Fun With Friends

So our neighbors down the street came to hang out with us the other day. Our kids love playing outside together and it was a real treat this day. Terri and I turned around and her son had cuddled up close to our oldest girl sitting on my guitar case. So I ran and got the camera...here's the "little story" as it unfolded. Good times...thanks for coming to hang out Terri!

Now then, the younger one is a story all her own. I think the picture speaks for itself, but our little boy on the way better look out. This girl can hold her own.



(Yes, she really did pull those two boys from our driveway to the next one. She's a firecracker.)

Still No Baby...Yes I Watch American Idol

No baby yet...we're two days past the due date, despite what the little baby ticker on my wife's blog says. I think that 2 means 2 days late...anyhow, for more on baby stuff, check Mel's Blog.

Yes, I watch American Idol...regularly. It's sort of the water cooler talk on our Worship Team at church and everyone has their grand thoughts. What’s really funny is this...I am by far not the most talented musician on our team. Let's put it this way, I suck compared to some of the people on our team. But when Idol conversations come up, it's funny how everyone weighs in on their favorite contestants. Everybody has their rationale...and everyone's right. Then you see this sort of turn to me..."Tim, what are your thoughts?" Then I speak with the utmost American Idol authority that can be given to a worship pastor from God. And conversation is over. Either people don't want to rock the boat by disagreeing with me or it is true that God has imparted great American Idol discernment that cannot be refuted. I like to think it's the latter...

Anyhow, so I will weigh in now...last night's show was terrible. I struggled to make it through. I don't understand what was so hard about finding some incredible Beatles tunes (Strawberry Fields???) and doing them in a way that is at least palatable to the average joe. So, here's to hoping next week is worth the watch...

My Family (WillowTree Style)

It's been an incredible 8 years in the Barosh home...I can't wait to see what's in store. But here's our life so far...told through WillowTree People. :)









Multiply the last picture by three and you have us. Now...if they only had a statue of a dude crashed out on the couch, our family picture would be complete! :) Seriously though, I need to get better at statue number 1. I love my wife and I used to be good at romancing...what happened Mr. Barosh????? No worries, I'm working on learning how to continue the romance with 3 kids in the picture. There's just a little learning curve involved!

New Series at Crossbridge

Excited about the new series starting at Crossbridge. Should be a good time! If you live in the area, March 30th - May4th would be a great time for you come check out Crossbridge. Click the banner below for more info!

Dustin Kensrue

I still plan on finishing my Relational Ministry Posts...but for now, here's who is on high rotation on my IPOD. This dude is bad. He would probably name his little boy CASH.

Dustin Kensrue - Thanks to Ryan for hooking me up.

Relational Ministry - Part 2

Our first house-deal fell through…obviously God was at work. We ended up where we live now…that’s a story for a post in and of itself. We’ll just say that as we were leaving the house (unsure of whether this was for us) and Mel said, “I want to see the bathroom one more time.”

As she opened the cabinet, she found a little piece of paper in the far back corner that had Hebrews 11:1 written on it…it was a piece of our confirmation that we were to purchase this house. Even though I was quick to doubt…I told her, “Go put that back, that’s for the people who are supposed to buy this house!”

So, we moved in, determined that we would live on mission among our neighbors. Relational Ministry – from a natural overflow of an invested relationship, we would share about who Jesus was. Not with Jesus tracks and a sign in the yard that says “we don’t drink or smoke because Jesus doesn’t.”

Instead, we would be intentional about getting to know our neighbors and look for opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus to them. It’s not a cop-out for not talking about Jesus every time we’re together. It’s taking a long look…realizing we would be living here for years. Over that time we would have numerous opportunities to share. If we’re too forceful upfront…we could ruin opportunities for years to come. We wanted this to be natural part of a relationship with people we genuinely cared for.

So, we were one of the first houses built on our block and as people moved in, we would take them a welcome gift. Nothing big…just some cookies or rice crispy treats. That was our first step in getting to know their names and introduce ourselves. We would leave telling each other "You remember their name? Roland I think? Or was it Ramon? I don't know...go ask him again." Names are important to people...it says something to them if you can't remember their name.

Over the past 6 years, we’ve hosted a block party at our house on Halloween for the entire neighborhood. We don’t play Awesome God over the speakers the whole time…we play music people out here like. We try to take a night that was meant for darkness and somehow be a light for Christ. It’s crazy at times to see over 100 people standing in your front yard from all walks of life, but now everybody knows the pastor in the corner house throws a pretty good party!

Relational Ministry - Part 1

Relational Ministry is a term that has been in my family’s vocabulary since 2001. That is the year that Mel and I started doing a program called CARES by Apartment Life. We were a CARES team for nearly 2 years here in the Sugar Land Area.

The overall concept of the program is this: In exchange for a rent free apartment, we served as the event planners for the community. On the faith side of things, the apartments knew we were Christians and allowed us to share our faith with their residents…in a non-threatening way of course.

I’ve never learned more about sharing my faith than I did in those 2 years. All through High School, I was very outgoing and handled myself fine in relational settings. Upon entering college, I was involved in a relationship that killed my self-confidence, causing me to second guess myself in nearly every relational environment.

I spent the first years of my marriage, unlearning years of unhealthy habits – such as standing in a corner with my plate of food as a shield anytime someone new came to talk to me. ☺ Since my wife is such the relational guru…I had the best coach in the world. While serving as a CARES Team, Mel would come and take my plate away from me and make me go talk to new people…I cursed her at the time, but I love her for it now!

Mel went on to work full-time for Apartment Life, serving as the Regional Director over Houston. At that time, we stepped down from being a team and purchased our first house. As we prayed about where God would have us live, our number one prayer was this: “God, we’ll live where you want us to…just put us in a place where we can have a Kingdom impact on the people we live among.”

ONCE Wins Big Last Night

Mel and I were so excited about Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova winning best song last night. Here's their performance from the show...I love to watch the underdog win!

Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning

I've never seen my wife happier! We are cleaning all weekend. The girls have gone to Grandma's and we have less than 48 hours to make this house ready for Baby Boy. (No, we have not agreed on a name yet. :) See my wife's blog for the latest on that.

Seriously though, a whole weekend dedicated to cleaning...on the happiness scale, this is up there with our wedding day. No joke. She's like giddy the whole time... "and what if we do this?" "Do you think we should move this here?" "We should put some shelves there."

We'll have some pics soon...because this my friends, is a memorable weekend. It's pre-baby nesting at its best!

