Simple & Fun

Here's a quick 2 part blog for the day.

The Simple part... I've only been a dad for a little over four months, but I've already figured out what I enjoy most. 2 things really. 1st, I love to make my son smile. And 2nd, I love it even more when I can make him laugh. He's just over four months old, so tickling him doesn't work yet. So any smile or laugh you get isn't a cheap one. But when it happens, it's magic. It's a simple thought, but it just reminds me how our Heavenly Father must feel. I pray today that you will be watching for those times when He is trying to get you to smile & that you will notice when He attempts to make you laugh. Rest assured, whenever you do it brings great joy to His heart, as it does the heart of any father.

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Just for fun, here are some of my current favorite links:

I have to start with blinklist. This is a great free tool to bookmark all your favorite sites. Once you Blink it, you can access your favorite web sites from anywhere, from any computer. It's cool & everyone should be into this. You can even share your blinklist!

Next, have you ever been to this web site? If you like t-shirts as much as I do, I think you'll like this fun place to shop, get fun shirt ideas, etc.

Then (& this should be no surprise) I like to keep up with my favorite musician in the world at this site. And his official site. And his label. Yes, his name is Chris Tomlin & No, he hasn't written a song I don't like.

Of course, I'll read this to keep up with the preachers. Mike Cope may have the most read blog in our brotherhood.

If you know me at all, you know I love college football. I keep up with the news as best I can at ESPNU.

For graphics, I lean heavily on iStockphoto, Church Artworks, Uthstuph, as well as some other sites for ideas & inspiration.

Of course, I'm a big fan of apple. I'm becoming a fan of flikr (a web photo hosting site), & then there are sites like BlogU that's cool to check out to get ideas for blogging & template advice.

I guess that's all for now. Adios & Merry Christmas!

Are you thirsty? Come.

Here are some communion thoughts I shared after Jason's sermon on Jesus as the Messiah out of John 4.

Come, all who are thirsty, come to the waters, to the LORD, the hope of Israel, to the fountain of living water. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me & drink. For whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be your shepherd, & he will guide you to springs of living water, & God will wipe away every tear from your eyes. To the thirsty He will give water from the spring of the water of life. The Spirit & the bride say, "Come!" And let those who hear say, "Come!" Let those who are thirsty come. And let all who wish take the free gift of the water of life. Come.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Isaiah 55; Jeremiah 17:13; John 7:37, 38; Revelation 7:17; 21:6; 22:17; Psalm 42.

Thirsty? What I love most about the woman in John 4 is that she was thirsty. She simply came to the well. She came to Jesus. She came with all her baggage. She was the last person on the planet that the King of the Jews was supposed to have a conversation with. Yet once again our Messiah has a message in the form of humility & a heart of compassion. He reaches out to this needy soul in tenderness & care & offers this woman what she could never have hoped for.

Throughout the story of God water has played a key role. Moses struck a rock & a thirsty nation drank & was satisfied. Noah built a boat as the rain waters washed away a sinful people. On & on throughout the stories of the Bible water plays a key role in the lives of it's main characters. Moses, Joseph, Gideon, Jonah, Elijah, Paul, etc. And water is used by God as a means of purification for his people.

Jesus stands today as he stood over 2000 years ago before this woman at the well as the source of living water. Are you thirsty? Are you tired & weary from your journey. Has the weight of temptation & sin brought you down. Has the complications of life worn you out. Do you have more troubles than you can count. Are you tired? Are you weary? Are you thirsty? The message of Jesus is COME. Com & I will give you rest. Come & drink from me, the fountain of living water. Come & be refreshed, renewed, restored. His body was broken & He was betrayed so that you & I could come & drink. Jesus dies on the cross so that we could come. Just as we are. Without any need to impress him or hide our shortcomings from him. He's more concerned with who we are going to be today than who we were yesterday. He cares more about our presence than He does our perfection. And His message today is come. Today if you are thirsty, come. Come. Just as you are. Come & drink deeply. All those who are thirsty. All those who are weak. Come.

