gompers

For My Team - 3

2011-08-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting on this blog post for a few weeks now, but it's way past time to post it. So here goes.

We've been looking at the way the apostle Paul chose to identify

himself to his readers as he begins this epic letter to the church in

Rome. So far we've observed that Paul would encapsulate his identity

three ways; first as a slave by choice to Jesus Christ. Second, as a

man called to be an apostle, and finally, "separated unto the gospel

of God."

The word separated here is pretty strong, it means to set off by

boundary, or to sever. Those are pretty stout mental images there. The

idea of marking off something by creating a boundary, like a block

wall or a tall fence is pretty strong. Or to sever, like...well that

word speaks medically to itself. Yikes!

Today I'd like us to consider not what we are instructed to be

separated from by Paul's example here, but what we are to be separated

TOO. To focus on being separated from something here, like being

separated from "the world" might get us into some dangerous territory

as we are also instructed to be "in the world, but not of the world."

We must interact with those far from Christ if we have any hope of

sharing the love of Christ with them.

Now, I'm not saying we are not called to be separated from something.

Our lives as Christ followers ought to be different. Our speech,

lifestyles, integrity, work ethic and so on should look very different

than that of those without saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. If we are

to pattern our lives after the life of Jesus we certainly ought not blend in.

Jesus did a lot more offending than he did blending.

And in that way, we certainly need to be separated from the world.

But for right now, I'd just like to focus the other half of the

equation, and that is to whom we are to be separated. And to

illustrate my point I'd like to tell you a story about when this light

bulb came on for me.

One day as I left the grocery store with my daughter Ava in tow, I had

both hands full of bags and soda. Like most parents, we require our

children to hold our hands as we cross a street or parking lot. But on

this day, both hands were full and I hadn't thought the whole walking

to the car business through. So this was the ensuing convsation-

Me: Ava, you need to hold onto the diet coke bottle here in my hand

and don't let go.

Ava: Why do I have to hold the diet coke?

Me: Because you need to... stay connected to me...somehow.

"light bulb"

You see, as long as she was holding the diet coke bottle, she was

connected to me. I knew where she was and she knew where I was. If I

stopped she would have no choice but to stop as well, as long as she's

connected to me. And this was for many reasons, but primarily for her own safety. I can see what she can't see because I'm taller, older, wiser and more

experienced at navigating the dangerous crosswalks with speedy cars

and unpredictable dangers.

I think the parallel is pretty obvious at this point. We need to stay

closely connected to our heavenly Father. He is the well spring of

life, the light to our path, the lamp for our feet. And its for our

best interest! It reminds me of one of my favorite passages of the

Bible, John ch. 15. "Abiding in the vine." Keeping a close union with

our Savior is vital. But let's go the last five percent, as Jim likes to say.

How does this apply to Paul's description of himself, and the passage we're studying?

Our close union with Christ needs to define us.

In the same way that our calling and choice to serve God defines us, we ought

to be able to define ourselves in these three ways, based on Romans 1:1 -

1. I choose to serve Jesus and His plans are more important than mine.

2. I am certain of God's calling on my life, and that dictates my decisions.

3. I keep intimate communion with God atop my to-do list at all times.

If we can't honestly describe ourselves this way, let's make it so. And let's set our focus on staying closely connected, and separated to God our Father.

Thanks for continuing this journey through Romans with me. Next time

we'll move on from verse one...

much love, -g

For My Team-2

2011-06-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

Romans 1:1 "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God..."

This week we’re going to take a look at the second of three phrases Paul used to identify himself as he opened his letter to the church in Rome. As I stated last time, the significance of Paul’s opening words are that he is identifying himself to the readers, and by doing so in this fashion, he sums up 'who he is' by these phrases.

After referring to himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ, Paul says he is “called to be an apostle...”

We are not all called to do the same thing, and there is no more or less important calling in The Church, or the "body" of Christ. However, we are all instructed to be certain of OUR CALLING, or as The Message Translation puts it, “God’s invitation to you, His choice of you.” (2 Peter 1:10) But let’s not get our ambitions or desires mixed up with God’s calling. Sometimes we WANT to be or do something that God has not called us to be. And, as Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa plainly puts it, “You can’t be any more than God has called you to be. And we often times get into trouble trying to do more than God has called us to do.” We are not responsible to God for any more or any less than what He has called us to.

But why is it so important that you and I be certain of God’s calling? Why shouldn’t we just attend church, give faithfully, and serve where there’s a need? The way I'm challenged by this question is an important element behind Paul’s description of himself. Not his apostleship, but in his identity being firmly rooted in his calling.

The instruction found earlier in the first chapter of 2 Peter really give us insight to this:

“...Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One[Jesus] who invited us to God...don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others...But if anyone does not have [these qualities], he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” (from verses 3-8)

Peter goes on to explain to us that for this reason, be certain of God's intent for you and you will be firmly rooted, you will not fail. (v.10) Essentially it's a stair step process with a successful life of following Christ being the top step. Each subsequent step is outlined as character, discipline, patience, love, etc. As we are shaped by these traits we can become certain of our calling. If we neglect the pursuit of these traits, it will be as if we've forgotten that the perfect blood of Jesus acts as perfect atonement for our sins.

Knowing our individual calling is a key to our personal spiritual development. And our resolve to become more like Christ is pivotal in reaching the world Jesus died for. Because when we build character, patience and love on top of basic faith in Jesus, we can be certain of God’s calling and firmly rooted in Christ. Only then can we exercise God’s calling, be used to reach the world, and really discover who we are in Christ.

So where are we on this proverbial stair step process? Are our lives marked by these characteristics? Are we on a steady path of building patience and character towards exercising God's best intention for us? Subsequently, do the people in our lives know that WE KNOW that we are forgiven and free from the snare of sin?

One of the most important lessons I learned in Bible College was to confront the truth in the Bible honestly. So when I'm directly challenged by the Bible's instruction I must honestly compare that to my life, and make no excuses.

That is, if I really believe Jesus gave up his life so I could live.

-g

For My Team-1

2011-06-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this blog to convey Biblical truth that will challenge my team of worship leaders, interns, musicians and sound techs as I am challenged by God's Word. If you don't fall into this category of people, but are encouraged by the blog, then great! Thanks for taking this journey with me. For this season I will blog my way through the book of Romans. May God lead my eyes to fall and settle on the words and concepts that will most appropriately lead and challenge my team for this season of life, in Jesus' name, Amen. Here we go-

Paul is writing this letter to the church in Rome, from the city of Corinth about 25 years after he saw Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was on his way to Jerusalem, with the intent to eventually go to Rome, which ultimately he did. The "in your face" biblical challenge starts out in verse one, chapter one. "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God..." I'm stunned by this self description and I think it's worth considering. So let's do this in 3 parts, the first being the term, bondservant.

The best and most concise definition I can find for the word bondservant is this: devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interests. The origin of the word comes from early accounts in the Bible in both Genesis and Leviticus. (Genesis ch. 9 and 29. Leviticus ch. 25) On some accounts the term is used to describe a person who owes a debt they can not repay. In another account, the bondservant is free, yet freely chooses to serve his master. He forfeits his rights as a free man and submits to his master's authority. In either case it's an interesting way for the apostle Paul to describe himself in this the first sentence of his letter.

Unlike letters we write today, authors would begin by identifying themselves. Interestingly Paul opts to focus on his calling, apostleship and servanthood to Jesus to describe the very depth and essence of who he is. He did not say Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin, a citizen of Rome, raised in Jerusalem "at the feet of Gamaliel" - all of which titles would be accurate, impressive and would carry much weight in the eyes of his readers. But he first called himself a bondservant of Jesus Christ: as if to say, "ABOVE ALL ELSE, greater than any other credentials or identifications, I am a chosen slave to the will of my master, Jesus Christ to whom I am in debt that I can not repay."

