Worship Groove

A Year Later...

2011-11-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in over a year. That's crazy.

I guess I haven't really felt like I had much to say or an audience to write to. Who reads this? Probably not that many people. And if you happen to be reading this, it's likely because you are a loyal fan or this post was picked up by Google for some sort of keyword phrase. But I digress.

For the past year and half, we have been driving to Ames, Iowa weekly to go to Cornerstone Church. It's really been a blessing for many reasons including:

We enjoy worshiping together as a family and the car-time we have together back and forth to church.
The Biblical preaching is phenomenal no matter who is delivering God's message.
The worship is amazing and the worship team has set a very high bar of excellence.
We've made some great friends and acquaintances along the way.

I have been taking a James Bible study this fall and this past week, Pastor Troy showed this sermon jam by Pastor Matt Chandler of the Village Church. I love what he has to say so I thought I would share it with you.

Enjoy!

I Miss Leading Worship

2010-10-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

It's always a tough decision to go against the grain - to do what's unpopular. Leaving our old church was an incredibly difficult decision and for me it's been a grieving process for me the past few months. I've had to learn the hard way how to let go. And during that process, I learned how incredibly prideful I've been over these past few years.

Leading the worship ministry at our church was one of my passions in life. It fueled my soul and heart. It picked me up from rough days and weeks. I was part of an amazing community that was transparent and authentic - that wanted to help connect the church with Jesus.

Over the past few months, my fingertips have softened from not playing the guitar. And so has my heart.

A few weeks ago I sought out some pastoral counseling because I realized it was finally time to move forward and to stop living in the past. I found that bitterness settled into my heart, where light and love lived so prevalently. I have some homework that I have been jamming on and I plan to set up some divine appointments with some folks that have been on my heart.

With this realization that I need to repent and to rely completely in Jesus and not of my flesh, I have realized how much I miss leading worship. I have discovered a whole mess of worship music that I wish I could introduce to the church.

But for everything there is a season. And God clearly wants our family to worship together as a family. So I've learned to be content worshiping with the church and not leading worship for the church.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

2010-06-16T09:52:00.001-07:00

I've been at Hope NorthBranch serving as a volunteer worship leader for almost 4 years. Honestly, I didn't want to go to Hope NorthBranch in the first place. The church was looking for a worship leader to grow the music ministry and I was looking to purge additional responsibilities from my life at the time. So when the email hit my inbox, I immediately hit 'delete' and moved on with my day.

However, my wife was also included on the email. And lucky for Hope, my wife is an amazing, God-loving woman full of grace and wisdom. She simply has a big heart and wants to see Christ taken to the ends of the earth.

When she approached me about the idea, we agreed as a family that for a season we would help out the church in order to get them through the holidays. That was October 2006 and our season lasted a little longer than what we had originally anticipated.

Almost 4 years later, God begin stirring in us a desire to spread our wings a bit. And on Sunday, June 6th, while celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary, we felt the presence of the Lord release us from Hope NorthBranch. We felt God say, "It's okay. It's time to go."

That's a difficult pill to swallow letting go of something you think you built up. The church had grown from 125 people to over 900 at the latest Easter service. The music ministry grew from a handfull of people to over 40. But I didn't have anything to do with it. In all honesty, the Holy Spirit made all of that happen. All we can do as worshipers is acknowledge that and get out of the way of God.

We cannot control what is not ours to control. Hope NorthBranch is one of those things. So is the music ministry. So are our lives.

So when God said to let go of the music ministry and Hope NorthBranch, what choice do we have in the matter? When He has blessed you to leave and given you peace about it, all you can do is be obedient to his calling.

So we are stepping out in faith. Unsure of what lies ahead in the future. God was abundantly clear in Proverbs 16:1 that whatever plans we make, His will overrule ours. I love this paraphrase which reads: "Man loves to devise plans which reflect his heart's ambition; God however always does what He wishes regarding our lives."

Perhaps God will bring us back to Hope NorthBranch after a season of time. One things for sure, I am looking forward to worshiping with my family together. We've gone to church the past 6-8 years in 2 different cars at 2 different times. I am looking forward to worshiping as one body, one family in this next season that God has ordained.

My Mild Obsession with Hillsong United

2010-04-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

They say that acceptance is the first step. Okay, I will admit that I have a mild obsession with Hillsong United. There...I said it.

Earlier this week, we were blessed to celebrate Caleb and Logan's 8th birthday in style: at a United Hillsong worship event at Wells Fargo Arena here in Des Moines, Iowa.

When I first found out about the concert, I was torn because I realized that it fell on their birthday. What to do?

A) Throw them a really fantastic birthday celebration over the weekend and go on a date with my lovely wife by ourselves on Monday.

OR

B) Take the kiddos with us and celebrate with them.

As you can deduce from the start of this blog, we took the boys. But we were also blessed to be able to get backstage passes for the show and 15 minutes before they hit the stage, the band humbly came out of their dressing room to wish my boys a happy birthday.

The week prior, Logan had asked if I could design him a shirt that read "Hillsong United States" as a play on words since the band resides in Sydney, Australia. I obliged and made two very handsome shirts for both Logan and Caleb, which they proudly displayed the night of the show. As a mildly obsessed fan, I brought along my favorite Sharpie and had the members each sign their shirts. We took a great family photo with the band (sans Jonah unfortunately who stayed with grandma and grandpa that night). And I even handed Joel Houston a couple of packs of Thomas Lift art cards, hoping it would bless him as William's art has blessed me.

The concert met all expectations. Of course, I knew what to expect worshiping with them a year prior at the Willow Creek Worship and Arts Conference (The Wonder Conference) the year before. So then that little voice in my head started speaking.

"Drive to Kansas City and see them again. It's only 3 hours away and it's not like Hillsong United gets to the states that often. Plus tickets are fairly reasonable."

A quick check of the weather report and I was rather discouraged. Rain. Thunderstorms. Wind. Ugh. What to do? So I tweet, "How much do I love Hillsong United? Enough to get wet."

They write back, "If we can do it, so can you!" Affirmation.

So I planned to drive by myself. Be alone in my thoughts and listen to their music full blare as I drive off to Kansas City. But then my buddy Josh, media director at Lutheran Church of Hope, offers to tag along and it's a man-date.

Last night was awesome. It was an outdoor show at the Starlight Theatre adjacent to the Kansas City Zoo. However, the rain was downpouring when we finally hit the Kansas City area. Not discouraged, we brought rain gear and agreed to live to tell this story again and again.

But God's favor was on us. As we pulled into the parking lot, the clouds parted and the skies turned blue. We were reminded of one of their songs in which they sing, "Open up the heavens, let your glory fall." To which God's glory fell upon this audience of worshipers last night.

We scalped tickets. Maybe it's not a fair assessment since we paid full price but I helped a church group out as several people canceled due to the weather. So we made new friends and worshiped our hearts out last night under the Kansas City night.

And I thought to myself, "Joel Houston and the rest of the gang from Hillsong United are freaking awesome. But they are merely a speck of sand in the beach of awesomeness that God claims as His."

I can't fathom what worship music in heaven must be like. What's crazy is that this music down here on earth probably doesn't compare. Although, these past two worship events I would argue that heaven has met earth.

I pray that Hillsong United can continue reaching a generation of unlost. To change the world as we know it. And inspire millions to turn their hearts to God.

Wedding Songs

2010-01-13T07:14:00.000-08:00

I get asked often for recommendations for wedding songs. Here are a few tunes that I would recommend that would be beautiful for a wedding. (Note: many of these are worship songs)

Unfailing Love – Chris Tomlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdSM3RQhlu8

This Day - Jadon Lavik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiQ_sN87_2Y

Your Love Is Deep – Jami Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcxLwta95ns

Your Love is Extravagant – Casting Crowns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoaH0I9UwLI

Enough – Chris Tomlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMzuHwVGuNc

For My Love - Bethany Dillon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EOzAcS7TTo

You Are My Strength – Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0jjczHhi6c

Your Love Never Fails – Chris McClarney, performed by Joe Monto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVOSd_rraAw

How He Loves – Written by John Mark McMillan, performed by David Crowder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJyW55AXJAk

By Your Side – Tenth Avenue North
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J95rAr0gOFU

Love Came Down – Ben Cantelon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sMMZckqMeU

A Page Is Turned – Bebo Norman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsDL70lnoI

This Kind of Love – Sister Hazel (this is a secular song that I played at a friend’s wedding. I thought it worked well and was actually surprised the Catholic church let me play it)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO2B4UZz0LA

When I Say I Do – Matthew West
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2JSXM0gSiM

Divine Romance – Phil Wickham
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeTzIuZr0wI

Love Never Fails – Brandon Heath
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geVbSntnOd8

Matthew Paul Turner and World Vision to Visit Uganda

2010-01-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Follow Matthew Paul Turner and World Vision as they travel to Uganda in January. Matthew is one of my favorite bloggers so I can only imagine you will appreciate his thoughts and insight as he travels to a country that holds my heart...Uganda.

Check it out.

Words of Wisdom from a Four-Year-Old

2009-12-01T07:46:00.000-08:00

My four-year-old son, Jonah, has been on a tear lately with his wisecracks. Some of them are frankly laugh out loud material and others are sweet and endearing.

For instance, over Thanksgiving break I was working on our laptop and asked Jonah to refrain from touching the keyboard. He nodded and a few seconds later I see him navigating the screen with his little fingers.

"Jonah!" I said abruptly, "I told you not to touch the computer."

To which Jonah promptly responded, "I heard what you said but my finger wasn't listening."

Each evening when I come home from work, I get an update on our kiddos' progress on Mario Kart for the Wii (PS: You know it's a bad sign when your children start spelling "we" as "Wii"). So last night, I was asked to advance their game to the next level. In doing so, I unlocked a few vehicles and...drum roll please...Dry Bones, a kid favorite.

The boys were jumping up and down and giving me high fives. It was as if I had scored the winning touchdown with no time left on the clock in a high school football championship game.

The next thing I know, Jonah is giving me bear hugs and exclaiming, "You're the best Daddy in the whole world!"

How can you argue with that? I am pretty awesome.

My 2nd reason for loving Jonah

2009-11-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

4 out of the 5 days of the week, my wife drops me off at work on her way out to Jonah's preschool and her part-time job. Normally, our ride involves listening to Thousand Foot Krutch's new album, "Welcome to the Masquerade," but today my four-year old let me listen to Fee's new album, "Hope Rising."

When we were approaching our downtown exit, Jonah piped in and said, "Mommy when you die and go to heaven..."

At this point we were thinking this is going to be an adorable question or a huge epiphany about heaven...

"...can I have this car?"

I bust out laughing. My 2003 Toyota Corolla already has 110,000 miles on it and some rust. By the time he's old enough to drive it, it may have 500,000 miles on it.

"Way to set your goals high, Jonah," I said back.

One reason why I love Jonah

2009-10-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

I love how he refers to me as his "best buddy."

Erik: "You ready to head upstairs buddy for rest?"

Jonah: "You mean best buddy?"

Role Models

2009-10-23T07:40:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I had about 2 hours of work sitting on my desk calling my name. It was a hectic day in the office and I was being pulled in several directions. I finally carved out some time on my calendar and blocked two hours in the afternoon to crank on my work.

I went to the quietest place I could find on our campus and sat down at a cafeteria table next to a window that overlooks the beautiful fall trees outside.

I carefully spread out my work, surveyed the task ahead of me and was about to get started when I spotted them: two random employees who decided to sit right by me.

At first I was annoyed because they were talking really loud, and I was having a difficult focusing on my work. Then the "cool" one switched into fraternity mode and used about every cuss word imaginable to hold a discussion with his fellow peer.

Initially, I was embarrassed for him because he represents our company, was sitting on company property and didn't represent the values and ethics of our company. Then I was irrate to later figure out that their relationship was manager/employee and they were having their weekly one-on-one catch-up.

Is that how you conduct yourself in the workplace? If so, good luck moving up the career ladder.

It got me thinking about an incident from earlier this week. (Disclaimer: this is kind of gross) I've had a nasty cold for a week which went into my chest. When I have a coughing attack, gross things dislodge from somewhere deep in my lungs. And there's no way I am going to swallow that down.

So after one of my coughing fits, I rolled down the window and let it fly. The only problem is I was running an errand with my three boys. My four year-old rolled down his window and tried to spit out the window. As we like to say in Twitter-speak: #FAIL

It was with humility that I realized that my sons idolize me. I'm their hero. And I need to lead by example. I agree; teaching them to spit out the window is probably not a good idea. But what about the other areas of my life?

Do they watch me love and serve my wife unconditionally as Christ loves the Church?

Do they watch me read my Bible out of my desire to learn and grow in my faith walk?

Do they listen to me pray to Jesus without ceasing?

I do not model the lifestyle I want my boys to grow into. Do you?

We need to. Let's step it up.

Truth and Love

2009-08-24T09:34:00.001-07:00

We had a really great leadership retreat this weekend at Hope NorthBranch. I will admit that I more or less rolled my eyes when I initially learned of this retreat because it's tough to give up a Friday evening and a good chunk of your Saturday - especially as a volunteer. So my heart may have not been in the best place going into this retreat.

However, within 10 minutes of kicking off the retreat, I was hooked. Dan Brunner, one of Pastor Scott's best buddies, came and facilitated our retreat and we covered a bunch of ground from Myers Briggs to what it means to truly follow Jesus.

One of the most interesting exercises he facilitated was regarding the Myers Briggs test in which we discover our profile based on a questionnaire we completed ahead of time. We then spent a while affirming our pastor's strengths and areas of growth.

I could tell that the team was a bit uncomfortable sharing his areas of growth. It's tough to give constructive criticism and admit that someone actually has a weakness. And I think this is especially true in the church because we have a distorted view of love, especially when it comes to our leaders.

I think most people are afraid to share the truth in love to leadership (especially pastors, preachers, ministers, whatever you want to call them) for a couple of reasons:

We are afraid of feeling inferior or being put on the defense because of a pastor's Biblical credibility. The last thing a member of the church wants to do is to get into a Biblical debate with a pastor. I would imagine that most pastor's would handle constructive criticism with humility like our pastor did. And while I don't have the statistics to back up my point, my hypothesis is that people are afraid to discuss issues with pastors because they are Biblically illiterate.
Another reason why people shy away from voicing concerns is because we don't want to offend our pastors. They DO pour a lot of their energy and time into shepherding their respective churches. It's personal. And a lot of our feedback is subjective. So we're afraid of stepping on toes and hurting feelings when it comes to bringing up issues and concerns with the church.

But if we don't have these healthy conversations with our pastors, how will they learn & grow and improve the overall health of their leadership and the church?

Exegetical Vs. Topical Preaching

2009-08-11T15:53:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted on this blog for a while so I am sorry I've neglected you. If you wanna know where my head is spiritually, I have been struggling with the topical versus exegetical preaching debate. I listen to a lot of Matt Chandler as it feels like God speaks to me through him. I have learned a lot through him and he's constantly challenging me, my beliefs and my thoughts. So I am praying about what God is trying to say to me about this and what we should do.

Now you know.

Chaos In the Storm

2009-05-31T21:49:00.001-07:00

The lightning is filling the sky. The thunder is shaking the house. In between songs, I hear one of the boys upstairs crying. They are pretty exhausted from a busy weekend so I fly up both sets of stairs to their rooms. I find Jonah thrashing in his bed – arms and legs flailing. Screams and cries. Sleepwalking. And he can’t be woken. He starts coughing and choking – losing his breath. The room illuminates with flashes of light and rolls of thunder. One horrendous cough and his system is jolted and he realizes his daddy is sitting next to him. He falls into my arms and my words of affection and affirmation. “It’s okay” I say over and over as I rub his back and snuggle him. He’s a sweaty mess and smells like the outdoors, but I hold him tighter and love him more. Unconditional love.

Can you relate to Jonah? Does it feel like the world is flashing by, filled with static while your thoughts are enveloped in a mess of chaos?

In the Message’s translations of John 6 (35-38) it reads: Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don't let go.

Isn’t that what we all desire at the end of the day? To let go of everything and to be embraced by the one who loves us unconditionally – even in our sweaty and smelly messiness?

Faith In Action

2009-04-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

This morning I was mingling by the front doors of the school (our church) when a beautiful African woman with crutches walked through and waited inside. I humbly approached her and introduced myself and she told me her name was "Rhumbi". (I am sure I just butchered the spelling)

When we started our call-to-worship at the first service, she walked all the way to the front and sat in the first row - pretty uncommon, especially in a Lutheran church. Then Nick W., who specifically works with refugees at Lutheran Services in Iowa, came up to the front and sat next to her.

While leading worship today, Nick was engulfed in a pretty serious prayer session with God. I could tell he he was pleading with God, from the furrowed brow and serious look on his face.

Today, Pastor Scott gave a pretty compelling talk about "walking the walk" when it comes to our faith. And then he invited "Rhumbi" to come forward and give her testimony which was heartbreaking. Seriously heartbreaking. Rhumbi was from Zimbabwe and has experienced tragedy that we can barely comprehend. She was selected to come to America for a brighter and better future - to escape the torment that she endured in her home country. But her testimony wasn't necessarily filled with hope and joy; she is still broken and hurt by the actions of Americans. After 7 months of being in America, "Rhumbi" said she doesn't have any friends. And my heart was broken.