------

Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.
John 19:28-34

It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was the Passover). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

Jesus was thirsty & we gave him nothing to drink. Yet His life was poured out like a drink offering for our sin. A spear was thrust into His side, & from the wound flowed blood & water. Even in His death on the cross He has given us the image of what salvation looks like. It comes through blood & water. The Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. And we also know the power of purification that water has for those of us who believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus gave His life as an offering for you, that you might have living water.

If I only had time...

Well, with the new beta blogger, I've tweaked the look of this blog. Do you like the new header? You know, if I only had time, I could really get into this stuff. I mean, I get to do a little design here & there... but I think I could really get into it if I ever really had the chance. Have I said "really" enough times yet.

Backwards

Temptation has been the latest topic we've been discussing in teen world at Mayfair. Our latest series entitled, "Pause: Because Everybody struggles" has been happening for the last month or so. We've gone back to the temptations of Jesus to try to figure a few things out.

I have learned a lot through this series. In particular, I continue to be drawn back to Jesus' second temptation. The temptation to test God. Satan took Jesus to the highest point of the temple & says Jump! The temptation? If Jesus jumps from the temple, angels will come to his rescue. All the priests, high priests, chief priests, religious leaders, the "who's who" of Jesus' day & time will know right then & there that Jesus is who he says he is & that Yahweh has great concern for this One. In fact, the stories might be true that when this man was baptized, a voice from heaven proclaimed, "This is My Son in Whom I AM well pleased!" (my paraphrase.) The temptation? To manipulate God to act on his behalf. To test God. To make plans & take actions & then ask God on the back end to bless those plans & actions.

How often do we do the same thing? Jump into something because it's what we want & then ask God to bless us. Ask God to intervene. If only we would start with God. If only I would start with God, with God's desires, with God's purposes in mind & ask Him what I should do to fulfill His plans. I know I'm so guilty of this. I take my "great" ideas & put them into action & ask God to bless them.

I've got it all backwards. It should all begin with God. He will bless those things He intends to happen. O that His desires would become my desires & His ways my ways. Help me Father to begin with You & let everything else go & evaporate into nothingness. And help me to be ready to go in the direction you point me in, knowing You have gone before me. Thank you, Father.

Pray for Siberia

Just a quick note to ask you to pray for my good friend Jon Owen & his mission team over in Siberia today. Check out his blog to read his updates. They have an amazing opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of some precious children for the name of Christ. As they work this week to share the love of Christ with the needy, the downtrodden, the "least of these," let's join them & encourage them through prayer. As Jon says, "Jesus had a tendency to be drawn to the rejected. Pray this week for the rejected to be drawn to Jesus."


http://jonowen.blogspot.com/

Change

I've ignored this blog for so long, I don't think anyone checks it anymore. That's probably a good thing. In so many things I'm consistent, & in so many other things I'm inconsistent. This is one of those things. And while I doubt that will really change, I know I should be more faithful in putting my thoughts out there. If for no other reason than the simple fact that it forces me to think. So maybe this should change.

I've never been a fan of change for the sake of change. I'm not talking about the coinage rattling around in my pocket. I mean changes in life. Not all changes are good things, but in reality many are. Mostly, I find I'm most concerned with change that affects me. And yet that is such a godless approach to life.

Change should be a God centered event. I've always loved Abraham's story. God called him to a land he did not know. A direction he had never been before. Without reason & without explanation Abraham picked up his family & all his positions & went where God led him. I've always hoped I would have that kind of faith. The faith to make a God change in my life.

This year has been a year of change. The birth of our son has been the biggest change event in our lives this year. His introduction into the world was a God event. It's been a good change.

And more change is coming our way. I hope I can embrace change the way men of faith have always embraced it. With faith & trust in God. Knowing He has something better in mind. Perhaps change is just one more tool in God's box to draw us closer to Himself. I hope so. I look forward to the journey.

