Frog in our Toilet

Sunday morning, I woke up to my wife saying, "There's a frog in our toilet!"
Here's some pics:


Which begs the question: If you get warts when a frog pees on you, what happens if you pee on a frog?
As curious as I was, I decided to rescue the little guy and scoop him out with a paper cup. He decided to jump out on Josh before I could catch him. Here's Josh's eye witness account:



We let the little frog go in the back yard. This experience has made me double check the toilet for now on.

Have you ever...

...done something so much that you got tired of it, and had no desire to do it for a period of time? That's been me in the last several days with blogging. I needed a break, and just to walk away from it for a second. Now, today, after looking at a couple of blogs, I feel inspired to blog again.

Has that ever happened to you with something?

Worship Confessional 09.28.08

Great day today. It was a real sense of people getting refreshed and ministered to. I don't think it could have gone any better...maybe a little more cowbell, but that's it.

Here's the set list with Itunes links:

Your Grace is Enough - Chris Tomlin
Hosanna - Hillsong
All Who Are Thirsty - Brenton Brown
Beautiful Scene - Gary Durbin



This is also a part of Sunday Setlist.

I'm Blogged Out

I've taken a couple days off the blog. Just blogget out. I love blogging, but I needed a break from it. I'll be back tomorrow with stuff.

First Question

I thought this might get some really interesting responses.

If you died today, and you were in Heaven with God, and you can ask Him a question,

what would the first
question be?

Word Wednesday .::12

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. My hope is to see others comment and share a scripture that they have read.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Isaiah 51:6 ESV

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed."

I am trying to think more green in stuff these days. I'm the guy in the church office telling everybody to email me and do things digitally as much as possible. I am not against being environmentally aware, and don't really understand how you could be against it. When God made Adam, he put him in Eden to take care of it, so we should definitely take care of the earth the best we can. The only thing I would not venture into is "saving the planet". When I read a verse like this, I'm reminded of who is in control, and that it is His planet to save, but we can definitely do our part in not destroying, and in some instances, restoring it. It is sad to see nature deteriorate, when we are not responsible, but at the end of the day, God is our salvation and our hope....and, let's resist any political comments on global warming vs. non-global warming. I can watch the horrid news stations for that. Let's hear what God has given you in scripture this week.

What's your Word?

Favorite::Movies

This weekend I showed my friend Matt the movie "The Princess Bride". He had never seen it, and I explained to him that it's a classic and he must watch it.

So, I'd love to hear what everybody's top 3-5 movies are.

Here's mine (no order):
"The Last Castle"
"The Truman Show"
"Hoosiers"
"Planet of the Apes"(the original)
"Rocky"

What's yours?

Night of Worship - Timeless

Wow...wow, what an amazing night. Last night we had a Night of Worship called "Timeless". We worshiped with hymns that have been the church for generations and some new songs that I believe will carry on as well. Of course, there are so many songs that would fit in this category, and there's no way to do them in one night, so I really prayed about this one. I prayed for just the right songs for this particular night, and God delivered. I think I can say that it was just a perfect night, and we worshiped a perfect God. We had two big sets with a break in the middle. In the mid-point of the night we had our good friend Mike Schirle speak on "The Timelessness of God", which was just what we needed at that point. CLICK HERE to watch that sermon.

Here was the set list:

"Blessed Assurance"-hymn
"Glorious Day"-(Todd Agnew version of the hymn "One Day")
"In Christ Alone"-Gettys
"The Solid Rock"-hymn
"Amazing Grace (My Chains)-Tomlin version
"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"-Kathryn Scott

Speaker-Mike Schirle

"Everlasting God"-Brenton Brown
"How Great Thou Art"-hymn
"How Great is our God"-Tomlin
"It is Well with my Soul"-hymn
"I Could Sing of Your Love Forever"-Delirious

As you can see, the first part was a very thick set on the doctrine of Christ. This proved to be incredibly powerful and moving, and it ended with "When I Survey". If you haven't heard this version of it, you must check it out. Actually, Tim Hughes is recording it on his upcoming live album. The second part was on the grandeur of God, which followed the talk on the timelessness of God.
What 's so cool about all of this is that, I didn't intentionally plan all of this. It fell together as I prayed for God's leading. It was like painting a picture with Someone else guiding my hand as I closed my eyes. When it was finished, I opened my eyes and looked at the painting, and it was perfect. That's how I feel about this set list, and may all my set lists follow this same pattern.

This is also a part of Sunday Setlists.

W. honors the Champs

Sorry, no Spurs this year Mr. President. Go Boston!

