jon mark music

a special utensil…

November 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment

special utensil

sooo, this week i’ve been stuck on a passage…mainly due to my LAC K of time reading…but also because of the thought contained in just two verses…i’m reading in second timothy chapter two…i come to this little analogy of utensils and what they are used for and even why that is…check it out…

20 In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. 21 If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.

that’s nothing earth shattering really…especially with thanksgiving coming up…i can remember my grandma or my great aunt always having the big wooden box of silverware each year…polished to perfection of course…it was only brought out for the big holiday gatherings when the whole family was there…i get the point…

i guess the thing that is sticking out to me the most is that there is only ONE requirement given to be…

a special utensil…

if you keep yourself pure…that’s it…that’s the only instruction or requirement given…sounds simple enough right??? i mean there is only ONE step…and now that i’m a parent and have the great pleasure of putting together toys and children’s furniture…ONE step instructions are my kind of instructions!!!

but it’s really not that simple is it…there are sooo many aspects to the concept of being pure…in heart…in mind…in actions…in motives…and of course that one that will come to the mind of most reading this…being sexually pure…it really isn’t a set of ONE step instructions after all…

however it is still something that every follower of Christ should be striving for…every day we should be asking God to show us the areas of our lives that need some purifying…we should be allowing him to purify us…we should be seeking the help of other brothers and sisters in Christ…we should

but do we??? do i???

i really don’t want to be one of  the cheap ones…i pray that you don’t either…sooo i ask you to seek God today and ask Him what areas in your life need His purifying…then allow Him to do just that…to make you…

a special utensil

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thankful thursday…is BACK!!!

November 5, 2009 · 4 Comments

smile

sooo, it’s been almost a year since i’ve done a thankful thursday here on my blog…for those of you who have NO IDEA what i’m talking about…well, you would be the majority of the world, so no worries…it’s just a little time set aside on my blog to be reminded of all that i have to be thankful for… i must say i’m missing it this week…sooo…

thankful thursday…is BACK!!!

this week i’m thankful for a lot of sleep…i’m thankful for time to visit with my grandparents…i’m thankful for two jobs…i’m thankful for people who care enough to ask tough questions…i’m thankful for my cooper’s HUGE smile…i’m thankful for my molly’s bedhead and morning breath…i’m thankful for the joy and challenge of being  father…i’m thankful for an amazing wife who doubles as an amazing mother each day and triples as an amazing physical therapist…i’m thankful for a healthy family…i’m thankful that kasey no longer has to see her kidney specialist…i’m thankful for a God that loves me more than i can ever comprehend…i’m thankful for the fact that He chooses to use me…i’m thankful that He provides for me…i’m thankful for a warm house…i’m thankful for two cars that both ran this morning and got my family where we all needed to go…i’m thankful for my thursday morning st. arbucks run…i’m thankful that bromine joined me this morning for some bean…

sooo there you have it…now it’s your turn…let’s hear what you are thankful for…this is how it works…at the bottom of the page you type in your name, e-mail address, and then what it is that you are thankful for this week…then hit the “submit” button…don’t forget to check back and see what others have to be thankful for…and for those lurkers who don’t share…shame on YOU!!!

come on…

thankful thursday…is BACK!!!

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sunday setlists…LIVE…11/1/09…

November 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment

leading

sooo, this is another post submitted as a part of the craziness over on fred’s blog…it’s a weekly hot spot for worship leaders to blog about what all happened in their weekend services…GO CHECK IT OUT!!!

as usual i was in the LIVE services at lima community church…well, i was in the sunday morning LIVE services…here we go…

this weekend we started our services off with our video anouncements and a quick meet and greet time…

1. one way…by hillsong united

2.everyday…by lincoln brewster

3. revelation song…by gateway worship

4. the more i seek You…by kari jobe

at this point the service host came up and set up our offering time, as well as made a couple of announcements…

5. hosanna…as recorded by starfield

then we had our message…this week our connections pastor, cindy porter, gave the message…it was focused on accountability and having a “running partner”…she challenged people to commit to finding and accountability partner and explained how to go about that…

6. the more i seek you…by kari jobe

______________________________________________________________

sooo, this past weekend was AWESOME!!!

first i had a “c0-leader” for the second time in as many weeks…this time it was chris white…he actually lead on saturday night so i could spend time with my family…then when sunday morning came around…everyone lead at some point…i was able to just play my acoustic and worship with everyone, more than i was leading…

it’s not the norm for me…it felt a little odd, i must admit…i’m WAY too much of a perfectionist/control freak!!!

but we all survived…and i must say everyone did an amazing job…on the last song i didn’t even bother singing because they knocked it out of the park…i didn’t want to mess that up at all…i just felt like i was having too much fun and doing too little work!!!

it was funny because after the services i kept hearing the same compliments over and over…they were all about the song i didn’t sing on…everyone loved it sooo much…good thing i don’t depend on the encouragement of others!!!

there were some last minute changes, which is the norm…but these changes made the service a little simpler…we actually postponed communion due to a couple confirmed cases of H1N1 among our congregation…(we are making a couple adjustments in how we will be taking communion and continuing on this coming weekend…)

overall it was a great weekend at lima community church…and it was a great weekend for me!!!

sooo there you have it…

sunday setlists…LIVE…11/1/09…

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scare the HELL out of you?!?

October 30, 2009 · 8 Comments

scared

sooo, it’s that time of year again…everyone dresses up in some sort of costume and begs for candy…i must say it’s just quite annoying to me…especially when you have so many LAZY parents that drive from house to house as opposed to walking with their kids…i saw quite a bit of that last night!!!

but that’s not the point of this post…so i’m moving on…

in addition to the costumes…some various places will invite you spend money and walk through their “haunted” house, cornfield, or woods…and i’ve done that once or twice in my life…it can be quite the adrenaline rush!!!

but then there are religious organizations that do this as well…they get your adrenaline flowing…manipulate your emotions just a bit…and then they play the trump card…they try to…

scare the HELL out of you?!?

they present the Gospel…they tell you how Christ died for you and give you the opportunity to make Him your Savior…that way you will get to spend eternity in heaven…right!?!

i’ll be honest and say that this leaves a real akward taste in my mouth…i’m not so sure that i agree with the concept…but that’s just me…i mean i was even a part of a ministry team in college, where this was a BIG deal each year…SCAREMARE…and churches would bring their teens from all over…thousands would come through…it was insane!!!

but, it just doesn’t sit right with me…i think that is because we are called to make “disciples”…not just to get people to make a one time decision…not to mention that they are doing so while their emotions and mind have just been severely manipulated…but again, that’s just me…

sooo, i would be interested in hearing from you…what is your take on this…is it something that religious organizations should be taking part in…is it a tool for ministry???

can they really…

scare the HELL out of you?!?

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odd…strange…maybe quirky!?!

October 29, 2009 · 2 Comments

odd...strange

sooo this morning i was reminded of something that i do…without really paying much attention…

i have this “thing” that i do every time i get a  cup of BEAN…i have to line things up…i line up the logo on the java jacket with the logo on the cup…then i line up the lid as well and make sure the hole i’m drinking from is directly above the center of the logos below…

odd…strange…maybe quirky!?!

my question is…what is it that you do…maybe on a daily basis…that is…

odd…strange…maybe quirky!?!

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