Pull Up-
I recently purchased a pull-up bar at Target. I thought it might be good if I started getting my beach body ready for show. After installing the pull-up bar, I attempted my first set of ten.
I got to one.
It was so freakin’ hard to pull up my body weight.
At this rate, the beach body will not be making its debut until next summer.
Homeless Friend
I’ve recently befriended a homeless lady. She usually makes her home in the ally between Cross Point Community Church and Park Ave. Baptist Church.
She’s not pushy. If I give her change she says “thank you,” but she doesn’t get mad if I don’t have change. She spends most of her time outside of the library on Charlotte. She reads a lot. She sits in the sun in the mornings and in the shade in the afternoon. She seems so content.
I don’t know her name, and we usually just talk about the weather.
I don’t know if she dreams of being rich or at least about owning a bed.
I don’t know if she has family somewhere.
I don’t know if she believes in a god.
I don’t know if she eats regularly.
I sometimes wonder what God has planned for people like her. How does this lady fit into His story? How is her life giving glory to His name?
I don’t pretend to understand God. I just have faith that he is in control.
Weird Worship
Today I worshiped while eating a Hershey’s bar that was smothered in Jif peanut butter. That may sound weird, but that’s how I worship. Some people see God’s glory in a sunset, others find it on a mountaintop. Me, I find it in the amazing combination of chocolate and peanut butter. That is where I see God’s splendor.
Worship always gets confused with singing songs to God. As a worship leader, I have to constantly fight this misconception. Singing songs is just one of the infinite ways that we worship our God.
Worship comes from the heart. It’s longing after something bigger than you. It’s a feeling beyond love and adoration. It’s so simple, and yet still unexplainable.
God created us to worship in many different ways. But, my favorite way to worship him is with a little PB and Chocolate.
Switchfoot
I went with some friends to see switchfoot last night. They were amazing. I can truly loose myself in there show. The musicianship is awesome. They are a tight group. God has truly blessed their career.
Lust out of Control
Sometimes I wonder why God made men visually driven. Some days I find it so hard to not let my eye’s wander.
And girls aren’t helping the problem. The skirts are getting shorter and the tops are getting lower.
It’s being flaunted on TV, and it controls the Internet.
And I am not immune.
My wife and I have decided that the best way to deal with lust and temptation is to be open with each other. I tell her when I’m feeling weak and she’s there for me.
I think that honesty is the only way that you deal with a problem as big as temptation.
That’s why alcoholics have support groups. And Laura gives me more than enough support.
Tourist Towns Tattoo’s and God
My wife and I had a get away this past weekend. We left our kid with Bubbles (my mom) and headed to Gatlinburg, TN. We had a beautiful, secluded cabin on the mountain. I’d show some pictures, but clothing was optional. It was a wonderful time for us to fall in love all over again.
We decided to go do the tourist stuff on Saturday. We walked the whole town. The highlights include the aquarium (live sharks) and the sky-lift.
There was a “Women of Joy” conference going on this weekend so the town was covered in middle-aged white women in matching pink tee shirts. I have a healthy fear of large groups of people who are wearing matching outfits, so we decided hide out in a tattoo parlor.
I was surprised to see three of the conference goers inside. I tried to blend in with the rest of the crowd, which included two couples making out, a man who didn’t look like he had anymore room on his body for another tattoo, and a receptionist.
The three women were talking loudly about the tattoo that one of them was going to get on her wrist. It was something to the effect of “God’s servant” written in Hebrew. The ladies started asking the receptionist if they should feel guilty about getting a tattoo at a Christian conference. At this point, my wife decided to join the conversation.
(As a private note, I don’t usually tell people my profession because it makes them uncomfortable around me)
She told everybody that I was a worship leader and my church would be cool with me getting a tattoo. They asked what kind of church would be okay with me leading worship with at tattoo. I explained that my church was not about a “look.” They were shocked when I told them I wear jeans and t-shirts on stage.
This brought the tattoo artist out of the back room. He said he was happy to hear that not every church was judgmental about looks. He had been to a few churches that couldn’t see him through his exterior of tattoo’s and leather. He understood that he wasn’t perfect and realized that he didn’t need to become perfect to enter a church.
God doesn’t need us to pick and choose who we let into a sanctuary. We just need to love and except.
It turns out that the tattoo artist and me had a lot in common. He told me about his kids and his love for his job. He told me he was very happy with where he was in life.
I don’t know if he was a Christian or not. But I believe that my life was blessed by meeting this 6’3”, father of two, workaholic, tattoo artist.
The Coolest Funeral?
Last week I went to the coolest funeral that I’ve ever been too. I know, I sound morbid. It’s just that I’ve never been to funeral that was so exciting.
Granted, I’ve only attended three funerals my whole life. My first two funerals were just sad and depressing.
This last funeral was very uplifting. It was truly a celebration of the deceased’s life. I didn’t even know the guy, but I left the funeral feeling like I did.
I’m finding myself lately planning out my own funeral. Again, I sound morbid. It’s just that I don’t want people to be sad on such a happy day.
I believe that when I die, I’ll go to heaven. This is going to be an awesome day and it would be weird to think that my friends and family wouldn’t be celebrating for me.
So when I die, I want the cool funeral.
