If This Don’t Light Your Fire…

…your wood is wet!  My good friend and fellowlaborer for the gospel Dave Dickson posted THIS video on his blog today.  Check it out.  This is heart wrenching stuff.  Thanks for posting it Dave.

Technology

I got a package delivered to the office today. My desk looks more cluttered than ever now. However, even though I’m kind of a neat freak about my office, I don’t min the clutter one bit. My new Reason software and M-Audio keyrig have me frothing at the mouth to make music. We’re moving forward at Colwood. We’re stepping up to the next level. Loops, samples, and iem’s are soon to follow! I can’t wait! Colwood Worship 2.0 is about to begin!

Follow Through

Don’t stop.

Forward motion is essential.

When God calls you to do something, don’t quit.  The Israelites quit in Ezra 4.  For YEARS only the temple foundations were laid.  They looked at the foundation and despaired because they compared it to the earthly grandeur of Solomon’s temple.

God doesn’t look on the outside.  He surveys the heart.

When you feel discouraged, or you look at what you’re doing and feel that its not ‘up to snuff’ with what everyone else is doing, there is only one thing you can do.  ’Fix your eyes on the author and perfector of your faith.  Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is seated on the right hand of the Father.  Consider him who endured opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart!’

What God has shown you in the light remains true in the dark times.  Look to Christ and continue on the path God has for you.  He’s not done with you yet.  He’s not done with me yet.  Thank God!

Why We Do What We Do

There’s one reason, above all, that the staff here at Colwood and myself do what we do.  That reason is simple:  life change.  We strive to be intentional with everything we do.  From the environment, to the music, to the cafe, to the first impressions team, to the messages, to the lack of church politics, to the lack of vocal staff and church political allegiances, everything is intentionally focused on reaching the lost at any cost and making opportunities for people to experience life change.  Last night was a perfect example of everything coming to a head.

Last night at Colwood Students, 4 young middle schoolers trusted Christ as their savior for the very first time.  In addition, another 5 middle schoolers committed to getting serious about their faith and being more active daily in reaching the lost.  THAT is what wakes me up in the morning.  Its not cool guitar riffs and vocal harmonies, its not cool drum beats, and its not finding new ways to ruffle feathers and make people who are entrenched in the ways they’ve done church for years upset.  I can’t restate it emphatically enough.  FOUR KIDS CHANGED THEIR ETERNITY LAST NIGHT!

As a man I greatly respect would say, “If that doesn’t light your fire, your wood is wet!”

Office Space

I’m official.  Or at least I feel like I finally am.  Yesterday I began moving my ‘stuff’ in to my new digs here at Colwood.  Its been fun hanging out in the sound booth all day everyday, but I’ve got to be honest and say that I didn’t feel like I was ‘official’ until now.  Short of getting Michigan plates and a Michigan license, I feel like I’m an official resident now.  I have an office.  I have a home.  I’m counting the days until my home is complete though.

In 63 days I will be married to my best friend.  We’ll stand on a beach in paradise (aka Jamaica) and we will promise to be faithful and true to each other through the good times and bad.  In just 9 weeks time Kayla will be changing her last name to Brooks.  I have to be honest, I’m ecstatic!  I don’t want to give too much away, but here’s just a snippet of what we’ll be talking about that day.  These couple of sentences are from St. Augustine and a letter he wrote to his son.  Enjoy!

“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.”

Vision

Its been an amazing couple of weeks here at Colwood.  Last week, Jon, Dan, and I all flew to South Carolina to soak in the wisdom of other leaders in ministry.  You can’t copy innovation, but you can learn from it and improve on it where possible.  Jon spent time in Perry Noble’s coaching network, while Dan and I got to spend time with the leaders of both Newspring and Elevation.  Both churches and groups of leaders did brought something different to the table and each taught us something we could take back to Colwood to help fuel us as a church to reach the over 80,000 people in our area that don’t have a saving knowledge of Christ.  Below are just a few photos I took at Elevation and at Newspring, along with brief explanations of what I took from the ideas.  These ideas have had my brain churning and my heart stirring as I go about doing life with everyone here in Caro.

