Dan Sardinas

Sand Animation - Amazing Creativity

Check out this video....amazingly beautiful.  This is from the TV SHOW "Ukraine's Got Talent" in the Ukraine.  She is depicting the "Great Patriotic War" that her country is quite familiar with.  What great art!

1 Billion People

Did you have a glass of water today?  Brush your teeth?  Take a nice, clean refreshing shower?  Chances are if you are reading this post that you did just that.  As a matter of fact the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day!  However 1 Billion people in the world aren't as fortunate as you and I.  That's right....1 Billion people do not have access to clean, safe drinking water.  Their water is dirty, diseased and discolored and would probably make most of us throw up.   I believe that is not right.  As the church...it is our responsibility to bring help & healing in Jesus' name.   Thankfully there is an organization that is doing something about it.  Charity Water is a group that raises money to take on these issues.  This comes straight from their website.

"One billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us. charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects."

Giving $20 can give 1 person clean water for 20 years!!!  Crazy....and one thing I love about this organization is that 100% of the donations actually go to help people.  They raise their administrative costs separately so that every cent that someone gives goes for the ultimate good.  

This week I had a chance to attend Rob Bell's "Drops Like Stars" tour in Tampa..where he spoke about this organization.  I took a snapshot with my iPhone which you can see below of him speaking about this.  

What gripped me most about this picture is the baby bottle behind Rob.  As a father with 3 kids, it tears me up to think that other children are facing injustices such as a lack of clean water.  To me this just isn't right and we can't sit around and let this happen here in our world.  When Jesus was here...he cared deeply about people's physical state.  Jesus loved people, period.  He fed, healed, raised, rebuked and deeply cared for every individual.  Jesus came to free us from the separation that our sin had caused.  Jesus came to renew us to the Father...  Jesus came to bring hope in the midst of injustice and suffering.

The Church can't keep quiet any longer!  It's time to stop worrying about our programs, budgets, classes and services and truly meet people where they are.  We speak much of doing that which will last for an eternity but yet we are caught up with our own methods of relevant ministry.  

I think that is makes God sick when we are more passionate about defending doctrine than defending the helpless & oppressed.  I think it makes God sick when we try to build our own empires instead of expanding his Kingdom through His Gospel.  The Gospel is the beautiful Good News that God hasn't given up on the world.  The Gospel is a proclamation of a new way to live through Jesus than our old system.   What will you do?  I pray that God will touch of all our hearts that we may grow burdened over the pain and brokenness of the world.  What will you do?  If you want to make an immediate donation you can by texting "water" to 20222.  By texting this from your mobile phone you will donate $10 to charity:water.  This charge will show up on your next mobile phone bill.   1 billion people hurting by this crisis....and you can make the difference.

Matthew 25:34-35

³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

 ³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

 ⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

 ⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

 ⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

 ⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

Twitter me This! Review of 5 Twitter iPhone Apps

As we all know... Twitter has become a worldwide phenomenon.  You might be reading this and may be wondering to yourself... "Dan, what in the world is Twitter?"   Twitter is a micro blogging site that you can express "what you are doing?" in 140 characters or less.  Many Twitter users have taken that several steps further and have been very, very creativer.   Twitter has also become a fantastic source of breaking news around the world.   I found out that Michael Jackson had died from Twitter.   I was also not able to attend Rob Bell's latest preaching conference but through the people who atteneded using Twitter... I did feel apart of it.  People not only tweet (the verb of what you do in twitter) what they are doing but also share pictures, location, videos.   Blogging was the big buzz the last several years...but now more people "tweet" than blog.   You can post your "tweets" at www.twitter.com.   However....twitter has taken the world by storm thanks in part to mobile phones.  Instead of waiting to get back home or the office to post what's going on in your life.....you can now do it on the fly.  Since I have an Apple iPhone I will review some of the Twitter apps for the iPhone.  I like all of these apps for different reasons.   Below...are the top 5 must used Twitter apps.

