I've been thinking a lot about "Crazy Love".  I've been thinking a lot about what my goals and dreams are.  I've been thinking a lot about my plans and my securities.  I've been talking to a lot of people and can't seem to find many who don't think that salaries and retirements and investments and plans to relax are contrary to what Jesus would have us do.  I just can't find in scripture anywhere that people came to Jesus and he made it as easy as saying...just go to church once a week, sit and take it easy, do the safe thing and have a great retirement fishing.  When Jesus talked about fishing, He talked about fishing for men. For souls.  When He sent them out...He told them not to even take a change of clothes!  I've always heard preachers say that there is nothing wrong with being rich...that God blesses some that way.  But how do you reason that with the early church giving all that they had so that none would be in need.

I don't know...I'm really struggling with this one.  Every time I take my family out to eat at a nice restaurant I sit and think about someone on the street that doesn't have a meal at all.  I'm not saying i'm right...I'm just saying I don't know....

1 Corinthians 3:18-20

Let no one deceive himself.  If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.  For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness."  And again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."  

So I finished "Crazy Love".  Man, I have never been impacted by a book so much!  And the amazing thing about it is that all it really did is pointed you to scripture that I have read for years!  I just had the wrong perspective as I read it all this time.  I mean things that I just thought were for the church of Jesus time that were never...how to say...rescinded or done away with.  I always thought that it was OK to live in the burbs, have a good paying job, have 2.5 kids, a pension, investments and nice cars.  Now...I just don't know...how does that line up with what Jesus commanded us to do.  How do we slice that when the early church sold all that they had so that none were in need.  How do we put our current lives up against that and come away as obeying?  How do we settle into being luke warm "christians"...first of all, what gives us the term luke warm "christians"?  There is nothing "christian" about being luke warm.  God said that He would spew us from his mouth!  How do we call that "christian".  How do we live our lives day in and day out buying all of our pleasures and passing by homeless and hungry?  I just can't do it anymore.

I know this sounds cliched...you know...feed the hungry and homeless.  But I don't think Jesus meant it as a tired cliche to just ignore.  I mean...I want to feed and clothe Him.  Just like He said.  The only way I can do that is to do it for those in need.  

I am really trying to come to grips with all of this.  My dream has always been to lead worship at a big church with a big budget that can put on big services.  Now...I'm not so sure that is a worthwhile dream.  Now...I'm just not sure about anything that I have held dear for so long.

Crazy Love

So I'm reading a book called "Crazy Love; Overwhelmed by a relentless God" by Francis Chan, who is now my new hero.  This guy and this book have me completely re-thinking everything I think about doing ministry and doing life.  The book is basically talking about how we have perverted what follower of Christ should look like.  I really can't put into a blog right now what he is saying because my head is still spinning and trying to slow down enough to wrap my heart around these truths.  But I can say, that no other book besides the Bible, has impacted me the way this one has.  There are changes going to be made in my life because of the Scripture that he expounds on and leads you to in this book!  My life has been safe so far, job, house, retirement...well that is going to change!  I want my life to look like the life that Jesus called the disciples to!  I'll just give you one quote from the book right now that I almost can't flip the page past..."Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers."  Chew on that one!

christians?

So if you're a Christian, what do you do to show the world?  Or maybe not the world, maybe just your neighbors next door.  Or, maybe your child's teacher or baseball coach or cheerleading coach.  Here is a statement that will stop you in your tracks..."If we bear His name; we must also show His face".  Are you?

writing

I've been spending a lot of time these last couple of weeks writing songs.  It has been a great time with God and great time of flow from my brain to my computer. I have just sort of been settling on this idea...right now..there is a Being in heaven that has complete control over whether i finish typing this blog or not.  What a thought...what a perspective.  What a powerful God.  With that in the forefront of my mind, how can anything else matter.

The Cowboys lost to the redskins last sunday.  I was devastated.  Then I heard a close friend of mine say...what we glory in and what we mourn says a lot about us.  WOW!! i was in deep mourning at the time.  Then I began to think about the Cowboys loosing to the redskins with that in mind.  Its still huge mind you; but not as big as it was.