Worship Confessional 09.21.08

This morning, I had our youth pastor, Warren East, lead worship. Tonight, we are having Night of Worship, and I decided to save my voice. I haven't done so well vocally in the past when I tried doing both morning and night. So, I really enjoyed the rest and just being a part of the crowd of worshipers. Our focus was the sovereignty of God this morning. Here was the set list:

-"Victory Shout"-Warren East
-"Center"-Charlie Hall
-"Mighty to Save"-Hillsong
-"Whole World in His Hands"-Tim Hughes

Sorry, no video today. I'll be blogging about our night probably late tonight.

This also a contribution Sunday Setlist.

Night of Worship

Tomorrow's a big day. We have church in the morning, and Warren is leading for me. I'll be saving my voice for Night of Worship. The theme of the night is "Timeless". We'll be worshiping God with songs that have lasted for generations and new songs that, I believe, will last through the next generations. It starts at 6pm at Bethany. If you're local, please come out be a part of the crowd of worshipers. I'll do a post about it, probably tomorrow night afterward. Have a great Sunday, and use to praise God with other believers.

Therapeutic

I have one form of therapy in my life-it's mowing the grass. I don't really care to mow everyone else's lawn, but I don't mind grooming mine. I don't know why, but I enjoy the whole process of it. When I was growing up, my Dad didn't let me do a lot of this kind of stuff, cause he likes to do it as well. The only thing he made me do was "hold the cord." That's probably the only part of the process I don't like, dragging the power cord around.

What's therapeutic for you?

Elvis, House, and Ronald Reagan

Those who know me well, know my love of documentaries. One of the best channels we get is the Biography Channel. I can pretty much sit and watch a documentary on anyone. This afternoon, I vegged and watched a couple doc's on Elvis...I kinda knew a lot of that stuff. Then I watched one on Hugh Laurie, who plays the role of House. I love that show, so that was an interesting one...really talented guy. Now, I'm watching one on Ronald Reagan...I'm not into politics, but like I said, I can watch the history of pretty much anyone. Evidently, he started his political views being known as a "left-wing democrat"...never thought of him as that.

Do you like documentaries?

"Home Food"

One of the new things Josh has experienced this year is the "snack from the gas station" stop. I've done this a couple of times when I feel like rewarding him for being good at school. Today, he felt entitled to another snack stop, I think, as a parent, sometimes you need to say no, as to not spoil the child. I felt that responsibility today. I told him that we would get a snack at home. He argued this for a while, and I stood my ground. The debate culminated with him proclaiming,
"I don't like home food!"
Thank you Josh, for another original term. Gotta love kids.

Word Wednesday .::11

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. My hope is to see others comment and share a scripture that they have read.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Isaiah 40:8 ESV

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."

Last night, as I pulled into my driveway, I looked at my yard. It doesn't look bad, but there's a lot of weeds in the midst of all the grass. My first impulse, was, "I've got to take care of those weeds". I don't think there's anything wrong with taking care of what you've got, but you've got to remember that all the stuff we have is very temporary. In that brief moment, I was a little concerned with the state of my yard, but I quickly remembered that it's not a huge priority in my life, nor should it be. The state of my heart has got to be on my mind. The Word of God should be on my mind. No matter how much weed and feed I put on my grass, it will wither away one day. If the Word of God is not on my mind, then that is where weeds can pop up even more, and that's got to be a huge concern for me.


What's your Word?

Giggling Prairie Dog

Giggling Prairie Dog

Quote of the Day

"If you would rather pick a fight than solve a problem, do not consider leading the church."
-J. Oswald Sanders
Spiritual Leadership

Worship Confessional 09.14.08

Great day today.

Set list:
"I Will Boast" - Paul Baloche
"Healer" - Michael Guglielmucci
"Hosanna" - Hillsong
"Your Name" - Paul Baloche

We introduced "Hosanna". This video is a little safer than last week's, because my wife was driving. Enjoy:



This is also a contribution to Sunday Setlists.

Marriage Retreat Day 2

Today was the 2nd and final day of our Marriage Retreat. The only down part that we were worried about was Jade being with us. Turns out Jade is amazing. She sat pretty quietly through the first session, and basically slept through 2-4 sessions. The sessions were an hour long each, so she's amazing. Maybe she deserves a doll from WalMart. We'll see.
Today was great. The speakers of the conference was the husband and wife duo, Gary and Barb Rosberg. They had a lot of amazing things to share with us about their journey and how we can have full, Christ-centered marriage. The concept of marriage has been so secularized in our world. They reminded us that God gave us the gift of marriage, and it can't reach it's full potential without Christ as the center. On my survey card, I put that I have recommitted my marriage to God. I am so fortunate to have my wife. She has and continues to make me better. I don't deserve her. We have grown so much in the last several years, and I can say that communication has been a huge factor. It seems that so many marriages are breaking up and in trouble, because couples just don't talk to each other. I pray that we continue on that path. They reminded us today that our marriage is under attack, and all marriages for that matter.