1.   Tweetie -  $2.99    4.5 out of 5 ranking

Tweetie is a great app.  It has a very slick cool design that is easy on the eyes.   As many apps Tweetie allows you to handle multiple twitter accounts and allows you to type in landscape mode.  It allows you to "retweet" somebody (repost somebody's post that you found enjoyable) after a few clicks.   Your posts are highlighted in the timeline and it's easy to see where people mention you.  However you will miss any @ mentions if your timeline is buried with any unread tweets.  Tweetie however doesn't have any push notifications (alerts when new posts arrive).  You can also post pictures but are unable to post any videos.  Tweetie does not however say how many new posts you have to read since your last visit.

2.  TweetDeck - $0 Free  4 out of 5 ranking

TweetDeck is just as good as Tweetie but for different reasons.  TweetDeck in my opinion is the easiest way to look for posts.   Just with a simple slide of your finger you can move to the next column.  TweetDeck separates the main timeline of your friends, mentions, Direct Messages and search items.  It is the one place where I haven't lost seeing an @dansardinas mention.   It also tells you upon start up how many different new items are in your columns to read.  One downfall in TweetDeck is the inability to write new messages in landscape mode.   It also is very difficult to followup on the trending topics in Twitter.

3.    Twitterrific - $0 - Free  & also Premium Version $3.99  4 out of 5

Twitterrific is the first iPhone Twitter app I have ever had.  It is simple and very easy on the eyes.  In the free version you do have to put up with the ads....but to be honest I hardly realize that they are even there.  It has all the needed functions of any Twitter app (upload pictures, retweet...etc.   It is also very easy to see the trending topics that are happening now in the twitterverse (universe twitter style).   The homepage opens up with the top ten trending topics with easy shortcuts to  your timeline.  You may have to quiet the annoying bird that sings everytime you get a new tweet to read...as it does get loud.   Just like TweetDeck you can't type in landscape mode.  I also found it not so easy to start following somebody new.  

4.   iTwitter - $2.99  3.75 out of 5

iTwitter is one of the few Twitter apps to have push notification.  However...the push notification worked much different that I imagined.  I was expecting a little number to show up on the icon on home page of my phone.   I think because of the "push" feature iTwitter runs much more slower than any of the other apps out there.  It seems to drag sometimes and unresponsive for a couple of seconds.  iTwitter is also the least desirable as far as looks go.   You are unable to switch skins and are stuck with the default look.  It also is unbable to list any of the trending topicsDespite the many downfalls it has everything else I need and is extremely simple and efficient.   iTwitter is by far the easiest way to retweet.  One click on anyones tweet pops up all the links in the post giving you several options.  It is also very easy to follow people with just a click of a button.  And unlike Twitterrific and TweetDeck....iTwitter allows for landscape typing of new messages!  

5.   - TwitterFon - $0 or $4.99 Pro   4.25 out of 5.

I haven't  used TwitterFon a whole lot...but from I've seen I love it!  This app has everything...from the ability to upload pictures and videos to Twitter.  The pro version has more advantages of course with the ability to handle multiple accounts, landscape typing, photo upload to Flickr and 4 different color schemes.   One of the cool standard features available in both free and Pro versions is the "Readitlater" function.  This allows you to save a link that you didn't have time to go through and check it out when  you get home.  $4.99 is a lot to pay for a Twitter app...but if you are a hardcore tweep this is worth it.

In the near future I hope to also outline some of my favorite cool iPhone Apps that I believe are must have if you have iPhone.  

Sermon Player

This is the message I preached at Venango Woods Church last weekend, August 2nd, 2009. The message is entitled....Isn't She Beautiful. A message about what the church is and how she is the most beautiful creation ever..when it functions propertly. There is 30 seconds of silence in the beginning....just an FYI.

LOVE WINS.

Mars Hill Church is selling the Love Wins. stickers again.  If you need to get one order one through their website here.

