A. T. Murdock Media

Circles

2011-07-23T02:12:00.001-04:00

At the end of last month (June 2011), I had an interesting conversation with good friend @jmebrown1. We were talking about circles. The conversation was about how maintaining the wrong circles can be detrimental to your success. The social site Google+ has used this circle concept to maintain and manage your social circles (friends, family, acquaintances, business or whatever). You get to choose what circles you want to interact and share with and who to tune out on any given day or given time.

Often in life, we stay in the wrong circle for too long. Everything has it's purpose. The problem is sometimes we stay in a spot, opportunity or circle beyond it's appointed time. I'm reminded of the story of Israel in Egypt.... "now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph". Don't get comfortable and complacent in circles and stay a quarter passed too long.

Here's a snippet of Bishop Jakes preaching on these circles: he calls them Confidants, Constituents & Comrades. Let it bless you.

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It Takes All of That

2011-04-11T05:53:00.003-04:00

I knew when I walked in the building that it was gonna be one of those days.

The air was electric. I requested the praise team to report to my office. In a nutshell, I said these words, "someone is going to be delivered today. This is our mission. Yes, I love Elevation Church and other churches like it and would love to do ministry like them but that's not how God built us."

Needless to say, service was amazing! I couldn't script this any better.

You have to know when to preach and when to push. In that moment, I knew it was time to push. I closed my Bible. It was time to push.

The testimonies were incredible. Women stood before everyone and told their deepest darkest secrets, about how they had abortions. A young man told how he had cheated and thought he had contracted HIV because he later found out that the woman he had been with was positive.

In another incident, a group of men I had never seen were at church because of an invite. The invite went like this: the night before the guys were trying to get their friend to drink and smoke and get high. He turned it down. They wanted to know what was wrong with him. "Why don't you want any?" He said come to church with me and I'll show you why.

It's easy to get caught up in distractions. It's easy to mimic, echo or imitate. It is too easy to fall in the trap and believe that "it doesn't take all of that" or that "the other church up the street or down the street doesn't do this or that...."

That's about as dumb as an orthodontist worrying about how an orthopedic surgeon does his work, saying "it doesn't take all of that."

In your specialty, it TAKES ALL OF THAT!

Fault Finding

2011-04-07T17:21:00.051-04:00

One of the easiest things to do is find fault in other people. And one of the hardest is to find your own.
Generally, speaking faults in a person, product or even the earth are un-detectable to the eye. It's only under the right pressures, conditions and circumstances that those faults are revealed, usually causing destructive earthquake like behavior, a tsunami of emotions and a meltdown at our core.

Regardless, of what you know (or think you know) about a person, you still don't know them. You don't know their story, their weaknesses, their losses nor their struggles.

I believe that's why God never intended for us to have knowledge of good and evil. We judge, misjudge and tear people down with the knowledge that we have of them.

Parents and spouses, in many circumstances, the way we interact with others can cause them to act and react in an undesirable manner (see this). If you want truly intimate relationships stop being a "know it all" (see 1 Corinthians 8:7) , stop being "critical" and stop "fault finding" (anybody can find faults). The person that you expect to be perfect.... isn't..... and neither are you........

The healing is in the intimacy, confessing our faults to each other. It's not our job to reveal the other person's faults, that's the other person's job not yours. Yours is to look beyond the fault and love.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

It's Not Over Til The Fat Man....

2011-03-24T22:16:00.003-04:00

I heard Bishop T.D. Jakes say that the Old Testament battles are types and shadows of the spiritual battles that we face on a daily basis (paraphrase). I believe this to be true as it relates to the written word that says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.

To be effective in warfare we must prioritize and capitalize upon our advantages and strengths. In order to do this the US Army uses a term called METL in their Battle Focused Training model. METL is an acronym for Mission Essential Task List. Your METL is what you're made of and your list of priorities.

Teddy Roosevelt said this, "Life brings sorrows and joys alike. It is what a man does with them, not what they do to him, that is the true test of his mettle".

