Merge Worship

I've been in youth camp the last few days here in NC. This is the camp that I grew up going to. This is where my heritage is. I first felt called into ministry in the back of this chapel and surrendered my musical gifts to the Lord on this altar. I've had the chance to worship with old and new friends and it's been a great opportunity for me to come back and minister to kids around the same age I was when all those things happened for me.

We've had some marathon worship times this week and our speaker has only hit the stage twice. It's been a great time of sensitivity to the Spirit and seeing kids interact with God. Last night was a pretty intense. As we began to worship a simple song came forward that I felt the Lord was directing at one of the brothers at the camp. I called him up and began to sing three simple words. "He is faithful." One of the pastors here got up and spoke about God's ability to seal and keep us. After worshiping for a few more moments we felt the Lord was calling us to give an invitation for people to receive prayer. It was a powerful time of seeing God impact people's lives and speak words into their lives.

I prayed for several kids last night and the Holy Spirit revealed specific words for most of them. We talk a lot in our church about Spiritual Gifts and it is always great to see them in true operation. We had tongues and interpretation, words of knowledge, wisdom and prophecy. I'll be honest and say that I'm always amazed when God decides to speak directly to a person's situation and destiny. He has a way of cutting through to the heart of the matter. The fact that He loves us and died for us is amazing enough on its own. The truth that He remains invested, interested and involved in our daily grind and the over-arching destiny of our lives is almost mind blowing for me.

After having prayed for several kids I walked back to my cabin tired, humbled and fulfilled. Sometimes when God decides to use you in a meeting in a specific way pride is lurking at the door. I could feel myself feeling good about what had happened. That was when it was time to remember that I am completely unworthy. My usefulness to God is only there because my righteousness is not in myself. Whenever I feel a little pride creep in because of something God is doing in my life, I remember the words of Paul. He said:

Today I'm posting a document that I sent out to our team worship leaders a few months back. I have a personal process that I walk through about every 6 months and thought I'd share it with them. Here's basically a cut and paste of the email I sent out. I'd love to hear how you review what God is doing in your life.

I just wanted to walk you all through the process I go through on a regular basis with myself. Thinking through these questions should help us all learn more about where God has us and has us doing.

1. Reevaluate

• Review what God has done in your area of ministry.
• Where have you seen positive progress?
• Where would you like to see more improvement?
• How can I help you in this process?
• Review songs for retirement
• Is there a song, or songs, that you over use?
• (One of mine has been "Meet With Me". I love that song a little too much for other people's good. I have to “retire” songs to prevent myself from that.)
• Retiring a song forces us as worship leaders to be more proactive in finding new or lesser-used songs to keep our worship expressions fresh.
• Review your team
• Where are your strengths and weaknesses as a team?
• What positions could be filled on your team?
• Where can we build a sense of family on our teams?
• Review yourself
• What has God taught you this last year?
• What do you feel like God is speaking to you about your team?
• Am I where He wants me to be?

• Recommit yourself to what God has called you to do and whom He’s called you to
• lead.
• Decide to stay creative instead of complacent.
• Fight the urge to stick with the status quo.

• Once you reevaluate and re-up, reverence the holy calling that you have to
• lead others into God’s presence.
• Take time to be thankful to God for the opportunities He’s afforded you.

• Respect those God has placed in authority and given voice to in and over your area of ministry. (i.e. Pastors, fellow Worship Leaders, Elders)

I was talking with a friend who was just starting their worship team and they were asking what advice I would give to them for their new team. I think my number one advice, after prayer and getting a basic understanding of worship, would be to "be where you are".

I've been privileged to be a part of many worship teams and can honestly say that most worship teams can sound good right where they are even with minimal skill level. Where most teams get into trouble is by trying to be something they aren't or trying to play something way ahead of their capabilities.

When directing a band musically I try and rate the team in my head on a scale of 1-10 and then choose/create musical arrangements that will suit where we are. If I'm in a long term situation, i.e. my local church, then I start with songs right in the meat of our abilities or a touch behind. Then I gradually introduce more musical/difficult arrangements and pretty soon we're a level above where we are.

