What a strange week this has been. It all started last Saturday, which to be fair is last week, but I did something I really didn't want to do. Let's be really frank, only God's power allowed it to happen, because I didn't want it to happen; yet in His knowledge and sovereign grace it did. Now my will says it will never happen again, but God's will be guide. That is all I am going to say about it, don't ask.
Second is all about Palm Sunday and Easter. As you know I have been working extremely hard to prepare services for a sister church in Brentwood, TN. Well Wednesday afternoon, and most preparations completed, I received completed worship bulletins from the pastor, with the songs he selected included. I have no idea how that happened, we communicated quite well what we were offering, which was to fully prepare and musically 'staff' his church those weeks, but that was obviously not what he wanted. Needless to say we're now off for those weeks. In the spirit of reconciliation the brother with whom I was preparing and I are going to attend a service over there in the near-future and provide some consultation to the pastor. He is wanting to improve the flow of his services, and hopefully we can provide some pointers.
Next, out of such things opportunities arise. My own church was looking for someone to lead music for the Easter Sunrise Service. Now since I had about 6 musicians tied up, 8 were already committed to working the regular services, and countless others were providing their individual services at other churches in the area, the pastors were having some difficulty in that area. Well guess what, I'm free now so I will be leading worship at Christ Community's Easter Sunrise service. I'm excited because I get to be at home on Easter and will get to worship alongside the brothers and sisters we have shared our lives with for close to five years now. That is an honor and privilege, God's sovereignty again.
The final update, on June 27 my new group will be performing at a benefit for HomeSafe of Wilson, Sumner and Robertson counties. This group provides support for battered women in these counties and is certainly deserving of any support you can give them. We'll be performing at 5 at the Wilson County Fairgrounds, but there will be live music from 2 PM to 10 PM. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the gate. If you're in Middle Tennessee I encourage you to come out. We are not making a dime from the gate, all proceeds go directly to HomeSafe. We will, hopefully, have some CDs for sale, provided we get the recording completed in time.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Some Thoughts...
I was sitting in my studio this morning continuing to prepare for Palm Sunday and Easter when I noticed something new. I'll set the stage a bit by saying, while the view from my window is nothing spectacular, rather standard suburban fare, there is a beautiful Bradford (flowering) Pear that is currently covered with clusters of white blossoms. Of course the blossoms are not anything new, as we have lived in our house for a bit over four years, but the upstairs vantage point is new to me this year. From this vantage point I could see, up close, hundreds of honey bees hard at work. It was really fun to watch, even though I got absolutely nothing done.
I've seen bees working before, I've even seen them in this number. I guess what struck me is, even though they were hard at work, they seemed to be having fun. Would it not be excellent if we glorified the Lord by being truly excited to work? In all things, to His glory, absolutely enjoy all things in the light of Glory.
The second thing that struck me was a line from a song I was working on at the time. I was making some modifications to a chart for a song called "On the Third Day" by Michael Olson (props to the writers too, Matt Maher and Marc Byrd). Just prior to each chorus is the line, "For everything must die to rise again." Seeing the tree blooming and listening to this tune I really plugged into the fact I was witnessing the beginning of a couple of life cycles, a rising again of sorts.
You see, the tree lost its blossoms, gained leaves, lost its leaves, then basically died for the winter. Did this tree die? Yes, it showed no obvious signs of life all winter. Was there still something acting behind the scenes? Yes, although physically dead the tree was still it's existential self. Is this not what we see in Christ Jesus?
The Apostles Creed states "...who descended into hell, and on the third day rose again from the dead." Now I'm not going to go deeply into theology other that to say this is not a literal hell, rather a translation of the Greek hades, which a literal translation renders as the place of death. It is clear from scripture Jesus is still alive while physically dead, in fact telling the thief on the cross "I assure you: Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). Jesus died. He was physically alive, physically died, and physically rose again!
Look around today. For that matter, look around everyday. We see things die and rise again all around us. The natural world is filled with things that do this daily. Trees, flowers, caterpillars into butterflies, and the list continues. For that matter, look at the things man creates: How many times do you reboot your computer to get that new software you installed? It is amazing how the entirety of our being is surrounded by the glory of God, yet we are so quick to dismiss it. The Gospel is true! It surrounds us all whether we recognize it or not.
