My Worship Revolution

Yup, that’s right.  Believe it.
It’s been like a month and a half, but I finally have another worship confessional up.  So enjoy!

Well, here’s the last "testimony" video from our Generations series.  The children’s week.

Meet the Reksoatmodjos.
Awesome family from our church.
Their mom and dad are Janet and Jono.
I think they have their hands full.
Check it out:

Worship confessional from this past week to follow…believe it or not!

Drove out to Manteca tonight to go to a workshop put on by Granger tomorrow.  I’ll be going to First Impressions.  Half way through this book and really liking it, so I’m looking forward to hearing what he has to say tomorrow.

So we’re staying at a Hampton Inn tonight.

Good News: The last available room is a "suite" (not all that much better than the other room).

Bad News:  The last available room available is a smoking room.

Kyle and I took a trip to AM/PM.

Problem solved!

This was our video story from last week.
This is Megan.
She is a senior in high school.
She is an amazing girl with an incredible amount of depth to her.
Enjoy!

In light of my last post, concerned about 24, I thought I’d share this with you, too.  It’s a video on YouTube that explains what the strike is about and why the writers are striking.

I know there’s always two sides to every story, but I thought the info on here was pretty interesting, and frankly, pretty convincing. 

On the surface I would say that whether or not we have a TV show or two is fairly superficial and perhaps proof that we are overly reliant on entertainment in this country.  But on the flipside, it’s a good reminder that behind that entertainment are individuals who make a living on their creative abilities.  Maybe I’m slightly biased cause I do have some old friends who work somewhere in the industry so I have a small idea of how it works.

Check out the video.  See what you think.

HT: Bethany

After my excitement in sharing here the trailer for a new season of 24, I find out this morning (thanks Will) that I will not be able to get a fix for my 24 addiction in January.

NEW YORK — The writers strike has struck down the Fox thriller "24."

"24" is absent from the network’s revised, strike-affected schedule for
midseason. In its announcement, Fox explained the "Day 7" season for
the series would be indefinitely postponed to ensure an uninterrupted
run.

Read more

Bummer.  And apparently it could have a very similar effect on LOST.  Good thing I still have 2 1/2 seasons of ALIAS left to watch.  And when that ends, maybe I’ll pick up House from the beginning.

When I used to tour with The Young Americans, we would use this phrase often.  Usually it was joking with someone a bit, but the principle behind it was a very real one that was deeply embedded into the DNA of our cast.  The way we were able to do so well wasn’t by focusing on ourselves, but by focusing on others.

It was funny that in a culture of performing arts, where the goal is often to be in the spotlight, the people who stood out and excelled the most, even onstage, were the one’s who were more focused on helping the people around them to look good rather than themselves.  There was a deeper sense of personal fulfillment that came when you were able to help others excel.  The less focused you were on yourself, the more successful and fulfilled you would be.  Kinda counter-intuitive, eh?

I was thinking recently about the times that I, or others I know, have felt dissatisfied in life or felt far away from God.  I wonder if sometimes God is saying those exact words to us:

"It’s not about you."

Get over yourself.  Maybe it’s not that God isn’t speaking, maybe we just don’t want to hear what he’s saying.  Maybe he isn’t so far away, he’s right there, just not where we’re looking.

So, just a thought for the day.  If you feel far from God, try focusing on caring for others around you more.  What if you cared less about the fact that you don’t "sense" God’s presence, and more about the neighbor next door who doesn’t know Christ at all.  What if you cared more about the person sitting next to you in class who just needs a smile or a hug on a rough day.  Or how about the co-worker who’s marriage is falling apart and needs someone to talk to, but you’d never know because you’ve been too absorbed in your own issues to notice their pain.

The gospel of Christ is never really about us.  It’s always about Him.  At the center of everything.  And the second part of the great commandment, at the core of God’s heart and desires for us, is to love those around us.  Maybe the answer isn’t always more time in the Bible or praying.  Maybe you need to get your nose out of the Bible and go genuinely care for someone else.  Maybe, just maybe, if you’re doing that, you’ll eventually "feel" reconnected to the heart of God, because you’re doing his will.  And even if you don’t, at least you’re focus is where it belongs.

The goal of church planting is not to build a church

…The
goal is to reach lost people. Jesus reserved the right to build
churches for himself. Numbers definitely matter, but the most important
one is the number of lost people in our community… and it should be a diminishing one.

Ever see the cheesy Kevin Costner & Ashton Kutcher movie The Guardian? Costner is a legend in ocean search and rescue. All the young recruits are in awe of him and try to guess the number of people he saved in his career. The popular estimate is 300.

Love this dialogue at Costner’s retirement:

“What’s the number” Kutcher asks Costner point-blank
“22″ says Costner.
“Well that’s pretty good, but it’s no 300,” says Kutcher,
As Costner finishes packing his bags, he says…
“That’s not how many I saved; it’s how many I lost. That’s the only number I’ve kept track of.”

HT: Ben via Pete

My thoughts.
at 5:30 am.
This morning.

Whoever decided changing our clocks was a good idea probably didn’t have a baby that wakes up at the same time every morning and can’t read a clock yet.

OK, a bit behind on this, but this was the video that played before I spoke a little over a week ago.

Meet Rae Albrecht.
She is a young adult at CLC.
She is a talented songwiter.
And a painter.
And she’s got some amazing thoughts bouncing around in her head too.
Wish I could have kept em all in, check her out:

And bonus points for anyone who knows where the first line of her song comes from.  (Except you Ed, since you were there when Rae told us.)