Toy Story

We got Josh a new bike, and he decided, with no hesitancy, to test it out in the store. There was no one in the toy section, so I let him give it a whirl. We also found out Jade likes dolls. What a girl. Enjoy:

Marriage Retreat Day 1

We're at a Marriage retreat with several couples from our church. We had a great first day. We had a little mingle time with fruit and carmel/chocolate dip. After that we played the Newlywed Game. Long story short, we came in last place. Maybe next year. Tomorrow is the actual conference. I'll post more details tomorrow night. Until then enjoy this classic clip about marriage from one of my favorite movies "The Princess Bride":

A Very Important Day

Today is my Mom's birthday. This is a very important day, because if she's not born, I'm not born. I have to say that she is an awesome person, and I am very fortunate to have her as a mother. Happy Birthday, Mommy.

The Lab Scene

We did a 10-week sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit. We did the whole CSI theme with it. To help make it stick, I created spoof videos for each week with two CSI agents discovering each fruit. It went over pretty well. They laughed, and didn't boo, so I'm happy with it, and I think it brought a little anticipation to each week. To end the series, we did a lab scene at the end of his last sermon to put everything together. I had fun with it. It's the first "beat down" scene I've shot. Enjoy:

CSI: Lab Scene


This is also a contribution to Creative Chaos.

7 years go...

...I was doing sales, and walked into a TV shop. I saw all the employess crowded around a big screen, and then I saw it.


Where were you when it happened?

Word Wednesday .::10

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. My hope is to see others comment and share a scripture that they have read.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Isaiah 29:13 ESV 13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

Every time I come across this verse, I can't help but think of the legalism that myself and a lot of people have gone through in churches. Sometimes, churches don't even know they're legalistic, and then there are churches that know, but just don't seem to care. Every person that has lived and breathed has legalistic tendancies. If we're not careful, we can look down our noses at people, and we fail to see the legalism that exists in our own life. I know, I battle it all the time, and it's when I lose sight of my man-made religion, that it's at it's most dangerous state. And yes, legalism is very dangerous. Jesus actually quoted this verse to the Pharisees:

Matthew 15:7-9 ESV

7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;

9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

I've grown really suspicious of teachers and books that start there thoughts with, "I believe...". At the end of the day, our belief must rest in the God of the Bible, and not who we think He should be. I spent too many years taking my pastor's opinions as doctrine, instead of searching the scriptures for truth. It's not that the pastors I had growing up were way off based, or intentionally trying to teach falsely, but there were certainly some things they taught that differ from the Word of God, which I now study. I've heard my pastor say many times that he's going to stand before God one day and answer for what he says in the pulpit. Worship is such a broad and sacred lifestyle, we've got to lean on what God says about it, because, let's face it, it's meant for Him.

That's enough from me, what's your Word this week?

Make it Stop

I am over the election...that's right. I got one to many forwards regarding the inadequacies of this candidate or that. I genuinely thought I was going to actually get into this election this year, but I am weary of the school yard antics of everybody involved. The news anchors of FOX, MSNBC, and CNN are all way more angry and annoying, which is an amazing feat. What I've noticed is if I watch too much of it, I get sucked into the feud, as if any of the candidates actually care for me or family. I guess you could say I have trust issues with politics.

But...I will watch the debates, because I do genuinely care. I will be very relieved when this whole process is over. I will support whoever is elected, even if I don't agree with everything he does. And, I will definitely vote. There's a lot of people, mostly conservative, that are trying to decide whether they will actually vote this time. I am tempted to go that route, but I view voting as an American right and privilege that people actually died for. I would hate to not take advantage of that. Plus, the more that Christians pull out of things, because we don't agree, the less we impact our world for Christ.

It's a groundbreaking time in our country's history. We will have either the first african-american or woman in the White House. That is something to celebrate, with all of the prejudice that our nation has seen and still sees today.

So, my question is: How much do you think the debates will affect people's decision? Are people still on the fence, or is their decision set in stone before or after the conventions?


Your thoughts...


disclaimer: There's a lot of "I's" in this post, which means these are my thoughts. Please don't take this as a sermon on how you should feel.

