Blog

Music

2011-06-05T19:10:50Z

I've been taking some time off from blogging to write some music. I've needed to focus my creative ideas on the songwriting. I'll be back soon, possibly with some recorded music from my new house location.

More of God's love and grace.

2011-03-26T23:17:59Z

I've been really listening to this song by Will Reagan and United Pursuit Band called "Set A Fire." Throughout listening to this song I am reminded that God's love is so good. That it never changes and remains always the same for us. God has placed it on my heart to love people and forgive people, no matter what the circumstance. I must know that I too am forgiven because of His love and grace.

Just Come Home

2011-03-05T21:21:00Z

Think about the awesome picture of GRACE. When the prodigal son returns and sees the radical life changing grace that his father offers.

Luke 15:11-31

¹¹And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. ¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. ¹⁴And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
¹⁷"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' ²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' ²²But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.

²⁵"Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' ²⁸But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,²⁹but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' ³¹And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

Have we lost the ability to forgive and grant others the same grace that Jesus offers? Think about it.

Grace.

2011-03-01T23:50:34Z

I recently read Gracenomics, a book by Mike Foster from People of the Second Chance. It was not an overtly biblical book, but it had significant biblical based principles.

It discusses that recently we've had issues offering GRACE in our workplaces, schools, and our daily lives. We've come down hard on people without living out forgiveness. Most of all we've come down hard on ourselves and have not offered enough grace when we make mistakes. This in turn causes the major problem of offering grace to others.

Jesus died on the cross and rose again, but life did not become easy to live at that moment. Our flesh still is broken and loves to sin. But remember Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." We must be reminded that the grace we are offered by God, needs to be offered in our hearts and minds to us. When we make this realization we can best offer grace to those around us. I challenge to offer radical grace that loves no matter what.

WE ARE PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE from PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE on Vimeo.

Church Music

2011-01-31T22:24:54Z

As a worship leader I am constantly looking at ways to engage people through music on a normal Sunday. Many times you have very different people entering a new environment each week. People come broken, bruised, drained, or even excited on a Sunday morning. Even myself sometimes coming to a place on Sunday morning where I can be used by God is sometimes difficult, but I go into asking God just to get me into a place.

Psalm 144:9(ESV) says

⁹ I will sing a new song to you, my God;
on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,

So back to Sunday mornings. At 724Raleigh I have really enjoyed leading the community of faith in musical worship. Being part of a Church plant can be a struggle at some points due to the amount of resources that are available. I make a consistent effort to be a dreamer and innovator, constantly adding new elements to the music portion of worship. However, in order to take it to another level I feel like God has placed it on my heart to write music with the team. I don't know what that process looks over the coming months but I know that words come from the heart and the people that are in process through our community of faith. I'm thoroughly excited to see what God is going to do in and throughout the band.

The Shema and discovering self.

2011-01-06T17:34:45Z

Recently I have been finishing up my reading of Untamed by Alan Hirsch. My understanding of the formation of a true self has been formed and changed as I have read this book.

The Shema is Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Jesus often quotes it:

Mark 12:29-31:

²⁹Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' ³¹The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Hirsch states that "the self is formed primarily in relation to God and completed in the act of loving others." I love this picture because it describes the need for community in the body of Jesus Christ. In order to be a follower of Jesus, we are called to be in relationship. Relationship not just with Jesus, but by loving and communing with others. Loving others is not an easy task though and requires us to love like Jesus loves by sacrificing and serving. Additionally, in order to love others we must know that we are loved by God and others. God didn't just love us though, He loves us unconditionally. In Romans 5:8 this is shown when said that "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." See before when I was following Jesus I thought I could do it half-way, but I've come to the full realization that being in relationship with Jesus and following Him demands all of me. Even in the moments though when I fall short nothing can separate me from the His love (Romans 8:35)

I leave you with the thoughts of C.S. Lewis on how seeing the image of God in people generates compassion in us

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners---no mere tolerance, or indulgence, which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.