Death By Suburb

As a staff, we are all reading different books about the suburbs. When we go to staff meeting today, we will each give a synopsis of what we read in our book and then we'll enter into discussion about our current suburban context. We started this last week and it was a very enlightening conversation. Our Connections Pastor Brandon Baca started doing some great research on our area and brought it to our meeting. It was amazing to hear some of the statistics he shared.

So my reading is from a book called Death By Suburb. Just seeing the cover intrigued me and I was really drawn to dive into it!

So far, I would equate it to a "light" version of the Celebration of Discipline by Foster. It's basically an exploration of how to engage in the spiritual disciplines while living in suburbia.

However, this guy really starts to shine a bright light on the veneer of suburbia. He has no problem calling a spade a spade and including himself in the mix. In fact, he sort of tells on himself the first 3 chapters. He's refreshingly vulnerable.

Here's a great quote from the book. "The suburbs tend to produce inverse spiritual cripples. Suburbia is a flat world, in which the edges are clearly defined and the mysterious ocean is rarely explored. Every decision gets planned out, like the practice of registering at retail stores for one's wedding gifts. Only tragedy truly surprises."

How true is that last statement! We're so prone to predictability in our lives. We're prone to worship safety and accomplishment. We covet the neighbor's house and cars. We compete with each other through the accomplishments of our children. It's only when tragedy comes knocking on the door that we're awakened from our slumber. I like that Goetz is trying to give some avenues for living what he calls "The Thicker Life" in our suburban context.

Chores After Kids

Not that I've ever been that great around the house in the first place...

But man, I really stink now that we have kids. I'll preface this one by saying I am not a night person at all. Truth be told, I could crash every night at 8:30 if this world allowed me too. :) However, I live in reality and it's a rare night that Mel and I go to sleep before 10:00.

That being said...there are many things that are piling up around the house that only I can do. Like, take the kid clothes stuffed, highly wife-organized Rubbermaid bins to the attic so they don't obstruct the walkway in our master bedroom. Or attempt to annihilate the growing weed population in my backyard. Put safety covers on all the outlets that have plugs (this is a big one cause I have to turn off the power to each outlet, then unscrew the current fixture, screw the new one on...etc). I need to clean the garage and add shelving to the laundry room. This is just the short list.

Needless to say, most of these are best achieved when the girls are sleeping. That means it either happens after 8:00 at night (the dead zone for me) or early in the morning before they wake. I used to have no problem waking early, but for some reason, I do now. Major sleep deprivation is my excuse.

So...at 5:00 a.m. this morning, I was removing caulk from our shower. I hate caulk. And it's like this mad sprint to get it done before the girls wake up.

Mel and I are so different...she will stay up to till 2:00 a.m. cleaning (like last night). I just look at her in sheer amazement, while I crawl into bed.

Overall, I'm still trying to learn how to fit all my house duties into my schedule now that the kids are here. They don't do well around weed eaters.

New Transform Website

An organization called Transform Ministries that I'm a part of with my friend Casey Cease has launched their new website! Check it out when you get a chance...click the image below

Designer Replacement

Ok...so a while back our church lost our graphic designer. He's pretty incredible and is now working at a great place that lets him drink beer while he works. Hilarious. But since he's been gone, I've become his shoddy replacement.

Anyhow, 98% of our graphic design has fallen into my court these days. That includes the big jobs that you want to look good...stuff that actually represents your church. So, Phil has now become my 24 hour Adobe Support (via Ichat) and Aaron is my inspirataion for photography and shots like this.

But even with these great mentors at my disposal, there are some things I just can't achieve in the time frame necessary, without the proper tools. So...I have invested in my first Wacom Intuos Pad. (Notice it says for the "serious photographer and designer," that's me...very serious. Serious doesn't equate good though!)


I wish I had this tool a little earlier so this current series graphic wouldn't have taken me so long!

So...we have a new series with Crossbridge coming up soon. When Chuck and I discussed where we wanted to go with the logo, I knew I couldn't make it happen without the Wacom Pad. Once I get it done, I'll try and post it! Aaron, keep posting pictures so I can bite off your work. Phil, don't ever close out Ichat.

Pancakes and Princesses

So last night I got to have pancakes with my 3 Princesses. Soon, we will have one little warrior to add to the mix, but for now, it was a very "pretty" evening. My wife heard that IHOP was having National Pancake Night yesterday. We all got a free stack of pancakes...it was a glorious thing. Truly, one of my favorite foods in the world...and it was free. The service was terrible, but have you ever had good service at IHOP? Anyhow, it was good to be out with my girls...and good to have it for free. You should try it next year!

Don't Judge Too Quickly

A friend of mine sent me some of the new Ameriquest Videos. These are classic...it's been a while since I've seen some good commercials. Superbowl kinda let me down this year.

Double Dipping

What do you do at 1:30 a.m. when you're up with your sick 3 year old? You blog while you hope the cool bath brings her fever down.

I'll be attending a Super Bowl party on Sunday with some friends of mine. Now thanks to this article, this is all I'll be thinking about.

On Sunday, millions of Americans will be plopped in front of big-screen TVs watching the Super Bowl — and, yes — stuffing their faces with chips, dip and anything else they can get their hands on.

So, this brings up the question: Is double dipping really that bad?

A new study by Clemson University set out to answer that exact question.

According to The New York Times, the study was inspired by an episode of "Seinfeld" in which the character George Costanza is confronted at a funeral reception after dipping the same chip twice.

Clemson University food microbiologist Paul Dawson said he proposed the study to get undergraduate students involved in scientific research. A team of nine students had volunteers bite a wheat cracker and dip the cracker for three seconds into a tablespoon of dip, it was reported.

They repeated the process with new crackers, for a total of either three or six double dips per dip sample. The team then analyzed the remaining dip and counted the number of aerobic bacteria in it. The students found that on average, three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater’s mouth to the remaining dip, the Times reported.

"The way I would put it is, before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, 'would I be willing to kiss everyone here?' Because you don’t know who might be double-dipping, and those who do are sharing their saliva with you," Dawson told the Times.

The study is set to be published later this year in the Journal of Food Safety.

Wow...

How they find my blog...someone Googled: "unintentional love bite" and ended up here. Don't know what that says about my blog, but thanks for visiting. :)

Here's what they found - Love Bites

Worship and the Arts

So, one thing I'm stoked about with our new building at Crossbridge is that we will be able to incorporate other artistic expressions in worship. We have tried over the years to bring stuff such as painting, photography and drama into our services, but they always seem to fall short because our cafeteria lacks any sort of creative vibe. It's like one big blank room with windows and cinder block walls.

