LifeChurch.tv Albany

On Sunday, Madison and I went down to LifeChurch.tv’s Albany campus to see my friend Josh (Pastor Josh) in action leading his church/campus.  For over three years I have been either a weekly podcast listener, online message watcher, Internet Campus attender or Network Church leader.  However, I had yet to actually attend a physical LifeChurch.tv experience…until now.  It was killer! 

From A to Z, the first impression, personal greeting/service, child/youth experience, quality of musical worship, pastoral greeting/closing, message content (the message was gut checking - ”Practical Atheist”) and overall vibe were ROCKIN’!  They have “IT.”  The only thing that is lacking are the thousands of area lives that don’t know about Jesus or LifeChurch.tv. 

It’s cool to know that there are two churches in Albany that are rocking it for Jesus!  My buddy Brian Howe leads a church right up the street doing the very same thing (Northway Church)!  Keep it rolling guys… God is clearly on the move in Albany!

Dark Dining

On Saturday night, Molly and I went to a fundraising dinner to benefit the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI).  The event was called “Dark Dining.” 

It was incredible! 

We were led blind folded into a curtained banquet hall by a trained guide and “dropped off” at our table.  There was no instruction, no hand holding, NO PEEKING and no sight (obviously).  We proceeded to have an hour and a half 4 course dinner while blind.  (Because I couldn’t see, I couldn’t take a picture of us – this is a Google pic)  During the night, they provided entertainment of varying genres and quality (it was interesting to see who the performers were when we took off our masks).  Some of the take away highlights were:

• It is easier to eat salad with your hands.
• When you think you are cutting a bite sized piece of steak…think again…it’s just as likely to be the size of your fist.
• Buttering your bread is unbelievably difficult. 
• The room sounded like a high school cafeteria…people were having so much fun while making perfectly good fools of themselves.
• When I removed my blindfold my fork and half of my vegies were on the floor, two of my potatoes were on the tablecloth (speaking of tablecloth, mine looked like a 2 year old ate at my seat), the room wasn’t laid out the way I had envisioned, our table mates looked different than I had pictured and most of all… I WAS SO GRATEFUL I COULD SEE.

All in all, this was a fantastic fundraising event for CABVI.  While we all had fun, we walked away with an unbelievably DRAMATIC appreciation for what it meant to be blind!  Mind blowing!