Life has a way of testing us and proving us and in order to be effective in warfare against the forces that come against us, we must be Focused and decide what is Essential.

What does that have to do with a Fat Man? There's this story in Judges 3, there is a story about a guy who stuck an 18 inch double edged sword into a fat king. The king was so fat that the handle was covered by his fat.

We could look at this fat king as any spiritual struggle or stronghold in our lives that has dominion over us. If we're going to have any victory we must insert the entire word of God (double edged sword) into each and every situation that has caused a back up and constipation. Insert it until every piece of mess is released from our lives.

Here are a few Essential points gleaned from Judges 3 to keep us Focused:

1. Understand Alliances: This king came against Israel with allied forces. There are always a host of unholy alliances, sometimes unlikely alliances that come against us. They run in packs. Remember legion? Or the man that had a demon return with seven spirits more wicked?

Often you'll find that frustration, depression and suicidal thoughts work together. Take a look at death, it may show up in a family as addictions, abortions and/or suicide.

2. Understand that the enemy is out to re-conquer territory: The city of palms is Jericho. Jericho was the city that fell to Israel under Joshua's leadership. The enemy is constantly seeking to steal your deliverance and reclaim territory from you - kill, steal and destroy.

3. Understand that serving sin is detrimental: Take dominion over sin! One connotation to serving sin is "swerving the truth". Confront the issue, head on! it is possible to serve sin by paying homage to it just like they did with this king.

4. Understand your uniqueness: You were created in the image of God for such a time as this. It is not your duty to fit in. You can force a puzzle piece in the wrong place but just because it fits doesn't mean that it goes there.

The young man that slew the king was left handed, which was rare and advantageous. Stop trying to be who you're not. You don't have to do ministry like anybody and everybody else.

5. Be proactive: The young man MADE a double edged sword. He didn't pray and wait for a sword to appear. He probably prayed for victory, then got up and made the sword. When a man's ways please God, not when a man's praise pleases God. We are blessed in whatsoever we do. The kingdom is a demonstration; it's not about talk but power.

6. Be thorough: Finish the job. All that we do must be to the glory of the LORD. The LORD is an Author and FINISHER and we ought to be imitators of Him as dear little children. What I love the most about the story is that the young man did a complete work.

He left, SHUT the door and LOCKED it! He cut off all ties. In other words, he didn't play with it. Then he ran and sounded the alarm.

The time is now to let out a war cry and shout with a voice of triumph.

Please fell free to leave a comment.

When Keeping It Real Is Wrong

2011-03-15T23:08:00.000-04:00

Keeping it real is a term that is used often used by a person to do whatever they feel like doing and justifying it by "keeping it real".

It's kinda like when "Christians" say "I'm gonna tell you the truth in love" right before they hit you with a gut punch.

Keeping it real isn't always right, that is in terms of how people claim to keep it real. Look at the photo of Mr. T, if he would've "kept it real" he would be in an open chest denim vest with a whole bunch of truck jewelry on his neck with feather earrings.

There is a time a place for everything. Although, I'm still trying to figure out what the time and place is for saggy jeans.

Anyway, when it's time to put on a suit don't try to keep it real by wearing those same saggy jeans with a blazer and contend that you're going to "do you". Or don't use broken English when you should be speaking properly and contend that you're "keeping it real by not selling out".

Look at T.I., he knows when to wear a suit. Business is business. No football player in his right mind refuses to wear a helmet because he wants to "keep it real". We must be properly prepared for the place we are are preforming our duties if we're going to keep it real.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

A.T. Murdock Photo - Video

2011-03-12T20:19:00.002-05:00

Eliminate Excuses

2011-03-12T17:17:00.004-05:00

Excuses come a dime a dozen. Nothing ever happens and nothing ever changes until you make the decision to change and take action upon that decision.

I've heard people talking about losing weight being easy for some because those people have good genes or that it's easier for men than women to lose weight. While this MAY be true, it shouldn't be a barrier that hinders your efforts.

