the unformula

Milestones for God and family. Part 2

2008-09-12T07:37:00.004-04:00

My son Joshua was baptized last Sunday. He is 8 years old and the last of our three kids. When my wife and I asked Joshua if he had ever asked God into his heart. He said, "I don't know, I feel like He's always been there". We went ahead and made it official anyway :) What an awesome milestone for us to have all of our kids make a choice to live for God. I know that choice will be challenged through their life. We are praying for them and trying to build a strong foundation now, so they will be prepared when the storm comes. GO JOSH!!

Milestones for God and family. Part 1

2008-09-07T18:13:00.008-04:00

Wow! What a month of August. My family and I went on vacation for a week and had a great time together. We hiked, swam, played games and worshipped God in everything we did. We also talked as a family....a lot. One thing we talked about, is something I've been anticipating for 11 years.

My daughter begins middle school this year. I wanted to prepare her for the challenges that she will face ahead. So we spent the summer talking about some hard issues. Sex, drugs, Rock-n-Roll. Well...not Rock-n-Roll. That's a good thing :) But we addressed the other stuff. We did our quiet time together for awhile and learned what God had to say about sexual purity. She is passionate for God. I love that! She chose Psalm 119:10 as her life verse and memorized it. It says,

"I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands"

We bought her a ring and had it engraved with "Psalm 119:10". We made a covenant to God and each other that she would save herself until marriage. I am so proud of her. We had a wonderful dinner for two at the Bonefish Grill and sealed the deal with a ring :)

GO JORDAN!!

slaves to righteousness

2008-07-11T08:42:00.003-04:00

The title worship leader has been watered down over the years so much, all that’s really needed is a decent voice and an acoustic guitar….poof! you’re a worship leader. Heck, you don’t even have to be a Christ follower anymore. Yet, you’re supposed to be teaching the church go-er what it means to worship the God of the universe with your life.

By the way, I consider anyone with a platform in the church, a worship leader. That means if you’re a drummer, guitarist, bass player, keyboardist, sax player, singer, preacher, ect, in the church, you’re a worship leader. People are not only listening to what your singing, playing, or saying, but watching you closely to see if they can truly tell the difference between the world, and the church. Sadly, there’s not a big difference. In fact, the worship leaders in the church are worse in many ways. On Sunday mornings, we’re declaring a life greater than that of the world, then going back to our worldy ways, that evening. I know..I’ve been there and done that.

Paul says it best in Romans 6:16-23

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

I love how Paul says, "When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result?" Basically "how was that working for you?"

I'm calling all worship leaders (see above description), to be slaves to righteousness. Not perfect...just pursuing holiness everyday. Then, and only then, can we "lead" others into worship. Anyone with me?

just some words

2008-07-01T00:11:00.002-04:00

I love God so much...and poetry. what can I say...I'm a moody artist :)

From Your mouth a perfect light
Poverties hope
A starry night
A full moon’s glow
From the sun that shines
total darkness, now beautiful light

I was just reflecting on how beautiful God is.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands

Let's talk about the glory of God

2008-06-09T21:34:00.003-04:00

“My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!” Julie Howe wrote a beautiful and terrifying poem about God’s justice over all, one morning in 1861. The Battle Hymn of The Republic went on to become a great victory song, sung mostly during times of defeat or great loss. The only problem is if Julie had truly seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, she would not have been here to write the rest of the song.

In Exodus 33, Moses said to God, “show me Your glory”.
God responded, “no one may see My face and live”

Every account of God showing a glimpse of Himself is usually followed by, “they fell down dead”, “I was terrified”, “I fell facedown”, “looked like a Consuming fire”…and so on.

There’s nothing I’m more interested in than God’s glory. I love to read about it in God’s word, I love to write and sing about it. I get really excited, but it makes me nervous to sing things like, “show us Your glory God”. What if He were to say, “ok”?

One time in my life, I truly believe I saw a very small glimpse of God’s strength. It was at Passion’s OneDay03, a gathering of college students. I was one of thousands in a field in Sherman Texas, all praying for God to show up. If you ask anyone there that night, they will agree with me. I was scared for my life.

