alexschwindt.com

Good Night, and Good Luck

Hey everyone.  As you may have noticed if you're still stopping by, this blog has been inactive for going on three months now.  Over the past year my life priorities have changed to some degree.  I've started back to school, and have been taking huge classloads with the intention of finishing in the spring of 2009.  I've also been asked to take on the role of Webmaster for RiverValleyRockford.org, which continues to expand in scope and ambition as time progresses.

All of which is to say, I think I'm going to have to suspend the blog for the time being.  As to what this site will become in the future, I'm not exactly sure yet.  Feel free to stop in again from time to time to see what's going on.  Thanks for making this site a part of your life.

alex

Weekend Set List

This weekend we spent a little more time than normal in musical worship, and it's great that so many of you were really able to experience God in service this morning.  Thanks so much for all of the encouragement - it's great to get to serve each other.  Here's the set list from this weekend -

"Salvation" by Charlie Hall ("Road to One Day")
"Everything Glorious" by David Crowder Band ("Remedy")
"I Will Overcome" by Charlie Hall ("On the Road to Beautiful")
"When the Tears Fall" by Tim Hughes ("When Silence Falls")
"Mighty to Save" by Hillsong ("MIghty to Save")

"why-fi" series kickoff

Last weekend we kicked off our new "Why-Fi" series at River Valley, and it was definitely some good times.  So many people worked so hard to pull together something that would be dynamic and engaging, and it was so fulfilling to see it all become reality.  I had high hopes for this one, but in a lot of ways reality actually exceeded my expectations (especially the stage - check out the 'Staging' link to the right!).  It was also encouraging to have so many people come to worship and experience God - last weekend was our biggest as far as attendance since I've been at River Valley. 

Probably even more encouraging than the attendance numbers was the way people participated during the service.  We've been working really hard over the past year or two to make our worship experiences more interactive, and "Why-Fi" has taken that to a whole new level . . .

worship styles and philosophies

Hey Everybody.  So this weekend at River Valley was amazing, and it felt great to work with our team to pull together something that felt so groundbreaking and unique.  I'll planning to write more about that tomorrow or Thursday.

But before I do that, I want to write about something that's come up over the last few days.  In a post I wrote a few weekends ago a new friend challenged me on what authentic worship should sound like and look like and feel like.  Over the past 14 years I've share many similar conversations.  Most of them begin as discussions about musical styles, but it you stick with them long enough you'll find something deeper under the surface . . .

Easter Plans

And just when you thought your church's plans for Easter were out there . . . Mission Bay Church in S.F. is launching their Easter series entitled "Come and Follow Mii."  If you look closely in the graphic you can see the Easter Bunny doesn't think much of the Mii Jesus, as his thoughts are so dark that the can't even be articulated. 

I would really love to know how this one works out.  Anyone else trying something 'out-there' for Easter?

Drums

Last night I had the chance to go play, really play, drumset again for the first time in a few years.  Some good friends of mine are putting together a new band (Briarhill - more about that later), and they invited me to come and play drums for them last night.  It was so much fun.

It's been great developing a number of other artistic gifts over the past few year, but in all of that time I think drumset's remained my first love (artistically!).  There's simply nothing like the feeling of commanding that much natural musical power and harnessing to create something rich and subtle and complex and simple.   I love me some drums.

Song Set

Hey All.  Worship was blast to celebrate together this morning.  You know those mornings when when the whole band and building and congregation seem to pulse with a holy life of their own?  This was one of those days. 

A number of you have wanted to know about the music we did in church this morning.  Here's the set list -

"Let God Arise" - Chris Tomlin ("See the Morning" album)
"Everything Glorious" - David Crowder Band ("Remedy")
"Over My Head" - The Fray ("How to Save a Life")
"God of This City" - Passion ("God of This City")
"Revolution" - Starfield ("Starfield")

By the way, if you haven't had a chance to check out the band Starfield, you may want to give their stuff a listen.  We're beginning to use a lot of their stuff at River Valley, mostly 'cause it rocks hard enough to satisfy our peeps.  Check out "All for You" and "My Generation".  Very cool stuff.

daylight savings time

Ok, we need to talk about this.  Daylight Savings Time is stupid.  That's right, I said it.  It's basically just a holiday for morning people.  Why, exactly does it exist?  I'll tell you why.  Because politicians and yuppies of all stripes don't like the fact that their lives are structured in such a way as to require them to drive to work at an hour of night that's dark 5 months of the year. 

