This weekend we sang Tim Hughes song, "Everything". The bridge of the song has the lyrics "Christ in me, the hope of glory". Preparing for the weekend, I found myself dwelling on that phrase, asking myself what that really mean. It's very poetic, and sounds really churchy. In fact it is a biblical phrase found in Colossians 1:27, but what does "the hope of glory" really mean? The passage that comes to mind is the Romans 3:23 passage regarding our own sin, in which Paul writes, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." So then, what is the Glory of God? As I read and study it, it is the fullness of God's being. It is his splendor, his brightness, his goodness, his greatness, it is everything of which God is. It is his glory.
Genesis speaks of us being created in the image of God. Unlike any other created thing in the universe, we as people were created in the very image of God. Though we were created in his image, due to our sin nature, we fall far short of his glory. We may try to be "good enough" in all that we do, but the truth is, we will always fall short of the greatness and fullness of God in and of ourselves and our own will and efforts. Our glory is far less the God's glory. We do have a glory of our own. You have often heard it said of someone naked, "there they are in all their glory", meaning there is nothing hiding who they are. But our glory, even fully revealed falls far short of the Glory of God.
But therein lies the beauty of the mystery of the gospel revealed, that what I am unable to do in my own pursuit of personal righteousness, is offered to me in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I cannot achieve God's glory by my works, but since Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" and that "God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus)", that when I surrender my life and invite Christ to live in me, I have now attained the hope of the glory of God. What a beautiful picture.
It is so easy to fall back into the efforts of attaining or representing God's glory by my own works, but I will always fall short. When I surrender, and lean into the spirit of Christ living in me, I now begin to represent the glory of God here on earth, and maintain the hope of achieving fully the glory of God in heaven.

"Once you were alienated
from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled
you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his
sight, without blemish and free from accusation–" Colossians 1:21-22

Fireproof Ministries

I have been familiar with Fireproof ministries for quite some time. Craig Gross and I went to PCC together and worked together at Eastside Christian Church in Yorba Linda many years ago. We have had Craig and Jake at some of our Jr. High events back when they were big. But it is really the ministry they have been emphasizing the last few years that I find myself applauding and desiring to bring attention to and support with all my energies. A number of years ago now, Craig and a friend of his decided it was time the Church really took a head on approach to the issues of pornography and the whole sex industry both within the church and in the world. I believe they have been the most significant and impacting ministry ever to do this. They have a two fold approach to it.

First, they deal with the users, men and women, many in the church and in ministry, who struggle with this addictive and destructive behavior. Not in a condemning way, but in a direct, hopeful, and honest way to help bring people together to honestly deal with and find freedom from it. They have developed tools that promote accountability, tools I have on my own computer, as well as helping with support, prayer, and the development of local support groups. This has been huge. We have had a couple of "Porn Sundays" in which we have taken our weekend services and really challenged our congregation to take serious the issues both personally and corporately, all under the grace of God found in Christ.

Second, they have chosen to build bridges with those in the sex industry. They go into the Erotica conventions and share the love of Jesus with the buyers, vendors, and those who work in front of the camera with a continuous message that Jesus loves them and desire to bring them to a place of freedom, dignity, and wholeness. They do not stand outside of these conventions shouting curses and condemnation, but rather choose to take the message of Jesus Christ to love those who are hurting and to help set the captives free, and they do it with great compassion. This is a powerful, powerful example of the love of Christ in action!

They have also begun a new ministry called Strip Church, which is similar to the porn show model, but to many of the other major conventions that take place regularly in Las Vegas. Church groups can come in, sponsor a booth, and spend the convention building relationships with people attending and vending, using every opportunity to share the gospel.

The bulk of this ministry, like many ministries happens on the basis of fund raising and donations. I have been asked to help with this effort by committing to help raise $2500 through sponsorship and donations. I am asking for your help. If you are willing to sponsor me $1 a frame for 100 frames of bowling, your money will go to continue the life changing work of this ministry. I understand times are tight, but it is often during difficult times that people look to medicate in destructive ways, often with porn. Please prayerfully consider supporting me support this great work.

To sponsor me, please go to https://fireproof.donortools.com/my/funds/13188-BOWLFEST-Perry-Emerick and make a donation today.

Setseller is up and running!

I am very excited to announce the SetSeller.com is up and running and ready for listings. It is currently only available for Arizona, but we will be pushing it nationally in the near future. In case you haven't heard, I have been working on a new website for churches, theaters, and production companies to list and sell their used sets, props, printed stuff, and equipment. There are so many of these types of pieces that are produced that end up being pitched in the end because of a lack of space and time to save it for reuse. I believe this can be a huge benefit for the kingdom especially in the sharing of creative resources and stage equipment.

