We finally managed to make it home.  It sure felt good to sleep in my own bed!

All in all I took over 5,000 pictures last week and have around 3,000 that I’ll be forwarding to Zondervan (yes that means that 2000+ pictures didn’t turn out well).  Additionally, I’ll be posting a number of additional photos on this blog along with some recollections on the 2007 National Pastors Convention.  It was a wonderful week and I’m thankful for the opportunity to volunteer at such a great event.  I can’t wait for next year!

Make sure to keep checking back or subscribe to the RSS feed for the blog – I’ll be posting here for at least a few weeks, probably longer.  If you’re interested in any particular pictures – post a comment and let me know!

This will be short . . .

I have internet access again – at the Day’s Inn by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport (MSP). We were scheduled to leave San Diego this morning at 8:45am . . . we finally took off around 2:00pm. During that time we boarded twice and managed to spend over three hours in the plane at the gate. I think Got is reminding me that I need to be patient, or maybe He’s reminding someone else on the flight!

Due to the delays we missed our connecting flight and are holed up in the Days Inn until our flight tomorrow morning (Lord willing.)

It’s been a long day . . . not my idea of a great Sabbath although I did manage to get quite a bit more read in Dan Kimballs’ “The Emerging Church” and spent a bunch more time with my family, something I’m always grateful for.

The response to the NPC Digital Cafe’ has been overwhelming and even though they’ve added another router it’s proving difficult to get connected.  The Cafe’ is literally PACKED all day.   So, before I get bumped off (I’m not going to use a connection that a pastor might want) when the Cafe’ fills back up after this general session – here are a few pictures from the last 24 hours:

I’m still here – just moving quickly between events and happenings to catch as many photos as possible. I’ve been getting a lot of requests to put up a photo gallery of the shots for the attendees to access. I’m working with Zondervan to get that approval and it looks positive at this point. Keep tuned for the next episode!

Here are a few shots from the last nights general session and the Jesus Painter. This guy is truly amazing – he did the entire painting in about 15 minutes while Josh Fox lead worship.

I’ll get caught up on the rest of my postings in a bit, hopefully!

It’s probably just me; I think attendance was higher today than yesterday. There are A LOT of pastors and ministry leaders here; based upon my walk around this afternoon to the various sessions it certainly seems like more are here, or at least attending the afternoon sessions. Shane Hipps’ session entitled “The Gospel According to Electronic Culture: Why Changing the Methods Always Changes the Message” was so full they were sitting outside the door listening in. Here are some pics from todays sessions:

I’m back in “hiding.”  Hiding behind the curtains in the NPC Digital Cafe’ that is . . .

One of the new features at the National Pastors Convention for 2007 is the NPC Digital Cafe’. Attendees can relax on comfortable sofas, enjoy a cappuccino, watch a Nooma, watch The Making of the Bible Experience (DVD), listen to The Bible Experience on an available ipod, register to win a FREE ipod and, of course, connect to the FREE high speed wireless internet. The NPC Digital Cafe’ is a definite “hit” and is almost always busy. There’s also a FREE massage, your’s for the asking – although you may have to wait in line!

As I’m regularly transferring pictures from my digital media to my laptop I set up office (so to speak) in the storage area behind the NPC Digital Cafe’. My desk is a wooden shipping box and I’m able to keep my equipment charged and ready while staying “out of the way” so to speak. All things considered – I’m thrilled with the accommodations!

If you’re here at the convention – don’t miss the Digital Cafe’ – it’s a great place to relax a bit, take a nap (I’m serious, just find a comfy sofa and let your head bob a bit – kind of like I used to do in church when I was a kid!), or just grab a tasty drink. If you’re really lucky (ha, ha) you might even see me!

Here are some pics – pardon the “graininess,” it’s a bit darker in the NPC Digital Cafe’ and I have been trying not to use my flash.

I may have been tired when I walked into General Session #3 . . . no more!

General session three started off with a laugh as Ken Medema did improv prior to the start time of 9:45am. One of the staffers went through the crowd of gathering pastors and ministry leaders and got some of their more embarrassing experiences in ministry. Ken Medema then, on the spot, wrote songs describing those experiences. Ken brought smiles and laughter to all involved and was a welcome burst of energy!

Taylor Mason added an additional burst of humor with his fabulous ventriloquism and then Todd Agnew provided some truly special music for the group. Todd’s candor, humor and style were refreshing and welcome. What a great addition to the program. An energetic interview with Phyllis Tickle regarding her book on prayer followed Todd Agnew. And not to be forgotten was a humorous yet pointed drama from Ted and Lee regarding an interaction between Peter and Andrew.

Worship was lead by Stephen Newby. As Stephen has done each session, he brought the group into a time of worship and welcomed the Holy Spirit into our midst. The worship was simply AMAZING! On a side note I also learned that taking pictures is made more difficult when you have tears of joy and worship in your eyes. Simply incredible!!

Ruth Haley Barton from the Transforming Center is speaking as I type this. She specializes in retreats for pastors and promises to provide some valuable insight to the pastors in attendance. My compact flash card ran out of room about five minutes into her presentation, therefore I’m blogging from the other side of the wall.

Here’s a few shots of General Session #3 at the National Pastors Convention, 2007:

No posts late last night after the comedy session. The comedians were great . . . I was simply too tired. I got back to my room about 11:45pm and barely remember crawling into bed. I feel a bit better this morning, although I’m definitely tired. I suppose it’s a combination of the 3 hour time difference (versus Michigan) and yesterdays 16 hours of work. Mind you, I’m not complaining. I’m having a great time here at the National Pastors Convention and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to volunteer. Not to mention, having a back stage pass, as the NPC official photographer, is cool too!

Here are a couple of shots from last night . . .

Now I’m off to catch this mornings Connect Groups prior to General Session #3 this morning at 9:45am. I’ll be back!

I’m sitting in the Digital Cafe, provided for FREE here at the National Pastors Convention, transferring photos from my CF cards to my laptop. While I’m typing this Ken Medema is singing one of his fabulous solos to wrap up the second general session here at NPC 2007. Tonight’s session was just about as amazing as this afternoons and John Eldridge provided an excellent speech covering God’s creation and story. I can’t wait for the CD to hear him again.

Next is Late Night here at NPC. On tap tonight is Christian Comedy with Taylor Mason, Ron Pearson and Bob Stromberg. Ron was also in General Session two and was funny as well as amazing . . . catch the photo with him balancing a ladder on his face while juggling!!

I’m off to photograph again . . . see ya soon

I managed to find each of the 16 afternoon seminars . . . thanks to one of the other volunteers who pointed me to a part of the resort I’d not yet been to. Most of the sessions were well attended – some brimming over with people. It was truly hard to not become engrossed in a few of the seminars – particularly Dan Kimball’s “They like Jesus but not the church” and Doug Pagitt’s “Wild Goose Chase: Pursuing a Wide-eyed, Hope Filled Christianity.”

Both Dan and Doug managed to pull me into their discussions and I found it difficult to move on to the other sessions. I’m certainly going to try and get more time at any other sessions they do . . .