ramblings of a wannabe rockstar

I’m in one of those introspective moods I get at the end of a Sunday. The kind where you think back on a good week and go, “Man, I kinda wish this didn’t have to end.” I’m not such a fan of Sunday evenings. Monday comes, everyone goes back to their regularly scheduled activities, going through the motions, and some of the connections you made while having drinks on Friday night, or out for lunch on Saturday afternoon must wait until the next week. Not complaining…just sayin’… But this leads into a blog post that doesn’t bear much in the way of meaningful content. It is what it is.

It was another amazing service this morning…Tim continues to rock it with his current series on Romans. Man…there is so much greatness to this book, I’m sure it’s easy for him, but wow…it’s just that good. It gives me great pleasure to serve in ministry alongside him. The caliber of character and Truth with which he approaches his leadership is matched by few.

In other news, through a series of cool connections and blog readings, I’ve been reading Zach Lind’s blog for a while now…easily a year, but maybe more. I made a comment on one of his posts a few days ago and have ended up with a pair of tickets to see his band, Jimmy Eat World (one of my favorites of all time, and performer of this blog’s theme song), on Tuesday here in Dallas at the Granada Theater. Should be a good time.

I will be updating in the next couple of days about the progress of the Nicaragua trip, so, please stay tuned for that. That’s all I’ve got for now.

Technorati Tags: genesis metro church, tim bourne, zach lind, jimmy eat world

Technorati Tags: snl, saturday night live, dana carvey, gerald ford

Romans 5

1 …having been justified by faith, we have[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

James 1

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Glory in tribulations. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. I’ve grown up in church…by my own choosing. When my folks stopped going, I kept on attending. I didn’t understand what Christianity, or rather, being a “follower of Jesus Christ” meant until I was 19 years old which was essentially the beginning of what would be come an extremely turbulent seven years. I never understood what it meant to “glory in tribulations” and to “count it all joy” when things sucked…which was quite frequently. This is a concept that gets a lot of lip service from evangelical Christians…at least in my experience, but what does it mean on a practical level?

Genesis Metro Church currently is in the midst of a series on the Book of Romans. This past Sunday, Pastor Tim spoke on the first several verses of chapter 5 and camped out on this notion as addressed in verses 3 and 4. It was one of the more powerful sermons I’ve heard in a while (well…since the week prior anyhow) but the practical application of considering trials as pure joy still somewhat escaped me.

There have been some pretty miraculous goings on in and around the lives of the people with whom I surround myself in recent weeks. Seven salvations amongst the youth at church, fourteen baptisms, unmatched movement of the Spirit during corporate worship services…the list goes on and on. Lives are being changed and there are things going on in the communities of West Frisco, Little Elm, and surrounding neighborhoods that prove that there is nothing short of a movement of God going on.

Yesterday there were some things that went down that would appear to the casual onlooker as something that might put some folks into a tailspin. I’ve heard the terms “spiritual warfare” and allusions to “Satan being on the prowl” and things of that sort. I’ve seen these types of things and these mindsets completely derail a God-movement. I’m not one who is easily persuaded by talk of “spiritual warfare.” Rather, I think that far too many Christians give far too much credit to “demonic oppression”, when things going wrong is just how the pendulum swings sometimes.

But it’s hard to look at a movement of proportions like the one experienced by Genesis Metro Church in recent weeks, then hear stories of hardships like I heard yesterday and give credit to anything else than the bad guys trying to hamper a good thing. There are too many things for it to be mere coincidence. Does this make sense?

But then I look at Romans 5:3-4 where it says we are to “glory in tribulations.”

Wow! Look at the big picture here! Through Jesus Christ we have access to the grace in which we now stand! Because this we are able to overcome these trials and tribulations of which the writers, Paul and James, speak. Further, I would maintain that attacks of the spiritual kind serve to do nothing but affirm the good work we do in His name! Why else would the enemy bother? In this light, it is easy to view the struggles amongst and towards our community in a bigger picture…one that is painted with stories of salvation, hope, promise, and good things for the future.

This is almost too elementary. I wonder why it took so long to figure this out.

Some of y’all know that I am in the running for a really good job opportunity with the City of Frisco. I had to complete a very detailed background check and I turned it in today. The waiting begins. If you are one for prayer, I’d appreciate a good word on my behalf. I’d really like for this one to pull through.

(ht to Bill)

In my last post I talked about a song by the Desperation Band called Refuse To Be Denied. I shouldn’t like this song. It doesn’t contain any of the criteria I consider to be important in a good worship song. There’s not much too it musically, it’s incredibly shallow lyrically, and outside of the context of a corporate worship setting this song has no meaning at all…this song could be as applicable to a spouse or significant other as it could be to worshiping Jesus at church.

So why do I like it? Sometimes there’s a song that, even though it doesn’t contain a certain formula, you can listen to it and just know what the spirit was during its writing. There is a simplicity to this song that is undeniable and you just have to know that this is a song that inspires worship of our Father.

Anyhow…here it is. I was going to post up the recording of what I sang on Sunday, but I’m not too sure the emotion I was experiencing did any justice to it.

Worship with me.

