Flying with a guitar?

Are you soon going to be traveling by plane with your guitar?  You may want to think again!

The Pinky Promise

Did you ever Pinky Swear Promise as a Kid?  Like that officially made them tell the truth or something?  Do you promise?  Really?

Remind God of his promises…He ”Pinky Promised” them. Stand on his word.  Trust in him.  He will provide.  He will supply.  Remind him daily.  As of late, my prayer has been reiterated in Rueben Morgan’s song, You said:

 

You Said

Lyrics by Rueben Morgan

 

You said
Ask and I’ll give the nations to you
O Lord that’s the cry of my heart
Distant shores and the islands
Will see Your light as it rises on us

 

You said
Ask and you will receive
Whatever you need
You said pray and I’ll hear from heaven
And I’ll heal your land

You said
Your glory will fill the earth
Like water the sea
You said
Lift up your eyes
The harvest is here
The kingdom is here

Oh Lord I ask for the nations

Whatever promises you were given, don’t give up.  Don’t give in.  Hold tight to them and always be on the lookout for the day when they start coming to pass.  Let’s bind together and impact this world for Christ! 

 

10,000 songs and still strong

10,000 songs.  Ten thousand.  Diez Mil.  dix-millièmes.   diecimila.  一萬  That’s alot.  That’s how many songs Amy and I have sang in the last 7 years. 

 

Here’s the breakdown:

Time at Victory: 7 years

Approximate number of times to lead worship: 1,000

Avg. Songs per Worship Service:  8

Avg. Songs per Altar call:  2

Avg. # of songs in the key of E:  15

Avg. # of songs in the key of G: 25

Avg. # of songs in a flatted/ key: 0

 

That means that we probably sang songs like ‘Open the Eyes’ and ‘I Could Sing of Your Love Forever’ about 400-500 times apiece..Yowza! 

So hat’s off to the last 10,000 songs that we sang, and here’s to the next 1,000,000.  May God continue to grow and bless us 10 times over on the next 10,000.  We pray God’s blessings on you all…thanks for letting us worship with you.  If you haven’t worshipped with us yet, what are you waiting on? 

 

Change Your Life

Needless to say, in the last month there has been change. And when I say change, I mean CHANGE. There is not one area of my life that is not going through a change…house, car, job, church, etc. You name it, I guarantee it’s changing.  Not all things that change are bad though, I have learned. Sometimes it’s just time for an upgrade, or trade-in!

So endure the change and PRAY. Hold on. You’ll make it. When you are in God’s will, there is nothing that should stand in your way.  One day things will be great again and you’ll look back and wonder why you were so worried about the changes that were going on in your life.

Visiting The Assembly

So today was our first Sunday in a long time not leading worship.  Weird, I know.  We are slowly adjusting to our new normal…but it’s not really our new normal.  It’s our new normal until a new new normal is here (Leading worship, full time once again).  Lost?  Now you know how we feel.

Anywho, we visited The Assembly at Broken Arrow today.  What a nice place to start off our journey!  Working in Broken Arrow, I knew of the church but did not really know a whole lot about it.  A friend that I went to church with back in the day is currently the Student Minister/Pastor here.  

Upon arrival, we were quickly greeted by ushers who escorted us to the Worship Center.  Entering the Worship Center, we were greeted by another usher who asked ”Where would you like to sit?”  I told him about halfway down in the middle.  We were escorted to two empty seats with a smile and a quick “Make yourself at home, today”. 

We worshipped with the amazing praise team at The Assembly.  Apparently, the Worship Pastors have recently got on board at The Assembly (and are in the middle of a move, God be with them!) and to my looks, are doing a marvelous job!  A full choir, orchestra, and vocalists complemented the tremendous voice of the Worship Pastor.  The background lighting changing from a soothing purple to a blue set the mood to worship. 

A smooth transition from the Worship to the Word was done in part by the Pastor, Ron Woods.  He delivered a great word that spoke directly into our lives.  His words of seeking God first and not anything else, plunged straight to my heart.  How timely a message to hear!  The service was closed with an altar call and word of prayer.