Some people were born smarter than me but that didn't stop me from trying hard. In fact, people say girls are smarter than boys. That MAY be true also, but I won't accept that as an excuse from my boys when they try to slack off in school.

I just want to keep you encouraged. And next post, I'll share some of my training tips with you. There are simple a quick ways to stay in shape. Also, there are some tips that I like to call "double up" tips.

Discover How To Turn Your Phone Into a Personal Trainer: 6 Apps +1

2010-12-31T03:00:00.015-05:00

Just in time for your New Year's resolutions. I will share some more apps with you, these are the ones that helped me on my way from a size 40 to 34. I couldn't afford a gym membership and personal trainer and iPhone, so I did what any tech junkie would do. I got the gym membership and discovered how to turn my phone into a personal trainer.

I had to really search for photos of me when I was bigger because back then I was really self-conscience about my weight and didn't like being photographed.

Some would argue that the weight didn't "look" bad because of my height, but it sure felt bad and my doctor told me that I had to lose the weight because my blood pressure and cholesterol was high. (Keep Reading)

No doubt there will be many resolutions for 2011 and I would like to offer some help to make you successful.

Make a plan!

The number 1 key to weight loss is diet. It is AT LEAST 80% of the equation. Even the Good Book is full of dietary regulations and Paul goes on to tell us that exercise profits little. That's not an exercise diss. I believe in exercising whole-heartedly, just that exercise is a little profitable in comparison to diet. The two together can yield amazing results.

Tips: Cut calories: take in fewer than you burn. Curb your appetite: drink whey shakes mixed with berries and ice, this makes you fill full. Take in lean proteins: they burn more calories while digesting. Eat Greens. Eat Fiber. Get Omega Fats. Cut FRIED FOODS and SUGAR.

I used to eat a honeybun and a 20oz Coke between breakfast and lunch every single day. When I stopped the weight began to come off.

Here are the 6 apps that I used to keep my diet and workouts on track +1:

1. Lose It: with this app you can establish daily calorie limits based upon your height, weight and goals. This app has a database of foods and their calories, even from restaurants and markets. This helped me make healthy choices while eating out. It also tells you how many calories you've burned based upon your daily exercises and activities.

2. Livestrong: this is another diet and fitness tracker, similar to Lose It. It really boils own to taste when it comes to these to apps. I like the restaurant database on this app better.

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3. Nike: Nike+ GPS and Nike+ iPod. Nike+ iPod comes bundled on the iPods and iPhones and only works with the Nike+ shoes and sensor. The app allows you to do various workouts: Basic, Time, Distance and Calorie all while controlling the music on your iPod. It records your time and distances. There is a "trainer" that talks to you to motivate you through your workout.

Nike+ GPS is very similar. The exception here is that no Nike shoes or sensor is required. The app is GPS "powered" so it maps your running route as well as clock your speed and distance as well. Both apps allow you to upload and share your workouts with the Nike website as well as twitter and facebook (New Balance has a similar app).

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4. BodyFitness and iFitness: iFitness is no longer available in the iTunes store but it is similar to BodyFitness. These apps allow you to create routines based upon exercises or workouts (arms, abs, cardio, etc). Virtual Trainer is a free alternative.

5. iMap My Ride: This app is similar to Nike+ GPS except for bike riders. It not only tracks distance and routes but it doubles as a cyclometer, giving you your speed as you travel.

6. Men's Health: My favorite magazine (you can get a year subscription for under $25). This app has 23 workouts included and 150+ exercises all sorted by A-Z, goal or body-part. It gives you step by step instructions, a circuit training interface, timer and a log to track sets, reps and goals. (Watch Video Below)

6 + 1. Genius Scan: totally off topic, but this is an amazing app that turns your iPhone into a scanner. Take a picture of a document or anything, save it as a PDF, file it away or email it.