Dying in NC/TN

2010-12-15T19:06:27Z

So the trip began in Charleston, SC with the infamous Joshua Gale. Who would have known that it might have been our last? We traveled with the words "Tennessee or bust," but I am not quite sure that is was a great idea. We got all the way into Asheville without any snow and we thought it would be great. However, about halfway past Asheville on I-26 the roads began to get worse. We started to notice less and less cars around us and only trucks til eventually we were the only automobile on the road. We were headed up the mountain and we came up to a semi-truck that was stuck and partially blocking the highway. We weren't quite sure we could get around him, but we tried any ways after we saw a jeep pass us and him really quickly. Right as we got behind the back of the truck, the tires on my little Scion tC started to spin and we were not moving. Then I realized that the truck was coming back at us sliding as he tried to get himself out of the mess he was in. We got to the top of the mountain after barely sneaking by that truck and basically visibility was 15ft infront of the car. I was worried that we might drive off the side of the mountain, but we trucked on forward. In the end after a long 2 hours of driving we made it to our destination (Kingsport, TN) and needless to say we are now making great music happen. It was worth the fun exciting stories I have to tell my friends and kids in the future. Thanks Josh Gale for being positive... except when the truck came back at us.

Dedication

2010-11-08T20:41:41Z

The past few years I've driven by this same school zone around the same time during the day. A man has been sitting in a chair as a school crossing guard. Each day he serves in the school in the morning and afternoon with a great smile. I'm pretty sure he doesn't get paid that much, but he has to deal with the weather, sometimes bad students, and traffic. I drive by him alot because he waves and smile at every car that passes by. I just praise this man, he dedicates his time to serve the school and the students that cross.

So why are there times do we not dedicate our lives to Jesus?

I find myself running in circles when it comes to Jesus. Look at my life and you'll see that most of the time I have it together, but honestly it's a process. There are times in my life where I go to something other than Jesus. It is easy to forget that Jesus loves us no matter what, even if we sin or fall short. Just for Him to have offered us grace is such a loving act. So why do I run so easily when times get hard? I think it is because it is easier not to dedicate my life to Him. It's easier to stay on the path of sin and make claims that it is ok. However, we must take a stand and dedicate our lives to Him. Even in the moments of our weakness we must be reminded that He loves us and offers us grace. Dedication and devotion requires sacrifice at times it may be hard, but it is completely worth it. I leave you with this scripture from Hebrews 4:16 -

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Woah I couldn't go a month without a post.

2010-11-05T19:42:16Z

So what really has happened in the past month? Absolutely amazing nonsense :-p

Basically I've been having meetings galore for a community of faith called 724raleigh. Who would have known that being part of growing church plant would be so draining that I couldn't even update my wonderful blog. I've been so "busy" that I have not had time to keep up with my reading, so I am behind on some books. However, even with all this craziness I recommend, if you are in the Raleigh area, that you check out the 10:00am or 6:14pm service for 724raleigh. Maybe even commit six months to helping us out? Take a risk and live out missional faith because there are still people not being reached in Raleigh.

I'm really excited to say that I ordered a Kodak zi8 HD camera, so that I can record better videos. Yes that means more music/covers and maybe some video blogging. I am trying to find more time to write solid music. I'm looking forward to connecting with some local worship leaders to collaborate on song writing and other ideas. Just being centered on Jesus and being creative with other musically talented people can inspire good ideas.

With all that said, the next few months are going to be very exciting and I ask for continued prayer for the ministry I am a part of and for me to find a job that will pay the upcoming bills. I also ask that you would pray for me to be more selfless and less sefish, as well as being challenged to love the people that are around me. I hope to keep challenging all of ya'll who read this blog to love Jesus more each day.

Hives and other nonsense

2010-10-06T16:41:35Z

So the last few days I've been suffering from an allergic reaction to something. Honestly, I have no clue what it is, but it has destroyed my body. I have been itching from head to toe and constantly high or having stomach issues from the medication. However, even though I am now getting better I've come to realize that through the whole situation God is good and that His love for me is unwavering. So many times we seem to praise God only when the times are going great and our expectation is that God will only bless us with good things. I think back to the story of Job and how God tested Him and throughout the test God's goodness and love never changed. Always remember that throughout the trials and tribulations of life God is good, not just when He blesses you with something.