God at the Movies V is closing.

Well, this weekend, God at the Movies V is officially coming to an end. We’ll be finishing up the series with the second People’s Choice film, Enchanted (read more on Weekend Update). It has been a great series, as we’ve examined the intersection of modern cinema and God’s story. I must say that this was, by far, the best installment of the series yet.

The entire Weekend Design Team pulled together and created six excellent weekends (and a seventh for Father’s Day that was sandwiched in there). Every service was packed with creative elements and moments of awe. There is nothing like artists using their gifts in the local church. Our music team stepped it up and performed a total of four special songs throughout the series (the band nailed it on “Viva La Vida” - how cool is it that we go to a church where they do Coldplay songs?). All of these songs served as great connection points to the films.

Of course, there was the Woods family’s story of how God brought them and their son together, the incredible dance during the Amazing Grace weekend (read more about that weekend here), and countless stories of people who invited their friends, family, co-workers, strangers. In fact, that is one of the most encouraging things about this series - the “invite factor” of the JCC family. I love that I get to serve at a church where the people really “get it” - where they understand that we do series like this to meet people where they are at, to provide a common ground to dialogue about ours and God’s stories. There were so many stories of people who came and encountered Jesus for the first time; so many stories of people who were delivered from bondage and despair; so many stories of people who had their lives changed. There really isn’t anything like the local church.

So don’t miss this weekend as we wrap it up this awesome series. And if you are saddened that God at the Movies V is no more, don’t worry, God at the Movies 6 begins May 2009.

For podcasts of the messages from God at the Movies V, click here.

The Book

Two months ago I had a discussion with my colleague. He kept trying to push Facebook on me. I have always been reluctant of these social networking sites, no reason in particular.

I told him that I would absolutely, never, in a million years sign up for an account.

Today, I signed up for a Facebook account. Dang it.

Musings on Grace

Two weeks ago, as part of our God at the Movies V series, Journey’s Teaching Pastor, Ed Noble, looked at the film Amazing Grace. My opinions on the low-quality film-making aside (I was one of two on the Weekend Design Team who didn’t like the film), Ed’s message and the overall flow of the service was something to cause awe. Heading in to the series, we knew we wanted to create a package in which the notion of grace could be experienced, not just talked about. What culminated was nothing short of a God-inspired moment. Looking back, it was one of those moments of wonder - moments we are always striving to create in our weekend services.

One of our pastors, Rod Kaya, set up the package, reminding us that, while grace has a definition, it is very rarely understood. It is something that we can think about, but it is harder to grasp, let alone experience through words. From there, we played a video piece that set-up some of the history of the hymn “Amazing Grace” and John Newton’s legacy as a slave-trader turned priest, a true story of God’s grace. The piece was synced to Yvette Flunder singing an a capella version of the prolific first verse.

Following the video, was a dance wonderfully choreographed by Pamela Turner and performed by she and Megan Merk. Pamela did a wonderful job in capturing the essence of grace. It wasn’t a “pretty” dance - something her and I both did not want for the piece. However, it was a dance that capture the raw emotion and picture of grace in people’s lives. (Rod posted a sort of bootlegged recording of the dance here).

When the dance finished, the lights faded and we returned with another video piece. Inspired by Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace?: Visual Edition, the piece was an experience of grace in the most visual way (selected images below). Combining text and black & white photographs (and Jonathan Elias’ moving composition “Move”), the video expressed the scandalous nature of this thing called grace.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I am the creator behind the piece. Most people didn’t realize, because it flashed for just an instant, but I included myself in the myriad of images of people touched by grace (third image below). I am not writing to brag about the piece or to gain attention for my work. I am writing this post to say that I am a person who has learned to better understand grace. I am writing to say that, along with images of Martin Luther King, Jr., Adolf Hitler, members of the KKK - stands my photo - a person marked by sin; yet, a person who grace is afforded. I do not fully grasp its entirety, but because of circumstances and the path of my pursuit (and at times anti-pursuit) of God I have come to gain a more deep and real knowledge of grace. I have learned it’s wrinkles. It has become palpable, known, experienced.

Such grace causes me to have “a wretch like me” understanding that Ed mentioned in his message. Such grace causes me to face the fact that I am not the sole receiver of this grace. Scandalous grace, grace that melts ungrace, is given to members of the Ku Klux Klan, transsexuals, Christians, philanthropists, children and drunks. I have learned that the limits of grace’s reach are endless. It is precisely that fact that affords me grace. I have learned that grace, in an unfair and illogical way, is afforded to all…even to someone like me.