Catalyst

So today Michael and I got to go to Catalyst Headquarters for a luncheon and discussion time with other church planters in the metro atlanta area. What a BLAST!! We made so contacts with other pastors and worship leaders that are in different stages of church plants...whether it be the planning stage, the launch stage or the stage that we are in (almost 2 years old). We discussed the fact that building relationship and growing up members that know how to build relationships wiht the unchurched is soooo much more important than advertising techniques. It was an amazing time in the center of the conference that I contribute God using to have me where I am today

Back in 2001, I was working and leading worship part time and was just totally burned out. I had decided (without my current pastor knowing), that I was going to throw in the towel in ministry and was going to just pursue my secular career. Well, my pastor had us tickets to the 2nd Catalyst conference back when it was held at Northpoint Community Church up here in Alpharetta. I did NOT want to Go!! I had already made plans to come up with an excuse that I could not go. But, the day before the conference came upon me and I could not lie to my pastor and friend, so I went.

30 minutes into the service, we were singing and worshipping to the song "My Glorious", and God dropped me to my seat. I prayed right then and there that I would never give up my dreams and goals of leading worship no matter what cost it meant. I went home and ripped up the notice I had typed the day before and I have been going at it ever since.

No it is not always easy...i work all night saturday every other week and go without sleep to make the drive to Griffin to lead worship. Yes, I lose alot of family time with my wife and son, whether it is the fact that we can't go away on the weekends or during the week, when we are at home and i'm off, I am usually in my office planning services or learning new songs, but I keep going. Every time I hear the song My Glorious, I think about that moment at Northpoint. I guess it is like a stone marker in my life that I can always look to to know that God will complete what he started in me. Thank you Catalyst. You are AWESOME!!

Suffering?

My favorite verse in the Bible is Colossians 1:27;  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.   I just love the excitement and mystery of that verse.  But while reading it last night, my eyes were drawn to a couple verses before it, to verse 24;  "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.  

My sufferings...whos? Pauls!!  Wow!! and what sufferings we know that he went through for the sake of the gospel and the church.  And he is what was that...rejoicing?  in his sufferings?  for the church?  His body...which is the church.

He was in prison for the church...He was beaten for the church...He was going to be killed for the building up of His body, which is the church.  Kind of makes our problems "at" the church seem petty and not even on a scale to be complained about.  Jesus...let me rejoice and find that YOU are all that is lacking in my joy in suffering.

The North side of Atlanta is completely out of gas!! Every station is dry.  I was at QT the other night after they had been out of gas for a half a day, when they finally got 9,000 gallons.  Then...utter chaos broke out!!  There were people cutting each other off...arguments...traffic backed up into the streets...it was crazy! I totally saw the "every man for himself" rule in action.  I couldn't help to think about what it is going to look like during the end of the tribulation.  I know...I know...how can a gas shortage compare to what is going to happen during the tribulation but it was a glimpse.  People searching for what they need...just trying to get what they need to take care of their family...confusion, anger, tempers flairing, and dispair.  I wish I had an upbeat way to end this, but, without Jesus in those days...there will be no happy ending.  I wonder...are we as the Churh, doing all that we can to bring everyone we meet with us to a happy ending. i wonder...

Making It

So for about 8 years now I have been trying to "make it" in the Worship business.  Here recently God has been doing something new in my heart.  He has brought me to a place where I am trying to define "making it".  Is it having a recording on the charts?  Is it being full time?  Is it being at a big church like most of the Worship Leaders I listen to (except for Hugh Cooper who is one of my mentors who is also at Journey)?  I must say...I always thought I knew the answer to this question...now....I'm not so sure.  I mean, I lead worship every Sunday.  I write songs and get to use them in our services.  Sure I don't get paid enough for leading worship to make a living on, but is that the definition of making it?  I don't know...maybe there is a certain salary you have to make to be considered made.  Or....maybe....just maybe....the process of aligning your heart with the heart of God, and doing what God has called you to do week after week...maybe that IS making it.  I don't know...

Journey Communion Service

Wow!  So Sunday night was the joint Communion service with Lifesong Church.  What an amazing time of worship and reflection we experienced.  I almost couldn't sing Oh The Wonderful Cross after three of our men carried in a 200 lbs cross and hoisted it up in front of the stage.  As I watched our people watching what was unfolding, I again was taken back to what it must have been like when Jesus held the "first Communion service".   I want to recapture the feeling of knowing that His Body and Blood would soon be sacrificed!  I want to capture the urgency that we must regain that this world needs to know of His blood sacrifice.  