***Next Post, I'll show you my P90X and 10 Minute Trainer videos on iPad***

10 Apple Apps That I Use To Keep Productivity +1

2010-12-29T03:14:00.004-05:00

There are few apps that I use on my iPad and/or iPhone to help keep me organized and productive. First of all there is Netflix and Pandora... (tongue in cheek). In all seriousness, here comes my 10 +1 List and next time I'll share my fitness apps.

1. Evernote app: the slogan is "remember everything". This app has replaced a notepad for me 90% of the time (even the notepad on iPad/iPhone). The advantage here is that evernote syncs on the iPhone, iPad, MacBook and the web: in other words, I'm never without my notes. Available for Windows, BlackBerry and Android (most of the following apps are).

2. Dictionary.com app: includes word of the day notifications, voice recognition search, audio word pronunciation and thesaurus.

3. Dragon Dictation app: I'm a better text-er than a typer, so these "digital keyboards" work well for me! But, why type when you can dictate? It's great to be able to talk to your phone and have it type for you.

4. Word Processors and such: on the iPhone I use DocsToGo which includes word processing (Word), spreadsheets (Excel) and presentations (Powerpoint). On the iPad its iWork: Pages (Word), Numbers (Excel) and Keynote (Powerpoint). iWork is very powerful. The beauty of DocsToGo and iWork is that all of my important documents are stored on my iDisk "cloud" and I can access, edit, save and email them from anywhere.

5. Bibles: YouVersion, Logos and OliveTree. YouVersion features very powerful reading plans to keep your devotion on track. Reading plans including NewThru 30, B90X and One Year Through (just a few). OliveTree is the old faithful for me, I've been using it since the Palm Treo days on Sprint (early 2001). I like OliveTree alot because my study notes sync back to Evernote (see #1 above).

6. News: take your pick! It boils down to choice here. I use New York Times, CNN, ESPN, Time, USA Today, Sky Grid and on the iPad I add to those ABC and 60 Minutes. Of course I've downloaded the local news apps too (WCNC 36, WSOC 9 and WBTV 3).

7. Social: twitter, facebook and TMF (TweetMyFace). The first two send updates and notifications to alert me and the last allows me to post to twitter, facebook and myspace all at once (not quite as good as social feeds on BlackBerry). *HootSuite and TweetDeck serve their purposes for me as well. Hootsuite allows me to schedule tweets in advance and TweetDeck allows me to post pics to twitter and facebook simultaneously.

8. Music: being a radio host and music lover, there are few apps I recommend here: iHeart radio, DJ Wade-O, WunderRadio, Pandora, Slacker and Radio.com.

9. Books: Kindle app, Nook app and iBooks. These three apps have allowed me to shrink my attache. I used to carry several books around with me all the time, especially reference titles. Between these three apps, I have all that I need at a fingertip, including minister manuals (I've done a wedding with the iPad, how cool is that? Maybe not?). The iBooks app allows me to carry, read, download, organize and email all of my important PDFs, too.

10. Google: Gmail of course! Although, I like Gmail better on the BlackBerry because the filters and stars work better with BlackBerry. However, Gmail is still good on iPhone. Google Voice on iPhone is great, it's my business line to my personal phone. It's like having two lines on one phone! Google Calendar syncs wirelessly to my phone, plus it updates my wife's calendar and vice versa. In theory, we should never have a scheduling conflict ; )

Best of all, my assistant has access to it and she can update and schedule me from her phone and/or computer.

10 + 1. This is one is for church leaders and organizers: Planning Center Online: this app helps keep your church organized through worship planning (not much different from your tradition bulletin or program). This app uses email and facebook scheduling. It allows you to plan your services with song selections, set list, stage layouts, as well as track volunteers, upload videos, songs, sheet music and words so that your praise group can be prepared for rehearsal when they arrive.

That concludes my 10 + 1 List of favorite Apple apps. Don't forget, I'll share my fitness apps next time out!

Frills and Thrills

2010-12-23T16:55:00.002-05:00

During this slow economic time many businesses have had to downsize. Many people have had to downsize in their homes and personal lives as well. This simply means doing more with less. In fact, a majority of what we do in life is fluff, frills and thrills or just plain ole fat.

