Our newest video - Go - is now available on Sermonspice.

Watch it now: http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/19873/

Our first video, Nothing Like Jesus (previously titled Shattered) is now available on SermonSpice. It’s still under my personal account (B Movies) but will soon find its way to the account for Innate Productions.

Just thought you all might finally like to see it. I’ll let you know when Go, our second video, is available.

http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/19770/nothing-like-jesus

Just a quick note to promote a cause.

One Love Outreach is run by Dave & Lindsay Culbreath (awesome, amazing, totally rockin’ awesome amazing people). If you want to help those who need help (many in a bad way), support this effort. I’ve been to Jamaica twice. That’s not a lot but take my word for it - you need to consider financially supporting One Love. I don’t say this without a lot of emotion and passion for this cause - your donation WILL have eternal ramifications. I know Jamaica (a little) & I know Dave & Lindsay’s heart for the Jamaican people. Your money will not only be used for assistance for the Jamaicans, but it will allow two people who are in love with Jesus to share that love with people who might not otherwise see that Light.

Which makes me bring this up again. Remember www.holaway.net, which is my web hosting “business”. I make no profit from this. None. I donate all of my profit or use it for foster care or adoption costs (which are $0 at the moment as we await our dad-gum home study to be finalized). You can even get your site hosted and mark your fee (which is about as cheap as you can find it at $4/month) to go directly to One Love Outreach. Meaning, after you pay me, I will take all profits and send them on to One Love.

This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible (I know I say that a lot).

Ezekiel 36:25-27 -  Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

I’m sorry, but that’s just awesome. Not only will my heart - my core being, that which moves me, that which makes me who I am - be made new, but I will also receive the Spirit along with it.

There is so much more to the Christian life than what we allow. I spoke to Sam about this just today. “There’s always more,” he said, and he’s right. Just when you think you’ve reached some new level of connection with God it’s like you’ve opened a door to find 100 new doors. And that rocks. New exploration, new joys, new hopes, new adventures.

(Don’t read too much into this). We write such small stories for ourselves, remaining stuck in our ways and refusing change or newness as if doing church or understanding God ever had anything to do with anything. I say “we” to include me in this judgment. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free,” said Paul, but sometimes I wonder if we even recognize our self-inflicted limits to relationship with God or the inconsistencies that we use to justify decisions that merely cover our own discomforts.

So it’s a peaceful moment when after I fret about this stuff I realize one thing: Jesus is still Jesus, God is still God, and the Spirit is still here helping me type these words. And so I know I am still free.

Still making my way through major prophets - Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah. It’s a tad repetitive.

The messianic prophesies are awesome, especially so in the midst of God’s wrath, judgment and justice. I’ll admit I have a hard time reading of how angry God is combined with him saying “there’s nothing you can do to turn back now.” I understand why it had to be so, and were it not for the events that follow the destruction of Jerusalem I would be left thinking God was merciless. It’s only in time (even in my own life) that I see what God is really up to. He promises a return, a rebuilding, and a restoration of his people, culminating in the life of his son on earth and his ascension. No more are we exiled. No more are we apart from God because of our sins. “It is finished,” as Jesus said, brings on much more meaning when you figure that “it” was God’s plan an eternity in the making.

I love hearing something like this and to be reminded that God is at work everywhere. He doesn’t abide by my perceptions or schedule. I am to abide by his.

Kristi went to see Poison in concert several weeks ago. Yes, I work at a church and my wife played hookie to go to a concert (I encouraged her to go, by the way…I’m just that cool of a husband :). While a lot of us were in our cozy church building, another local pastor (Pete Wilson) was at the concert…to meet with guitarist C.C. Deville, a new Christian.

It’s an awesome story. You can go to Pete Wilson’s blog to see a video and read the story. C.C. is doing his best to be Jesus where he is - on stage. Good work Pete, and C.C., we’re proud of you.

Aaron and I are in the process of setting up a video production company. It will be very low budget, but we think that by doing these videos we can reach some people and churches and say some things we can’t otherwise say.

The first video was Shattered, now called Nothing Like Jesus.

The second is tentatively named Get Out. It was finished last week and we will likely rename it soon. If you want to see it, shoot me an email and I’ll send you the link. Otherwise you’ll have to wait until…..

….we launch the website. Innate Productions (n8productions.com) will go live as soon as possible. As soon as possible may still be a few weeks but we’re working hard to get video previews and everything set up. Meanwhile, Nothing Like Jesus will be available on SermonSpice next week. Get Out should follow soon after. I’ll let you know when they are available.

A lot has been going on lately. I know there are millions of you who read this bLog. I apologize for not writing more. In all seriousness, I know there are a handful of you who have told me you not only enjoy reading things here but are better off for reading those things. That means a lot, and I should keep up more. If what God does in my life can influence you in any way, I owe it to you and Him to write more.

I recently finished reading Pop Goes the Church by Tim Stevens. I attended the Arts Conference at Willow Creek and heard him speak on this book/topic. Tim did a great job with the session and this book. I’ve always been one to use pop culture in my classes, even though those classes are few and far between. After reading Wild at Heart several years ago I went back and watched dozens of movies that I thought I had seen only to discover that God was actually in them, as well. I just missed him the first time. The cool thing about looking for God in everything…it makes everything that much better. Things become relevant instead of a waste of time. And, wonder of wonders, if they are relevant, you can use them to communicate to people even more engaged in the world than you. Shame on me for thinking that God would take anything for granted as I do.

I’ll be practicing what I preach, so to speak, on September 3 at 8am during our church’s prayer day. My hour is Prayer Through the Arts, which essentially means you get to listen to music, read stories, watch movies clips, and other awesome stuff - all the while connecting with God. Hopefully it will open some eyes. I know it has opened mine. I’ve had a blast planning it. Most of it was already either written out or in my head, but it’s been fun to run across some new things that I did not expect to find.

From Noah:
He’s learning about common nouns, etc., in school right now. Sister, brother, father, mother and so on. Kristi was attempting to illustrate a point.

Kristi: Does Daddy have any sisters?
Noah: I don’t know.
Kristi: Does Mommy have any sisters?
Noah: [holding hands in air in the why-are-you-asking-me-this pose] I don’t know! I didn’t know you when you were kids!

From Elijah:
We were reading the Bible the other night - a cartoon-like version for kids his age. I turned to the page with Jesus on the cross (and in this Bible he seems a little too okay with being on the cross but like I said, it’s for little kids. And Jesus looks like John Eldredge. Anyway….).

Brian: Elijah, did you know that Jesus died?
Elijah: [looks over to book]
Brian: But do you want to know what’s cool?
Elijah: [nods yes]
Brian: [turning a few pages] …he came back to life!
Elijah: [eyes get really big] Shuh UP!

Here’s a video we filmed for True North (the youth group Wednesday night event). It features youth minister David Skidmore and former NFL quarterback Kelly Holcomb. This was a blast to film and edit. The original is at www.nbyg.org and is about 4 minutes longer. I had to edit out a bit to get it on YouTube.