Christmas Blessings

I know, I know...it's been since the summer since I updated this blasted blog, but what a busy year it has been! Give grace, dear reader, give grace!

Last night was the final performance of our Cornerstone Christmas Production...our first Madrigal Feast...and it was the final culmination of three months and literally several thousand combined man hours of music rehearsals, planning meetings, set designing and building, food preparations, decorating, choreography...you get the point. What a wonderful display of love and commitment from a team of people who not only talk about their love of the Lord, but put it into the action of their craft.

Of all the things that one could do in life, I get the privilege of doing this with this group of people. No, we aren't perfect...we all have flaws and, like artists will from time to time, we let our idiosyncrasies show in public. But if there is a more genuinely loving group of people on a church Arts team anywhere, I would like to see them...because this team's at the top.

Once again, the joy of the journey proves to be remarkable.

And now as we turn our attention a little more inward to the celebration of Christmas as a family and Kelli, Hunter and I get to slow down (a little) and reflect upon God's blessings in our lives, my prayer for you is that you, maybe for the first time, can begin to grasp how beautifully scandolous God putting on flesh for our sake really was. God Incarnate...Deity wrapped in skin...perfect flesh-covered feet touching and walking on tainted soil.

For you...for me...for love.

Gloria in excelsis Deo.

FIREFALL... and 20 days (and counting)

FIREFALL '08
Last Sunday evening, we started a new tradition at Cornerstone...a yearly gathering of God's people I called FIREFALL; a night of worship and praise, of testimonies and prayer, of crying out to God both collectively and individually.

Did the fire 'fall'? Well, that will be fleshed out in the coming days, weeks and months in the lives of the people who came and the people for whom we prayed.

I keep asking myself, "What did I expect?" Did I want to see people saved that night? Did I want refreshing only, or real revival? Or, did I want literal fire to fall and God to actually, physically show up...and what would that even look like? (or could we survive?)

Here's what I know: It was one of the most intense times of worship I have ever experienced first-hand. Some of the sweetest, most heart-felt testimonies I have ever heard were shared on that night. The band, Praise Team and choir played and sang their hearts out. People came to the altar (something not usually done on a regular basis here) and prayed and wept. And when it was over, I was both exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.

And so, if true worship is transformational and Sunday night was truly a time of worship as opposed to a mere concert or an emotional evening, we will see change. I will see change in me.

Lord, let the fire begin in me.

20 days...and counting
In 20 days, we will leave for our Colorado Mission Tour with the Celebration Singers Student Choir.

20 days...

This group is such a great collection of students, personalities, talent levels and potential. To hear them sing, when they are really "on", is thrilling. To have the privilege to watch them grow, change, learn and mature over this year has been beautiful. To see them befriend and love each other, to depend on each other, to lead each other in various ways is priceless.

To be able to give them this opportunity away from home is one of the great joys in my life. I find myself looking for the me that was their age in them, the me that didn't have a clue about what God had in store for the future, the me that took situations and people for granted; like today was the only day that ever counted, until tomorrow showed up and it started all over again; the me that still had the ability to hear the proverbial "bell" from the Polar Express, and didn't have a care in the world about the economy, who was going to be President to make Supreme Court appointments, or what the neighbors thought about the length of the grass in my yard. The me who hadn't made the mistakes that I have made or lost the people in my life who are now nothing more than distant memories, whose voices are now mere echoes on their last few reverberations.

Instead, I now know that 20 days is just around the corner...
and all I can say is "EEEK"!

Do not worry...

I love the words of Jesus...you know, the ones written in red.

At the end of Jesus' teaching on worry in Matthew 6, He closes it with this profound yet simple thought..."Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt. 6: 34)

Last week I talked to a friend of mine who, like me, has a propensity towards advanced planning and worry. She was doing an "exercise" in her mind about how the events of the coming week would pan out, and suddenly found herself all knotted up inside. By the time we started talking, she was already in tears.

Consider the lillies...