Here's a question: what fat can you trim away to get down to the meat of life? Accessories are nice but not necessary, in other words they are not the main thing. Far too often, we spend our time accessorizing our dreams, lives, businesses or ministries and not focusing on the main thing.

This Christmas season, in our home we went totally basic. No tree, no wreath, not a single candle. You know what?, the strangest thing happen: Jesus remained still in my heart. Just today at my job's luncheon we shared stories about Jesus and what Christmas really means. (That's what it means to let your light shine before men, not stringing lights around the outside of a house).

This past Sunday, I saw Christian charity in action as several people at the church were concerned about a man who was outside shivering in the cold. How many of us have put up lights for Christmas but yet had no compassion for our neighbors in humanity?

Before I go, there's a story. Jesus is on a mount with three fellows (Peter, James, John). Something special happens to Jesus and Peter gets excited. Peter wants to erect 3 worship centers and stay there. In the end when all was settled, the account says: all that Peter, James and John saw was Jesus, alone.

Could we have "easter" without eggs and Jesus alone? Christmas with no tree and Jesus alone? Church with no band, songs, all the other trappings and with Jesus alone?

Christmas Tree

2010-12-17T01:08:00.002-05:00

Last night, we at CDC had an open forum Bible study. Many questions were asked and in turn discussed and answered. There was a wonderful panel, that handled the questions, including pastors Ruff, Anderson, Kirk, Tillman and myself.

I knew that this one question would be asked because of my decision to not put up a Christmas tree this year. The question basically was seeking clarification on Jeremiah chapter 10.

Let me say first and foremost, that I do not condemn anyone who places a tree in their home, I was convicted by what I had read and the Bible encourages us not to sin against our own conscience, being stumbling blocks and how to deal with idols.

As with anything, it's about our attitude towards a thing. As Pastor Kirk quickly pointed out, when we interpret scripture, we must know the reason, custom, circumstance of and to whom it was written. Then he correctly pointed out that the people made the tree an idol.

HERE WAS MY PROBLEM!!! This statement is what spoke to my heart. Over the years, I had idolized the Christmas tree. It was my attitude towards it. Many of us idolize the tree. We sing songs to it, O Christmas Tree! Listen to the lyrics: leaves UNCHANGING, much PLEASURE you can give me, TRUE and FAITHFUL.

How many hours had I spent in the past just sitting, looking and meditating upon the tree? I mean, turn the TV off and turn the lights off and sit on the chair and meditate and cast gifts at the foot of the tree! Sometimes, I spent more time during the Christmas season with the tree than I had spent in study, devotion and preparation in the Bible.

In closing, Pastor Anderson said, "Don't love something so much that you can't let it go." I think that was the WOW statement of the night. There should be nothing to any of us so dear that we can't let it go. As Pastor Ruff also added, many people will miss out on the lesson we are to learn or the season we are to move in just because we don't want to "miss out".

It's not always about our traditions and what we've been used to doing because God desires to do a new thing. Our tradition renders God's word powerless. It amazes me how we apply that scripture to what we want to apply it to. Here's the thing, not only does God want to do a new thing with the churches, choirs, pastors, deacons, etcetera but He desires to do something new with your life.

Read a related POST HERE

Grow your own gnome

2010-12-16T19:14:00.002-05:00

Where you are is where you come from/ so you know we be home/ we be home grown/ I mean full grown/ tell a friend teleconference telephone/ tapped, so the covers blown/ exposed true colors shown/ you want to get your team on/ Grow your own gnome

I Paint Pictures With Poems

2010-12-04T21:42:00.007-05:00

‎"I dream my painting and paint my dream." Vincent Van Gogh

See the vision, make it plain.

Just because you are good at something or like doing something doesn't mean that it's your purpose. Your purpose is the thing you can't NOT do. You can't walk away from it, it keeps you awake at night. It's "the burden as Habakkuk saw it". It's the "necessity laid upon" Apostle Paul.