So what's the solution???  "Let's rob an hour of daylight from people with normal sleep schedules!  So what that everyone's confused unnecessarily two weekends a year.  So what that sunset begins at 4:30PM in some places.  I want sunshine when I drive my Volvo into the office!"

I'm sitting in my office right now enjoying the fact that it's 4:19PM and it doesn't feel like the day's almost over today.  It's nice.  To all of you who fought so hard and won a few more weeks of normal daylight time last year, my hat's off to you.  Let's keep fighting the good fight out there!   

Anyone else feelin' me on this one? 

please pray

By now most of you have heard about yesterday's shooting rampage at Northern Illinois University.  We all need to be praying for the families and students involved.  A number of my friends were in classes on campus when the shooting started, and I'm grateful to God that they're all ok.  So many lives have been lost or changed forever, and so many families are in pain right now.  Please, please be in prayer.

which would you rather?

So would you rather have it cloudy and 20 degrees or sunny and -20?  What if you hadn't seen sunlight it three months?  These are the questions you find yourself asking when you live this far north.  (sigh)

It's snowing outside again, and I'm not sure if I have the heart to get out and shovel my driveway again for the umpteenth time this winter.  I'd invest in a blowtorch except I know I'd burn myself to a cinder.  (sigh again)

falling in love again

For me there's usually only one album in any given year that moves from the normal realm of appreciation and sets up long-term residence in the affection zone of my heart.  I wait and wait for that one album to appear, sometimes patiently, sometimes not.  This year, I think that album may be coming in four parts. 

Jon Foreman, lead singer of the group Switchfoot, recently set out to record his first solo acoustic album.  Instead of releasing one full-length album, Jon's opted to release four EPs (5-6 songs) over the course of a year.  To date he's released Fall and Winter. 

I can't even begin to put into words what a revelation the song on these EPs are.  Foreman was already as songwriter I have enormous respect for, but in many ways this project feels like the fulfillment of all the promises of his earlier work.  Beyond the songwriting, the arrangements subtle and daring, and engineering is superb.  I can't recommend these two EPs enough. 

Although it's difficult to single anyone song out above another, if you're the iTunes type and you want to get a good idea of what these projects are like, check out "Somebody's Baby" off the Winter EP.  Leave a comment to this post and let us all know your impressions.

hey . . .

Hey everyone.  I know it's been almost three months since I posted anything to this blog, and I've missed doing it a lot.  There's a process that I've been going through for the past few months that has really taken me out of my normal life patterns.  Taking a break from this form of communication has been something I committed to as a part of that process. 

But now I'm ready to get back into it.  There've been so many things I wanted to share with you all over the past month, and I'm going to enjoy (hopefully) getting back into that dialog.  Honestly, it's felt pretty good to get messages from those of you out there who have enjoyed the conversation, and I've appreciated the encouragement.

Look for new content here in the coming days and weeks, and drop a line in the Reply box when you have time!

willow creek's apology

Some of you have written me in the last couple of weeks about Willow Creek's recent apology to it's church for some of the ways it had pursued ministry.  After conducting a monster study of it's community, the leaders of Willow Creek found that high participation doesn't equate to creating disciples.  You can here the Senior Pastor, Bill Hybels, talk more about it click here. 

It's cool to hearing them reaching some of the same conclusions that I'm reaching in my own life and ministry.  I've been involved in churches of 60 and churches of 6,000, and yet some of the very best ministry I've ever been a part of is happening in my small group right now.  It's making me reevaluate the way I'm spending my life, and it's awesome to know that God's moving in other Christian's hearts the same way.

(by the way, please don't leave comments bashing Willow.  I have a huge amount of respect for these folks and this 'apology' only makes me respect them more.  I've never deleted a comment on this blog, and I'd hate to start now!)

grassroots kingdom blog

What's up world?  If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, I really want to encourage you today to head over to GrassrootsKingdom.org and check out this new blog.  It's run by a friend of mine named Dan Hinz, and I really  think you'll get a lot out of reading some of the things on his mind and heart.

