jon mark music

sooo, i’ve heard this song on the radio…more than once…couldn’t get it out of my head tonight…then i saw the lyrics and watched their video (which can not be embedded…sooo i’ve inserted this one, with the lyrics…)

now i can’t stop singing this song…it even became a family activity tonight…now

i’m digesting…

sooo, there’s a word that has been coming up in the past few weeks…

PASSION…

i’ve used this word in several conversations…with several different people…and i’ve really been taking a look at my own life and seeing areas where i’ve had PASSION before, but it’s been lacking recently…i’ll be honest with you…that bothers me makes me FLIPPIN MAD!!!

God has given me a PASSION to lead people closer to Him…closer to what He has created them to be…and a couple weeks ago i was able to do just that…in leading ONE God, ONE Voice, ONE Night…i didn’t want to simply lead worship…i wanted to lead people closer to Christ…through song…through scripture…through seeing what God was doing in a ministry called Royal Family Kids Camp and allowing people to be a part of that work…

in the process of planning and preparing for the event i was amazed at what all needed to get taken care…i had no idea going into it, what all would be required of me…there were so many details that needed ironed out…and they seemed to change all the time…there were moments when i was STRESSED to the MAX!!!

but thanks to this thing called PASSION…it didn’t matter what came up…what was messed up…what i screwed up…i had to lead…i had to press on…and in the end i may have been completely exhausted…but it was sooo worth it…when i should have crashed, i couldn’t sleep…i just kept running through each and every detail of the day and the event…excited to see the reaction of people and how God was working in their lives…excited to be a part of what He was doing…

this all helped me realize something…i may have the microphone taken from me…i may not have the opportunity to lead worship EVER again…i may NEVER get a call from a church to come and serve in full-time ministry…but i have a family that needs a leader…i have people around me that are thirsty for a leader….a leader with PASSION…and people, circumstances, and the areas i’m lacking in can’t/WON’T take away my…

PASSION…

it’s something that God has given me…it’s something that i have to do…it’s a PASSION to lead people…i have to lead…i have to press on…NO MATTER WHAT!!!

i’m sooo thankful that God has a PASSION for me…a PASSION sooo strong that my mind can’t comprehend it…it caused Him to give His only Son…i HAVE TO strive for that same PASSION in my own life…to keep it burning strong…NO MATTER WHAT!!!

PASSION…

sooo, this morning there will be a time of mourning and celebrating all at once…mourning the loss of a great wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter, and daughter of God…at the same time we are celebrating the end of a long and brutal battle with cancer and the fact that robin is now with her heavenly Father…my prayers, and hopefully yours as well, are with my friend gary and his four children as they take the next steps in life…

a song that robin requested…save a place for me by matthew west…VERY fitting…gonna be a tough one for me to get through…but nothing like what gary and the entire family have been through!!!

save a place…

sooo, this week is HUGE…only six days left until ONE God, ONE Voice, ONE Night…NINETEEN songs to memorize music and lyrics for…details to work out…tickets to sell…and a voice to get back!!!

but in all the madness i DON’T want to forget about why we are doing this…

first we are getting rid of the denominational walls…getting rid of the hype of who’s church is or isn’t doing it…not using some national band to pull in people…we are gathering together to worship ONE God…with ONE Voice…ONE Night…simply because HE is ALL that matters!!!

second we are raising support for Royal Family Kids Camp (RFKC)…it is an AMAZING ministry to at risk children here in our area…a chance to show the love of Christ and do what He did, just love on them…it costs roughly $35,000.00 to run the camp each year…it takes a TON of volunteers and volunteer hours…and they just finished up the 2010 camp at the end of June…

my goal is to send them out of the gate in a BIG way for the 2011 camp…i’m asking God to provide first-time volunteers to work the camp…i’m asking God to bring in new prayer warriors for that ministry…and i’m asking God to provide AT LEAST $5,000.00 of their programming costs…

at first that number sounded HUGE…then i thought about the little publicity and advertising that this event has received…the lack of a national band…the fact that we are already asking people to pay to get in…NOT TO MENTION the screw up that’s leading it…OH WAIT…GOD is leading this…$5,000.00 might just be IS a little to small of a task for Him!!!

here’s what i need you to do…PRAY…ask God what role He wants you to play in this…ask Him what to give to RFKC…then GIVE…even if you can’t be there that night, God can still use you to bless that ministry…

i can’t wait to see what God has in store for all of us…i can’t wait to be a part of what God is doing…and i can’t wait to once again see God show off how BIG He is!!!

please pray…please give…that’s…

all i’m asking…