I was thinking today about the way movies have impacted my life.
I first put my faith in Christ after watching The Hiding Place as a five-year-old. I've always felt like movies have the potential to tell stories in a multi-sensory way. I feel like The Passion does that. I felt like I was an eyewitness to the crucifixion.
I think one reason why I love pastoring theaterchurch.com and one reason why I love this God @ the Box Office series is it takes me back to my spiritual roots. A story told on screen touched my spiritual nerve endings and led me to Christ. I hope and pray this series and this movie--The Passion--do the same thing!
Posted by Batterson at February 27, 2004 01:45 PM
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This is one of those blogs that is tough to put into words. We definitely had an "ebenezer moment" today!
Eight years ago the dream of restoring a run-down eyesore and turning it into a first-class, fully-operational coffeehouse was birthed in my spirit. There have been so many loopholes to get through. A year ago we successfully rezoned the property from residential to commercial. And today we got unanimous approval from the Historic Preservation Review Board. It was one small step/one giant leap toward turning this dream into reality! That means we have a "green light" to pursue building permits and hopefully break ground late spring or early summer.
I had an unspeakable confidence going into today's meeting. Sometimes your faith is so fragile that you're actually surprised when God answers a prayer. But this was one of those occasions where I would have been surprised if God didn't. We went out on a limb and prayed for unanimous support and that is exactly what we got.
All I can say is, "Praise God!"

Last night was like a dream becoming reality. I love redeeming spaces for God's use. I feel like that is part of my spiritual DNA. We held our first event at Club Nation--the largest club in DC.
There are a three environments that I really believe are ideal for churches--movie theaters, coffeehouses, and clubs. We've got two theaters and we'll continue expanding into more movie theaters @ metro stops. We're going to build a coffeehouse this year. The club is the other environment I've wanted to experiment with. And I thought the experiment was a huge success!
It was an awesome worship experience. We spent two hours praising God and praying and resting in His presence. Amazing things happen when we give God "room to work." I also enjoyed worshipping while sitting in a bean bag. That was a first.
Part of the reason last night was so personally meaningful for me is that I was able to just go and worship. I had no "official" responsibilities because the Club is Pastor Joel's thing. Last night reminded me again that we get out what we put in. I was so intense and so intentional about worshipping God.

I participated in the memorial service of Jayona Beal yesterday. By NCC standards, she dated back to the middle ages--she started coming to NCC when we first moved to the movie theaters @ Union Station. Jayonna passed away a week ago and her memorial service was in the caucus room in the Russell Senate building. She worked for John Kerry for fourteen years.
C.S. Lewis said, "Aim at heaven and you’ll get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you’ll get neither.” Jayonna was aiming at heaven. What a powerful testimony to the way one life, lived well, can make an impact. Senator Kerry cried when he talked about Jayonna. And countless staffers and interns talked about the way Jayonna had impacted their lives. She touched people's lives in little ways, but the little things are the big things! Oswald Chambers said, "It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God: but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things."

After a brief blog hiatus I'm back. The last two months have been intense. Producing our Annual Ministry Report is one of those annual projects that knocks the wind out of you and it takes time to recover. And we're in the middle of our dream series which has been one of those energizing/draining series. I'm so excited about where God is taking us as a church. And I'm pouring myself into this series in a way that leaves me pretty tired at the end of day. But I love what Margaret Thatcher said. "Look at a day when you were supremely satisfied at its end. It’s not a day when you lounged around doing nothing. It’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it."

After a brief blog hiatus I'm back. The last two months have been intense. Producing our Annual Ministry Report is one of those annual projects that knocks the wind out of you and it takes time to recover. And we're in the middle of our dream series which has been one of those energizing/draining series. I'm so excited about where God is taking us as a church. And I'm pouring myself into this series in a way that leaves me pretty tired at the end of day. But I love what Margaret Thatcher said. "Look at a day when you were supremely satisfied at its end. It’s not a day when you lounged around doing nothing. It’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it."

After a brief blog hiatus I'm back. The last two months have been intense. Producing our Annual Ministry Report is one of those annual projects that knocks the wind out of you and it takes time to recover. And we're in the middle of our dream series which has been one of those energizing/draining series. I'm so excited about where God is taking us as a church. And I'm pouring myself into this series in a way that leaves me pretty tired at the end of day. But I love what Margaret Thatcher said. "Look at a day when you were supremely satisfied at its end. It’s not a day when you lounged around doing nothing. It’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it."

After a brief blog hiatus I'm back. The last two months have been intense. Producing our Annual Ministry Report is one of those annual projects that knocks the wind out of you and it takes time to recover. And we're in the middle of our dream series which has been one of those energizing/draining series. I'm so excited about where God is taking us as a church. And I'm pouring myself into this series in a way that leaves me pretty tired at the end of day. But I love what Margaret Thatcher said. "Look at a day when you were supremely satisfied at its end. It’s not a day when you lounged around doing nothing. It’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it."