So what about you and me? In writing a letter would we ultimately describe ourselves in such a way? Is the fundamental basis of our identity encompassed as a bondservant of Jesus Christ? Or better yet, are we even challenged that it ought to be?

In 1 Corinthians 11:1(NLT) Paul writes, "And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ." If we are to take the Bible's instructions as the absolute Word of God; the inspired instructions that are without flaw- see 2 Timothy 3:16-17,2 Peter 1:20-21, 1 Corinthians 2:13 - then let's conclude this thought by following the chain of logic:

1. The Bible is true, and It's instruction to us is perfect, and applicable.

2. Paul, under the inspiration of God, tells us to imitate him as he imitates Christ.

3. Paul considers his identity to be found in his relentless commitment to the will of God.

4. We too ought to consider ourselves as bondservants, in debt to a loving master, subject to His will. And this ought to identify us as deeply as our name, our fingerprints or our DNA. If it does not, then let's make it so.

A simple prayer to kickstart this mindset:

Father, may my identity be found in You. Help me to relinquish my will to yours. I choose today to be a bondservant to Your will. May this fact dictate my decisions and demeanor today. Amen.

Next time we'll delve into the second of three descriptions Paul uses for himself, "called to be an apostle..."

much love -g

Maybe I'm just not smart

2010-08-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

I seem to come across quotes, books, blogs and tweets a lot lately that -in the words of the great Arsenio Hall- make me go, "hmm."

These various bodies of text are filled with fancy talk about greatness, success and innovation. They want to redefine concepts like: what it means to be nice to people; what God really meant when He said, "thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" and so on. There's an idea out there that using swear words regularly, from a staged platform within a Christian context is completely acceptable. And all the while these ideas are masked under a guise of open mindedness and enlightenment. Further, if you were to disagree with them then you are narrow minded and judgmental.

But the trend I notice is that there seems to be an overall lack of Biblical support for such claims, yet these blogs and posts are being celebrated and shared. When I compare them to the absolute truth of the Word of God, they don't hold water. So I'd like to piggy back off my last post to continue warning young people about these "new" trends-that is, if anyone actually reads my blog. Either way, it's out there. So I'm going to break down a few of the troubling things I've read as of late.

1. God didn't mean what He said in the 3rd commandment. He did. God teaches us through His Word over and over that there's a lot of value placed on our words. The book of James outlines this principle heavily, as does the history of Israel's great respect for the name of God. In addition, when Jesus answered his accusers with the answer "I Am" they were knocked to the floor. Point: It does matter what we say, and God did "waste" a whole 10 percent of His law requiring regard for His name.

2. To continue that discussion, the idea that it's acceptable and even praised when men in Christian leadership regularly swear in public is appalling. Simple, "let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths." Eph. 4:29 Come on guys, let's not abandon the simple, clear instruction from the Word so you can be the cool "Christian curser." It's not cool. Let's exercise some self control-which is a fruit of the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives.

3. Politeness ought to be thrown out the door for the sake of honesty. This idea is that honesty somehow out weighs our duty to our fellow workers or "teammates" to be polite. And this will increase success and promote unity. I have no problem with honesty. I'm an open book. There's no more and no less to the words I say. No hidden agendas or unspoken motives. This doesn't make me more righteous, it's just who I am. I see no point in games, or passive aggressive underhanded speech. But this idea is one that sounds all nice and pretty and new and shiny, but how does it compare to God's Word? Jesus said speak the truth in love. If you can say your piece to your "neighbor" with the underlying current of 1 Cor 13, then go for it. I bet you'll find yourself being more "polite" when you take the time to honestly consider this filter.

I guess my beef is that there's a life style these days that wants to water down the simple instruction from God's Word under this mask of being open minded, or intellectually superior. Maybe I'm just not that smart, but I'd rather error on the side of simple obedience to the clear instruction of the Word. It's all in there! Just do it. You have a question about our speech, God's name or how to communicate truth? All the instructions are in the Bible.

Keep it simple.

It's not quick

2010-07-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

What do you want your life to be about? How do you want to be remembered? What's the primary focus and concern you have for your own life?

That's a question I find myself often pondering. In my college years, I was convinced that the most important thing I would do with my life would be on a large, public ministry scale. That the greatest thing I'd accomplish was to be a bright, visual, public walking example of Christ boldly proclaiming the absolute Truth of God's Word.

But in more recent years I find myself being more and more convinced that the greatest thing I'll accomplish is on a much smaller, more private, almost intangible scale. It's come to my attention that the way I raise my children is much more important than the way I raise my hands while leading worship. The way I worship God privately has greater lasting impact on my legacy than the techniques I use to lead publicly.

I recently saw an excerpt from a story of a popular Christian "minister" teaching a dicey "prosperity gospel." The minister is said to have a great "rags to riches" story and now lives a lavish lifestyle-funded by the donations of the large congregation in attendance. The story was being highlighted because now this "minister" is going through a public divorce with their spouse of 20+ years who is a co-leader of their church. And the said lavish life style is now in question.

I thought to myself, "Where did this person lose sight of the truth they're manipulating?" I wondered if this person was intentionally being completely deceptive, or did they just lose focus? I have reason to believe that this "minister" was earnestly seeking God-at some point. And potentially possessed gifts and blessings given to them by God. But somewhere along the way they took their eyes off the One who gave them these gifts, and got distracted by themselves. I think they started to, as my pastor puts it, believe their own press reports. Perhaps they became enamored with the praise of men or the success they were experiencing. It reminds me of the first king of Israel, king Saul.

Saul was appointed king and was squarely in the realm of God's blessing. He appeared humble at first, even hesitant to accept the appointment past down directly from God through the Prophet Samuel. But somewhere along his path of blessing and success, Saul became proud, scared, insecure and downright disobedient to the direction from God. The anointing of Saul as king of Israel was lifted and God called for a new man to be named king. But Saul, so consumed by his position, power and arrogance denied the appointment and even sought to kill the man God appointed as his successor. Where did Saul go wrong? When did Saul stop respecting the authority of the Word of God? One day he's a humble man being blessed by God, the next he's denying His instructions in open rebellion of what he inherently knows is right. I believe this happened to Saul over a long period of time. He slowly lost sight of the One who placed him in his position to begin with. He embraced the praises of men and "drifted" out of close union with God.

I fear for the young, prominent Christian leaders of my day. I fear they'll be blinded by their own success, forgetting the source of their gifts and talents. And masquerading behind a vail of Christian influence, inside they're growing more and more independent, self sufficient and simply far from God. I fear in 20 years they are the ones going through divorce and scrutinizing inquiries to their "behind the scenes" lives. I hope and pray earnestly to the contrary, but fear none-the-less.

I don't believe any of these leaders ever pondered the question, "How do I want to be remembered?" and answered by saying they want to build a famous, ground breaking, revolutionary ministry that attracts thousands but in the end lose sight of God and as a result lose their family, reputation, ministry and influence and ultimately defame the name of Christ putting one more reason in the mind of those far from Christ to stay that way.

It's not quick-the slide down the hill of spiritual downfall. I believe our enemy is cunning. He knows exactly how to slowly turn our eyes off of Jesus and onto ourselves, and the pleasures this life offers. Beware young Christian leaders. Beware of thinking too much of yourselves. Beware of the temptation to believe your own press reports. Remember that if a man can't rule his own house, how can God entrust him to oversee His people.

Be a great dad, be a serving, loving husband. OBEY the simple instruction of the Bible. The ends do not justify the means. It's not quick. It's a slow temptation that will eventually consume you. Stop emulating other young leaders, but look to those who finished the race strong for inspiration. Men like Billy Graham, C.S. Lewis and Chuck Smith. Beware of "new truth" and philosophies that highlight "relevance" over Biblical authority. Don't settle for tactics that promise a quick start, but rather rely on the timeless truths of the Word.