One of my favorite verses is 1 John 3:18 which reads: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

I played my "spiritual leader" card today and told my wife that we need to sign up to join Lutheran Services "Circle of Friends" program to befriend a refugee family (or families). What really broke my heart is that I expected to see a line of people "walking the walk" today, but I was only the 4th name on the list. I was honestly disappointed and discouraged today.

And God's timing is impeccable. While I write this, Tim Hughes' song "God of Justice" just cycled on in iTunes.

God of Justice, Saviour to all

Came to rescue the weak and the poor

Chose to serve and not be served

Jesus, You have called us

Freely we’ve received

Now freely we will give

We must go, live to feed the hungry

Stand beside the broken

We must go

Stepping forward keep us from just singing

Move us into action

We must go

To act justly everyday

Loving mercy in everyway

Walking humbly before You God

You have shown us, what You require

Freely we’ve received

Now freely we will give

Fill us up and send us out

Fill us up and send us out Lord

Feeling neglected?

2009-04-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's my busy season obviously so the Worship Groove has been very quiet the past few months. My apologies! I promise I will refuel and start typing away soon!

In the interim, check out my buddy's site: Thomas Lift.

Bill Butler is an amazing, talented painter and I love his latest work which you can find here.

http://thomaslift.com/blog/?page_id=143

Blessings!

One of many reasons why I love my son, Jonah

2009-01-28T08:20:00.001-08:00

My youngest son, Jonah, has taken a liking to my cologne. I suppose that I should be flattered that my sons want to be more like Daddy. So our new routine during shower time is this:

1. Lather up the kid real good with soap and shampoo. Rinse.
2. Lather the kid up with Old Spice Sport body wash. Rinse.
3. After I have him dried off, we apply a generous amount of moisturizing lotion.
4. And then the best part. He carefully samples each one of my cologne bottles (sadly, I have about 10 of them) - sniffing each one with deep breaths.
5. After we narrow the selection down to half, he selects his favorite.
6. I spray a small amount on his hands which he rubs together, pats his face and rubs on his tummy and arms.
7. Then he proudly declares, "Mommy! Smell me! I got some of Daddy's smellies on!"

I gotta admit - that's one kid I definitely love snuggling after that routine. ;)

Christmas Present

2009-01-24T21:56:00.001-08:00

I am one of the luckiest guys I know. I realize that's a rather bold statement but when I reflect on my wife and kiddos, it warms my heart and I smile inside-out. They are perfect in my life.

I think my wife is one of the best mothers on earth...and if there were a contest someday on Oprah to determine the best mom, I'm pretty sure she'd be a finalist, especially if I was one of the judges. hehe.

So here's the point of my post.

Wanna know what my wife bought me for Christmas? A business.

She is an encourager and wants to help me pursue my dreams. A couple of years ago she arranged for some studio time so I record some of my music. And this year I like to think that she out-did herself.

She met with a financial advisor to figure out the tax/IRS stuff, set up business accounts with the bank, ordered credit cards and checks for the business, set up a PO box, and even blew up my brand logo and had it framed.

She's miles ahead of where I am with the business. But it was the swift kick in the butt that I needed and I am looking forward to kicking off this adventure in 2009.

I will likely journal some of my learnings and milestones as this unfolds and I will share some of the good stuff with you.

Chivalry is not dead

2009-01-12T10:29:00.000-08:00

This morning we got sacked with a snowstorm. Huge Colorado-esque flakes fell from the sky and quickly covered the road. The wind made no excuses as it ripped through our town enveloping all.

As I dropped off the boys for school, the line of cars was much longer than normal as I expected. We patiently waited our turn and they hurried indoors to safety. As I turned the corner to head to work, I watched a young boy and his younger sister dashing up the sidewalk toward the school. His sister was lagging behind and slowing him down.

But then the unexpected happened. He stopped, turned back and grabbed his younger sister's hand to help her walk the rest of the way. My heart swelled. I wish their parents could have witnessed this sibling love.

I wonder how many opportunities like this I miss with my own children?

See you in 40 days

2008-11-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

I've decided to take an Internet fast. I am finding that I spend endless unproductive hours reading Facebook status updates and blog postings that really don't do much for me. There are things I'd rather be doing like spending time with my wife and kids, reading my Bible more, praying, starting my own business, reading books for leisure, and write music. So I'm not going to be checking Bloglines any more. I'm going to stay off of Facebook. And I'm not going to chase sports scores online.

I have to use it for my volunteer worship position...that's my only exception. Tabbing out music, finding online devotions, posting the setlists, etc.

So...I'll see you in 40 days or later.

Godspeed,
ECC

And the MRI says...

2008-11-07T07:26:00.002-08:00

About a year and half ago, we got drilled by a snow storm. Since my snow blower was functioning more like garage decor (it wouldn't start), I shoveled the driveway and sidewalks by hand that winter. On this particular day, I did something rather foolish. I was pushing the snow by running with this shovel. The momentum allowed me to force the snow the edges of the driveway faster. Except on this day, I hit a crack, jammed the shovel and jarred my shoulder. Excruciating pain. And to make matters worse, I did it twice.

I went to the doctor's office and we took x-rays which came back fine. He prescribed some pain killer meds for me and gave me some stretching exercises. I was told to schedule another appointment if it didn't get better.
My shoulder healed but remained sore. It was sore to bend it certain ways and to lay on my right side. It was sore when I lifted heavy things or wrestled with my children. But it didn't necessarily hurt. Until 2 weeks ago.

Somehow I managed to jar my shoulder again. I really don't recall how or when I did it but I know it happened two weeks ago. It hurt so bad that I would turn the volume on the radio or use my wipers with my left arm. If I raised it more than 45 degrees, it hurt. Bad.

So off to the doctor I went and we finally took a closer look by a MRI. Yesterday they called and said that my rotator cuff is torn.

This is interesting news to me. I am at a point of burn out with the worship ministry. Apathy has set in and I am not feeling healthy right now. If my orthopedic doctor recommends surgery, my guitar playing days will be postponed for quite some time. I am slowly working in two new worship leaders so the timing is what intrigues me. Should surgery happen, then it may be time for Mark and Brad to lead for a while. It would perhaps give me the break I need to regroup, refuel and re-energize as a worship leader.

I need healing for my shoulder and my soul.

Post Election Email

2008-11-07T07:26:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine sent this email to me today. I thought it was worth publishing...

Dear Friends,

For months now my email Inbox has been besieged by nearly hysterical warnings about what will happen if this man/woman or that man/woman becomes President. I have been encouraged to be worried, afraid, concerned, prepared for disaster, and a whole host of other maladies if this happens. I do not deny the importance of this election, but it seems to me that we need a dose of perspective. So I would like to start my own email concerning this election. It's a "True/False" test.

I'd like for all of us to take it.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, Jesus will still be King.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, our responsibilities as Christians will not have changed one iota.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the greatest agent for social change in America will still be winning the hearts and minds of men and women through the gospel, not legislation.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my primary citizenship will still be in this order - (1) the Kingdom of God , (2) America , not vice-versa.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the tomb will still be empty.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the cross, not the government, will still be our salvation.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, our children will still be more concerned with whether or not we spend time with them than with who is President.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my neighbor will still be my neighbor, and loving him/her will still be the second greatest commandment.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my retirement will still not match my treasure in Heaven.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, "Jesus Is Lord" will still be the greatest truth in the Universe.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, we will still know that God is in control.

How did you score?

The Stomach Bug

2008-11-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

Admittedly, that was a first for me today. I was up during the night with an awful stomach bug and wasn't sure if I could lead worship today. I called my back-up and took him by surprise so we agreed to play it by ear.

Hopped up on Imodium AD, I took the worship stage very weak today praying that God would see me through this day. A few times, just moving around during worship, seemed to suck the breath right out of my lungs. Other times, I would have been perfectly content to play laying down. And thankfully that gurgling sound in my stomach never surfaced.

Reminds me of this verse from 2 Corinthians 12:8-9.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:8-9a).

I hope that God's power was perfect today...

Klampert.com

2008-10-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Okay...this is somewhat of a shameless plug but if you read my blog, then you should read Joel Klampert's blog too.

I use a tool called Bloglines.com which helps me keep track of mostly the posts of many bloggers and other sites. The tool searches for new content and organizes it online in one central place letting me know when an update takes place.

One site that I follow in particular used to be called CECWorship but recently changed to Klampert.com. So I just updated Bloglines so I can now follow Joel's posts on a daily basis.

So why should you read his blog? Here are my top 10 reason:

Joel has an awesome heart for worship and God (not necessarily in that order)
We gravitate toward the same style of music which is pretty eclectic in nature.
We have almost the same family situation - young kids and married for 11 years.
He is authentic and honest. He doesn't mask his feelings but wears his emotions on his sleeve.
He's a Mark Batterson fan and was train-wrecked by "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day."
He's into GOOD design and is a web/graphic designer.
He has a heart for the multi-site church.
He's turned me onto music I hadn't heard of before especially "Worth Dying For"
He's well-read and likes the same kind of authors and books as I do.
He's bald like me.

Don't just take my word for it, see for yourself.

The Alpha Worship Muzzle

2008-10-08T11:05:00.001-07:00

We kicked off our fall Alpha class a few weeks ago and our NorthBranch band is leading the music portion. We're incredibly blessed to be in our new space which we call The Station - an older warehouse that was completely remodeled and renovated by members of our church. They even built a decent size stage complete with a new drum kit, floor monitors and enough media equipment to put together a decent size band and sound.

As we lead music for Alpha, we were instructed to keep things low-key so that we don't scare off people who are new to the church and to Christianity. I struggle a bit with this approach because I have met other Christians on fire for God...and that fire was contagious. I wanted some of that in my life. So I think we're a bit unauthentic when we just go through the motions of worship. Further, I think we're dishonoring God. Worship music helps usher in the Holy Spirit and the presence of God...the Holy Spirit and the presence of God changes hearts and lives. So why would we want to worship God with a worship muzzle?

The other night, my family was up at The Station for dinner and participating in worship (music) in the back. As we tore into our worship set, I looked down the aisle past all of the seated members of the class and spotted my 3 year-old dancing wildly with his hands raised upward to Jesus. It was one of the most beautiful things I had seen in a while and I felt a huge grin break across my face. I wish the church could have seen it as he was demonstrating what authentic worship was all about.

New Life Worship

2008-10-01T10:13:00.001-07:00

I have this thing for New Life Worship. They are the worship arm of New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Their music simply resonates with me and I am drawn in...closer to God. They are a big catalyst for me connecting with God so I use them A LOT during worship.

What's sweet about New Life Worship is it's comprised of a bunch of artists including many great musicians from Desperation Band and of course Ross Parsley. Jared Anderson also has a couple of solo albums that really rock as well.

Last week they had the Enter Conference in Colorado Springs at the church. It was a conference geared toward the worship leader and I was dying to go...especially since New Life Worship was unveiling a new album and several artists were going to be there (Paul Baloche, Gateway Worship, etc.) Unfortunately I couldn't afford to make the trip on my own and stopped short of contacting some people networked through couchsurfing.com. I just found out last night they are doing a Seminars4Worship Conference in Grand Rapids, MI which would be about an 8 hour drive for me. Again I am tempted but I don't think I can pull it off since it's a week from today.

Someday I will go, but for now I need to stand on the sidelines and watch the game.

The Vow and the Vision

2008-09-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Our church just finished a week long "season" of 24/7 prayer to commemorate the launch of The Station - an empty warehouse we recently converted into a home for our community. The Station will be used for classrooms, worship and office space. So we devoted a room to pray for a week and the church responded by signing up for an hour slot until the schedule was full.

I took a 2-hour slot this past Friday in which I spent the first hour worshiping God through song with some other folks from the worship team. Then from 12 - 1 AM I spent some God and Erik time in the prayer room.

I picked up a book I read a few years ago called "The Vow and the Vision" by Pete Grieg. And I cut to the chase and opened up the vow at the back of the book. Ah...the book came to life for me and the next thing I knew, I was kneeling on the floor, clutching a cross and reciting these words.

Fool that I am, I vow my whole life, all that I have and all that I am to be true to Christ in the grace of our Holy Spirit for every day the Father grants me. So help me God.

Weak as I am, I vow my whole life to be kind to people: to see Christ in others, to serve Christ in others and to show Christ to others in the joy of the Holy Spirit for the glory of our Father. So help me God.

Small as I am and wherever I am, I vow my life to the Gospel of Christ. Today, together, we offer to spend ourselves on behalf of the broken and poor in the power of the Spirit, giving our whole life that you might be loved in every language, tribe and nation in our generation for the glory of our Father. We will not live for ourselves. So help us God.

‘Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess’ Hebrews 10:23-25

What Would Jesus Do?

2008-08-22T08:57:00.001-07:00

I have had some sort of marketing, advertising and interactive role for the past 12 odd years. A year ago I moved back into a brand management and advertising role from an interactive position. While I've enjoyed the work and the opportunities to work on high level projects, one thing has become noticably clear to me.
There is much more grace in the web and interactive world.

Why? Because you can easily fix your mistakes.

In advertising if you screw up some of your errors are permanent and more important costly.

So what does all this mean? Well...I think if Jesus had a vocation in the present day, he'd give up carpentry to be a web designer. It's full of grace.

Greater things have yet to come...

2008-08-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

God continues to pour out his blessing and favor over our family for some reason. We were able to sell our house, find a new house and get our kids enrolled in school in a short, short time. He has released me to start a small business as well and as my wife reminded me today, "Greater things have yet to come..." Reminds me of this awesome Bluetree tune re-recorded by Mr. Chris Tomlin.

You're the God of this city, You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation, You are
You're the Light in this darkness, You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless, You are

There is no one like our God, there is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city

Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done here

"God Of This City" led by Chris Tomlin and written by Bluetree

Thanks for the curveball, God!

2008-08-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Our house has been on the market for a few months, but I had given God an ultimatum in my head. "Sell our house by the end of August, and I'll know we're supposed to move to Ankeny. Don't sell it and maybe that's Your sign that we're supposed to make West Des Moines home."

God's really not in the business of making deals with us. Just read Proverbs in the Bible.

Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Proverbs 19:21 You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've grown quite discontent and anxious about selling our house. I grew to resent the fact that I needed to keep the lawn nicely mowed and house squeaky clean. I was growing restless and somewhat desperate.

So imagine my surprise when an offer came through from our second official showing. Our realtor tipped her hat to us and said, "I wouldn't have ever imagined that in this market you would have been able to sell your house with only two showings." But somehow we did.

Now we embark on finding a new home which is not a small task. We plowed through a bunch of homes yesterday and still have no idea where we'll end up living. Guess I gotta give the plan back to God on this one.

Big Dream

2008-07-27T21:51:00.001-07:00

For a while...okay...for a few years I've wanted to design and produce t-shirts. I have a journal of ideas that I've kept for a while.

A couple of weeks ago, I felt released to start this business so I finally registered a website name and landed on a brand name for my shirts & gear.

I am now working on the business plan, designing some shirts, and researching the best ways to produce these shirts.

So stay tuned to learn more about...

Lighten Up Gear
www.lightenupgear.com

The Shack

2008-07-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of William P. Young yet? My wife and I like to refer to him as Willie P after watching a video interview of him on the 722.org website.

William Young is the author of The Shack which is currently featured on the NY Times best selling lists. There’s also this great article about Willy P and The Shack on the NY Times website.

I first heard about this book from my friend April, who has to be one of the most well-read persons I know. So when she tells me it's one of her favorite books, I DON'T take it like a grain of salt. Instead, I rush out and snatch up the book. In this case, I ordered a copy from my local library which ironically had two people on the waiting list when I returned it.

This book messed with me in a good way but it also opened up my eyes to some of my faults. The two major themes I took away from this book are: 1) I don’t trust God as much as I think I do and 2) I haven’t figured out what total surrender looks like for me yet. I am slowly trying but it’s not something that happens overnight. Case in point: I am struggling why our house hasn’t sold when we think it’s God’s plan that we’re supposed to live near our church in Ankeny. It’s hard to let go of control and trust God with this decision…and to be at peace with it completely.

So I keep trying to give it over to Him but the control freak in me has issues with that. I think that's why I always drive instead of my wife. ;)

Anyway, if you haven't read The Shack yet, please do yourself a favor and check it out. And definitely check out the video on the 722 site.

Self-Medication

2008-07-16T09:55:00.001-07:00

Facebook. The guitar. MySpace. Email. Video games. Television. CNN. ESPN. Music. . .

They are all obstacles that prevent me from feeling fulfilled. Yet I still chase after THOSE. They serve as self-medication to what I think is the prescription to helping me not feel stirred up. But if I would just pause for a second, I would realize that none of those things are calling. No. It's really God's Word that is calling.

Joshua and Our March

2008-06-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Joshua 6:15-17

On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD.

Our house has been listed on the market for approximately four weeks without any bites. It's been a bit discouraging to tell you the truth, and we're finding it difficult to remain patient and to trust in God.

Earlier this week, a colleague had asked me if we've had any luck selling our house. I jokingly said, "Not yet although we may need to march and pray around the house 7 times."