Isn't that a beautiful picture for the mind? "They do not labor or spin" Jesus said. And yet, why do we seem to think that we have it all under control? Is there so much of a tendency in the human heart to see the temporal that we forget the bigger picture?

Trusting God is hard stuff for the human mind and heart to wrap itself around. There is no reason not to trust, other than our lack of faith in the Father and His ability to make "everything beautiful in its own time". (Ecc. 3:11) And that very verse goes on to tell the reason why we have a problem: "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

We cannot fathom it...because we are not God. And so we want what we want when we want it, forgetting that God sees the bigger picture for the plans He has.

From time to time, we need to be reminded of this, especially when the crunch is on and the vice grips of life begin to ratchet themselves tighter around our heart.

So, if you are in a situation where you are worried, try to remember the words of that song we all learned as kids...

He's got the whole world in His hands...

He's got you and me, brother...sister...

He's got the wind and the rain...

After all...consider the lillies...

...and trust the Gardener.

The beauty of time (and how it repeats itself!)

When I was a freshman in High School, I was invited to join my first Youth Choir, the Chapel Choir of First Baptist Church in Mineola, Texas. Little did I know how my life would be changed forever by that one single invitational act of friendship, love and kindness.

My, how we worked and worked...and it was such an awesome group. Funny, I can still see faces around that small choir room...there were only about 35 of us, but everyone loved each other, loved our Music Minister, loved a challenge and loved to sing (and we did it VERY well).

My first Tour with the Chapel Choir was in the summer of 1981, and we went to Colorado. Yes, we stopped and sang at points along the way (how could I ever forget a town named Dumas, Texas?!). But obviously, one of the highlights of the Tour was traveling to Colorado Springs and singing in the Chapel of the United States Air Force Academy.

Fast forward 27 years...and I am making yet another trip to the Academy Chapel...that beautiful, inspiring achitectural wonder of near acoustic perfection. Only this time, I make it not as the singer, but as the director of a large number of students who, like myself, have no idea what God has in store for them, or how their lives will be changed.

And one of those who will be singing is my own son.

Time has a funny way of repeating itself, doesn't it? The follower becomes the leader, the ministered becomes the minister, the son becomes the dad, the inspired becomes the inspiration, the receiver becomes the giver.

What a blessed life I have...I have been poured into, only now to realize that I find inexpressible joy when I pour back.

And I am somewhat in awe of the blessing that time does (at times!) repeat itself.

I love what I get to do...

Have you ever had one of those days that just felt "right"? I am not talking about a stress-free day, or even a day free of frantic activity. But one of those days during which you just felt so totally fulfilled in what God has gifted you to do?

Today has been one of those days.

Oh, I still have to put the finishing thoughts on the sermon I am preparing for this Sunday...and it's still hard for my mind to conceive the height, depth and breadth of a love that would compel the Father to so joyfully and so willingly give the utterly beautiful, totally unique, incomprehensibly precious Son of God...and what's more, that I have the task of attempting to put that into words that are coherent enough for another person to understand with all that has welled up within my heart.

And, I still have to somehow find the time to clean up the garage and come up with a plan to mulch the flowerbeds...

and get my taxes done...

and be both a great husband and dad...

and countless other important things.

But for the moment, I am overwhelmed by the love of a God that would allow me to get to do what I do (even though the sum of my life is just a grain of sand in the space of eternity) and the grace of a God which gives me margin to be in the process of becoming more like Him.

I love what I get to do...have I said that lately?

Sing like you mean it!

I love to sing! The older I get, I guess I realize that some of the simplest pleasures can be found just in opening your mouth and singing. Why is that? Here are some thoughts:

First, I believe God created us to be singers. Besides the fact that singing is actually easier on your vocal cords than speaking, too many Scriptures indicate that God's people are to be a singing people.

Second, it gives us a sense of release. For me, singing opens up something that feels bottled up inside me. It's almost like, "how can I NOT sing!"

Third, singing makes my heart engage with my mind. It forces me to think with something more than just the grey matter. Don't get me wrong...grey matter is good...but it's better, more complete when coupled with cardiac muscle.

Sing out loud today...and sing like you mean it!