October 25, 2011 – 6:27 am
Worship music set for 10/26/2011
The opening set is two worship songs back to back…
Lord you are good, Lord I lift Your Name on High. (8.5 min)
Please Note: there are 16 bars of intro/welcome music at the top before the first song begins.
Solos & additional guitars and vocals will be live.
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September 24, 2011 – 8:44 am
Best I can remember, I have always had sensitivity for people in need and I have always been open to people from all different walks of life. When I was growing up I would see the problems in the world and I would hurt inside when I would see how people treated each other and how we treated our planet. I guess you can say that I was one of those bleeding hearts. Back a few years ago I learned that in all my compassion and all my “feelings” for people in need, I was only seeing half the picture when it comes to doing something about it. I learned that God does view the world with compassion. But he also views it with justice. If you study God’s compassion and justice in the Bible, you would be hard pressed to find any situation where God separates the two. Perhaps most importantly, I learned that there is a Godly compassion and justice that goes beyond the finite view of compassion and justice that we might see in the social systems of our world. Read more...
August 20, 2011 – 9:02 am
Introduction…
I little summary for those who don’t want to read the whole post.
As I dig into this Matthew 5:3 and look a the depth of the words Jesus used in the context of the world view of his day, in the context of who he was speaking to and in the context of the language that was used to communicate His truth, I see a brilliant picture emerging. I translate this verse in today’s thoughts as: Read more...
With all the is going on in our country and our world and with all the attention around our national debt, I decided that next 6 days and 14 hours offer a great opportunity to pray and fast…Here’s why… Read more...
I watched a commercial the other day. It was a dramatization where an individual was sharing how thrilled he was with the access his service provider gave him to the “almighty cloud.” I know…It was just a joke… right? Everyone knows that the “cloud” is essentially nothing more than massive collections of computers providing services on a global network. We all know that the cloud has no soul…right? I am probably just being too dramatic about this and I just need to relax and enjoy all the great services we have at our disposal today… Read more...
I think that I have shared this thought before…but…Matthews collections of Jesus’ teachings starting in Matthew 5-7, commonly known as the “Sermon on the Mount” is one of my most favorite sections in the Bible. In my study of these passages, particularly the Sermon on the mount, it has been interesting to see how different scholars organize and interpret these passages. For instance, some scholars believe that all of Matthew chapters 5-7 were taught in one sermon, some believe that the same chapters were a compilation of messages taught over time. Scholars also organize the passages into outlines that offer complementary perspectives. One thing that scholars seem to agree on is that the teachings of Jesus as recorded in these discourses fly directly in the face of spiritual mediocrity. In them Jesus our King, calls for the highest levels of discipleship. I consider these discourses to be a bootcamp for the disciple of Christ. Like boot-camp, one cannot read these passages without full engagement. And…like boot-camp, a disciple of Christ, fully engaged in these teachings is certainly going to be changed as they live out this path set by Christ Himself. Read more...
I laid down some guitar tracks of Amazing Grace… a blues rendition of the song.
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April 23, 2011 – 10:36 am
I had a conversation with a dear friend the other day. It was one of those “iron sharpens iron” conversations about God. Every time my friend and I have one of these conversations I leave challenged. I consider my friend to be a man of great integrity and faith…so when he shares his convictions about God, God’s Church and God’s Word, I listen. I would also add that my friend is a man who does not care for the spotlight. That said, out of respect for him, I will not be mentioning his name in this post. Read more...
Pat Gilbert preceded me as Director of Information Systems at Willow Creek Community Church. I am extremely thankful for the opportunities that she gave me to grow as a leader. I do not believe that I would have had the opportunity to lead and manage the Information Technology ministry at Willow Creek if it were not for her willingness to take risks on my growth. I know that my energy and propensity toward action can be a handful to manage. However, Pat’s experience, wisdom and patience with me over the years that she lead and mentored me has had a profound and positive impact on my character as a leader, as a professional and as a follower of Christ. Furthermore, I don’t think that I have appropriately expressed my gratitude to her for her investment in me…that is…until today. This Post is dedicated to you, Pat Gilbert. Thanks for taking chances on me. Read more...