On Wednesday night at band practice we talked about moving when God says move. You don’t wait. You don’t process it. You don’t ask your wife. You move. Simple as that. That really stuck with me because so many times I say I’ll pray about something…or I’ll need to think about it before I act on something God is clearly telling me to do.

So yesterday, Logan is out in the garage helping me put away my lawnmower and tools. He asked me about my day and I said it was “good.” “What made it a good day, Daddy?” he asks, which clearly catches me by surprise. Logan had a rough day and really needed some Daddy time so I took the time to tell him about my day.

“So Diane is your boss?” He asks. I confirm. “Mommy’s boss is Josh,” he responds. “Yeah, but I like to call him Joshy,” I say to him with a smile. “I like to call him Joshua,” Logan says without blinking. “Joshua, as in the guy who marched around the city 7 times, then they blew their horns and the walls came down.”

“Woah. Did he really just say that?” I think to myself.

“Logan, how would you feel about walking around our house 7 times and praying for it and our family?” I ask wondering how he’ll respond.

I could barely keep up. He was blazing a trail around the house and several times I had to tell him to slow down so I could keep up. He started throwing out some cool stuff while we prayed and marched around our home. “Evil and bad stuff is not welcome here! Go away devil! We wanna be free!”

Then the last lap we laid hands on the house and prayed for it and blessed it. When it was over, I held him and prayed over him. It was really a blessing. We went inside and told Erin about our 7-lap adventure around the house. Her eyes got big and she said, “Boys, we need to blow our trumpets outside! C’mon let’s go!” Logan led the charge and was outside before the rest of us. Before we knew, he was yelling at the top of his lungs, “In the name of Jesus, we bless this house!”

And for that moment in time, we stood indignant before the Lord and blew our trumpets. We all made trumpet noises and then put our hands in together for one more big cheer. I’m sure we frightened the neighbors but who cares. Who cares!

Later that evening when the boys were snuggled into their bed, our friend Joshua stopped over. I hadn't realized he was coming, and I probably haven't seen him for a couple of months. Was his timing coincidental? I don’t think so. It was God-ordained.

One thing's for sure...if we do move, you can bet we're gonna march around the house seven times praying for it before we move in.

Thanks for the affirmation and for speaking to us this week, God. We love you!

Amen.

My Next 10 Tunes

2008-06-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

I am a lurker. I subscribe to a couple of my colleagues' blogs and read up on their lives. I'm not sure if they know I lurk behind the scenes and read what they are up to. Nor do I know if they know I have my own blog.

But their latest blog postings served as a catalyst for me to post. They both participated in the "Next 10 Tunes" exercise. Basically, this means that you put your iPod on shuffle, and list out the first 10 tunes you see, with commentary.

So here's mine:

10) Breath of God - Shane Barnard
Ironically, this happens to be one of my top 10 favorite tunes of all time. It's a prayer that God would breathe the breath of life (the Holy Spirit) into us all.

9) Breathe - Amy Lee (with David Hodges)
Weird. Two songs in a row about breathing. All I can think of when I hear this tune is the angelic voice of Heather Noble leading worship at Wells Fargo Arena at Easter. Again, this is another prayer about asking God to let His holy presence to live in us.

8) Passion - Kutless
Off their "Sea Of Faces" album, admittedly I don't know a ton about Kutless. I like their alt rock sound and crunchy Nickelback vocals, but I haven't spent a ton of time listening to this band as others.

7) Eggplant - Train
Off Train's self-titled album, this catchy tune (well, most of the songs on this album are catchy honestly) has a sweet groove and builds into an awesome tag. And let's be honest here, there aren't enough songs in the world about eggplants.

6) Swing On This - Alice In Chains
I miss Layne. Why did heroin have to take his life? I even bought a pair of wrap-around sunglasses back in the 90s when I was obsessed with the grunge movement. You gotta hand it to Layne, he had one of the most distinct voices in the business. And their harmonies were extremely tight and unique. What do I love about "Swing On This"? It mixes grunge with blues. Try putting those two combinations into a blender and drinking it.

5) Sixteen, Maybe Less - Calexico / Iron & Wine
Could this group any more polar than Alice In Chains? It's a beautiful, sweet-like-honey folk tune layered with gorgeous and breathy harmonies. It almost has a country sound, especially with the slide guitar.

4) Fallin' To Pieces - Rob Thomas
Miss Matchbox 20? Me too. But Rob's solo stuff is just as good. Fallin' To Pieces has a great guitar lick that drives this tune. It almost has a gospel feel to it especially with the multi-part harmony woven into this tunes. Definitely has a great groove that has me tapping my feet. And did I hear a banjo in this tune? And a violin? Yes, I believe I did.

3) A Long December - Counting Crows
Adam Duritz rules. I love his voice, his style, his songwriting skills. This is a beautiful tune that pulls on your heart strings. You could be in an amazing relationship and be completely steamrolled by the emotion of this song about relationships. Lyrically this song is genius...well, most of Counting Crows songs fall into that category. Love the end of this tune when they back everything down and just have Adam singing with the piano. And you'll have "Nah, nah, nah, nah..." stuck in your head the rest of the day.

2) Meet Virginia - Train
Hmm. I sense a conspiracy here with two Train songs from the same album on my 10 Tunes list. I LOVE this song so it's a definite welcome to my list. The chorus is raw and emotional. And if I were in a rock band, I would want to cover this tune.

1) Waterfalls - Dry Bones Dancing
Betcha you've NEVER heard of Dry Bones Dancing. My good friend from Minneapolis, David James Stewart, started this band with some of his friends from Bethel College. Stew and I were obsessed with Shane and Shane at the time and met over our mutual adoration of the group. And our friendship took off from there. I had agreed to serve as a band manager and booking agent for this band when we decided to move to Des Moines. I miss these guys terribly. Anway, Waterfalls is one of Stew's songs and it was always one of my favorite songs on their album "Not Afraid." I love the structure of the song, especially the melodic verses and harmonies.

Books. Books. Books.

2008-06-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

I think I have a problem. I am reading four books right now.

On Tuesday mornings over coffee, I meet with the worship leader at Lutheran Church of Hope WDM. We decided it would be a good idea to read, "The Heart of an Artist" by Rory Noland. I am 75% through the book but got sidetracked and haven't finished yet. What makes it worse, I started reading some other books.

My wife and I have been reading "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. It's turning into one of my favorite books. Every other sentence is profound and my wife keeps asking me to re-read sentences as a result. I have been reading it with a pen to underline stuff that speaks to me. I might as well underline every word. ;)

For fun, I picked up "On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness" by Andrew Peterson - an amazing singer/songwriter that I have followed for a few years. He is truly a creative genius so I was curious to read this book as it's kind of a Lord of Rings type of book. Very enchanting and captivating. I checked this out from the library so I have to read this against a time table. Better get cracking!

And then a few weeks ago, a friend of mine who lives in Atlanta told me about "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I ended up buying two copies of the book over the weekend and gave a copy to a friend. I started tearing into it and it started messing with me in a good way. I love being stirred up. I love it when God speaks through others. This is a good one, but I am afraid I need to finish my other books first before I become too engrossed.

So...do you have this problem too? Reading too many books at the same time?

Innocence from the Window

2008-05-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Last night I stayed up too late playing the guitar and listening to music. So it was no surprise that I was a bit sleepy when I dragged my 34 year-old body out of bed this morning. The morning shower simply didn't cut it so I stopped in at our local "ShortStop" to get an 89 cent cup of coffee (at least coffee doesn't cost as much as gas or milk).

When I walked out, there was a pick-up truck parked next to my Corolla and a little girl insistent on getting my attention. I sheepishly gave her a little wave, as I didn't want to cause concern to her mom or dad (at least I was hoping that's whom she was with). But that wasn't enough for her.

She started knocking the glass, waving like she couldn't control her flailing arms, with a huge grin on her face. Her 4 year-old smile made my day. I bust out laughing, waved again and this time offered her a wink. She tried to wink back but instead I got a cute blink as a substitute. She continued waving as I backed my car out of its space and headed for the interstate.

And that my friends, was a better way to start my day than a house blend cup of coffee.

Revival Generation

2008-04-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

I have been grooving to the worship music of Brian and Jenn Johnson lately. They are worship leaders at Bethel Church in Redding, California. There's something passionate and stirring about their worship music and it messes with me in a good way.

This morning on the way into work I was listening to one of their albums on my iPod when "Revival Generation" started playing. About this time, I was approaching an entrance ramp and a line of cars and trucks started merging onto the interstate. At that moment I looked up and saw "City Wide" on the back of a big truck in front of me. It made me smile.

Revival is coming.

Here are the words to the song.

I heard an old man talking of a time that was long ago he said
The fires been dormant for awhile but he was praying
And with this prayer my heart caught fire and now it won’t let go
Cause I found the reason why I’m alive

Were a new breed rising and we’re coming we’re gonna take a stand
There is a new passion burning in our hearts
A new love for Jesus a new hope and a vision
For this revival here we are

Its REVIVAL TIME
We are a REVIVAL GENERATION
Its REVIVAL TIME
We are a REVIVAL GENERATION

Consecrated is who we are its who we’re called to be
We’d rather see revival than build these kingdoms of pride and greed
Fan into flame this revival fire let it burn
Crush your children until our hearts are inflamed

Copyright 1997 Brian Johnson

The Adopting Church

2008-04-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

I will admit that God was moving me with disturbing images and stories over the weekend. I watched both “City of God” and “Blood Diamond” over the weekend and had my heart torn to shreds by the imagery that my eyes took in. Today, I read the following story on CNN about a little boy in Africa that flees slavery to return home.

I thought the themes and the political agendas Blood Diamond was pushing in its story was pretty telling. During one part of the movie, Solomon (the African man looking for his family) asks the journalist (who is writing a story on the illegal diamond trade business) whether or not Americans will come to their aid after they read her article. We all know the answer to this question. We watch these movies, read these books, read these stories and articles and we mostly don’t do anything. We shake our heads and say, “That’s a shame. We should really do something about that.” And then we don’t.

This is why we are to become the “Adopting Church”. So that we can partner with a pastor, who partners with a church, which partners with a community, which partners with a village, which partners with a region, which partners with a country… Our prayer is that this adopting church concept becomes viral…that other churches and other affluent people will wake up to what we are called to do.

For Sale By Owner

2008-04-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting at the kitchen table, posted as a sentry carefully watching for someone to step to the front door to knock. Foot traffic has been admittedly slow today with the exception of a young woman and her two little boys. They came right after 1 PM today and I was completely hopeful this was going to be easier than the last time we tried to sell our home. They seemed like the kind of family my wife would want to sell our house to. It doesn't matter if the price is right; we'd like a sweet family to enjoy it years after us.

I do love the fact that we faithfully trust God in this situation. It is, after all, His idea for us to move. We feel the calling and a longing to move a few miles north of here, closer to a community we both grew up in but never figured we'd be back. But God has a really funny sense of humor and we've been serving up at Lutheran Church of Hope NorthBranch for a year and a half. And now it feels like our community...our family...our home.

It reminds of me of how people confuse the word "church" as many immediately gravitate to the word building. But the church is comprised of the people who with one voice worship God. The same feels like it could apply to the word "home." While we live in this yellow house on the corner of Colby and 99th, our home feels like it's in the Ankeny area.

And so I sit here and wait on the Lord. Nope, I'm not waiting for God to knock on the front door. He's already here...he already lives here. But we wait for a buyer and it's in God's hands. So we faithfully wait on Him.

Life Is Too Short

2008-04-09T09:54:00.001-07:00

“Work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like no one is watching.” Satchel Paige

Yesterday I received an email that broke my heart. One of my friends from church and colleague at work unexpectedly and suddenly passed away at the age of 42. Her name is Lori English and she had a huge heart for God.

She was very active in our church and specifically I got to get to know her better on a short-term missions trip to Jamaica. Her passion was children and she spent most of her week at West Haven Orphanage loving on those beautiful kids. She had a ton of empathy for me when my heart was broken leaving Copse Place of Safety after a visit. She knew what Jesus' heart feels like. She knew the compassion and love He has for his people.

Lori was active in a marketplace ministry that I help organize and she spent a season praying with us here at work. I always loved running into her in the office and catching up.

More recently, she fell in love with Tom and they were engaged to be married this summer. She asked me a few months ago to sing in her wedding and I obliged. I was honored to lead worship for her special day and she already knew she wanted me to sing, "How Great Is Our God" by Chris Tomlin. I hope someone sings it at her funeral. One thing I know for sure; I won't ever be able to sing the song the same way.

As I was lamenting with a friend of mine about this loss, she said to me, "Let's honor Tom and Lori by loving our spouses the same way they were in love." That really rang home for me. It really put things in perspective about how short life is and how we must not take anything for granted, especially the people around us who love us and we love.

It reminded me of the quote I started this post with by Satchel Paige. If this were my quote, I would rearrange a few things in it to read...

“Worship like no one is watching. Love like Jesus. And work as if you're working for the Lord."

As I write this post, I write it with envy as I know that Lori is in good company as she sits at the feet of Jesus today.

Unreal artist

2008-03-30T20:12:00.001-07:00

This guy is amazing and you NEED to check him out. Brilliant!

Easter or Thanksgiving?

2008-03-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's because I am super stressed at work?

Maybe it's because I've spent a lot of time and effort into planning the Christmas Eve services, Dream Night and our Easter services?

Maybe it's because I am sleep deprived from putting together a slide show and a ministry fair display at the last night?

Whatever the case, I have to laugh at myself for wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving this morning at the tail end of our Easter service.

I AM thankful for Jesus. At least that part is right.

Acknowledgment

2008-03-20T14:29:00.001-07:00

Here's the deal. Every time I am driving to or from work, it seems like God is working on me regarding my patience. Inevitably, I'll get cut off or if I change lanes, mine will suddenly slow down. And it seems like every time I am in a hurry, I can hear this voice in my head that says, "The last shall be first and the first shall be last."

Honestly, I hear that over and over whenever I am driving. So I've decided that I want to be a more courteous driver. I've noticed a lot of times that drivers will pretend not to see others when they have their turn signal on. (In fact, we just had a similar conversation in one of my training classes today about elevator etiquette.) But I've started to take notice.

It seems like drivers are using the action of checking in their side mirror or rear view mirror to indicate they are coming over. The courteous thing to do would be to also signal. But when I notice that drivers next to me begin the motion of checking their mirrors, I'll slow down to let them in front of me. But time after time, no one seems to acknowledge my random act of kindness.

So I'm bringing back the wave. The nod. The peace sign. If you let me into your lane, I'm gonna acknowledge your kindness.

The Nomadic Church & the Warehouse

2008-02-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

I love that the church that I attend is in no hurry to buy some land and build a building to house our worship services. For a little over a year, we've been worshipping in a middle school in the middle of Ankeny, Iowa. We started in the school cafeteria and eventually grew into one of gymnasiums.

Currently, we had a need for some space that we can use for a variety of reasons. From small groups meeting to the worship team rehearsing to having some small space for our small staff, we're looking at possibly investing in a warehouse that needs some renovation. Trust me, it's nothing fancy. In fact, it sits right next to a bar called Good Times. My wife thinks it would be kind of funny to call our potential space as "God Times." I could see the neon signs ablaze above our doors, one of the O's burnt out, as God Times lights the night.

Recently, our pastor asked us what our vision was for using the space. Here's what I wrote back:

Every time I think about the warehouse I get so excited about what God is going to do through that facility. I have a few dreams on my heart that are God-breathed that all tie-back to the warehouse.

First of all, it will be a home for the worship ministry to practice each week. Not only will it help us prepare each week for worship, but it will give a space to grow in fellowship with one another and with God.

Secondly, I would love to carve out an evening each month in which we could open up the space and have a night of worship and prayer. We would just sing to our hearts' delight, worshipping God as a body of believers.

Thirdly, I believe that the NorthBranch Worship Team is supposed to write and record music in the warehouse. I believe God is going to lay songs on our hearts that will later be recorded and hopefully produced into a CD.

Next, I believe that God wants to use this space to bring awareness to the poor and oppressed. I have had a dream on my heart for several years to showcase movies that share the stories of the widows and orphans of the world. I believe these movies will draw us closer to God in knowing the heart of the Father. And I believe through these films, we will discover our calling to reach out and share the everlasting love of Jesus through prayer and missions work.

Lastly, I believe God is going to use that space to bring families and singles together to fellowship and grow in our relationships. From potlocks to game nights, we'll share in laughter and tears of joy and pain as we grow closer to one another and to the Father through our community.

February 10, 2008 Worship Set

2008-02-10T19:23:00.000-08:00

I really loved this set today and wasn't sure what the church really thought of it. But at the end of the day, I was blessed in particular by a young family (with three boys no less) that approached me after the service. They had just moved to Ankeny and visited a church last week that didn't feel right. They walked into Hope NorthBranch half-way through our worship set and knew this was the right church for them. The matriarch of the family was on the worship team of their old church and was already interested in serving on our worship team after visiting once.
It's amazing to think that a young family can walk into a middle school gymnasium and feel like this is "it". This is home. This was my prayer today that our guests would become overcome by the everlasting love of Jesus. That the Holy Spirit would be undeniable. That the church would love on them with open arms.

