I will admit, I’m still amazed at thing way God continues to work in my life. So many times I’ve been up against it and not knowing which way to go and he steps in and reminds me that he’s in charge. As I’ve been reading through Job and seeing how he had his hand on Job’s life even with the turmoil he allowed, I have to stand up and take note that he’s got me too. Sometimes when I’m working on something in my office (as I am right now), I keep getting stuck on how I want something to play out. Then I step back and let it breathe for a minute (that’s what I like to call it) and then I can see what I’m supposed to be doing. It is easy to jump in and do stuff and get dirty up to our elbows in “the ministry”. At times we don’t even realize that we are actually in the way.

Lately, I’ve been wrapped in the emergence of becoming the leader God is really wanting me to be. I’ll be sharing more about it later as I continue this awesome journey. I’ve been seeing God strip some things away that I have held dearly for so long. I can’t believe how much I stood in his way when he was trying to work on and through me. This morning, I was getting ready to go and do something with my girls that I thought for SURE would put me in the Daddy Hall of Fame. But I was knocked down off my horse real quick when I was greeted with a flat tire. So I spent the morning dealing with all the intricacies of mechanics and warranties. UGH! Anyway, my daughters got to see daddy handle life as it comes and not just as he likes to plan it all the time. As I was finally leaving this morning, my youngest daughter Brisa said “Daddy, thanks for fixing our car.” For those of you who know me, you KNOW I’m not the mechanical guy. Granted, changing a tire isn’t a super big deal. But to my girls, they saw daddy handling things in a practical way. Evidently they needed that more than homeschooling in the park. But that was totally something that God did because I didn’t want to spend my morning changing a flat and having my rusted jack snap and almost break my foot when the car fell on it.

Henry Blackaby said it best in his Experiencing God study. Reality 1: God is always at work around you. That is SO true. We don’t know WHAT he’s working on, but we must take comfort in know that he IS working. With all the economic vexation on our country and the political craziness it sometimes seems like God is up there watching the game and eating snacks while we suffer through this perilous times. Never forget that God is working things our for his glory. That means you’ll know soon what he’s doing. He will show you in due time. Step back and watch him work…

I just want to start out by saying I don’t like this phrase. I was trying to think about why I don’t like it, and I think it’s because I can’t use it. I mean, I COULD use it. But in my own heart and mind, I can’t use that phrase. I was reading on the Internet this week when I ran across another celebrity divorce upcoming that used that as their reasoning for the break up. Now, I don’t have any real ties to that relationship so it doesn’t really matter to me in that sense. But I do wonder what it is in us today that allows us to so easy walk away from things when we don’t like them. That brought me to this idea…

Is this the mindset we operate from when it comes to church as well? What about worship music? The pastor? I see this very easily being something that people use without realizing it. Sometimes we will be involved in a situation and when it starts to not look like we want it to, we start to find ways to justify our disdain. One of my favorite people, Kevin Hughes always says that when someone comes to his church because it’s ‘perfect’ he already knows that they won’t be around long. Eventually that new church smell will wear off and they will begin to see all of the imperfections of the church and get disenchanted and leave. Whenever I hear about these things happening, I wonder if we ever get to a point that we look inward. At what point do we decide that the irreconcilable differences don’t come from the church, but they are within us? Are we not willing to reconcile the problems in our own hearts? Are we not willing to make the hard changes when we are forced to look at them? Are we not willing to say that we are getting older and even though it’s not bad, the new music is just something we need to get used to? Can we accept that the pastor isn’t perfect and sometimes he will say things that we don’t like? Do things that we don’t like? Not call me back as quick as I would like because he probably has other stuff going on as well?

I am from the school of thought (and I may be alone in this) that says that it’s not always the other person’s fault. Sometimes I have to look at myself no matter how hard that may be and no matter what I might find and know that I may have to make some changes. What are some of your ‘irreconcilable differences’ that you may need to take another look at?

