Moving Day

There seems to be a lot of moving going on today. There are some new residents at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and I'm moving my blog site to WordPress. Heidi Cassadas recommends it and I kind of like the tools, so I've decided to make the big jump.

You can find my new blog here.

Is It Overflow or Is it All You?

I read an interview on Tony Morgan's blog and I thought I'd share it. Tony interviews Anne Jackson and in the last paragraph of the blog entry, Anne says something that really stands out to me when she's talking about her relationship with God, and says ...

Ministry can ONLY be an overflow of that relationship. John 15:5 says apart from Christ we can do NOTHING. Sure “we” can “do” things…but it isn’t the life God intended for us. He wants us to have an abundant life resting in Him…not freaking ourselves out “doing stuff” for him.

Many times, we get so busy doing the "work of God" that we don't spend any time (or enough time) cultivating our relationship with Him; failing to realize that ministry can ONLY be an overflow of that relationship. Anyway, thanks to Tony for sharing that insight. That's good stuff!

Can I Talk About It Yet?

We had an awesome Volunteer Celebration service at NLC last night. Worship was fantastic and God reminded me of something that He spoke to me 10 years ago as I stood in the same spot (I was visiting the church during a revival meeting back then).

Pastor Dan talked about where we've been and where we're going as he cast vision for 2009. During the service, he let a big secret out of the bag to the volunteers, but not everyone in the whole church knows yet. I can't wait until Sunday when we break the news to everyone. Then I'll be free to talk about it. Who knows, I may be able to be bribed into telling you if you can't wait until Sunday. I do like brownies and Starbucks!

Getting Back Up

Have you ever fallen down? I've not actually done a study on it, but I'm guessing that you have, on at least one occasion in your life, taken a spill and were a little embarrassed. I would also guess that you didn't lay on the ground in total despair, never to walk again. Congratulations!

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” - Abraham Lincoln

Many people are starting out the new year with hopes of accomplishing something important to them. Some have already blown it and have given up trying. Are you kidding me?! It's only the 9th of January. One fall doesn't mean you're a failure. Heck, even 5 or 10 falls don't mean you should quit. If it's worth starting, it's worth finishing and I say who cares if you've fallen and you've lost a little pride. So what! Don't be content with your failure and in the end, you won't be one!

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!!!

This Sunday night I'll be joining all of the volunteer staff at NLC for a night of celebration. We'll be having a great time of worship and fellowship as well as some vision casting from Pastor Dan. I'm really looking forward to it, even though I don't think we'll have any fireworks.

We have a ton of great people that give of themselves to help reach the people of East County for Jesus and I love serving along with them.

Worship: More Than Actions

I'm privileged to be preaching this week and I'm looking forward to it. I've been thinking a lot lately about worship. A good friend and mentor of mine, Loyd Naten, wrote an article a month or two ago about worship and I've been thinking about it ever since.

It's funny how "worship" has been redefined over the years. Some people think that worship always involves music and singing. We even call the part of our Sunday services when we sing, "Praise and Worship". Can't we sing and play music without worshiping?

In looking for a picture for this blog entry, a huge majority of pictures representing worship showed people with their hands lifted up. Are we worshiping every time we stretch and lift our hands over our heads? I would contend that we can even go to church without worshiping.

God is seeking for us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth and that takes more than just an action or being at a particular place. Bro. Naten states, "a personal encounter with the living God" is what enables us to worship the way God calls us to.

Do you have any thoughts about worship you'd like to share? Maybe I'll use them in my sermon tomorrow.

Christmas Services

On Saturday night and Sunday morning, we held 3 Christmas service at New Life Church in El Cajon. We had over 350 in combined attendance at the 3 services and it was by far the best Christmas service I've ever seen or been a part of.

Several people raised their hand for salvation and the kids' performances were outstanding. My buddy, Isaac had his first speaking part in a service and he was great!

My daughter was part of the hip-hop dance routine that the Uturn Youth Group did and my two boys were outstanding on the grand finale. Jason played one of the trash cans with his cousin Alyssa and DJ and Terry V. Skiles played the drums on the best version of the Little Drummer Boy you've ever seen. I'll post some pictures of the services as they become available.

The service will be posted on the church website in the next day or so. I highly recommend you check it out.