#LiveFully

“Hall of Fame” by the Script

Brian Burchik — February 6, 2013

Since music’s biggest awards night, The Grammys, is on this Sunday night, I thought we’d look to a song that inspires cultural engagement in the world. The song is “Hall of Fame” by the Script, featuring Will.i.am. I’m sure many of you have heard it, but if not, I’d recommend watching the video below.

My favorite part of the song is the rap…

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions
Be truth seekers

Be students
Be teachers
Be politicians
Be preachers

The underlying assumption is that different people are called and gifted to do different things in their lives. Whether an astronaut, a politician, or a preacher, God invites people on a lifelong journey to live out the unique purpose He’s made them to do.

Here at #LiveFully, we believe that the redemption of Jesus impacts every channel of cultural life. We choose to define “cultural life” by the following seven channels:

Religion, Family, Government, Education, Business, Media, Arts & Entertainment

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of professions, and if you or someone you know works in an area that doesn’t nicely fit into one of these areas that doesn’t mean it isn’t valid.

They are seven general building blocks of culture that we create. We believe that followers of Jesus are called to shine for God in the full spectrum of professions and vocations.

I want to leave you with three questions that are important to consider in discerning your God-given calling in the world. They are pulled directly from an excellent article written by Dr. Tim Keller that you can download here.

1. What people needs do I vibrate to?

2. What am I good at doing?

3. What do the leaders/my friends believe is the most strategic kingdom need?

Take some time to pray and reflect on these questions, jotting down your thoughts. We must not be too busy or ambitious to meaningfully consider the calling of God for our lives. #LiveFully

“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do“ (Eph. 2:10).

In #defined

The #LiveFully Academy Awards (Our Favorite Films of 2012)

Evan Forester — February 4, 2013

The Golden Globes happened a couple weeks ago and Oscars are just a few weeks away, but today marks the most important film award show of the year. That’s right, we’re rolling out the Red Carpet for the #LiveFully Academy Awards!

The Hollywood community is abuzz about the possibility of winning a hashtag trophy:

“I’ve won 3 Oscars, but never a #LiveFully award. This is so much more exciting!” – Meryl Streep*

“I’ve never heard of #LiveFully” -Anne Hathaway**

“The #LiveFully academy awards is the highlight of my year” – Steven Spielbergo***

Conditions:

In order to be considered for a #LiveFully Film Award, the movie must meet the following criteria:

1) Actually be a good movie

2) Have a positive message that can help people #LiveFully

3) Been watched by me (limiting our selection severely)

The Best Film overall will be determined by our readers. After checking out the nominees, cast your vote! We’ll announce the winner on facebook and do our best to contact the winner through snail mail.

PS: Some film titles have hyperlinks. These go to the #LiveFully review of the film. Continue Reading…

In #culture

The Fave Five 02.01.13

Evan Forester — February 1, 2013

1) Favorite piece of insanity: Tempest FreeRunning Academy

2) Favorite Inspirational video: A Pep talk from Kid President (this is an awesome kid)

3) Favorite Attempts to get a date: Biblical pick-up lines

4) Favorite Friendship: Shane Windmeyer (Nationally recognized LGBT leader in higher education) and Dan Cathy (Chick-Fil-A President and COO) If you haven’t read this, you need to.

5) Favorite Twins: 11 Month olds twins dance to dad’s guitar

In #defined

ReBranding the Church: What is the Gospel Anyway?

Evan Forester — January 28, 2013

If you asked 100 Christians, “What is the Gospel?” I guarantee you would hear several very different explanations. “Being a Christian means you’re a good person,” or “I think the living the gospel is just about loving people,” or “It means you go to church whenever you can” or “You just need to follow the 10 Commandments and then you’ll go to Heaven” or “Umm…you know, it’s the Bible…right?”

The problem is, few of us know the Gospel because we simply do not hear it, read it, or study it enough. There are a million competing messages out there that distract and pull us away from the truth. We need to constantly remind ourselves of the Gospel, and recognize that we can never know the truth too well.

Here is a pretty great (and short) video explanation of the Gospel from John Piper: Continue Reading…

In #culture

The Fave Five 01.25.13

Evan Forester — January 25, 2013

1) Favorite History Changing Video: Real Ghost Footage (I think this might finally be proof! The truth is out there…)

2) Favorite Image: Run Shadowfax!

3) Favorite Movie: Toy Story (Live Action Version)

4) Favorite Super Bowl Commercial: Come on Get Happy (from VW)

5) Favorite Physics Defying Basketball Shot: Hawks fan throws ‘Miracle Shot’ from half court!

