» first thoughts

What Are You Believing Him For?

worship180 — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:40:13 +0000

Even as I write that, I KNOW it’s a big question. I went back and forth trying to decide whether to write it or not. Guess who won? Anyway, we have wrapped up our first week of the new year and, at least in St. Louis, it has been GORGEOUS! I actually had a cookout on Friday because it was so nice. It has been an interesting start to the year, and everyone is bracing themselves for the cold that should have already been here.

I spend a decent amount of time on social media sites as I prepare for the week. I keep up with people’s Twitter accounts and check my Facebook timelines to see what’s going on. And, without fail, I’m always blessed with some nuggets of information that intrigue me. So far I’ve seen complete 180′s in a lot of people’s statuses from just last weekend. Last week, everyone was coming up with these cheesy cliches for the new year. “No Scheme of Hell in 2012″ or “Destined Not to Fail in 2012″ or “I’m Done Fooling with You in 20 -1-2″. But here we are just a week later and now I’m seeing the tables turn. “I can’t believe how I continue to let him get the best of me…” “I should have never let him back in my life. He is already cheating on me again…” How much stuff are these people getting into in the matter of a week? Maybe I’m just more inclined to not be involved in a lot of drama, but my goodness! We should be able to avoid some of the crazy at least long enough to validate our claims on this being a new year and a new us.

So the question begs to be asked…what is it that we are doing? What are we believing God for? Most of the people I see are talking about how they trust God to handle things and fix their job and get them a car and all these things. These are generally the same people who are in the midst of the drama in relationships and work and friendships. Are we believing that we can handle this stuff? Is that why we keep running into the wall head first and wondering why we have a headache? It’s amazing that we have someone who can handle each and every problem that we face, and even more that we will never see in our lifetime, yet we will not trust him enough to handle the cheater in our relationships. Or the boss who doesn’t recognize me. Or the person who cuts you off on the highway. Any of this sound familiar?

One week in I am learning that this love that Christ has for me is taking over my mind. I can’t believe that someone would find me so important to Him that he would die. He actually DIED! I have no other choice but to trust that He has my best interests at heart as He guides me through this life. Today’s set list at The Word at Shaw reflects the love that Christ shows us everyday. I’m believing Him for some big things this year. In the mean time, I’m also trying not to overlook the small things that He is doing constantly. So again, what are you believing Him for?

Sunday Set List 1.8.12

I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)

The Greatness of Our God

Beautiful One

Glory to God Forever

You Never Let Go

It’s 2012!!!

worship180 — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:42:02 +0000

Happy New Year from Worship180! It feels like it has been forever since I blogged, and that’s mostly because it HAS been forever since I blogged. I’m fixing that now and hoping that some of the new ideas I have in my brain give me the boost I need to get back in the game! I won’t tell you everything, but there may or may not be the inclusion of weekly video blogs. Just sayin’…

I’ve been trying to figure out ways to fit this whole blogging thing into a box. It hasn’t worked and it has caused me much frustration. So, this year I’m planning to not try to box it in. I’m going to let it happen and see where God takes it. What does that mean? Well, I don’t know. But join me for the ride, won’t you?

I hope that you all had a fun, safe New Year’s Eve and are doing well enough to find yourselves in a worship service this morning. Since today is Sunday, I happen to have a Sunday Set List to add as well. Just an all around party this morning. Here it is:

Joy to the World-Opener

Song Set

Because of Your Love- Paul Baloche

Hosanna (in the highest)- Brooke Fraser

You Never Let Go- Matt Redman

Communion

Carried to the Table- Leeland

Before I forget, I want to make sure to mention that we pray for Japan. They were hit early this morning with a 7.9 earthquake. From what I understand, there was no damage or anyone hurt, but still. That country has been through quite a bit. So don’t forget them today. Be blessed today and have a wonderful start to this New Year!

Prodigal Blogger

worship180 — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:49:03 +0000

At 8:32 when one of my children is screaming at the top of their lungs and another is sick and not wanting to get out of bed, I’d like to say that I’m back. I have been away for quite some time now, but I have made my way back home. I don’t dare sit here and think that the masses have been waiting for me to get back to blogging, but it still feels good to be back. A LOT of things have happened this summer and it’s amazing to still be standing after it is all said and done, but God is good. We have gone through some major changes at the church, my son just turned 1 on Friday (check out this video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czpf6MVsIPA&feature=mh_lolz&list=HL1315315811), and I have gained some perspective on who I am and what I’m doing. Hopefully I’m able to share some of this with you in a way that is helpful.

