Game… Cocks…

It all starts tonight. USC. NC State. Williams-Brice Stadium. 80,000 fans.
I can hear “2001″ already.

Game on.

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Saw these two commercials this week – and these 76 seconds were single-handedly (not a real word according to spell check…) able to make my September one of the most look-forwarded-to months of the year. Tom Petty, you were so right.

Whew…

Well that was a week.

And we’ve been here before – back in January the Creative Dept had to pull out all the stops and work like mad – a little time we liked to call the Days O’ Death.  And now, we’re doing it all again. x10. We’ve been at it like mules for the past two weeks, and I think there’s probably another week or so left before we’re treading (not a word I can spell confidently for some reason) water again. But it’s all worth it.  And here’s why:

- We started the week last Sunday with an Evening of Worship at McGlohon Theatre the way-too-cool-for-school venue that is the home of our Elevation Uptown campus.  That same night, we also began a Daniel Fast, 21 days of fasting from basically everything you like to eat – say goodbye to meat, cheese, dairy, flour, sugar, caffeine, preservatives.  Say hello to a world of fruits, veggies, rice cakes, and corn meal. And millet. Which I think are the tiny beads in shotgun shells… It’s been a great time of cleansing and focusing and prayer though, and it’s exciting anticipating the things God is going to do this fall.

- We put on a crazy two-night student event called Awakening: Students… Me and Jared put together some cool promotional stuff and a rad website treasure hunt.  Check it out here. And at the end of it all Saturday, over 170 students had given their hearts to Jesus over the weekend.

- We launched the much-heralded Elevation Uptown campus to overwhelming success… 580 people at the first worship experience. A whole new world for a gypsy church that meets in high schools and senior centers. Crazy delicious.

- We kicked-off our biggest and most important series of the fall, The Gospel – 3 weeks of intense teaching and prayers for the salvation of our lost friends. It also featured yours truly whirling boxes on a giant rubix cube-like object during “Viva La Vida.”

Yeah, I may have been worn out and pushed hard and stretched thin, but at the end of the week, over 600 people made decisions for Christ between Awakening: Students and the first week of the Gospel series, a number that is so much greater than any of the exhaustion I felt at the end of yesterday.  Which was a lot. Let’s do it again…

*photos courtesy of Sean Lyon, Christy Collins.

On The 1’s and 2’s…

As summer comes wandering to a close, here are a few of the hot jams I’ve had on repeat recently.  The rest of your senses are gonna get jealous once you let ears take it all in.  Enjoy.

Sleepercar – West Texas
- I saw these guys with the Old 97’s a few weeks back, and while I didn’t know the band, I did recognize a face. This is the alt-country (more alt than country) side project of Jim Ward (of At the Drive-In/Sparta fame) and while still embracing Ward’s signature melancholy, this feels a lot more Texas than any of his previous work – some pedal steel here and there, some brushy backbeats, and general sense of open endedness that makes the whole better than its parts. This seems like a CD you’d listen to from start to finish as you catch your breath and drive through the night.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
- I think I got on this bandwagon seconds before it was the thing to do. At least I’ll tell myself that. And we all know there are more sad-guy singer-songwriters out there than coffeeshops, but then there are songs like “Skinny Love” restoring your hope in the messy broken heart, and songs like “Re:Stacks” that, even after clocking in at almost 7 minutes, feel too short and you start it over again before the last note is done.  More rough around the edges than Iron & Wine and more believable than Dashboard at his most vulnerable – it’s just plain good.

Avett Brother – Second Gleam
- Not a whole lot needs to be said about this most recent release from Concord’s favorite sons – this is the closing chapter of their pre-mainstream success – just Scott and Seth and eight pensive, personal songs away from the hubbub of their scatter-shot punk/country half breed sound.  A brief and sincere pause to remember the memories.  And a line like “Always remember, there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name” makes you feel both pride for your family and guilt for not thinking about it sooner.

Black Kids – Partie Traumatic
– Imagine if The Cure had been tapped to do all the proms in those John Hughes teen flicks. This sounds like a sweaty dance floor – in a good way.  Some great, synthy power-pop for the first and last of those hot summer nights.

Oh and in case you’re lazy and/or forgetful, Elevation Worship’s new album We Are Alive is still as good as ever and now even better – because its on iTunes. Go. Buy It. Now.