I plan on assembling some teams of artists within our church to help bring the arts to a more prominent place in our worship environments. Music has obviously always had a place; it's a part of the Bible Belt worship culture. However, some of my more moving worship experiences have been void of music and full of other artistic expressions. Not to negate music, it's still one of my favs!

I do believe this will only serve to help expand our people's view of worship as well. I love to hear the stories of worship behind paintings and photographs. I love to hear how people prepare themselves to read scripture...they actually ask me in advance for the reading so they can practice! I want to pour gas on the fires and passions that burn within these artists...I just need an avenue to do so. And that is coming soon...

Finally...the wait will soon be over!

www.nkotb.com

Can You Lend Me Your Kidney?

This dude goes to my church...amazing story and an amazing man! Check it out!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sixel/5480871.html

First Video IChat

Had my first Video IChat today. Pretty amazing. I think I may never leave my office now...but then I could only Pastor people that have Macs...that might not be such a bad idea. :) Funny thing was, I chatted with my friend Pablo as he was sitting right next to me...then we got his brother-in-law Ernie in on the action. It took some coercing because he was in class at U of H. But yes, in the middle of lecture, there was Ernie on IChat Video. We proceeded to try as hard as we could to get him to laugh out loud. It was classic.

The whole time, I couldn't stop thinking about the days I spent working at Office Depot in High School and my first year of college. I remember there was this revolutionary new phone that allowed you to see each other via camera. The video quality was beautifully choppy and fuzzy; the machine was as big as an Apple IIE. We kept it in a big plastic case up front to keep people from damaging the state of the art piece. It was priced well over a $1000, you had to sign up for a specific phone plan, and the other person had to have the same machine. Keep in mind, it was just a telephone with a screen and camera. No computer. Definitely not portable. I wonder what those people that bought it for over $1000 think now?

Know What You're Doing...

Side note for all you bloggers...if you decide to play with your blog template, know what you're doing. :) I was trying to make a tweak on my blog (not knowing HTML very well) and I lost my entire template! Hopefully I'll get everything back I lost. I wanted to punch my screen...but my computer is only a couple days old...and that's another blog entry I would not like to elaborate on right now. I'll give you a hint though...I spent 3 hours of my life last week having the passenger side window on my Jeep replaced. (Which included the removal of about 3 lbs. of Duct Tape).

Worship Through the Eyes of an Unbeliever

I often wonder what unbelievers might think of our worship gatherings on Sunday mornings. I think the longer we are Christians, the harder it is for us to remember what it was like when we were far from Christ.

Our worship environment is pretty open to people's individual response to what God is doing in their heart. It's not uncommon to see people raising their hands, kneeling, or crying throughout entire songs. At the same time, there can be someone on the next row with his hands in his pockets looking very uncomfortable.

And we're supposed to somehow craft a worship gathering that encompasses these two polar opposites. Sometimes I see how the "seeker" route became so attractive for churches during the late 90's. Simply cater to one group on Sundays and another group midweek. Eliminate the dilemma of making unbelievers feel "uncomfortable" and believers feel spoon fed.

So what do unbelievers, non-convinced people think when they are in an environment like ours? We just kind of go after God and hope that He shows Himself to them. I do talk to the "newcomers" and try to let them know what to expect. Our Pastor speaks directly to both groups of people and does so effectively. But do they look at us with our hands in the air or sobbing in on the second row and think: "What a bunch of Freaks!"

I don't know. It's messy...but it's good. Have you guys ever asked someone that's not a believer how they experience our worship gatherings? What kind of responses have you heard?

Worship and Suburbia

Our church staff has been in deep discussions for a while now about how to approach ministry within our context. We all have this love hate relationship with Suburbia. Everyone loves the perks of Suburbia, but everyone hates what Suburbia produces in us and the people we lead.

I’ve recently had a few conversations regarding worship in our context. For the purpose of this post, we’ll use the word worship to refer to our Sunday morning gatherings. Though I know that’s a mentality we’re trying to battle…that "worship is just what we do on Sunday mornings, " it will help for me not to have clarify every sentence I write here. ☺

Anywhere that I have led worship, my foremost thought after “What does God want to do here?” is “Who and Where am I leading?” This question helps me immediately put up a filter by which to make decisions about our worship gatherings.

I must say that this question permeates our thinking as a staff on a regular basis. We whole-heartedly seek God’s direction for where we’re going. Then we immediately consider our context. Do we claim to be experts on our culture…no, but we do think we have a pretty good tap on it.

So what do our worship gatherings look like in Suburbia? What is our aim on any given Sunday morning? Are we out to put on a “show,” or are we trying to lead people to God? Seems if you do anything that smells of production…you’re putting on a show. Try to create an environment that is creative and conducive to reflection…you’re manipulating people and not allowing God to show how He can work even in a sterile environment. Try to buy a building that will allow you a place to “ground” your ministry and people say, “can’t we just go worship in a field?”

The context of Suburbia must be considered when planning. Scripture confirms that (1 Cor 9:22). A balance must be found between letting it rule your thoughts and letting it be a factor that you consider in your planning. It’s easy to replace God with what we think is best for our culture. It’s easy to do what other churches do in Suburbia and miss how God wants you to reach Suburbia.

Church culture drives me crazy at times. What’s Fellowship, Lifechurch.Tv, MarsHill, Willowcreek, or Northpoint doing? “That must be where it’s at!”…Those are great churches and they are having an incredible impact reaching Suburbia in the way God is leading them . But honestly…I can’t sing U2. It would be rather humorous to listen to. But yet I’m called to a similar people as those in Grapevine, TX. I’ve been refreshed lately by watching some other churches and well respected leaders not cave to the system.

I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a heart for reaching my community…in Suburbia. In one of the safest cities in America. ☺

8 Weeks Away

Well, we're 8 weeks away from the due date...and the support is growing for Cash. Many people are already calling the baby by that name. Loving it. And pictures of baby clothes. This is really fun. :) Thanks Erin C.

Princess Waffle Night

Mommy is out at her MomTime group tonight. So it's me and the girls...and Princess Waffle Night! The girls are excited, Polar Express is on and the waffle iron is hot. Will let you know how it goes!

So, here are the pics from our Princess Waffle Night! What a blast...the girls were stoked about having breakfast at night time. Grandma Carolyn gave the girls this Waffle Maker that makes a picture of a princess and a prince on your waffle.

Big girl kept telling me... "Papi, be careful, don't cut the King!" As you can see below, she liked it so much she kept giving it kisses! Good times!