While we have photos on our walls that tell the 'story' of Colwood, Elevation takes that idea a step further and have the main graphic from every sermon series in their history on the wall, with spaces for series to come. People connect by discussing when they first came to Elevation and when God began changing their lives.

This photo is of the main auditorium at Newspring. Their back drop is ingenious. Its a vinyl mesh that allows light to be projected through it. This particular backdrop is covered with enormous 'Marshall' amplifier stacks. They have a similar backdrop in their youth center that is covered with scripture. Its eye catching and also feeds the worship environment with the Word of God.

Underneath the number 184 you'll notice a graphic that looks kind of like a sun. This is one of 12 graphics that can be seen throughout the building. This graphic represents one of the 12 statements in 'the Code' at Elevation. The 'Code' is not a set of beliefs, but a collection of statements that convey what Elevation church is 'all about.' These statements also outline why the church leadership makes the decisions they make. For instance, one portion of 'the Code' states that "We need your seat." That means that if you're just going to take up space and not make a difference for Christ, go somewhere else. They need that seat so that a lost person can meet Jesus.

These are letters and emails that have been sent in to the church from people who have experienced life change through Elevation. The names have been removed and they have been posted in the area where volunteers meet for their prep meetings before a worship experience. These stories outline how EVERY PERSON is important. EVERY JOB is vital to reaching the lost.

This is the main auditorium at Elevation's main campus in Matthews, NC. The stage is dark. The chairs are dark. The ceiling is dark. When the lights are low people are able to engage at their own pace. There is a level of comfort associated with anonymity. The dark walls and stage allow for more lighting possibilities which enhance the mood and environment. Lighting also plays a HUGE role in enhancing emotional responses.

This image was HUGE for me. This is a photo of two of the isolation cabinets Elevation uses for guitar amplifiers. These cabinets are offstage and house each guitar player's amplifier. These cabinets allow for GREATLY reduced stage volume, better audio quality, better monitor mixes, and all around better sound for not only the audience, but for the players on stage. When using in-ear monitors an isolation cabinet allows you to hear EXACTLY what you need to hear in your individual mix.

The use of pipe and drape allows ushers to shrink the size of a large space down to a more intimate experience for everyone involved.

History and #5 This Season

I know that I’m in enemy territory on this joyous day.  I’m a hardcore Rays fan and I live in Caro, MI, home of Tigers fans galore.  I’m hearing complaints about umpiring.  I’m hearing complaints about injury riddled lineups.  I’m hearing complaints about ’5 rookies’ in the game for the Tigers.  Bottom line:  no matter the circumstances, you have to execute.

Here’s the biggest thing I take away from the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history:  Matt Garza threw 6 strikeouts last night.  This wasn’t just his no-hitter.  He kept batters off-balance by keeping the ball in on the handle and out on the end of the bat.  By doing this he induced a lot of ground ball outs and a lot of lazy fly ball outs.  The one time a Tigers player got ahold of a pitch with solid contact, Ben Zobrist (not a right fielder but playing there last night) made a nice leaping catch on the run to make the out.  What I’m saying is that without his defense behind him last night, Matt Garza would not have thrown a no-hitter.   He threw 101 fastballs out of 120 pitches.  He said, “Ok defense, I’m gonna let ‘em hit it.  Have my back!”

As a leader, I desperately need the people who serve in the ministry I’m stewarding to ‘have my back.’  I need the people who I serve with to do their best and to give 110%.  If we don’t all give it everything we’ve got, not only are we doing God a disservice by giving Him less than our best, but we’re telling the world that serving God isn’t as important as the other ‘things’ that our life is filled with.

We tailgate with great food, great music, and great drinks.  We hunt with the best equipment available.  We fill our bellies with the best food available.  God deserves better than our best.  He deserves to have us giving 110%.  We need to ‘have his back.’

