Audio Video Systems

I have worked with Bill at Audio Video Systems (AVS) for a year and a half (I think), and worked with him for another couple of years when I was in California (he moved to Texas too and we got working together again).  He’s a great guy, and even if I wasn’t in the industry, I would use AVS to do my audio and video work.

I have been working on a new website for AVS for the past month or so and have finally finished it up.  It ended up being a lot more stressful than I thought because I underestimated the anticipation for it to be done.  I had wanted to do it in my free time, so I could take all the time I wanted to play around with different ideas and see what I liked best, but once they found out about it, they started putting deadlines on it.  So the leasurley pace that I desired ended up being a sprint to the finish.

It did turn out well though, and I believe that we are all happy with the results.  Check it out when you get a chance (and subscribe or check back often for news from the AV industry), and leave a comment below to let me know what you think.

Audio Video Systems
http://avsonline.tv

It comes from a sermon called Death by Love: Reflections on the Cross by Mark Driscoll. I would highly recommend listening to the sermon in its entirety, or downloading it for later.

Oh, and by the way, the video ends at about 2:15 (even though it appears to go longer, it is blank for the remainder of the time).

That being said, as I was stumbling last night I found this video that totally inspired me to go out and do something fun this weekend. See what you think below. I bet you’ll laugh, and I bet you’d agree that me jumping out of a trash can at you would be terrifying.

I am becoming more and more convinced of the importance of good Bible teaching in the lives of Christians. I think without good Bible teaching Christians can never fully understand who Jesus is and why they should live for Him.

I don’t think that there is a worse message that the church supports other than the idea that all of the worlds hurting and pain can be cured by the blessing called America. We think that all the world could be fixed if we could just export our culture. We think that taking vacation time from work (so that we still get paid) and heading over seas for a weeks worth of work in a third world country is going to dramatically change the lives of people living in poverty. But the convenience of our culture makes it easy to slip on our iPods to drown out the cries of the hurting, miles away, as we lounge by the pool in our upscale hotels.

My point has nothing to do with iPods or iPhones or any other iProduct. It is this: if Americans can’t decide what is truly important to them, if Christians don’t truly believe that Jesus is more important to them than their stuff, then how can we really change the world. If we see simply people who have less money than us and houses that are falling apart and have pity on them for that, but don’t see their infinitely greater spiritual need and tell them of the hope of Christ, we have failed.

The call of Christ is to desire Him above all else and to share the hope that we have in Him with others. If necessary, we are called to sell all that we have and love people for His glory. And we can do this because He is what satisfies. So when the church won’t stand up and say that, one could argue that if we can’t truly stand for Christ amongst our plenty, that it is very unlikely that we will stand for Him amongst the little of the poor? Is it that we feel sorry for them that they do not have electricity, or is it that we truly, deep down, understand that it is Christ who can satisfy them and that He is the most important thing that we can share with them?

The gospel isn’t about making lives more successful, it is about hope for eternity, hope in the midst of loss and poverty. I saw this video the other day and have been haunted by it. I think there are too few people standing up and saying the things that John Piper says in this video. And I pray that people would truly see the value of Christ, and that our love for the lost and hurting would be far stronger than our love for gadgets which fades as soon as something else catches our eyes.

The Bible is there above everything else to point us to and to teach us about our great king. It is not a rule book in which we attain salvation, but a book pointing to our salvation in Christ. But, it would be a great mistake to assume, that it isn’t of great value. It is the authoritative declaration of God about God. It is in Him that we have hope salvation, and it is in the pages of His book that we learn about Him. And so it is extremely important, for from these pages we learn about our King.

So, in saying that, I would encourage you to watch this video from a conference that the Resurgence is putting on called Text and Context, from Matt Chandler (pastor of the Village Church). It’s less than four minutes, but it does summarize my views on the matter as well. After you watch it, I would be interested to hear your opinions on the matter.

Anyway, browsing through their myspace page I saw a video of the lead singer’s story.  It’s a pretty cool testimony of what God can do in any life.  Check it out.