Happy Birthday Brandy!

Today we celebrate one of the most important days in my life, the day my wife was born. God has blessed my life by creating on this day thirty (something) years ago the perfect woman. She is a beautiful, compassionate, creative, sensitive, gifted, amazing woman of God. The most important part of that last sentence was "woman of God". Brandy has an amazing faith. That faith is exercised everyday in her love and passion for people. She is a true servant. Paul wrote to the church at Philippi to let the same mind of Christ which caused Him to serve be in us. And it is definitely in my wife. No one works harder and with more passion than my wife. So I know that she is celebrating the life that God gave her on this day thirty something years ago in 1975....oops. But I am celebrating too because God showed His love for me when He created her. I love you pootie!!!

Wisdom Tooth....Urrgghh!

This past week I had to have a wisdom tooth removed. It had chipped about a year and a half ago, and I kept putting it off. I hate dentists. I have no problem admitting that they scare me and I hate going. This tooth finally started causing some pain and so my loving wife made me an appointment. Not being one to miss appointments, I went, had it done, and am now glad I did.

I did have one thing happen during this experience that inspired this blog today. I was in the dentists chair inhaling the goofy gas and growing numb on the left side of my mouth, when all of a sudden one of those demonic thoughts came to my mind. The thought that jumped into my head was, "you are never going to feel good again." At first I felt my heart race and my blood pressure go up. I got ready to ask the nurse to check my pulse because it felt so fast. Then just as quickly as the demonic thought came, a God thought came that said, "this feeling is only temporary and necessary for you to continue the destiny God has for you." I began to relax. I stopped clawing the chair. My blood pressure normalized. I realized that two thoughts were put before me and that I had a choice as to which one I would believe. I knew that God would not give me thoughts that would bring fear, and so it must have been the enemy that said I would never feel good again. I knew that the enemy was a liar and so I could believe the opposite of what he said. I thanked God for the process and had the procedure done. I have not had any pain since the surgery other than where they put the needles in my mouth to numb it. It has been a miraculous recovery.

My encouragement to you today is to choose wisely as to which thoughts will become your meditation in times of trouble. God has thoughts towards you. He declares them in Jeremiah 29:11. His thoughts are about giving you hope and a future, not despair and destruction. If you have been clinging to the thought that what you are going through is permanent, reject it. Speak to yourself if you have to. Remind yourself that this is a season, and seasons change. It is not as important when you get through it as how you get through it. Get through it with your faith intact. Trust in God. He orders your steps and makes your paths straight. He will be with you, even in the dentist chair.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is now upon us and I hope that you have all thought about what you are going to do to show respect and affection to your mothers. I got my present for my mother in the mail today and am looking forward to giving it to her this weekend. I want to take this opportunity on this blog to say how blessed I have been to have a Godly mother who has been a great example of Christ to her children. Things have not always been easy for our family, but my mom always made sure they were fun. People say that I take after my mother in many ways. I take that as a compliment and do not mind it at all. The older I get, the more I feel like my father though. That too would be a compliment for me. 

I do not know that much about child rearing since I do not have one of my own. But you do not have to be experienced to be knowledgeable of the fact that the role of a mother in a child's life is extremely important. To all of you mothers out there (like Christy Jackson...told you I would put your name in this time...) I want to salute you and tell you that whatever sacrifices you may have to make to see your children become the man and woman of God that they are destined to become is worth it! You have been given a grave responsibility and God is counting on you to be an example of Christ. You do not have to be perfect, just loving. My mother is not and never was perfect. But she lived a life of humility before God that let me know that in her imperfection, God was making her strong. So trust God and let Him show you how to raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. 

Happy Mother's Day

"Been Long Time"

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have written anything on here. We have been in a time of physical transition moving our offices across the street. This has been exciting while at the same time a little rattling since "the train must keep moving" so to speak.

I wanted to just take a moment today to write about being thankful. Pastor Rick's message yesterday indeed inspired this blog. I want to say how thankful I am for my wife, my family, my friends, and my church. I am a blessed person. God has given me so much grace and mercy and I am in awe of the fact that He has blessed me the way He has blessed me. Sometimes it is so easy to focus on the areas in our life that "hurt" and forget about the areas that are so blessed and strong. So today I will not complain about pain...I will instead rejoice and give thanks for God's many blessings. Maybe you can try that too!!

All or Nothing

This past month our pastor, Rick Ross, has been discussing the topic of being "all in" for greatness. This past week we heard about how the three hebrew children would not bend or bow and as a result they would not burn. They even went so far in their devotion to say that we are all in whether God delivers us or not because He is still God no matter what my status or circumstance may be.

I think that could be one of the hardest, yet most necessary parts of our faith. The ability to put "all" of our faith in God no matter what. It is hard to come to the place in our walk with the Lord that we say, "I will do what's right and trust God to take care of things, but even if He doesn't take care of things I will still do what is right." What if God does not heal us like we thought he would? What if God doesn't keep our house from being foreclosed upon? What if we lose our job? What if our kid turns out to be a drug addict? Will we still say "blessed be the name of the Lord?" Will we still walk with God and put all of our faith in Him? Or will we start to look for other answers and other solutions.

