Eric's Eddyfications

Sunday Morning at DT Napes

This morning I had a sentimental exprience at church, at my home campus in downtown Naperville. First of all, most all of my small group that we birthed last year was in attendance, which is always awesome.
Jon Ferguson delivered the message, which was excellent. A well told story about how money can be thought of for us as a tool, a test, and a trademark. Great stuff delivered well.
But then there were the artists. Doug White was leading the band, with fellow 'old timer' Pat Fosnacht on bass. But the thing that stood out to me were some of the other key contributing artists.
Lindsay Malcolm-Williams sang the special, Carrie Underwood's song "Change." it was awesome. Jeremiah Higgins played electric guitar and led us in a reflective communion moment with a slowed down rendition of "Grace Like Rain," and Ryan Sudol was serving at the sound board.
All three are adults, some married, some with kids, but all three "grew up" in this church. Ryan as an elementary school kid appeared in some of our earliest attempts at original videos. Lindsay babysat for our Sadie when she was a baby, I remember having to drive her home because she wasn't old enough to drive herself. And Jeremiah has been playing every instrument his dad Dylan would let him since as long as I can remember. Drums were first for him though, I remember trying to guide him in how you don't have to fill every sixteenth note with a drum fill. Good stuff.
Last week at "the Green Room" Rod Parsley talked about the need for multigenerational worship, and I was happy to see it playing out this morning at Community. Because, you see, the generations were playing alongside each other: it wasn't ushering out the old folks, nor was it excluding the younger ones because they hadn't "paid their dues." They were all up onstage together, worshiping, serving, using their gifts.
But most importantly, to the attenders around and all the artists, it just seemed normal. Like something we would do naturally. And I love being a part of a community like that.
They didn't know why I took their pictures this morning, but they smiled nonetheless...

American Idol is back

Okay, I hesitated to do this, but well, here goes. I'm venturing into the world of American Idol for the 9th time, in the form of whimsical quips based on my reactions to the performances. First impressions are everything, and we start with the girls... as in the past, I comment before the judges say anything...

Paige Miles: "It's Alright Now" - Not bad, but seems like she's phoning in her energy.

Ashley Rodriguez: "Happy" - What a bad song. And not performed well. I'm probably biased by how trite I think it is to glamorize being "happy."

Janell Wheeler: "What About Love" - This song is too big for her voice, and she was shaking.

Lilly Scott: "Fixing a Hole" - She's not just quirky, when she belts it's grounded. First one I've really enjoyed.

Katelyn Epperly: "Oh! Darling" - A little Sandy-in-leather-at-the-end-of-Grease, but hey, I always like that part of the movie... Missed the last note, but didn't really come alive until the last verse.

Haeley Vaughn: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" - Girl can belt. Really really good.

Lacey Brown: "Landslide" - Did not like this - if Lilly was honestly quirky, then Lacey was faking it.

Michelle Delamor: "Fallin'" - She was good but seemed more like a copycat to me, not unique as an artist.

Didi Benami: "The Way I Am" - I like her a lot, interesting, believable and striking. Missed the last note.

Siobhan Magnus: "Wicked Game" - Can't say she sounds like the original artist. Can't say her name either.

Crystal Bowerson: "Hand in My Pocket" - Love it, love her. Stop playing the harmonica.

Katie Stevens: "Feeling Good" - The problem with this pick is that the song is all about that horn run. And this round gives us a crap synth instead. Bad pick for her, but I like her still.

Judges: please stop hitting your hands on the table. Kara, I'm looking at you.

So there you go. Who's your favorite? I can't remember their names yet, but I like harmonica girl, big curly hair girl, and white straight bangs girl.

My trip to Little Rock

I spent Saturday and Sunday this weekend in Little Rock, Arkansas. My offical assignment was to check in with Mark DeYmaz at Mosaic Church. I am the producer of the "main session" content for the Exponential Conference in Orlando in April, and Mark's worship team is providing the music for the event. This was our first meeting to go over the sessions.

We had a great meeting! I am really excited about the collaboration. Mosaic is a multiple-ethnic church and their worship style really reflects that. In their facility, which is an abandoned strip mall they lease, they hang flags from the countries that their congregation represent. There are currently over 300 nations represented.

Sunday morning I also checked out Fellowship Bible, a multisite megachurch in West Little Rock. Their space was literally beyond belief. While Mosaic was housed In a strip mall, Fellowship looked like it was a mall. I had an omelette there with my coffee. The music was tight and clean, and ther service was smooth. I'm attaching a bunch of pictures from both, see if you can tell the difference. Both working, in different ways, to bring the gospel to the same town. Cool stuff.

No Cryin' in the Green Room

Today I am co-hosting "The Green Room" a gathering of artists for an all day conference-ish kinda thing at Willow Creek Community Church. Nancy Beach has graciously agreed to give me a microphone and allow me the opportunity to yammer about stuff, segue from one thing to another, and basically hang out all day. If you already know about it, then you're already going to be there, because you know that it's playing near you at a church you've heard of or maybe you attend.

If you haven't though, for some reason, you should go here, type in your zip code, and then crash the proceedings at the closest broadcast location to you. Tell 'em Eric sent you. It won't get you in free or anything, but it would be fun to see how they would handle it.

If you are attending, you can get downloadable materials right here. Here's to a great day!