Here's a scale that I used in explaining this concept to this particular friend.

A band who is a 5 in skill should be playing songs in the 1-6 range.
A band who is a 7 in skill should be playing songs in the 5-8 range.
A band who is a 10 can play whatever they want.

Where the trouble usually starts is when the worship leader hears a song that is an 8 on the musical arrangement scale and brings it to the team who is just starting out in a 3-5 range. To me, it plays out this way:

If Band A is a 5 and play a 7 they sound like a 3.
If Band A is a 5 and play a 3 they sound like a 7.
If Band A is a 5 and play a 5 they sound like a 5.

Every worship team can look a little better when they are able to be where they are. Part of what we do as worship leaders is help nurture the musical gifts of those on our team and there is great service to them in choosing arrangements that help them shine. Don't let frustration creep in, but rather work diligently to help your team be the best they can be while gently pushing them further in excellence.

I am getting the opportunity to speak to our kids, over the next two weeks, about worship and prayer. While not an exhaustive list, I thought I'd post here what I'll be teaching on. If your kids are a part of our church, don't let them miss it!

Here's a little taste of what our parents will receive and what I'll be using as a template to teach the kids.

This weekend we discussed the following with your child: (We are including some corresponding Scriptures to help deepen your discussion with them. Please feel free to use some of your personal favorites as well.)

Why Do We Worship God?
o It invites His presence. (Psalm 22:3)
o God deserves it. (1 Chronicles 16:25-33)
o We desire Him. (Psalm 63:1-4)
o It stops the enemy. (2 Chronicles 20:22)

How Do We Worship God?
o Singing (Psalm 9:11)
o Lifting of Hands (The Act of Praise: Psalm 141:2; The Entering of Agreement: Genesis 14:22-24)
o Shouting (1 Samuel 4:5)
o Making Music (Ephesians 5:19)
o Bowing (Psalm 138:2)
o Dancing (Psalm 150:4)
o Repenting (1 Kings 8:48 & 49)

Where Do We Worship God?
o Everywhere (Psalm 150)

What are some of your favorite worship scriptures that didn't make my list?

It’s a cloudy, dreary, rainy day here. Not one of the best days to live near a beach. During a prayer, our (great) Children’s Director was praying and she said:

“Lord. Thank You for the rain. Help us to see what the rain brings. Help us to see the results, not just the dreariness and darkness.”

I thought about all the past and present storms in my life. If only I could take that perspective to “look past the rain” and see the results that it is going to bring. It is so easy to focus on the now circumstance and no further.

Father help me today to see past the storm and find the growth and beauty that Your rain is bringing in my life.

Recently I’ve had a friend of mine talking to me about who I’d like to, if given the opportunity, hang out with/learn from. I thought of some names that I’d like to get to know and hear what makes them tick. Israel, Paul Baloche, Tommy Walker, Perry Noble, Fred Hammond, Brennan Manning, Glenn Packiam, Bob Kauflin and some others immediately came to mind. This friend started telling me that it could be a real possibility to meet a couple of these guys. Needless to say, I was pretty pumped and then Monday I had an epiphany. (I am still excited about any of those opportunities should they arise)

I was listening to Tommy Walker’s “Just Worship” and was thinking how much I’d like to meet him. I even thought about how much fun it would undoubtedly be to write with him. I’ve listened to him for some time and would love that. As I was thinking about it, it hit me that, when this life is over the only name that will matter in the end is Jesus.

Now I’m all about networking and exploring relationships that God might have His hand on, so don’t think that I’m saying anything against that. God has been faithful to introduce me to the right people at the right time. I’ve been blessed with many things and I am not the type of guy to go 200 MPH to track down someone I admire. Maybe that’s a fault and maybe it’s not. Most of the time, I’m pretty sure it’s a little of both.

What I am saying is this. Monday, I had an epiphany that is causing me to look differently at others and myself. As gifted as all the guys I’ve mentioned are, we all serve the same God and get our inspiration from the same Holy Spirit. God has given them a platform to share their gifts and He has placed me where He wants in His kingdom. While I am believing God for bigger and better things to best utilize the gifts He’s placed in my heart, I no longer want to be impressed by people. Respect their giftings, callings and wisdom? Yes. Seek out relationships that God could use in my life and use me in theirs? Absolutely. Be blown away by a person? I hope not.