4479

4479. It's a number that probably doesn't mean much to anybody but me. But for me, it's significant. After the birth of our son, Will, on August 1st, the nurses put bracelets on me & Alisha that had the number 4479 printed on them. There were 3 bracelets that had this number. I had one. Alisha had one. And Will had the other. This bracelet with this number is the way that the hospital staff could quickly identify & be certain of who belongs to who. And anytime the nurses had to come & get Will or bring him back to us, they would always check our bracelets.

For me, it became the way that Will was identified as my son. 4479, he's my son. He belongs to me. It's a certainty. It's obvious. There's no doubt. He's my son. He's newborn & it may be hard to see any similarities in the way he looks. We're not sure if he looks more like mom or dad at this point. We're not sure what his personality will be like at this point. There aren't a lot of ways to tell you or show you or prove it to you. But 4479 makes it plain. He's my son.















As I thought & reflected about this simple thing, I prayed that in the same way it would be obvious, it would be plain, that I could be quickly identified as God's son to those around me. If we are the sons & daughters of God shouldn't it be obvious? Shouldn't it be easy to see? Shouldn't those around us know this about us?

2 Corinthians 1:21-22a says, "It is God who gives us, along with you, the ability to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts..."

May it be obvious to all that we are the sons & daughters of God.

Life Changes

Just reflecting for a quick moment. What an eventful year so far. We went to San Francisco & San Diego for a Spring Break vacation & a YM conference in March. In May I traveled Paul's footsteps in Greece. A mission trip to Honduras in June. I got to lead worship at IMPACT, also in June. Did I mention 3 grad classes in the Spring Semester? In July my grandfather passed away. And now in August my son was born. What an abundant life God has given me & given our family. I am blessed beyond measure. I say that not boasting, as if I have anything to boast about. I can only boast in Christ & share with you what He is actively doing in my life & heart. My son Will is doing great. And Alisha is doing well too! You can check out all the latest news on the family by clicking the "Family News" link here or on the right.

It's so cool to be a dad.

A page is turned

Last night a page was turned as my grandfather journeyed to his final home with the Lord. As I stood by his bedside I just kept praying that he would let go & go home to be with Jesus. His heart was so strong it just wouldn't quit beating. My Pappa has always been a physically strong man. A brick layer by trade, he was strong as an ox. In my eyes there wasn't anything he couldn't do. Last night, his breathing finally slowed & he was able to go on to his eternal home. He lived 88 years. For 58 of those years he was married to my Granny. Last night as he passed on Granny took his lifeless hand, wiped her tears away, kissed it & said goodbye. To see her love for him was amazing. And he loved her too. Always faithful & kind to her in every way. His was an example I was blessed to have.

For Pappa the story isn't over, but a page is turned. Years ago he changed our family tree by deciding to be a man of faith. Who knows who I would be or where I would be were it not for his faith that has shaped our family. I am grateful for his life & his spiritual leadership in our family. I only hope I can continue the great legacy he began.

I don't know what Heaven is like. My ideas about heaven continue to change. At one time it was a place where we would all gather at the stream of life that flows by the throne of God & we would worship for all eternity. Later, I kind of believed it was just a place of presence. Eternal existence & satisfaction found in the presence of God. Now, I kind of wonder if there's more to the story. If the adventures won't end but continue in the new heaven & new earth. If there's renewed purpose & life to be lived as the page is turned. I don't really know. And I don't know that it really matters. When John talked about Heaven in revelation he used the most elaborate terms he could come up with to express what he was seeing. My guess is that those words...streets of gold, pearly gates, etc...were still inadequate. Whatever Heaven is like I am satisfied to know & believe that we will all be there together with those that have gone before us to stand in the presence of Father God.

It's an interesting place to be in. I've never lost a loved one before. For the first time I'm experiencing death on a personal level. At the same time, my wife Alisha is 9 months pregnant with our first child. I'll be experiencing new life for the first time. We don't know if we'll have a boy or a girl. And the names are subject to change. But one thing I do know, our child will bear the name "Trevathan." And I am proud to pass on that name & that legacy to my children & to their children. A name that stands for integrity, faithfulness, service, compassion, hard work, believer in Jesus, sons & daughters of God.