Personally, my favorite entry so far is his "Call to Worship" post.  Really deep, meaningful stuff.  So when you have a moment, click here to stop by. 

when i grow up

Remember when you were growing up and your mom would come into your room and tell you that you needed to 'Get to work,' and you'd say 'I am working, I'm playing video games,' and your mom would say 'Video games aren't work, you'll never make a living playing video games?' 

Holy smoke, did she miss that call . . .

The CPL (Cyberathlete Professional League) has just announced that in December they'll be hosting a $1 Million Halo Tournament.  The competition is open to everyone and the winner of the tournament will go home with $250,000 - in cash.  The other $750,000 will be split between the next 64 runners-up. 

I would pay big money to be in the room the first time some kid uses this as rational for why they need more time at the video game console.  Of course, knowing my boys, there's a good chance I will be.

it's alive!

It's up, it's up, it's finally up!  As many of you have pointed out (some more forcefully than others!) it's been almost two months since I've posted anything to this blog.  And I owe you an explanation . . .

For 15 months we've been working on a new website for River Valley, and as we entered what (I believed) was the "home stretch" period I vowed me a vow that I wasn't going to post anything more until I got that project finished.  Needless to say, the "home stretch" was a much longer stretch than I anticipated, but a vow is a vow . . .

The good news, the site's finally (FINALLY) up!!!  Check it out HERE.

More to come . . .

wwe wrestling scandal

So there's a new scandal breaking today in the world of sports.  Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, right?  Maybe you'd better sit down if you're not already. 

Today World Wrestling Entertainment (formally the WWF) suspended 10 or its wrestlers for failing steroids test.  Can you believe it?

With all of the ugliness that has plagued professional baseball, football and basketball recently, I think I speak for sports fans everywhere when I say we were all looking to professional wrestling as the last bastion of athletics in its purest form.  We all knew that with wrestling, you could trust the training and dedication of these seasoned, mature sportsmen.  The whole enterprise practically gleamed with the glow of unquestionable integrity.   

All I can say is I'm shocked.  Shocked!  I think we all need to look inside ourselves and ask what kind of a world are we leaving to future generations . . .

(and for those of you who think I'm writing this to avoid addressing the fact that I turn 31 today, I'm appalled and shocked.  Shocked!!!)

concept video

This is a video I created for worship last weekend.  Hope it brings you some encouragement today.

rocky mountain high

Hey all.  Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything.  We just got back from Colorado late last week, and I finally found sometime to get back online.  Colorado was awesome by the way.  Our family took a horseback ride together through Rocky Mountain State Park, which was really extraordinary.  It was so peaceful and secluded - I've never in my life felt closer to nature. 

By the way, Estes Park is pretty great too.  I hope I can make it back sometime soon (hopefully next time with a snowboard welded to my feet!)  More cool stuff coming soon . . .

the arena of ideas

One of the things I've been wrestling with over the past couple of years is how to best to engage people seeking God, and how to engage on an artistic and intellectual level.  For a long time I had bought into the supposition that creating message series based on popular culture (movies, tv shows, ad campaigns) was the most effective way to do this.  After years of attempting to master this re-creative approach, I find I can no longer employ this approach.

While I still believe some elements can be redeemed in the context of worship gatherings, I'm not satisfied to simply imitate culture.  Pop culture is ephemeral.  As John Mayer said, we as a culture have a way to smothering the things we love by embracing them too tightly.  By the time an arts ministry can incorporate a concept into an upcoming series, the moment has passed.  Plus, by basing a series on pop culture we subtle reinforce that culture and undermine our own concepts.

My goal now is to compete in the arena of ideas, to strive for original and arresting forms of expression.  From conception to design to completion, to create series 'packaging' with enough artistic merit that it rattles around in the mind and enough depth that it resonates deeply in the heart.  It's much more difficult to complete with Hollywood and Madison Avenue that to cooperate, but to imitation never inspired true artistry.   Let alone prolonged attention.

Best of all, to compete in the arena of ideas cannot be done alone.  The weight of the task forces you beyond your limits into a world of collaboration, and artistic collaboration towards God-honoring ends is the most sublime of all experiences.

So how are those of you involved in arts ministries in your local context approaching this area?  Leave a comment below and let me know where you are on this.