Living Sacrifices

Worship vs. Jesus

2011-07-01T11:05:00.002-05:00

Musicians will play anything. It's true. After leading worship for the past 15+ years I've discovered that most musicians love to play/sing and will jump at any opportunity to do so. I hear it all the time "I love (Style) but I am in a band that plays (Style). " or "I really wish I could be playing (genre) but I've been with this (genre) band for the past several years" You can see it in

A Little Creativity

2009-12-02T13:38:00.001-06:00

I don't usually like receiving those cute little stories that jam up our in-boxes on an hourly bases but I read this one and I am glad I did... (this doesnt give you permission to clog up my inbox with cute little stories by the way) Enjoy! A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in

Breaking the Tension

2009-12-01T23:30:00.000-06:00

Hello It's way past 11:30 My mind will not shut down I am awake when I should be sleeping Reviewing the goals I wrote for my ministry teams five days ago Actually since I changed every one of them I cant claim I set them last week I love visioneering and creating and setting goals for huge accomplishments But I am a dreamer and narrowing my focus is all but impossible I will do my best

Thanksgiving?

2009-11-28T00:13:00.005-06:00

I love Christmas... I really do. It is one of my favorite times of the year. It always has been. There are so many blessings that come with Christmas, blessings that go way beyond the presents. Family, friends, traditions and memories collectively accumulate in to an annual celebration of blessing until one of two things occurs: 1. Our hearts become overwhelmed by the blessing and we in turn

21 Random Thoughts

2009-11-25T23:24:00.008-06:00

1. I love the holidays! They remind me that tradition means something and that new traditions are essential for creating new memories.2. Basketball provides lots of life lessons for me. 3. I may be addicted to social media. Determining boundaries has proven to be difficult.4. Emotion can be your worst enemy or your best friend and sometimes it's one disguised as the other.5. Learning and

The Church Office

2009-11-25T18:02:00.009-06:00

We had a blast with our 2009 Annual Thanksgiving Banquet at FCC. For those of you that were not able to attend I am posting this video so you can share in the experience. Enjoy!

Twitter

2009-02-03T08:29:00.003-06:00

For the past several weeks I have been using a new (to me) social connectivity tool called Twitter. Twitter asks one simple question "What are you doing?" and gives you 140 "characters" to answer. This simple phrase has sparked a movement on the internet that is quickly redefining how we communicate over the internet.Tuesday's Question of the week: What are you doing?

Breakfast and Mad Props Friday

2009-01-23T17:59:00.005-06:00

BREAKFAST! It's meaning is deeper than just the first meal in the morning. It actually signifies the end of a prolonged period without eating or fasting. It literally means to break your fast. Since fasting can be abstaining from more than just food I decided early this month to fast from blogging. Today is my blog breakfast! Twisted logic I know but you get the meaning I am sure.Mad props this

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:43:00.007-06:00

2009 is all about discipline for me personally. I am not much on the traditional new year's resolutions but I am big on setting goals. If you break a resolution you essentially let yourself (and those to whom you made your resolution) down. A goal however recognizes that its going to take some effort to achieve. I am a flawed man. The best I can do as an individual, a husband, a father and a

Three Weeks, Two Prospectives and A Question of the Week

2008-12-30T19:56:00.007-06:00

Hello! It has been over three weeks since we last met and we have so much to catch up on! I don't have a lot of time so let me try to catch you up on the last twenty seven days of my life as quickly as possible.Avalon was incredible! Made some new friends through the process ( Cathy Freeman and Chris Kelly with Spirit 102.3, Greg Long with Avalon) and watched our church do a tremendous job in

Christmas With Avalon

2008-12-03T10:19:00.002-06:00

When it comes to Avalon, the premier vocal group in Christian music, there is muchto know: • Five successful studio projects, a remix album, two RIAA-certified gold records • 19 No. 1 radio hits, 14 of which were featured on a single album, Testify to Love:The Very Best of Avalon, a feat only an elite few artists have accomplished• 20 Dove nominations; three Dove Awards• Two Grammy nominations•

Face of Jesus Manifests on Washburn Guitar

2008-12-02T22:43:00.002-06:00

Oriinally Posted by Scott Thorn | MLive.com December 02, 2008 10:45AM Okay, I've seen the face of Jesus appear on toast, crepes, window panes...but now a guitar? Ludington music store employee Jeff Hoyer noticed it after others commented on it November 28, 2008: Ludington Daily News: "The reason that I didn't discover it when I was setting the guitar up, is when you look at it from this