Lucian Trevathan now joins a great cloud of witnesses to encourage us as we seek to live a life equal to his. A life that honored & glorified Jesus. A life that exemplified faithfulness & love. May we hold true to these things & may the legacy & the heritage of faith continue. I love you Pappa. Thank you for loving us & being the man of God you are. May we make you proud as we carry your name & the name of Christ. To God be glory. For the victory has been claimed in Christ Jesus.

and the Word became flesh

It's like meeting someone for the first time that you've heard so much about. It's an amazing experience. Yesterday (it's 7:35AM on Tuesday as I type) our group was able to go to Amphipolis & Philippi. 2 places Paul visited as he took the gospel to Greece. I stood in the river where Lydia was baptized. Put my head in a jail cell in Philippi where Paul could have been imprisoned with Silas. What would it have been like to be there when the earth shook & the prisoners broke free? Actually being here & seeing it all -- it's like I'm finally able to put all the pieces together. I walked into the water in the river where Lydia, the first European Christian, was baptized. It was all I could do to keep from diving in head first. We sang a song as we stood in the new baptistry built in Lydia's honor. What a beautiful sound. We've seen ruins of ancient Christian churches. It's undeniable that the church was strong here. It's undeniable Paul's influence on so many. What an amazing impact one man had on so many for the sake of Christ. How I wish my life could have a fraction of the impact that Paul had for the name of Jesus.

Well, that's all for now. I have so little time to write & think here. I've kept a journal all along & already taken over 300 photos in 2 days. I'll look forward to sharing more with you along the way. Till then, ...

Your Canaan

I love David's song in 1 Chronicles 16. As I was reading it again this week, this verse stood out to me. Verse 18 in this song says "I will give you the land of Canaan as your special possession." David is recounting all God has done in the life of Israel in thier history as he praises God for what has just happened -- the ark of the covenant which represents the presence of God had come back to the people of God to the city of God. And David praised God.

I believe in David's praise there is a wonderful truth that we too often forget. God has promised us a Canaan too. God is still in the work of delivering his people from their Egypts. And sometimes I fear we grow content with where we are in the journey. Let us not forget that there is a promised land for us. Let us not grow weary in doing good. And let us not be content with where we are spiritually. May we continue on daily with God till we top that final mountain. And then, we too, will join Daivid's chorus & sing, "Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever." (1 Chronicles 16:34).

this guy i know...

One morning I was setting up chairs in our classrooms, getting ready for Sunday. I found this written on the whiteboard in our 8th Grade girls classroom. Just kind of makes your heart smile, you know?

Faith

Faith & the idea of faith is something I've struggled with for a long while now. Lately, it's been on my mind. And "coincidentally" (if you believe in that), I decided today to start reading Beth Moore's book, "Believing God." I thought I'd share with you how she opens this book.

"Faith is the way believers jump on board with God & participate in countless wonderful things He has in mind to do. Faith happens when believers believe. Faith is an action verb that invites the exhilaration of holy participation. It's about getting out there where we can feel the wind of God's Spirit blowing in our faces. It's about learning that we don't have to put down the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) to raise up the Shield of Faith. The way I see it, that's why God gave us two hands. If we want to live abundantly & victoriously, we must pick up both. To pick up the Sword of the Spirit without the Shield of Faith is to shrivel and dry up in the desert of legalism. To pick up the Shield of Faith without the Sword of the Spirit is to try walking by faith on quicksand."

Challenging words. I pray my faith will become action & a reality I live out every day more fully.

Did You Know?

Did you know that the gigantic rope that holds the Golden Gate Bridge together, yes, the huge one you see in the photo below, is actually made up of thousands of smaller pieces of rope all intertwined together? Maybe you did know this. But did you know that if you unraveled these pieces of rope to make one long strand... in other words, if you stretched out all the smaller individual pieces of rope into one long string, you would have enough to wrap it around this planet we call earth not once, not twice, but three times! That's amazing.

