The Friday Five

1. Music: Take The World, But Give Me Jesus by Ascend The Hill. This is a great, relatively unknown album featuring contemporary arrangements of some classic hymns. The difficulty in updating classic hymns is that it's really easy to end up with a hymn that doesn't sound like itself. However, Ascend The Hill manages to create a really good album, even when they stretch the boundaries of what we would expect from hymns. I especially like that they took on some of the more doctrinally rich hymns from the 2000 years of history the church has to work with.
2. Book: Lords Of The Sith by Paul Kemp. Everybody knows I love Star Wars. However, I haven't been one to read the books over the years. However, it's a little more manageable now that Disney & Lucasfilm scrapped the old "expanded universe" in favor of creating a new canon with more continuity. Now to the real reason why this book is great & why I'd recommend it to even a fan who typically only watches the movies: Vader. The book is primarily about the relationship between Darth Vader & the Emperor. On top of that it feels like a Star Wars movie. It's action-packed while also being very character driven. I don't read a whole lot of stuff just for fun or entertainment, but this one was great. I finished it in a couple of sittings. Pro-tip: Read it while listening to the soundtrack of any of the Star Wars movies. It will bring it to life even more as you find your reading syncing up with John Williams' score.
3. Social Media: ParentCue On Instagram. ParentCue comes to you from the people at Orange, some of the leaders in family ministry content for churches. ParentCue, as you might expect, is directed at parents. Their Instagram account is one of my favorite's to follow.
4. Quote. "When I count other people's blessings, I tend to lose sight of mine." Andy Stanley
5. Bible Study Resource: Blue Letter Bible. This site is one of my go to study helps for both personal study & sermon prep. Blue Letter Bible has tons of translations, linguistic helps, & commentaries. It's user friendly, & you don't have to have a PhD to navigate it & find it useful, even the linguistic sections that focus on the Greek & Hebrew. If you're looking to go a little deeper with some of your studies, this is a resource I'd recommend to anyone.

The Friday Five

I'm back this week with a quick Friday Five after a busy few weeks. So here we go. Hope you enjoy.

1. Music: Poets & Saints by All Sons & Daughters. All Sons & Daughters has a new album coming out in September that you can pre-order now & receive a couple of tracks now. I was able to get a free download of one of those songs, "I Surrender," about a month ago. This is going to be a great album. I'm a huge fan of everything I've ever heard from All Sons & Daughters, & I'd encourage you to go ahead & make plans to check this one out.
2. Book: Exalting Jesus In 1st & 2nd Kings. This book is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition series led by David Platt, Danny Akin, & Tony Merida. Too often when we read through Scripture, especially the Old Testament, we're not reading it through the lens of Jesus or the lens of the Gospel. As a result, we develop a Christ-less interpretation. It's an inadvertent mistake, but it's a real one & an easy one to make. These books may sound scholarly but the team does a great job of making these works easy to ready & accessible for just about anybody.
3. Blog Post: 7 Things Church Guests Are Telling Us. This is a great little post from Thom Rainer that those of us in church leadership or who are actively involved in a local church need to read. Too often we let things slide because we take them for granted & forget to see through the eyes of a newcomer or first time guest. As a result, we create an uncertain or uncomfortable environment for our guests, & I don't know about you, but I tend to avoid uncertain & uncomfortable environments. The same is true of our guests. 
4. Quote. "We want to be known as men & women who love Jesus more than we love our freedoms." -Matt Chandler
5. Nerd Corner: Star Wars Celebration 2016 on YouTube. This weekend the center of the Star Wars universe is London. The folks over at Disney & Lucasfilm host their own huge conference every year to promote upcoming properties like the new Rogue One film or the upcoming season of Star Wars: Rebels. It's also a place where fans get to meet some of the actors & creators of the Star Wars universe. This weekend you can take a look at some of the panel conversations from Celebration through Star Wars YouTube Channel. They're airing the Rogue One panel, the Rebels panel, & panels featuring some of the big stars of Star Wars like Mark Hamill & Carrie Fisher. Not only can you watch these panels live, but they're going to keep these panels up on their YouTube page to view later. This is a great opportunity for uber-Star Wars nerds to hear about the upcoming films, shows, & books without having to spend thousands of dollars to spend the weekend in London.