Category Archives: Worship

Giving Thanks, Parenthood, Spilling Personal Secrets, Stories, Worship

Life

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It has now been revealed that I am going to be a dad. Start your prayers NOW.

It has been difficult keeping this under wraps and we had to out ourselves to a few people along the way but it is out now for all to know and we couldn’t be more excited.

My wife and I have been married for 7 years and our foray into starting a family actually began 2 years ago. We had just about given up hope on conceiving on our own. In fact we had even scheduled an appointment with a fertility specialist!

It is amazing how God works. Just when you think that it is all up to yourself God comes along and bonks you on the forehead V8 style. He is firmly in charge.

Ok, so I wanted to share this story about our (my) first Dr. visit.

I was playing it all cool the first time I met the OB doctor. She walks us through the ultrasound procedure and I nod accordingly. Under the surface though I’m jumping out of my skin. I want to see this ultrasound so that the little blue cross on the pregnancy test will become really real!!!

She moves the sensor (sensor is the right word, right?) around and I catch a glimpse of the heartbeat. I literally yelled out, “Is that it there!?!?!?” Now, for those of you who know me, you know that I have been medically diagnosed with a “voice that carries” so imagine just how loud my excited question was.

I could no longer play it cool. My cover was blown. This suddenly became real and I love it!

Conferences, Discipleship, Experience, Faith in Action, Giving Thanks, Hope, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Music, Worship

Catalyst Day 2

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Another Catalyst is in the books.

Today was great. The highlight?

Dave Ramsey’s talk on practical leadership for your organization? Maybe.

Matt Chadler’s challenge to live and teach in such a way as to leave a lasting legacy? Could be.

Certainly the highlight must have been Tim Sanders plea to bring our Christian values of love, sacrifice, and service into the workplaces of America? Missed it by that much.

None of these come close. The absolute highlight of my day was when the Daraja Children’s Choir of Africa skipped on stage (literally skipped) and broke my heart singing God of Wonders. Then three of the children took to the mic and whipped out some incredible scripture references. To say I cried would be an understatement.

God put Africa on my heart a few years ago now. My heart breaks for the people of that continent. I have had a desire to go and do something there but that desire battles with perceived reality and usually ends up in the “good intentions” pile. Today was different.

Today I heard God say to me, “You are going to Africa.” This wasn’t communicated to me in a “someday” voice but in a “Get Ready!!!” voice. How will I get there? When am I going? I don’t know but if that really was God’s voice then I can’t wait to find out the answers to the When, Where, and How.

Collecting Experiences, Conferences, Discipleship, Leadership, Ministry, Remarkable, Worship, Wrestling With Scripture, Youth Ministry

Divine Appointments and Convergence

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A few years ago I was introduced to this idea of “divine appointments.” We’ve all experienced these in one way or another.

You know… when you just happen to meet someone going through a similar season of life that you are experiencing and your “chance” meeting brought clarity or encouragement.

Or when your plans get changed and in the midst of being frustrated and angry you realize that there was a reason your plans were changed- You missed something so-so and God provided an Oh-Wow.

Today I experienced the “divine appointment” in spades.

First I arrived at the Catalyst Labs still unsure as to whether or not I was going to purchase a ticket. As I walked in the door a guy asked me if I had a ticket. I kinda brushed him off thinking, “I can read the signs dude. I know where to get the tickets.” But the guy insisted. Turns out one of the people in his group couldn’t make it to the Labs and so I was suddenly presented with a ticket! Terrific I thought and I proceeded in to the Labs thinking I was only going to be able to catch the last few sessions. Nope. I was 20 minutes before the “Opening Session.” I hadn’t really missed a thing! For once it paid off getting to the airport before dawn!!!

Another concept that I have been working with recently is this idea I call “Convergence.” Convergence happens when I’m really listening and learning and connected to the Father. It is as if I have a heightened sense of spiritual hearing. I feel like God’s getting my attention when I start hearing things over and over and in different mediums. When this happens I get this sense that everything I’m reading, watching, hearing, conversing about all seem to “converge” together.

The only Lab I chose to go to was the first one. More on this is a second.

Lab Number One was taught by Scot McKnight, author of The Jesus Creed. His Lab was based on his latest book, The Blue Parakeet, a book about examining how we read and apply the Bible. As a youth minister (and semi-pro-semi-amateur Bible scholar) this subject is a pretty important aspect of my life. However, just in the past month I have been wrestling with the short-comings I have perpetrated and the vision I want to put forth for teaching teens how to read their Bibles in a way that naturally leads to living out that Good News. That is exactly what Scot’s lab was about. Sha-zam!