Sunday afternoon was quite a special day in my household. As I mentioned Quint turned 1 on Friday and so we had a blessing ceremony and party for him on Sunday. He had about 30 people come out to share this time with us. There were some really cool things that were said and lots of love poured out on him and us. One of the things that stuck out most to me was when our good friend and pastor of the Quest service at First Free Church Kevin Hughes gave the blessing. He asked people to share blessings and prayers over us and the baby. It was a lovely time and again, we felt really loved. But Kevin said something like this: “I pray that Quint’s prodigal days be short, and that Harry and Eva would have the wisdom and patience to guide him through it.” This was special to me because he didn’t shy away from the fact that we all have this time when we act like the prodigal son (Luke 15:11), but he prayed that he would be able to work through it and then come out stronger on the other side. Believe it or not, that’s one of the things that propelled me back today.

I have been waiting for a chance to jump back into writing. I kept feeling like I didn’t have anything to say or that no one was listening. So I sort of let it all fade away. But I’ve come back with the feeling of this is what God has given me. If no one else reads anything I have to say then I still will write. Is there something or someone in your life that you have run away from? Have you been wallowing in the mud trying to find your own way and finding that it just isn’t working like you thought? You can go back home. There is a God who loves you and accepts you with open arms when you decide to turn back to him. And just like the father in the story, he has a party waiting.

Redefine…what does it mean?

worship180 — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:00:00 +0000

So, I’ve finally gotten to the point where I can start to put some of this stuff down. As some of you know, I’ve been dealing with this idea for a little while, and God won’t let me put it down. So now I’m working through the details of what it all means. I want to share with you my thoughts about this concept, and then use this space to share other ideas, praises, prayers and anything that God is sharing with me.

So what is redefine, anyway? Well, it started in my mind as a way to lead people to the cross. I’m a worship leader, so by design my goal is always to find a way to lead people in worshiping Christ. But as I thought about it, worship leaders should be leading that charge all the time. We always say things like “Worship is a Lifestyle” and “Worship should be in our hearts all the time.”, but how can we lead in that? We have to start working on people’s hearts and minds to help them realize that worship is more than just what happens during that hour or so on Sunday morning. Worship is something that happens all the time, whether we realize it or not. We were created to worship, and no matter who we are, we all worship something. So the question is, what are we worshiping when we are not at church?

The concept of redefine is a two-fold concept. The first ‘fold’ deals with those of us already involved in the church. Like I said before, worship has to be more than just something that happens on Sunday morning. Well, how do we do that? And more importantly, how do we get others to realize that? The gospel. The gospel is the only thing that never changes, and it continues to show us our inadequacies. At the same time, it continues to show us that our Savior is there to fill in the void. In order to see that, we have to have a daily ‘redefinition’ of the severity of the gospel in our lives. That will lead us to a deeper, more intimate worship with Him everyday.

The second ‘fold’ deals with those outside the church. If I’ve learned nothing in my life, I know that there are 2 things that bond people like no other; sports and music. We want to use music to engage those outside of our walls, and then help us to create relationships with them that are real. Our goal is for everyone to come to a saving knowledge of Christ, but we aren’t seeking that to the detriment of the relationship that could be built. So we do things that help them see that Christians aren’t all about just saving them to pad stats and numbers. We want to know people and touch hearts. And you can learn a lot about a person by knowing what they listen to and why…

The purpose for this is to be a ministry to ministers. As I worship leader, I know how hard it is to make this concept make sense within the church. However, this is more than just a ‘consultant’ job. I want to help spark real conversation about worship that is real, relevant and God-glorifying. I can also sing a little and I can help in reaching out to your community with music.

This is all still coming together and I would love some ideas and thoughts about how to hone this idea in and make it more laser beamy. I know I just made that up, but oh well…this is my blog! I don’t plan for the others to be THIS long, but thanks for reading.