Today my heart is grieved for our lost world. But not just for the lost, but over the way our public failures are keeping them that way.

fill me up

2010-07-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

I've been at NewSpring Church the past few days hanging with their worship leaders and team. It's been great for so many reasons, but for one in particular.

Last night as I stood in the auditorium during worship I closed my eyes a few times. And as the music that filled the room-filled my ears-and sank deep into my soul, I imagined God pouring super natural water from His hand straight into my heart. It was as if the music was washing me clean, and cascading over me-like I was standing under a great waterfall in the middle of a beautiful jungle. Several times I fought back tears (as I am now as I recall these moments) being so moved by the beauty and interplay of drum, rhythm, chord and vocal melody. The lyrics were simple and honored God. And the crowd around me was obviously "into" it. But I wasn't rejoicing this time because God's people were singing to him. I expected as much. Though it does bring me great joy continually- which is why I love to lead worship! But on this day, the magnificence of God's creation of music was singing the lyrics. The sounds of precise timing and interplay were singing God's attributes. They were painting a picture of God's beauty, and I wanted to frame it and hang in my favorite room.

But we can't do that with music. We can record it, and listen to it. And appreciating the technology we can enjoy the music long after it's been created. But there's something very special about standing in the room, and hearing the different elements of audio interaction being actualized live that is extra special and can not be captured. It's as if the sounds have a life of their own, because at the moment of their conception they sing of God's glory. Like a beautiful sunset is new every day and constantly morphing and fleeting as the earth rotates, so too the sound waves seem to pass over us, and through us in a magical way that can only be described as divine.

Thank you God for these moments. I pray for more. More for me, more for my brothers and sisters at Meck. More for our team of precious Arts volunteers. And may we embrace them, and let your beautiful creation fill our hearts.

Grace

2010-02-03T11:34:00.001-08:00

I've recently been challenged to put into words why I wrote the song we sing at my church "Grace", and how it pertains to what we offer God through our worship and offerings. Often the best way for me to get my thoughts straight, for whatever reason, is to blog them. So here we go. This is real stream of conciseness.

When I wrote Grace I was reflecting on all the times in my life that I've really blown it. I've been mean, selfish, self seeking, arrogant, lazy and, for lack of a better term, I just didn't care that Jesus died for my sins. I appreciated it, but it didn't motivate me to NOT sin.

But eventually my sin caught up with me. I came face to face with my sin and the real harmful consequences it produced, both to me and to others. I fell into a mental and spiritual state that I could only describe as depression. I realized who I was, how so much of life was an offense to God and how much I'd certainly hurt Him, my God, my Savior. I was convinced that my sin was too great to overcome.

Yet God, in His mercy called out to me, and BLEW MY MIND with His love. The scripture says that it's God kindness that leads us to repentance; those words made so much sense when I was experiencing them first hand. It wasn't the heavy hand of God's discipline that drew me back to Him. The heavy hand brought me to my knees, but it was His kindness that lifted my head to see His love and forgiveness. This is Grace.

A few years later, with the help of my wonderfully talented sister in law Nichole Broome, I penned the words to the song Grace. I thought to myself, how do I respond to this amazing gift that overcomes my sin? and the words to the chorus just fell out of the sky:

"I will sing, I will dance! I'll shout Your name!

I'll rejoice, I will clap, lift my hands to praise You!

Jesus, Jesus,

Because of Your grace!"

Because God has given so much for me, and loved us back into relationship with Him, what else can I do but to sing, dance, shout, clap and lift my hands in surrender to Him? God's grace has changed my life and with these words I give it back to Him.

liquified

2009-08-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty much a smoothie making champion now. If I were to enter a smoothie contest, I'm afraid I would even beat out my California mom's famous smoothies. Sorry Donna.

I've tweaked the ingredients significantly since my first attempt, because my first few smoothies were horrible. (See previous post, Smoothie Jester) My terrific mother in law bought me a smoothie mix to try which at first I felt like a real fraud using. However, the smoothie mix is just concentrated fruit puree. It's like syrup, only it's pure fruit. This stuff is supposed to be added just to ice for a great smoothie, but that gets a C grade at best. Here's how I roll:

1 and 1/2 cups of mixed frozen fruit - pineapple, strawberries, mango, cantaloupe
the juice of 2 Gala apples (I use a juicer to make fresh juice, it's about 8oz)
1/4 cup smoothie syrup mix
1 whole banana or peach if I have it

The result is a frothy, smooth but chunky glass of delicious! The added fresh banana or peach makes a big difference, but the biggest change is leaving out the ice. Originally, the ice was the foundation of the smoothie. But it hurts my teeth! Besides, who wants to chew up ice all morning besides pregnant women? Using all frozen fruit for the base gives it the cold frothiness without the annoying crunch.

I'm just sayin', my smoothies are really good now. A far cry from the chunky juice I had the first time.

On a separate note, I got the mack-daddy of all coffee grinders as a late birthday gift. You can pour a whole bag of fresh beans into the upper chamber. You set the dials to the specific grind your looking for (18 settings from extra fine to extra coarse) and set the number of cups you intend to brew and just press start! It evenly grinds the perfect amount of beans into the lower chamber for you to remove and pour into your coffee maker. It's beautiful. I can just walk into the kitchen and press one button for the perfect amount of evenly ground beans for a pot of coffee. So pretty much I'm the master of all things liquid.

smoothy jester

2009-07-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna take a break from my usual intense thoughts on our lives with Christ and eternity to talk about my smoothie experience this morning.

I've been telling my wife I'm waking up in the mornings craving something like a smoothie. You know just like a creamy, icy, fruit filled, healthy, hearty way to start the day. I love smoothies. I had like a frequent buyer card at 2 different all natural smoothie places in Southern California where I used to live, but there's nothing like that close to my house, and we can't afford a 5 dollar smoothie every time I may get the urge.

So my wife lovingly bought lots of fresh and frozen fruit the last time she went to the store. So finally this morning, I have another one of those where I wake up craving a smoothie. I started to go online to find a recipe, but then I thought, "it's just fruit and juice and stuff. How hard could it be?"

Well, we don't have a blender. I'm lactose intolerant and we don't have any Soy milk in the house, so I'm already in trouble. We do have a juicer I forced my wife to let me buy. We can't afford enough fresh fruit to juice fruit to have fresh juice, but we have the juicer. That was a mouthful. And we have a small food processor my wife uses to make our own baby food.

So, I decided I'd just throw some fruit and juice into the food processor and see what happened. Here's my list of ingredients:
-about 8 oz orange juice
-the juice of three apples
-a small glass of ice
-1/3 cup fresh blueberries
-1/3 cup fresh grapes
-5 strawberries
-about 2 pieces each of frozen mango, pineapple and cantaloupe

What I got was chunky juice. It never "smoothed" out. It's not creamy or refreshing. It's like chewing up a glass of juice.

Now, I've heard of a place called smoothie king. I guess that makes me the smoothie court jester. A laughing stock. I'm going to finish my "smoothie," but I'll probably make my next one from a recipe.

The Heart of worship

2009-07-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

I've recently been invited to share my thoughts on the heart of worship to a group of young people interested in leading others in worship through music. I decided the best way for me to pen my thoughts for them was to blog about it as this is the most comfortable way for me to communicate. I hope you enjoy.

Worship, at it's core, is quite simple and more common and widespread than Christianity. Worship is giving affection. It's giving honor. It's offering your admiration and allegiance. And it's done by a means and with an attitude that is honest and heartfelt. It is not coerced or offered out of guilt. And it is only able to be offered if the person offering the worship knows and has reason to give it to the subject that is receiving it.

This happens at concerts and sporting events. This happens at political rallies and book signings. However, as with all things God created, worship is expressed in its purest and most intense form when it is offered to the God whom we know and love. Matt Redman puts it this way, "Worship is always a response to revelation." Meaning, we must first have a revelational awakening to who God is in order to respond to His love in worship. God created the act of worship as an aspect of our interacting and communicating with God, and Him back to us. You see worship may happen anywhere, anytime for anyone. But it only fulfills it's perfect created intent when it is offered TO God FROM His created and beloved children, us.