In the end, His name is the name that will matter. When we’re singing “Just Worship” around the throne, I’m not going to be looking for Tommy then. (although maybe we’ll write some there) ;-) We’ll all be concentrated on the object of our worship. There’s several people that I would more than welcome the opportunity to meet, work or write with, but ultimately there’s One NAME that matters. His name is Jesus.

One of the great joys of my life is being a Dad. I love being with my kids and especially love when we get an opportunity to talk about the real way God interacts with His children. The other week, my son was forgetting a part of a verse we've been praying through every night. I told him that Jesus said the Holy Spirit would help him remember everything that Jesus taught us and had him ask the Holy Spirit for the word. Immediately he said "compassion" with this big look of surprise on his face.

A couple of days later, I was talking to my kids, 4 and almost 7, about hearing God speak to us. I used my son's example from a couple of days earlier and I was encouraging them to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to them in prayer, give them direction etc. My four year old interrupted me to tell me that she already knew that God wanted to talk to her. She learned it in Sunday School. (big shout out to our 4 year old teachers!) So I asked her if she'd ever heard God speak. Here's how the conversation played out:

Mercy: Oh yeah.
Me: What does he sound like?
Mercy: Daddy. He sounds just like you.
Me: (muffled sound...trying not to cry)

My wife and I have always hoped to be the kind of parents that our kids would grow up to say, if God is like Mommy and Daddy, then I want to know Him. We've also prayed that they would far exceed us in all things pertaining to life and Godliness. Here's believing that these are just the first in a long line of confirmations that they are well on their way.

Here’s the last installment on Psalm 138. I’ll have a blog up early next week about something family/worship oriented. Please feel free to leave some comments on your thoughts on Psalm 138.

“Though the Lord is on high, He looks upon the lowly, but the proud He knows from afar. Though I walk through the midst of trouble, You preserve my life; You stretch out Your hand against the anger of my foes, with Your right hand You save me. The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your love, O Lord, endures forever-do not abandon the works of Your Hand.”~~Psalm 138:6-9

So, the worshiper moves from a personal choice to worship, to a cry for justice, to a personal prayer. He first acknowledges the Lord’s elevated state and then articulates one of the great mysteries of Diety. That God “looks upon the lowly”. Isn’t it amazing that God takes time to look on us? I find great comfort in this. Knowing that He walks with me in trouble, preserves my life and reproofs the anger of my enemies. What an amazing God.

One interesting warning here is that while God looks on the lowly He “knows the proud from afar”. The psalmist was again looking back to Solomon’s wisdom. This time in Proverbs 3:34:

“The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Sidebar-This is an important point for worship leaders in particular. As musical people we are more naturally inclined to egotism and should be doubly on guard for this. God not only “sees the proud from afar”, but the scripture further teaches that He is in opposition to those that are filled with pride. That’s why Peter preceded his quote of this proverb with “Clothe yourselves in humility toward one another, because…” (1 Peter 5:5) God forbid us from walking in the “I’m better than they are” mentality and competitiveness in worship that actively blocks the Lord’s favor and presence.–Sidebar End

Verse seven is one of my favorites in this passage. This exiled and belittled worshiper realizes that God is not finished! He will accomplish His purpose. The psalmist recognizes, and relishes, God’s authoritative plan and reason for this season of his walk. That the love of God endures forever regardless of what present circumstances would seem to say.

This worshiper sets the tone for those of us who find ourselves suffering under the hands of the unjust. First we choose to worship, then we pray for those causing the trouble, prophesy over them and find our conclusive peace in the fact that God has not forgotten us.

As I’ve studied this passage I am very grateful that they left the last line in. “Do not abandon the work of Your hands.” After this empowering worship time, the worshiper is still checking to make sure that God is still there. I love to see the humanity of the writers of the Psalms. One moment he is prophesying the release from exile and a few verses later reminding God not to forget about him. That makes me feel a little more normal.