I was also approached by a young man interested in singing as well. And I auditioned a college student after worship today as well. We're definitely growing. I just don't know what to do with all of these people. Thank you for the blessings though, God. You are amazing...

Here was our worship set today:

Call to worship:

Hallelujah (Be High and Lifted Up) by Tim Hughes

Worship:

Mighty to Save by Hillsong United
Everlasting God by Brenton Brown
From the Inside Out by Hillsong United

Offering:

Beautiful Jesus by Kristian Stanfill

God bless!

February 3, 2008 Worship Set

2008-02-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

Wowsers. I can't believe we're into February already. Time flies when you're worshipping!

This week, I busted out yet another hymn and another New Life Worship tune. I really love the chorus to Live to Worship...it's simple.

You are glorious!
You are glorious!
And I live to worship you.
And I live to worship you.
You're glorious!

Good stuff.

Here's the set:

Call to worship: Live to Worship (New Life Worship)
Worship: Glorious One by Steve Fee and Came to My Rescue by Hillsong United
Offering: Joyous Light from the Passion Ancient and Modern Hymns
Communion: Savior King by Hillsong United

Yes We Can!

2008-02-04T21:02:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow is "Super Tuesday"...so get out there and vote!

I am standing with Obama. Yes, we can...

Sunday, January 27, 2008 Worship Set

2008-01-31T21:30:00.001-08:00

I don't know what's gotten into me lately but I have been grooving to hymns. Perhaps it was the discussion with my parents requesting that I mix in some traditional hymns with the contemporary music or one of the members acknowledging that she really appreciated our rendition of Jesus Paid It All. Nonetheless, I busted another one out this week for our offering.

Here was our worship set for last weekend:

Call to worship:

One Way (Hillsong United)

Worship:

Glorious God (New Life Worship)
Almighty God (Tim Hughes)
Consuming Fire (Tim Hughes)

Offering:

I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) arranged by Chris Tomlin

Sunday, January 20, 2008 Worship Set

2008-01-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

I will admit that the first service felt awkward for some reason today. I can't put my finger on it exactly but it felt like the church was watching a concert instead of worshipping with us. Some of the songs we played today were a little heavy on guitar solos but nonetheless I believe the Holy Spirit can lead a guitar solo.

The other funny thing about our set is that it was 100% New Life Worship meets Desperation Band. I guess I had a thing for New Life Church today for some reason.

Here's our worship set...

Call to worship:

Glorious God (New Life Worship)

Worship:

Endlessly (Desperation Band)
This Is Our God (New Life Worship)
Here In Your Presence (New Life Worship)

Offering:

Maker of Heaven (Desperation Band)

Blog Accountability and Worship Sets

2008-01-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned my New Year's resolutions which were to...what were they again? Oh yeah...live healthier spiritually, physically and emotionally and...blog/journal more.

I was thinking about combining the two thoughts into one by keeping track of my progress online, creating accountability of sorts.

My biggest focal points for living a healthier spiritual life would be my disciplines of reading God's word and praying.

Living a healthy physical life would entail that I would watch my diet, exercise regularly, and get enough rest.

And honestly, I think hitting the first two goals results in being emotionally healthy.

In thinking about these goals recently, I think it would help me to track my progress online and show my growth...so that's what I am going to do. If I didn't hit the mark, then I will admit it. I'm not going to exercise every day and there will be times when I stay up past my bedtime. But I think over time I will grow closer to achieving these goals.

Lastly, I thought I might start posting our setlists out on my blog in case any worship leaders stumble across it and are looking for new songs to check out. I know I'd benefit from posts like that so I am going try it myself.

New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I don't really officially write them down but I am cognizant of them in my head.

Now that I am nearing my mid-30s, my health is one of my biggest concerns. I really would like to exercise more and eat a healthier diet. It was more or less confirmed tonight as I listened to a podcast on our way back from Minnesota and as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat from not feeling well. My back is out of whack and I feel like I am coming down with an ulcer or something, honestly. I was stressed out from driving in crazy winds and drifting snow. So as I reflected on how I was feeling and after watching one of the best movies over the weekend called "The Great Debaters," I hereby solemnly resolve to:

1. ...live healthier spiritually, physically and emotionally.
2. ...blog/journal more.

That's about it. Anything above that would make my resolutions too complicated. =)

Here's to 2008!

The Drummer...Girl

2007-12-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

I would venture to say that I am a little stressed about Christmas since it's less than 2 weeks ago. I know I have a lot to accomplish before now and then but it seems like when that happens I procrastinate and become more apathetic.

I am wigging out about putting together my first-ever Christmas Eve service, and of course I feel like it's going to be very monumental. One of the biggest challenges I've had so far this year is finding a drummer to sit in with us for our worship service. All four of my drummers have commitments so I asked a long list of drummers from our sister church, which is much, much bigger. I think at the weekend I was 0-10 which is easy for me to relate to considering I am a Minnesota Timberwolves and Iowa State Cyclones fan.

Every weekend I struggle what to say when it comes to the offering. We want first-time visitors to feel welcome and we don't want them to think we're after their money. After all, I think besides us Christians being major hypocrites the second reason for not attending church would be that there's this perception that we're after their money so we can build a big 'ol building. So this weekend, I looked at Christmas songs and zeroed in on the "Drummer Boy" which is a story about a musician that has nothing to bring to Jesus except the gift of music. So I shared the lyrics of this song with the church before offering and then tactfully (I am far from that) asked if anyone in the church wanted to bring their percussion gift before Jesus this year for Christmas since we needed a drummer.

God provides. After the service, I found my drummer and I am totally excited about HER playing for us. First of all, I love the fact that our drummer is a young lady since it seems like this is a male dominated role. Secondly, I love the fact that our drummer is a freshman in high school. And thirdly, it's our lead guitarist's daughter so I know it will make the night all that more special.

Pray for Colorado

2007-12-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

My heart is broken over what happened in Colorado over a short period of time. Some young adults were gunned down at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) and then a few hours later some folks from New Life Church were gunned down in their parking lot. Thankfully a security officer at the church was able to respond quickly...otherwise it could have been much worse.

YWAM really hits home for me because I have some friends of mine who are missionaries with YWAM...stationed in Jamaica but currently serving in China.

And New Life Church Worship and The Desperation Band are probably two of my favorite worship teams. That church has already gone through so much in such a short period of time.

Because YWAM and New Life Church have given so much (even to me personally), I think we need to give back in prayer and support of these ministries.

Last week as I was reading from Exodus 17, I was thinking that if we approach the cross with a humble and worshipful heart, we can overcome anything. The great thing about these verses is that Moses wasn’t alone…Aaron and Hur stood by his side and lifted him up when he was drained…when he had nothing more to give. (see below)

Exodus 17:8-13

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Stand strong, New Life Church and YWAM. We will be at your side, lifting your hands so that you may overcome this tragedy. We’re praying for you.

Jesus, please send your grace, love and compassion to this ministries and the communities of Colorado Springs and Denver.

God provides

2007-10-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

Our humble little worship team has been borrowing space from Kingdom House of Prayer the last 9 months. They have been so generous and gracious to us in loaning us the space on Wednesday nights to allow us to practice and fellowship as a team. While us practicing there on Wednesday nights doesn't necessarily fit into their vision for 24/7 worship and prayer, I was happy that we had opportunities to volunteer down there for various events.

KHOP recently revamped their schedule and is pushing more towards that 24/7 worship and prayer model. Unfortunately for us it meant that we needed to start looking for a new practice space. We've been down this road before and truthfully I kind of like the adventure of it all. In fact, I had been spouting off to a fellow member of our ministry to have some fun and faith when it comes to overcoming these obstacles. Little did I know I would be facing that same challenge myself.

So I put out some calls to some of the churches we partnered with over the summer at Ankeny's annual Summerfest. We had played a half-hour set with three other churches during the peak of summer at the Ankeny band shell. So I figured I would call them up and see if they would be willing to loan us some practice space since we're technically nomads...a church without its own space.

The United Methodist Church responded and within a week's time, we had a new home.

While the space and the media equipment isn't ideal, God provided nonetheless. It allows us to get together during the weekday to practice and fellowship, to prepare for the weekend's worship services. It's located in Ankeny so I don't have to worry about the band traveling too far from home. And honestly it's nice to partner with a church in the area...to share the same vision of reaching the community of Ankeny, which only 30% attends church. Hopefully it will be the start of a great friendship between churches.

Grace Like Rain

2007-10-07T21:36:00.001-07:00

This weekend's sermon topic was about "Grace" and our worship team played "Grace Like Rain" by Todd Agnew as our offering song. The song mixes the traditional hymn "Amazing Grace" with a powerful chorus written by Agnew.

Provided our worship team didn't practice this week (that's another story) they hit a home run during this song. The Holy Spirit was upon the team and it turned out to be a very moving song to play.

I listened to Pastor Mike's sermon about grace and one comment he made that really struck a chord with me was, "God liberally give us grace." Now before all the legalistic theologians respond to this post, let me clarify that he was saying that no matter where you were in life, God's grace is still good enough for you. You could be a murderer, a rapist, a slanderer, or whatever.

At the second service as we finished Grace Like Rain, we walked out into the lobby of the school and the sky opened up and poured out a beautiful rain over us. All I could think about was God liberally raining down His grace on us.

Have mercy on me a sinner.

New Life Worship

2007-09-20T22:02:00.001-07:00

If there's one record that I can't seem to stop listening to, I would have to say it's New Life Worship's My Savior Lives.

When I am in worship leader mode, I try to find new and fresh music that the church would respond to. Most worship CDs I would hard pressed to find 1-2 doable songs we could utilize during a worship service. In this case, I would venture to say that most of the songs I would consider using.

Some of my favorites tunes of this record include:

My Savior Lives
Endlessly
Here in Your Presence
Your Name
Promises
Live to Worship
This is Our God

We've already played "My Savior Lives" a couple of times and though it's a high arrangement, it has a ton of energy and the church responds.

We also have been jamming to "This Is Our God" and are introducing this song into our regular worship this weekend. Tomorrow night I am using it during a Harp & Bowl worship set so we'll see how it does. I knew this song was a winner when my 5 year-old boys asked me if I would sing it back to them so they could learn the chorus.

"Here In Your Presence" is a beautiful song if you can stick with it. I made my wife listen to the song today and it didn't resonate too well with her because it took too long to build. I tried to reason with her saying that it was structured much like "The Stand" but she has some merit in thinking that. The bridge on "Here In Your Presence" is quite awesome though as they repeat over and over...

"Wonderful. Beautiful. Glorious. Matchless in every way..."

"Your Name" is a song that explodes near the end. There's a part in there where they cry out over and over, "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!" Even my two year-old picked up on it right away and started yelling it with them.

"Live to Worship" almost sounds like Chris Tomlin wrote it. It just seems to fit his style...similar to "Made to Worship" or "Holy Is the Lord."

And how can you not love "Endlessly?" One of my worshippers on our team said that it's one of our church's anthems.

So go out and buy this CD...you won't be disappointed.

My life as a worship leader

2007-09-19T21:29:00.001-07:00

I'm not really sure what I am going to write, but I wanted to write so we'll see where my fingers lead on this keyboard...

Almost a year ago, I received an e-mail from our worship ministry team at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, Iowa asking if I would consider helping with worship at our satellite church in Ankeny, Iowa. Because at the time I was going through a season of busyness and purging distractions from my life, I ended up deleting the e-mail. Thankfully my wife was also on the e-mail thread.

Because I felt like I was trying to protect my time spent with my family, I was a little surprised when she cornered me later that week and said, "I think that we should volunteer at NorthBranch Church to get them through the holidays."

The next thing I knew, I volunteered my time to help with their only weekend worship service on Saturdays and a few remaining dates for the Alpha Course. Despite lacking fancy media technology the mother church owned, my transition to NorthBranch was pretty easy. I honestly walked into a great situation with a talented backline that was hungry to worship.

It didn't dawn on me how much the church had grown on me until the last weekends of leading a member told me they should create a permanent name tag for me. I stopped writing my name on the sticky name tag and thought about that for a second but said, "Actually this is my last weekend here leading worship."

Those words really sunk in. At the time, the church had called a pretty dynamic pastor named Scott Rains that really spoke to my heart. Our families were bonded together already and the church simply felt like home. But surely God didn't want us to drive a half hour each way to church. Or maybe He did.

After a couple of conversations over coffee at Java G's and some arm twisting by both Pastor Scott and Pastor Molly, they laid out the offer to come to NorthBranch to develop and grow the worship ministry. I thought they were nuts. Surely God didn't want us to drive a half hour each way to church. Or maybe He did.

God must speak to my wife pretty regularly because later in the week she said, "You're going to take that worship leader role at NorthBranch aren't you? This is something we're going to do aren't we?"

I replied, "We are?" I figured she would think it was nuts to drive a half hour each way to church. She didn't think that way.

"Yeah, I think we should," she said.

I started my full-time unpaid position at the beginning of the year and I haven't looked back. Honestly I've been surprised that I haven't burned out or grown bored. Quite the opposite has happened. I seem more engaged with worship and my role. It actually agonizes me when we're on vacation and I have to miss church. I miss seeing the people, hearing the message, following the Holy Spirit in worship.

I'm glad my wife listens to God and is obedient to Him. It's been an incredible journey so far NorthBranch Church...I can't wait to see where God leads us from here.

Invisible Children: The Proof 2006

2007-08-23T21:33:00.001-07:00

Tonight my wife came home from Immersion in a mess. Justin showed the Invisible Children video at the church service and it broke her heart into a million pieces. She echoes what was said tonight, "Something must be done. It's time to move."

Thanks for taking a risk and showing the video tonight.

Broken Leg

2007-08-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

Every time I hurt one of my kids by accident, I can't help but feel what God felt like when He watched his Son hang on a cross. He must have wanted to switch places with Jesus at the drop of a hat. If God has fingernails, I'm sure he was biting them...or He was pacing in heaven while He tried to overcome the terrible butterflies in His stomach.

Yeah, that was me on Friday night. We drove to my sister's house and Logan crumpled on the trampoline as he and I jumped together. I knew immediately it wasn't good. And several hours later, the doctors at the ER confirmed that he has a buckled fracture of the tibia.

As I mowed the lawn tonight, I thought about how I wished I could rewind time and do that night over again...how I wish I could trade places with him. I thought about all of the things I would consider doing to trade places with him. I stopped short of sawing off my arm (yeah, I think weird things) because I wanted both of my arms to be able to hug my kids.

Anyway, if you could keep Logan in your prayers I would appreciate it.

Missed Appointment?

2007-08-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

We just spent the week on vacation primarily visiting my in-laws in Nashville. It was very relaxing and worth the long drive to Tennessee.

While we were there, my father-in-law lined up an appointment for me to meet with a small business owner who was interested in having me develop a website for his business. We left at 9:30 and drove the half-hour to his office and chatted along the way. I got to see parts of the city and countryside that I've never seen before on the way down.

When we arrived, we found the door unlocked, a candle burning and a puppy roaming the office freely. There wasn't a sign of "Mike" anywhere. My father-in-law gave him a call and it turned out that he blew us off to check out some potential business.

I more or less laughed in disbelief and chalked it up to the way people do things in the south. And I thought about how I just wasted an hour in the car for a missed appointment.

However on the way back to my in-laws' house, we passed a cemetery along the road. For a split second, my eyes fell upon three people holding hands and praying. It was one of the most moving and beautiful images I had seen all week. A sudden sense of peace fell over me and I smiled thinking how God didn't want me to meet with Mike but to see this image of his children praying to him.

The Big Dream Gathering

2007-07-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

So one of my friends, Mitch Matthews from "Do You Q", organized this awesome event back in May called The Big Gathering. It was a way of connecting a few hundred people in Des Moines to chase after their dreams. Mitch is a dreamer but he also chases after his dreams. I think so many of us have let too many people tell us that our dreams are silly or can't be accomplished...and unfortunately we've listened to them. Mitch is working to help people overcome those fears and has been an incredible encourager and resource provider.

If you visit the site BigDreamGathering.com you'll read and hear dreams as complicated as starting a new business to as simple as riding a roller coaster for the first time. It's a beautiful thing!

This week, Brad Jorgensen, edited and posted my video out on the site. My dream is to design, develop and distribute Christian parody t-shirts. I think the Christian body needs to NOT take itself so seriously and these shirts are the perfect way to communicate that message. Furthermore, they are great conversation starters. So here's my dream...I guess it's time to start chasing after it.

Rocky Mountain National Park

2007-07-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a wonderful vacation to Colorado to visit Rocky Mountain National Park and to partake in our 2nd family reunion. Since we were going to such a scenic area of the US, I thought I would surprise the boys by tossing in their digital cameras that their grandfather bought for them this year at Christmas. They honestly haven't received that much use so I thought they would find it enjoyable to snap a few photos of the mountains.

When we busted out the cameras in Winter Park, Colorado I was a little surprised at how many photos the boys were taking...especially of random things. Then I started getting a little annoyed. We tried to coach them that a camera wasn't a toy and that they should focus on taking pictures of meaningful things. But they kept snapping away.

