Monday, July 28, 2008

This Weekend

So this last weekend, I ended up co-leading worship with Kim in Gilbert. I must confess that my heart was not in it very well. In fact, instead of being ready and excited to lead people in worship, I was anxious and nervous about performing a song well. That happens quite often, I find myself getting self conscious about the technical parts of a song or program and lose focus on the purpose of the day, to come be in the presence of our Lord and to present an offering of praise to him.

As a side note, our speaker this weekend was a guy named Kevin Carlson, a former staff member who went on to plant a church in the east valley. He did an outstanding job and had much for me to ponder as some of what he said I could very much relate to.

At the end of the first service, I went out to get my guitars reset and to do some stuff on stage. I noticed a young couple who had come down to the front looking for someone to pray with. Most of the prayer partners were busy, and the couple after standing around for a moment, began to turn to leave, feeling there was no one to pray with them. So I jumped down and asked them if they wanted to pray, which they did. We spent a few moments talking about what was on their hearts and what they wanted some prayer for, and I prayed for and with them.

As they left, I was reminded of the part of ministry I love...meeting people where they are at, who are desiring to connect with God and ministering to them. That is often the part that gets lost, and it was a great reminder to me of what was important for the weekend as well. God is moving far beyond a song.

I came across this verse this morning in my reading, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." Eph. 1:17. I think that sums up my prayer right now, that I might now him better. Hey great that we serve a God that wants to be known!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Kate Sings

All my kids love to sing, but it seems as though Kate is one who has a song in her heart all the time. So, with my new phone, I decided to start recording some of these tunes, which tend to come out at meal time. Here is the first one I recorded! More to come!

Thursday, July 03, 2008

FTT

I am writing this from my mom's house in Lakeside, CA, the town where I grew up. We came out to see my mom be in a parade tomorrow in Coronado. Since we don't have FITS this year, I could actually come. Taking a little time on the web, I came across this article by Jon Orberg that I really resonated with. I think often I get either caught up with the stress of life, or the stress of ministry, and even at times complacency in ministry, and fail to recognize what God's intention for life really is. Like many of us, the day to day routine often takes away from God's desire that we not just exist, but that we truly live, which is the root of our salvation. It even brings some perspective into this very trip...to take some time and just live.