One of the finest Worship Leaders I have ever known

I was invited to a church choir concert tonight.  The concert was at a church that we used to attend a few years ago.  We felt God releasing us from what we doing there and calling us to the church that we attend now.

We left that church with mixed emotions.  One of the emotions that we experienced when we left was the emotion and feeling of loss.  Loss of the blessing of watching a person with a true gift of God use it to bring glory and honor to Him.  While at that church we had an opportunity to observe one of the finest Ministers of Music or Worship Leaders that I have ever known.  He leads worship with such a passion that it is hard to put down in words.  It is a blessing just to watch him lead the choir and exhort them to sing with their whole heart.

I sat in the congregation tonight and just basked in the glory of God as we listened to some new music and some old standards of the church sung by the choir.  I was deeply moved by some of the music.  I watched with a sense of awe as the director led the choir tonight.  He was leading.  And they were following.  And God was getting the glory.

Thank you Mark Terry for all that have done and are doing for the Kingdom.  I always feel like I have worshiped when you lead in worship.

Launching a new blog

Well, I decided to go ahead and launch a new blog.  It is called, "What is it there for(e)?"  I have no plans to diminish the frequency of posting to this one.  But, I don't think that this one fits exactly with what I am wanting to do on "What is it there for(e)?" blog. 

It is still in its infancy.  I don't have a lot of the extras or widgets on it yet.  But, it is launched.  And that is the goal for this week-end.  I have another post already to go.  But, I will post it later on this week-end.

I hope you will be an active participant in the dialog on the new blog also.  Feel free to send me suggestions for good "Therefore" posts. 

After all, isn't that what blogs are there for?

Considering another blog . . .

I don't seem to have time to keep this blog updated. And yet, I have an idea rattling around inside my head that I may need to spend some time developing. It goes sort of like this.

I heard a preacher say many years ago, "Whenever you come across a "Therefore" in the Bible, you need to stop and figure out exactly what it is there for."  That was good advice then and it is good advice now.  Therefore, I am working on launching a new blog that will just deal with passages in the Bible that begin with "Therefore . . ."  I plan to pause a while and look at the verse in context and see what it has to say to me. 

What do you think?  Do you have any suggestions?  If so, send them to me by email or post them as comments on this blog.  I plan to get my first post out this week-end.  But, we'll see how that goes.

I am a "House Cut"

This is a little out of ordinary for my blog, but a thought came to me today. Now that alone is somewhat blogworthy. But, I am going to try to make an application to the theme of my blog.

Several years ago I gave up on dealing with my hair. What hair that I had left was not, nor had ever been, very cooperative. It tended to want to go wherever it wanted despite the lotions and potions that I piled on it to keep it down. So, one day, I asked my barber to make a suggestion. She suggested that I just go to a "#1 or #2" razor guard, cut it really short and be done with it. I did it and I loved it.

What freedom came with that decision. I no longer had to wait in line for the particular barber that remembered how to cut my hair. I now was no longer a "Chair Cut". I was now a "House Cut". All I needed to tell whoever cut my hair was "#1" and they would take it from there.

Simple.

Easy.

Liberating.

Now for the application . . .

How over complicated do we make our lives? How overcomplicated do we make our Christian journey?

I am working on simplifying my Christian journey. I want to focus on the essentials. I want to cut out the extra stuff that denominations and traditions have piled on. Now, don't worry. I am not giving up on my denomination. And I am one of the most traditional guys you can imagine. I just want to simplify things and focus on Jesus and not the trappings of religiosity.

(Don't worry Mom and Dad, I am still firmly a Nazarene!)

I just am starting to catch a glimpse of my own mortality and want to make sure that I am focusing on the "Object" and not the "Frame" that it sits in.

Does that make sense to anyone else?

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