For Lab Number Two I kinda got squeezed out of my preferred Lab so I settled into a familiar named author’s class. I have read Reggie McNeal’s This Present Future and Practicing Greatness so I though that I would see what he had to say. First off, the man is funny. I mean real funny and with a slightly warped Office-like-awkward-pause-kind-of delivery. Secondly, the man knows his stuff. His topic was to speak on his new book but he disregarded that subject to focus on his last book. He laid out the 7 Practices from Practicing Greatness spending the bulk of the time (read: all) on Practice 1, The Discipline of Self-Awareness. I am working through a 60 day self-leadership study right now. What reggie had to say is echoed in this book I’m working through and the notes I took seem to be a perfect supplement to walk me through the next part of the study. Weird huh?

Finally, I experienced a divine appointment and convergence in Lab Three. Thankfully, the space time continuum stayed intact.

I chose my speaker and subject for Lab Three, found my seat, settled in and then… I different speaker walked onto the stage. Now, I knew who this guy was and I was fine with the switch but I hadn’t chosen to listen to him speak. I chose the guy that hadn’t shown. As this speaker began his talk he looked out into the audience and said, “Some of you didn’t mean to be here. But God has set you up for a divine appointment.” Whah!?!?!?!

The speaker then went into a pretty detailed exegesis of Genesis 1-3: the creation and fall of man. Last Sunday Genesis 1-3: the creation and fall of man was the subject of my Sunday school class. I got some great questions from my teens and I got some good feedback but I felt like I left some questions unanswered. This Lab went a long way to help me work through some of their questions. Awesome!

I am so thankful that God had some divine appointments scheduled for me today. What a blessing!

More Catalyst to come.

Conference, Experience, Leadership, Ministry, Remarkable, Resources, Worship

Leavin’ On a Jet Plane

I’m off to the ATL in the morning for the Catalyst Conference. I’m looking forward to a challenging conference, hanging with good friends, and waiting hours in soul crushing lines for gasoline. Wait…

I guess I’ll settle for two out of three.

Catalyst is the highlight of my year. I cannot wait!!! I wonder what magic is in store for us all at the Gwinnett Center?

Book Review, Discipleship, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Worship, Youth Ministry

Getting My Lead On

I am so excited about starting two new leadership books this week.

First up is Bill Hybel’s latest offering entitled, Axiom: Poweful Leadership Proverbs.

Axiom basically is a collection of “lead-speak.” Hybels opens up his leadership glossary and gives the reader a glimpse into the small but potent words and phrases that he and the Willow Creek staff use to get things done. Hybels breaks these proverbs into 4 categories: Vision and Strategy, Teamwork and Communication, Activity and Assessment, and Personal Integrity. Each category is filled with 15-20 bite-size chapters based on a different leadership principle. You begin to get the idea behind Axiom just by studying the chapter titles. In fact some of these leadership principles are made plain and clear by the title alone. Who doesn’t understand the truth behind titles such as “Never Say Someone’s No For Them,” “Pay Now, Play Later,” and “Speed vs. Soul”? Hybels always brings the heat so I can’t wait to delve deep into the leadership goodness.

The second book I’m excited about is It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It by Craig Groeschel. Craig is the founder and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv and he is one of my favorite leadership voices out there. The thing I admire so much about Craig and the LifeChurch leadership is how open and inviting they are into their process. I have been privileged to sit and discuss with them over two meals and I have walked away each time blessed in some capacity. They rock!

I have been excited about It because Craig’s desire to build leaders and to equip them to lead is the sole focus of this book. Look for a few updates and summaries of this book as I read It.

My challenge for you is to Get YOUR lead on!

Everyday is a new day for you to step up and lead where ever you are. If you’re a teacher, a bus driver, a mailman, a lawyer, a mechanic, a soldier, a minister, or a student you are called to lead. Let God guide you and strengthen you.

Get YOUR lead on!

Books, Discipleship, Ethos, Music, Thanksgiving, Worship

Hallelujah Time

Whew! I am so tired. We had an incredible adventure to Kentucky for our annual mission trip. We spent 8 days serving people of Leslie and Clay counties and then 8 (long) nights sleeping on the hard floors of an elementary school nestled in the hollar of the Kentucky mountains. It was an awesome trip. My teens experienced people, ideas, and situations that they would have never seen here in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. I have received a ton of positive feedback from parents and teens. It was a great trip.

Since I’ve returned I have been unable to shake this feeling of exhaustion though. If I could just take a month off and just sleep maybe I could get over this feeling. That ain’t gonna happen though. I’ll just have to make the most of my nights and and relish in my down time. My wife had to force me to take a day off this week and she chided me for wanting to read some books about small group ministry on my said day off. I relented and picked up a book that I have wanted to read for the last few years.