It's amazing that human beings can make something like that. And I'm sure there are a number of spiritual applications we could make, a cord of three strands & all that. But to me, the most fascinating thing is that we have continually sought to do great things. The building of the Golden Gate Bridge, a great thing. Especially for it's time. And we as the human race have always sought to do & make great things. As early as the attempt to build the tower at Babel we see this inner desire to achieve greatness.

Yet, there is still a great need for a resizing to take place in our lives. We need desperately to resize our view of ourselves & our view of God. I am most amazed at God's greatness. Who is greater? There is none like Yahweh. But you know what I'm even more impressed with? And this has just really been on my heart lately. More than God's greatness I am deeply impressed by His humility. And with that in mind resizing not only occurs, but isn't greatness also redefined?

Psalm of Nick

On Thursday mornings I meet with a group of teens on this side of town for coffee, prayer, etc. We've been working our way through the Psalms since January. A few weeks ago, I encouraged them to write a psalm, & even be thinking about writing songs that we could sing. One of my heroes in our youth group, a Senior named Nick, took me up on the offer & wrote the following. I was pretty amazed by his words...

A Psalm of Nick.
The Lord guides me. He shines His light onto my path so that I may see. And many times I rebuke Him, and I explore the unknown paths not made for me. Yet the Lord still shines His light for me on my path. He showers me with His never ending grace and mercy. He wakes me with His sun and rests me in His moon and stars. O how I shout to Him and praise His for the blessings He gives me and then I turn my back. But still every day, I have my sun and my starry nights. O Father! Hear my praises, as I fall to my knees and thank You for Your unconditional love, for without it I'd be a withered, dead soul and so would all of mankind. Father, please help me to keep my paths straight, and to keep my praises high, for You, Father, are the supreme, most awesome being, and I fall to my knees and lift my hands and praise Your name forever.

Seven

This May will mark 7 years for me here at Mayfair. It has truly been a blessed 7 years. There are more people who deserve so much credit for me to have even be here to this point than I can name. I'm blessed to have so many who have invested in me & poured much of themselves into my life along the way. And while I can't even begin to list all these people, I thought I would list 7 quick things that I've learned throughout my short time in ministry. Don't get too excited, these probably won't change your life...but they have helped me through the years. Here they are in no particular order...

1. Don't stress.
After 7 seven years of doing this I'm definitely less stressed than I used to be. I'm pretty particular about how I like things done but I've found that at the end of the day it all works out. You can't take yourself too seriously. And it's just easier to roll with the punches sometimes. Things seldom work out like you plan them. While I still believe in putting in the work to plan & prepare, I'm better at going with the flow than I've ever been.

2. Let people help.
Honestly, I walked into a great situation following in Lee Milam's footsteps. He had put some great people in leadership places in this ministry. These people & others through the years have really blessed my life & our ministry & made it greater than anything I could have ever done on my own. I'm grateful to have so many leaders around me willing to invest themselves into what we're doing.

3. Pray for Wisdom & Mentors.
I've always prayed for 2 things since I was in Jr. High/High School. I know this will sound weird but it's true. I've always prayed for wisdom & for mentors. And I believe my life has been blessed by both. I'm not the wisest person you'll ever meet, but the LORD has led me to make some great decisions & I attribute those successes to Him. And I can't tell you were I'd be without the powerful influence of 5-6 key men who knowingly & unknowingly have been mentors to me. I'll have to write later about how they've blessed my life. I'm a strong believer in finding & having mentors in your life.

4. A great wife.
If you know her, you'll agree. Alisha has been an incredible wife to me over our seven years of marriage. It takes a special person to be the wife of a minister. And she has handled the role with grace & beauty. I'm proud of her, I love her, & I'm having a baby with her!! How cool is that? August 6 is coming up quick. Check out the Family News blog for more on that.

