sooo, i’ve just been swamped and haven’t had time to keep up with the sunday setlists…but finally i’ve got a minute…molly is down for the night…mommy is on the phone catching up with friends…so i’m going to take advantage of it…i’m going to join back in with fred and all of the people over on his blog…
last week i was out of town and don’t have a setlist…the week before i didn’t have an extra minute…but the setlist was awesome…it was the opener for a new series on love and marriage…it was highlighted with a little bon jovi, “you give love a bad name”…it was a blast and the people really enjoyed a little throw back to the 80′s rock…
this week we were in week three of our series on love and marriage…rehearsal went very well and we were ready to go for the service…until 10 minutes prior to the service…a cup of coffee is spilled on the video switcher…talk about excitement…video is rather important in a video venue service…we got things going, without the video and use of screens…
1. tell the world…by Hillsong United
- there were two baptisms in the middle of this song and we celebrated with them…we also celebrated getting the video feed back!!!
2. let God arise…by Chris Tomlin
3. here is our King…by David Crowder
4. Your love is deep…by Jami Smith
then we went to our typical coffee break…and for a roll-in to the message…
5. just the two of us…the 1981 version by Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers
overall the service was awesome!!! we had a great response in celebrating baptisms…there was great participation from those in the congregation…i think the authenticity of “technical difficulties” drew some people in…but God’s presence was definitely there…it was great to see people hang around after the service and not want to leave…college students are definitely back, which is a huge boost!!!
sooo, here we are again on another thankful thursday!!! this week there are a ton of things running through my head…there have been so many situations around me, that others are going through…that God just continues to remind me of reasons that i have to be thankful for…so here’s how it works (or it’s supposed to) for those new comers…just let me know what it is that you are thankful for today, or this week…what is it that God is blessing you with…all you do is type your name and an e-mail address and you are good to go…DON’T lurk, it’s not nice…
i’ll get things going here…
i’m thankful again for the good health that God has blessed me with, as well as my family…i’m thankful for a little girl that can walk and talk and get into everything in the house she’s not supposed to get into…i’m thankful that molly can scream at the top of her lungs…i’m thankful that i can hear her do it…i’m thankful for God’s protection as we traveled 20+ hours last weekend…i’m thankful for God’s provision in our lives and that we aren’t in NEED…i’m thankful for celebrating 6 years of marriage this weekend…i’m thankful for coffee that gets me going in the morning…i’m thankful for my own office at work that i can go hide in to do my devotions in the morning…i’m thankful for the amazing friends and family that God has blessed me with and the encouragement they are to me…
there you have it…i may be back and leave more later…but i want to hear from you…
sooo, friday is the release of a new movie…this movie is getting a good deal of publicity, but not enough…sooo i figured i would do my part to get the word out…the questions behind the movie…”how far would you go to keep a promise? how much would you sacrifice to save your marriage?”…i’m excited to go see this movie with kasey this weekend, as we celebrate our 6th anniversary…i’m also excited to see how God is going to use this movie to strengthen and even save marriages, for His honor and glory…even dr. phil is going to do a little promoting of it…
i will say that one thing God is really challenging me with right now, is to eliminate things in my life that are taking up time…time away from my wife and my daughter…it seems like every time i turn around there is something that is trying to further separate us…there is someone else that needs our time or we really need to go do this or do that…often times they are great things in and of themselves, but when they add up…
so that is one thing i am asking God for guidance on, in making our marriage “fireproof”…
how about you…is your marriage “fireproof”…how are you making sure it is…?
sooo, to follow up on yesterday’s post…i found this video this morning…the lyrics are really hitting home with me today and with what God has been speaking to me about…this is “the motions” by matthew west…
sooo, i’ve been “out of the office” since last wednesday, and actually without internet, until last night…that has been a little strange, but i survived!!! and i didn’t really miss out on too much…we drove a total of 10 hours out to missouri and then 10 hours to get back…not to mention all of the driving/riding while we were there, to and from the city…i would say that we drove over 25 hours total in a matter of 5 days…that is a good deal of the waking hours on the road…it seemed to be non-stop, going from one place to another with little time to sit and gather thoughts…
but one thing that seemed to be a theme for me on this trip, is cruise control…i am a HUGE fan of cruise control when i’m traveling on the highway…there are few things in life that annoy me more than people who can’t make up their mind how fast they want to travel…or they allow the phone conversation they are taking part it, decide how fast they should travel…i must admit that this is something that i allow to get under my skin and think rather unGodly thoughts!!! sometimes i even allow some of those thoughts to proceed out of my mouth…not so good, especially now that molly is understanding a lot more…
this got me thinking last night, as i was reflecting on the whole trip…i get agitated at people who don’t use cruise control in their vehicles…i want to keep moving and not be hindered in any way…but when it comes to my relationship with Christ, i allow too many hindrances…and they don’t tend to get me agitated…i’m a fan of sleep, i allow my life to get “too busy”, i have to get things checked off of that to-do list…and when i checked my journal and was reminded that i hadn’t spent time with God in a couple days…i didn’t drop everything and go do that…in fact i let it wait until the next morning…i was using my cruise control, but for another purpose…to take things at a leisurely pace and to get to them when i “had time” to…
at the same time, i have a tendency to go to the opposite extreme and count everything as a hindrance…which in turn closes me completely off and i miss out on opportunities that God has for me to minister to those around me…i need God’s help in finding that balance…in letting Him set the cruise control and change it as He sees fit…
this week i am focusing on not allowing things to dictate the pace at which i run the race…i’m focusing on making my relationship with Christ my priority and letting the to-do list take a backseat…i’m focusing on eliminating the hindrances…i’m focusing on keeping moving and not allowing things to get in the way of me doing what God has for me to do…i’m focusing on seeing people and situations the way that God sees them, and not just counting everything as a hinderance…