This, I believe, is an important distinction to make today as the word "worship" has been degraded to a musical genre and a title attributed to 20 minutes of corporate singing. That being said, I will not go into the immense detailed list of ways we CAN worship God. That would take a long time and my list would undoubtedly be incomplete. What I would like to talk about is HOW the Bible instructs us to worship GOD. Then, we can apply these principles to worshipping God in every way that honors Him.

To begin, offering anything more than simple acknowledgement of appreciation for anyone other than the One and only true God, is idolatry. It's one thing to clap for a sports figure or applaud an excellent musical performance. It's another thing to esteem them in your heart as superhuman, infallible or divine. Notice I used the term, "in your heart." That's because only true worship can happen when it is birthed from the heart. The form it takes afterward is almost infinite in its options to be offered to God, but it must be expressed from the heart, or else it is not worship.

Why? Because the heart is the constant core of true emotion. This ideal crosses race, language and geography. This is not only true of Biblical interaction with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We say to a loved one, "I love you with all my heart." Mark Lowry once said, "we don't say I love you with both of my kidneys." No, we don't. Because the heart is the seed of all emotion and the source of life. The heart provides for all of the other functions in the body. No body part provides for the heart. The heart pumps and circulates the blood. It acts as the great regulator for all other organ functions. It is the one thing that must operate in order for us to continue living. Therefore, to express anything from our hearts is, in effect, to say we offer the core of our very existence to this subject through these thoughts, emotions, words or actions. In this way, we say to God, "I love you with all of my heart." And that is HOW we are instructed to worship God.

Now, to really drive this one home to those who say they want to lead worship. We must wrestle with, understand and grasp this principle of worship being an outflow of a revelational knowledge of God's love if we are to lead others in responding to that love. We must know, embrace and cling to this love. Paul instructed the church in Rome to "cling to what is good."(Romans 12:9) In conjunction, Jesus said, "why do you call me good, no one is good but One, that is, God."(Matthew 19:17) Now, if we connect the dots here and understand Paul and Jesus' choice of words, we will have a distinct insight into the revelational knowledge of God, which is, as we discussed, the principle basis for all true worship from man to God. Ready?

The word here 'cling' is the greek word kollao. It is a verb tense of the root word kolla. This use of the word in this case means to press, fasten or otherwise permanently attach with cement or glue. It means to grasp onto it as if it were the only thing keeping you alive. Why does this matter? Because we're looking at the whole council of God here. So, if Jesus says there is no one who is good except God and that essentially only He, God the Father deserves the title of "good", and Paul tells us as Christ followers to cling to what is good, then the application for us looks like this:

Fasten yourself, as with cement to be permanently pressed together and so tightly attached that we can't distinguish where one begins and the other ends with the only One who is good and that is God as if your life depends on it.

This, my friends, is HOW we respond to God's great love. Only in grasping onto and clinging to the Father in a way that we can not be separated do we align ourselves with the instructions of the Bible. And only in this way do we return the love of God the way He has loved us and given His life as a sacrifice and visible sign of His great love for us.

You see, worship is simple. It is expressing love back to God. But we must first know God's love and our heartfelt response to His love which results in actions in order to worship Him, and further, lead others into true worship in its purest, most perfect form on this side of eternity.

Thanks for reading. I love you all.

Oooh shiny!

2009-07-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

I've recently gotten all excited about the prospect of a new guitar! This guitar is shiny and pretty. And though it's not new in terms of ownership (I found this one on craigslist) it would be new to me, and it's quite nice. Shiny chrome accents laid on top a brilliant candy apple red finish. Trimmed in white and emblazoned with the word 'Fender' across the headstock. Beautiful.

Upon entertaining the possibility of owning this guitar I began to fantasize about all the wonderful creative things I could do with it. I could make new sounds with it that I can't make with my current guitar. I could do this neat musical thing and that cool guitar thing. With these new sounds I may be inspired to write new songs and melodies.

But in these moments of musical excitement I'm reminded of the context in which I make music. I'm reminded of the God who created this creative element called "sound." I'm reminded of moments I've listened to instruments working together, without lyrics, that seem to praise God in the purest way I've ever witnessed. In these moments I'm also reminded that I have to separate Steve the musician from Steve the worship leader. Steve the musician likes to play funky rhythmic melodies with complex timings that make even accomplished musicians say at least, "well that was kinda cool." If nothing else just seeing the heads bob to the beat! Steve the musician loves that.

However, Steve the worship leader has a sobering calling to usher others minds and hearts to the very throne room of the Most High God. Steve the worship leader must pray the words of John the Baptist and say, "Lord, may I decrease so that You might increase." You see Steve the worship leader has to be constantly reminded that I am here to love on and worship the great audience of One. I'm here to point the attention and affection of the hearts of those in my care towards Christ and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER absorb the accolades and praise that only the God who is perfect and holy and righteous and loves us and died for us and was raised from the dead so that we too might raise from sure physical and spiritual death into a life and eternity lived for His glory and purposes...(deep breathe in)...deserves. This is a grave responsibility. And one that I've embraced long before I was the "lead vocalist" and song picker outer guy.

No, I embraced this calling as the bass player in a 5 piece youth band when another guy joined who could sing better than me and we needed a bass player.:) I embraced this as the percussion guy playing djembe' and shakers in college. I learned of this responsibility as the back up singer and 2nd acoustic guy, and I learned this over the course of my life from the time I was 9 years old.

Now I'm not tooting my own horn. There's no horn to toot and if I was to toot it, it would be quite ugly and unpleasant because my heart is wicked and deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). My motives mixed and my zeal for God, inconsistent at best. So my tooted horn would be less than pleasing to you, or anyone else and especially to God too whom my righteousness is but filthy rags. So I don't share this for that purpose, surely not.

No I'm reminded of these facts because while Steve the musician and Steve the worship leader CAN intersect and work beautifully together for God's glory when my motives are in check and my heart pure before God through the regular washing from the living water, the Word of God, I must remember the calling first. We ought not be __________ (insert your name here) musician and seek to fulfill a desire to make music on the stage where God demands and deserves all authority and honor. The calling to lead others in worship must be about God and Him alone. We must first seek God to make "our calling and election sure." If we are to be ________(insert your name here) worship leader and we get to make music while we do it then great! Then, and only then, the musicianship and creativity can be portrayed to God (and to Him on a level to which our very best stuff could never measure up!) and He gets all the glory.

If you're a musician who is seeking to satisfy a craving as a worship leader, be careful. You'll probably find yourself frustrated, and frustrating those serving God along side you. And that's what I think about when I get all jacked up about a new guitar.

thanks for reading, I love you all.

So what's this cart anyway?

2009-07-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

I'll get back to 2 Peter 1:5-8 tomorrow. In the meantime this is something I wrote addressing our Arts Team at Meck, but I think the application is here for all. We all have some "ministry platform." People we influence and have the opportunity to lead towards Christ.

A timeless expression, "getting the cart before the horse."

As a worship leader at Meck, I have the privilege of helping equip next generation leaders for service in this great thing we are all part of called the church. One part of that privilege is knowing when a person is ready spiritually to lead people and represent Christ to others physically. Or in other words, I need to prayerfully, intuitively, intelligently and by the power of the Holy Spirit in me, know when a person is ready for public ministry. As I was reflecting on this responsibility and some people who fall into my "sphere of influence," I thought of this old phrase, getting the cart before the horse.

You know why the cart expression is so timeless and makes more sense than we even realize?