I left Sunday night on a major high!  Then, I woke up Monday morning and laid in bed for a few minutes, replaying the night in my head.  Then...it hit me....what had we REALLY accomplished?  Cool service?  Good music? a time of reflection and celebration? a good flow? a few pats on the back?.... What did it all mean?  NOTHING!  unless at least one person is different this week in their perspective that their lives on earth mean nothing compared to the greatness of know Jesus and spending eternity with Him.  I pray it was not wasted!

Communion

So i'm busy planning a Communion service that is coming up on September 7th in the evening.  As   i am thinking and praying about it, i am trying to let the ritual truly sink in to my brain and heart.  Too often i get in the rut of planning services and doing things that we church people do without a whole lot of thought going into it.  So i have been thinking about what was going thru the minds of the people involved in the first communion.  WOW!! Jesus knowing that within days He would do what He came to earth to do.  He would fulfill what His short 33 year life on earth was all about.  We "do" communion quarterly or monthly or weekly... how ever it falls on the church calendar...Jesus was doing this out of a movement of His heart by the prodding of his Father.  The disciples had to be wondering what this new "thing" was.  You know...they had been doing the passover their entire lives.  But this time, Jesus takes the cup and bread and tells them that "this is My body...this is My blood"...What do you say to that?  What do we say to that?  I pray that on September 7th at 6pm, that Journey Church does not enter into this service because it is the proper time in the quarter to partake in Communion...But enter with the awe that the disciples must have felt when Jesus introduced it to them...What if that was possible?????

Engage the culture...or be transformed?

Thought? is the contemporary church more interested in engaging our culture than being transformed by God's presence? Have we lost having actual spiritual weight and exchanged it for a empty experience and clever gimmicks. Where is the line between being relevant and being a parlor for cheap tricks? What good are getting them to the church "building" but never building the church by giving them the opportunity to be transformed in the likeness of Christ.

Could it be that if we, the church, lived more and more like Christ that the culture would notice the changes in US and not so much the changes in church from 50 years ago. Could that in and of itself attract this post-church culture?

Let's think for a moment about....O i don't know...McDonalds! When you buy a happy meal for your kid's...you get a meal and a cheap toy. Now, when you are a child, the toy is what it's all about! It's the reason you want to go to McDonalds. (That and the plastic fantasy world in the parking lot). But, as mature adults, as the parents, you are more concerned with your child eating the food for nurishment. Why...they need food to help them grow. Not cheap toys. If we continue to only offer cheap toys to our culture and not nurishment, how will they grow?

Just a thought...not an easy one...'cause i really like cheap toys.

The Beautiful Fight

    I am currently reading "The Beautiful Fight" by Gary Thomas.  It is dealing with the issue of surrendering to the transforming presence of God every day of your life.  WOW...the idea that we can "experience" God in our everyday walking around is a concept that blows my mind.  I reduce God to "showing up at ....i don't know....BIG things.  Events, conferences, worship services...wherever Billy Graham is preaching!  But,  every day...  How?  You mean i can experience being with God when i am mountain biking with my wife and son?  sitting in a carpool line?  typing this?  If so...this may really change the way i view my everyday life.  

much more to come on this amazing book i am reading.

Oh yeah...school started yesterday and it was my sons first time in public school....3rd grade.  He had an assignment centered around getting to know the students.  One of the questions...What is your favorite book?  His response....The Bible!   yeah!!!!  I felt it as my first victory as a parent, that he somehow is getting this thing called life at an early age.  Oh yeah...another question....What do you want to get the most out of this year at school?  His response.....Lunch!!  Well...at least I have the Bible thing going for us.

here i am

Ok...I know i'm a little behind in getting into this blogging thing, but here i am anyway.  So, here i plan on talking about issues to do with the Church, worship, music, poetry and anything else that comes to mind in the late hours of the night.  Who am i....i am the worship pastor at Journey Church in Griffin Georgia.  I am a husband and a father.  I am a mountain biker with a lot of love for the sport but not a lot of skill (yet).  I am a lover of Jesus and live to find ways to impact our culture with His love for us.  I am an avid drinker of Mona Vie (lots more to come on that).  I love the group of people called Journey Church in Griffin.  Well...thats it for now

Thanks for stopping by

C