Christmas at the Barosh House

Christmas was a blast at our house this year. I loved every minute of it. My wife took the kiddos through some great Biblical stories using the Jesse Tree to help keep us focused on Jesus throughout the season. Christmas morning was really fun as the kids got three gifts, just like Jesus did. This year was the year of the bike. It was hilarious and still is. Here are a few pics of the girls.

Me and Ross King (Part 2)

So, I know it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. If you want to know the truth, the time that Mel and I usually blog has been consumed with watching season six of 24! Soon as the girls go down, we’re in bed and Jack Bauer is doing his thing. During the actual TV season, my wife and I don’t have the patience to wait for commercials, let alone an entire week between episodes. So, we watch 24 Marathon-style when it comes out on DVD. 2 more episodes tonight and we’re done. It’s bittersweet!


On New Years Day, my wife and I got a much needed night out! We actually went to a house concert that Ross King was doing here in the area. Just Ross and a percussion player. Though there was not one “worship” song in the evening, it was one of the more worshipful times I’ve experienced in a long time. Thanks to Pablo and Iris for the invite!

I got to chat with Ross a bit after the concert. The dude is about as real as they come and you can tell he walks with God. There are people that quote scripture when they talk – “Well you know…it says in Colossians 3 that…” Then there are people that scripture is just a part of their life. They can’t have a conversation without it somehow oozing into their vocabulary. There’s a humility in the way that they talk about scripture. This was my encounter with Ross.

We covered the entire spectrum from worship culture to multi-site churches. From our weaknesses as worship pastors to rock star worship leaders. It was good and honest conversation.

On a side note, I bought 15 of his newest CD “Perhaps I’ve Said to Much” because I want to give them away to some people. He’s addressing so many things that our church deals with and I want people to sit, listen, and think. I want the words to stir their hearts like they have mine. Like they did for Mel as I looked over in the middle of the concert and she’s in tears during the song Non-Religious Me.

Thanks Ross for a great night of worship through song and reflection.

Once

Some good friends of mine and Mel's came over to the house last night because they desperately wanted us to see this movie. I'm glad they came...it was incredible. Thanks Pablo, Iris, and Ernie! I immediately went to Itunes and downloaded everything I could and text my buddy Mike to share the musical wealth! :) The music is passionate and the lyrics are great. Here's a little montage from the movie Once...hope you like it.

Merry Christmas!

Note: If you do decide to rent the movie, be prepared that the first 10 minutes are littered with curse words. It gets much more palatable after that. :)

The Saga Continues...

I received this picture in an email from a friend...supporting my move to name our boy CASH. Though some of you may be surprised, I have had a good majority of women actually liking the name! This was a female friend of ours that sent the picture and she's totally for the name. I'll say this much...Mel is even growing more fond of it. Ha! This boy is going to be happy I went the distance for him on the name CASH. I still have till March and I'm not backing down!

How They Find My Blog

I'm amazed sometimes at what people type into google and stumble upon my blog. Now, a buddy of mine discussed this once on his blog and it began a chain of "googling" that was pretty hilarious. You can read it HERE. Anyhow, nothing as crazy on my blog, but I'm amazed at how many people google "Gotee Trimming" and end up here. I talked about it in a blog back in March of '06 called The Barber Shop Church.

Hope all you Gotee trimmers are finding all your gotee trimming needs fulfilled on on my site. If you have taken some gotee trimming cues from my site, please feel free to leave me a comment letting me know how I've impacted your life in such a way. In case you're wondering, my gotee trimming specs:

Length: No Guard
Gillette Mac 3 Razor and Small Scissors for detail work. Plan on carving my initials in there one day.

Or maybe Mel's initials?

Or T + M.

Or T+M=3 Kids.

Rough Week

Haven't had a chance to blog this week...it's been pretty rough around our house. Our little princess had a virus that had her temperature up around 104.5 for 2 days straight. Thankfully, everything has passed and the doctors says she's in the clear now.

She was such a trooper! In those two days, she went between the doctor's office and TCH in the Med Center a number of times. She had to endure 4 Shots (2 really big ones), blood drawn from her arm, a catheter, and xrays. It was tough to watch, but she came out like a champ.

Here's a picture of her on the xray table...with Rufus her favorite dog. :) Since Mel is pregnant, she can't go into the xray room, so I get to be the bad guy! She's looking at me the whole time like "Why would you do something like this to me?"



Now we're back to dressing up and wearing purses. Good times.

The Worship Pastor Spoke

So I recently taught at our church on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Yeah, I know…save the 2nd lowest attended Sunday of the year for the worship pastor to speak! And the people that are there are still overdosed on turkey and pumpkin pie. Seriously though, it was a fun morning. I love our people and we had a great time together.

Anyhow, we spent most of the morning discussing worship, but not in a musical sense. One of my chief desires since we started Crossbridge over 5 years ago has been to help our people understand that worship so much more than the music we play or the songs we sing.

Since we live in a church culture that typically equates worship with music, it’s really hard sometimes to break through that mentality. I do it every Sunday morning as I say, “Why don’t you stand with us as we worship!” I feed the mentality that the music piece of the Sunday morning worship experience equals worship. So, I’m working on my vocabulary and I’m looking for other words to communicate similar meaning, but a broader view of worship.

We discussed our “working” definition of worship at Crossbridge that is sort of a hybrid of Harold Best, Tim Keller, and Louie Giglio all rolled up into one! This is what we stated…

Worship is our continuous outpouring response to God’s Self Revelation.

I could go into this definition a lot more, but it would probably be easier for you to either listen to the talk or pick up Harold Best’s book called Unceasing Worship.

One of the things that hit me the hardest as I was preparing for this sermon was that I never stop worshipping. Nor do I start worshipping with God. My worship merely gets transferred from a lesser god to the one True God. I worship. Every moment is worship. The Question is “What Am I Worshipping?”

So I’ve been faced with this question daily since I spoke…What Am I Worshipping? There is a war for my worship and someone is winning. I am giving all of my mind’s attention and heart’s affection to something or someone. Unceasingly. Outpouring.

What I’m finding is that these nonsense gods seem to get a lot of my attention…a lot of my worship. My worship to God (Jesus Christ) must be an act of my will. To willfully turn away, and turn to Christ. I still struggle.

What Would Jesus Buy

I love the "Gotta have the Christmas Spirit with my new rims!"

The Ripple Effect

I couldn't stop reading...then praying...then reading...click here -

The Ripple Effect

More John Piper

Oh man, this is good...the content of this video is incredible. My church is wrapping up our series called EPIC where we have been really caught up in the gospel story. My heart is far from the place that Piper talks about here, but man I want to be there.

Back To It...

