A wedding and reception held on-site...LITERALLY the day we were granted full occupancy from the city of Iowa City.

The first weekend services back in our building just over six months after evacuating for the '08 flood. Very packed services all morning. Great vibe of excitement. Pretty cool.

The unofficially official word is out: Sunday, December 14th will be our first weekend back in our Foster church building. Five months and one day after we began Mobile Church at West High School, we will be home for Christmas (insert your own merry Nat King Cole-esque version of the beloved song here).

It seems as though we've reached the end of an age...almost as if Frodo has destroyed the Ring and Aragorn is about to assume the throne of Men, and the next age of Middle Earth is upon us. Alas, I digress...

For kicks and giggles, here's a great timelapse video showing a typical service setup by those who contributed their 6am-1pm Sundays to keep our church gatherings happening week in and week out. Thanks to Don Keiser for putting this together, and much thanks to all who've helped and served during these crazy early and long Sunday mornings!

New pics of the renovation process with the church building this past weekend. We're getting close!

This is the new FOH (front-of-house) system. The equipment is suspended, but everything needs yet to be wired. We just got electricity fully restored in the building a few days ago, so we're well on our way to testing the system.

We're experimenting with some padding that's usually accustomed with wall padding below an indoor gym basketball hoop. We're hoping it'll help absorb some flagrant frequencies and give us better sound control in the room.

The newly built audio booth, which is a vast improvement from what we previously had--a fold-out table. Obviously, this has become a temporary work bench as we terminate and solder audio lines.

My fresh, new office. New drywall, new doors, new paint, new carpet, same useless window.

Last time you saw this hallway, there were no halls...just skeletal framing. And you could see from one side of the building to the other.

The Atrium restored from the last time you saw it and now a temporary storage space.

The lobby area. Messy.

The Chapel with floor covering. Carpet still need to go in here, but some ceiling patchwork and wall painting is needed first. New stage (background) and Tech booth (foreground) construction.

The Gym has become a warehouse workshop as we work to install sound panels on the walls.


Acoustic insulation for the sound panel guts.

Sanded and painted wood framing for the sound panels.

Installing sound panel framing.

Panel painting.


The stage face woodworking. Pretty cool.

Sound panel work.


Installing the completed sound panels takes a little extra grace...hopefully OSHA will agree.

Some wise guy (I'm assuming the carpet installer) who dinged up my office wall and felt remorse. It's okay, man. (NOTE: Holly's finger is solely to show "ding" size reference.)

I haven't posted in a long time, so here are some colorful pics of our neighbor's tree to keep the blog pacified until I can post something more intelligent.

"The only time in life we should be comfortable is in our favorite jeans. The rest of it -- relationships, work, art -- we should always strive to grow and growing is never comfortable." --Steve Ford

...makes me think of my favorite jeans. well-worn, buffed to a smooth texture from the wear and tear and tumble in the dryer...holes, some larger than others. I could do just about anything in these jeans...sleep in them, exercise in them, work in them...

...reminds me of waking in the middle of the night as a child because my legs were painfully growing. since I wasn't standing on them, they finally had a chance to expand as I lay. growing was never easy...especially on my parents, who had to buy longer pants and bigger shoes for me every two or three weeks (or so it seemed)...

...reflects upon me physical growth (which, as a child, I couldn't really control) and the clothes I kept outgrowing (also couldn't control), and how, since I've stopped growing physically, the pants I wear now have a longer life expectancy for me...I will wear them longer and more often. thus, my favorite jeans...my multi-dimensional jeans...my comfortable jeans.

...causes me to wonder where else I will grow in my life having passed that physical growth in getting to 6'2" and 190 lbs. will I strive to continue growing in things that I CAN control? and what kind of discomfort will be associated with that growth?

... inspires me to pursue that which I CANNOT control and allows me to grow uncomfortably. I could do just about anything in those jeans...but I won't grow in or out of them. maybe doing missions work in another country...or standing up for what I believe...or serving someone to an unknown extreme requires different pants. maybe chasing after a will not my own and totally out of my control will provoke a different wardrobe altogether...

...2 Corinthians 1.3-5 ESV...

The widely published story about the "Big Bang Machine" has all sorts of people intrigued...a sixteen-year-old Indian girl was so freaked out about this machine's abilities that she committed suicide to avoid the second big bang.

Supposedly, this machine, which now has a cost of $10 billion and is the 14-year-long product of 10,000 scientists and engineers, will eventually recreate the Big Bang on a small scale. The process is slow because beams of protons are sent on a repetitious 17-mile journey until they reach the speed of light. The theory, then, is that these protons will eventually increase in speed and collide, creating energy 100,000 times the temperature of the sun's surface--the proposed by-product of the Big Bang.

