It all starts this November 2009!
Join us for this LIVE Online Event // Pastor Kerry Shook and Woodlands Church services online! If you are in the area join us at one of our three locations in The Woodlands, Atascocita or Tomball.
Or if you are elsewhere join us for our BETA test of Church Online and let us know what you think. http://live.woodlandschurch.tv/ Saturday 6:00pm or Sunday 9:30, 11:00am or Wednesday at 9:00am.
See you on campus or online!
Wow, great article posted front page on the Sunday, October 11 Houston Chronicle Newspaper. “Praise for Technology: Tweeting during church services receives blessings from pastors.” Really excited that Pastor Kerry jumped in and is experimenting with new technologies and connecting with the congregation. I am still amazed and how church is viewed and how this sort of thing might create controversy in the public. Check out the comments and the rest of the article here: http://www.chron.com/disp/discuss.mpl/metropolitan/6662287.html
Seems to be a bit of a controversy Tweeting in church. What do you think? Cast YOUR VOTE. Also, fun note: just got off the phone with my other half and she said this is the main article on the front page of the printed edition!! Amazing. Give a quick hello to Pastor Kerry via Twitter and maybe follow Woodlands Church if you want to track with us.
Great article! Your comments and thoughts can be posted via the huge button below.
Great word this weekend from the “Pleasers, Perfectionists, Procrastinators and other people like me” series. Control Freaks is the topic. So which are you? I really identify with all of them at one time or another but recently I seem to fit into the “Worry wart“. Seriously, have I always been that way and just never noticed?
Just in the past year I have really began to experience the consequences for being a control freak. I seem to be very frustrated, fatigued and honestly feel like I am failing. So what now? Lately, I feel like God is just trying to show me how to do well with what I have been given, with what is right in front of me. Make sense, but harder than it sounds. My mind tends to stay 2-5 years ahead of where we are and if I/we are not making progress towards those goals, dreams and the vision then I panic. Still working on this and other things. Feel better just writing it down though. Peace.
Oh yes, types of Control Freaks just in case you can’t read my writing:
Are you a Control Freak? Comments from You
Woodlands Church will be joined by Trade as One September 19th and 20th for a fair trade market. Pastor Kerry and Chris Shook will be interviewing Nathan George, the founder of Trade as One, to learn how our community can make a difference in communities around the world while transforming individual lives and entire families. The Trade as One fair trade market is an extension of our Missions Ministry which is led by Chris Shook.
Trade as One is a fair trade organization that connects American churchgoers to the working poor all over the world. For three weekends, from September 20th-October 4th, Trade as One will be at Woodlands Church, giving everyone in our community a chance to learn more about how we can use our regular spending to bring hope and restoration to some of the darkest corners of the world. Fair trade allows people to give unique, high-quality gifts to family and friends— while giving hope and income to the poor.
http://tradeasone.com/blog/ or http://www.woodlandschurch.tv
Really enjoying Interactive worship and the online experience today. I went to church this morning at http://live.lifechurch.tv/ and heard from Christine Caine from Hillsong. She spoke about the tough reality of slavery today; 27 million people are caught up in slavery. She specifically spoke of sex trade of women and gave several examples of her encounter with girls and women who were kidnapped or sold into this cruel business.
This is a very tough topic and I instantly stopped to pray about what God wants us to do; wants me to do to help. I then began to be very thankful for the opportunity to hear Christine’s story. To hear the other girls story to learn through an online experience. Then I started to think about the thousands of others who have had a similar experience. This is possible because we are learning to become more interactive; engaging; we are learning to be more like Christ. He is giving favor to those who are exploring new areas to deliver the word and His hope.
I am writing all this thinking about the investment that Woodlands Church is making to be more Interactive Next weekend a whole new level of interaction will take place. You will love the leaders behind this new experience, join Kerry Shook, Justin Keller and many more passionate and driven Christ followers and experience something fresh and unique. Find out more at @WoodlandsChurch or #SundayPM. This is just the start. I feel like I want to pour everything I have into creating an online interactive experience, a place where people get excited about and will inspire action and change. I am praying for a fresh perspective and approach to doing what Christ called me to do; us to do.
Would love to hear what you have experienced recently that excited you that you want to learn more about. What new areas are you exploring in the next few months? How are you making this world a better place? I am asking myself the very same questions.
