I met the guys from Lanzanator and The Beat Calculator while I was in New York. They are a super cool improv group. They are from Dallas. We were in New York. They were shooting a video. I ended up in the video. I am an awesome dancer. We became friends. End of Story.

Check it out!

(Be sure to check out 2:41 to see some of my super-nova dance moves!)

Take a look at this video as John Mark McMillan talks about where the song came from.  (No, it’s not a David Crowder song.) It’s a powerful story about how God will loves us no matter what, and how He isn’t afraid of our honesty.

The metaphor, “If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.” is perhaps the most powerful one I’ve ever sung.  How true, and how good.  

Man, the grace of God’s love for us is mind blowing.

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

I’m sure they wouldn’t want me to brag on them, but I was excited to find out they have a HUGE bathtub. (For those who don’t know, I’m a “bath” taker. So what, I”m not afraid to admit it.) Not to mention their entire place is awesome! (dual shower heads + dual sinks = AWESOME!) Kyle and I got to their place around midnight tonight, and take a look what we came home to…! Thanks Eryn and Jared, it’s going to be a great week!

Here is a sneak peak “behind the veil” before we get started. Enjoy..!

If you are attending, please be sure to make the short journey to the top of the arena to The Orange Leaders Lounge. I’ll be hanging out there pretty much the entire conference, and you won’t want to miss some of the cool things we’re going to be doing! During the conference you’ll have a chance to come up and meet Donald Miller, Rev Run, Reggie Miller, John & Nancy Ortberg, just to name a few…! In other words, we’re going to be having a GREAT time up there…and rumor has it you’ll be able to come up with your team and great a FREE picture taken in front of some awesome masterpieces created by Hannah Joiner! We’ll also be giving out some prizes, and running contests throughout the conference, so stay tuned..! (You can follow me on twitter for the real-time updates from The Orange Leaders Lounge. @Rick_Smith )

If you aren’t able to attend the conference I am very excited to announce that we are doing something super cool this year at Orange – a live video stream from backstage. You can click this link, and get your fill of “Orange” for the next three days – FOR FREE!!!! This is a great chance for you to get a “sneak peek” at some of the cool things going on backstage at Orange. You’ll also be able to hear some great insight from people who are passionate about helping the church partner with parents and students! (And if your around your computer at 1:10 on Thursday you’ll be able to see, and hear from me! I’m excited to be a part of this, and I think it is super cool that we are able to do this totally free for all of you out in “internet land”!!!)

Again, if you’re at Orange, come up and say hi. If not, check out the link above and enjoy the FREE, live stream…! See you, or tweet you, soon….

p.s. – if you have an iphone, or iPad be sure to download the official Orange iPhone App..!

-Rick

Lately mine has been fast. Too fast. Sure, a fast rhythm can be exciting, but I find I feel more connected to God when I slow down. If we aren’t intentional about slowing down the rhythm of our lives from time to time, April turns into May, and 2009 turns into 2010, and life gets away from us.

We look up and find we aren’t any closer to God in 2010 then we were in 2009. And then 2010 becomes 2020. And there we are, still chasing iPads, and iPhones.

I want to make sure I take time to slow down and connect with God.

It may just be me, but God seems to really like slow rhythms.

As you can see there are many things he is still working out, but to even to have something as innovate as this in the pipeline, I think is epic! I don’t want to get to ‘deep’ here, but it really excited me when Christian organizations are on the cutting edge of technology instead of doing the same ol’, some ol’. I could be wrong, but I think there is something about being creative and using the gifts God has given us that honors Him!

If you have an iPad and want to check this incredible technology out, John has allowed me to post the link for your touch screen pleasure.

(**Disclaimer – My comments regarding other seminaries in no way should be taken seriously. I am not making any theological statements regarding any seminary, or implying that a theological institution is in ANY way “better” then another by the sorts of technology it uses. Those of you who know me in “real life” understand my humor, so if you don’t please take my comments in jest.)

Check it out, and let me know your thoughts. Funny? UnFunny?