God's desire is to "untie" you from bondage and baggage to "unite" you to your purpose! It's just a matter of re-arranging your life like those letters.

We get too comfortable in certain situations because they are easy or familiar. We do a lot of things that we are good at (our jobs even, I know that we need money) but that doesn't mean we were put on this earth to push paperwork and sit behind desk, etc...

I've challenged our congregation not to go to the grave with music still in their hearts, ideas, ministry, mentoring, charity, preaching or whatever in their hearts. Do your purpose in the evening on the weekends, whenever.

Your true purpose is that "splinter in your mind" that won't let you rest. It causes you to toss and turn, you go to sleep thinking of it, you wake up thinking about, you brush your teeth thinking about it.

Habakkuk says the vision speaks... It speaks to our purpose. The vision reminds you of your purpose. It speaks to you when everybody thinks your crazy. God gave Abraham a mental picture (stars in the sky - vision) to hold on to his purpose. He gave Noah instruction to build a big boat - vision. Your vision should be so big that it overshadows every fear and obstacle in your life. Though it tarry - wait!

The prophet said this: the just live by faith, not by sight. That sounds strange because we associate vision with sight but he just finished talking about vision then says we don't walk by sight. However, vision is insight and not eyesight. So if the just walk by faith that's because faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen - vision!
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Timing

2010-11-23T05:45:00.002-05:00

The right thing done at the wrong time can be detrimental or even deadly. The US Army taught us that a good decision made in a timely manner is better than the best possible solution implemented too late. King Solomon taught us that there is a time and place for everything. The sons of Issachar were commended for their understanding of the times. If you dribble, stutter step or pump fake too long or too much before making a move it may be too late. You have the play (vision) drawn up, now execute and score.

- Posted from my iPhone

On My Book Grind

2010-11-22T08:39:00.001-05:00

For the past couple of weeks I've felt very creative. This is more than good because I usually go into a shell around Thanksgiving and stay there until spring. I've been working on my book, which is a memoir of sorts fused with poetry and lyrics. I still would like to write a modern love story like Song of Songs. And, I've been tweaking my photography craft.

I just finished reading two exceptional books: Drops Like Stars by Rob Bell and Decoded by Jay-Z. Both are poetic and full of photography. Just my style.

The church is going well. I couldn't be more proud of a group of people. In my fatigue it's hard for me to get a good feel for the temperature. But after some assessments on yesterday, I'm sure that we're moving in a good direction. Sticking to the script: write the vision and make it plain. On a closing note, I've been enjoying our study of Revelation and I believe the congregation does too.

- Posted from my iPhone

Totally Awesome

2010-11-05T09:26:00.001-04:00

I love it when a product lives up to it's name and expectations. This stuff removes stains that Shout left behind (ink, blood and crayon). The name is simple: Awesome! As seen on TV.

- Posted from my iPhone

Spoke To Me

2010-11-04T14:30:00.001-04:00

This really moved me. Touched me. Spoke to me. I was compelled to stop and photograph this memorial.

- Posted from my iPhone

What Facebook and Twitter Have Done to Blogging

2010-10-19T18:49:00.001-04:00

Facebook and Twitter had stolen my love for blogging. Although, the format is much more restricted in terms of how much you can say in a given post (unless you use notes in Facebook) the conversation really comes to life in the "micro-blogging" that is social networking.

I posted the following statement on Twitter and Facebook and it took off:

- "A person who cannot tell you that you have food on your face after you've eaten lunch together is not to be trusted!"

As people commented, I was able to develop the thought through the dialogue.

Here's what I came up with:

- "I'm saying, [if] we are boys, friends, associates, business partners, in covenant (take ya pick) and you can't tell me that. What's gonna happen when the money get funny? Or my lady try to holler at cha?

Ok, what's the reason for not telling me I have a piece of cheddar cheese soup in my beard? You didn't want to hurt my feelings? Nah, you have character issues and you're a coward.