Here’s part 2 of the study on Psalm 138. I’m trying this out this week and will return to mainly blogging about worship leading stuff next week.

“May all the kings of the earth praise You, O Lord, when they hear the words of Your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.” Psalm 138:4&5

If you’ll remember from the previous post on this chapter, this was most likely written while Israel was in captivity. It’s interesting that after the psalmist made his choice to worship personally, his next step is to pray that all the rulers would do the same. This is a worshiper not contented with just worshipping on his own, but someone passionate about seeing God’s fame proclaimed in every place.

He not only prays that they would praise the Lord. He prays that they “hear the words of Your mouth”. He is praying here for a pagan king to hear and respond to the voice of God. Perhaps the Psalmist had Proverbs 21:1 in mind. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases.”

If, as some scholars say, this was written during the Babylonian exile, then we see the answer to this prayer in 2 Chronicles 36:22, Ezra 1:1.

"In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:" 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of His people among you—may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.' "

I find that fascinating. That this psalmist; this “composer of sacred songs” (as defined by Webster’s) would help be a catalyst for this kind of social change. Going from a society devoid of faith, to a king proclaiming his “appointment” to rebuild a place of worship for “THE Lord, THE God of heaven” (emphasis added) and crediting God for being the one to "give him the kingdoms of the earth".

I pray that God would use songwriters of this generation to write songs that stir the faith of the church to believe in the power of God to change the hearts of kings.

I was reading Psalm 138 this morning and thought it might be a good exercise to try and go through this chapter in 3 parts and dissect it some. Hope it's has fun to read as it is to write. This is my first crack at this kind of blogging, so we'll see how it pans out. I'm not wanting to depart from my usual, worship leading focused stuff, just was struck by this passage. I will be posting part two on Wednesday with part three coming on Thursday. Here we go:

"I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing Your praise. I will bow down toward Your holy temple and will praise Your Name for Your love and faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your Name and Your Word. When I called, You answered me; You made me bold and stouthearted."~~Psalm 138:1-3 (NIV)

Some people have said that, based on verse one "before the "gods" I will sing Your praise", that the psalmist (probably not David) was most likely exiled in a foreign land when he wrote this. Some believe it was written during the Babylonian exile.

Imagine the scene of being in a place that was unfamiliar to you. Almost everyone else is worshiping a false "god" or idol. You are surrounded by people who most likely ridicule your faith. The psalmist declared that even in the midst of all that that he would not be stopped in his pursuit of praising God. He said he would sing the praise of God before all these other "gods". When faced with things claiming to be bigger than God Himself, the worshiper responds by offering praise to the one true God and to Him only.

Many times in our worship service we will use verse 2 to inspire worship. God has exalted His Name and His Word above all things. Above principalities, power, disease, sin and death. The worshiper here is taking comfort in knowing that although he is surrounded by falsehood and oppression, God is exalted above all those things. That despite what present circumstance would seem to say; God is still filled with love and could still be called faithful.

Have you ever been in a circumstance that would threaten to rob you of the desire to worship God? Surrounded by people that worship other things? Overwhelmed by your present predicament? The worshiper in this passage says that worship happens regardless. Maybe he took his cue from David who penned these words after pretending to be insane before Amibelech to preserve his own life:
"I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth."~~Psalm 34:1
He also echoes the sentiment of David further down in Psalm 34 by declaring that the Lord not only heard, but answered and made him "bold and stouthearted".

I don't know about you, but I've found myself in some situations in the last year that required me to be stouthearted beyond my capabilities. It is in times like these that worship can be a catalyst for life-changing connection with God that can fill us with that that we need most. Wherever you find yourself today, take some time to sing out with all your heart. He's ready. Not just to hear; but respond and make you bold and stouthearted.

Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you all know that I was featured in the Worship Leader Profile section of Worship Leader Magazine this month (May 2008). I connected with Phil @ WL about a year and a half ago and have enjoyed getting to connect with them. I've enjoyed their magazine for about 6 years now. I'm extremely humbled/honored to be featured and have the opportunity to contribute in some small way.

