Issachar

5/3- I enjoyed a recent luncheon with Paul Eshleman, Hector Tamez, Bob Brumleu, and others as part of the Issachar Initiative.  Paul (founder of the JESUS Film Project) is still running and gunning when most are retiring.  He's working hard to get the last unengaged, unreached people groups (UUPGs) adopted! 

Inspired to Enter the Big Story Together

4/26- I had some deep Holy Spirit moments this morning envisioning a way hundreds of us can become more deeply rooted in the Grand Narrative at the same time.  I'll be inviting you to join me from June 1 - July 25 for a Community Bible Experience.  I'll be posting more here. 

Story Movement - Hollywood Huddle

4/18: 20 of us will be meeting tomorrow to explore how to lay the groundwork for a story movement within the Body of Christ.  Excited to be with great minds like Dan Rupple, Nikki Hevesy, Key Payton, Jim Green, Jeff Holder, Paul Luebbers and more!

Q Conference Day 1

4/15- Crazy day full of brilliant thoughts from brilliant thinkers.  A hand-ful of God-connections (Aaron Thomson, Ken Fong, Charmaine Lillestrand, Erik Lokkesmoe, Stu Harris).   And to top it off... a nice, mindless film by Terence Malick, To the Wonder.   Not.   Profound film.  I've just got to figure out how.

Not Today the Movie out!

4/11- NOT TODAY premiers Friday, April 12 in theaters in the U.S.  An important film by Chris Bueno and others.   Check out the trailer that Chris posted here.

Heavy Hearted

4/8- Very sad to learn of the death of Rick and Kay Warren's son Matthew.  I don't know the Warrens, but have benefited greatly from their ministry through our role at Saddleback Church as members and small group leaders.  Please uphold this family in a very tragic time.

The Move of God's Spirit at the Local Level

4/2- The Spirit of God does is not moving globally if He is not revealed locally.  The Taber clan just spent the day visiting the campus of San Luis Obispo in California for our daughter who is consider colleges.  We just got back from the Cru meeting where 1000 students gathered to worship the Lord.  He is at work in a powerful way on this campus!

Overwhelmed… With joy!

3/31- What a day! What a sunrise! What a game-changer! All is made new.

Chicago / Producer Genius

3/28- I got back late last night from an amazing time in Chicago at the Mobile Ministry Forum Strategic planning time (only photos available now are on the VSN FB page).  Then had an amazing time with Ralph Winter in our webinar on "How to Produce Your Movie."  See the blog post on "Top 10 Roles of a Successful Producer."

Chicago Mobile Strategy Session Day 1

3/25- We just wrapped day one of our mobile ministry forum strategy group in Chicago. 12 great leaders from 12 great organizations. A special thanks to Ed Elliott and his wife Ginny for hosting us!

Mobile Ministry Strategy Session

3/22- We'll be a part of a three day strategy session with 12 leaders from 12 organizations from March 25-27 in Chicago.  Please pray for God's direction as we consider how to harness the power of mobile technology for kingdom purposes worldwide. 

Genaye Eshetu

3/18- Wow!  I had a great time Skyping Genaye Eshetu from Ethiopia today.  Look at her blog posts to learn more about her heart and vision.  I'm impressed for her heart to serve the Lord and be innovative. 

Mobile Course Beta Testers

3/11- We're looking for a dozen motivated people to take the new six-week online course in mobile ministry.   In exchange for a waived tuition, we want feedback on the course design and content.  For more info, email John Edmiston at johned@aibi.ph.

The Bible Premier

3/6- The Bible premier was huge.  27 million viewers.  I am grateful for the series, though I was surprised by the degree of artistic license.  We went to Saddleback Sunday eve to watch the show. We were shocked to see Rick Warren preaching with Mark and Roma on stage for the 5th service of the weekend! I didn't even know Saddleback had 5 services. And Mark and Roma sat on the stage through 5 sermons (Rick doesn't know what a short sermon is). We're in awe of Rick as well as Mark and Roma on their big premier night.

David Nixon - Entertain and Engage Spiritually

2/28- What a hoot to have David Nixon share his secrets in "How to Entertain and Engage Spiritually" in today's webinar.  Loved the God-stories behind the making of Facing the Giants and Fireproof.  We'll have a post up soon about his insights and how to view the recorded session. 

George Makeen

2/22- Had an great time meeting George Makeen, the Arabic Programming Director for SAT 7, this week.  He started there 10 years ago as a content reviewer and now finds himself producing, writing, programming, and more. Make yourself invaluable and watch the opportunities that will come your way!

Story Movement

2/18- Wow!  Just had a great time with Jim Green, Travis Mendel, Brian Bird, Key Payton, Craig Forrest, Paul Luebbers, and Jeff Holder discussing how to launch a "story movement" in the global church.  Great minds.  Great hearts. See the notes under the "Story Movement."

David Nixon and Giving Up

2/14- Travis Mendel and I WebEx'd David Nixon (Fireproof, Facing the Giants) today in preparation for his 2/28 webinar (see Event Calendar).  David: "After 30 years, I gave up on trying to make features.  Three months later the Kendricks brothers came to me with their movie Firefly and asked me to help their next project look like a movie."  Travis: "Why didn't you give up sooner?"  

How to Create Great Characters - Monday

2/11- How do you create characters your audience will fall in love with?  My personal favorite of late: The Dowager Duchess of Downton Abbey (Maggie Smith). VSN Board member Brian Bird will answer in a free webinar on Monday, February 11 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific / 8:00 p.m. Eastern.  Sign up at http://www.bestsellersociety.com/events/.

Internship Update

2/6- We've updated our internship outline to include majors most likely to be interested, benefits, and a tighter role description.  If you know someone who may be a candidate, have them look at www.visualstory.org/intern.