Hey ya'll,

I'm back to blogging after a little hiatus while my family and I went on vacation. My mother-in-law gave us some free tickets to Disney World! Mel's sister lives right across the street from the park, so we had free lodging too! Not to mention, she's a manager at the Maggianos down there in Orlando, so we got free italian food two nights in a row!

Very long road trip...two toddlers and 22 hours to Orlando was crazy! But I must say, my girls did well. We had some little surprises along the way to keep them engaged for the long haul. I think next time we will look for an airline donor (say another grandparent) to hook us up with flights!

Maybe I'll have some pics a little later...

In other news...I'll most likely be moving in a slightly different direction with the blog. Since I am a worship pastor, I still plan on having posts about worship and other stuff along those lines. However, I have realized just how difficult it is to write about worship all the time...so you're likely to see some nonsense posts and more of my family journey here as well. If that sounds really boring to you, you’re welcome to unsubscribe to my blog. Though I don’t think anyone has subscribed to my blog.

I also thought the blog was looking a bit morbid...so I thought I'd brighten it up a bit. I'll be tweaking it along the way, but I like the brighter look.

Think that's all for now...

Oh one last thing...I got a call from a good friend of mine tonight. She got Mel and I tickets to a house show with Ross King. So, in a few weeks, I'll be sitting in a living room with Mr. King discussing the stories behind the songs I posted about a few weeks ago. Good times...

CASH

So Mel and I have come to the place where we have to begin deciding our "boy name." I have held on to the hope that this would be a no-brainer. However, that hope is fading as the name Cash is not even on Mel's radar. So, we decided to put this one out on the blogs for your feedback. A simple yes or no in the box below will suffice. However, if you would like to give your reasons why you think we should use this name, feel free to do so. :) All negative comments can be left at Mel's blog! You can vote in the right hand column.

My Lovely Inbox

Please save my inbox! I will continue to receive the following highlighted emails until you visit Mike Haskew's Blog.

What to do when you don't have time to blog...

You post a video.

I gave this to my wife as well, so you can catch it on her blog too. I think Driscoll handles Lakewood theology well without bashing Osteen himself. What are your thoughts?

BTW, interestingly enough, someone signed me up to be a partner of Joel Osteen Ministries today. I received my confirmation email this morning. I have my thoughts on who the culprits might be. All I have to say is that you should be expecting a rather large shipment of the Your Best Life Now board games. COD.

Ross King and Me

Well, there's no real relationship there...but I do have a couple short email conversations with him. Regardless, his new release "Perhaps I've Said to Much" is on high rotation on my IPOD. The lyrics are amazing...I love how he goes after some of the prevailing issues in the local church, yet he doesn't seem to exclude himself from the dilema either.

If you have $10, go to Itunes and download it. The songs I'm digging are Light of the World, Greatestneverever, Keeper of the Way, Happy (this song is slightly hilarious and convicting at the same time), Everybody Medicates, and Home (if you're adopting, have adopted, or thinking about it, this song has great perspective).

Wrecked this Weekend

I have had a weekend where God’s just been hammering on me…here’s how it looked.

- Friday – reading two books in the same vein “Don’t Waste Your Life” and “Irresistible Revolution” (thanks Aaron and Jamie). Check these books out; they’ll rock your world.
- Saturday – ran sound for a missions banquet in the Galleria area. The lone survivor of a terrorist attack on some US missionaries in Iraq a few years ago was speaking. Her name is Carrie McDonnall. All I have to say is that she had 22 bullet holes in her body and lived to tell about it. She lost her husband in the shooting though. All this and she’s my age…literally looked like somebody that would go to our church. I told my wife I just stood in awe for a moment after she spoke…about 5 feet from her, seeing the bullet holes in her arms, missing fingers, realizing that was the closest I had ever stood to someone who was nearly martyred for our faith. Holy moment for me. She’s the real deal.
- Sunday – My pastor Chuck gets up and ends his sermon with two challenges. One: get involved with the Convoy of Hope in November. Two: join the Advent Conspiracy. Check these two things out…incredible stuff.

Here’s a quote from Piper that sort of sums up my weekend.

Why don’t people ask us about our hope? The answer is probably that we look as if we hope in the same things they do. Our lives don’t look like they are on the Calvary road, stripped down for sacrificial love, serving others with the sweet assurance in heaven (Matthew 5:12)! “You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14). If we believed this more deeply, others might see the worth of God and find in him their gladness.

Worse

Only one thing in this world worse than Barney.

Christmas Barney in September.

Thank you grandparents.

What's On My IPOD?

Some may not care, but thought I’d share. These are the songs, artists, or albums that are in high rotation on my Ipod.

Robbie Seay Band – Give Yourself Away – by far the best recording from these guys. I’ve listened to the whole CD, but now I’m just stuck on #3 called A New Day. Maybe cause it makes me think of my wife, but wow…what a good tune. My pastor read the lyrics to Beautiful, Scandalous Night in our service 2 weeks ago…powerful stuff.

Jeff Johnson – Glorious Day – The title track on this CD is great. There are some other good tunes on there as well, especially if you’re a Rascal Flatts fan. :)

Billy and Cindy Foote – If I Say I Love You – Just a single track available on Itunes. I heard it at a conference they did a while back here in Sugar Land. The song just grows on you. Not a lot of worship songs hammer down on obedience like this one does.

Matthew and Lizi – The Meaning of it All - Great project from a buddy of mine down here in Houston. He and his wife Lizy make a great team. The title track on this one is really nice…if you like Watermark, I think you’ll like Matt and Lizy.

Spur 58 – Sleepwalkers – These guys are great. This is another album where I get stuck on a particular song…I really dig Ready to Love. I just loop it sometimes when I’m exercising. Great jogging song.

Bon Jovi – Lost Highway – Laugh if you must, but it’s like a corridor to the past. My favorite 80’s band with all new tunes.

Kellly Clarkson – My December – The girl can sing…she’s pretty angry on this album, but the song Sober is incredible.

Sandra McCracken – The Builder and the Architect – If you like Caedmon’s, she most likely wrote one of your favorite songs. Great rootsy type album, especially like I Boast No More and Rock of Ages.

Marc Brousard – Home – Friend of mine got me hooked on this guy. The title track and Lonely Night in Georgia are the highlights of this album.

Half Past Forever – Take a Chance on Something Beautiful – I’m a big Chris Sligh fan. He has some great tunes on this one. My favorites are Know, Cry Tonight, In a Moment, and Tunnel Vision.

Guess that’s all for now…let me know if you have some new tunes I should add to my playlist!