You can pick up a copy in your local Christian Bookstore. If you're a worship leader or pastor, I would recommend that you get a subscription. I look forward to reading it every time it comes in.

Here's an interesting audio blog from Pastor Steven Furtick at Elevation Church. It's about how worship leaders can serve the vision of the Senior Pastor of the church. Check it out if you're a worship leader or a pastor.

http://www.stevenfurtick.com/audio-blogs/me-and-my-worship-leaders/

My favorite place to worship in my church is...where the kids worship. Our 4 year olds-5th graders all worship together in their own worship space on Wednesday nights. I love all our other teams and can experience the Lord wherever on our campus, but that is my favorite place to be during worship. They jump around and do some things you can't get away with in "big" church. (some of that is for good reasons) They worship with such abandon, innocence and enthusiasm.

Something about kid's worship always gets me. The Bible says that, "Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants you have perfected praise". Interestingly enough, in this passage (Matthew 21:12-16), Jesus had just gotten a little ticked with the manipulation of people in the temple and cleaned house. Afterwards, the blind and lame came to Him and He healed them. What should have been beautiful about this visit to the temple is that the Messiah was finally there. He had come to bring purity and healing to His house; to re-establish it's purpose. The chief priests, some of whom were benefiting from the scams, were furious. The children, on the other hand, cried out and were saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David". Their innocence allowed them to see what the spiritual leaders refused to recognize.

Kids worship with a purity and innocence that is so easy to lose as you get older. When children worship, really worship not just sing songs, I find myself broken. There is nothing like seeing kids with hands raised in worship, singing like it is the most important thing they could ever do. And if they start crying as they worship; forget about it, I'm officially done leading. I can't even continue when I see kids truly experiencing Him. Having a 4 and 6 year old seals the deal. When I hear them sing from their heart, in the car, the house or on Wednesdays at PowerKids my passion for Jesus is renewed. I love seeing kids experience God's presence.

I was praying with Judah, my 6 year old, the other day about having a "Transformer's Mind" (another topic) and I sensed the presence of the Lord, so I asked him how he felt during the prayer. Did he feel anything "different"? His response..."I felt kind of tingly. Like I knew Jesus was there. Kind of like spidey-sense." I don't know about you, but reading that just made my spiritual "spidey-sense" go off. Lord help us to keep our childlike sense of wonderment, amazement and enthusiasm for Your presence.

In our staff meeting this week, I felt like we should talk about how to deal with inter-personal conflict. I came up with 4 guidelines for dealing with conflict. This is by no means an all-inclusive list, just some of my thoughts.

1.Always Look Inwardly before addressing faults in others.-Jesus said that we shouldn’t try and remove sawdust from someone else’s eye before removing the plank in our own. (Matthew 7:3-5) Everyone knows that the eye is a sensitive area to be poking around. As a guy who has contacts, I know what the pain of missing the contact and hitting the eye is all about. I wouldn't want to do that to anyone else. Refusing to look inwardly before dealing with inter-personal conflict can cloud our vision and make us do more harm than good for those we serve with.

2.Confront Directly-While it is acceptable, and sometimes admirable, to seek advice from other trusted leaders, if anything is going to be solved you have to address the person directly. Matthew 18:15 says that “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.” Another passage says that love covers a multitude of sins.(1 Peter 4:8) As leaders, I believe we should cover those that serve around, with and over us. We should not, however, ignore attitudes or actions that are detrimental to our team environments. We should confront head on and in love.

3.Find the Deeper Issue- So many times, the issue, or conflict, is indicative of a deeper issue. We should Ask the Holy Spirit to help us overlook their actions and give us discernment to find the "heart of the matter". We can spend our time diagnosing symptoms, or we can find out what is truly happening in the heart of the other person, and ourselves, and ask God for deep, inner healing of our relationships.