5. Tune-ups.
You know how a mechanic never seems to have time to work on his own car? The same can be true of ministers in the spiritual sense. I've found it imperative to take time to keep myself "filled up" so that I can continue in ministry with integrity. Here's a brief list of things I've done that have helped me.
--Read quality devotional material.
--Do something physical (i.e. hike, fish, walk the dog, run, etc.)
--Personal retreat. I did this once at Gethsemani, 1 word: Awesome.
--Conferences. Great times of refreshing.
--Personal worship time. A must.

6. Enjoy it.
The thing I love about my job (even though it's really not a job) is that I still love what I do. I make a living by God's grace doing what I would do even if I didn't get paid for it. That's just cool. I don't know how long I'll be in youth ministry, but I know it will be a long time.

7. Run with the distance in mind.
One of my mentors taught me the principle of "Begin with the end in mind." And that truly effects everything I do. From my marriage, to my ministry, to our summer mission trips, to the next class I teach, to how I live my life. I always want to do those things I'll never regret. And even when I began here at Mayfair, my desire has always been to live out my days here.

This past week Rick Warren wrote about the benefits & blessings of staying at one church for the long haul. That has always been my prayer & intention. I love the words Rick prayed, it's as if they were my own:

"Father, I'm willing to go any place in the world you want to send me. But I ask for the privilege of investing my entire life in just one location. I donÂ’t care where you put me, but IÂ’d like to stay wherever it is for the rest of my life."

home again

I'm finally home from a long week at Lipscomb. I do love getting to see all my Lipscomb friends, but there's nothing more exciting than getting to come home on Friday to see my wife.

On the way home, I listened to the Passion: The Early Session 02 - EP. Have you heard it? Great new song by Tomlin, & Louie continues to rock my world. Get it from itunes asap. You won't regret it. Here's the lyrics to the new worship song by Tomlin called "Made to Worship."

You & I are made to worship, You & I are called to love
You & I are forgiven & free
When you & I embrace surrender, You & I choose to believe
You & I will see who we were meant to be

Before the day, before the light
Before the world revolved around the sun
God on high, stepped down into time and wrote the story of His love for everyone
He has filled our hearts with wonder
So that we always remember

You & I are made to worship, You & I are called to love
You & I are forgiven & free
When you & I embrace surrender, You & I choose to believe
You & I will see who we were meant to be

All we are, and all we have
Is all a gift from God that we receive
Brought to life we open up our eyes to see the majesty & glory of the king
He has filled our hearts with wonder
so that we always remember

You & I are made to worship, You & I are called to love
You & I are forgiven & free
When you & I embrace surrender, You & I choose to believe
You & I will see who we were meant to be

Even the rocks cry out, and even the heavens shout
The sound of His holy name
So let every voice sing out, let every knee bow down
He is worthy of our praise

You & I are made to worship, You & I are called to love
You & I are forgiven & free
When you & I embrace surrender, You & I choose to believe
You & I will see who we were meant to be

Subscribe!

2 new things to report. First, you can now subscribe to this blog. And anytime I get around to posting, you'll know via email. Pretty cool huh? And, due to family & friends abroad wanting to see & hear more about what's going on with Alisha & I, especially now that a baby is on the way, we've started a little blog sharing our family news. You can check it out to see what's happening with us & the baby that's on the way.
Enjoy!

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That's Why We Praise Him

Psalm 22:3"Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel."

Israel's worship songs were both an act of remembering & an act of praise. It's amazing to me how many of Israel's songs remembered God's saving acts on their behalf. Psalm 30:11-12, Psalm 107, & Psalm 116:1-9 are great examples. Israel would be called to worship with "Hallelujah" or Praise (Hallelu) Yahweh (yah). And the call to praise the name of God would flood their memory with all the wonders God had done, all the blessings God had given, & all that God meant to them.

And when Israel worshiped, it elevated Yahweh above all other God's. So that God truly was "enthroned on the praises of Israel." Yahweh was elevated above Baal, Dagon, Marduk...above all other gods.

