Final Thoughts of 2008

It's is fascinating what is happening in the world.

WARS.......Rumors of Wars......Famines......Natural Disasters......One world money market..... Recession......Diseases..............all sounding familiar? (Matthew 24)

I was reading I Timothy 4 today....and it struck me how the closer I think I'm getting to God, the further away, I really am.............Without correction, I would be without hope.....so here I am.... someone who has been in ministry for Christ for almost 35 years........and I know very little.

We are all treading on a minuscule, paper-thin blade of reaping God's blessings or losing it all.

I know this isn't the happiest blog for the end of the year......but its a sobering thought

I trust you all have a blessed New Year.........May God pour Wisdom all over you.
Take a moment and read 1 Timothy chapter 4 today........i won't print the whole chapter but I'll close this year's last blog with the final 3 verses in this timely chapter.

"...Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecies spoken to you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right, and God will save you and those who hear you."

(1 Tim. 4:14-16)

Love to you all
Greg

The Result of Thinking Outside the Box

This is a very cool live video by some church (I'll have to find out where they are)
I love to see creative, fresh ideas to old concepts
Enjoy!....Thanks for sending this to me Paula

Why Fake An Illness or a Healing?

Evidently Hillsong and PlanetShakers singer, Mike Gugielmucci, the pastor of Edge Church (an affiliate with the Australian Assemblies of God - now called the Australian Christian Churches - traveled around telling everyone he had an aggressive form of cancer....sang with an oxygen tube in his nose... wrote the hit song Healer (on the latest Hillsong recording)...and milked the healing of his cancer............and now its revealed he NEVER had cancer..... a fact his wife didn't know about.

The church has asked him to report to the police and they will be paying back those who were defrauded monetarily (which is another conversation - I mean if you give to God, it will NOT return void)

I HATE THIS!!!!!!

People we got to put our face before God (DAILY).....the world and its deceptions are capturing too many believers......

Here's the article.............

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24212817-5006301,00.html

If anyone knows Mike personally and can share anymore about this story...please let me know

Here's another article about Mike's wife staying with him

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24247868-5006301,00.html

Youngest Preacher or Youngest Demon? You Decide!!

How to (NOT) Be in the Worship Band

A great spoof on the struggles of a worship band leader.
I loved the kicks (@2:45) and also
the homage to SNL's legendary "more cowbell" sketch.
Very Funny....enjoy!

If Your Worship Service Were a Televised Sporting Event

All those involved in a worship service or
all those who love sports will have a good laugh at this.
BRILLIANT!!!!

For the Worship Band

Okay............... this is great stuff about how to play in a worship band and what to look for, how to listen, what to listen for, click tracks, etc.....

All of you guys and gals that are in a worship band.......please take some time and watch these clips


http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/2008/06/church-band-seminar-round-up.html


You get a whole seminar session with this blog...........excellent!!

I Laugh at This Guy Everytime!!!!!!!!

I Know You May Have Seen this, but I laugh everytime
( not in a good way)






Oh MY.......... This is what we face here in Chicago, folks.......the mentality of these people in the church (the clapping and snorts ).......and then, the guy gets up and says, "Thank God for the message and the messenger"??? What a way to share the Gospel...... EMERGING CHURCHES; we're in a heap of trouble

CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!

Never Give Up!!!!

Another production is over and there's a tremendous amount of relief in my spirit and body.

The shows were great; well performed and well received. I believe it was produced the best of any of the 15 productions we've done in the last 5 years. The set, sound, lights, and camera work was the best its ever been. The acting was very good and the singing was right on point. The reviews from all who attended were very good. A lot of lives were changed, renewed, touched and inspired.

You might assume that this is expected and it just happens.....But there's always an amazing moment in any production that never fails to appear - the moment I quit.

