2009.07.12

I'm Such a slacker, I know! But here it is.
And on another note.  You might ask yourself, "Why doesn't Adrian just put up the mp3s?" Well, I'm a big supporter of buying music.  I wouldn't want to be a stumbling block.  We need to support the people that are making music.  Being a musician and knowing other musicians that have been hurt by pirating, I just want to encourage the purchase of songs.  That's all, soap box put away.

Setlist:

Here is Our King: David Crowder

Marvelous Light: Charlie Hall

Reign in Us: Ben Glover, Jon Neufeld, & Tim Neufeld

Come Thou Fount: Robert Robinson

Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone): John Newton, arranged by Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio

Thoughts:

Well this week's message was on David.  Pastor Dave Hicks spoke and focused on how disqualified David was/felt.  From the beginning of the account of his life starts with him being overlooked.  He was a man after God's own heart; not because he was perfect but He acknowledged his faults and dependence on God. We ended the service with the question "What disqualifies you? What thing(s) in your life do you feel leave you out of God's plan?" It was a powerful service and we capped it off with the great rendition of Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin.  That chorus says it all, "My chains are gone. I've been set free. My God, my savior, has ransomed me. And like a flood His mercy reigns.  Unending love, amazing grace." See you next week... really!

2009.06.07

Setlist:

Beautiful One: Tim Hughes

Our Love is Loud: David Crowder

Forever Holy: Ben Crist

Enough: Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio

Holy: Jason Morant

From the Inside Out: Joel Houston

Thoughts: 

 This week we were learning about God's holiness and His call to holiness.  One of the things I think about is flow/mood of the songs.  Here is how the service looked.  2 faster songs, a scripture reading, a slow song to come out of that reading and then a more moderate tempo song to lead into the message. After the message We end with 2 slower songs. 

I do feel like it is one of the jobs of a worship pastor/leader to help people enter into worship.  I don't ever want a songs tempo or volume to distract someone from worshipping God.  So that's why I put effort into thinking through which songs I pick based on tempo/volume.  

I'd like to just quickly talk about one of the songs.  Forever Holy by The Glorious Unseen is a great worship song.  It's catchy and is simple.  Check them out.  I'm not the biggest fan of the lead singer's voice but love some of the songs.  Until next week.  Sorry this came out a little late.  

2009.06.01

This was an amazing weekend. I wasn't at church but I witnessed something great. My beautiful wife, Jamie, trained, ran, and finished the San Diego marathon. It was her first. I couldn't be more proud. It was amazing. 26.2 miles! My behind gets sore when I drive that long. But for that reason I missed church on Sunday but saw an amazing lesson.

At mile 24 Jamie called me to let me know that she was 2 miles out. She said she was tired and sounded beaten. Later she tells me about the end of her run. It went something like this:

At mile 20 she hit the wall. It is that place physically and mentally where you want to stop. She pushed forward. As she ran that last 6.2 mile stretch she tried to block out the pain and any thought of quitting. It was hard because everyone in that last stretch that was around her were miserable. Everyone clearly was struggling. Who could blame them? They've been running for over 4 hours! Then the worst thing happened. Somehow Jamie trips. Thoughts of the asphalt, scraped wrists, elbows, knees, and blood rush through her mind. If the race was hard now, it would double in difficulty with this fall. You add the pain from the run, the pain from falling. But before she hits the ground she somehow stays up. Now this is the place in the story that is amazing. The fear and thought of falling get her adrenaline pumping. It is the last round of the fight, the last lap in a race, the last few bites of food in a eating competition (I'm getting hungry just typing this long), you know what I mean. She faces a huge obstacle and is over it. And not only is she safe but she begins to pick up speed. She runs as fast as she can as thousands of people are cheering. She crosses the finish. We embrace.

Everyday we face obstacles. Sometimes we fall all the way to the floor. Sometimes we barely miss the fall. God calls us to stand up and move forward. When I'm struggling in life and am not sure I can reach the finish, I remember these words in Hebrews:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." - Hebrews 12:1-3