Go to setseller.com and check it out. Let me know what you think, and if you have some stuff, list it. And if you know anyone who could benefit from it, pass it along. Thanks

The Next Stage

Well it's that time again, where we take down the old stage decorations and get ready to build the new stage set. We put a lot of effort into our stages here because we believe it helps create a conducive environment for communicating and remembering the content of our weekend messages and the series they are connected to. I can look back over the past number of stages and I think there is a lot of creativity in them which I love being a part of.

We are starting a new series this coming weekend at Central which is a study through the book of Ephesians, one of the new testament letters from the Apostle Paul. I believe this is going to be a great series, simply because it is a powerful book of the bible and you can't go wrong when you study God's word.

As for the stage, we are trying to tap into some of the retro look of the route 66. As a church, we are challenging our congregation to read through the entire book of the bible, all 66 books of it, in one year. You can find a reading guide on here and here.

This last Saturday, a few of us got together to begin building a large marquee type sign that will hang above our stage, complete with chasing lights. It is going to be pretty cool. In addition, we have a member of our church who has "donated" for a while a couple of classic corvettes for the stage. I think it is going to be amazing. If you are in the area, I hope you will take a weekend and visit with us at Central.

Setseller.com

For some time now I have been actively involved in the creative development, design and construction of the different stage sets we use here at Central. We have been blessed with some very creative and innovative people, and access to quality resources. Over the last few years we have designed some pretty cool stages based on different teaching themes that we have done that have really added to the overall impact of our weekend services. It has been a lot of fun.

The downside however, is what to do when the teaching series is over. Some of what we use we can take apart and use again in a different application with minimal waste. However, the majority of what we use has a direct thematic or visual connection to a particular series and are difficult to reuse, and even if we could reuse it, we would not want to any time soon. And like most places, we simply do not have the storage space to save all these great sets for long periods of time.

I have often felt that it would be great to find other churches or presentational organizations that might be able to benefit from our work by using what we have already made. I've also thought it would be great to be able to sell some of these items to recoup some of the cost to build them, which would allow us to continue to be creative in developing new stage sets. But the more I searched, the more a realized there was not a very good tool available for that purpose. So, I decided to figure out how to make one.

I am very excited to begin sharing the vision for setseller.com, a tool for churches, schools, theaters, and other presentational organizations to list and sell their used sets and stage pieces. My hope is that these different groups will have a common location on the web to share and sell their creative work for the benefit of all. Setseller.com will feature an easy to use platform that will allow for local, state, even national searches, and the opportunity for groups to buy and sell these great resources for the benefit of all.

We are hopeful this new tool will be online and ready to use very soon. If you are interested in using this tool, or you know a church, school, local theater, or other group that could benefit from it, then go to setseller.com and sign up to receive email updates on the progress of the new site.   

A Recent Project

We recently had Paul Young, author of "The Shack" come and speak at Central. It was a very compelling and challenging interview. Though we were not able to post it, you can find info about his story online here and it is worth looking up. One thing we did do was a video piece called "letter from God" that we actually did during the instrumental bridge of "how he loves us" as done by Kim Walker. Here is that piece, though done individually, and available for purchase from Worship House Media. Pretty cool!

Eager to...

My kids love to watch movies, especially my youngest, Kate. We have lots of kid movies. One of the movies she likes is Ratatouille. There is a scene in the movie where Remy is hungry and trying to find food. He finds some food, but his conscience in the form of his hero Chef Gusteau convinces him not to steal food, but instead tells him, "Remy, you are better than that. You are a cook! A cook makes! A thief takes. You are not a thief. Food will come, Remy. Food always comes to those who love to cook." The very thing Remy wanted would come not by stealing, but by cooking, preparing what he desired for others to consume. Put another way, by serving.
News of economic struggles abound. Yet the truth is, whether in good times or bad, our cravings rarely change. We desire money or stuff. I often wrestle with those same desires, and have allowed myself to get caught up in trying to figure out how to get more. Yet, the pursuit of that totally changes a persons heart, their motivation for all they do. Matthew 21:6 clearly states this truth when it say, "where your treasure it, there your heart will be also." If what I treasure is a lifestyle that conforms with those around me, or those I look up to, my heart will be fixated on that at the expense of the greater things of God. If I treasure happiness, my heart is fixated on achieving that, and I miss the challenging lessons of life that bring joy and trust through Gods faithfulness in hard times. Jesus' own words later in Matthew 6 remind us that when we seek first his kingdom, he will take care of the rest.
In my quiet time this morning, I read this passage from 1 Peter 5:2-4:

Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve;not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

What a great reminder that true riches come from true sacrifice and service. We are encouraged to be eager to serve, rather than greedy for money, and the reward for such eagerness is a crown that never fades, something much more valuable than what this world can offer.