What do you feel compelled to right now? Anything? Let us know here.
Jury is still out but so far I really dig the ripples soulpancake.com is making. Very cool use of social media blogging, etc. Truly worth a visit. @WoodlandsChurch has been posting great discussion questions there. Jump in, it’s fine.
Here’s a quick screen grab of Rainn Wilson’s SoulPancake.com #soulpancake. The site encourages deep, real discussion. Love the angle. Mostly, I am seeing a lot of bickering but some really good comments here and there. Careful not to confuse “spiritivity” with following Christ. Fine line. Know where it is.
Still compiling notes from some outstanding talks with amazing leaders this week. To quickly summarize the things that stood out the most are vision, energy, strategy and execution. They all have it, they all live it and they all expect it. If we are going to be effective in the marketplace, ministry or anywhere for that matter – we need to lead. Check out the line-up below, blog posts to come this week.
Part I
Glenn Gienko
Motorola
Executive Human Resources – Retired
Topic: “Leading with Strategy & Integrity” – (Talk plus Q&A – Half Day)
Part II
Bobby Gruenwald, Terry Storch, Craig Groeshel, John Otjen
LifeChurch.tv
Pastors, Digerati & Innovation Team
Topic: “Innovation, Technology, Church Online & More” – (Round table and Tour 2-Days)
Part III
Kerry Shook
WoodlandsChurch.tv
Senior Pastor and Best Selling Author One Month to Live
Topic: “Capturing the wonder of an untamed God.” (Staff Refresh 1-Day)
Stay tuned. Can’t wait. Peace.
Check out this great article on Church’s going mobile by Daniel Darnell at Collide Magazine.
Whether you’re an iPhone hater or an avid user, you must admit it is one of the most revolutionary devices of our time. With its innovative multi-touch screen, simple user interface, App Store, and Internet capabilities, the iPhone has forever changed the mobile phone market.
With this change comes a whole new way of communicating and accessing information on the go. It’s never been easier to check the weather, contact a friend, or find a cup of coffee near you. The question, then, is how the Church will respond to this easy accessibility of information?
A few churches, including LifeChurch.tv and New Hope Christian Fellowship, are leading the way by creating iPhone-friendly applications and websites. Though the idea may sound simple, the current popularity of the iPhone (and smart phones in general), along with the exponentially growing market, make the mobile Web an important tool to help reach and inform the people of your church and beyond. Apple reports that more than 10 million iPhones have been sold worldwide (not including this holiday season’s sales), while their App Store has facilitated more than 300 million downloads. The new mobile frontier holds great potential and must be utilized by the Church.
http://www.collidemagazine.com/article/177/the-mobile-friendly-church
Series art for “Where The Wild Things Are” Capturing the Wonder of an Untamed God. We had a ton of fun shooting for this one. The original story was written by Maurice Sendak. You can check out the new movie trailer here http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/. Woodlands Church is kicking off the new series right after Easter! The video team is working on the promo video now and we should have a link soon to preview. By the way, the kids in the shot are Blakers and Savannah, they did an amazing job. Also, we had a seriously talented team involved in this project: Justin Keller, Roy Ford, Toby Canning and Charles Booth. Very very fun. Here are some shots.
One more. Kinda blurry but still cool.
Geoff McFetridge did all of the hand-drawn title sequencing for the upcoming release of Spike Jonze’s, “Where The Wild Things Are” full length feature film.
Great article about Kerry and the church. Very cool.
Kerry Shook, Pastor of Fellowship of the Woodlands in Houston TX kicked off this year’s Keynote sessions at the NRB with a message about how God wants to use the same process seen in Genesis Chapter 1 in our lives and ministries.
There are essentially six steps in the process according to Pastor Shook. These steps are Light, Land Life, Likeness, Leverage and Limits.
Link here: http://www.cwnewz.com/content/view/578/2/
Heard Chapel Live was amazing last weekend. I am looking forward to checking it out this Sunday night. We will probably go to the 5:30pm service. We have not attended services in the Chapel yet – should be fun. I think we will have to move our small group meeting time around, we usually meet Sunday nights as well. We will see. College age to thirty-somethings will probably love the service.
I’ll post some photos of the service after this weekend.
Highway 242, The Woodlands, Texas – Waters Receding, on my way to Saturday Night services just after Hurricane Ike moved north.