It never fails that at some moment in the 3 months of preparation of a major production, I want to quit (or sometimes I do quit just to start up again). This can run the gambit of casting issues, band issues, costume issues, set design issues, choir issues, sound issues, lighting issues, budget issues, personality issues.....you name it

I guess, in my mind, I don't think its worth it. Nothing is worth this or, maybe, I'm not the one who should be doing this. The hardest part is needing an instant answer for the hundreds of questions that hit me from all departments at the same time; the decisions that need to be made in a split second; the pain of seeing the clock run out and the rehearsals being quickly dissolved. Frustration sets in after all the rehearsals leading up to the performances because, my priorities are not being fulfilled.......I haven't figured out a way to be realistic with my expectations for the rehearsals.....setting me up for a big disappointment at the end of the night.

So really, I'm setting myself up to fail; thus getting more stressed and eventually quitting.

It seems that the 'stress' begins to manifest into my body. In the last year, I started to get hives on my arms and legs the week of the productions.. ..strange. I have no warning that these are coming; they just appear. In my mind, I'm not that stressed, but my body tells me different.
I JUST WANT TO QUIT!!!!!!!!!

The Hope:
One of the best things about me is my ability to visualize the future. I can work, prepare, and live in projects now, because I KNOW what the final outcome will be. I can see faces and hear stories years before they happen. In a way, I believe it is a sub-category of a prophetic gift. Certainly, not in the conventional sense of "gift of prophecy"; but it is true that, in some situations, I have seen the END RESULTS long before I even have BEGUN the writing process....before it even hits the paper.

I say all this because when I allow the Enemy to get into my head (first mistake); when I see failure and hurt and pain and it makes me lose it or give up - God reminds me of the 'original' vision. He gives me another dose of vision of what WILL happen at the end of the project. I see the faces and hear the stories. It makes me start again, with a fresh approach. Failure is not an option because I KNOW the end result is good... I know, it sounds weird, But this is my passage right now.

I guess I want to just encourage you; whatever you are facing never give up.....there IS AN END RESULT THAT IS GOOD. Ask God to help you visualize the end of the journey......its okay to ask questions and work out the problems - just don't give up; don't quit. Walk through those fiend walls, because your joy awaits on the other side.

http://presenter.streamingfaith.com/links/WinningInLife/The_Exchange.htm

Stress is not good

So the week of any opening is stressful....but I thought this years opening of my musical The EXCHANGE, would not be as hard as its been............Its funny that producing a piece of work about "renewing your mind" and "turning everything over to God" is causing me to react the opposite of the message.

It will all be okay.....but there are some moments in this process that really make you want to lose it.

I was at one of those moments tonight. It seemed nothing was going right. My actors were not feeling it, My singers were not in the mood, My band was eating Chinese food in the band pit, I was losing the clock....time running out...I still hadn't covered half of what I needed to get done.....my musicians, singers, and actors were trying their best; however, just losing focus...........focus is desperately needed in these moments....... I could feel my blood start to boil. I mean...what do you do when you start to feel like your gonna lose it in front of 100 people on a microphone.........


It was just at that time my keyboard player walked around my keyboard and accidently bumped into my mic stand......the microphone stand swung out causing the microphone to bash into my teeth

OOOUUUCCCHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

But the show must go on and I couldn't scream into the microphone........what was even greater is the pain in my mouth made me forget how stressed I was about the musical

We can not let stress ruin a moment in our lives.
Who cares if the musical isn't the best?
......THE PROBLEM is....

I DO



As Dr. T always says....... "MAY GOD HELP US"

A Holy Calling

I found this post from a Worship Leader and loved it.....thought I would share....its from one of my favorite books 'The Heart of an Artist" by Rory Noland...gw

A Holy Calling

by Jeffrey Ream

Can you imagine the difference it would make on your band or worship team if they felt the passion, the privilege, and responsibility of a Holy Calling rather than the duties of a volunteer.

In his book entitled "Heart of the Artist" Rory Noland poses that your ministry teams must not be merely Volunteers but must have a "Holy Calling" on their lives for that specific ministry.

