One Year Blog Anniversary!

Dear Family and Friends,

Today celebrates 1 year of Blogging! Since I established the counter in November, this page has been loaded 19,228 times (thanks, Mom!). I'm grateful to those of you who stop by. It's amazing to think about where I was a year ago--and what I was thinking. God is working! Thanks for reading!

April 29, 2004:
The reality has not hit me yet. Tomorrow is the last day I will lead in Chapel as a student at Abilene Christian University. Silly as it may seem, Chapel has been where I discovered my gifts for leading worship. And now? I'm a few days away from deciding where I will begin full-time worship ministry this fall. Hello! I cannot express how much my experiences leading Chapel have shaped me. There have been moments each summer when I have longed to lead in Chapel again. Leading worship is where I feel the "most alive." And leading worship for friends and family is an extra blessing. I know there will be many special hearts assembled before the throne tomorrow.

And one of the best aspects of worship--is that it is a taste of heaven. The people who are assembled in Chapel tomorrow will never again be assembled this side of heaven. Tomorrow we will be lifting our voices in praise. In heaven, we will be lifting our voices in praise. And when you realize that what we do in worship now--is what we will do then--suddenly what we do now becomes very, very special.

Tomorrow is a celebration of the ways God has worked in my life. And it is an anticipation for when all of the dear friends I have made at Abilene Christian will once again unite their voices in praise to the King.

Chris Altrock and I at a staff lunch today. The lady in between us doesn't seem to be having nearly as much fun as we are!  

The Message

This is AWESOME stuff. May it be a blessing to you today.

Colossians 3 – The Message (Eugene Peterson)

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. Its’ like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Perfect Trust

What a weekend! I was blest to spend time with my former professor Randy Harris, who was in Memphis to speak at our Retreat. It was fun to serve Christ alongside him again.

Confession: I’m a perfectionist.

In my transition to Memphis, I have sought diligently to “do everything right.” I have concentrated my efforts on making good decisions, building relationships over accomplishments, not causing any waves, avoiding the typical first-time-minister mistakes like the plague, etc. Several things Randy spoke about this weekend have re-oriented my approach.

1.) God works even in our most dismal failures.
2.) We may never see the fruit of our labors in ministry.

As a perfectionist, these are difficult statements for me to swallow. But I can’t help but wonder what might happen. I can’t help but wonder what might happen if I re-direct all of my “perfection” energy towards trusting in God. Do I truly believe that God is working? Do I really believe that God doesn’t need me to do His work?

Lord, help me to transfer my vigor for perfection into a relentless trust in You. I believe You’re at work. And the next time You’re in the area, my heart could use a little work, too. In Christ, amen.

A Holy Tangent

Well, I’m looking forward to leading worship today for Chapel at the Harding Graduate School of Religion. It’s been almost a year (a year?!) since I’ve led ACU Chapel. I have truly missed leading my peers in a holy experience of pouring our hearts out to our Maker. Granted, I do this every Sunday. But there’s something unique to embarking on at least 30min. of extended praise, prayer, Scripture, silent reflection, and other acts of communal worship. Our hearts are able to journey to the throne room—and rest in that place.

I’ve long felt that our experiences on Sunday morning are too rushed. I like to describe it as “spiritual aerobics.” We sing no more than three or four songs in a row expecting people to completely engage their hearts and for God to do all of His work. Then we throw a message at them, but with no time for reflection. We do provide a chance to respond, but please—no more than two or three or we’ll go over on time. Then we throw people into a very rushed time of communion. Now, give us your money, and we’ll close with a happy song so you can feel good when you leave.

I realize the last paragraph was a bit harsh. But I wish we could “schedule our priorities instead of prioritizing our schedules.” Spending time with God should be our priority. We have come to worship. We’ve come to engage our hearts. We’ve come to hear His Word. We’ve come to dine at His table with our brothers and sisters. We’ve come to give in the shadow of all we’ve been given. We’ve come to confess our sins and find healing. We’ve come to celebrate the life and hope we’ve found. We’ve come to the living God. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather stick around awhile.

Not exactly my wreck--but close enough to post. 

Sunrise

The sunrise this morning in Memphis was awesome. At the time, I was actually travelling to the church, so I watched the sunrise in my rearview mirror. It launched a series of reflections about the glory of God. The closer we are to His light, the more we shine and reflect His glory. I have to admit--I was a bit homesick for West Texas. I miss the skies. But Memphis has offered a few more colors this Spring than I'm used to.

Worship was awesome this morning. God is at work! What an honor to watch Him work and be a part of His work! If any of you are ever in Memphis, you should join us at Highland Street for worship.

Quick Disclaimer

I have edited the blog links to the right. I now try to keep up with a ridiculous number of blogs (and I don't do a good job). Thus, it was pointless to try and post links to them all. If a certain blog link no longer appears, it does not mean that I no longer read it. And, if a certain blog link does not appear, I am in no way inferring that such a blog is "not of interest."

Family Dinner Night

Thursdays in Memphis are something to look forward to. Several of my closest friends get together every Thursday evening for what we call “Family Dinner Night.” We named it this, because we’re all single and none of us have any family in Memphis, so we’ve become family and we all chip in to pull-off an awesome home-cooked meal each week. We always laugh and have so much fun. It’s a wonderful highlight in my week!

In other news, I’ll be purchasing a BB gun this weekend to torture a neighborhood dog that likes to bark at the moon. The worst part about the situation, is that there’s a dog owner that restricts his dog’s ecosphere to a 6’ by 10’ balcony. So with the railing, the dog is basically in prison. Why would you want a pet if that’s the life you offer it? I suppose I’d be barking, too. Maybe I should knock on the owner’s door and shoot him with a BB gun!