It's Official!

I'm too busy to blog! I hate it, but the truth must be told. The business of the fall season has officially gotten the best of me. I guess that's better than getting the worst of me. From the looks of the amount of comments I've been receiving, you all have also been bitten by the busy bug. CORNY!

I did want to take time tonight to share with you a bit of the festivities around here last weekend. My youngest is now one year older. You know what that means...yep, I'm getting older too. Funny how that happens. Sing along with us!



For a while I may enter the blogosphere a little more infrequently than usual. Priorities are a wonderful thing.

Until next time...

The masses have spoken

Concert Review Part Deux ain't gonna happen!

It has become quite evident that concert reviews are not preferred reading for the upper crust readers of Me-Log. That works for me! The pictures look like I was standing about 2 inches from a 500 watt light bulb when it exploded. Needless to say, the light show was incredible! Whoops, that might have crossed the line into a review again. Sorry! The point is, one can't expect to take Rolling Stone Magazine worthy pics with a cell phone.

Moving on...I've decided that one of the things I'm going to use Me-Log for is to preview upcoming media that will be used in our services at FBC. This Sunday we will be starting the 6 week journey, "40 Days of Community". This will also be our new pastor, Darrell Bridges, first Sunday at the helm. The sense of anticipation couldn't get much stronger. Wow, that was dramatic! In all sincerity, being at FBC during these days really is an exciting thing. What's God going to do next...how many lives will be changed...how many lives are being changed...how many lives have been changed? You get the idea. Fast times at FBC! Or was that Ridgemont High?

So, this Sunday we're beginning to pull out all the stops to fully communicate this thing called real community. One of the things we will be doing is a drama to a song by Leeland. Without going into too much detail I wanted to show you the video that will be running during the drama. I'm only able to post up to 5 minutes using video egg. That could be a good thing though. The video changes a bit at the very end. Guess you'll have to make sure you're there to see it. For those faithful Me-Log subscribers in Thailand...I'll fill you in later.

Lights, Camera...?


Anyone recognize the streets? By the way, it's supposed to look like that.

Concert Review Part 1

I don't have much time before I'm off again. This time, Lisa & I are going to Fayetteville to do a little birthday shopping for the girls. Before I go, I wanted to write a bit about last night's Third Day concert. I know this going to sound hokey, but aside from being an incredible show, I really did get a sense of unity & fellowship amongst believers that I don't even know. It's always amazing to me how people from all walks of life can come together with only one thing in common...CHRIST.

So, back to the hokey part. The sense of unity began with the opening act Hyper Static UNION (truth be told, this is the band that I really went to see) & continued over with The David Crowder BAND. As if that weren't enough, Third Day ended their show with the song "Come Together".

YOU CAN"T THINK I"M BEING SERIOUS!

Okay, Okay...in all seriousness, I really did have a great time & their really was a sense of unity amongst the body of believers in that place. And, I wasn't disappointed with HSU. Their mix of R&B, Funk & Grunge is really unique. They also did Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". GREAT SONG!!

Well, I hear the van rolling up. I better go. Be looking for part 2 to come soon. Maybe I'll even bless you with some blurry pics. WooHoo!!

Is worship the mission?

It has been a while since I've actually written something. So, until I find some more time hidden under a rock somewhere, I'll continue to bring you thoughts of other like-thinking peeps.

Reuben Morgan, writer of many great worship songs, (one such that you might be familiar with is "Hear Our Praises") has written a great article about worship as a lifestyle. Wow, that was a long sentence! Anyway, I immediately related to this story because first, I constantly struggle with living my worship and second, my life-verse is Romans 12:1. In other words, it's a subject that is always on my mind.

Ladies & gentleman, I give you...

A FULL HOUSE - BY REUBEN MORGAN

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is." (John Piper)

Jesus tells a story in Luke 14 about a man who invites a great number of people to dinner at his house but they all give excuses as to why they can't come. He becomes angry and sends his servants out into the streets to invite whoever they can find. It ends up that many people come but the master isn't completely happy... there is still room for more.

This story just makes me think about the way God encourages everyone to come to Him so that His House will be full. It's a picture of the Church and the Kingdom of God.

Worship presents us with an incredible picture of celebration in the Master's House, but it's clear that He is passionate about His House being. It's as though He is saying, "It's great you're here, and this is what you were made for, but there's still room. Go out and get everyone you can find." These two concepts have to go together - worshipping in the house AND going out to bring others in. We can't stay worshipping endlessly and neglect those who have not yet heard the Name of Jesus.

For us to truly worship God, two fundamental elements are needed: revelation (whereby God reveals Himself to us) and response (whereby we respond freely and uninhibitedly to God in awe and wonder). My prayer is that, in every worship setting, we worship in a way where we connect with the very heart of God and, out of that place, respond in action to impact and change our world.

The whole idea of missions is that we go where worship is not yet. It's loving people who ultimately need to know that they were created to be God-worshippers. Ephesians 1:11-12 says, "...For He chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as He decided long ago. God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God."

One of the things I love about Hillsong Church (FBC) is that we are blessed with an incredible, unique worshipping environment but, equally, we are encouraged to stretch and extend ourselves in changing the world around us - to live beyond ourselves... "blessed to be a blessing".

Each one of us is called to mission just as we are all called to worship our God. I just want to encourage you... be creative in missions. It just may be that the very act of cooking a meal for your neighbour has the potential to open the door to a conversation that ends in a soul saved for eternity. Maybe the very act of sponsoring one more child could just change an entire nation for Christ. Maybe an extra moment with your work colleague will pave a way for you to invite them to church.

We cannot worship exclusively, leaving the unsaved disconnected from our incredible Saviour. We've got to share what we know about Jesus Christ so that, when the world fades and our "missions" work is done, God's House will be full... for eternity.


Tonight I'm off to the Third Day concert in Little Rock. As much as I like Third Day, I'm looking more forward to their opening acts, The David Crowder Band & Hyperstatic Union. I'll keep you posted.

Until then...

Rough Draft

I'm about to be off to my weekly "40 Days of Community" meeting. Before, I stepped out I wanted to post the first draft of this year's "N.O.W. Poster. Truth be told, it's about the 15th draft. I guess that's a bit of exaggeration! Meeshelle was the mastermind behind this year's poster. Give her a hand!!

So, what think ye?

All in a days work

So, here's what I did today. You are the first to see it. Come on Mr. Ebert, give me all you got! In all seriousness, I would like your feedback. Whadyathink?