I was talking to my wife this morning about life and all of the decisions that we have to make in the upcoming weeks. I visited an area church yesterday that we are interested in and I was filling her in on the details. As I talked to her, I realized that my brain is quite interesting. I’m sure that I’m not the only person that thinks this way, but when it comes to the people I spend the most time with, I know that my brain is quite different. Anyway, I was sharing with my wife all the details and the things that run through my mind over the course of a worship gathering. And we came to the point that I have worship leader A.D.D. What does that mean? That is a made up phrase that just says that I’m thinking of so many different things and sometimes it is hard to conentrate. Here are some of the pros and cons to this ‘condition’…

I consider it to be a blessing and a curse that I have this ‘condition’. It’s a blessing because I truly believe that there needs to be people in the church setting who consider all the inner workings of the time. It’s sort of like being a creative director as well. However, I’ll be the first to say that I’m not really good at the visual creative things. With that being said, I’m so glad that God has wired me this way because I notice the things and people around me while I’m a part of a gathering. I take in sights and sounds and people’s reactions and incorporate them into my own worship experience. The flip side of this, or the curse, is when I let it distract from what’s going on. Sometimes I get SOOOO wrapped up in the details that I completely overlook what God is doing or saying at any particular time. It gets so easy to start thinking about the external aspect of the Sunday morning time, and I can start to overlook what God is doing internally; not only in me but what could be happening within the hearts of others.

Something that I’ve realized is that this is who I am. That is not going to change because that’s the way God made me. The only thing I can do is learn what this means and make the most of it for the kingdom. As I’ve said before, it’s easy to see how this could be distracting in a worship setting. If I spend all my time (and I have) wondering why the lights are the way they are and why that person is singing the wrong note, I’m not concentrating on the beauty of who God is and why He deserves this praise. But when I am able to focus on the task at hand, then this is a lethal weapon as a worship leader. If I can give all my attention and brain power to who God is and what he wants to accomplish, the attention to detail becomes crucial in the overall outcome of what happens when we come together in worship to our heavenly Father. So pray that I can curb my WLADD, because when I do it’s a great thing. But when I don’t….

I’ll stand, with arms high and heart abandoned. In awe of the One who gave it all. I’ll stand, my soul Lord to You surrendered all I am is Yours… The Stand Hillsong

Let me start off by saying that I love this song! I appreciate Hillsong and their ability to capture the heart of this Christian walk in song. Another job well done. Anyway…

I was thinking about this the other day and was really struck by the depth of these words. Abandoning your heart is such an amazing concept. When I think about what that means, I am immediately convicted. As a worship leader, I want to be a person who strives to live this type of thing out on a regular basis. Abandoning my heart means that I am putting aside all the things that I think are right or should be happening. I will be the first to say that I don’t do that well all the time. Thanks to songs like this I am reminded to put Christ first and step aside and let Him do what He does.

Right now, I have a lot of things going on in my hear and mind and I want to make the right decisions. I am generally an internal processor and I don’t always do a lot of talking before I work out some initial things in my head. I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, and I’m realizing that without an abandoned heart, I can put some things in the way and as a result not process clearly. I have to be able to clear out the things that are in the way so I can start to hear God more clearly.

Ultimately, the end result has to be me taking a stand for Christ. Anything that does not result in me standing for him means that I’m standing for myself. There’s nothing in me worth standing for. I’m choosing to surrender my soul and give all I have to the Lord. I gotta believe that He knows what’s best for me. From what I understand, he has a plan or something… (Jer. 29:11)

That is such a loaded statement.  It doesn’t seem like it would be to hard to follow, but we seem to have a hard time doing in consistently.  I wonder why that is.  As Christians, our desire should be to worship God for everything that he has done.  But so many other things get in the way. The awes of life and the many distractions pull us away from what we are to be doing.  This line is so powerful because in Revelation it is being said to someone who is a follower of God. John is writing the book of Revelation and is constantly amazed by the things that are being revealed to him.  At this point he had seen SO much and was trying to sift through everything the Lord had shown him.  I have to believe he had to be overwhelmed and a little over stimulated with everything and began to worship the angel that was there with him.  But the angel was quick to readjust his focus.  He told him to worship God.

So many times we get focused on the things going on around us.  During these times in our country and world it is so easy to get distracted by all the news and recession and gas prices and lack of money.  But God has never changed and he never will.  So what am I saying to you? I’m saying that even though there are so many things vying for your attention, you need to stop, refocus, and worship God. He’s got all the answers and he has everything in his control.  It may not look like it and therefore you may continue to try and fix things on your own.  But trust me when I say this, he knows so much more than you and I. So instead of focusing on the money and the commercialization of Christmas and buying presents, worship God.

“I John am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me ‘Don’t do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and all of who keep the words of this book. Worship God!’” Revelation 22:8-9