Hurricane Ike Hit us Friday Night with about 70 to 100 MPH winds; trees fell, power went out and life seemed to stop for about 24/48 hours. Woodlands Church however pushed forward and held services as promised Saturday evening at 6:00pm. About 400 brave people decided join us for services (without power) in the Chapel in The Woods. Pretty cool service actually. Afterward we held sign-ups for those who needed help with trees, food, water, ice, etc and those who were able to get out early and start helping. Since then we have cleared over 100 homes of trees and debris, distributed over 50,000 meals, hundreds of thousands of bottled water, not sure about the hot meals, I think about 15,000 to 20,000 so far and we are just getting started.
Check out more information on what we are doing to help the community get back to par.
http://www.fotw.org/main/connect/churchimpact/
What is a PodCamp?
A PodCamp is a usually free BarCamp-style community UnConference for new media enthusiasts and professionals including bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, social networkers, and anyone curious about new media. The first PodCamp was held September 8-10, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts. PodCamps are now being held worldwide.
PodCamp isn’t just about podcasting! If you’re interested in blogging, social media, social networking, podcasting, video on the net, if you’re a podsafe musician (or want to be), or just someone curious about new media, then please join us — and bring a friend or colleague.
Check out a PodCamp nearest you. We may have to travel to Austin, TX to see if this social media, new technology, unconference is worth the time.
Link here: http://www.podcamp.org/
WoodlandsChurch.tv / Kerry Shook Podcast: http://www.kerryshook.org/podcast-subscribe.asp
LifeChurch.tv / Craig Groeschel Podcast: http://internet.lifechurch.tv/resources/podcasts
It is time. The Woodlands Church Northwest Campus preview service is tonight 6pm at Concordia High School! Myra’s family is excited about the new church opening there in the Klein/249/Tomball area. They have visited the Fellowship Campus off and on for the past 4 years and they have always said, “We just wish you guys were closer.” We’ll now we are! Going to be very cool to launch the new campus on the Northwest side of town. We have over 800 people join us at the Woodlands Church East Campus launch in Humble/Kingwood/Atascocita area this time last year. We will see what tonight looks like! God is amazing, He get’s all the credit. It is just amazing to see the vision come to reality! Good work guys.
Keep up with the updates via http://www.Twitter.com/WoodlandsChurch or http://www.woodlandschurch.tv! Very very very exciting. Pray that this new location reaches thousands for Christ this year!
The One Month to Live series kicked-off February 2008 and it was amazing. We had over 19 people in our small group and over 2,000 small groups going through the study during the Spring. Truly amazing. First off, great job Kerry for following your gut instinct on waiting 14 years to write your first book and then pushing through to make it happen. The short story is the book hit the New York times bestseller list within the first couple of weeks it landed in bookstores. Even cooler is Rick Warren wrote the forward as well as endorsed by Bill Hybels, Joel Osteen, Craig Groeschel and others.
The bigger news is this fall over 1,000 churches are taking the One Month to Live Challenge. Just search “One Month to Live” at YouTube.com and check out some of the promo videos available. Fun stuff. Also, check out some featured artwork from CreativeMYK.com. It’s interesting, from what I read on the artist’s portfolio page this artwork is being created for a television series? Watch out.
link here: http://www.onemonthtolive.com
link here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/books/bestseller/0302besthardadvice.html
link here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A3LD5739AAMXVM?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview
Excellent new series at Woodlands Church. Fresh, Reviving Stale Faith. To the ancients, daily life included spiritual disciplines such as meditation, silence, fasting and confession. Our modern world has all but abandoned these time-honored principles, giving way to overcrowded agendas, busy schedules and a fast-paced existence. In this powerful new series, Pastor Kerry Shook explores these ancient disciplines and reveals the irony of how old patterns of the past can become new practices that promise to revive a faith that is stale. Come hear how a return to the past can bring great reward to the present!
