What are you doing tomorrow?

Sunday was a great day all around! There was a great atmosphere in all three services as we worshiped together as a church. Pastor Troy spoke about sin and we showed our final Interview With Satan video, which killed by the way.
I went to lunch with an old friend who was the youth pastor in Bend, OR while we were there and he is now the District Youth Director for the state of Oregon.
Sunday night at Axis Church, Jeremy Johnson spoke and as always, tore it up. That dude is funny. During the response time we sang Mighty To Save and we hit another gear as the students pressed in to God like I've never seen them press.
Just a great day all around and the kind of day that makes you say "I could do this again tomorrow!"

The stuffing was my favorite.

Today at New Life, we celebrated Pastor Appreciation Day. The admins prepared an incredible lunch for us and had it all set with nice china and silverware and everything. Nothing beats getting prime rib and not having to pay for it.

You Never Know

So in our 4th installment of the Interviews with Satan, we randomly mentioned that Beelzebub himself prefers Samsung flatscreen T.V.s. In our 9am service that Sunday, it just so happened that there was a man there who is the Regional Director of Marketing for Samsung. Oops. He actually wasn't mad and thought it was funny. He asked for a copy and wanted to show it sometime at his office.
We were pretty shocked and were thinking "What, is David Hasselhoff going to be in the 10:30 service?"

Culture of Worship.

I have been chasing mentors lately and asking questions about how to be the most effective worship leader I can be and how to create a culture of worship in which people naturally engage with God. From what I have gleaned from these mentors, it essentially boils down to 3 things:

Pray: Do not underestimate the power of a solid prayer life.
Be yourself: Honesty and genuine-ness put people at ease.
Lead by example: If you want people to be worshipers, then be a worshiper, not just a worship leader.

I am starting to believe that I was over-thinking the entire thing! I was looking for some more difficult hoops to jump through. I feel pretty good about where we are as a church and more specifically, as a worship ministry at New Life Church. We are gaining momentum and quality at the same time!

In Honor of Timothy C. whom we are mourning.

He is not afraid to fly
He is not afraid to soar
He is not afraid to dance
Through Heaven's open door

He is not afraid to run
He is not afraid to love
He is not afraid to sing
In the loving arms above

We might be crying today
But it's only for a moment when we know our God is great
And one day soon, we will be there
We will be there.

I'm glad

I'm glad I don't have to get punched in the face for a living. I'm just saying...

Getting our serve on.

At New Life Church this past Saturday, we had what we call "Serve Day". We bring in huge dumpsters and invite people to come and drop off their trash for free. We had a station for people to drop off old appliances, a shredding service truck for paper and 2 Salvation Army trucks. We had free car-washes and gave out sack lunches as people left. It is a great way to serve our community and a great time of camaraderie.
Since my wife has been about of town all week, I had my oldest son with me so I had to find something for him to do. He had a blast handing out lunch sacks and playing with some other kids. As we were leaving the house that morning, my son asked me why we had to go. I told him that Jesus said that people would know that we were His followers by the way that we love each other. So I said "What is one of the best ways to show someone that we love them?" To which he replied "Take their trash?"
Good call kid, good call.