Wake Up My Soul!!!

Wake up my soul is the name of my friend Andy Kirk's new album! If you haven't had the chance to go check it out, then do it!!! My favorite song off of the record is "You Are God". The lyrics for the song are posted below!

Verse 1:
God of heaven, God of earth
God of never ending worth
Through the ages, you remain
God who can not be contained

Chorus:
You are God and your unchangeable
You alone are faithful and true
We could search out heaven and earth just to find
There is no other God, no other God like you

Verse 2:
God of wonder, God of grace
God above all time and space
King of mercy, love divine
Savior of this heart of mine

Chorus:
You are God and your unchangeable
You alone are faithful and true
We could search out heaven and earth just to find
There is no other God, no other God like you

Bridge:
You're the righteous redeemer, mighty to save
Innocent God, ancient of days
Ruler of nations, beginning and end
You are God above all and you call me you're friend

Daydreaming about chiropractors and worship!

When I’m not out on the road the other half of my job is office work. In fact those close to me often tell me I work too hard. The funny thing about that to me is that when your passionate about the calling God has placed on your life all the time you spend on the road and in the office doesn’t really feel like work…

Anyway I have noticed something recently, while sitting all day on the computer if the posture of my body is in a weird / akward position for too long my shoulders and ribs start to hurt and form knots. In fact this last week, my back has had this weird aching knot in from the incorrect sitting posture. So as I contemplate worship and my aching back, the question my heart is left with today is do I go to Jesus with the wrong posture during worship? Do I sit before him in a position that is only going to cause myself aches? Yes, I'm still before him that's' beyond valuable just like when I am still getting work done. But am I making him my priority? Or am I putting myself, people, my material possessions before him? As a church when we worship is God the priority?

Words of Wisdom...

From time to time words of wisdom can be found in the hidden places of our lives. I’ve found that no matter how young or old a person they can still speak wisdom into my life. Sometimes even people with vastly different beliefs speak wisdom to me. Here recently those hidden places have come from voices of those who surround me. Some of these pearls came in the middle of conversation about life circumstances, but others came from somewhat shallow conversations about our favorite television show (Lost). Here are a few of phrases I’ve heard in random conversations that have really challenged me.

"I need to walk in my words!" - Reign
"I was distracted by my Freedom!" - E. Uhles
“Stop thinking and let your brain go back to normal.” – B. Dowell
"I was on the side burner, I was sharing a stove. And all I really wanted was my own flame." - Anonymous Source

The Most Effective Evangelist & God’s Return Policy

The other night while roaming the streets of downtown Atlanta, a homeless man approached me and we became acquainted surprisingly quickly. The conversation started gradually, like "hey how is it going?" And just like that we started talking. He continued to ask me questions about my life before he even started talking about himself. When he talked he was very funny, he told jokes about people that he had ran into on the street. Then he started talking about love and marriage. Then he transitioned into telling me about God in his life and how he isn't as good as he should be, but everyday he tries to do better with the things he knows he struggles with. It was only after we had this long conversation that he asked for a couple dollars for transportation to get back to the shelter for the night. Even after he asked for the money he said, "but you know what, if you don't have the cash, I really just want you to pray for me because prayer changes things." While my friends looked at me like I was doing something wrong, I gave him the couple dollars.

I think their are 2 lessons that we can learn from my encounter with this man.

The first is I think this man was one of the most effective evangelist I have met in a long time. The reason is because he took an interest in my life before he even started talking about Jesus in his life. I was open to listen to what he had to say.

The second is that even though my friends looked at me strangely because I gave him my cash, when I got home that night someone needed me to do them a favor and they gave three times as much money as I had given away.

Book Review: Steering Through Chaos

A few weeks ago I received a lovely book in the mail. It was written by a pastor in Texas that I just happened to hear about through twitter. And to think I’ve only used twitter for a short while yet it’s trying to change my life and perspective on marketing already. Anyway, the Pastor’s name is Scott Wilson. He is the pastor of the Red Oak Fellowship. He just happens to pastor the church that Shane & Shane call home!

I would recommend it to any church planter or pastor who is in transition. The book does something very simply yet powerful at the same time. It tells you that you are not alone in the struggle for growth. We all have an idea of where we would like to see our congregation go. But it’s the journey from the there to the now, or the present to the future promise land that tends to where us out. And this book speaks clearly to that journey and the struggle that goes along with it. Part of being an effective leader means that you learn from the strategies and mistakes of others. I would highly recommend you checking it out! In fact I would also recommend that you buy copies for your staff. One thing I know for a fact is that we can always learn from one another.

Helping Each Other Grow

New Years has come and gone, and now that it's March some of us are second guessing our New Year’s resolutions. You know, we hit the gym hard the first couple months, but now our legs are a little sore, for most of us it's still cold outside, and you are wondering if you can really loose the holiday pounds by beach season.

Or maybe you are the guy who hit the gym consistently hard all year long. You were there rain, snow or shine! You were even there before you ate the Turkey on Thanksgiving and before you cut the ham on Christmas Eve.

Whether you relate to the first group or second group of gym goers, you probably could use someone to encourage your commitment and challenge you to push deeper than you think you can go. But don't worry, No, I'm not a personal trainer trying to sell you my services (I might even sneak you a piece of cheese cake if you ask nicely enough). It's just that we see most churches fall into similar categories when it comes to worship. When 2010 rolled around, some individuals, churches, and ministries committed to pursuing and asking God for more intimacy in worship. While others continued to do what they have always done well, they are consistent, steady. Both groups are in a wonderful God given place, but just like both groups of gym goers, both groups can benefit from someone encouraging their commitment and challenging them to push deeper than they think is possible.

I want us to come along side each other and encourage each other to grow in our passion of worship of God. Share your expertise with us, what are practical ways we can encourage each other in pursuing God in worship?

He's my Healer!

A few weeks ago I had strep throat. It was the first time in my whole life that I've had strep. If you have never had it let me be the first to tell you, you should thank Jesus for that right now! I've had pneumonia before and let me tell ya pneumonia has nothing on strep throat.

At the time I felt like strep might have been the end of me. But thank the Lord he had another plan for me. During this time a great friend of mine called and said he had tickets to a worship event in Atlanta for Friday and wanted to know if I would be interested in going. And of course I said "Yes!" And I'm forever grateful that I went. While I was there something amazing happened. As I worshipped God came down and healed me! It was truly incredible!

Here's a line up of the worship leaders that lead Glorious night in Atlanta:
Byron Cage
William Murphy
Israel Houghton
Kevin LeVar
Smokie Norful
James Fortune & Fiya
Tamela Mann
Dewayne Woods
Brian Courtney Wilson

He's and Awesome Healer!!!