Link here: http://www.woodlandschurch.tv or http://www.fotw.org
Pouring a fresh cup of coffee this morning and thinking about how cool it would be to tap into the coffee business. My Grandmother just told me about six weeks back that her brother owned a Community Coffee plant in Monroe, Louisiana (Jack Kelley). How cool is that, our family owned a community coffee plant? I love the taste of Community Coffee (almost as much as Starbucks Coffee). It just really makes me think about the risk he had to take to get that bad boy off the ground, the hard work and time that was invested. Was he able to leave the plant to someone he trusted; to his kids or to a trusted business friend? Did he sell out and use the money for something even bigger or did he just blow it on something else? I will definitely have to dig a bit to pull out the details on that one. How cool would it be to know that one day you would be left something as big as a Community Coffee plant? That opportunity would be amazing!
Family History and Legacy is interesting for me. I have not exactly been left a Community Coffee plant. To be honest, to think about what our parents left us is extremely painful at times, yet some parts are so mysteriously gratifying. Even though things have been tough, we are “struggling well” today.
Option #1 – Leave an Amazing Legacy
Our mom invested in us Spiritually, she followed Christ and submitted her life to God – not perfectly but she did. She loved us, she loved others, she loved life and we saw it. She got all that from her mother who got that from her Father – my great grandfather. They have instilled a deep rich love for God and Christ that I am so grateful for. Even though I have struggled through this life I know I have a Father God who cares for me and has invested in me and protects me even today. So my mom, grandmother and great grandfather loved Christ – for some reason they all chose to settle down with people who could care less. Two very important words come to mind: equally yoked. This inequality in Christ and contrasting views of life have made a ripple in our family that we are still battling today.
Option #2 – Leave a Painful Leftover
When I think of leftovers, I think of the “stuff” that we were left with that we are still struggling through today even with God leading and guiding us. We are still paying for what our parents left us. This isn’t your normal mid-life crisis bullet list – we were left with some crazy stuff (Drugs and Alcohol use, domestic violence, loss of parents, divorce, shame, guilt, physical abuse just for starters) that has really brought all of us to our knees to focus on God’s plan for our lives. At times we have allowed our parents consequences to impact our choices in a negative way which brings about more negative consequences. I learned this lesson quick.
Myra and I talk about this every now and then about how God must have a plan for our lives – it is really amazing when we look back and see what we both have experienced and how God had protected us but that most of what we experienced was a direct result of our parents decisions and their consequences. We are still experiencing their consequences, the trick is for us to do the hard work and trust God to help lead us into a place where we can leave a legacy for our kids. To throw out the leftovers.
At the Leadership Summit Bill Hybels presented the life of Mother Teresa as an amazing testimony to leaving a legacy. She clearly heard God’s call on her life and left everything she knew to go care for the sickest in the world. She did not live to leave a legacy she just answered a call to care for others which left an amazing impact. She was not all jacked up on her ego, escaping in drugs, trying to be like everyone else and “buy” a better life. She simply prayed that God would use her and that He would speak to her and that He would love her. He did. Even when she did not feel so loved, she still did His work. She left an amazing legacy.
Am I going to inherit and pass on a successful coffee plant or something a bit simpler yet so much more impactful? We were designed to leave our print on others; to let God work through us. We were designed to leave an amazing legacy. As I begin to think about the legacy that was left for Myra and me and our brothers and sisters it makes me want to live a life that our kids will one day be proud to write about – that they will feel that we cared for more than just ourselves. That we have had a glimpse of the life that we were created for and that we will make the choices that will leave a legacy that will outlast us.
Something cool, get a FREE Legacy Journal online here to get started thinking about the legacy you are leaving your family, friends and community: http://www.legacyjournal.org/
Just pumped about the fact that we are moving forward on a new content management system that will channel our content and…… take us mobile. love it. We have a simple landing page for now with service times, address, contact info and links to Twitter, Facebook, Email subscribe and Blog. It’s a start. Also just picked up a quick read (102 pages) on Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll. It’s really basic but a good place to start. You can actually pick up most the info online with a little google search but I still am a book feen.
Also, just some quick stats to blow your mind as of 2006, Mobile Web Design. Check out the world usage of mobile phones versus the television or creditcard below. Ok, this is cool stuff.
TYPE YEARS WORLD USAGE
Automobile 100 800 Million
PC 30 850 Million
Landline Phone 110 1.3 Billion
Credit Card 40 1.4 Billion
TV 60 1.5 Billion
Mobile Phone 35 2.7 Billion
Link here for book: http://mobilewebbook.com/
Link here for Cameron Moll: http://cameronmoll.com/
Link here for usability: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/
Link here for mobile interface design: http://www.punchcut.com