I started reading Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley by Timothy White. What a fascinating book. It begins with the history of the Rastafarian religion and lifestyle which is supremely bizarre and eye opening. I am more interested in Bob but this backstory of the worldview in which he lived, breathed, and, in some way, helped craft has added a new layer of dimension to this enigmatic purveyor of sweet soul music.

Like most Americans who say that they are fans of Bob Marley I’ve really only listened to Legend, the 1984 compilation released posthumously to capitalize on Marley’s, well, legend. I have another set that is a primer on Bob and his career but like everyone else, Legend is just about it for me.

To supplement my reading I purchased Burnin’, the last Wailers album. The book has already alluded to the cultural and philosophical significance of songs like Small Axe, Duppy Conqueror, and Burnin and Lootin.

After listening to the album this morning I have some new Bob Marley favorites to add to the mix. I am totally grooving to One Foundation, Rasta Man Chant, Reincarnated Souls, and Hallelujah Time.

The lyrics to Hallelujah Time really struck me this morning. I am so tired and stretched thin yet I can’t help but praise my Father. We are all living and breathing because of His grace and by his power. How can we not sing praises to Him?

For those of us who believe in and have been changed by Almighty God and his one and only Son, anytime is Hallelujah time.

Hear the children cryin’,
but I know they cry not in vain.
Now the times are changin’;
love has come to bloom again.

Smelling the air when spring comes by raindrops
reminds us of youthful days.
But now it’s not rain that water the cane crops,
but the sweat from man’s brow;
the substance from our spine.
We gotta keep on living, living on borrowed time:
Hallelujah time!

Yes, you can hear the children singing: Hallelujah time!
As they go singing by and by: Hallelujah time!
Oh, “hallelujah” singing in the morning.
Hallelujah time! Let them sing; don’t let them cry.

Over rocks and mountains
the sheep are scattered all around.
Over hills and valleys,
they are everywhere to be found.
But though we bear our burdens now,
All afflictions got to end somehow:
From swinging the hammer, pulling the plough.

Why won’t you let us be, to live in harmony?
We like to be free like birds in a tree.

Hallelujah time! Yes, you can hear the children singing.
Hallelujah time! Yes, as they go singing by and by.
Hallelujah time! Oh “hallelujah” singing in the morning.
Let them sing; never let them cry.
Hallelujah time! “Hallelujah” singin’ in the morning.

Books, Discipleship, Theology, Worship

Where I Got Hooked pt. 5

I’m out of pocket this week while we are on our mission trip in Kentucky. I thought a good idea for posting this week would be to share with you some of my favorite passages from the different books sitting on my desk. It is in these passages where I found myself being hooked by the ideas and concepts contained within their pages.

I hope that these quick takes will encourage you and connect with you in some way this week. Enjoy.

Our final passage this week comes from Mark Galli’s latest, Beyond Smells and Bells: the Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy.

We can only become one if there are really two to begin with.

The same dynamic is at work in worship. Like most people, I’m desperate for intimacy with God, so my instinct os to glom onto prayers and songs that make God seem close. But when I begin here, I am tempted to identify God with the warm feelings such ptayers and songs generate. I sing a “worshipful” song, and I get “worshipful” feelings- and I assume that’s God. Do this habitually, thoughtlessly, prayerlessly, and it’s easy to end up with a relationship with a glroified self.

But the liturgy puts the brake on narcissism right up front. When we are forcefully reminded that we are not worshiping an idealized form of the self, but a God “in heaven,” a “holy” God, a genuine Other.

At that very moment intimacy with God becomes possible. The possibility of mistaking God for the self has been taken off the table. Now a human self and the Devine Self- utterly unlike each other- begin to relate to each other. Union can come of these two.

Discipleship, Worship

Insomniac Challenge

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When I am up for hours on end I try and find some things to do to pass the time. I found this passage last night and saw a big insomniac challenge for me.

What if, instead of flipping through the channels or playing video games, I spent my time in worship? What if I spent the time in praise and adoration? In “grateful reflection”?

“God—you’re my God! I can’t get enough of you! I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts.
 
So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open, drinking in your strength and glory. In your generous love I am really living at last! My lips brim praises like fountains. I bless you every time I take a breath; My arms wave like banners of praise to you.  

I eat my fill of prime rib and gravy; I smack my lips. It’s time to shout praises!

If I’m sleepless at midnight, I spend the hours in grateful reflection. Because you’ve always stood up for me, I’m free to run and play. I hold on to you for dear life, and you hold me steady as a post.” (Psalms 63:1-8 MESSAGE)

So there’s the challenge. In the midnight hour when everyone is asleep and I lie awake staring at the ceiling, I will worship. I will reflect on the goodness of the Lord.