I've seen bees working before, I've even seen them in this number. I guess what struck me is, even though they were hard at work, they seemed to be having fun. Would it not be excellent if we glorified the Lord by being truly excited to work? In all things, to His glory, absolutely enjoy all things in the light of Glory.
The second thing that struck me was a line from a song I was working on at the time. I was making some modifications to a chart for a song called "On the Third Day" by Michael Olson (props to the writers too, Matt Maher and Marc Byrd). Just prior to each chorus is the line, "For everything must die to rise again." Seeing the tree blooming and listening to this tune I really plugged into the fact I was witnessing the beginning of a couple of life cycles, a rising again of sorts.
You see, the tree lost its blossoms, gained leaves, lost its leaves, then basically died for the winter. Did this tree die? Yes, it showed no obvious signs of life all winter. Was there still something acting behind the scenes? Yes, although physically dead the tree was still it's existential self. Is this not what we see in Christ Jesus?
The Apostles Creed states "...who descended into hell, and on the third day rose again from the dead." Now I'm not going to go deeply into theology other that to say this is not a literal hell, rather a translation of the Greek hades, which a literal translation renders as the place of death. It is clear from scripture Jesus is still alive while physically dead, in fact telling the thief on the cross "I assure you: Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). Jesus died. He was physically alive, physically died, and physically rose again!
Look around today. For that matter, look around everyday. We see things die and rise again all around us. The natural world is filled with things that do this daily. Trees, flowers, caterpillars into butterflies, and the list continues. For that matter, look at the things man creates: How many times do you reboot your computer to get that new software you installed? It is amazing how the entirety of our being is surrounded by the glory of God, yet we are so quick to dismiss it. The Gospel is true! It surrounds us all whether we recognize it or not.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Three Weeks
That's it until Palm Sunday, just three weeks. A couple of weeks ago I was asked by a brother if I would be willing to help out a church in Brentwood with their Holy Week services. Initially it was as simple as playing bass in the band, easy enough. Well that has grown into doing some modern arrangements for some hymns and leading the Easter services. How do things get out of control?
So of course in reading my posts you know where this goes next... I should not say these things are out of control. It is truly a blessing to be able to serve. It is no less a daunting task, a growing PCA church in an affluent part of Nashville; not to mention making sure the focus is on worshipping the Lord, not impressing people. That is undoubtedly the biggest struggle. Almost 4 years in Nashville and things are really starting to happen for me musically, and that is exciting. Still, I have to realize that, although I have this talent, it is the Lord's and I must make sure I am using it to serve him.
It is really great though. We're seeing more interest from churches for special services or concerts, I am also talking with a guy about little sit-down duo project, and I am signed on with a group to do some festivals and fairs this summer and fall. It is a blessing, but again I cannot lose focus. I need prayer to help me stay centered, allowing me to focus on how all of these can be used to serve God. They are not all explicitly 'Christian' or 'Gospel' projects, but I know if the work is done to the Glory of the Savior, Jesus will be glorified.
So of course in reading my posts you know where this goes next... I should not say these things are out of control. It is truly a blessing to be able to serve. It is no less a daunting task, a growing PCA church in an affluent part of Nashville; not to mention making sure the focus is on worshipping the Lord, not impressing people. That is undoubtedly the biggest struggle. Almost 4 years in Nashville and things are really starting to happen for me musically, and that is exciting. Still, I have to realize that, although I have this talent, it is the Lord's and I must make sure I am using it to serve him.
It is really great though. We're seeing more interest from churches for special services or concerts, I am also talking with a guy about little sit-down duo project, and I am signed on with a group to do some festivals and fairs this summer and fall. It is a blessing, but again I cannot lose focus. I need prayer to help me stay centered, allowing me to focus on how all of these can be used to serve God. They are not all explicitly 'Christian' or 'Gospel' projects, but I know if the work is done to the Glory of the Savior, Jesus will be glorified.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Springtime in Tennessee
Boy the weather is nice here. Well, in between the bad weather it's nice.
Last Wednesday there was still snow on the ground from the storm that came through the weekend before. All of this past weekend it was in the low 70s and the kids only came inside to eat and sleep. Today it is supposed to hit 81. Tomorrow? High 40s. Pneumonia, anyone?!