Stick it to your bumper, your back window, your school binder, your water bottle.

Early on in our history, as part of a teaching series called "Where Else Is The Cross True?", these black and white "Love Wins" bumper stickers became part of what marks our local Mars Hill community. Now we're making them available to our online community too!

Discounts apply as follows for orders made in quantities. [Discount applied at checkout.]

Quantity	Price per sticker
26-75	$0.75
76-250	$0.50
251 or more	$0.30

[Size of sticker is smaller than standard bumper stickers. We didn't need that much space for just two words.]

Missing the Obvious

We can get so wrapped up in the details of life that we miss the most obvious things!  I just took Spikey, our new dog, out for a long walk.  I was up early since I had crashed early the night before.   As soon as Spikey sees his leash he goes bonkers!  He jumps about 3-4  feet off the ground in pure excitement of looking at the outside world.  At 6:30 AM on a Saturday morning there is only ever one place I'm ever at.....in bed!   This early I woke up and went outside and the first thing I saw was the most AWESOME sunrise!  The sun was still very orange as it was rising and it made the nearby clouds illuminate with such brilliance.  As I continued down the road with Spikey in tow....I noticed some owls that were perched on their protected sites in the empy lots.  Pretty cool.  I then paid attention to birds that were singing and thought about how God cares for every single one of them.    I'm usually not a big fan of long walks or jogging or whatever.   But as I started to focus on the beautiful simple things of the walk...i began to forget how much I hated walking.  As a matter of fact I quite enjoyed it.    The sunrise, birds, Spikey, owls and the eager dog that wanted to make friends with Spikey were all intriguing.  

I then had a wierd thought.....if I woke up earlier I could enjoy this everyday.  The morning is a beatiful time.  However....next Saturday morning I will probably me still sound asleep in my bed...missing the most obvious.

To close....check out this video of this lady from the TV Show "Deal or No Deal" missing the most obvious!  It is quite funny!

Nooma: Whirlwind - 024

Now available for presale. This film will begin shipping the week of July 24, 2009. Get a free "view now" ticket code for viewing Whirlwind with every DVD pre-order.

A lot of us have gone through times in our lives that are difficult. Some have been small and hard to understand and some have been big and overwhelming. During these times we want answers, don't we? We want to know why. Why do we have to suffer? Why do bad things happen to good people? We just want someone to make sense of it all. But we don't always get the answers, do we? Sometimes we are left wondering. And those can be some of the most difficult times. Maybe there are times we need to be released from having to have all the answers. And maybe it's when we're released that we are able see there may be more going on here than we realize.

You can pre-order this Nooma here 

Time Warp

One of my new fav. show is called Time Warp on the Discovery Channel.  The basic premise of the show is that it shows things in slow motion.  And i mean super, super slow motion.  What they find is truly phenonmenal and mind blowing.  There is so much more to the world that God created all around that we just don't see cause it happens way to fast.  Without these high speed camera's we would never be able to enjoy so beautiful works of art!!!!

I was thinking tonight.....about the show.  What is it that we miss in ourlives because we are just moving way, way too fast?!?!?!  How much and how often do we miss the beauty that God wants to share with us?  I am way too busy.  Working 50+ hours and raising 3 kids is challenging in and of itself.  Sometimes I come home from work and I am so stressed out and so tired that I just want to zone out.  This is not good for my kids.   I need to stop...and slow down.  I need to sit and watch.  I need to appreciate and long for what I am missing when life is going to fast.   This is good for my soul.  How can you slow down?  It's amazing what you will see, hear and feel when you do.

Kind of reminds me of God says in the Bible.  "Be still and know that I am God."  HMMMM.   Check out this video of water.  Amazing!

And lastly click on this link for dancing water droplets!!!!!  http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/time-warp-water-droplet.html

Slow down.......time warp your life.  It goes by way to quick.  Let God speak and make sure you are still.