I guess I failed to realize that what was meaningful to them is different than it is to us. They snapped photos of the jungle gym in the town square in Winter Park. Caleb lined up all of his Star Wars and Superhero action figures and took photos of them.

Last night when I was uploading their photos to our computer, I came across the most breathtaking photo of the Colorado sky. No, I didn't take it. I guess I should learn from my kids...

Parenting and Faith

2007-07-11T16:00:00.001-07:00

My twin sons turned 5 in April, and it seems like they grew up overnight. My wife and I were chatting about how it feels like God pushes fast forward on your life the minute that you have children. As we reflected about how quickly the past 5 years flew by, I said to her that I didn't have one regret. I am thankful that we are parents that haven't allowed time to pass us by while we were distracted with our own lives. I am thankful that during that short 5 years, I was very active in their lives and they in mine. I hope that continues until death takes me.

This summer it seems that my twin sons are in learning mode. Perhaps it's naturally happening because in the fall they will embark upon grade school as kindergarteners. But activity after activity I find that I am teaching them a new skill.

The fondest memory of this summer is probably teaching the boys how to ride their bikes. Granted, we're still in the process of developing these skills so by no means have they (or even I) mastered anything. But it's an amazing metaphor for parenting and faith.

A few weeks ago, we decided it was time to take off the training wheels on their Trek Jet 20s. What's interesting about this story is that I am NOT handy with tools. I struggled in the garage for what seemed like hours before accepting defeat. Frustrated, we left one bike in the garage to be fine-tuned by my father at a later time, while we drove to a local church that backs to a park.

Once there, we got the boys dressed from head to toe in protective gear - state-of-the-art helmets, elbow pads and knee pads just in case they should (gasp) crash. We started on the grass on a gradual slope and I ran with them 100 feet at a time yelling "Pedal! Pedal! Hold on tight! Keep it straight! Look ahead!" and panting up a storm. Did I mention it was in the upper 80s / lower 90s that day? Eventually we moved to a baseball diamond and this is where the metaphor begins.

As a parent I learned that eventually I had to let go of the bike. That's not the easiest thing in the world when you consider that up until this point, your role as a parent is to nurture and protect your children - not let them fall over on their bikes and skin up their knees. But this was the point in their development when I needed to learn to let go as a parent and my kids needed to learn how to fall on their own & pick themselves back up again.

But there's so much freedom and joy in letting go. I can't tell you how proud I was at my little boys furiously pedaling down the grassy hill or the open parking lot. When I learned to let go and see the fruit of my labor, it was a beautiful moment to watch them glide around on their bicycles.

I think God must smile at us riding our bicycles of life around down here. He must smile when we fall off our bicycles and pick ourselves up again. And I'm sure it pains Him to let go of our bicycles and watch us crash at periodic times of our lives (or in my case all of the time). But He's there to help us back up when we crash.

One of the best moments of this particular day was that each time I'd try to get my sons psyched up to tackle their bikes, we would pray for courage and protection. One of my kids took a pretty good spill; the kind where you hold your breath and wait to see if he's okay. I ran over to him to assist and he turned to me and said, "I think Jesus helped catch my fall."

Of all the lessons he learned that day, I think that must have been the most important. Now if we could only teach them how to swim...

Taking Time to Worship

2007-06-18T10:24:00.001-07:00

Last week I spent three days in Chicago at the Willow Creek Arts Conference. I had flown in on business from LA Tuesday night and had barely given the conference much thought. My overall impression was that I was coming to get filled up and have one of those Christian mountain-top experiences. While it was VERY rewarding, quite the opposite happened.

God really stirred my heart during the conference. The first day I felt a shifting in the spiritual world as I took in the great worship and messages from various speakers. It left me confused because I desperately wanted to hear God's voice. In hindsight, God was speaking but He just wasn't sharing any insights with my current struggles. But he was saying, "Hey Erik. We really need to hang out more."

During my first breakout session on Wednesday morning, one of Willow Creek's worship leaders (Helena McNeil) lead a workshop on "Being a Worshipper." I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to get much out of this and wasn't actually even planning on attending except that the "Building a Worship Ministry" workshop was already booked. I trusted God had a plan for me attending.

I was immediately intrigued as she was from Australia (a place I would love to move to someday) and has twins (as do I). Helena is an angel. She has the anointing of God over her so as her talk unfolded, I hung on ever word from her passionate heart. It was as if she and Misty Edwards were carved from the same DNA...there's just something special about them. Godly. Holy. Anointed.

Disappointed there wouldn't be any Q & A time, Helena turned to the piano and left some time at the end of the workshop to worship. And God began moving throughout the room...I mean seriously moving. I got hit pretty hard and began crying as I sang my guts out to the Lord.

The night before, my pastor asked me if I was able to worship while leading worship. I pondered his question and said, "You know I think I do. Although sometimes I am thinking about what's next and where I am in a song."

But God spoke to me during this session. He said, "You've been so busy leading people to worship you've forgotten how to worship and how to be lead in worship."

He was right.

I was crying, along with everyone else in the room.

Our voices and hearts were lifted high. It was a beautiful moment in time to hear 200-300 other worship leaders crying out to God in a unified voice. It was heavenly and I thank God for that pinprick of what heaven might be like.

The Stand

2007-05-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, our Hope NorthBranch worship team was leading worship prior to the message. I was excited about the set as the church had initially responded well to "The Stand" by United Hillsong as our communion song and this was the first time I was integrating it into our main worship time.

Since I am huge Tim Hughes fan, I had worked "Almighty God" before "The Stand" as it would make for an easy transition since they were in the same key.

While we were practicing the week before, I posed the question to the worship team, "What do you think about asking the church to sit during 'The Stand' and ask them to stand during the building of the bridge?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

So when Sunday rolled around, I instructed the church to sit at the beginning of the song. When we hit the bridge, I could feel the Holy Spirit pulsing through my body and I said a simple prayer. The very last thing I cried out was, "Won't you stand with Jesus today?"

As I opened my eyes I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The church was standing, worshipping their guts out, and half of them had their arms raised in worship.

My eyes welled with tears, my voice started to break, and I almost lost it. I closed my eyes to fight back weeping before the church. I do wonder if I should have allowed it to happen instead...if I had stiff-armed the Holy Spirit at the time by closing my eyes and focusing back on the song.

But we're pretty good at that, aren't we? Shutting down the Holy Spirit when God says "Go!" I don't want to suppress the Holy Spirit any more.

Mission 61 Event

2007-05-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

From the Thomaslift.com website:

Please join us to experience the God-inspired drawings, paintings, and mixed media of artist, William Butler. Isaiah 61 is the foundational Scripture for Thomas Lift and is the motivation for the Mission 61 Exhibit.

This exhibit is for one night only, and the date is Thursday, June 7, 2007. The exhibit will be at the Great Frame-Up located in the West Glen Town Center at 5515 Mills Civic Parkway-Suite 150 in West Des Moines.

This is a free event, and the exhibit begins at 5pm and ends at 9pm. At 7pm that evening, we will have a brief presentation on Mission 61. Although we would love to have you attend the entire evening, you are welcome to come and go as your schedule requires. Refreshments will be served.

Thomas Lift is a God-centered, mission-based company, and 10% of the total purchase price received for the art pieces at this event will be given directly to bless the orphaned & poor in Jamaica. The remaining 90% of the funds will be used to begin Thomas Lift operations and Mission 61 in Jamaica.

We look forward to seeing you at the exhibit on Thursday, June 7, at the Great Frame-Up. God bless you!

God lives in nursing homes

2007-05-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend my wife convinced me that it would be a good idea to drive to Washington, Iowa to visit her 90something year-old grandmother. I can't say that I was overly thirlled to give up a Saturday to go, but at the same token I knew it would make my wife and Grandma Daisy happy. We later learned through my wife's father that they were moving Daisy into a nursing home that week so our timing was perfect.

After loading up with coffee and some doughnuts, we set off in the rain through rural Iowa en route to small town America. Our kids were preoccupied with a movie on my laptop most of the way while my wife and I spent most of the 2 hours chatting, which was a blessing - truly.

When we arrived in Washington, the rain was relentless so it looked like we were bound to be indoors most of the weekend. We entered through the smokey main entrance and found her "apartment" at the end of the hallway. We were greeted by an elderly couple from the local Baptist church that had come to visit with Daisy. They quickly grabbed their belongings, handed us a Christian tract, and headed for the door.

I understood why they left so soon. Daisy's hearing had digressed so much we found ourselves yelling at an uncomfortable level to communicate. She offered to turn the TV on for the kids, but the volume was at such an obscene level I quickly turned it off. She later explained that the gentleman next to her apartment moved his bed to the other side of the room because of the volume of the TV. Thankfully my wife's father had ordered some hearing aids that hadn't arrived quite yet.

Daisy explained that because of her hearing she primarily reads to pass the time. I struggled to understand life without being able to hear or much less communicate. My heart started to crack in realizing how lonely this must be for her.

She wanted us to take her to lunch, but unfortunately it's next to impossible to get a wheelchair bound grandmother into a SUV. So the boys and I headed out to McDonald's to get lunch for everyone. Thankfully they had a playground to help burn off some energy.

We ate lunch in silence. I think my wife was thankful because the conversation was already awkward enough and to throw having to yell on top of it made it miserable for everyone.

We offered to take Daisy over to her old cottage to gather any belongings she needed so we pushed her the 2 blocks in the sunshine. Her cottage was a mess and she was very troubled by the way it looked. While it seemed she was able to let go of most of her belongings, her heart was wounded because she took pride in her home. Now this was being taken from her.

"This is really hard to see my house in shambles" she said to me after sitting in her bedroom quietly for 10 minutes.

I didn't know what to say. I yelled, "I'm sorry. This must be very difficult for you."

She watched my littlest playing with some plastic balls that rang from the tiny bells inside. They were toys her cat used to paw around the living room before it was taken to the local animal shelter.

"They won't let me have my cat at my apartment so she's at the Human Society now," she said grabbing a stuffed kitten toy as memory. "He can take those balls if he wants them. I don't need them anymore."

My wife suggested having us go to a nearby park to pass time, to move Daisy from a depressing setting, and to allow my wife to clean a bit. The boys and I wheeled her back down the street, eyeing the dark approching clouds as we slowly walked towards the daycare. Daisy had wanted us to go to the park across town and again we had to shoot down the idea because of our vehicle.

My heart broke even more.

By the time we arrived at the playground and got everyone situated, large rain drops poured onto us. Thankfully a staff member at the nursing home wheeled Daisy to safety as I scooped up the boys and ran. He was a kind gentleman that offered the boys some M&Ms. He later returned with a bowl filled to the brim with candy. Three boys and a gradmother scooped handfuls of the multi-color sweets into their mouths. And we finally enjoyed a moment together.

We didn't stay too much longer as we had plans later that evening we needed to attend to. But as I walked the hallways and met eyes with the lonely, I realized that we as Christians are missing out on a great opportunity to befriend the friendless. God granted me this epiphany earilier in the year when we visited my wife's other grandmother in the nursing home. I really, really enjoyed myself as we conversed with each other and the other residents. Most of these people are at the last stage of their lives and all they want is friendship so that they don't feel alone. The staff at these places are jaded and not compassionate, unlike our Maker. But as my eyes locked with the eyes of the elderly, I found peace and serenity. I found hope to be made new again. I found the face of Jesus.

Alpha in the Workplace has arrived!

2007-04-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

Today is the big day. We've been planning this event for months and I can't believe that the day has finally arrived. I should have realized how important this course is by my frustration level last night in trying to pick music for this weekend's set or by the simple fact that my littlest boy is terribly sick. Call it a spiritual attack if you want. But we persevered and the day has finally arrived. Yes, Alpha in the Workplace has finally arrived.

If one person would have signed up, we would have been excited. We would have walked the whole 12 weeks with this person on their faith journey. But God blessed us with close to 20 people of various backgrounds and ages.

It's been a couple of years since I've been involved with Alpha as a host/facilitator and I am most excited to watch God move through the lives of those attending. I don't want to set my expectations too high but at the same token I don't want to sell God short.

Granted this will be a totally different situation since this is happening in the workplace over a lunch hour as opposed to a 3-hour a week commitment, but it's still going to be awesome.

I'm proud of our team. I'm proud of Holly and all the work she's put into this. I'm thankful for the support from our home church.

Father God, we ask that you move in the marketplace. Soften the hearts of those guests coming today and we ask that you would open up the eyes and ears of their hearts to your Words, love and grace. Move Lord God. Move.

In Jesus name...amen.

Congratulations Zach Johnson!

2007-04-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

I loved the quotes from Zach Johnson, winner of the Masters this past weekend and Iowa native. Check out the article below for quotes about his faith...

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Winning on Easter makes Masters more special for Zach Johnson

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Zach Johnson will take a win at the Masters any day.

That he did it on Easter made it even more special.

"I don't know if I was necessarily calm. I had some people looking after me today," Johnson said after he finished the 18th hole Sunday. "Being Easter, my faith is very important to me."

"I felt Jesus, I felt my grandfather, my family, everybody," he said, his voice shaking. "So it was awesome."

Johnson became one of the most unlikely Masters champions ever, holding off Tiger Woods to win the year's first major by two strokes. It was only his second victory on the PGA Tour.

Johnson is known as one of the more religious players on tour and he makes no secret of his faith. When he climbed up on a riser behind the 18th green for an interview, he joked that he should "start preaching."

But he turned serious later, discussing a thought that was foremost in his mind the entire day.

"Regardless of what happened today, my responsibility was to glorify God," Johnson said. "Hopefully I did."

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I love that last quote. Regardless if you just won the masters or you're working in a diner, imagine what the world would be like if we all lived to glorify God?

Losing My Marbles

2007-03-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday an e-mail came into my inbox that turned me upside-down. I read through the note and thought about how much time I am going to be away from my family the next week and a half from my over-extending myself. I thought I might be losing my marbles.

You see, I love worship music. I love worshipping God through music and playing with my NorthBranch worship team. I love worshipping at the Lutheran Church of Hope's Easter service and at Kingdom House of Prayer. But yesterday I forgot all of that because I was so focused on what day I might actually be free.

Our worship team from NorthBranch is leading worship tonight at Kingdom House of Prayer and I am really, really excited about it...except that 4 hours ago I didn't have a drummer. I seriously called like everyone I knew to see if they would drum for me. While everyone expressed an interest to play sometime in the future, they weren't available for this evening's worship. It gave me butterflies. What's an electric band gonna sound like without a drummer? This is no good, especially since this is our first time leading worship there.

Then I thought about my schedule the next week and some change.
Friday: KHOP
Saturday: Dinner with the parents
Sunday: Lead worship at church followed by Easter practice followed by Alpha training
Monday & Tuesday: Free (Phew)
Wednesday: Easter practice
Thursday: Easter practice
Friday: Lead worship for Good Friday services
Saturday: Lead worship for Easter Vigil
Sunday: At Wells Fargo at 6 AM for Easter service and sound-check

My wife tried to talk some sense into me. I think it helped a ton she was okay with my crazy schedule and that we'd get through it together. But none of this helped me until it was bedtime with my kids. We all took our turns praying and when it got to me, I handed it over to God. I prayed for my friend walking through the mountains on his way to California...praying for our country. I prayed for my friends Mitch and Melissa Matthews and their game "Q" which was going to be featured in the paper the next day. I prayed for my friends Bill and Ronja Butler that God would pour out His favor and anointing over Thomas Lift so they can begin making apparel that glorifies Jesus. And then I prayed for a drummer and that my schedule would seem easier.

Today I got a call that we have a drummer. And I learned that it will be easier for me to get to practice this week since it's downtown where I work and not way out west.

My family came for lunch today and it put things in perspective. I got to spend some time with them and love on them. We're there for each other no matter what. And God is there for us.

40 Days of Community

2007-03-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

My church has been focused on community this year and especially during the Lenten season. We've embarked on a 40-day journey about community that's got me thinking.

I struggle when I hear the goal for community is to do life together. It seems that all of the small group communities I've been exposed to over my Christian years do not last much longer than 2 years. And when the small group dies a slow death, I'm not sure it ends very healthy. Friendships are no longer and you fall out of touch with one another. But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I just think that we go through a season of relationships throughout our lives.

There also seems to be this expectation that we're going to become the best of friends as a result of being in community with one another. I don't discount that I genuinely care and love the members of my small group, but I wouldn't say that we're at the BFF point in our lives yet. It takes a pretty special person to fill this role and truthfully looking back in life I can count on one hand the number of best friends I've had in my life. More on that later...

I wish we wouldn't sugar coat the idea of community. Maybe we just need to be straight talkers for a change and not say we're going to do life together. Maybe it makes more sense to say, "We're going to likely hang out for the next two years exploring life's questions together."

Just because I am not a presence in your daily life doesn't mean that I'm not in community with you. I think giving up a Saturday evening is pretty precious when you're living a busy life with a full schedule. And I think you can be in daily community with one another through prayer. Sure touch points are nice throughout the week but we need to remember that our ministry priority begins the home first.

And can't we be in multiple small groups? I would venture to say that I am in three: my church small group, my accountability partners I meet with weekly, and my worship team. Each one offers something different that the others don't. Along those lines, I contribute differently to each one as well. I think they each serve a need and are equally important.