I Found an Old Post

So, I was sorting through my blogs, realizing I had never posted this one. So I thought I would. The only thing not true here is that I did not go to San Antonio a couple weeks ago. :)

The title of the post was to be "The Church is Smaller Than We Think"

Two weeks ago I ventured off to San Antonio for a little personal retreat. I try to go a couple times a year to meet with another worship pastor there that I really admire. While I’m there, I try to spend a great deal of time in silence while I listen for what God has to say. The next couple posts will be from an overflow of things God spoke to me during that time.

One area that I spent a great deal of time exploring was the topic of conversion. It started in my staff meeting the day before as we discussed a book called The Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Though at times this book has seemed pretty dry to me, the chapter on true Biblical conversion really rocked my world.

The main thought: We all know there is some contingency of people in our churches that are not converts. However, we are becoming increasingly numb to the fact that there are many more people in our congregations who think that they are converts, but are not. Therefore raising the total number of unregenerate people in our midst!

Why does this rock my world? Because when the worship team leaves the stage on any given Sunday that the crowd participation is sub par, the common phrase used to describe that situation is this: “Man, what was up with them today…they were dead!” Oh how true that statement is…within in our crowd on any given Sunday, is a great number of DEAD people…no pulse, no breath…merely corpses!

So why are we surprised at a lack of response from our people? Can we expect anything more out of a lifeless being? We cannot cause them to come to life…and creating puppets that clap when we tell them too is fruitless. We have to open our mouths and let the gospel go forth! We have to pray diligently! But the actual act of breathing life into dead people…only Christ can do that!

So, I’m not going to be depressed because everyone didn’t raise their hands when we sang the song Unchanging and it tells us to “raise up holy hands.” I’m going to open my mouth, let the gospel go forth, pray for God to do what only He can, then sit back and wait on God.

Thunder

I love what the Message says in John 1:23…in more conservative versions you hear John the Baptist say “I am the voice of one calling in the desert…make straight the way of the Lord.” Then you have the glorious Message version: “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’" I love that…THUNDER. Clear. Concise. No ambiguity.

It makes me think of our roles as worship leaders in the church…are we thunder in the desert? Or are we merely a voice, drowned out by all the other voices of our culture? Our people walk in each week and a battle is raging for their worship. A thunderous approach may be the very avenue needed to break open the haze of mediocre worship that their lives are prone to be characterized by. You can’t mistake thunder…especially a loud clap of thunder. There are times when thunder hits that it actually shakes my entire house, causes my dog to bark, and moves my kids to tears.

As worship leaders, do we come each Sunday wanting to thunder about the greatness of King Jesus or are we more concerned about “being heard?” There’s a difference. Our lives should thunder about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That’s what we shout about…that’s what we sing about…When we stand on Sundays to lead people, it will be clear who we serve, and our proclamation can be a voice or a thunder. I want to live a life that thunders about the one whose sandals I’m not worthy to untie.

A Lesson From My 3 Year Old

So my wife is pregnant with our 3rd little baby! We already have two little girls and they're rocking my world. I never dreamed I would do so many pony tails...even the little "bam bam" ones on my 15 month old! Anyhow, my wife was battling some morning sickness this evening, so I thought I'd try to put both the girls down by myself.

Well, I got their teeth brushed, their milk ready and their dolls in hand. I started with the youngest and asked my 3 year old to stay out in the living room with mommy. She laid on the couch with mommy and I was off to the nursery with the little one. The kiddos sleep in different rooms, but we keep all the clothes in the nursery.

So I finished with little girl and came to get big girl from mommy. I started to put her pajamas on and quickly realized that the pajama bottoms were left in the nursery. Well, if you have little ones, you pretty much know the shrieking that you are in for if you return the room before they have fallen asleep. But I had a plan...

I left her top on and remembered there was a pair of green bottoms in the laundry room. So, I grabbed them, got her dressed, said our prayers, and then put her down for the night...fast forward 10 minutes.

I hear crying from her room along with my name thrown in a few times. Not a usual happenstance, so I thought I should check on her. I walk in and she's standing up, right in front of the door looking up at me. I say, "what's the deal?" She looks down in great disappointment and then looks back at me and says... "Papi, my pajamas don't match." She was heartbroken...

This is not uncommon for my daughter...she is a creature of habit and there are certain things that must be in place for her to go to bed. They are small things, but oh so necessary. So it got me thinking...

How do we respond when things aren't ideal...when our pajamas don't match? Do we stand there crying and whining because our world has been interrupted? Are we immobilized until things return to "normal?" Am I really any different than my 3 year old?

Is God Better Than Sex?

Love to know your thoughts on this video. Piper knocks it out of the ballpark and pretty much nails our culture. If there's any question that he may be missing the mark a little bit, just go look at all the comments under the video on YouTube.

Chew on This...

Wow! This is a terribly convicting quote, but one that really resonates with me right now. Seems that even Scotland in the 1800’s struggled with some of the same issues we face here in wonderful Suburbia of 2007. Pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne says:

I am concerned for the poor, but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day…I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians, because they don not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudging at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity.

Ouch…

In the same breath…I received a poster from John Piper this week to promote his book Don’t Waste Your Life. All it said in big bold letters was “GOD SAVE US FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM.”

Thoughts on all this?

Howl at the Moon!

So recently I went to San Antonio for vacation with my family. My wife and I cruised up to stay a night there, not realizing that you should probably have a hotel reservation if you’re driving up there on a Saturday. We did end up finding a place to stay…in Austin.

Anyhow, we ate on the Riverwalk…as everyone should when visiting. Afterwards, we began our quest for a place we could sit and relax for the rest of the night. After spending an incredible night at Pat O’Brien’s in New Orleans 6 years ago, we have longed to see another great dueling piano show.

So we swung by Pat O’Briens on the Riverwalk to see if they had the show. They did…but oh, so not New Orleans. Then Mel saw an ad for a place called Howl at the Moon. We went to the tourist center (across from the Alamo) to find out more about this other dueling piano show. They ended up telling us where it was and gave us free tickets if we went before 10 p.m.

Well, it was good we got there before 10 because we were able to actually get a chair! That placed filled up in no time and the show was on. From Jesse’s Girl (for my wife) to Piano Man (for me), we spent the night singing some of our favorite tunes along with about 200 other patrons. These musicians were pretty stinking amazing!

Upon leaving, we realized just how popular this place was. When we arrived, we walked right in and to our seat…as we exited, there was a line of about 100 people that wrapped around the block. Wow.

So, this little story serves to preface my point…we saw all kinds of worship that night! Now most of the worship was directed to inappropriate places, but it was worship indeed.