My own "Footprint" moment

The other day while at the beach;  I stood on the shore just far enough in so the waves would crash around me.  I love doing this.  Before long the natural will happen...the longer I stand in one spot the deeper I sink as the waves erode the sand around me.  As I stood there watching my kids play in the beautiful warm blue water I had a beautiful moment of truth.

So the longer I stood there in the sand the deeper I went.  If I took a step and left that spot I would see my once very visible footprint disapear.  I've seen this happen many times before in my life.... but never before have I thought about it in this way. 

Even though we know we are forgiven we still feel the weight of our guilt upon us for our past sins.  Sometimes we can't move forward because we make our selves  "sink" deeper underneath the weight of our sin.  Everytime we feel God's forgiveness come and readily made available we don't fully accept it....because somehow we don't feel we are worthy.  But what if we would just understand and accept the truth that God's Grace is bigger than our sin?  What if I grasped that Christ's sacrifice is more than sufficent to forgive me and everybody in the world?  If I just would accept this than my guilt and sin would disappear.  I then in turn could move on and be a powerful witness to the world.

The longer we stand in the sand and sink in our guilt and sin the longer we are defeated.  It's time to lift up our foot and take the next step and watch our past sins and guilts be washed away because of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for us.  When we recject God's grace and continue in our guilt we are making the impact of God's Grace upon our lives of null effect.  We should feel remorseful and repentant over our short comings...but once we approach God through Christ it is taken care of.  

So take your foot out of the sand and watch the waves crash on the shore and take away what was holding you back.  God is good!

Agents of Grace & Truth

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son], who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John chapter 1 gives us a very descriptive telling of who Jesus is and what he did and does.  We see Him as the WORD who is God.  We see him as the creator and the light.  If there was any doubt who John was referring to it was clearly cleared up in verse 14.  John says that this "Word" (the full expression of God) became flesh (Jesus).  Not only did Jesus come but very specifically he came in Grace & Truth.  If the Kingdom of God is the central focus of Jesus life and teachings...then "Grace & Truth" is the way it it presented to the world.  

Grace is used in various ways throughout the New Testament.  The most obvious and often spoken of way is referring to God's unmerited favor towards us.  The world needs grace.  Jesus came to a world full of veangeance and evil.  He came to a world that was the complete opposite of Grace.  In fact Jesus was the opposite way in almost every way possible.  

The Romans way of expanding their kingdom was through the sword and coersion.  Jesus ways of expanding his kingdom was through the ways of Grace & Truth.   Complete opposites.  The Roman way brought more separation, hurt and war.  The ways of Jesus brought salvation, unity, healing and peace.  

Jesus died and rose again.  He's left the earth to return to his Father in heaven.  If Jesus isn't here then how does Grace and Truth continue?  My friends that's what the church is all about.  The church is the "body of Christ".  It is the way that God intends to bring healing and restoration to the world.  It is through the church that Grace & Truth are lived out.  

So here is my question for you....what does it mean to be the agents of Grace & Truth in the world?  Please leave a comment and spur the discussion.  I'll share my thoughts in my next posting.

Redefining Mission

We have all been there before....a church service where the leaders are begging for volunteers. You have probably even read it in the Sunday morning church bulletin. An all hands on deck approach to ministry is very common in modern church life. If you asked most pastors today they would argue that the problem is in the peoples motivation for Christ and his work. I have been there and did that many times. I now wish I would've known then what I now know.

The church is a living organism, made up of those who follow Jesus, who through the power of the Spirit live out the ways of the Kingdom of God. And they do this together.

Why is it that we are so focused on making the ministry within the church more important than our ministry in the world? Could the very reason most Christians don't share their faith be because we have conditioned them to be so busy with "church work"? The danger is that we have made something to be institutional that was meant to be organic. We have taken the beautiful mystery of community and sold it out for the latest fad.