Sorry this is kind of a rant, but it's been on my mind. I wanted to get it written down to remember my feelings on this particular day.

Walking Across America

2007-03-08T21:46:00.000-08:00

On Monday, March 5th one of my dear friends, Craig Leaming set out on the third leg of his journey across the United States. His goal is to wlk across America (follow his journey online at www.acrosswalk.com) starting in Des Moines, IA and carrying out four separate journeys to the far edges of the US.

In the fall Craig walked from Des Moines, Iowa to New York City in about 35 days, averaging around 40 miles a day. At one point on his trip to NYC, he actually walked 73 miles while traveling through the Appalachians. This humble friend will tell you that Jesus is carrying him the entire way. I have to believe him.

After he completed his journey to NYC, he took a short break before trekking north to the Canadian border from Des Moines. He tackled this trip in about 2 weeks and had some amazing stories to share about the beauty of God's creation and the folks he met along the way.

Despite everyone's concern for the weather, Craig was faithful to his calling to leave on Monday, March 5th from Des Moines in his quest to reach the Pacific Ocean in northern California.

My family has been blessed to offer him the opportunity to call our voice mail system and I've been posting his audio journal entries to his site after he calls. Today was his first call and he's already to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Praise God! He sounds like he's in great spirits and that God is once again carrying him west.

In checking the weather, it's going to be pretty decent the next week and he should be blessed with 40-50 degree weather...perfect for walking 40 miles a day!

Now that we got all of that out of the way, I wanted to share with you what was really on my heart. You see, on Sunday before his journey, many friends and family members gathered at the Leamings to pray for them and show their support. My wife and I got there a little late as things were winding down but we were blessed to be a part of the closing prayer. I happened to stand next to one of Craig's sons, Joey who is in his mid-20s and living for God. He and his beautiful wife are actually planning on heading to Jamaica at the end of the summer on a 5-year missions journey.

As we slowly went around the circle praying for Craig and Diane, the folks he would meet, revival in the US and more, the prayer time finally reached Joey. Choking back tears, he prayed his heart out for his daddy who Joey mentioned was the perfect example of how to be a father and live faithfully for God. He continued to pray words of affirmation, encouragement and love for his dad.

And as I stood next to Joey gripping him with my arm around his back, I asked God in my heart if I could stand in the same position and hear that from my three sons. God said it was possible if I continued to faithfully live for Him.

That short time in prayer made me realize the impact I have on my beloved children. It made me realize that life is too short and we should NEVER take for granted these blessings bestowed upon us from God. It made me realize the importance of loving and serving my family as Christ came to love and serve the church.

Thanks Joey for the words from your heart. Thanks Craig for living out a life of faith and obedience to God. Thanks Diane for your banana bread. hehe. She's an awesome baker but more importantly a VERY supportive wife and Godly woman! =)

Mission 61

2007-02-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

I'm proud of my friends, the Butlers. For the past few months Bill has been painting like a possessed man...possessed by the Holy Spirit. A mutual friend of ours loaned him some space in his warehouse, and Bill quickly converted it into an art studio. During the course of the past few months, he's produced approximately 50 amazing pieces of art work. What's really interesting is that when I looked around the art exhibit last night, it looked like 20 different painters developed these pieces.

Bill developed a style of paint pouring and he let the Holy Spirit guide his hands, producing image after image of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, God, the Lion of Judah, the apostles and some abstracts. Honestly, it was the first time in my life in which I felt the presence of God just by being surrounded by these art pieces. They weren't just pieces of art, they were prophetic and alive. They spoke different meanings to different people.

So why sell all of these magnificent pieces? Bill's visual communications firm Thomas Lift is to begin operations creating clothing that glorifies the Lord based on Isaiah 61. The making of the clothing is integral to the entire process. The clothing is not to be made by those who are oppressed and abused. Instead, the clothing will be made by a community of people in Jamaica. By paying these workers fairly and treating them with love and compassion, Thomas Lift will help restore broken lives and communities.

This clothing is to be a blessing to those who wear the clothing as well as to those who make the clothing. 90% of the profits from this clothing will be given back to bless the orphaned & poor in Jamaica, thereby blessing the very communities where the clothing is made.

Last night when the new proud owners began removing their artwork from the wall, I stared at the empty spaces left behind and felt a sudden rush of emotion. I felt like it was symbolic of the Butlers leaving Iowa for Jamaica. As the paintings left the wall and space was created, it felt like I was watching them pack up their belongs and move from their house.

I wish I had a speck of their faith. They are great examples of living faithfully and following their calling. What if more of us lived this way, chasing our dreams and the face of God without fear?

God speed Butlers. I love you guys.

Worship Web Site Idea

2007-02-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

For all of my faithful readers (I think there's just one - hi Mom!) I thought I'd let you peek into my brain for a moment. After much prayer, our family recently decided we should lend our support to our satellite church, NorthBranch in the northern suburbs of Des Moines. Despite the30 minute drive, the move has proved to be a blessing to our family. I've taken on the role of worship leader and have been driving the music since the beginning of the year full-time. I've been tasked with developing and growing the worship ministry from the ground up. Thankfully I already have an awesome and anointed band. I could just use some more worship leader types.
As I pick music and build the worship set each week, I take a look at the sermon topic and try to align the music to the subject. Sometimes this proves to be kind of difficult as some of the subjects are either vague or outside the norm. I've been contemplating this dilemma for the past couple of weeks and am pondering developing a worship leader web site that helps worship leaders pick music based upon subjects. (If you already know of a site, please let me know)

So let's say the subject matter is "Why does God allow suffering?" A perfect song for that might be "Sweet River Roll" by one of my favorite bands: Waterdeep.

What if the topic was missions? Then "If We Are the Body" by Casting Crowns might be the song for you.

This kind of site would definitely need to be driven by its users...a.k.a. "consumer generated content" if you're an internet marketing junkie like me. =)

The other part of the site that I would like to incorporate is the ability to let worship leaders build and post their worship sets for their respective services. They could post the songs/artists and write comments about what worked and what didn't work.

I think this would be beneficial to worship leaders because they will likely learn about new worship songs but more importantly learn from the example of others. Plus it would hopefully encourage and support the community of online believers.

I don't think the role of the site would be to post lyrics, chords and mp3s of songs. There are plenty of sites out there that already do that (eg: greatworshipsongs.com).

So if you stumble upon this post and have any insight, I'm all ears.

Thanks for reading!

God bless,
ECC

Studio Time

2007-01-31T08:52:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, my wife and my champion arranged for some studio time so that I could start recording a worship project. When I opened her gift I was stunned. But after the initial shock wore off, dark thoughts started creeping up in my mind.

I unfortunately listened to the voices which said berating comments like "You're not good enough to record a worship project." and "No one will like what record and what you have to say."

After much thought, I finally realized that these self-confidence voices that I hear have been obstacles in my life that have prevented me from choosing to follow-through on my dreams.

How long have I wanted to record a worship project? I honestly know that I've been talking about it for close to two years. Our sound technician at church offered to help me two years ago, right before I was leaving on a missions trip to Jamaica. At the time I told him I wasn't prepared and that I hoped to use my time in Jamaica to finish some material.

Two years have slipped through my life like water through my hands. It happened so quickly I don't know where the time went. And I sit here with the same thoughts. Am I prepared? Are we ever truly prepared when we're about to embark upon a spiritual journey with God? I hope the answer is no. If we ever truly feel equipped then perhaps we've lost sight of God guiding and leading us through the journey of life.

I feel so ill-equipped in most of my spiritual life.

Do I know the Bible as well as I should? Nope.

Do I pray as much as I should? Nope.

But when I get down to the root of the issue, I find grace and affirmation in God.

Do I love Jesus and want to bring Him glory? Yes.

Do I trust in Jesus that He will lead and guide me in life? Yes.

He is the only compass I have in this journey of recording a worship project. I have to love Him and faithfully trust Him to lead and guide me through the recording process.

The songs are written. It's time to record them.

When Is Jesus Going to Heal Us?

2007-01-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

It can be discouraging when God doesn't answer your prayers immediately, especially when your family is hurting from illness. To date this year, we've had pink eye, ear infections, the stomach flu, the regular flu, coughs, colds, etc. You name it, I bet we've had it this year. I even hurt my shoulder shoveling a few weeks ago.

So we've been praying over each other at home. Praying that Jesus, the ultimate healer, would come and make us well again. There's nothing more beautiful than having your four year-olds pray over you. It's so sweet and pure and they truly pray believing it will happen.

I think when your kids get sick, you can get a better understanding of how Jesus feels about us when we are hurting. I would trade places in a minute with my son if I could take his constant cough away from him or with my littlest so he didn't need to get tubes in his ears on Thursday. When they hurt, I hurt. When their hearts are broken, my heart is broken. But in this case, Jesus has given us more than I could ever offer my children: grace and salvation.

While God's word definitely suggests we'll have many hardships to endure, that's kind of a difficult subject to explain to your kids. This morning over breakfast, one of my sons said, "When is Jesus finally going to heal us?"

I couldn't very well quote 2 Corinthians 12 to him which reads, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

But I did tell him, "I think Jesus wants us to keep praying, son."

What did you say?

2007-01-18T07:38:00.000-08:00

My friends have been nudging me to blog more, and I always feel this pressure to post something that is stirring and relevant to whoever reads my posts. I feel like I need to always say something that is inspirational and motivating; something that someone is going to write down in their journal and treasure forever. But the problem with that mentality is that it becomes more about me and not about what's relevant to the reader.

You see the reason why I've felt this writer's block when it comes to blogging, is because I am not listening. I'm simply not listening to what God has to say. If I am going to devote time weekly to blogging, then I need to be purposeful in asking and praying, "God, what do you want to say this week through me?" And then I need to spend some time listening to what He has to say.

I kind of stumbled upon this revelation this morning after some accountability and coffee time with some friends from church. I felt like God had been saying specifically about accountability time, "Ask (name withheld to protect the innocent) what's really on his heart and what God's been saying to him." I didn't have to this morning because he came forward and answered my question before I could ask it.

My beautiful wife gave me the best Christmas present on record this year. She arranged for some studio time so that I could lay down some tracks to a few songs I've been working on. My dream for so many years has been to record a project that would hopefully bless people who listen. But with that dream comes the pressure of writing material that's moving and worthy of placing my name on it.

As I was driving into work, I realized that I hadn't been faithful in listening to God recently on this stuff. I have had writer's block when it came to blogging and more recently I've been in a desert when it comes to writing music. And the biggest reason is because of my lack of listening. God inspires 99% of my music and when He doesn't, it's not normally very good anyway. After this revelation in the car this morning, words, lyrics and melodies started flowing in head. I wanted to pull over and write down these surfacing thoughts and ideas. I pulled out my journals when I got into work today and will probably noodle for a while now as long as I stay true to listening.

Are you listening? What are you hearing?

2007 Manifesto

2007-01-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite ministry creatives, Mark Batterson, is the Lead Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC (www.theaterchurch.com) which meets in movie theaters. On his site, Evotional.com, he recently posted a 2007 manifesto during a series called "Chase the Lion" based upon a recent book he wrote. I loved what he had to say so I decided to share this with you.

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Grab life by the mane. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!

Where's Jesus?

2007-01-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I will walk the halls of my place of employment or the downtown skywalk, asking God to reveal himself to me. Many times, I see Jesus walking along side or trailing people as they hurry to their next meeting or appointment.

Today as I was walking over to grab some lunch from our cafeteria, I asked God to reveal himself. In the short time that it took me to trek over to our dining hall, I saw Jesus with almost every person I encountered.

Sometimes Jesus was hurrying along trying to keep up in someone's busy life.

Another time Jesus was trying to hold the hand of a woman who needed to feel his touch.

Jesus was trying to scoop up another person and carry her in his arms.

A threesome approached and I felt the presence of God in their lives and I saw a vision of a cross across the chest of one of the nice man's sweaters. Jesus was huddled with these three with arms around all of them.

When I walked into the elevator to return to my floor, I was processing the various times I saw him chasing after his beloved children. And then I thought to myself, "Where's Jesus in your life, Erik?" And he was standing beside me, tapping me on the shoulder trying to get my attention.

Confession Is Good

2006-12-06T07:27:00.000-08:00

I will admit that my prayer life flourishes when I am worshipping. That's always been my form of prayer that most resonates with me. I have a difficult time humbling myself, bending my knees and pressing my face into the dirt. Granted, I definitely need to discipline myself more to do this.

My wife and I were recently talking about the need to go deeper in our confessions to God. I find that if we're in the middle of an argument, my tendency is to ask God to help me get over my feelings of anger instead of confessing and repenting of my sin while apologizing to my bride.

The past few weeks at KHOP I have felt very numb when we've worshipped. While the rest of the crew has been into the worship a bit, I feel like I haven't been very authentic up there and have been just giving God lip service. I don't want to stand before God as a bumbling idiot. I want to stand before him, worshipping him with my whole heart.

Yesterday I confessed these feelings to one of my worship partners and he expressed the same insight to his feelings. I'm not sure if it's because of our confessions last night but it was extremely easy to make it through the 2-hour set...even without a prayer leader. Praise God.

Last night was one of those nights in which God laid several choruses and songs on our heart. It's normally a good sign when we only make it through 2-3 songs as opposed to 8...and last night was no exception. Praise God (again).

The Public Library

2006-11-27T11:04:00.000-08:00

So today I ran over to the Des Moines Public Library to pick up a book called "Boundaries With Kids" by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. I asked my wife what she wants for Christmas and she said for me to read this book. Man, I love her!

So I was looking up some Christian authors and I found myself checking out the bottom shelf of books. On my knees, I spy a book entitled "Falling In Love with Jesus" by Dee Brestin and Kathy Troccoli. I smiled realizing I was in a position of humility and prayer, on my knees in the middle of this huge library. "This is definitely one way to fall in love with Him," I thought to myself...

Alpha in the Workplace

2006-11-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

I was incredibly blessed to be invited by our Adult Ministries team at church to a recent Alpha in the Workplace conference at Hosanna Lutheran Church in Lakeville, Minnesota. Lately I have been enveloped in thought as to what it means to be salt and light, especially in the marketplace. I think ultimately it means to show love to your fellow neighbor or colleague, walk with them through life, share the Gospel with them...and when necessary use words. But this course is a more purposeful outreach to your fellow employees.

What is Alpha?

The Alpha course is an opportunity to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed,
non-threatening manner over ten, thought-provoking weekly sessions.

A nyone interested in finding out more about the Christian faith. Adults of all ages are welcome.
L earning and laughter. It is possible to learn about the Christian faith and to have fun at the same time.
P eople meeting together. An opportunity to get to know others and to make new friends.
H elping one another. The small groups give you a chance to discuss issues raised during the talks.
A sk anything. Alpha is a place where no question is seen as too simple or too hostile.

When I arrived at the church Thursday morning, I was purposeful about getting into one of the vans in which I didn't know anyone. We were going to be traveling for several hours so I wanted to make a point of connecting with some new brothers and sisters. It was a blessing to share in fellowship, conversation and trail mix for the four hour drive to the Twin Cities.

I was surprised by the small attendance at this particular event, but appreciated the opportunity to network with other folks from various churches and businesses around the country. Again, I grabbed a chair at a table next to some ladies I had never met before. After a brief introduction, I learned that their boss had flown them up from Edmond, Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) to learn more about Alpha. They were interested in introducing this course to their employees.

Our conversation was truly interesting and it sounded like this:

OK Lady: So, do y'all pray before your meetings at work?
Me: Excuse me? Did you ask if we pray before our meetings?
OK Lady #1: Yeah, don't you pray before your meetings?
Me: (Choking on a cookie) Actually it's a very secular work environment. Because we're a Fortune 500 company, we're very "tolerant" (doing the hand gesture) of diversity but in respect of everyone's beliefs we don't practice that.
OK Lady #2: Well you know Erik, someday we'll all have to stand before the Lord and answer to him.
Me: (silence)

Thankfully the programming started but I learned later:
1. They pray after their monthly employee town meetings
2. They have an on-site chaplain that prays for employees, does hospital visits, etc.
3. The company tithes 10% of its profits
4. All of upper management is Christians and they continually pray to God for guidance and wisdom
5. There are PLENTY of opportunities to learn about Jesus and the Gospel including several classes and Bible studies
6. They have never been sued but HR has certainly had lots of conversations with employees

Our conversations definitely made me pause and appreciate their situation. It would be amazing to open up our meetings at work in prayer. However, we do have lots of opportunities to get plugged into various ministries at work including Bible studies, prayer groups, book clubs, etc.

The guest speakers were awesome, however after several hours my thinking shifted from "This is going to be pretty easy to implement" to "Wow. We're really going to need to get on our knees and pray about this. There's a ton of planning to do to ensure this is seamless and impactful for our colleagues so that God can do his thing."

Thankfully, I have a partner-in-crime at work and she and I are going to meet tomorrow to pray and dialogue about next steps so please keep us in your prayers.

Hosanna did an amazing job or putting together this conference. There was great worship, hospitality, presentations, and prayer. At the time, I had really been under the weather and had been experiencing horrible fatigue, dizziness, a rapid heart and more. I came forward during prayer time and let a gentleman lay hands on me and pray for my health in addition to God preparing the way here in Des Moines. I felt a rush of blackness leave my body and it was the first time in my life I thought I was going to fall over.