So too with our worship. When our worship experiences truly result in praise, God is lifted up above our gods. Above popularity, money, power, esteem, inclusion & all the rest. Or has our praise become routine. Perhaps we need to create, if even for our own personal times of worship, songs that reflect God's saving work in our lives. It is through remembering that praise is born. What is praise that is not born from experience? Cheap? Empty? Hopefully our praise can have the full meaning & call to mind all that God is in our lives as well so that the God who is worthy of praise may actually recieve praise from our lips, hearts & lives.

May Yahweh be lifted up in our praise.
Praise Him.

courage to speak

This weekend our youth group went to Winterfest in Gatlinburg, TN & joined 12,000 other teens in a wonderful experience as we all grew in our relationship to Father God. The picture you see here is of my friend Taylor. Taylor is a junior in our youth group. He is a great servant who has a humble heart. There's nothing Taylor won't do for you if you ask him. He's just one of those guys that doesn't need a lot of press, doesn't require a lot of thanks or recognition. He just wants to be a servant & bless the kingdom. And he's been doing that for as long as I've known him.

I've been praying for Taylor for quite some time. For whatever reason, Taylor has been holding out to be baptized. To make that commitment to the Lord where he steps into the water & becomes a child of God. Retreats have come & gone where I've talked to Taylor, prayed for Taylor, & still nothing has happened...as far as I could see.

But this weekend was different. It was the last night at Winterfest. And they were offering an invitation. One of our adults had gotten up & positioned himself where he could see Taylor. According to him, Taylor never flinched, never moved the whole time the invitation song was being sung. But Taylor's good friend T.J. was talking to Taylor the whole time the song was going on.

After the song was over, I was a little disappointed that Taylor had not walked forward. And then to my surprise, Taylor & T.J. walk right up to me. With chins quivering & tears in there eyes. Then Taylor reached out, gave me a big bear hug & told me he wanted to get baptized.

I told him I loved him & was proud of him. People started gathering around to hug Taylor. So I stepped aside & asked T.J., "Did you get a chance to talk to Taylor this weekend about being baptized?" He said he had. I asked him what made him decide to talk to Taylor. He said, "He's my friend & I didn't want to lose him."

I later asked him what he said to Taylor during that invitation song. He said, "I asked him if he believed Jesus was the Son of God, cause that's all he needed to know,"

May we be the T.J.'s in the lives of those friends we love & don't want to lose.

A-mazing

Have you seen this guy?

One of the things Alisha & I love to do together is watch American Idol. And we're no fair weather fans. We even watch these early, painful episodes where so many horrific singers are paraded in front of the judges. We just believe you have to be in all the way or not at all. So you can imagine our surprise when this smiley 18 year old cowboy stood in front of Simon, Randy & Paula & blew us away with his amazing voice.

Garet Johnson got his gold ticket & was ready to make his way to Hollywood. Singing in front of the judges was the first time he had ever sung in front of a human audience. Before, he had only sing in front of the turkey's he fed every morning. It would be the first time he would ever fly on an airplane. In fact, there were a lot of firsts for Garet.

He's nickname now is the "Crying Cowboy." Whenever they interview Garet, he's so overcome with emotion just to have this opportunity. You can see how pure his soul is. He's genuine through & through. And it's so nice to see the good guys get a chance like this.

After arriving in Hollywood, the contestants would get a tour. It's a chance to see the sites & take it all in. I was particularly touched when they took Garet's group to the beach. You see, this was his first time to see the ocean. He stood forever just looking at it. And then, fully dressed in his cowboy boots, wranglers, button down western wear hat & all...Garet began to walk into the ocean. He slapped at the waves. Laughed with joy in the splendor of it all. And he kept walking till the ocean waves washed completely over him. And he loved it.

May you too be so overwhelmed & completely amazed by the awesome love of YAHWEH.

Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
Your justice like the ocean depths.
Psalm 36.5-6

creatures in His presence

(disclaimer: sorry, i'm on this psalm kick)

it's hard for me to get my mind around Your holiness
and Your otherness
i don't know that i will ever understand who You are
Your nature & Your character are so far beyond me
and yet you come & call me by name
and still you hold my life in Your hands

we're not a people worthy of such all sustaining love
all forgiving love
we cannot pretend to deserve Your presence in our lives
Your nature & Your character, it speaks to who we are
for we are as the image of You
creation reflecting the Creator in You

creatures in You presence, calling You by name
may we all live a life that glorifies Your fame

a psalm

for all the things You do & all the things you are
for all the times You hear my cry & answer when i call
creation sings Your praise, the stars they light Your way
and how i want to join the song that sings of Your great Name

to sing of Your unfailing love, Your unending grace
You are merciful & You are in this place
You are worthy of praise

everything

We've been talking about the idea of treasure with our teens over the last few weeks. Coming out of Matt. 6:19-21, "where your treasure is, that's where your heart is too." So last Wednesday night I'm in Junior High kicking around some ideas with these 6th-8th graders & I asked them how much would they pay to go to Heaven? If God where to say that they could buy a ticket that would ensure them a one way trip to heaven, how much would they pay to buy that ticket? One kid says, "Everything I have!" Another says, "All the money in the world!" Which led me to ask,
"How much are you willing to give God?" One good church answer came back, "10 percent." Then one after another they started saying that they would give God everything.

So, I pushed them a little. I know. It's not fair to be this way to Jr. Highers. But after many said they would gladly give God everything, I asked them to do it. I cleared off the stage & asked them to place everything they had on the stage & that we would give it away to those in need. One girl said, I don't have anything, obviously ignoring the warm coat she was wearing, the cell phone she was carrying, the money that was in her expensive purse. I said, you guys have plently on you tonight. I pointed out some of these things, & asked them to give tonight whatever they would to God. Not much made it to the stage. A few kids, trying to be funny, began to throw some trash up on stage. Then, all of a sudden, Samantha came up. A 6th grader. And stood on the stage. Letting all of us know that she would give "everything."

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18.3

heavy

I love our thursday morning get togethers at Cafe Baba's. It's something I look forward to every time we do it. Mostly we hang out, talk & enjoy coffee. But we also take just a few minutes to share a verse or 2 & a prayer before the day starts. This morning we shared in Psalm 8. And we talked a lot about God's glory.

Glory has always been a difficult word for me to really get my mind around. I mean, what is it? How do we get it? How do you define it? What does it look like? What is God's glory? Now I still don't have it all figured out, but I have to say that one thing I learned in my Hebrew (language) class last semester was the meaning of glory. In Hebrew, the word means heavy, weight, or significance. So God's glory would be His weight, the sum of all the greatness that He is. It's His significance...His meaning-full-ness. So if God is significant, we are insignificant. If God is meaningful, we are meaningless. If God is infinite, we are finite. If God is heavy, we are lite. If God is great, we are small.

God's glory defines who He is in so many ways and reveals who we aren't. Psalm 8.5 says that God has crowned us with glory & honor. All that we aren't God redeems to make us who He wants us to be. He re-defines who we are by crowning us with His glory. And all that we are becomes evident in the light of His glory. Praise Him.

baby t

Well, it's been killing us to keep such a big secret for so long! Alisha & I found out we were going to have a baby back in Decemeber, & we just made the big announcement last night to everyone. We're very excited! Alisha is 10 1/2 weeks along. Our due date is set for August 6th. Everything is going perfectly so far. We're thankful for that. And we're thankful for you. For all our friends & loved ones who continue to surround us, support us & love us. We humbly ask for your prayers. We'll keep you posted as the journey continues. For now, you can check out the first photo of our baby. This is only the first of many pictures to come!

i praise you

O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you percieve my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out & my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

You hem me in--behind & before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night all around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully & wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in a secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.

Psalm 139.1-18, of David