The rain came and within minutes we were all standing in 6 inches of water, with nowhere to go. Lighting illuminated the night sky and seemed to come inches from the water we stood in, followed by cracks of thunder that sent chills down our spine and left us on our knees begging for mercy. I knew in that moment that God could take me out with precise accuracy if He wanted to. But, when the storm passed, two of the most beautiful days followed. We new God was there, and as a result, the worship was unbelievable.

That night terrified me. But it woke me up to the glory of the Lord. I would never take worship lightly again. I understand that when I see that glory someday, I won’t be here to give an eyewitness report. But that’s not a bad thing, because I am loved by God. That’s the glory of my protector. That’s the glory of my very powerful and loving Father.

the un-formula part 2

2008-06-08T14:56:00.000-04:00

Our God Reigns

Next, we must acknowledge that there is a Kingdom and a God that is far greater than we can ever imagine. Some of us are so busy investing in our “little kingdoms”, we miss out on the reason we were born… to serve God. We are to worship with our lives the only One worth worshiping.

We serve a huge God. We can’t even get our head around it. Our greatest scientists have tried, and never even come close.

Want to feel small? Check out Job: 38… God is huge and we really have no idea! The good news is we don’t need to figure it out. We just need to embrace our meager selves and lift high our great God. Despite the fact that God is downright scary with His awesome glory, He loves us. As if that weren’t enough, we can call Him father… and that’s worth singing about.

Once we reach this point, we can get a bit crazy. We start lifting our hands, falling to our knees, smiling like never before and shedding tears of joy. Our God reigns. All we have is our lives to honor him with.

It’s really quite amazing that anyone plays at Southbrook. They are usually humbled quite quickly. But for some strange reason, most of us enjoy feeling small. It’s not our human nature, although it is God’s desire for us to embrace His glory. Not because he is conceded, because He is God.

The glory is not ours for the taking, the glory His. He deserves it. He is God. When worship is happening out of a humble place it’s amazing… it keeps us all coming back for more and draws others in.

The un-formula part 1

2008-06-07T22:03:00.002-04:00

A few weeks back pastor Rob asked me to blog about how I was able to build a worship team to 6 very talented leaders, over 30 unbelievable musicians and singers, and a great sound team. While other churches are paying quite well for their worship experience, our worship leaders give that up, to serve at Southbrook…for no compensation.

There’s only one problem….I didn’t do it. I drew a blank when I was asked. Any credit for my success, goes to my creator. The One who gives me breath, talent, and a reason to sing. Without God I have nothing worthwhile to sing about. He only uses me to build a worship experience that is pleasing to Him. I’m only a vessel. God could use a rock or a tree if He wanted to… but as long as we are willing individuals, God will use us.

God’s formula for success is simple, however, due to our own pride and selfishness we fight it. It took years for this to sink in to my thick head! Here’s some “essentials” I had to learn.

1. I am not as cool as I thought I was. (Shocking huh? Ha!)
2. Pride gets you nowhere.
3. Nothing, outside of God’s goodness, satisfies

Those revelations led me to humility… and humbleness is where ministry begins ☺

The world does not revolve around me. It revolves around God. It was real easy for me to feel grace… because I was lost in sin. Regardless, we all have sinned and need the grace of Jesus.

God said to us:
“I love you so much, I gave My Son, so you may have life”

I answer; “God, I love You so much, I give my life back to you”

Worship

How's that working for you?

2008-06-07T09:27:00.002-04:00

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”

As I look back on my life, I can see that it’s the trials that make me grow. When we face a trial we have a choice, we can run towards God, or away from God. In our humanness we want to quickly argue our way out of situations, or get revenge on someone who has hurt us.

As my friend would say, “How’s that working for you?” I usually ended up looking pretty dumb. Although at the time it wasn’t easy to run to him and hold my tongue, he made my path straight and took care of things as I humbled myself. Our faithfulness is tested when we’re under pressure, but the reward is worth it. Both here on earth and in heaven.

It's better to walk away in the face of anger. Come back after you’ve asked God to speak for you. Remember if we try it on our own, we’ll probably blow it.

Father, prepare me for my next trial. Take over inside me, Lord so that I don’t do something I regret today. I want to be a good example of you. Thanks for doing it for me. I know I’m much better if I just step aside. Thank you, Father, for the promise of eternity with you. Be glorified through me always. In Jesus’ name, Amen.