After service, Amy and I hung around until the Worship Pastors seemed to be not busy anymore.  (Note: Worship Pastors are never NOT busy, but have priorities to which they assign their time.)  We approached one of the Worship Pastors and began to introduce ourselves.  We had a great talk with the Worship Pastors over lunch, talking of our dreams, desires, jobs, etc.  Very personable Pastoral Staff at The Assembly!

If you are in Broken Arrow (or maybe if you’re not), I encourage you to visit The Assembly.  You will find smiling faces, helpful staff, and an overall greatness of people there…not to mention, if you go looking for God, you will find him alive at The Assembly!

 

Always,

There is a time…

Another chapter is coming to a close.  Another verse has been sang.  Another bell has been rang.   As we continue to pray and fast, seeking God’s will, I am steadily reminded of  familiar words from Ecclesiastes…

Ecclesiastes 3 (MSG)

   1 There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:   2 -8 A right time for birth and another for death,
   A right time to plant and another to reap,
   A right time to kill and another to heal,
   A right time to destroy and another to construct,
   A right time to cry and another to laugh,
   A right time to lament and another to cheer,
   A right time to make love and another to abstain,
   A right time to embrace and another to part,
   A right time to search and another to count your losses,
   A right time to hold on and another to let go,
   A right time to rip out and another to mend,
   A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
   A right time to love and another to hate,
   A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

 

 ^{9 -13} But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I’ve had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he’s left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he’s coming or going. I’ve decided that there’s nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That’s it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It’s God’s gift.

 

  ¹⁴ I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction.  God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.
   ¹⁵ Whatever was, is.
   Whatever will be, is.
   That’s how it always is with God.

While this passage of scripture sometimes hurts, it’s a fact of life.  God has perfect timing and we do not.  What God has willed and planned will be brought forth in due time, as joyful or painful as it may be for us.  As God’s plan for our lives continues to unfold, I hold this word from Ecclesiastes 3 close to my heart.  I know that if there is a tough time ahead, I also know that there will be a good time ahead also.  If there’s crying ahead, the laughter is soon to follow. 

 

We pray that God’s will and plan be steadfast in your lives and ours. 

 

Always In Christ,

 

 

Random videos for Friday

 

And my absolute favorite, and the most stimulating (HA!)!  Yes, these guys are shocking their faces in time to the beat…

What can’t the iPhone Do?

Well, it CAN be a trombone…

The Beatboxing Role in Worship

For years I’ve thought about taking on a beatboxing lad onto the worship team.    This video has just swayed me into avidly looking for a beatboxer to join us.  If you’re a beatboxer looking for a Worship Team to join, hit me up…I’ll create a position for you.   If you’re not looking for a Worship Team, or maybe you have no idea what beatboxing is…check out this hippity-to-da-hoppity video, it’s off the hizzle fo’ rizzle.

(Disclaimer:  Not really looking for a beatboxing brotha’ or sista’.  If you can beatbox though, teach me your ways young Obi-Wan…)

What will they think of next?

Remeber those days of taking notes in a classroom?  You would hurridly jot down some notes as you’re trying to keep up with the proffesor that talked 90mph.  After class, you’d go and look over those notes and wonder what you had written.  If I had taken notes in school, this is what would’ve probably happened to me.  My handwriting is terrible…but that’s another blog post.

Enter Livescribe Smart Pens.  This product is absolutely phenomenal.  I only wish that they had came out with this while I was taking Physics II.  This pen records everything that you write and when you wrote it.  You can tap the words that you’ve written and it plays back the audio that it recorded at the time that you wrote the words.  Confused?  Here’s a 7:00 minute demo video.

 

How flippin’ sweet is that?  This thing would have saved me a lifetime of wondering what the chicken scratch on the page was.  The actual prices from Livescribe are as follows:  1GB pen – $149.95,  2GB – $199.95.  That’s a cheap way to understand what you were writing, and even translate the English words into Spanish for that terrible Spanish exam.   For more info, head to www.livescribe.com