4.Seek to be Reconciled over being right- Relationships are always more important than issues. That doesn’t mean that we can’t, or shouldn’t provide discipline or correction, but it means that when hit with an impasse, that we should lead the way in humility and reconciliation. 1 Corinthians 5:18-19 says; "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." I'm personally thankful that God isn't counting my sins against me. I want desperately to be like Him in that regard. That doesn't mean that there's is never a time to part ways or ask volunteers to step down, but I believe it does mean that regardless of how relationships shake out there is always room for forgiveness.

"I been trying to get down to the heart of the matter. But my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter..." Ladies and Gentlemen, Don Henley. Modern day prophet. (said with tongue in cheek)



I had a friend call me this week with a worship team issue this week and there were so many things swirling around that it seemed like there were 15-20 issues happening at once. Generally when I've seen this happen with my teams, or individuals on my teams, there is one thing causing most of the other things happening. The "heart of the matter" either personally or corporately.

It is easy as a leader to diagnose and treat symptoms, but it takes guts to cut through the junk and find what is really causing the issues. Someone may ask why someone else gets to lead the band for a week or someone else leads a song. Why didn't I get asked to do a solo? Why did you feel like you had to bring in a guest leader while you were away? Sometimes you may never hear those questions at all and someone will just become a little passive-aggressive in rehearsal and you won't know where it came from.

This is where having relationships with those on your team is key. Let's say that "Johnny" starts fuming that he didn't get a guitar solo this week. What's the root issue? The closer I am to "Johnny", the better I'll be able to diagnose the "heart of the matter". It could be pride. It could be a lack of self confidence and the need for the approval of others. Maybe the last worship leader he served under didn't appreciate his gifts. It could be any number of things ranging from private sin to a crummy day at work. Those are all very different issues with different solutions, but if I only react to the surface thing then I'll miss the opportunity to lead "Johnny" well.

We all want to grow together as believers and sometimes that takes a willingness to dig past the surface. It doesn't mean that it will be easier. It's easier to tell "Johnny" you shouldn't react that way, than it is to tell "Johnny" that God is trying to deal with him about pride or asking him to join you in prayer to figure out what triggers this in him.

One of my passions is to see God release destiny in others. If I'm to be a true agent of change and release in others, then I have to push pass my "will gets weak and my thoughts start to scatter" and ask the Holy Spirit for His discernment and clarity to help the "Johnnies" in my world and myself get down to the "heart of the matter".

I had a great chance to worship with two great friends this weekend. Tony Sutherland and I were at my boy Mike Craig's church. My friends Wayne and Jaron showed up as well and it was nice to just have some free worship time with friends. Mike and I have literally known each other our whole lives. We are a month and a day apart and our parents attended church together when we were born. Relationships with that depth are rare and I'm very thankful for him and what his family and friendship mean to me.

During one of our worship times I felt the Lord tell me to just seek Him for who He is. I so often find myself seeking the Lord for specific things. Some direction here. How to handle a situation with a worship team member there. Here an issue, there an issue, everywhere a issue, issue. I felt a distinct sense of needing to lay some of that down (although there is nothing wrong with praying for/through issues) and just spend more time seeking Him just to know Him more.

So tonight in my office, I was praying for some of our worship team, for some friends and also just talking to the Lord asking Him more about Him. I was specifically trying to understand a certain aspect of what He is doing in my life that I don't understand. I heard this in my heart; "Sometimes you just need to embrace the mystery. Don't get so caught up in trying to "figure" Me out. My ways are higher than yours. My thoughts are higher than yours."

There are so many things I may never understand. Why the God of all the universe would love and choose me. Why He would come and die. Why He would create us in the first place knowing that that was the eventual outcome. Why He speaks through people like me when several people are more qualified. Eternity? How does it work?

I'm glad to serve a God that I can't figure out and am going to take more time to "embrace the mystery" of who He is and just enjoy Him.

I've been a little under the weather this weekend. This gave me a lot of couch time which I used to watch B-Ball, finish reading a book, pray, snuggle with my kids and watch the Travel Channel. They have a show, "Living with the Mek", that is just fascinating. It's about two westerners who live with this ancient tribe in West Papua. As I was watching it, it dawned on me that these people only had their families, fields and hunting to occupy their time. I wondered what I would do if there was no 9-5. No email, no cell phone, no church building, no keyboard, no basketball.