I think that the 3 Hebrew teenagers had already made some hard decisions before they ever were faced with this life and death decision. The reason they had the strength to pass this test is because they had passed all of the smaller ones along the way. They refused to eat the kings food that went against their Jewish diet. They refused to live life the way the others around them were living. These tests prepared them for the day that a king would order them to be thrown into a fiery furnace. 

I always find it a little difficult to hear people say they will give their life before they will ever deny Christ. They think that if the choice had to be made between denying Christ and living, or confessing Christ and dying, they would be able to choose death. Yet when you look at the small everyday 'tests' that are placed in front of them, they fail every time. When it comes between serving their neighbor or doing something for themselves, they always choose their own interest. When it comes between giving or receiving, they always choose the latter. When it comes between sharing their faith and being ridiculed at work, or keeping their mouth shut and being promoted, they will take the promotion every time.

It is very rare that the choice will come to us to be 'all in' or die. But we do face small choices every day that will prepare us in case that time ever comes. So whatever your test is today, go all in.

The Transition Part 2

I said at the end of my last posting that I would like to take the metaphor of musical transitions and relate them to everyday life and so here we go. 

As in music, transitions can be especially crucial in our lives and they can stand out as either an affirmation of or an indictment of our character. I have seen many people live a pretty consistent life only to be tainted by the way they went through the transitions of life. These transitions can take on many forms. For instance it can be the loss of a job and the start of a new one. It can be the end of a relationship or the beginning of a new one. It can be the transition from wealth to poverty or just the opposite. It is important to prepare ourself through spiritual disciplines before we ever even get to the time of transition. In other words, plan how you  will transition before you ever get to the place when you have to actually transition.

I talked about the transition of tempo in music in my last posting. This transition is probably the most common type of transition in our lives. We may go from a time when life seems slow or just moderate to a faster pace. Or we may go from a time of extreme busyness to a more reflective season. There are ways we can plan for these seasons. One way is to practice slowing before life gets too fast for you to do anything about it. Get in the slow lane at the grocery store. Get behind the big truck rather than the little sports car at the stop light. Intentionally make yourself slow down. It is harder than you think.

The other comparison that I want to talk about is the "dynamic" transition. Sometimes life seems really loud. So loud that we can't even hear ourselves think, or more importantly we can't hear what God thinks. So practice slowing, but also practice being quiet. Go somewhere and be alone. Don't speak. Don't pray. Just be there, in stillness and meditation. This will prepare you to hear God's voice when things get really loud.

I don't know if I am getting my point across very well today. What I really want to say is better detailed in the book, "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg. Basically what he says is that we need to prepare ourself for transitions in life before we ever get there through various spiritual practices. After all, many times it is the transitions in life that really end up defining us. 

The Transition

Transitions are so important. Not only in music but in life. So many times we think that we are being measured or evaluated by our performance during the verses and choruses, only to be overshadowed by the mistakes we make during the transitions. Yes, I am talking about music and life here. You can take the metaphor as far as you would like. I am going to try and stick to the music side though for this blog.

As a worship leader, band director, or choir director, it is easy to spend most of our time rehearsing the meat of the music, and then stumble as we enter, end, or transition the song. I always tell the band and choir that the first notes are important because it will let people know whether or not they want to keep listening. The end is important because it can overshadow everything you did up to that point good or bad. Transitions also leave us the most exposed and vulnerable musically. That is why it is always important to spend the time you have making sure you not only play the song well, but that you end it just as well.

A few things to watch out for in times of transition: First, watch out for the tempo or even meter changes. Tempo changes can become the intersection that causes the most crashes mainly because it is something that is inside of the leader and not so much written on a page. It is important for the worship leader to communicate in some fashion the tempo or even the feel that he or she is expecting out of the band or choir. So watch out for those tempo changes.

The second transition that can cause major problems is the key change. It is very important to figure out how you can make as smooth of a key change as possible and still get the punch that a key change gives to music. I went to a church one time and cringed at every key change because it usually took the guitarist a measure or so to realize that everyone else had changed keys. So watch out for the key changes.

Lastly I want to say that we need to watch out for the dynamic changes. By dynamics, I mean the volume changes. Worship happens in swells many times and it is important that everyone ride the same wave. If the worship leader is trying to get quiet and more intimate and the drummer and guitars keep slamming it, then the whole dynamic transition is lost. The opposite is true as well. If the worship leader is attempting to build a dynamic swell and the drummer leaves the cymbals for the high hat, you may end up wiping out. So watch out for the dynamic swells in a worship set.

I know that this blog has been filled with metaphors. I hope that you enjoyed and agreed with each comparison and assessment. May all of your transitions be right!!!

(Next time we can talk about life transitions)