back from a youth rally in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was a great weekend! As we led worship at the churc on sunday, us guys noticed two men in booths in the balcony. we asked later about what those guys were doing there (the sound and video was in a booth on the main floor). The church said that have two translators for their worship gatherings: one for Spanish and one for Chinese! Members whose first language isn't English can pick up a headset and hear what is being said and/or sung via these translators. In my opinion, this is a HUGE step in reaching out and becoming a church that knows no borders. It goes beyond language and race and states that the good news of the kingdom is for everyone!

As I was thinking about this today, I stumbled upon this article on Yahoo. Now, you can deride megachurches all you want, but new research shows that they're more racially diverse, finally beginning to overturn the assertion that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week. In one-third of megachurches minorities make up 20% or more of the congregation. It's a small start, but a welcome one.

To read more, click here.

Link

or just copy and paste it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_us/megachurches_race

The Academy Awards

We just finished our worship small group, and we rushed home to catch the 2nd half of the Academy Awards. Of all the award shows out there, Vicki and I LOVE watching the Oscars. We both admit it, we are movie junkies. We'll watch them all. The dramas, the action, and the fantasy (i'm still working on appreciating chick flicks). But the Oscars is in another class! It's the Superbowl of acting and cinema! Some people love to watch it just to see what all the actors and actresses are wearing, but I love the awards themselves. I've always had my opinions of who should win for best actor (Joachin Phoenix was robbed last year! His Johnny Cash was perfect AND he sang all the songs himself! He did much better than Jamie Fox for Ray- but it was the same kind of role and the Academy won't do that two years in a row) and actress (very lean this year, but The Queen I think has it), best supporting actors, etc. In the past, we would watch every movie up for the main awards, especially movie of the year. But having a baby has changed all that. Now we do good to see a movie once every other month. So, I haven't seen even one of the top movies! (But we did see Ghost Rider . . don't waste your time . . .)

So far, I been disappointed, surprised, glad, and both surprised and glad at this year's winners. I've really wanted to see Pan's Labyrinth for a while, and, after all those awards, and I HAVE to see it now! Jennifer Hudson for best supporting actress was a surprise, but a well deserved winner.

Anyway, I don't know if you have a soft spot for the Oscars, but if you do, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this year's Academy Awards.

Beatboxing flute

This is simply amazing. Maybe Tony B. could learn how to play the flute and incorporate this into his drum solo somehow!