Bummer...

Well, good news - I got more recording done for the album. The session went pretty good, too. Songs "After The Pain" and "Hope" fit the quality of "Masses."

The bad news, the songs aren't mixed and therefore Life Support Vol.1 suffers another setback.

BUT, for those in attendance at The Awakening Conference, they'll get the chance to sign up for the first wave of the release along with another small surprise I'll be announcing that day.

So for those of you waiting, the additional wait won't be for too much longer.

Extreme Witnessing?

Wow...that's all I can say...wow...

Shout to the Lord on American Idol

Here it is folks! The first blog to show the vid! American Idol finalists sing "Shout to the Lord!"



Thoughts?

The Global Crisis

There is a global crisis. The crisis is obvious but yet the crisis is going ignored. The church is turning away from the #1 crisis facing our planet that has TRULY put our planet in peril. That crisis - SIN.

Why is the church turning away from this MAJOR crisis? A crisis so major, God sent His only son to deal with it. Don't get me wrong - I think poverty, under-education, sickness, AIDS and global warming are problems our planet faces that the church needs to be front and center in addressing. BUT, our message is centered around the death, burial, resurrection and Lordship of Jesus. The Bible doesn't say "he who believes poverty is a problem will be saved." Scripture teaches that belief in Jesus' death and resurrection and our confession of Him as Lord is our key to salvation.

I read today that Emerging leaders are telling people that the focus of the Church should be the issues like global warming, overpopulation, etc. and not scriptural and spiritual issues. If sin, forgiveness, redemption and repentance aren't at the core of our message - then let's shut the church doors and let's join the Peace Corpse.

Again, I think we truly should be in the fight for justice, global warming, poverty, famine and the like - but not at the expense of the TRUE message of the cross.

The problem I'm having with the way the discussion goes is that leaders make us think the two have to be mutually exclusive. I don't think the issues are mutually exclusive.

What do you think? (Or did I just COMPLETELY confuse you?)

My social networking sites and 3 reasons why I don't use Twitter

So, I tend to use my blog as my internet "homebase." Why? Because I like to :-)

But you can find me in other places of the net. You can find me here on Myspace, right here on Virb and even here at Facebook.

I JUST started the Facebook page as a test. A test to see 1) If I like it and 2) If I have the desire to keep up with it. But I figure if I have enough people hitting me up there, then I'll keep up with it more.

While I see the benefits of the whole social networking scene, I REFUSE to use Twitter. I know, I know, some of you will no longer read my blog because of that or just plain old call me uncool. That's okay, I'm from Detroit. I can handle the name calling.

But I have my reasons why I won't do it. Here are my main 3.

1. I don't have the time. Between ministry, working a full time job, doing music, being married and just living I don't have time.

2. I really don't think you care that much. I mean really, do you care that the person in front of me in Starbucks is listening to One Republic too loudly? No? I didn't think so.

3. I don't care that much. Sometimes, I hate it when people call and they don't have anything to talk about. So I don't care if they just got your order wrong at Dunkin Donuts. Just have them remake it and let's move on with life. Blog, email, myspace, virb, facebook, text message or call me when you have something to say to me. Keep your time in line at the drive-thru to yourself.

Expelled: No Intellegence Allowed!

Check out this movie trailer:



Finally, a movie that challenges Darwinism. This will be good!

Also check out the blog associated with the movie

Is the process personal?

So, as I've mentioned before, our church is going through a major overhaul. Location change, name change, process change - lots of change. Change is a good thing. I dig change. Before we started this change, I started to think about what types of changes we need to make in our youth ministry. I started to picture a youth church that didn't focus on how "we" do things, but a focus on how things are done. Creating a culture that breeds a long lasting life change, not just something that creates spiritual turn around. You what that is, right? All youth ministries see it. Its the "I'm a Christian in youth group, but after I graduate I'm done."

So I wanted to build something that gives life lasting impact. Then, I started to read the church all-star resource "Simple Church." It really confirmed some stuff that I thought about the process of making disciples. But I started to think "Why do limit our processes the church's role in creating disciples?" We have great church processes, but what about our PERSONAL process for growth? How do our church processes translate into a personal growth process? Better still, do we personally use those processes in our own lives? How do they translate in different stages of our own spiritual development?

These are questions I am having a blast answering and yet feeling convicted at the same time. We have developed a process in our youth ministry and its a process that translates into a personal path for spiritual growth.


So leaders, how do you live out your own church's process? Or do you have your own?