The people worshiped the boos that made their pain go away. They worshiped the song. There was worship directed towards the various military branches of our armed forces (not that I don’t value what they do…please don’t misunderstand me here). Some worshiped sports teams and colleges. Others worshiped half dressed women who could “shake it.”

Everyone was captivated by something…myself included. I was captivated by the sheer musicianship of these people onstage, wondering why they don’t use it for the kingdom.

Why do we settle? Why are we so prone to worship things that have no eternal value and end up leaving us wanting more? Why are we more captivated by people than we are by the person of Jesus Christ?

CS Lewis says it with even more eloquence and conviction:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Randomness...

My wife recently did this on her blog and she has lovingly tagged me to make an entry on mine. I’m sure these statements will revolutionize your thinking and will most likely cause you to visit my blog regularly for more of this good stuff!

10 Random Things About Me

1. If something falls on the floor in my house (i.e. kids toy), I am very prone to pick it up with my feet rather than waste all that energy on bending over to pick it up with my hands.
2. If no one was watching, I would drink a whole can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk in one sitting.
3. When I watch Seinfeld episodes, I don’t laugh. Really…I don’t know why. It’s just not funny to me.
4. When I watch Friends episodes for the 100th time, I laugh just as hard as I did the first time.
5. I sometimes still think that a check for a very large amount will just show up in my mailbox. I sort through it expectantly, but have yet to receive one.
6. When I was a kid, I used to watch MTV religiously waiting for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video to come on. I would get really ticked off when they would instead play Weird Al’s “Eat It.”
7. Since 9/11, I check the news about 20 times a day. CNN is my homepage.
8. Since 9/11, I think twice before I go somewhere without my cell phone.
9. I think JC Penny’s and Target sell some of the coolest clothes for guys.
10. I think Chick-Fil-A has trumped every other fast food chain on milkshakes…and the word “handspun” just makes it taste better for some reason.

Worship and Hardwood Floors

“If we only trust Christ to give us gifts and not himself as the all-satisfying gift, then we do not trust him in a way that honors him as our treasure. We simply honor the gifts. They are what we really want, not him. So biblical faith in Jesus must mean that we trust him to give us what we need most—namely, himself. That means that faith itself must include at its essence a treasuring of Christ above all things.” –John Piper, from the book Don’t Waste Your Life

There are many facets of this quote that cause great conviction in my heart.

One, if I believe this quote to be true (I do), then any sinful sense of material entitlement that I think I have is shattered to pieces.

Two, I hate to think that I honor the gifts he gives me…I would never “literally” bow down and worship my hardwood floors he graced us with in our house. (If you have small children, you know what a blessing these are!) However, when I see those words “honor the gifts,” my heart cringes! When I hold tight to those things instead of clinging to Christ, I am in essence bowing down and worshipping a lesser God…regardless of whether my physical demonstration of that worship is evident or not.

Three, the line between want and need is so blurry in our culture.

Four, would I still worship and follow Christ from here on out if I never received one more physical “blessing” or gift?

This book “Don’t Waste Your Life” is rocking my world. I highly encourage you to pick it up. You can even read it online for free by clicking HERE.

I look at the years of my life leading up to this point and see how many I wasted on trivial things. I don’t want to meet Christ face to face and say that I spent more of the resources he gave me on things of this world than I did on things of his kingdom. That would be a waste of my worship. It would be a waste of this life that is simply “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

The Worship Industry

Hmmm...good stuff here. I know McLaren has some strong critics for the stances he has taken recently, but this is a great video that The Work of the People put together with his thoughts on the Worship Industry.

Only Doug Heffernan...

There are few things that can move me to such a spiritual experience like Doug Heffernan on the keys...

God Spoke Through a Spinach Salad

I was recently at one of my favorite lunch time establishments enjoying what could possibly be termed the world’s best salad. Up until about a month ago, I really thought that a salad of this caliber only existed at one place called Café Express. However, that salad has now been trumped and is at a distant second in comparison to this one. I could go into great detail here, but let’s just say this is a man’s salad…complete with meat and potatoes!

Anyhow, I was sitting down with a book and my salad and enjoying each minute. I remember nearing the end of the plate and setting aside what was surely going to be the premier bite of salad…saving it for that last delectable mouthful. (If you like food as much as I do, this is a normal practice.) You want whatever the last bite is to just linger there for a while, not to be washed down by any sorry drink of water.

So there it was…the final bite, full of all kinds of goodies. I thought, I’ll read one more paragraph and then sit back and enjoy that small piece of heaven on a fork. Then it happened…while I was reading my book, the waitress dropped my check off and proceeded to pick up my plate and tell me that she was glad I enjoyed the meal. My heart, stomach and taste buds all sank at the same time!

I couldn’t stop her, cause then I would look like the fat guy that just can’t stop eating. Yet, I’m sure the utter disappointment showed all over my face… “I can’t believe she’s going to really take that plate…the last bite…the one I was cherishing…waiting for!”

And so it was…GONE! I left that restaurant very disgruntled. What was shaping up to be an incredible lunch in a great atmosphere turned tragic. Not to mention that the 2nd to last bite had only a green bean and a piece of lettuce without any dressing on it. Therefore, what was to be the 2nd to last bite became the last bite. So that’s the flavor that was left in my mouth…a green bean. How depressing.

Then it hit me on my drive back to the office…how often do I savor the word of God as I savored that spinach salad? (not very often.) Do I get as angry when something disrupts my time with God? (not usually.) Do I long for His Word to linger in my heart the way I wanted that salad to linger on my taste buds? (not really.)

We’re all so prone to finding greater joy in God’s creations than in the Creator Himself. I love that He thought of Spinach Salads with Meat and Potatoes…just for guys like me. However, my heart needs to find its satisfaction in His all surpassing greatness! I’m on a journey in that direction…I just have to watch out for the last bites of Spinach Salad that are destined to steal my heart’s affection.

The Good Soldier

Below is a video that is causing a major stir in cyberspace. It's from one of my favorite pastors Mark Driscoll. After watching, I'd love to know your comments. I may comment after everyone else as to not skew people's thoughts.

Love Bites

Oh yeah…the old Def Leppard tune. I was huge into Def Leppard when I was a kid…especially during "fast skate" at the roller rink! (Not to mention a few other hair bands that we’ll save for a later discussion)

However, the title jumped in my head when I was thinking through the past 5 years of our church. I think it would be a fair assumption to say that we as a church staff love our people! However, over the past few years, I think collectively, we have hurt more people than I can stand to count.