Take Care of Your Business

I have been very fortunate to be able to play music with a bass player named Mel Brown. He just won his second Grammy award in which he played Bass for the tune "Stand Up" on Jennifer Hudson's Grammy winning CD. Not only is he a tremendous musician, he has a lot of experience and wisdom that he has gained over the years that he has shared with myself and others around here. One of the phrases he has used over the last month or so that has really stuck in my mind is the phrase, "you have to take care of your business." Now, he has not necessarily said that to me directly, but in the context of people taking care of that which they have been asked/hired to do, which often in our context has to do with musicians.

I find that so often, people tend to get wrapped up in what others are doing or not doing, having an opinion often very strongly stated, about the negative effects of what others are doing upon their own responsibilities. More directly stated, blaming others for their lack of production. Many of us are guilty of this. The reason I didn't do what I should have, or couldn't do what I was supposed to do had to do with what someone else didn't do for me. The truth is though, all of us need to quit worrying about what others are or aren't doing, and take care of our own business. Do what you were asked to do, at the very minimum to the expectation of those who asked you/hired you to do it, but really, to the fullest you are able to do it. This is the true measure of your own integrity and reliability. If you do your business, and do it well, you will never have to worry about what others are doing. You will have presented yourself professionally and credibly, and people will be more apt to rely on you when they need that service again. But if you are prone to making excuses and not showing up with your business taken care of, you will lose opportunities to do what you do in the future.

I find this principle demonstrates itself in a variety of situations, in employment, volunteer work, ministry, music...you name it. If someone has asked/hired you to do something, take care of your business! If in the process, you can help others be successful, even better. That will be the true measure of your value and success...not what others don't do!

Thanks Mel! Congratulations on taking care of your business, and receiving a your second Grammy in the process!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful new year!

Worship Leader vs. Lead Worshiper

I have heard this term before, but I just read a post linked to one of the blogs I sometimes read that really caused me some thought, some uncomfortable thought actually. The worship leader is the one who gets up and leads the congregation in corporate worship as we know it in most contemporary churches in America. However, Steve Corn in his post here points out that the most effective worship leaders are the lead worshipers, and how he feels like in his own life, he has become less a lead worshiper and more of a worship leader.

I can very much relate to this, as over the years I have struggled with getting more wrapped up in all that goes into leading worship, than consumed in my heart with worshiping the one true God in Spirit and in Truth, which was the whole point in the first place, and something I feel I used to do so much more. I am grateful that I stumbled across this post that reminds me that first and foremost, I am a worshiper of God, and when I am worshiping him, I will be far more effective in leading others to do the same!

I have been a fan of 722 for a long time. If you are not familiar with it, it is a "worship event" to young singles in the greater Atlanta Metropolitan area. It is not a church, but a ministry for all churches and unchurched alike to reach and encourage young singles. For many who know of Louie Giglio, it was something that he and Bill Willits started 12 years ago, that eventually was hosted and supported by Northpoint Community Church in Alpharetta, GA.
A couple of years ago, my friend Ryan and I had the opportunity to visit 722 and attend a backstage pass event to see how it works and to connect with some of the individuals that made that ministry happen each week.

Though it wasn't a traditional church type mentality, their goal was to reach and encourage young singles from across Atlanta, and then send them back to their churches to encourage and invest. It was also a very forward thinking musical and teaching environment that is really the roots of the passion music ministry today.

All this is to setup what I just read, that they will be having their last 722 gathering this Tues. night. Jarret Stephens, the lead teacher of that ministry spoke about it here:

Long ago, I was part of a ministry that I had helped start called Oasis, a student worship service that was targeted to Jr. High through College age people, but was really open to everyone. It was a fun service and I think that many people really grew to love and appreciate it. We really tried to do a lot of creative things and experiment with our limited resources, and a lot of people were effected by it. But we too came to the decision that it was time to make a change in order to be most effective at our primary goal, which was to reach and disciple Jr. high - college age students for Christ, and as fun and cool as Oasis was, it was not the most effective in accomplishing it.

I still miss Oasis sometimes, but I do not regret the decision to discontinue doing it in order to try and figure how to do ministry more effective. Many people disagreed, and it took us a while to find out how to accomplish the goal, which is always an ever changing thing, but it was the right thing to do.