I can't believe you would let your friend walk around looking like that. *sigh*"

- "Here's the story, it ended well, it just made me think: two friends were having lunch today and before the[y] departed one says to the other, "you [have] something on your face from the skewer". The other friend replied,"thank you" and clean[ed] it off. They left.

It just made me think, that's all."

- "I could go on about this. I'll say this and chill. Reality is that some people can't handle you being open and frank and candid with them even in our "keep it real" society. I've lost some friends along the way because of my candor and direct nature. Folks couldn't handle Daniel being "open" about his prayer life, that landed him in the lion's den. All I'm saying is keep it 100 with me. If I need a stick a gum, offer it to me, I'll catch the hint."

After digesting all the comments, which were about 20, it made me think about Col. Jessep's memorable line, "You can't handle the truth" as well as the "ignorance is bliss" line by Cypher from the Matrix.

The truth will make you free, the problem is some don't wont the responsibility that comes along with freedom and thereby cannot handle the truth.

Battle Rap turned Love Song

2010-10-19T05:33:00.000-04:00

It's all about perspective:

Battle Rap turn Love Song: it's all about perspective.

A moment on the mic i leave MCs frozen in time/ i leave em speechless like they're posing in mime/ when i'm done they gotta go and I'm supposing that's fine/ but before they left, I snatched they're breath, as I was composing this rhyme/ next I take the pros, put em in a line/ i love the competition it shows and it's fine/ put em at Atten-chun, i'm talkin toes to the line/ i gotta string of victories and they grow like a vine...

A moment with U is like it's frozen in time/ U leave me speechless like I'm posing in mime/ U say U gotta go and I'm supposing that's fine/ but when U left it was like the last breath as I was composing this rhyme/ I'm wondering what should be the prose in this line/ I'm in love with U it shows and it's fine/ U got my full attention, I mean toes to the line/ U got these feelings going and it grows like a vine...

Deliverance in the Den

2010-10-17T23:34:00.000-04:00

This is my first written blog post in a long while. I'm a little afraid that I've forgotten how to do this, but I'm gonna give it a shot.

I had the opportunity to preach my favorite Bible story of all time today for the first time ever, "Daniel and the den of lions" from Daniel 6. I can honestly say that I preached with an enthusiasm and joy that I haven't felt in a quite sometime.

A few points from today's message:

~ God may not always deliver you from a situation but will sometimes deliver you "in" the situation. Either way, many are the afflictions of the righteous but it is God who delivers us from them all.

~ Through Daniel's trial in the den of lions, God was glorified throughout an entire kingdom. If we would submit to our trials and count it all joy then maybe God can be glorified in or den of cubicles (which some would consider some type of persecution, hmmm).

~ I believe King Darius bought into Daniel and his purpose because he had an excellent spirit that distinguished from all others.

~ Here's a couple of points that I would like to leave you with:

1. Darius respected the prophet and what he did. Nobody could beat Daniel at being Daniel. Nobody can beat you at being you. What you do should emanate from WHO you are. Even after the decree was signed, Daniel continued to do what made him distinguished. Darius genuinely liked Daniel.

If you're in the music business get out, get in the musician business. In other words, whatever you do remember nobody can do it like you. Many people make music but not the way you make music, soooo you just increased the demand because the supply of you is limited.

2. Excellent spirit doesn't mean perfect spirit. It means exceptional or that you actually "excel" at something. In a world, where people accept and settle for the status quo it becomes easy to blend in, to not stand out, to not be distinguished. Trying to be perfect is usually a cover up for procrastinators. Be different and actual accomplish something.

CDC Praise Team 10/17 Part 2

2010-10-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

CDC Praise Team 10/17 Part 1

2010-10-17T21:34:00.000-04:00

UFC in Murdock House

2010-09-11T17:54:00.000-04:00

Before Autotune

2010-09-08T14:28:00.001-04:00

Before there was autotune there was singing into a fan

Headed to the Hizzy

2010-09-02T13:56:00.001-04:00

Just got off work. Wish I had some Chick-fil-A.