One of my most memorable days at VWC is when we didn't have a service. In August of 07 we cancelled the formal service and met together to serve our community. We repainted a local park and picked up trash off of Oil City streets. It was a great day. However the turnout was not what I expected. I was hoping to have about 50 or so helping that day. We only had about 22 altogether. I was greatly discouraged as this was pumped up for weeks as a huge thing that we were doing. I played the normal "pastor card" and just said that people had issues with God. From that day forward my outlook began to change on ministry.

Release your people from the guilt of serving. The more pastors beg...the more guilt sinks in. Some people will cave and serve in a place out of duty alone. And then the inevitable will happen....they will burn out and their absence will create a larger void. It's time to redefine ministry and release people for mission.

I am not saying that people shouldn't serve in ministries in the church. But when we are taking people away from being a light in the world that is where I have a problem. If you don't have enough people to do a program then you cancel the program.

Lastly are we keeping people busy building our empires? Or are we releasing them to multiply the Kingdom of God? Redefine your ministry into your mission. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

From Death to Life - John 1:1-5

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.

 ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

This is such a fantastic passage of scripture.  Today during our gathering at Fusion Church we looked at and discussed this passage.   We spoke on the Deity of Jesus and looked at how we are confident that Jesus is who He said He was.  The first three verses speak about the awesomeness of who and what Jesus is.  We see that Jesus is not only God but He is also the Creator of all.  Nothing was made without Jesus speaking all things into existence. 

Jesus is the author of Life.  John writes in verse 4 that specifically that "In Him" was life.  Out of God comes the very essence and purpose of life.  This reminds me of the Creation account in Genesis where it says that "God breathed into Adam the breath of life".  Within all of us is found this very breath.   Actually what is more amazing is that in the original language the very word for "breath" is the same word for "spirit".  Same word.  Inside of you God has given you life with the very air you breath, and this life comes from God.  

Everything was fine for all of 2 chapters in the Bible.  Did you ever think about that?  Of all the chapters there are in the Bible it only took 2 chapters for somebody to blow it.  Chapter 3 begins the reason for the very reason that Jesus had to die.  As we all know Adam & Eve fell when they disobeyed God and passed on their sinful nature to the rest of us.  God told them that if they disobeyed his one command that they will die.  And sure enough they did.  Not only did they die physically...but they also died spiritually.  They had once enjoyed such fellowship with God in the Garden...but once they sinned that ended immediately.  Death overtook them...

Those who once were full of LIFE...now were dead.  Their children were born spiritually dead.  Cain & Abel did not have the fellowship that their parents enjoyed with God.  The Earth was cursed as well as it had been corrupted with sin.  It was as if Adam & Eve had ignored Doctor Emmit Brown and had messed with the "Space Time Continuum". Something had to change.  Life had to be restored to the Universe and to mankind.  This is where Jesus comes in.

Jesus came to a Lost, Dark and Evil world.  This was a world that was very far apart from God and a planet that was filled with spiritual zombies.  Zombies are "living dead beings".  People without the LIFE that Jesus gives are exactly that.  We who were "spiritually dead" without any purpose need the Life that had been given to Adam and Eve.  The groanings of the Universe could be heard and God wasn't going to ignore it.  Jesus came and brought Life.  He not only redeemed us through the Cross but he also showed us how to live.   The ways of Jesus and the death of Jesus give us Life.

Jesus came to bring restoration to the universe. 

 ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

 He came to bring life to man so that he could be united with God the Father once again.  John tells us that "in Him was LIFE".  This Life is the light of man.  It is a light that shines in the darkness.   It is a life that overcomes evil.  It is the life that created all things and it is the Life that brings us back in fellowship to God.  We who were dead have now been brought back to LIFE.

It is amazing how this was accomplished isn't it?  Man was created with this LIFE from God.  Man disobeys God and sins and then begins to die and lose that LIFE.  Jesus then comes.....He lives.....He dies....and then He LIVES!   It is because He lives that we also live.

Ephesians 2:4-6

because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,