July In Review, Part B.: Meanwhile, At the Office…

So here’s the deal – outside of these guys, my office is the best place to come to work everyday. I wake up every morning and say “There is nowhere else I’d rather go to work.” Actually, maybe this place too. But nonetheless, here’s a few of the things we got ourselves into in July – and as soon as they would happen, I’d say “I’m putting that on the blog.” Well, thanks to my procrastination, today is that day. Let the memories begin…

- Like the time we found out that the Baskin Robbins Heath Bar shake was the most unhealthy thing you could ever drink – 2,100 calories, 100+ grams of fat… you could throw down on a box of Heath bars (not the fun size – we’re talking 11 full size…) and still not have the same caloric intake. So, upon finding this out we immediately went out and bought little 100 lb Caleb one. And he drank it. And then we played 4 Square.

He should have thrown up. Instead he gained 5 pounds.

- Or the time I ordered a poster from the Bruce Springsteen store and they sent me an XXL shirt instead… so Chris Brown turned it into his office nighty…

- Or the time we found a turtle in the street and built him a ranch and named him Henri.

- And then there was the time when Jared the intern and I drove ice cream trucks around on a Sunday and gave away dreamcicles. No, really.

That’s not a joke.

- And we can’t forget about the trip to New York (the state, not the city) with L Star and Pastor Steven for the Generation Conference, where we hung out with the illustrious Gareth Gilpin, ate breakfast with Pastor Craig Groeschel, and rode around all weekend with  Bill the Driver – the world’s biggest “Monday Night Football” fan (the song, not the show) who told us warm Diet Coke would turn into both poison and plastic…

Pastor Steven with Bill the Driver. He was awesome.

- And finally there was the time when a volunteer spilled Sprite on a MacBook and, after shedding tears at the Mac Store when they said it was toast, we trashed it in the parking lot.  Watch and enjoy.

And there it is… you can send your application for employment here or here or here.

July In Review, Part A.: Birthday Bonanza

oh man. i’m just chock full of empty promises. Not only did I not deliver on a blog about New York and what not, I just totally bypassed the blog completely last week. But July is over, and so is the blog-light summer (I thought it was just June… but oh no – with all the promise July began with, it fizzled and fell with a thud like a cheap firework). So I thought I’d take the week to catch you up on July – beginning with the best part – my birthday. It’s actually not officially over – my birthday buddy and I have both set a deadline for August 12 as the official end of the Watson-Sworth birthday season… go ahead and get your late gifts in now. But I did in fact turn 25 – which means I’m a freakin’ quarter century. Here’s your non-silver lining – I’m closer to 50 than 0. Sheesh. Moving on.

So my birthday was probably better than yours. I’m just saying. That is unless your birthday included skydiving, PF Changs, Maggiano’s, a GPS named Ivan, a fishbowl you can hang on the wall, a gun that shoots plastic cats, a hammock, both a carrot and confetti cake (not in the same cake, that’d be gross), a giant barrel of facebook love, a few days at the beach, bacon cheeseburgers, all sorts of books, music and movies from the coolest sisters known to man, Big Bob GIbon’s BBQ and some quality time with the loves of my life – my familia, my amigos and my hot lady. Go ahead, I’ll allow you time to seeth in your jealousy. Here’s some visual support to get that going:

me and the littlest Sworth – throwing up gang signs.  We’re pretty rough and tumble…

me and the hot lady, beachin’ it in Edisto.

kayaking on the marsh, pro-style.

suiting up for the big jump with Gene.

the birthday boys and their respective ladies.

post the 60 second, 9,000 ft. free-fall.

it looks like we just saved the world from an alien invasion – a la Jeff Goldblum.

Not a bad way to kick start your 25th year. Buckets of thank you’s to everyone who made it the best one yet. Consider Part A of the July Wrap-Up done. Tune in tomorrow for Part B. No seriously. I mean it this time.

What the Heck…

That’s all I could say after yesterday’s baptisms at Elevation. Over 600 people came forward to make a public declaration about the work Jesus has done in their lives.  You can read more about it here – I can’t really verbalize an experience like that with the eloquence it deserves – so I’ll just show you some photos…

(photos via Dan Lan)

It’s days like yesterday that remind how grateful I am to work for a purpose. It’s a privlege to have a front row seat for an amazing move of God.