MOVED

one last time:
I’m now hosting my own blog at wilmartin.com

Around the Web – 4/13/09

First of all, I hope today was a very happy birthday for my sister, @heatherlu!

Today’s highlights from around the web:

• TwitterBerry 0.9 has been released.  Check out BBGeeks Review. (BBGeeks)

• I want a Kindle 2, but is it gonna hurt my eyesight? (Wired)

• Guitar Hero for us southern folks. (hackaday)

• A new shopping cart design for people who like to complicate things. (Gizmodo)

• Excuse you, did you just twitter-fart? (hackaday)

good friday

I spent the wee hours of the morning following good friday watching Mars Hill Church’s good friday service.  I was completely blown away.  Here’s a few things that blew my mind (in a good way).

• The service was completely somber.  The whole time.  Totally down.  No typical “celebration” worship song.  No rock and roll to get everyone clapping and smiling.  The service was purposely mournful.  They wanted to accurately capture the moment that our Savior was brutally killed.

• The imagery left me speechless.  The entire service was just a huge screen displaying images and video of the story of Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion.  As far as I could tell the visuals were all original and not taken from the Passion or another pre-made movie.  It was gripping.

• The music was unique to say the least.  It was very indie with lots of electronic stuff and edgy lyrics.  Not sing-a-long songs at all.  Some were old hymns that were redone to make them even less singable, but for a good reason.  I focused on the words.  There was a realness to the lyrics that is atypical for the modern church. The band was behind the screen, taking nothing away from the depiction of Christ’s death.

• They spared nothing.  The overall service was incredibly bloody, graphic, and offensive to the senses.  The music was weird.  It was perfect.

I’m sure Mars Hill didn’t put this service on and broadcast it live on the web so people like me would blog about how incredible it was.  I doubt they care what people think.  Their obvious goal was to show an unbelieving and numb generation exactly what the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was like.  No doubt they wanted to wake up a tired, sugar-coated church culture with the reality of a true historical event that happened 2000 years ago.  Its not a fairy tale.  It was brutal, it was offensive, it was disheartening, and its all true.

Today is a day we mourn.  Our Savior died a horrific death because of our sins.

before you read my blog

This is my blog.
It’s my toughts and opinions.

No, I don’t do this because I think I’m cool.
No, I don’t do this because I think I’m deep or intellectual.
No, I’m not trying to impress anyone.

I do this because every once in a while God puts a thought in my head that may or may not be of help to someone who reads this.
I do this because sometimes things that make me laugh might make you laugh, too.
I do this because I like to look back and be reminded of what has gone through my head.

If you think I’m self-centered, please don’t read.
If you disagree with what I say, that’s ok…this is America.
If you have nothing better to do than read this blog and try to pick a fight, get a life.

You’re all my friends whether I’ve met you or not, and I’d love to hear from you.  But if you’re looking to criticize me because I’m not exactly like you, don’t waste your time.  Criticism will be ignored because life is too short to waste it with prideful arguments.

Lastly, this blog is not my life.  It’s reflections FROM my life, but who I truly am will not be reflected on this blog, twitter, or any other social networking site.  The only way to truly know me, is to have a relationship with me.  So don’t jump to conclusions about where my heart is or what I’m truly about based on this blog.

Thanks for reading and keeping an open mind!

fresh start

I’ve been blogging for over 4 years and I have reached a point where I feel like everything up to this point has been a learning experience. As I have read over my past blogs I’ve realized a few things.

I feel like much has changed, both personally for me and in the world of blogging. So as a response I’ve decided to start over. Here is the new wilmartin | weblog.

Welcome.