Lastly, the highlight of the event was meeting singer/songwriter and amazing worship leader: Tim Hughes. He was rehearsing for the main Alpha conference the next day and I was blessed to catch a couple of songs (Blessed Be Your Name and Beautiful One, which he wrote). After the conference I sought him out and thanked him for blessing me with his music and allowing God to work through him. Needless to say, I've kind of been on a Tim Hughes kick ever since. A site I stumbled on that I should pass along to you is WorshipCentral.org. Not only is there some great content on the site, there's some awesome songs they've posted.

Please keep Alpha in the Workplace in your prayers and especially here in Des Moines. I have a feeling that this could be a spark that could fan into flames...a passion for His name...uniting the Church here in Des Moines and spreading the everlasting love of Jesus Christ in the workplace in my company and several, several others.

Who's Your Neighbor?

2006-10-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's lonely in the corporate world especially as a Christian. It's not like we're branded believers versus non-believers so I can automatically connect with my brothers and sisters in the marketplace. I think this is a good reminder to live a radical life for Jesus, even in the workplace by modeling and living by the fruits of the Spirit. People will eventually catch-on.

A good indication is when people swear around you. Once they figured out you're living for Jesus, they normally apologize when they swear. Maybe not always when they are taking the Lord's name in vain, which is more offensive to me, but sometimes.

Yesterday I held the elevator for an unaware colleague of mine, who was busy stuffing confidential documents into the shredding bin. She hurried in and we exchanged the normal pleasantries. Normally we wouldn't have much in common so she hurried a few steps in front of me as we exited the building, following the same route to our cars. This time she turned back and said, "Do you lead worship at KHOP on Tuesday nights?"

Surprised by the connection, I responded, "Yeah, do you go to Elim Christian Fellowship for the Bible study on Tuesdays?" It lead into a bigger discussion about her experiences at Elim and KHOP. But I walked up the dreary hill to my car with a smile on face knowing I made a connection with another Christian on fire for Jesus.

Matthew 18:20 reads, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

God didn't want us to be alone. He gave Adam, Eve. Jesus had 12 disciples. They were companions, partners, buddies, brothers and sisters. It's the same way in the marketplace. God wants us to connect with other Christians in the workplace. After all, we spend SO much time together, why not make it pleasing and fruitful to God?

Web 2.0

2006-10-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

So I found some cool Web 2.0 tools online including Meez.com, where I designed a 3D version of myself. Check it out...

When God Gives You a Voice

2006-10-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

Now let me praise the keeper of Heaven's kingdom,

the might of the Creator, and his thought,
the work of the Father of glory, how each of wonders
the Eternal Lord established in the beginning.
He first created for the sons of men
Heaven as a roof, the holy Creator,
then Middle-earth the keeper of mankind,
the Eternal Lord, afterwards made,
the earth for men, the Almighty Lord.

From Wikipedia:

Caedmon (IPA: [kaedmɒn]) is the earliest English poet whose name is known. An Anglo-Saxon herdsman attached to the double monastery of Streonaeshalch (Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy of St. Hilda (657–681), he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but supposedly learned to compose one night in the course of a dream. He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational religious poet.

Caedmon is one of twelve Anglo-Saxon poets identified in medieval sources, and one of only three for whom both roughly contemporary biographical information and examples of literary output have survived.[1] His story is related in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People") by St. Bede who wrote, "There was in the Monastery of this Abbess a certain brother particularly remarkable for the Grace of God, who was wont to make religious verses, so that whatever was interpreted to him out of scripture, he soon after put the same into poetical expressions of much sweetness and humility in English, which was his native language. By his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world, and to aspire to heaven."

Caedmon's only known surviving work is Caedmon's Hymn, the nine-line alliterative vernacular praise poem in honour of God he supposedly learned to sing in his initial dream. The poem is one of the earliest attested examples of Old English and is, with the runic Ruthwell Cross and Franks Casket inscriptions, one of three candidates for the earliest attested example of Old English poetry. It is also one of the earliest recorded examples of sustained poetry in a Germanic language.

Bede's account

The sole source of original information about Caedmon's life and work is Bede's Historia ecclesiastica.[2] According to Bede, Caedmon was a lay brother who worked as a herdsman at the monastery Streonaeshalch (now known as Whitby Abbey). One evening, while the monks were feasting, singing, and playing a harp, Caedmon left early to sleep with the animals because he knew no songs. While asleep, he had a dream in which "someone" (quidem) approached him and asked him to sing principium creaturarum, "the beginning of created things." After first refusing to sing, Caedmon subsequently produced a short eulogistic poem praising God as the creator of heaven and earth.

Upon awakening the next morning, Caedmon remembered everything he had sung and added additional lines to his poem. He told his foreman about his dream and gift and was taken immediately to see the abbess. The abbess and her counsellors asked Caedmon about his vision and, satisfied that it was a gift from God, gave him a new commission, this time for a poem based on “a passage of sacred history or doctrine”, by way of a test. When Caedmon returned the next morning with the requested poem, he was ordered to take monastic vows. The abbess ordered her scholars to teach Caedmon sacred history and doctrine, which after a night of thought, Bede records, Caedmon would turn into the most beautiful verse. According to Bede, Caedmon was responsible for a large oeuvre of splendid vernacular poetic texts on a variety of Christian topics.

After a long and zealously pious life, Caedmon died like a saint: receiving a premonition of death, he asked to be moved to the abbey’s hospice for the terminally ill where, having gathered his friends around him, he expired just before nocturns.

Time to Sit Down?

2006-10-11T23:05:00.000-07:00

My father-in-law surprised me a few years ago at Christmas with a decent Yamaha "Portatone" keyboard. While he knew I loved music, I really didn't have a clue how to play it.

When I was in grade school, my folks attempted to introduce me to the piano unsuccessfully. I just wanted ready for it yet. Maybe if they had only waited 26 years, they would have gotten their money's worth.

In high school, I found a creative outlet in the piano and began feeling my way around the keys. I had no idea what the chords were I was playing, but I was dangerous enough to make up songs primarily about high school romance and puppy love.

My knowledge of the piano quickly faded away, especially when I gingerly took up the guitar in my 20s. Little did I know that playing the guitar would help me feel my way around the keys of this piano again.

This keyboard has gotten some use over the past couple of years, but lately I have been playing the guitar and prodding around on the keyboard forming the chords. I am dangerous enough to be able to pick up most worship songs and fake it. It is a little difficult to develop any sort of rhythm although I'm slowly improving.

But music has been given a new life through this learning process. You could definitely say that as I am typing this at 1:05 AM after spending the last three hours playing the guitar and piano.

I think Misty Edwards has given me inspiration in wanting to learn how to play. Apparently when she took the call at International House of Prayer, she only knew a few chords. After her set, she ran out of the prayer room and said she would never do it again. Another missionary there chased after her, encouraged her, and prophesied over her. God breathed life into those fingers and into her lungs and now she sings and plays like an angel. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is.

Then there's Bill who keeps sending me the story of Caedmon...and that, my friends I will post tomorrow.

God's Music

2006-10-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

I started a little home improvement project at home over the weekend. I'm painting what we've dubbed "The Dorm Room," and it's transforming into a warm, inviting room. I spent a great deal of time over the weekend sanding and priming the paneled walls. On Sunday, I was able to knock out a bunch of the painting.

Last night I determined it needed another coat so I got started after the kids went to bed. After my wife called it a night, I tuned into the IHOP webcast and was blessed to have caught Luke Wood's worship set, who is one of my favorite worship leaders. He spent the entire two hour set play D - G - D2/F# - G over and over and over. As simple as it was, it was an incredible blessing. I sat down at my computer to take a break, listening to the chords resonate in my ears. I opened up Biblegateway.org and navigated to Psalm 46 and began breaking down the scripture into lyrics and a melody. Truthfully, it came easily as I was inspired by the music I was already listening to. I finished about half the song and decided that I'd work on it the following day, resuming my painting.

It's unseasonably warm here and despite my high powered fan motoring a cool breeze throughout the room, my utility light kept it pretty toasty downstairs. At one point in the night, I found myself on my knees trimming above the baseboards. I was uncomfortably warm and sweating, yet I was reminded of Mary sitting at Jesus' feet. My guess is the music had something to do with that vision but it was easy to ignore my discomfort because of the subtle reminder of a Savior who loves me.

As soon as Luke's set was over, Clay Edwards transitioned into worship and began playing some recognizable chords in the key of "E" on the piano. Something stirred in me and God captured my attention. Clay was singing the exact same melody to a song about Psalm 121 we wrote down at KHOP several weeks ago. Despite the difference in lyrics, the melody was exactly the same down to the chorus and lyrics. Instead of singing "Hallelujah" over and over as we do in the chorus, Clay was repeating "Jesus".

This was a reminder to me that the music that pours from my heart and soul is not my own. It's on borrowed time from God who surgically implants it when I am focused on Him alone, when the Holy Spirit is on the move.

Living Radically For God

2006-09-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

I’m sensing a thread from God today. He’s really laid social justice on my heart lately and I keep bumping into story after story about serving the poor and living radically for Jesus.

This morning I mentioned that to one of my accountability partners and he said, “You know…you don’t need to necessarily associate social justice with the poor. What about the work you are doing in your workplace?”

I will admit that I am incredibly blessed to be able to practice my faith so freely in the workplace. It’s actually encouraged here so I belong to a men’s Bible study, organize a monthly get together with other members of my church, and pray weekly with a group of prayer warriors over lunch. Today the epiphany hit me while I was praying.

Last week, I attended the Carnival of Creativity, primarily because Mitch Matthews, inventor of the game “Q”, was speaking about, well…creativity. One thing that was mentioned that really resonated with me was this quote:

The opposite of creativity is criticism, skepticism and cynicism.

I will admit that at times we have that dark cloud following us around here at work. And I am responsible for dispelling that spirit, to preach the Gospel always and at times use words.

Sometimes you need to be careful about what you pray for because God will definitely answer your prayers in His own way. Lately it seems like I’ve been muttering, “Help me to live radically for you Jesus.” And He usually responds in ways that take me out of my comfort zone. I normally look back at those times and smile at what He taught me as a result.

During my Principal prayer time today, I was praying for an employee who is considering leaving her husband because of his insecurities and because she’s fallen out of love with him. I was reflecting on this situation when I remembered an incident from this morning’s drive. A driver next to me was enveloped with his hand held device and managed to change lanes unknowingly. Granted, this is during morning rush hour on the interstate…smart, huh?

My immediate thought this morning was to chuckle as God spoke, “When we are encompassed with our daily distractions and lose focus on God, eventually we end up wondering how we wound up in our current situation.”

This anonymous colleague of mine is probably wondering the same thing. And while I was praying on this, God revealed to me something kind of interesting. I heard Him say, “Ask if the husband has any friends. And invite him to the men’s ministry at Hope where he can get connected with God and with other men who love God.”

I guess when I asked God to help me live radically for Him, sometimes it means rolling my sleeves up at work. As I pondered this and reflected upon today's events and the creativity conference, I wrote down these words on my prayer requests...

"I want to make a positive impact on everyone I meet."

23 Minutes in Hell

2006-09-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

My friend Bill gave me a CD this week entitled, "23 Minutes in Hell" which is an incredible account and testimony of Bill Wiese's journey to hell and back. I can't say that I was exactly excited to listen to this CD initially because of my encounters with dark forces in past dreams, some as recent as a few months ago. So it was somewhat intimidating for me to pop the message into the CD player of my car on the way into work the other day.

What was interesting was that from the very beginning I was very emotional about his account and became very teary eyed. I suppose it's from a number of reasons including my saddness for the world that is lost and doesn't know Jesus...that's never truly walked with Him...that rebukes Him and insults Him at the drop of a hat. Perhaps it was because of my fear and my empathy for the story unfolding before my ears.

It's scared me into reality. I questioned my belief in God and my calling to be here. Surely this is more I must do. Surely I gotta tell everyone I encounter about Jesus. Surely this is a time to turn away from my fear of man and turn towards God in fear and awesome reverance of Him. Surely it's time to step it up at home and lead a family to the cross of Jesus where they will meet a maker, a creator, a savior who loves them for who they are...who loves them where they are at. I simply cannot let my family experience the very thought of going to a world of darkness and death, and I have finally understood the calling of God to love and serve my family like Jesus loves and serves the church.

Jesus, pour out the revelation of yourself on myself and my family. Bring your living word to life. Breathe the breath of life into our lungs, into our inner being, into our souls. I choose you Jesus. I choose to follow you. I choose to serve you. I choose to love you.

Have mercy on me a sinner.

Walking with Jesus

2006-08-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

If you are walking with Jesus, in the Spirit, you need not fear going too far. No believer has gone as far as God wants him to go.--A. A. Allen

My friend, Craig Leaming, is a few weeks into his journey, walking across America and praying every step of the way. He has amazing endurance as he's been traveling 40+ miles a day. But what's even more amazing is his humble servants heart. This journey is not about him; he'll be the first to tell you about that. This journey is about bringing God glory...about reclaiming America as Jesus' land...as His people. I pray that God touches lives through Craig on this walk and that the fire will fan into flame...a flame of revival and repentence...maybe not in that order.

What's been really cool is how interested my 4-year-old twin sons are interested in this journey. They listen to his audio journal and more importantly they pray for him. I lost it tonight before bedtime when Logan started praying for Craig...for his protection and that God would walk with him. What four year-old says that? The same ones that sing Sweetly Broken at the top of their lungs and ask me to be quiet so they can hear it better.

Wanna learn more about Craig's "ACross Walk"? Check out his site at www.acrosswalk.com.

April Showers in August

2006-08-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

God speed April!

My friend.

My prayer sherpa.

My encourager.

May God bless you on your journeys at IHOP and wherever He takes you in life...

Time is of the essence

2006-07-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

I've gone through a series of revelations lately in which I seriously need to get my time under control and disciplined. At times I grow restless and feel I need some "Erik" time but it seems to perpetuate and snowball, especially when I'm not sleeping enough. It's a dangerous cycle to fall into because it impacts all aspects of my life.

So one of my accountability partners and I sat down and made a pledge to hold each other accountable to how we manage our time. We both agreed we need to move away from the mentality that we need space and time, since that only seems to place a wedge in our relationships with God and family. Instead, we want to focus on maximizing the gift of time that God has blessed us with that is so precious. It's all about living a radical lifestyle for the Lord; talking to Him more and reading His Word...sharing His everlasting love with those around us...leading our families by being an example of salt and light.

Since BW is in California at the time in the process of adopting a baby boy, I think I've subconsciously let it slide a bit because I know I won't be held to any time standards in his absence.

But it's time to submit.

Lord, help me to submit to your will and higher obedience and discipline that you've called me into.

Restlessness

2006-06-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's just me but I think at times when we are spiritually restless, it may be God's way of saying that He wants us in deeper obedience to Him in prayer and reading His Word. While I definitely believe that God has big dreams and plans for us, I do think that at times this restlessness that we feel isn't about us but is about our worship. As long as we keep the focus on Him and not ourselves, then the dreams and plans kind of take care of themselves. But if we're in a big hurry to discover ourselves (we should find redemption and validation through God and not through other things & people) and the dreams God has for us (which I believe ultimately start with worship of Him), then we may simply miss the point of our existence in the first place.

The Dream Giver

2006-05-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

The Matthews rock. If you know them, you're probably nodding in agreement. They decided to have a "Dream Gathering" where lots of people in our community posted their dreams (God's dreams) on a wall to be prayed over. Apparently there are over 100 dreams on the wall...and it's growing. I haven't officially contributed to this yet as it kind of makes me nervous for some reason. I guess perhaps it would mean that I am committing to a vision or dream God has laid on my heart.

Last year, I wrote about 25 dreams down on a piece of paper. I am going to attempt to try it again below (this may be a work in progress). However, I do feel it's important to only focus on one or two...not 25 all at the same time. Here's my list of dreams...

Record and distribute a CD
Form a Harp & Bowl worship team
Play local venues
Lead worship at major conferences and houses of prayer
Write a book about worship
Develop and facilitate a worship workshop
Study at the Forerunner Music Academy
Step out in faith and start an entrepreneur business
Help launch Thomas Lift
Design and produce some cool t-shirts
Short-term missions trips to anywhere...Jamaica, Ghana, Mexico, India, China, Mozambique, Brazil, Fiji, Tahiti, Australia
Be a part of a 24/7 prayer movement
Play a more active role as a sponsor of our Compassion child
And of course...be an awesome husband and daddy

What are YOUR dreams?

The Beauty of Simplicity

2006-05-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

Life is full of seasons so it's no surprise that it seems like I am midst of a simplification season.

After our first short-term missions trip as a married couple and Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, we quickly decided it was time to trade in one mortgage for another. So we put our house up for a sale a little over a year ago and prayed for a buyer. It definitely wasn't the easiest process in the world and we were near our end when a young couple walked in and fell in love with the place last April. A month later we were moving into an older home with a considerably less monthly mortagage payment.