Happy Jesus

Josh wrote his first song this week and I got it on film. It's very original and out of the box. Here's the lyrics:

Happy Jesus
Welcome to our God (repeat)
Everything (repeat)

The chord structure is abstract and beyond our finite thinking. Enjoy:

Happy Grandparents Day

Happy Grandparents Day to my parents who don't know how to find my blog. Here's the video I made for them real quick-like:

Worship Confessional 09.07.08

First worship confessional video. I think I'll start doing it this way, on the way home while things are fresh in my mind and heart. enjoy:




Set List:
"Joy" - Paul Oakley
"Open the Eyes of my Heart" - Paul Baloche
"Beautiul Scene" - mine
"You Never Let Go" - Matt Redman

Also, I've had some ask about my songs. If you would like to check them out, you can hit the links on my blog to myspace or youtube. "Beautiful Scene" is on both of them. Feel free to use them in your churches, if you'd like, and I'll help you in that way anyway I can. Thanks for the interest.

This is also a contribution to Sunday Setlist.

Jade and the Dog Bowl

So, I got this new cell phone, and I can do some low grade video with it, which I'll be using for my worship confessionals, so I tested it out, and this is what I got...



She will not leave the dog bowl alone. There's coming a day soon, when she's going to be chowing down when we're not looking. Gross.

Ummm...

...my, how far Christian music has come. I saw this on Ragamuffin...


...it reminded me of this video...

Today, I was reminded...

...that miracles are only experienced when we exercise faith. We've experienced God doing amazing things at our church in the last 3 years, and it's only because we have obeyed God's voice. Sure, we haven't always had the faith that we should, but at the end of the day we believe in God. We believe in Him more every year, and it's great to be in that kind of church environment and under that kind of leadership. Just sayin'.

Word Wednesday .::9

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. My hope is to see others comment and share a scripture that they have read.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Isaiah 8:11-13 ESV

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying:

12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.

13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.


As a believer in Jesus, I have this thing called faith. I have faith and believe in who Jesus said He was and what He did. This rock that I stand on allows me to see a God that is in control. I don't have to fear what the world fears. Should I care about my country? Absolutely. Should I care about the election, war, poverty, and the environment? Absolutely, but I shouldn't worry or fret over it, because at the end of the day, if I really believe that God is sovereign and that his eye is on the sparrow, then I won't fear. The proverbs says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. This is comfort, peace, and security for everyone that chooses to believe it.


What's your Word?

The Bright Sadness Review

Charlie Hall is a guy that I have watched and followed for the last 6-7 years. He was the "Passion Guy" long before anybody ever heard of Chris Tomlin or David Crowder. I've been to a lot of Passion events, and it's been really cool to see his status change. He humbly led faithfully in the shadow of Tomlin, Redman, and Crowder. I've also seen his writing improve. His first couple of albums are forgettable. When he came out with "Flying into Daybreak" a couple years ago, he brought us the song "Center", which is an instant timeless song of the church. That album was the turning point and a huge jump in his writing. Charlie Hall has always been out of the box and unique in worship songwriting, which I appreciate.
This new release, "The Bright Sadness", is, in my opinion, his best release to date. Going into the album I had already hear 4 of the tracks: "Chainbreaker", "Walk the World", "You are God", and "Mystery". Those are definitely the strongest tracks. "Mystery" is the best bet for congregational worship in multi-generational services. The other three will easily make their way into modern worship services immediately. Another stand-out track is called "Hookers and Robbers". Without being said, the title is an attention getter, but the message is strong. The chorus is cry to others saying, "come just as you are". That's a message of Jesus that we need to carry out not just in words, but in deeds and acceptance. The other track that grabbed me was "Scenes". It's a great song of recognition of God's presence all around us, which is a beautiful aspect of worship. Overall, this is an awesome album, if you like modern worship music. It's unique with new sounds that you haven't heard on previous Charlie Hall albums. Again, not the most congregational friendly songs, but that's not what I expect from Charlie Hall. I always expect to hear songs that are ahead of their time. I very much love this album.

talkin' bout my generation

I love living in this time and generation. Sometimes I feel I was born too early. I think I could totally jive with this generation, obviously, because I just said "jive". I love creativity and people who aren't afraid to express their creativity. These were just my thoughts when I watched this video. I know it's not a major production with effects and glitz and glam, but it's creative. It put a smile on my face...oh, and I'm a huge Beatles junkie as well.

Desert Song

I just heard this song for the first time this morning. Very unique and a great cry for praise in every circumstance.

Praising God on the mountaintop and in the valley is a task we all face. A friend of mine who has nearly lost his life in illness, told me quite confidently that it's easier to praise God in the valley. I don't know what is easier for me. Mountaintop or valley, God has called us to to join the praise.