Tuesday Question of the Week on Wednesday

2008-11-26T11:21:00.004-06:00

I came across this cartoon on ragamuffinsoul.com.It pretty much sums up how I feel about a lot of Christians and churches that I grew up around. One of the most important things we can do as Christians is to show Christ's love to others. You don't see Christ beating God's love into the people in the Bible. However, it is just as important that we defend our faith and stand up for what is right in

Make A Difference Monday: Thankful for my shoes

2008-11-24T12:57:00.004-06:00

It's "Make a Difference Monday" and as usual I am always on the lookout for people who are trying to show the love of Christ to others in tangible ways. Here is an organization that started with a guy who just wanted to help after the Asian tsunami in 2004.Right now Soles4Souls is trying to raise 50,000 shoes in 50 days. A one time donation of 5 dollars will purchase two pairs of shoes for kids

Discipline

2008-11-18T22:12:00.010-06:00

God has been working me over lately. One of the big lessons He has taught me over the past several weeks is that "discipline" is not just a form of punishment.This idea was a new revelation to me. After all, "discipline" is a corrective action you take against a person who has done something wrong, or so I thought. I have always understood the premise of discipline as a habit in my mind but

Funky Fresh Sr. Choir

2008-11-16T06:32:00.005-06:00

It's early Sunday morning and I am doing my usual routine of looking over the service orders, reading, watching the sunrise through my office window and spending some time with God. Not much was different about this morning, until I checked my email...Is your Sr. Adult Choir this Funky Fresh?

Family Hang Out Night

2008-11-13T18:03:00.005-06:00

A few weeks ago AP and I realized that our Thursday nights were out of control. Homework, basketball, football, dance, grocery shopping and about a half dozen other things all seemed to find their way in to our Thursday night schedule. We were running everywhere, trying to get everyone where they were supposed to be in a coordinated sequence of events that resembled a city wide game of musical

My Glorious

2008-11-04T14:56:00.007-06:00

I (like everyone at this point) am ready for the campaign rhetoric to stop. I didn't realize it until my wife told me that my 12 year old son was actually scared of Obama winning this election. I panicked! I did not realize until that moment, I got sucked in like everyone else. I was so consumed in election coverage of campagin rhetoric and electoral maps that I had somehow allowed my son to be

Make A Difference Monday: "IT" Matters

2008-11-03T10:09:00.008-06:00

I remember, several weeks ago, sitting in our weekly Creative Planning meeting and going over our upcoming services about community. One of our team members mentioned how tough it was for some people to feel comfortable committing to a small group. He began to describe it like a personal tug-of-war, constantly pulling against the demands of life in order to grow spiritually as a christian.

Perspective

2008-11-01T17:51:00.003-05:00

"Can you believe gas is $1.95"This phrase has a completely opposite meaning than it did twelve months ago.

Set Design

2008-10-27T17:17:00.004-05:00

This week we took down our set to prepare for Christmas stage. I really liked the direction this set took. We were pretty limited on budget so we had to put our creative brains to work. This is definitely not the design we initially planned but I loved the result.We have some big ideas for our upcoming series...

Question of The Week

2008-10-21T08:37:00.001-05:00

Its Tuesday which means its time for our Q of the week. This one needs no introduction. Tuesday Question of the Week:Did you know McCain was Obama's new running mate?

My Top Five Worship Songs

2008-10-16T09:59:00.003-05:00

I always get questions and e-mails about my favorite worship songs so I thought I would put a list of favs together. Obviously these change from time to time but for now here are the songs that speak to me the most.1. We Shine- Steve Fee. I didn't really like this song when I first heard it but it quickly became my favorite.2. From The Inside Out- Hillsong United.3. My Savior My God- Aaron

Oklahoma City Thunder

2008-10-13T23:09:00.004-05:00

AP and I went to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA's newest franchise, at the BOK Center this evening. We hung out with some FCC friends. It was a great game and we had a great time. The Thunder even got the W with a "come from behind" victory over the Houston Rockets. Tracy McGrady was playing it safe and sat on the bench the whole game. Probably pretty smart given his history of back

Catalyst 08 Roadtrip #8

2008-10-11T15:21:00.008-05:00

I am officially home from my Catalyst 08 road trip. I found this awesome shirt at the eventIt was a perfect addition to an amazing event! From the worship time to the immense amount of information provided by some of the great church minds of our time, Catalyst 08 will be a week that I will look back on as a "catalyst" for growth in my own personal leadership.I'm already making plans to attend