If this cart gets in front of, instead of behind, this horse a lot of bad things happen. The cart undoubtedly gets turned over, possibly destroyed or at least damaged. The cargo can be lost, broken or otherwise rendered useless. The horse could very well be dragged to the ground, twisted, turned and even killed under the wreckage from the cart and horse being 'out of position.' It's not that the cart was poorly made or the horse not conditioned for the job. No, quite simply, things just got out of wack:)

Now I know I'm really looking deep into six little words, but consider the implications if the horse were a person, and the cart a public ministry and the cargo...people's eternal salvation. Really puts things in perspective huh? Suddenly we're not picturing an old Amish guy on a horse and buggy.

If we get this wrong in terms of ourselves, and leading others the implications can look like this: The horse is a good person who loves the Lord who is suddenly elevated to a platform for which they are not ready. They may gain a false sense of spiritual maturity and never really learn they need God, His power and blessing in order to accomplish anything good for the cause of Christ. Subsequently this person's spiritual walk is stunted, stifled and creeps to a halt with their new found status and pride. The cart is filled with people looking to this horse to make spiritually mature decisions and lead them toward Christ and godliness. Only the horse can not even hear God's voice for being so detached and distracted from a relationship with Him. The cart itself is a public ministry that the person is not ready for and the cart ultimately causes the horse's demise.

This may seem a little dramatic. But I've witnessed it first hand and it's sad and ugly. Everyone involved is left asking themselves, "How did this happen?" This is why our response to this challenge of growing a heart like the heart of God is so important. This is why it is so vital that WE, all of us are reading, studying and talking about the Word of God. Because without us taking the initiative to seek the very face of God by diving head first into His Word and applying the words to our lives no matter how difficult, painful or challenging it may seem to be, we are all destined to either witness or be part of this tragic analogy. We must get this one right, as leaders and potential leaders and followers of Christ.

I'd like to challenge you to consider your platform. Think long and hard about the responsibility we have of leading others. Consider what God has entrusted you with and make certain you don't become part of this mistake. And we do that by applying the difficult instructions of Christianity to our lives. Instructions about self examination, pride and motives. We ought to pray as the great men of the Bible prayed. And if we are lying to ourselves and God when we pray these prayers, then there's our first area to allow God to work.

Here's a good starting point for all of us. God says this to Isaiah in chapter 55 verse 8 and 9:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

And then in conjunction we can consider Jesus' prayer found in Luke 22:42:

"Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done."

If we can pray these two scriptures in conjunction here's what that prayer might look like:

"Lord, your plans and thoughts are higher, more noble, wiser and ultimately just better than mine. I know I've asked for this or for that, but Lord your will be done in and through my life, not mine."

Can we all pray that honestly? If no, there's step one. If yes, there's also step one:) Let's let God decide what role, platform and influence we have and let us only be concerned with seeking God's face. (Proverbs 3:5-6) Let's not get the cart before the horse. People's eternity is at stake. People God loves, created and died for. Thanks for reading. I love you all.

practical, practical, practical

2009-07-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

I started reading through 1 and 2 Peter MONTHS ago because I knew from previous study that the books are full of practical Christian instruction. I really appreciate this type of instruction because it seems to de-complicate the Bible and the Christian life. There's a lot of mystical, jacked up speak out there about spirituality. So I like to keep it simple. Maybe I'm just not that smart, so this works for me:)

Just obey what the Bible says. Sometimes it's hard, yes because we are at war with the physical desires of the body and mind we live in now, but the Bible gives us instruction the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to obey. This is my Christianity. I keep it simple.

2 Peter 1:5-9 gives us some great steps toward practical growth in a way we can directly apply the instruction from the Bible to our lives.

'But for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self control, to self control perserverance, to perserverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of out Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.'

We are all granted the starting point here-faith. (Romans 12:3) So we are instructed to "with all diligence" add virtue or honor, integrity, character to your faith. We believe by faith that Jesus Christ is the 'Son of God'. His continual instruction to his disciples (now us in most cases directly) was at the basis of their character. Their hearts, motives. So, add that to our faith. It makes sense. We believe in Jesus, do what he said.

Add to virtue, knowledge. Romans 12:2. 'be transformed by the renewing of your mind...' This means that spiritual growth is intelligent. Add the knowledge found in God's word to our virtue which is founded in obedience to Jesus' instruction to whom we entrust our lives (Romans 10:9) by faith. Add to knowledge, self control. This is a big one. In Galations ch.5 are listed the fruits of the spirit, or the production of a God centered life. The first fruit is love implying that all things God accomplishes through our hands, and efforts must first begin with a love that only comes from knowing Him that we might love others. The last is self control. One might think that the last item on a list is the least important, but I would disagree. The last thing mentioned is often the most remembered. Without self control we are relocated to an exsistence where the instructions from the very mouth of God have no teeth. To have no self control is to not know or believe that the Spirit of the living God is, in full essence, living in us. As we gain a knowledge of God and godliness we gain the ability through faith in Christ to obey the instruction from the Bible through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Add to self control perserverance. To perservere is to stay the course no matter the seeming oposition or impending defeat. We know the outcome of the war against sin and satan. It's found in the book of Revelation. God wins. We are with him in eternity. Let's stay the course.

To perserverance godliness. To reflect the very nature of God from within our hearts. 2 Corinthians 5:17 explains how we are a new creation. We are given a new heart intended to be shaped into a heart like Christs. This means godliness is acheivable. We can reflect God's heart. Through perservering in relentless obedience to controling our desires thoughts and meditations of our heart through gaining a knowledge of God all boiling back down to the faith which God gave us. Since God started it, and not us, good absolutely can come from it.

I've got babies crying upstairs, so I'll wrap this up tomorrow:)

It's been a while

2009-06-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

I guess the question I have is "why else are we here?"

Why else do we work, study and raise our children to be 'upstanding citizens'? What's the point of it all if there's nothing more to life than accumulating wealth, things, debt and reproducing?

I'm not surprised anymore at the suicides and depression that plague our world. With nothing really to live for, people that have it all, seemingly, and those who have none have this one thing in common-purposelessness.

I may have made up a word there but it's true. So I guess when I consider why people may seem apathetic about learning more about the God who created all this, the question I have for them (maybe you) is why else are we here?

Why else should we work hard? To get stuff? We all know, if we are honest, that the satisfaction of the newest gizmo or shiniest ride is temporary at best. And even at it's best the high is less than perfect.

What's the point really if not to grow closer to the God who offers eternity, unconditional love and perfect complete fulfillment of purpose?

If you're not on a steady climb towards knowing the God of the Bible, I have one question for you that I must also answer myself...why else am I here? This is not my permanent home.

1 Peter 4:1-3,7-8 'Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past liftime in doing the will of the Gentiles-when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries... But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."'

Hoarse, Of Course

2009-03-07T18:00:00.001-08:00

For those of you reading who may not know, I lead worship. I sing and play guitar and lead a rotating band of other church staff members and volunteer musicians.

What I "do" is not just music, it's more. To worship God is to express your love for Him through words, songs, music, dancing...really any way you can think of that the Bible explains honors God. In a corporate setting, this is usually through music and singing as that is what is best exemplified through God's chosen people, Israel, and the law He gave them that explains how we 'ought' to worship God.

The key and fundamental element of worship is our hearts. Now that sounds like a church term, but it's quite universal. To speak to someone from your heart is simply to mean it. You know, like your parents told you, "say you're sorry like you mean it." Or the way you may verbally express your love for a family member or spouse. This is to speak from your heart. Anyone can say words. We can all mask our true intentions with empty words. I've done it, and I'm sure you have as well (if you're at least honest with yourself).

Well tonight I was challenged by this fact of life in a way unlike I have in a long time. Let me make this long story short.

I've been a little sick this week. It's my annual illness. I call it my "once a year sick." Anyway, I thought I was better except a little nagging cough. Well during rehearsal today before my Church's Saturday night service, my voice just went away.