It seems like every time I turn around, we’ve hurt somebody. Sometimes it’s people we deeply care for and have been journeying with for quite some time. Do I think we ever intentionally set out to hurt people? No. I would wager to say an emphatic “NO.” I know these guys pretty well and I don’t think anyone around here sits in there office thinking about how they can really “stick it to” somebody…especially someone they love.

So why is it that so many have been hurt in the short existence of our little church? I would say mainly because our love is not perfect. We may have every intention of communicating love to our people, but we miss the mark quite a few times. I believe all my fellow staffers are great at owning their mistakes and trying to move on from that point. Again, not perfect, but I do see intentionality in that area.

Another reason I think so many have been hurt is because we are prone to misunderstand the definition of love. “Romantic Love” like we see on TV and in the movies pretty much distorts our reality. All we see is this myth that love is a warm embrace, a long kiss, and beautifully crafted words strung together.

Back to reality…those words and warm embrace don’t do anything for me when I’m getting ready to walk in front of a speeding Mack Truck. “Biblical Love” steps in and says…dude, there’s a large Mack Truck coming your way…you should consider your next step.

Finally, I think that one of our worst relational enemies is what I’ve heard some term as the “ladder of inference.” Somebody does or says something that doesn’t quite sit well with us…and then we begin this subtle ascent up the “ladder of inference.” We begin to “infer” what may not really be there. Step 1 – I can’t believe she said that… Step 2 – I would never say anything like that… Step 3 – She really doesn’t like me… Step 4 – Why should I even try at this relationship? Step 5 – I’m out of here…

I try not to make my blogs too long because it can be sort of daunting to see a lot of text…so I know there is much more we can say about this. However, I know this…in order to be in real community with each other, we have to realize that sometimes love does bite. (Sometimes with intentional truth and other times with unintentional neglect) Regardless, we have to extend grace if we want our relationships to have any sort of depth or longevity.

Why?

A buddy of mine blogged a while back with just a list of "why" questions. It's probably a short cut for blogging, but it actually is stuff that runs through my mind on a regular basis. Some of it might be spiritual in nature...other stuff is quite possibly just complete nonsense. Some of these...probably most of these, I don't have answers for.

1. Why am I fascinated by watching bowling on TV?
2. Why am I even more fascinated by watching fishing on TV?
3. Why did I not try out for American Idol?
4. Why are some worship guys weird? Really...
5. Why does there have to be conflict?
6. Why do I like food the way I do?
7. Why isn't Jack Bauer actually a real person?
8. Why does my Pastor keep putting books on my desk to read?
9. Why don't I start putting CD's on my pastor's desk?
10. Why don't I like to read like my Pastor likes to read?
11. Why are there worship conferences?
12. Why do I wish I lived somewhere else, but year after year I stay in Houston?
13. Why do I have a problem sitting still enough to hear God?
14. Why do we judge other churches and their approach to reaching people?
15. Why do we call the time before the pastor speaks "worship."
16. Why don't I try to teach our people that worship is more than the 15 minutes before the pastor speaks?
17. Why does lighting make such a big difference in my ability to connect with God?
18. Why don't some people like coffee?
19. Why do people like tea?
20. Why do I laugh really hard at Cingular, Geico, and Budweiser commercials?
21. Why am I not as perceptive as my wife?
22. Why didn't I buy stock in Starbucks like 10 years ago?
23. Why do people still "yahoo?"
24. Why am I certain that Google and Starbucks will one day merge?
25. Why don't I know enough about "code" to make my blog look the way I want it to?

Figure that's enough for now...I could go on for quite a while, so I might do this every once in a while...you know, fills the gap when you haven't blogged in a month...if you call posting a video "blogging."

Sex Ed Video

This is hilarious...LifeChurch.Tv is doing these promos for their new series. Since our church is currently in a series called Sexual Revolution, this video really peaked my interest. Check it out...

Do You Tip Your Hat?

I was totally blown away by a passage I read today by one of my favorite preachers. I am a Charles Spurgeon fanatic, so I love to chew on his writings quite frequently when I sit down to read.

Today he expounded a bit on Psalm 34:2

“My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad.”

Spurgeon says that boasting in God should be a “holy glorifying and extolling the Most High with words sought out with care that might magnify His blessed name.” I love the line “sought out with care.” How often do we speak flippantly with words of rote and repetition about an awe inspiring God? How “boastful” is that? It’s more a tip of the hat…a lack of boasting…quite possibly boasting in ourselves because we’re glorifying our apathetic attitude towards a Holy God.

Instead, could we come to God with “words sought out with care” because we have sat and soaked up the presence of this infinite God we serve? When God comes and shows various facets of His character to us, it should increase our boasting in Him and the words we choose to articulate that. Our “worship vocabulary” should be growing in proportion to our relationship with Him.

The effects of boasting in the Lord are seen here in the scripture above… “the humble (down trodden, weak, struggling, hurting, poor, wavering…etc.) hear it and are glad!” Our boasting in the Lord has an effect on people…our worship to God helps move others to worship. But how many people are moved by a mere regurgitation of religious banter? Let’s allow our spoken worship to God to be influenced by fresh encounters that come from “tasting and seeing that the Lord is good!”

Winds of Change

So the worship team at Crossbridge is definitely in the midst of a new season. Something I began to realize nearly 6 years ago is that my worship team will constantly be in flux. For so many years I wanted to have my select few musicians that led I worship with and that was it. Basically we were a band...but God began to show me that within the context of the local church, that might not be the best approach. For one reason, it often lends itself towards exclusivity, all the while there are many talented musicians and worshipers in the church whose strengths aren't utilized cause we "already have our 5 people to make up our band." I also began to watch people go through their various seasons of life...marriage, babies, job transfers and etc. This typically led to someone leaving our team/band.

So, for the past 5 years, we've instituted rotations and have increased the size of our team from about 7 to nearly 25. I do often miss how musically "tight" a band can be...but I wouldn't trade what God has done in our midst through all these various people!

So here we are again...for some reason God is moving people out of our worship ministry. I am always amazed to see what He brings our way when there are departures! I hate to see people leave, but when the winds of change begin to blow, I now become more excited than scared. God is up to something...don't know what it is, but I'm in for the ride.

What is our response when winds of change blow? Often times these seasons can bring some of our deepest moments of worship. As I stated in a previous blog...no matter what, our proper response is always worship!

Evergreen Monty King!

So we've totally ripped off a video idea from the guys at amturian.com. They've created a fictional character named Larry Linguist that is basically "the guy that starts services." We contacted them about possibly making some personalized videos for Crossbridge, but we heard no response. So...we took matters into our own hands and created Hugh Durlam...the guy that starts Crossbridge Services. Here is our second installment.