Hi all,

Don’t have much time to explain, will fill you in more on Monday.  Please watch this short film from my time in El Salvador about the murder of a teacher that you need to know about:

The Mysterious Death of Marcelo Rivera

Please spread the word!   ~jamie

Hey everyone,

It’s your friendly neighborhood communications assistant here with some great news: The Ordinary Radicals: Special Topics DVDs are now available for pre-order! 

“Special Topics” is a seven disc DVD series featuring extended interviews with Shane, Tony Campolo, Brian McLaren, Lisa Sharon Harper, Bruce Main of Urban Promise, the Psalters, and many more that we didn’t have room to include in the original documentary. 

Each informational installment grapples in-depth with a different challenge of living a relevant and effective faith in the midst of American empire. “Christian Identity” is the first disc to be released, and presents a historical and ideological examination of the larger faith movement surrounding the prominent figures in The Ordinary Radicals.

All seven topics are available for pre-order now. Visit our store to reserve your copies today!

Thanks everyone for your continued enthusiasm and support!

-Rebekah

Hey everyone,

The days have been growing longer, hotter, and lazier, but our friends at The Simple Way have been working hard knitting together the second issue of Conspire! Magazine. Volume 1, Number 2: Sacred Subversions is now available through the Another World is Possible! store. The summer 2009 issue focuses on revolution, sharing stories of creative acts of resistance against “business as usual,” both across communities and on an individual level.

Conspire! is the collective quarterly publication of communities across the country that shares stories of community, revolutionary love, and creative new visions. Individual issues can be ordered through the Another World is Possible! website. To contribute or join the project as a co-conspirator, visit Conspire! Magazine’s website at www.conspiremagazine.com.

Just heading back from The Ordinary Radicals screening at Cornerstone in IL.  It was so great to be back with good folks after a year of shooting, post production, screenings and festival.  Crazy how much life can progress in just 12 months, eh?
Anywhoo, Logan Laituri and Brant Russo made it out for the screening which was completely packed.  About 200 people took breaks from the hundreds of shows to see the film (we ran out of seats, picked up more seats and ran out of those too!)
I headed over to a tent that had  two great bands: our good friends Jon Felton and Soulmobile Eternal & The Illogical Spoon.  Jon and crew killed it as always and The Illogical Spoon was magical (full disclosure, I’m a bit biased as The Illogical Spoon has members of Psalters as well as Jesce Walz from The Simple Way, but they are in fact magical).  Musical love by way of beards and banjos

Special thanks to Mike Hertenstein of Flickerings and animator Steve Leeper.  Steve and friends invited me to a great film nerd meeting at the festival, Deep Focus, held after hours in the Speaker Hospitality center.  2+ hours of fantastic conversation.
So yeah, hanging out in a lovely Perkins restaurant in Peoria, IL right now typing up this missive and wondering how you’re doing.  Let us know your experiences with the film and what’s going on in your neck ‘o the woods.
Planes, trains and automobiles, go go go!
~jamie

The blog at ihatechurch.com, which seeks to radically “rebrand” Jesus and Christianity in modern culture, mentioned the film and our Cornerstone Festival screening today:

…This week the Cornerstone Music Festival will host scores of bands, films and incredible people from all walks of life. This festival will become the epicenter for young Christians in America who cling to the beliefs of The Ordinary Radicals Film. The excitement builds as one person tells another how Christ has changed their life and is passed on to others throughout the week. A movement grabs traction and builds throughout the Heartland of America…. Many will never know… but those who are there will have their life changed forever. Are we giving it all or are we holding some back for a rainy day.

Read the rest of the post here, and check out the other postings that raise relevant questions and ideas on how to communicate faith and love in a commercially overwhelmed culture.