I mean, I kept singing but no sound came out. I was forced to hand over the worship leading responsibilities to my mentor Rick. He's a quality and very capable guy, so no problem there. But there I was, no microphone, just me and my guitar, supposedly leading worship without singing with, or talking to the people I was leading in worship. How am I supposed to lead worship if I can't sing? Well as soon as I was tempted to think along those lines I was reminded of my own words.

I often tell various band members and musicians that we are all worship leaders, not just the guy out front with the mic. This is because we worship God from our hearts, and therefore lead worship from our hearts. So tonight as I sang and played my guitar with no voice, I worshipped God, and lead my church into worship.

I hope and pray that God is honored by my heart singing to Him, though my voice could not. My prayer is that this lesson won't be necessary in the future, although if I do need to be reminded, God knows I'll be willing to listen.

Abuse and neglect

2009-03-04T05:18:00.000-08:00

If I had ignored and neglected my children the way I've ignored and neglected my facebook and blogging the last week, I'd be locked up!

So I'm gonna plow on with some readings this week. First up, a little something from Proverbs ch.4. These words speak of "her" as wisdom, but I like the application to husbands as well:

Husbands,
'do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
love her, and she will keep you...
exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
She will place on your head an ornament of grace;
a crown of glory she will deliver to you.'

There you go men. Do that.

Now if you read my blogs (notes), you know I'm reading through 1 Peter right now. Peter has so much instruction, but since I've neglected my blog, let me hit a few highlights as I wrap up the first chapter:

In verses 10-12, Peter is telling us a little about the salvation which we have been given. It is the salvation about which the prophets prophesied, "the grace that would come to you."

He describes the gospel which has been preached to you in this way:

it is *'by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven'
and as *'things the angels desire to look into'

The angels want to look into the good news of salvation through faith in Christ. It's as if they're peering around the corner to see what's going on and saying to each other, "Dude, check this out. This is awesome!" You know what I mean? And this is the very message of love and grace we have at our fingertips, daily.

Then as the chapter closes out, Peter quotes Isaiah. He uses this quote to sum up, essentially, the gospel. The good news. The overarching work of Jesus was to say this:

"All flesh is grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers, And it's flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever."

What are we doing people? Are our efforts to promote ourselves, our names, our credit? Our striving is in vain if that is the case. The message from above is this, our efforts will fade into dust, but God is eternal. The word of God is eternal. Let us invest ourselves in things that do not fade away. Let us invest in our hearts. That the people we are may become more like Christ, that we would know Him, love Him and love one another as Christ has loved us. By this, all the world will know we are His disciples. This is the kind of thing the angels are curious about. They don't and can't understand it. They can't know God the way we can. Jesus did not give His life for the angels, but for you and me.

Take great comfort, joy and personal challenge Christian! As my Pastor Jim White says, "Get in the game." Get in your Word. That is the only thing that does not fade away.

Lord, may I never seek my own glory, attention or honor. But may I seek to honor You, my wife and the cross of Christ. All of my efforts are vain, but Your word will remain forever. Amen.

Thanks for reading. I hope my reflections on my walk with Christ encourage and uplift you towards Him and His Words are on your minds throughout the day.

Now that's a greeting!

2009-02-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Today I start my journey through the books of 1st and 2nd Peter.

I know the letters from Peter are full of challenging instruction for the Christ follower and since I've spent the better part of the last 4 months knee deep in OT history books, I decided this was a good direction in which to go.

So right from the start I'm floored.

Peter just comes out of the gate swinging huge doctrinal truth right from the first verse. He addresses his "audience" (us) as those chosen by God in His unfathomable knowledge. His "audience" is also described as those who have been sanctified, made holy, consecrated, set apart, forgiven.

These are awesome descriptions of us Christians! This is how we are described by Peter as he addresses Christ followers scattered all over the world. We are described in this beautiful way:

Forgiven, chosen, sanctified, made holy...

This is a sharp contrast to the view I often have of myself. I'm selfish and arrogant. I'm self seeking and internally ugly. I'm a sinful man, ungrateful and undeserving of forgiveness. But these words describing us are penned by Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirt. This is how God sees us!

But it doesn't stop there. It gets better!

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance."

The grace here is also translated 'spiritual blessing', but the peace here is what gets me.

The peace here is this: 'Spiritual peace'. Better than physical peace because it comes from God. It's peace that is to be "realized" (or acheived, accomplished, completed) in and through our relationship with Christ. Meaning we have it, we must only 'be' with Jesus in order for it to be materialized.

Further, this spiritual peace offers freedom from our fears, and victory over 'moral conflicts'. Man! That's some serious peace and that's what I call a greeting! What if everytime we addressed each other we said this:

"Hello Christian! You are the chosen child of God who loves you and forgives you! You are made righteous in Christ and set apart for His glory and obedience to God. You have been given every spiritual blessing. You have access to peace from God that offers freedom from sin and worry. You have every reason known to God and man to celebrate the great gift of salvation in Christ!

So, you wanna get somethin' to eat?"

:)

Lions, tigers, bears......

2009-02-20T11:50:00.000-08:00

My readings lately have journeyed me through the 1st book of Kings, in the Bible.

One thing I observed about this passage is that the various kings of Israel and Judah are described briefly by how they live their lives. Either they walked in the ways of the Lord and obeyed God, or they didn't. The exception is this:

Some kings obeyed God, but did not take down the "high places" where some people offered incense (among other things) to false gods. Now, the thing I notice is that these guys lives are quickly summed up by this difference. The kings are summed up in one of these few ways:

1. They 'walked in the ways of the Lord and their father David'.

2. They 'did evil in the sight of the Lord and caused the people to sin'

or

3. They 'walked in the ways of the Lord and their father David, but did not take down the high places'. (again, I'm paraphrasing)

The last king mentioned in the book of 1 Kings is described in the 3rd way. But he is not the only one who did no take down the 'high places'.

Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, did not take down these physical high places when he became king of Israel. It was hard to do. The people, namely his 'foreign' wives, liked their false gods. Work would need be commissioned to tear down the buildings. The workers would have to be paid. People who worshipped these false gods would be insulted and might even have revolted against the king. It would be easier to just leave them where they are. No work to commission, men to pay or unhappy subjects.

I think there's a parallel between these physical "high places", and spiritual high places in our hearts. These spiritual high places are hobbies, priorities or addictions in our personal lives that tear some or all of our attention away from God. I imagine we could live our lives, call ourselves Christ followers, even be leaders and examples and yet maintain these unseen high places in our hearts.

However, if the story of my life is some day accounted, I hope there are no disclaimers to my commitment to my God and Saviour. I don't want there to be any fine print mentioning that my heart was divided from God and given over to some ungodly fixation. I'd hope I can be described, by man and God, as a man who loved God and walked in His ways, with no side notes.

On a lighter, stranger note from the same passage:

Under the inspiration of the Lord, an unnamed 'son of the prophets' told another man to strike him, like with a sword I'm assuming, but not mortally. Well, the guy says no, of course! So this 'son of the prophets' tells the guy basically, 'when you leave here, a lion is going to kill you because of your disobedience'. (I'm paraphrasing some more) And then that's exactly what happens!

The guy peaced out and a lion came out of the woods and killed him.

These things puzzle me.

practical

2009-02-12T19:34:00.000-08:00

A wise man once told me, "The more you read and study the Bible, the more practical it becomes."

These were great words. The more I read and study the Bible, truly the more practical and less 'hokus pokus' it all is. The prophet Samuel told the first King of Isreal, King Saul, "obedience is better than sacrifice." Jesus tells us in ch. 15 of the book of John, "a new command I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you." And then, "if you love Me, keep my commands."

I think we want to complicate Christian life. We want to make God's "will" so elusive and complex. We talk about discovering God's will. We take classes and have debates. I don't want to be simplistic, naive, or arrogant, but I believe the Christian life is as simple as 'simple obedience'. Not to say that being a true Christ follower is painless and easy, but it's not as compicated as we make it.

The question is not, "How should I treat this person?" or "How do I know God's will?" or "Does God want me to do this or that?"