It's so easy to find meaning and value in the things that in the final analysis can be distractions from the main things in life. Not saying that any of these things are bad, but when all the peripherals are swept away we are left with our God, our family, our food, our shelter and our friends. I need to place more priority on those things and less on the distractions my comparatively modern life has to offer.

I had the chance to baptize my son a couple of weeks ago. What a blessing! Check it out! Peace...adam

I had this thought that struck me the other day while I was on the road to lead worship at a friend's church. "What am I telling my kids with my non-verbal actions that life is about?" I was thinking about everything that I place priority on in my life and how, when I'm gone and they're grown, they are going to take cues on how life should be lived from me. I can leave them at home while I go and do the work God has called me to and they will most likely grow up and do the same with their kids. I could sit at home and only watch TV and they will probably do the same. You get the idea.

I thought I would challenge myself, and some of my friends, on this idea. I would say that I am most passionate about Jesus, my wife, my kids, others and then everything else. But, the actions that my kids see might portray a different set of priorities. They see me after I'm done praying/worshiping/leading/mentoring/studying etc. They don't get to see a lot of the more "spiritual" things that I do. So as I took an honest inventory of what they do see, I felt like my kids would know a few things if I were gone tomorrow.

1. Jesus is the most important thing.
2. We should worship with passion.
3. I love their Mom more than anyone else. (so far so good)
4. Tarheel Basketball is VERY important.
5. The TV can stay on most of the time. (uh-oh)
6. Having fun with friends is one of the most important things in life.
7. Daddy's PlayStation is a lot of fun and I should definitely learn how to play it.
8. The computer and cell phone trump most things.

1-3 are pretty good, but the rest of the list isn't reflective of my true priorities (at least in my heart) but it is probably what they see. That last one hurts especially bad. I thought about how I read and I pray, but rarely in front of my kids. Don't get me wrong, we bless our kids every night. We talk about God. What His Word says. How its principles should affect how we live our everyday lives. But they don't see me pounding it down, working it through, talking about it with friends, asking the Holy Spirit for wisdom.

When I'm gone, I want my kids to be able to know how they should live. I want them to say, "I saw my Dad and Mom live it; now it's my turn and my turn to teach my kids the same." I am sending this out to a few friends and asking them, "What is my life telling my kids?" and "What do I want it to be telling them?" If they allow me, I'll post some of their thoughts here.

I, for one, intend to start being a little more intentional with what my non-verbal communications say to my kids. I want them to know that a relationship with God changes who we are, prioritizes our life and gives us an eternal perspective. I want them to know God is alive and well, not just by what they hear, but by what they see.

This weekend we celebrate Easter. The holiest of days for our faith. Our church has a Good Friday service that focuses our attention on the price paid for our sins. I really enjoy this time of reflection and find myself coming out of it with a renewed commitment to not let His sacrifice be in vain. I thought I would take a couple of moments to write about what His Resurrection means to me.

Check out this quote:

"Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection."--Watchman Nee

This is what it means to me. That my imperfect life finds its perfection in the resurrected Christ. He carried with Him all my sin and shame to the grave. He carried the weight of my mistakes; past, present and future. As a worshiper, this pushes me to worship more than anything else. I am so undeserving of love and redemption and yet He did it anyway. My Dad always told me growing up that "if I were the only one that would've given my life to Him Jesus still would've died for me." That insight into the passionate love Jesus has for each of us has propelled my life forward as a worshiper from a young age and continues to push me forward now.

His resurrection means I am free from the law of sin and death.
His resurrection means I am no longer bound to serve my flesh.
His resurrection means I am able to walk in the Spirit.
His resurrection means I can call God my Father.
His resurrection means I can come into His presence without fear.
His resurrection means I can connect to God. Anytime. Anywhere.
His resurrection means I have a purpose to this life.
His resurrection means I don't have to fear death.
His resurrection means I am His.
His resurrection means He is mine.
His resurrection means He's my friend.

Take some time to reflect on how the resurrection of Jesus has changed you and what it means to you. I'd love to hear about it!