Below is his list of differences between "Volunteers" and people with a "Holy Calling".

1. Volunteers see their involvement at church as community service, but people called of God see it as ministry.

2. Volunteers whine about what it's going to cost to serve, but people called are committed to serving.

3. Volunteers shrink back from resolving relational conflict, but people called of God seek to resolve relational conflict for the sake of unity in the church.

4. Volunteers look upon rehearsal as another commitment they're obligated to fulfill, but people called of God look forward to rehearsal as another opportunity to be used by God.

5. Volunteers do no outside practicing or preparation, but people who are called of God come to rehearsals and a performance as prepared as possible.

6. Volunteers are not open to constructive criticism; they get defensive about it. But people of God are grateful for feedback because they want to be the best they can be.

7. Volunteers feel threatened by the talent of others, but people called of God Praise Him for distributing gifts and talents as He chooses.

8. Volunteers want to quit at the first sign of adversity or discouragement, but people called of God dig in and persevere.

9. Volunteers find their main source of fulfillment in their talents and abilities, but people called of God know that being used of God is the most fulfilling thing you can do with your life.

10. Volunteers can't handle begin put in situations in which they're going to be stretched, but people called of God respond to God's call with humble dependence on Him.

How much more would your team members be motivated, if they were fueled by a Holy Calling rather than by simple duty? Let me encourage you as leaders who are fulfilling your own calling. We must be intentional in the ways which we lead our teams. Remind them of their calling. And if necessary remove them if they are more like volunteers than people with a "Holy Calling".

Cannonball Express

This makes me think back when my father baptized me in 1978. I was 8 years old and I was so nervous. I thought I would get slain by the Holy Spirit and drown.

We lived in a little town of Warren, Arkansas......a place where the KKK continued to exercise their hateful marches and where some of my friends in the "black" area of town lived right behind our home and church. Scary flashbacks are being evoked....I think I will blog more about those days soon.




_________________________

OH WELL......the video clip has been taken off.....it had a pastor doing a baptism and he finishes one kid and is waiting on the next kid...when all of the sudden that kid jumps into the baptistery doing a cannonball. It drenches the pastor.

After several seconds of MAJOR laughing from the congregation, the pastor says, "After 25 years in the ministry, I've never seen anything like this....(crowd laughs)... and I guarantee you, I never will again"

I'm sorry it was taken off - a real funny church clip is always good to have

Can our land be healed?

If my people, which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land.

- 2 Chronicles 7:14

This passage of scripture has always inspired, uplifted, encouraged and strengthened me; but, in a way, it has confounded, confused, befuddled & bemused me.

I guess because, yes, it is SO obvious....God says, "...If you do this; then I will do this..." [par.]. There should be no confusion...its there in black and white..... right? But, why has it not come to pass? I mean, this was spoken to Solomon backed in whatever-thousandth BC; HAS ANYONE LISTENED?? And if they have listened and obeyed, has God healed the land?

Some people use it for REVIVAL messages; some use it for MISSION sermons; Some use it to condemn while others use it to fortify their surroundings. Does it mean all of those things?

I guess I look at it as our "land" is pretty messed up - obviously heading for the ultimate doom and gloom apocalyptic disaster in the very near future......so our land isn't healed, is it?

But I KNOW, there have been people to pray, turn from their wicked ways, and sought God... does that mean that THEIR lands are healed....or does there need to be a majority?

I know that a great musical from the 70's was inspirely written about it, IF MY PEOPLE;

and more recently, a song from New Life Church, HEAR US FROM
HEAVEN, it has been sung in churches from coast to coast; giving the church a new dose of this powerful prophetical passage.

Does it matter?

Maybe our (geographical) land is too far gone; but our (personal) land can still be saved.
This passage provokes me to continually humble myself and seek God in all things.....maybe the "healed" land is the heavenly land......I don't know

Maybe it was just for Solomon?..........nah.....it's for me too