The question is "What does the Bible say?" Jesus said this, "Love one another as I have loved you. By this ALL will know you are my disciples." So the question-"How do I reach the spiritually lost?" The simple, practical, real life answer is this - Love one another! How simple is that? The rest will all evolve out of our simple obediemce.

Paul says in Romans, "Do not be anxious, but in all things by prayer and supplication make your requests known to God..." You know what that means for you the next time you're worried about something? OBEY God's Word and "do not be anxious..." Pray about it.

If the Bible commands something of us I understand that command to fall into one of two catagories:

1.Either the command is like this one from Jesus: "Be holy as I am holy." Which we absolutely can not do. 2.Or it's like this one: "Love one another as I have loved you."

The first tells us, You can't do this, therefore, you need Jesus to do it for you. We can not be holy as Jesus is holy. Therefore we need His righteousness to be imputed to us through salvation and baptism.

The second tells us, because the Holy Spirit lives inside you, you have the super natural ability to not obey your natural instinct, but rather obey God's direct instruction, like- 'do not be anxious'!

Let's not be cop outs people. Let's stop saying, "that's just how I am" and let's start saying, "I'm going to obey this simple command from the Bible."

Simple obedience. I promise you, if we would just obey the simple things first, the complicated things will become simple. It's all very practical.

I don't blog enough for people to bother reading.

2009-02-10T18:51:00.000-08:00

I don't blog enough for people to bother reading. As you just read.

But in reading John ch.15 with my good friend Charlie, I was struck as never before.

I've read the book of John before. I took an entire college course that poured over every verse of the book. But the Words are alive. They're the living words of God. They are an explanation of who God is. They are His Words to His children, His bride, His creation and most valued love-US.

So onto what I thought was so interesting that someone else may want to read.

A commonly known verse in the beginning of John ch.15 says "abide in Me, and I will abide in you." The passage goes on to state that "apart from Me (Jesus) you can do nothing."

One million men have done studies on these verses. I have not read all of them. But today, this is what these words spoke to me:

The term "abide" here implies this: to be in vital relationship with.

I don't know about you, but when I hear "vital" I think of medical stuff. You know, vital signs and what not. I think of a patient being "hooked up" to the medical equipment monitering thier blood pressure, heart rate and overall "health".

I take it one step further. I imagine the patient being dependant on that dryer hose inside the tube that pumps air into your lungs so you don't stop breathing. You know a respirator. I'd say the patient is in "vital relationship" with that equipment. It's the only thing keeping them alive!

Well, you can see where this is going. Jesus tells us to abide in Him. Treat our relationship, our constant communication, our connected-ness to Him as being the very means by which we take our next breath.

Vital relationship. Of utmost importance.

Lord, may I hold onto You as if my very exsitence, my next breath, the well being of my family and my eternal salvation depends on it. Certainly it does. Thank you for Your love, Your Word and the action Your love causes You to continually take toward me. I need You. My life depends on it. Apart from You, I can do nothing. Amen.

Facebook

2009-01-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

I want to be part of the cool club. I always have, but I've never been.

Well today I joined the most exclusive club in America - Facebook.

I swore I wouldn't join. I've been fighting it for years now.

Now I have to go through and answer all these questions about me that no one cares to read and I don't care to answer. But if I don't, people are gonna start writing on my "wall" about how I don't have any of the info filled out.

Then I gotta be like, "power to the people!" back, or "I'm stickin it to the man!" because I refuse to conform to what modern culture insists is proper, when in fact, I've already begun to conform simply by signing up for the book of faces.

I'm such a sheep.

As much as I want to go against the grain and not conform, I'm just another follower.

I'm gonna start my own group called 'Sheepbook' for everyone else out there who can't stand to conform, but just can't stop themselves!

You must stay here and work. Thanks.

2008-11-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

So my one buddy Greg always gets "short changed" by my other buddy Dino.

It's like natural law isn't it? Some people always seem to be in the right place at the right time getting free stuff and hook ups, while the rest of us catch every red light, pick the check out line with the "trainee" at the register, or find out "we ain't got no biscuits" when they should have biscuits and all I want is a biscuit!

Well, Greg and Dino get invited to go to some really cool Mac conference for creative geek types in San Francisco. They're both stoked, getting packed, making preparations you know...

Then Greg gets a call from his boss who says, "You know that big time conference you've been looking forward to? Yeah Dino still gets to go but not you. You must stay here and work. Thanks."

So Greg's crushed. He calls me crying. I spend half an hour consoling him, burning my peak minutes! Hello!

Did I mention that Greg now has to help Dino's wife move all of their worldly possessions into a new place, while Dino's in SanFran? Yeah. Do you pity him yet? You should.

But isn't that life? Right now, as you read, Dino is at the conference having a big time checkin out all the cool new Apple products while Greg is stuck in traffic, unable to take advantage of the carpool lane. Well Greg, I'm here for you buddy.

This blog's for you, and all the others out there who seem to always get the last pick of the pizza and wind up getting two slices of crust with sauce. This is for all those who's friend finds a steal on criagslist while you're stuck paying retail. Here's to those of you who can't find a pair of jeans that fit! Here's to everyone with a crappy cell phone and 6 years left before you get a lousy discount on a new lousy phone. To all of you out there constantly winding up with the proverbial short end of the stick! This one's for you!

Here here! Who's with me!?

Firsts

2008-11-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

Being a new Father causes me to count firsts like never before.

You know, the first time Ava laughed out loud, the first time Lilia smiled, the first poopy diaper I had to change...You can see where this is going.

Well my oldest daughter Ava Grace finally passed the 20lb marker! She's growing up so slow:) Most 13 month olds are well past 20 pounds, but my Ava just got there. The 20lb mark is her first right of passage. She gets to sit facing forward in her carseat. So rather than seeing the world slowly shrinking by, she gets to experience travel like the rest of us, and she loves it!

I put her in my truck for the occasion. She sat in the backseat with mom and dad in the front peering back to her as we drove to yet another first. Now, this first is a first as a husband/homeowner. Leslie and I went to pick up the very first piece of furniture we've bought together, for our very first home! Needless to say it was an exciting day, for Ava Grace, for Leslie and myself. Big times.

All these firsts have me craving others. I'd like to do a backflip. I'd like to read a book from back to front. I'd like to paint a picture that is actually something worth looking at. It's kinda like tatoos. Once you start, it's hard to stop.

Either way, it's been a rather grand season of firsts for me and my family. This is the first blog I've posted from my office computer. hmmm....What are some cool firsts you've experienced lately? I'm learning to slow down and celebrate the firsts. One of the many things I've learned from my precious wife. I hope you too slow down today long enough to enjoy the firsts; but I'll warn you, once you start...well they're kinda like Lay's:) ...(the potato chips)

Today In America

2008-11-05T05:18:00.000-08:00

On this day in America I am saddened and disapointed in the American people.

I'm disappointed that we as a people have chosen a leader who doesn't have the guts to answer such a simple question as 'when do you believe life begins?'. And yet in sharp contrast we reject a man who has served his country in war and in peace. A man who displayed courage and dignity when there was no one to see it and pat him on the back for it.

Just as Christians are called to display godliness and integrity in times when only God can observe it, in our hearts, I would like to think the man elected to the highest office in our country would be the kind of man we would expect to do the same.

We've chosen eloquence of speech and unatainable promises over honor, dignity and true conviction. I can only pray that our misguided, foolish decision does not impact our country in the same way similar selfish, Godless decisions have negatively impacted countries and cultures throughout history.

Do I think Obama is evil and McCain our knight in shining armor, NO. They are both flawed men, as I am.

You can call me uneducated, close minded, conservative, 'clinging to guns and religion' if you'd like; but in the words of the famous hymn which was written in a time I would much have prefered to live my days on earth, "I will cling to the old rugged cross" and I'm just fine with that.

America, I'm so sorry for you.