Now my wife is enveloped in her first family garage sale, and it seems we're committed being that the ad was placed in the paper yesterday. The nice element about our first garage sale is that my wife has a retail background so it's going to be one of the nicer garage sales Des Moines has ever seen. I'm kind of amazed at how quickly the garage filled up with stuff for sale. The funds from the garage sale will go towards some new patio furniture she has her eye on at Target. I'm hoping the extra proceeds can go towards a digital SLR camera, but that's just me.

In preparing for the big garage sale, my wife decided to conduct some research by hitting the local garage sales in our area. She happened upon some friends of ours from church, who are selling their house in order to simplify their lifestyle. Being that Brad is the newly crowned missions director at our church, it's no surprise what God is doing in his life.

Another friend of mine is really simplifying her life by going on a four-year journey into the missions world down in Kansas City as she studies at the International House of Prayer (IHOP.org). God's really been working on her to live a VERY humble life, a very simplified life, when utter and total dependence on Him alone. She's going to need to rely on Him to provide for her financially, which He's already doing to equip her for her trip. And she's going to need to cling to Him as God molds and shapes her into a new creation. While you may look at her and say, "Dang, I can't imagine someone being any more humble." God says, "More." To quote my friend, "I'm going to spend the next four years of my life eating carpet," as she lives a fasted, face-down lifestyle.

I bumped into another friend from church yesterday that has Haiti on his heart. I actually chuckled from the irony of simplification when he said, "I'm getting a word from the Lord that I should sell all of my stuff and move to Haiti into full-time missions work for two years." Go Tim, go!

And here we sat together as a family on Saturday night encouraging my sister-in-law to sell all of her possessions (so we wouldn't have to move them to California) as she heads off to graduate school in August.

Acts 2:42-47

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The Beauty of Simplicity by Telecast

It's the beauty of simplicity
That brings me down to my knees
I'll praise You for eternity
And Lord I love you
because you, you first loved me

It's the beauty of simplicity
that fills me with eternity
I tasted your divinity
and Lord I love you
Because you, you first loved me

and all God's people say
we, we love you
we love you Lord
we love you
and we, we love you
we love you Lord
we love you
we love you

It's the beauty of simplicity
That brings me down to my knees
I'll praise you for eternity
And Lord I love you
Because you, you first loved...

You gave yourself away
Just that I could stay
You took my place and love
And knows that I could stay
But you are holy
And you alone
Deserve my praise

And all God's people say
we, we love you
we love you Lord
we love you
and we, we love you
we love you Lord
we love you
and we, we love you
we love you Lord
and we, we love you
we love you Lord
we love you
we love you
And we, we love you
we love you Lord
we love you
we love you

Singing in the Spirit

2006-05-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: Your worst day with God is better than your best day without Him.

So my friend April told me about a Jason Upton song called "Fly" in which an angelic voice appeared on the track of the song. After some brief research, I found that Jason wrote a bit about this, I believe on his CD liner.

There is no explanation for the last song, Fly, except that during the "do you see what I see" portion you will hear a soaring voice over the top of the other voices (6 minutes and 11 seconds into this section). At first we thought it was an ambient microphone picking up an overtone. During mixing all of the channels were searched and we found that this 'boys choir' type voice was not on any of the other microphones, but was bleeding through my own microphone ( which would make it impossible for it to be an overtone because it was not present on any of the other microphones). If you listen carefully you will hear it again later in this section; it's not quite as clear because, unfortunately, my voice is prominent on that microphone. Interestingly, a boy came up to me that night and told me that he saw an angel standing about fifteen feet behind me.and another one behind our drummer. At the time I doubted that; but after hearing the 'voice' alone during the mixing process with no other instruments around it, I do not doubt it anymore. It was very humbling and convicting for me to realize that I had not believed the boy. I sometimes wrestle with why I so often disbelieve the supernatural (why would I first think it was something natural like an overtone, instead of believing it was an angel). The Bible tells us that we should not be surprised by angelic visitations; but I must admit, I was surprised!

Ironically we had a similar experience down at KHOP on Tuesday night. While Justin cried out to God in prayer, Bill, Joey and I played the chords to "40" over and over ushing in the Holy Spirit. It happened subtly as I thought perhaps Bill, Justin or Joey were singing, but after quickly scanning the stage I realized that no one was on the microphone singing this angelic chorus. Joey and I tried to sing the same chorus but fell WAY short of matching the tone and quality of these voices. I truly can't explain it other than it was from God and it was awesome.

Now there's no need to make a great pilgrimage to KHOP to listen to these angelic voices sing along with a few worshippers trying to figure out Harp & Bowl. You're not going to see Mary reflected in the glass windows or Peter in the clouds. We're doing this to bring honor and glory to God alone. Sure we'd love to have you come, but be prepared to meet Jesus here. =)

God loves kids

2005-11-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

We spent the week on the road last week visiting my in-laws in Nashville and my sister's family in Louisville. My kids are troopers. Let's just get that out of the way. We didn't have the easiest schedule in the world as our flights cut way into their sleep schedule.

We spent the first half of the week in Nashville and then borrowed my in-laws car to drive north to Louisville to visit my sister. My twin sons (age 3-1/2) awoke from their slumber en route and began bantering back and forth. It sounded something along the lines of this...

Caleb: Are we going on the fast road?
Together: Yes!
Logan: Are we going to visit Aunt Carrie?
Together: Yes!
Caleb: Are we going to see Uncle Cameron?
Together: Yes!

I turned to my wife during this and said, "You know, they are starting to sound like Southern Baptist Preachers..." and joined in the fun.

Erik: Are we going to let Jesus into our hearts?
Everyone in the car: Yes!
Erik: Are we going to let the Holy Spirit in our hearts?
Everyone in the car: Yes!
Erik: Are we going to share the everlasting love of Jesus Christ?
Everyone in the car: Yes!

And then the boys joined in...

Logan: Are we going to pray to Jesus?
Everyone in the car: Yes!
Caleb: Are we going to talk to God?
Everyone in the car: Yes!

And then it took a turn...

Logan: Are we going to let Jesus smell our stinky feet?
Everyone in the car: No!

I imagine that Jesus was riding in the car with us, doubled over, laughing hysterically as I was. He has an amazing sense of humor that He brings out in my kids. I know that He talks to them. He's especially close to them and loves on Him. Having kids has truly opened my eyes to a world I never knew existed.

Soli Deo Gloria.

The Vision

2005-11-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

The Vision by Pete Greig

So this guy comes up to me and says,
"What's the vision? What's the big idea?"

I open my mouth and words come out like this...

The vision?
The vision is Jesus:
obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.
The vision is an army of young people.
You see bones?
I see an army.

And they are free from materialism.
They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They could eat caviar on Monday
and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn't even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix;
the way the West was won.

They are mobile like the wind;
they belong to the nations.
They need no passport.
People write their addresses in pencil
and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free, yet they are slaves
of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision?
The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes.
It makes children laugh and adults angry.
It gave up the game of minimum integrity
long ago to reach for the stars.
It scorns the good and strains for the best.
It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive,
every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps,
their Satan games.

This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day
its soldiers choose to lose
that they might one day win
the great "Well done"
of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical
on Monday morning
as Sunday night.

They don't need fame from names.
Instead they grin quietly upwards
and hear the crowds chanting
again and again:
"COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground
The whisper of history in the making
Foundations shaking
Revolutionaries dreaming once again
Mystery is scheming in whispers
Conspiracy is breathing...
This is the sound of the underground.

And the army is disciplined.
Young people who beat their bodies into submission.
Every soldier would take a bullet for his
comrades at arms.
The tattoo on their backs boasts
"For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their
upward eyes.
Winners. Martyrs.
Who can stop them?
Can hormones hold them back?
Can failure succeed?
Can fear scare them or death kill them?

And the generation prays
like a dying man with groans beyond
talking, with warrior cries,
sulphuric tears and with great barrow loads of
laughter!

Waiting.
Watching:
24 - 7 - 365.

Whatever it takes they will give:
Breaking the rules.
Shaking mediocrity from its cozy little hide.
Laying down their rights and their
precious little wrongs,
laughing at labels,
fasting essentials.
The advertisers cannot mold them.
Hollywood cannot hold them.
Peer-pressure is powerless
to shake their resolve at late night
parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously
attractive (on the inside).
On the outside?
They hardly care!
They wear clothes like costumes:
to communicate and celebrate
but never to hide.

Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives,
swap seats with the man on death row;
guilty as hell.
A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears,
with sleepless nights
and fruitless days,
they pray as if it all depends on God
and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses Jesus.
(He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings.
They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.

Their words make demons scream in shopping malls.
Don't you hear them coming?

Herald the weirdos!
Summon the losers and the freaks.
Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes.
They walk tall and trees applaud,
skyscrapers bow,
mountains are dwarfed
by these children of another dimension.

Their prayers summon the hounds of
heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be.
It will come to pass;
it will come easily;
it will come soon.

How do I know?
Because this is
the longing of creation itself,
the groaning of the Spirit,
the very dream of God.

My tomorrow is his today.
My distant hope is his 3D.
And my feeble,
whispered,
faithless prayer
invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great
"Amen!"
from countless angels,
from heroes of the faith,
from Christ himself.

And he is the original dreamer,
the ultimate winner.
Guaranteed.

Are You Listening?

2005-09-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

I've never been a reader. Ever. My parents used to pay me a penny a page to read as a child. My nephew would have been a millionaire before he turned 18 if my sister and brother-in-law chose that strategy of parenting with him. Perhaps that's why I wasn't a reader, because they were trying to coerce me into reading. I never really wanted to do anything people wanted me to do. I'm a non-conformist I guess.

But my friend April keeps giving me books that I can't seem to put down. It all started with Always Enough by Heidi and Rolland Baker. Next thing I know, I wanted to move to Africa full-time to make an impact in the kingdom of God. Then she gave me a book called Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli. That booked opened my eyes to the church and how I approach worship and Jesus. Then it was Red Moon Rising by Pete Grieg and Dave Roberts. That book's a life changer. Makes me want to help churches start 24/7 prayer furnaces all over the world. Definitely helped me see God in a different light. Now she's got me reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. This book blesses me to no end. I've learned so much and have been challened greatly by this.

Through the process of reading these books, God's laid some interesting things on my heart. He said, "Go and pray. Keep your eyes open for dangerous opportunities." I started to chuckle last week when the older gentleman driving the airport shuttle at one of the local short-term parking lots mentioned that one his co-worker is "one of those religious fellas." He originally had me pegged as "one of the boys" and used a loose tongue with me intitially. But when he went the religious route and asked the question of whether or not God was going to answer the prayers of the hurricane victims, I had to smother him with love. We talked about how God answers prayers and our respective churches in the short 2-minute ride to my airline stop. I thanked him for the ride, "left a tip like Jesus would" (the Normals), and wished God's blessings on him.

It's these "dangerous times" that we need to take advantage of. Father, please continue to provide these opportunities for me.

Amen.

Moses

2005-05-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

PROFILE:
Gerard Straub
May 13, 2005 Episode no. 837
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week837/profile.html

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Finally, Lucky Severson has a story about a man in Los Angeles who takes very seriously his calling to help the poor -- around the world and also in his own backyard. And, trying to help the poor, he is becoming pretty close to poor himself.

LUCKY SEVERSON: By most standards, Gerry Straub's career is in a tailspin. His earnings, he says, have dropped from $10,000 a week to about $300, but he's not complaining.

GERARD STRAUB (Documentary Filmmaker): Happiness isn't measured by how much you can acquire, you know. I think it's maybe how much you can let go of. The more you let go of, it seems, the more you have.

SEVERSON: He's let go of almost everything, except his work, which has become his obsession and now his mission. Straub makes documentaries about the world's poverty, hoping it will motivate us to do something about it. This is from one of his films called RESCUE ME.

Mr. STRAUB (From Film RESCUE ME): We need more than an emotional response to the poor. We need more than feelings of sorrow and regret. We need to be moved by grace to action. When we here the cries of the oppressed, the cries of the poor, we hear the voice of God.

SEVERSON: The World Bank estimates that one in six of us -- that's 1.1 billion people -- live in extreme poverty worldwide. Eight million people die each year because they don't have the food, water, medicine, or other necessities we take for granted. That means on average, because of poverty, 20,000 people died today and yesterday and will again tomorrow.

Mr. STRAUB: I think it's immoral that people are starving to death. I think it's immoral that so many people are living on the streets. I think it's immoral that our lives are so centered on acquiring more things when quite clearly the gospel has a totally different message. It's about caring for each other.

SEVERSON: Straub says he has found his Catholic faith again, after losing it somewhere along the way. As a younger man, he earned lots of money and recognition producing daytime soap operas like the popular GENERAL HOSPITAL. But says he was unfulfilled. He turned against organized religion altogether after his stint as producer of the Christian Broadcasting Network's 700 CLUB. By then, he says, he was spiritually empty and searching for truth. He found himself in a church in Rome, reading Psalm 63, about a soul searching for God.

Mr. STRAUB: Something happened. I just felt this presence of God. I just was overwhelmed by this sense of love. And then I remember getting up, and I bowed before the crucifix in the tabernacle and just, like, electricity went through my body.

SEVERSON: In that moment, he says, he was transformed from an atheist to a pilgrim, on a journey to lend a voice to those he says Christ identified with most -- the poorest and least among us. His belief, at its core, is that to get close to God, you must first get close to the poor.

Mr. STRAUB: You show your love for God by how you treat the poor. That's all through the Old Testament. It's all through the New Testament.

(From Film RESCUE ME): Who are these people we call poor, people we so easily judge and dismiss? They are Jesus in a distressing disguise. In the faces of the poor, we see the face of Christ, and we are called to love them with the criteria with which we will be judged.

SEVERSON: Straub has shot and produced eight documentaries in 11 countries. He's focused his lens on everything -- from lepers in Brazil to the 75,000 people who eke out a life at the mountain of garbage known as Payatas outside Manila. He has formed a nonprofit foundation called San Damiano, named after the church where St. Francis of Assisi committed his life to those who have the least. Not surprisingly, St. Francis is his hero. Straub's videos are shown at fund raisers, and the proceeds go to Christian charities working with the poor.

In this country, Straub did not have to go far to find poverty -- his backyard. Fifty square blocks of misery in downtown Los Angeles known as "Skid Row."

Mr. STRAUB (From Film RESCUE ME): On these streets, you will find more agony than angels. On these streets, you are closer to hell than heaven.

SEVERSON: On any given night, one million Americans are homeless. Ten thousand of them live on Skid Row -- strung out, hungry, and afraid.

Mr. STRAUB: The amazing thing about being on Skid Row was to learn just how many women and children were living on the streets. How many people that were not alcoholics, that were not drug addicts, that the bottom simply fell out. I mean, you began to see how many people are just a paycheck or two away from having nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED HOMELESS WOMAN (From Film RESCUE ME): Well, I just want to be able to make decisions for myself, you know. I'm a grown person. I've worked before. I want to work again. I like working. I want to do the kind of work I was doing before, like a nurse's aide, whatever.

SEVERSON: Ralph Plumb is a former director of the Union Rescue Mission in the part of L.A. that is Skid Row. He says Straub spent so many months among the poor, they came to trust him.

RALPH PLUMB (Former Director, Union Rescue Mission): Whereas in the initial stages, they might have been defensive or maybe even taken a swing at him or told him to get lost, over time he really expressed his compassion for the people, and they wanted to talk to him because they had a story to tell.

SEVERSON: Straub says the Skid Row experience taught him that being poor in the United States is actually worse than in other countries where people are surrounded by poverty.

Mr. STRAUB: Mother Theresa said something about that years ago, that she thought the poverty in America was really the worst she had ever seen, and I thought to myself after being in Calcutta, I said, "What could she have been thinking?" Well, it was the spiritual poverty here, not only just for us -- I mean people who have money -- but the poor and the homeless, I mean, really live lives of isolation, lives of rejection, lives of deep shame.

SEVERSON: Straub says he has never witnessed, among the affluent, the generosity he's seen among the poor.

Mr. STRAUB: In the slums you saw real life. You saw, you know, real life-and-death struggles. You saw incredible acts of humanity -- the generosity of the poor, one to each other and to me. You know, it just knocked me over.

SEVERSON: Sometimes the suffering is simply overwhelming. This little boy called Moses, for instance, from El Salvador is inflicted with an incurable blistering disease.

Mr. STRAUB (From Film RESCUE ME): Yet all the suffering in the world was for me embodied in this one small, fragile boy. Moses is without a doubt the saddest person I have ever seen.

I struggle with doubts every day I see little Moses, and you know, there are times I get so overwhelmed by the suffering that I really can't help crying. Does it cause me to doubt God? No. It just causes me to go deeper into that suffering. I think that's what Christ was about.

SEVERSON: His home is his sanctuary, where he meditates and prays and braces himself for his next project. Straub says his obsession to help the poor is slowly forcing him to the poorhouse, but it's a price he's willing to pay.

Mr. STRAUB: I'm on the verge of losing my house. I mean, I worry about those things, but I do have great confidence that I am doing what I am supposed to do and that things will work out. Christ isn't looking for us to give our spare change. He wants us to give our very lives.

SEVERSON: For RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, I'm Lucky Severson in Los Angeles.

© 2005 Educational Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.