White and ready to harvest…

I’ve lived in ‘the city’ my entire life.  I moved from Tampa, FL, a relatively ‘urban’ city, to Caro, MI, which is a community whose population relies mostly on agriculture and farming as their means of support and income.  Everywhere I drive I see some kind of crop being grown.  Whether its corn, sugar beets, soy beans, wheat, or any other crop, it’s a sight I’m not yet used to seeing.  It still amazes me every time.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the wheat fields had a character to them I hadn’t seen before.  As the breeze would blow across a field, the wheat would sway in waves with what looked like the ‘whitecaps’ I’m used to seeing in Tampa when the Bay waters are choppy.  It struck me that I already knew what this meant.  In the book of John Jesus declares that the fields are ‘white and ready to harvest.’  I knew that any day now, I would see farmers out in the fields with huge pieces of machinery harvesting this wheat.

Last night I went to Bay City with Josh Phillips.  We were doing some preliminary test filming for some videos we’ll be filming in the coming weeks, as well as shooting some ‘b reel’ material.  As I walked along the streets of Bay City, I saw people dying for something that they couldn’t obtain with the methods they were using.  I had the lyrics of an old ‘Everybodyduck’ song running through my mind that said “he’s keeping the cure/so afraid that a little might spill/and he’s sure glad he’s got it/but he’s too busy to share/and at least he won’t die like they will/well he’s keeping the cure in his pocket.”

Folks, we have the cure for the disease that is infesting our brothers and sisters all around us.  Are we going to keep it in our pocket or share it willingly?  Come to Colwood on August 1st as Jon shares our vision for this fall and how we will Amplify the name of Jesus Christ in the thumb of Michigan.  The fields are white and ready to harvest.

The Cure by Everybodyduck
Who can say just why all this happened
They'd been friends almost all of their of their lives
Sharing all that they had no matter the cost
But one chose to be selfish this time
You see the other contracted a sickness
All the doctors just threw up their hands
His life was ticking away but his friend just stood by
Like a spectator up in the stands
What was crazy was he had the answer
To remove all his brother's disease
But he folded his arms and talked of old times while his best friend
died without peace

Well he's keeping the cure
So afraid that a little might spill
Well he's sure glad he's got it but he's too busy to share
and at least he won't die like they will
Well he's keeping the cure... in his pocket  

You see he'd also been sick earlier
To the sickness he'd become a slave
But one came to his aid with solutions in hand
He was rescued from the sting of the grave
In the first month he'd told all his buddies
Of the wonderful cure he had found
But it became routine and few shared his joy
So his excitement made less of a sound
Well he realized more people were dying
From the plague for which he had the cure
But he wasn't a salesman, and they'd think he'd impose
And they'd probably seen it before
Well he's keeping the cure
So afraid that a little might spill
Well he's sure glad he's got it but he's too busy to share
and at least he won't die like they will
Well he's keeping the cure... in his pocket
Well we're keeping the cure
So afraid that a little might spill
Well we're sure glad we've got it but we're too busy to share
and at least we won't die like they will
Well we're keeping the cure... in our pocket

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Viva Espana!

So…I’m an American male and I grew up loving baseball and football.  That’s pretty much the way it goes in Tampa.  If you were to make up an all-time baseball team made up solely of players from Tampa you’d have quite a roster!  People from Tampa embrace this heritage and we LOVE our baseball.  I also love Kayla Miles.  Kayla grew up in Southwest Louisiana and loves soccer.  She grew up playing it from the age of 4.  Its apparently a big thing there similar to Tampa’s love of baseball.

Its true what people say, when you love someone you learn to love what they love.  Consequently, I’ve fallen in love with soccer.  Watching the World Cup final today there was something missing.  Kayla was in Tampa, and I’m in Michigan.  We were able to talk on the phone, but it just wasn’t the same as watching the match with her.

You might be able to see where I’m going with this, and you might not, so I’ll be clear.

God loves lost people.  If you truly love God, and by God I mean THE God.  I mean I AM.  I mean Jehovah.  You will learn to love what He loves.

There is currently around 1300 miles between Kayla and I, but we manage to stay in constant contact with each other.  Whether its through iChat, talking on the phone, or email, we have a near constant dialogue, and we experience events together even though we are so very far apart.

Though physically separated from our Father in heaven while here on earth, we need to maintain a constant dialogue with Him.  We need to see the things He loves through His eyes, and experience meaningful events through the lens of His viewpoint.

What I’m trying to say is this:  fall more in love with God every day, see the world through His eyes, and REACH THE LOST AT ANY COST!