Columbus Day at the Park

2008-10-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

Check out some pictures of our day at the park.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2164765&l=73241&id=36619605

Good times at work

2008-08-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

So my co-worker and good friend Jimmy asks another guy at work, "Where's the other gun?"

I promptly spoke up and flexed my bicep answering, "Here it is." Good times at work.

This past Tuesday, I got the best call from my wife. I'm workin. It's 80 degrees, but feels like 120. You know the whole 'heat index' thing. Anyway, she's all like, "Some friends have lawn tickets to John Mayer tonight but can't go. They wanna give us the tickets if we want them."

Do you understand what's happening here? It was like those Coor's Light commercials where everyone's all hot and tired, wearing too much clothes for the weather conditions, and then out of nowhere a giant silver train comes barreling through the street. There's an icy breeze blowing everyone's hair as they tip their respective beers and have a joy-filled drink in honor of the oversized, out of place train that just saved the day with ice cold Coor's Light.

It was kinda like that at Little Rock Auto Sales and Body Shop. Minus the beer, models, and cool breeze.

In other words, this was good news.

So Leslie and I made our way up to the concert with our pink blanket. I waited outside the women's restroom holding this pink blanket, by the way. Confidently.

We sat under the stars, periodically looking at each other, communicating, it seemed, without words. John was unsurprisingly awesome. It was incredibly romantic and relaxing, short of the redneck homosexuals behind us shouting obscenities at John during the show.

It was one of those nights I won't soon forget. The gift of being able to slow down and just enjoy the company of the love of my life. Thanks Matt and Lindy.

Blog

2008-08-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

We live in a very narcissistic society.

It seems as if America as a whole is very wrapped up in itself. The hottest item on the market, the ipod. Biggest hit of 2005, the myspace page. This all seems very self indulgent and self centered.

This is why I hesitated to even join the myspace craze. And by the time I did Facebook became cool and myspace was out. But now I'm stuck on myspace and I don't wanna join facebook now just because it's the new big thing. Plus you have all the leg work to start it up with pictures and all the survey questions:

1. What's your favorite color?
2. Your favorite movie?
....................
....................
115. Your 1st imaginary pet's name?

Come on!

Separately we've got the blog.

A blog is a journal, basically, that anyone who cares to read can read. Sounds simple and innocent enough. I guess the quirky thing to me is that people write in their "journal" thinking that their own life is so interesting that everyone will want to read about it. How arrogant!

"Ooh my dog learned a new trick, I better blog about it so everyone will know and spend their time reading about how cool my dog is... blah, blah."

I guess by now you're thinking, "gompers, don't you have a blog? Isn't this a blog that you're writing right now? Does that make you arrogant?"

Well, I have only one thing to say....

Yes.

I'm a sheep. I'm big fluffy sheep with all kinds of bizarre "lint" in my hair.

Unfortunately my followers have been begging me for a new blog post, so I must not disappoint.

You're glad I think so much of myself that I journal my life online for everyone to read.

Be on the look out for my next blog entitled, 'I'm so interesting!'

text message

2008-07-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

So by buddy Andy is getting married in a few weeks. He lives in Southern Cailfornia, the land I love. So I'm ridiculously excited to fly "home" for the wedding. I still consider So. Cal the geographical region I was designed to live in. I hate rain and cold; and I wore flip flops before it was a fasion statement.

So earlier I get a text message from Andy asking me if I was coming to the wedding. Now, we've had this conversation. I told him like 2 years ago when he finally grew the Galbladder to propose I was gonna be there. Leslie and I dropped a straight 'G' on plane tickets weeks ago, and he's all, "dude, you coming to the wedding?.....sweet." I'm like, dude, seriously. If he wasn't preparing for the biggest decision of his life, I'd call him bonehead spacecase on the world wide web.

But since he is on the verge of losing his mind, freedom and 90%, make that 98% of his paycheck, I'll cut him some slack.

Can't wait to see you buddy.

Below is a list of places I miss and intend to eat at/see/take pictures of my biceps at.

- In n out burger. Honestly you can't compete with these guys.
-BJ's brewery. Downtown HB, best deepdish pizza you've only dreamed about.
-Pick up Stix. Best house chicken.
-The coffee bean. The only legitimate rival for starbucks-the prices are even higher.
-CCBC. The Bible College campus where my faith was nurtured and challenged.
-South Coast Plaza. Sounds as ritzy as it is. Beautiful shopping center. Home of my next mention - Claim Jumper. The kind of place where you can't eat a bad meal. It's all delicious and it's all way more food than I can eat,

more Cali exctement to come

I had the ribeye.

2008-06-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

So I'm at dinner with my wonderful family the other night. We were sitting in the outside dining area. Or in other words, they made us eat out back like 2nd class citizens. I had the Ribeye steak and my wife the Tilapia, AKA St.Peter fish. And, I like eating outside.

From my left I hear, "Gompers!" It was a friend of mine I run into on occasion (we'll call him buddy). Buddy and I exchange pleasentries but we're both into our own respective family dinners. Nice little convo, though niether of us got up from our table.

That's not the story. As he finishes his meal before me and exits, something strange happens. I'd call it "the happenning" but M. Night Shama-lama-ding-dong's got that one on lock down. Buddy walks past my table where I'm eating on his way out, patts me on the head and offers a standard "see you later".

Pause. Did I just say he patted me on the head? Did you just read that right?

Yeah, he patted me on the head. Now, I'm no sociology major, but what grown man patts another grown man on the head? Unless we're on a basketball court and I just hit a sweet reverse lay-up, AND ONE! Don't touch my head!

This isn't just me people. I've done some very credible market research that proves no grown man is happy when patted on the head. (Sports teams not applicable) Further, I couldn't care less about messing up my hair, that's the look these days. Like, "oh crap I forgot I had to function in society today, I guess I've got no time for my hair..."

Now I'm not upset, I'm not dwellin on it. Buddy and I are still pals. I didn't say I wouldn't go fishin with the guy; but come on man, don't touch my head. Who's with me?

it's the principle

2008-06-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

So my brother-in-law is much cooler than me. He's like a baseball allstar; except I don't know the exact qualifications to achieve mainstream "allstar" status. Either way, he's an allstar in the NABA, and in my book. wink.

After work tonight I gathered up my in-laws (just mom and dad, no extended family), my sweet little baby girl and my pregnant wife and loaded them into my Chevrolet Silverado 4 dr. ext. cab pick-up. This is the standard vehicle for white males in the southeast. We were headed to watch said cooler brother-in-law play America's game at a local High School. Only he's 24, and therefore very much not in high school.

The game was good except the sun was in my eyes the whole night and we (my cooler than me brother-in-law's team) lost. After the game we sadly strolled back to our respective vehicles to make the drive of shame when, upon arrival, I discover my truck, MY TRUCK, had been broken into.

The low lifes rummaged through MY personal belongings. The spineless theives broke my door lock. They stole a unique Christmas present from my father-in-law. My very good buddy Jimmy promptly told me he had a spare door handle that would fit my truck. Nice guy, really. I was and am thankful for his immediate display of compassion. However, this gesture while generous and kind does little to extinguish my anger.

A broken door handle can be repaired. Even thoughtful Christmas presents can be replaced. But it's the principle of it! Get a job! You seem to be handy with tools. Try building something you lazy sloths!

Anger.

I've been thinking about our correcional facilities tonight. I really do hope these guys that get arrested and do time manage to be rehabilitated. I hope they become contributors to society. Just like these idiots that broke into my truck; I hope they become Christ followers and turn from their life of crime.

Growing up my teachers always said I was smart, I just didn't apply myself. I can't tell you how many times I heard that. If I only put as much effort into my school work as I did getting a laugh in class....You get the idea. I wish these morons would just apply themselves to something worth while and stop breaking and stealing other people's stuff man!

It's ridicuolous. It's not the stuff. It's the principle.