In The Fave Five

ReBranding the Church: Why did we stop reading the Bible?

Evan Forester — January 24, 2013

You’ve found yourself in a mini-series on Rebranding the church. If you missed it, then I recommend reading the introduction. Essentially, we believe that followers of Jesus should be most recognized for what they contribute to the world instead of what they are against in the world. Each week we tackle something the church must demonstrate they support.

Focussing on the Bible in church seems like common sense, yet it happens far too rarely today. But if we hope to have any consistency in our message (or “brand”), we must all be speaking from the same message. The Bible is the only thing that can provide that consistent message for the church.

More importantly, the Bible speaks an incredible message. It is one full of hope, grace, peace, forgiveness, and love for a broken world. While I cannot expect all churches everywhere to suddenly agree on everything in the Bible, I know wonderful things would happen if we all spent more time in the Word, both at church and at home. Continue Reading…

In #culture

How To Dream Like Martin Luther King, Jr.

Brian Burchik — January 21, 2013

Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. Today our nation remembers a man that changed its history forever. Martin Luther King, Jr., an Atlanta native, challenged the racial injustice of his time like no other. Among many accomplishments, Dr. King is remembered for his key leadership role in the Civil Rights Movement, as well as the non-violent protests he assembled.

Dr. King is also known as one of the greatest American orators of all time. His mastery was demonstrated in the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in Washington D.C. in 1963.

Near the end of the speech, we see his raw imagination unleashed, as he dreams of a different America. He declares eight straight lines beginning with that famous phrase “I have a dream.” The last of those eight lines is as follows…

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

This is a direct quote from the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament of the Bible (Isaiah 40:4-5).

The most fundamental source for King’s vision was the Bible itself. What captured his heart and mind more than anything was the God of the Bible who stood for justice and love to all. It was King’s relationship with this God that inspired the dream, and empowered him to act with boldness and clarity. Continue Reading…

In #defined

The Fave Five 01.18.13

Evan Forester — January 18, 2013

1) Favorite Musical Performance: Buddy Greene at Carnegie Hall (You won’t regret watching this)

2) Favorite story from Oprah (I never thought I’d say that…): THIS IS GONNA SHUT YOUR MOUTH

3) Favorite Image: Gandalf’s Problem Solving Flow Chart

Source: Jon Acuff

4) Favorite Blog post: 5 promises from your Bible about your time with God (from Desiring God)

5) Favorite Free App: The Faithlife Study Bible (aka the World’s most advanced study Bible)

In The Fave Five

Enough with the Ordinary!

Evan Forester — January 17, 2013

I was recently interviewed by Tammy Helfrich for her “Life Changers” series. Tammy is committed to helping others realize that their voice matters and to embrace their story. The Life Changers series is “about people like you and me, who decided to do something different. They decided to change their life, or the lives of others around them.”

In the interview, I share some of the lessons we’ve learned since moving overseas. You can read the full interview here: LifeChangers: No More Ordinary. Here is a little preview:

Tammy: What was the breaking point for you? What made you say “enough of ordinary”?

Evan: My wife and I had discussed moving overseas since before we married. In the beginning, I thought it was just a pipe dream. One night, however, she spoke about it with such vivid hope that something dawned on me. “Maybe this isn’t a ridiculous idea, maybe God has laid this on our hearts for a reason.” We prayed about it every night for two years, and the more we prayed about it, they more we wanted to do it.

There were two major breaking points for us. First, I never wanted to just talk about dreams and then never go after them.

I believe if you have a dream, you need to go after it. (Tweet that!)

You might fail, but I think failure is much better than never trying. Secondly, we were tired of being so busy all the time. Both of us were working full time and in night school. We wanted to actually experience our newlywed years together, and we wanted to go on an adventure together. So we moved to the other side of the world!

To read the rest of the interview, where I discuss trusting wholly on God, stepping out of comfort zones, and the terrors of driving on the left side of the road, head on over here. While you’re at it, check out Tammy’s blog and say hey in her comments section!

In #stories

A Family Living Fully

Brian Burchik — January 16, 2013

To follow Jesus is to live fully. His life is the best life. It’s not easy, but it’s always worth it. It calls for sacrifice and leads to true satisfaction.

After watching this 6 minute video, it is apparent that this family is experiencing deep satisfaction as they have made particular sacrifices. They are a shining example of life to the full. (And we like that the video is exceptional in quality too.) Enjoy! #LiveFully

Check out the I Like ______ campaign that featured this video here

James 1:27- Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

In #stories, Video