Technorati Tags: desperation band, refuse to be denied, worship, genesis metro church, student ministry, youtube

I just returned from spending the weekend with 15 students in the junior high and high school ministries at Genesis Metro Church. I don’t have a whole lot of experience working amongst youth…as a matter of fact, almost none. I chose to go assist in the capacity of leading worship based on a very present need and to assist a team of leaders who by their very nature, character, and integrity made this a no-brainer for me. You need music? How can I help? There was nothing that could have prepared me accurately for the magnitude of the greatness that was to occur, especially considering that 90 days ago, there was no such thing as a student ministry at Genesis Metro.

Two days later, I am back at home having been moved again and again by the intensity with which these kids pursue Jesus Christ, and by the way the Holy Spirit chose to work in their lives through the various elements of leadership and each other. Fifteen students went on this retreat and five of them prayed to receive Christ’s salvation this weekend! The angels are singing today! Luke 15:

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Throughout the weekend we sang a song called Refuse To Be Denied by the Desperation Band. It was kind of the unofficial theme song of the weekend. This morning when the students returned to church, they came into the worship service and took up three rows right in the front center, ready to worship. I had the honor of leading the congregation in the aforementioned song, one which they have never heard before this morning…at least from our band.

To try to accurately describe the awesome power of the intensity of the moments with the singing of this song and the two that followed it can’t be done. I started singing and couldn’t contain myself. I played and the fifteen kids and the congregation of the church sang the song back so loud I could hear them through my noise-blocking in-ear monitors. My only response was to weep and keep playing. I was able to contain myself to sing some more later in the song at the climax, but man…words fail me…

I just have a hard time comprehending this kind of movement. I don’t buy into a lot of what the so-called charismatic churches say “movement” of the Holy Spirit looks like. When I have experienced this on a completely cognitive level like this weekend and again this morning, the manifest response is weeping, complete submission, and being completely aware of how small and sinful I am, knowing there is nothing I can do to earn this kind of favor. This is in stark contrast to how great and perfect He is, yet wants me to be with him so much that the only way this can happen was by His own death…the perfect payment for all of the penalties of all of mankind. And further, the mighty power of His resurrection without which, none of this would made a difference in the first place.

The prophet Isaiah wrote about his experience of being face to face with God and witnessing his movement. His response was not that of hysterical laughter or unintelligible utterings symbolic of a crazy man (not to be confused with the actual speaking in tongues outlined in the first letter to the Corinthians). See what his response was as described in the sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah:

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:

“ Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:

“ Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The LORD of hosts.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

“ Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”

What a joy and an honor it was for me to be able to serve in a small way amongst my friends and to make new friends of a group of young adults who, by having their lives changed this weekend, will be able to impact lives themselves.

Technorati Tags: genesis metro church, youth ministry, worship, holy spirit

For the first time in history, the Senate was opened with a Hindu prayer yesterday. Cool.

But I find this incredibly lame: [article].

Technorati Tags: hindu, prayer, christianity, senate

It’s been six days since my last post. I feel like I should put something new up. But I don’t have anything to say. Oh well.

I was perusing YouTube yesterday and found some pro-shot vids of the Umphrey’s concert that Timmy, Drew, and I went to back in May. Check ‘em out. Very cool!

2×2

The Triplewide (If you know him, keep an eye out for Timmy. He can be seen at about 7:24 when the camera by the front of the stage pans into the crowd.)

Technorati Tags: umphreys mcgee, 2×2, the triplewide, youtube, jake cinninger, brendan bayliss, ryan stasik, kris myers, andy farag

I seriously can’t believe how quickly time passes! It seems like I only signed up for this trip and wrote my “introductory” blog about it just a week ago. It’s hard to think that it’s been well over a month. It took me a long time in the midst of daily busyness to get my support letters out to everyone, and there are still a few who didn’t get one due to my lack of a mailing address. But those of you for whom I have addresses should have received them this week. If not, you can read it here: http://www.wannaberockstar.net/documents/support_letter.pdf. I’ve also set up a link for those of you who would rather use PayPal than to send a check. In the top of right margin (over the About The Author section) you will see a button to Make A Donation.

It’s a bit of an unfamiliar undertaking for me to have to “raise support” for something like this. The first thing my mind goes to is, “Why can’t you raise your own support?” It occurred to me though that maybe there are several folks who are unable to go that want to still be able to participate in a mission of this sort, so for others to take part in supporting a “missionary,” that would be their contribution to the mission. I think that makes sense. It makes me feel better, too, that I’m not solely relying on the support of others. Raquel and I are putting into it as well.

There are still so many things to do to get ready for this trip. We went to a preparation meeting last Sunday and learned of the area where we will be serving. I don’t remember name of the village, but we learned that it is in the mountains (which is good for cooler weather) near the border of Nicaragua and Honduras. And the list of dos and don’ts is astounding. Among my favorites were things like not opening my mouth and eyes while in the shower, getting deloused before coming home, and not exposing my bare feet to anything that isn’t the inside of my shoes. I won’t be able to wear shorts at all…only jeans and/or scrubs. Apparently this is a cultural thing. I will need to take some malaria pills and bring a mosquito net under which to sleep. I think of everything I could be nervous about, the insect/arachnid life down there is towards the top of the list. Yes. I am a pansy.

I’ve had some difficulty getting my passport done, outside of the normal problems that come with the State Department’s normal busyness. I would appreciate it if those of you who are persuaded to pray to offer one up for that. We are just over four weeks the travel date and I still don’t have my passport so, that’s a minor cause of concern.

So many things to do and time is winding down. I couldn’t be more excited, though. This will be incredible.

Thanks for reading.

Technorati Tags: nicaragua, mission trip, genesis metro church