So, I applaud the 722 leadership for recognizing what their mission is, and being willing to stop, step back, and prayerfully and intentionally go after how to reach the young singles of Atlanta for Christ in a way that nobody else is. And I praise God for the tremendous impact, both globally and very personally of those who have poured themselves into this ministry for so long! Thanks.

I came across the cool little tool that lets you make videos out of pictures and it is pretty cool. Thought I would put one together from our trip.

Pots and Pans

I have been in a place of seeking God recently. I know that sounds very un-pastor like, or even unchristian. Shouldn't we always be seeking God? Of course. But I confess, I go through dry times, and I have been in one. So I have been striving to pursue God with a greater level of intensity. This practice has involved a couple of things, listening to sermons of people I respect, and reading the works of other people who challenge me in my walk. In addition, I have sought to meditate on scripture I have memorized. This morning I was sitting here in my office looking over my bookshelf for something to read. In the past, I have had subscriptions to Relevant Books, and they would send out a box with music, their most recent magazine, and several books. I tend to be a great book starter and horrible book ender, yet overall, just terribly inconsistent at reading altogether. Anyway, I have a number of books on my bookshelf that I have never read, or even opened for that matter.

My eyes stumbled upon the book, "God is Here; Connecting with him in Everyday Life" by Steve Case, and I was instantly curios. The cover even had an strong endorsement by Tony Campolo. The cover also has the statement, "A modern look at Brother Lawrence's The Practice of the Presence of God. I have heard of Brother Lawrence many times, and have many people talk about the significance of his writings and life. I even tried downloading and audio book of The Practice but never got through it. I decided I would give this book a try, at least the beginning of it.

The first chapter was a biography of Brother Lawrence, which there really isn't a ton of, but it did give some context to the challenges he faced. It was helpful. But it was chapter 2 that has really drawn me into this book, because it focused on a prayer of brother lawrence that goes like this:

Lord of all pots and pans and things...
Make me a saint by getting meals and washing up the plates.

Often I wrestle with the idea of what is God wanting to accomplish in my life, and there is a tendency to want that to be some grand thing, so great level of leadership or production, or what not. My ego causes me to want to be great in the eyes of men. Yet here is the prayer of a man who wants to be moment by moment in the presence of God, and his prayer is to the God of the big things and the little things, that he would be consecrated to God through humble and menial service...getting meals and washing plates. He goes on to express that times of prayer and times of work are no different, in that both are times of be present with God.

Oh to live that kind of life. To daily, hourly, moment by moment practice being...breathing the presence of God, no matter what I am doing. I guess that's why they call it practicing.

Here is probably my favorite of hers that I have just because she is so animated. It is from another Veggie Tales video (do we let her watch too much...nah!) Anyway, this is from Lyle the kindly viking.

Kate sings Viking Song from Perry Emerick on Vimeo.

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!

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!

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.

Here is a great shot I love...it is of Ben at the end of the second game. Papelbon came in and closed it out after Qualls had given up the lead in the eighth. It was so frustrating to watch Doug Davis pitch so strongly into the 8th just to have it thrown away. What is funny to me about this picture is that the guy who took it was a Dback's fan along with 2 others who had taken the Fenway tour with us earlier. One of hte ladies in that group had made the comment that she was glad Qualls hadn't come in the night before cause he would have blown the game. Ironic that the next night, he did come in and did blow the lead.
Anyway, what a great trip. We had so much fun and I have to say, I love Boston! What a great city. If you ever get a chance to go there, you need to check it out. And make sure you take a duck tour when you are there. Well worth it!

Real quick before I get off the free wi-fi and get a bite before heading to home, here is a picture of the first pitch of the Monday night game that the Dbacks won. It was a great game, a great pitchers duel between Haren and Beckett. We were sitting in grandstand section 31, row 9 and had a really nice view of the stadium (not that there is a real bad view). We were in a section with several Dback fans, and to tell you the truth, I was surprised by the number of Dback fans who were there. There was a father and son from Awatukee, as well as a father and son from NorCal who were fans. Anyway, it was cool to have a few others to cheer with. Only had one Sox fan curse me under his breath as Ben and I walked back to the subway station. Other than a short rain delay, it was a great night of baseball! We loved it.

Just a quick second post from DENVER...All I can say is I don't like American Airlines! We were stuck in Phoenix on the way out, and then on the way back, we had an on time flight from Boston to DFW, but then they pulled the plane for maintenance issues and canceled the flight from DFW to PHX. They initially had us re-booked to PHX at 10:40 that night, but were able to get us home by 6:45 by flying us through Denver, and then Frontier to PHX.

I suppose I can't complain too much...I didn't pay for it! :)

Here is a picture of Ben and I from grandstand section 31 during game one when they beat Boston 2-1! What a great game!