It’s crazy that the first NOOMA video came out 10 years ago, this month.  

Rob Bell knows how to hustle.

He started Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids. The church has grown to over 10,000 people, and they’ve helped over 175,000 people in Africa in the process.

He’s done a bunch of speaking tours which have been incredibly creative- The Gods Aren’t Angry, Everything is Spiritual, Poets/Prophets/Preachers, and Fit to Smash Ice.

And Rob’s a sharp writer too- Velvet Elvis, Sex God, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, Drops Like Stars… everything he’s written has created huge discussion, for the good of our faith, I think.

His most recent book about hell sparked a firestorm in Christendom. (see link, it’s funny that someone took the time to create this).

For all this, Rob was named to TIME’s 100 most influential people list. Crazy.

Do the math, and you wonder how he ever sleeps, let alone leads a church.

Now Rob has resigned at Mars Hill Church.

(Cue criticism from conservative church leaders)

And he’s joining up with the exec producer from LOST to create a TV show for ABC.

Excited? Thoughts?

I love a good football game.
Problem is, there’s not much football actually being played on Sunday afternoons…

“According to the Wall Street Journal, the average broadcast of a football game lasts 185 minutes. But here’s the thing – only 11 of those minutes are actual game play.

So where do the extra 174 minutes go in airtime?

-Players spend roughly 75 minutes in huddles
-17 minutes are devoted to replays
-Cutaway shots to refs and coaches get 13 minutes
-Cheerleaders get 3 minutes
-Up to 60 minutes are commercials.”

Yup.

Every year, Ben Arment challenges his readers to skip football games and bring their dreams to life.  That’s what Ben did, and the STORY Conference launched the next year, followed by Church in the Making. Then came Dream Year, and now One Thousand Premieres.

I wonder if he’ll ever go back to football.

Go watch COURAGEOUS this weekend. Seriously, it’s that good.

To be honest, I was more than a bit guarded going into it… I hate churchey things, bad acting, and the movie had been so hyped that I was sure it would be a let-down.

Sure, it’s got a bit of bad acting and way too many fade-outs, but man… it certainly wasn’t a let-down.

I’ve NEVER seen a movie that had the audience so wrapped around its finger. It’s not often that you hear genuine laughter in theatres, followed minutes later by sobbing. (even I may or may not have teared up…twice!)

And the message was important- we need godly fathers.

Consider…
There are 24 million children in the US – one in three – living apart from their biological fathers. 2 in 3 for African American children.

Why does this matter?
-Children in father-absent homes are five times more likely to be poor.
-Infant mortality rates are 1.8 times higher for infants of unmarried mothers.
-39% of jail inmates lived in mother-only households.
-Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.

For more sobering stats on the link between fatherlessness and issues like childhood obesity, alcohol and drug abuse, maternal depression, and nicotene addiction, check out Fatherhood.org

So hat’s off to Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Their production company, Sherwood Pictures, has done a good thing: After a line of successful films- Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof- COURAGEOUS is their best so far.

And the box office reflects it- despite opening in just 1,161 theaters, it was the 4th top money-grossing film in the country, bringing in over $9M on its opening weekend. It’s done $21M so far… not bad for a $2M budget!  Congrats to Director/Producers (and brothers) Alex & Stephen Kendrick (co-authors of The Love Dare, a book which has sold over 5M copies), for another stellar flick.

They are changing the way we think about marriage and fatherhood, calling us all to a higher standard of love.

COURAGEOUS… go see it!

Michelle and I went to the Market on Saturday. We were trying samples as this one booth, and the lady says, “hey, you guys should come by my boyfriend’s restaurant tomorrow- two of the Chilean miners are gonna be there.”

How’s that for serendipity?!

So after attending the oldest church (in Guelph) on Sunday, we headed to Salsateria. It’s owned by a Chilean, and when he found out that the two miners, Omar Reygadas and Frank Lobos, were going to be in Toronto, he convinced them to come do a Q&A at his place.

It was amazing.

33 dudes. 70 days. A km underground. No food for the first 17 days. 40 degrees Celcius. 80% humidity. Dust and debris in the air. Most of the men lost 40 pounds over the course of their ordeal. They drank muddy water and wrote goodbye letters to their families.

We asked them all sorts of questions…

How did you keep the mood light?
Chileans are like the Newfies of South America… we laughed and sang and made jokes. We danced and played checkers with rocks. But we expected the worst. The pain was inside. For some of the young guys, it was their first week on the job. We’re so grateful, to God, for a second chance. -Omar-

How many of the 33 men still work in the mining industry?
Only 3, but they’re above-ground. Omar does safety workshops and prevention education. I used to be a 20-year soccer pro in Chile, so I work with the minor league soccer farm teams now. -Frank-

Who’s to blame for the collapse of the mine?
Definitely the company. All the garbage and waste was piled above us. If there was copper in the support columns, they’d chip away at them. It was all very dangerous. Since we’ve been rescued, at least 38 men have lost their lives in mining accidents. Chile has a history of exploiting minors. There was once a massacre of 3000 miners. -both men-

How did you stay hopeful?
There was a 34th miner down there with us. His name was God. I think God planned the mine to collapse. Because, for a moment, the whole world was united, people all over the world were praying, everyone was hoping for the best. God wanted it to happen. I am very grateful to Him. -Omar-