Not being too heavily biased toward the science behind this experiment, I have to say I'm quite doubtful we're going to discover much truth into the mysteries of the universe. I don't think humanity was meant to uncover these types of mysteries.

Look at the Bible...Christians' head-knowledge was meant to grow based on the truths and revelations of the Bible, and the way in which we're supposed to live was illustrated by Jesus. If we were meant to know anything more...or if we were meant to live in any other way, I believe that information and illustration would have been provided. Granted, humanity was created as knowledgeable and teachable free-willed beings, so we're expected to learn much about what was created.

This is the Creator guiding the created.

Mankind was created on earth and as an administer and caretaker of earth (cf Gen 2). Mankind was not created in the heavens, so we're not supposed to be intrinsically knowledgeable and take care of the heavens--God knows the boundaries of and takes care of the heavens.

Last I checked, the last time a group of people went overboard trying attain knowledge not privileged to them, they discovered they had somehow learned different languages and couldn't understand each other, thus halting their pursuit and putting humanity in a pretty pickle (cf Gen 11).

And I can't help but think of this machine as the Cerebro of non-fictional humanity.

This margin mini-devo is in Holly's devotional Bible, and I can't help but read it over and over again. Good stuff...

Sometimes, in a struggle to solve our problems, we are tempted to turn away from God’s help. Saul’s life demonstrated the disastrous results of seeking help by means of spiritual forces other than God. The Holy Spirit had long abandoned him.

And, for some, the loss of mystery has led to the loss of majesty. The more we know, the less we believe. Strange, don’t you think? Knowledge of the workings shouldn’t negate wonder. Knowledge should stir wonder. Who has more reason to worship than the astronomer who has seen the stars? Than the surgeon who has held a heart? Than the oceanographer who has pondered the depths? The more we know, the more we should be amazed.

Ironically, the more we know, the less we worship. We are more impressed with our discovery of the light switch than with the one who invented electricity. Call it cricket-brained logic. Rather than worship the Creator, we worship the creation (cf Rom 1.25).

No wonder there is no wonder. We’ve figured it all out.

One of the most popular attractions at Disney World is the Jungle Cruise. People will spend forty-five minutes waiting in the Florida heat for the chance to board the boat and wind through snake-infested forests. They come for the thrills. You never know when a native will jump out of the trees or a crocodile will peek out of the water. The waterfalls drench you, the rainbow inspires you, and the baby elephants playing in the water amuse you.

It’s quite a trip—the first few times. But after four or five runs down the river, it begins to lose its zest. I should know. During the three years I lived in Miami, Florida, I made nearly twenty trips to Orlando. I was single and owned a van and was a sucker for anybody who wanted to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom. By the eighth or ninth trip I could tell you the names of the guides and the jokes they told.

A couple times I actually dozed off on the journey. The trail had lost its secrets. Ever wonder why people sleep in on Sunday mornings (whether in the bed or in the sanctuary)? Now you know. They’ve seen it all. Why get excited? They know it all. There is nothing sacred. The holy becomes humdrum. Rather than dashing into life like kids to the park, we doze through our days like commuters on a train.

Can you see why people become “full of sexual sin, using their bodies wrongly with each other”? (Rom 1.24). You’ve got to get excitement somewhere.

According to Romans 1, godlessness is a bad swap. In living for today, the hut-building hedonist destroys his hope of living in a castle tomorrow.

What was true in Paul’s day is still true in ours, and we would do well to heed his warning. Otherwise, what is to keep us from destroying ourselves? If there is no standard in this life, no purpose to this life, and nothing sacred about this life, what is to keep us from doing whatever we want?

~Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace

This is a beautiful commercial first aired during the Super Bowl this last winter. I first REALLY watched it yesterday.

I dug through the Internet to find the soundtrack, and, apparently, it's a work specifically commissioned by Audi...as in there's no group signed to a record label making it distributable. However, Audi has received enough positive response to the track that they've temporarily released it via their website. You have to visit Audi's website, then wait until the videos are finished playing.

The City has lifted the evacuation order for our building! Now begins the massive cleaning effort as we garrison the building to try getting things back to normal operation. We still don't know to what extent we will be able to use the building. Either way, staff will remain off-site to allow for the cleanup process to happen more smoothly. Here are some recent pics shot today by Dan Van Oss...

I stopped by the campus tonight and was shocked to see the water level had receded!

Trees nearby showed a 3-4" wet ring of bark above the water level. The pic below shows debris remaining from the higher water line.

Some shots from the Press Citizen...

These pics are courtesy of Scott, who serves on Parkview staff with me. He managed to get into the building today to survey the, um...aquarium.