Growing up in Florida you never completely knew what the weather would be like either, but I don't ever remember the wild swings like we have here in the Fall and Spring. Come to think of it, the weather in Florida was more predictable than I give credit. At least back home you could count on it raining at 4 o'clock everyday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Around here you never seem to know if you need short pants or a snow suit.
How in the world do you explain to a two-and-a-half year old that has spent the last 5 days outside that it's too cold to go out? You don't. You try, but that just makes him mad. Then what happens next? He follows the dog out and cries more because his feet are cold since he hasn't on any shoes.
How soon until this smoothes out? I have no clue. I remember scraping frost off of my windshield leaving for vacation the last weekend of April. I also remember going for morning swims in late June when it would be 70 one morning and 50 the next. Heck, the first year I lived here it never got over 90 the entire year, when the next year we had 10 consecutive 100+ days. This place is crazy!
I guess it's worth it, though. When spring comes and stays I don't know if there's a more beautiful place on the planet than Middle Tennessee.
Last Wednesday there was still snow on the ground from the storm that came through the weekend before. All of this past weekend it was in the low 70s and the kids only came inside to eat and sleep. Today it is supposed to hit 81. Tomorrow? High 40s. Pneumonia, anyone?!
Growing up in Florida you never completely knew what the weather would be like either, but I don't ever remember the wild swings like we have here in the Fall and Spring. Come to think of it, the weather in Florida was more predictable than I give credit. At least back home you could count on it raining at 4 o'clock everyday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Around here you never seem to know if you need short pants or a snow suit.
How in the world do you explain to a two-and-a-half year old that has spent the last 5 days outside that it's too cold to go out? You don't. You try, but that just makes him mad. Then what happens next? He follows the dog out and cries more because his feet are cold since he hasn't on any shoes.
How soon until this smoothes out? I have no clue. I remember scraping frost off of my windshield leaving for vacation the last weekend of April. I also remember going for morning swims in late June when it would be 70 one morning and 50 the next. Heck, the first year I lived here it never got over 90 the entire year, when the next year we had 10 consecutive 100+ days. This place is crazy!
I guess it's worth it, though. When spring comes and stays I don't know if there's a more beautiful place on the planet than Middle Tennessee.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Positivity
I'm feeling rather downtrodden. I think I've given so much of myself at work that there's not much left for anyone else. It has been a rough string of days around here, from a technical standpoint, and nerves are frazzled; so in various attempts to calm those frayed nerves I have used up my positivity and patience before I made it home.
I guess all of this means I need to apologize. I am certain I have been neglectful. I still don't feel 100% since my operation, and with all that has been going on, I know the rest of my family is starting to feel my stress. That is not fair of me, and I need to go home and make it right.
Second, and just as important, I need to realize things are not bad. Honestly things can never really be bad. No matter what happens or where I go I cannot outrun the reach of God and how He has redeemed me through Jesus. I know that may sound trite, but I also know it to be true. The Gospel is living and breathing all around us, and in my own struggles and failures I can see the love bestowed upon me through the care of my wife, the unconditional love and forgiveness of my children, and the unyielding support of my family and friends. It is true, in the flesh, representation of how the Gospel works.
So it really is about positivity. Positively knowing that it is all in control, and maybe, just maybe, all the stress isn't really what life is about.
I guess all of this means I need to apologize. I am certain I have been neglectful. I still don't feel 100% since my operation, and with all that has been going on, I know the rest of my family is starting to feel my stress. That is not fair of me, and I need to go home and make it right.
Second, and just as important, I need to realize things are not bad. Honestly things can never really be bad. No matter what happens or where I go I cannot outrun the reach of God and how He has redeemed me through Jesus. I know that may sound trite, but I also know it to be true. The Gospel is living and breathing all around us, and in my own struggles and failures I can see the love bestowed upon me through the care of my wife, the unconditional love and forgiveness of my children, and the unyielding support of my family and friends. It is true, in the flesh, representation of how the Gospel works.
So it really is about positivity. Positively knowing that it is all in control, and maybe, just maybe, all the stress isn't really what life is about.
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