Songwriting, etc. . .

I'll start this blog by borrowing lyrics from a song written by one of my favorite musicians and adapt the words to fit my purpose.
"There's a song that's inside of my soul, and I've failed to write it over and over again."
I'm a musician. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a great one, but I have finally embraced the fact that God has gifted me with some musical ability. I'm fairly confident that I'll never reach the success level of a Paul McCartney or a Bob Dylan. However, I do know that in this stage of my life God has called me to lead His people in worship. This calling, partnered with the truths God has been teaching me about Himself, has left me with a strong desire to write my own worship songs. So here I sit day in and day out trying to write. Maybe it's because I'm my own biggest critic or simply a lack of creativity, but I couldn't write a decent song if I stole all the words and melody from "Come On Eileen". I recently heard an interview with Jon Foreman where he talked about how he wrote "On Fire" and "Dirty Second Hands" in 15 minutes on his tour bus. Are you kidding me?! I wonder if he has ever felt my current frustration. Of course, he would probably be the first to admit that he has written a lot of sub-par songs in his life too. I wish I could write a sub-par song. . . :)

Winter Retreat '08

This past weekend The Well took a trip up to Big Bear for our 2008 Winter Retreat. It was a wonderful time of snowboarding, sledding, and fellowship. We were blessed to have Brandon Fischer come and speak to us. Brandon is currently a teacher, but prior to that he spent several years working and speaking up at Hume Lake Christian Camps. This weekend he challenged us to take an honest inventory of our lives to discover just where we are with the Lord. This resonated with me in a very powerful way. I spent much of the weekend in prayer asking the Lord to reveal the things in my life that may need changing. I asked myself some very important questions:

How can I be a better steward of the ministry I have been called to?
How can I make a lasting impact in the lives of the guys that God has called me to disciple?
What areas of my ministry have I failed in up to this point?
What areas of my life do I need to surrender in order to become more like Jesus?

I know that there are areas in my life and in my ministry where I have failed miserably. At times this realization has led to feelings of discouragement and frustration. But I will continue to move forward as I rely on God's perfect grace. Even now, I am humbled as I consider how truly amazing His grace is.

The Knowledge of the Holy

I've been reading A.W. Tozer's "The Knowledge of the Holy". I've read it before, but this time I really want to study it. A few of Tozer's thoughts have been highlighted in my book and in my mind:
"Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them."
"When the Scripture states that man was made in the image of God, we dare not add to that statement the idea from our own head and make it mean "in the exact image." To do so is to make man a replica of God, and that is to lose the unicity of God and end with no God at all."
"If we insist upon trying to imagine Him, we end with an idol, made not with hands but with thoughts; and an idol of the mind is as offensive to God as an idol of the hands."
"Of what God is conscious when He is conscious of self, only He knows."

My prayer is that I would develop a more reverent view of God. A view that does not compartmentalize Him in my mind, but rests solely on what He has chosen to reveal about Himself through His word and His Spirit.

Ryan Paulson

A few of you have asked me about the teaching at The Well. I want to do my best to thoroughly answer this question rather than giving it a quick "it's good". Our Pastor, Ryan Paulson, has been at Emmanuel Faith for a little over a year now. We are extremely blessed and thankful that the Lord has brought him to us. God has given him a unique ability to teach and relate to young adults. Below is a link to The Well's website. If you go to the "Experience" section you will find a link to our weekly podcast. Here you can download and listen to all the sermons Ryan has taught over the past year or so.

www.thewellefcc.org

Finally, Brothers. . .

As I mentioned below, for the past several weeks I have been leading a small group through the book "Disciplines of a Godly Man". Tonight we discussed one of my favorite chapters up to this point: The Discipline of Mind. The chapter was centered around Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
The author, Kent Hughes, also makes a profound statement:
"It is impossible for any Christian who spends the bulk of his evenings, month after month, week upon week, day in and day out watching the major TV networks or contemporary videos to have a Christian mind. This is always true of all Christians in every situation."

In a world where raunchy media is commmonplace and waiting to fill our minds, please pray that the Holy Spirt would be made real in our lives to help filter out all the garbage.

Also, Thank you for your partnership. I am grateful for all of you! Merry Christmas!

Seasons

Disclaimer: When I started this blog I did not intend for it to be a forum for me to voice a complaining spirit, and that is not my intention now.

About a month ago I had coffee with a close friend of mine. During the course of our conversation an interesting subject came up: How should we as believers handle the difficult times in life? My friend explained that God allows us to go through different "seasons" in our lives' to mature us and to give us hope for the future glory that He has promised us.

Lately I have been dealing with a heavy heart. I can't point to one specific situation in my life that had led me to feel this way, but I know that for several weeks I have felt a certain anxiety, a restlessness, maybe even a sadness. It just seems easy to look at my past failures, shortcomings, and poor decisions and wonder, "What in the world was I thinking?" As I reflect on these issues, one truth is apparent. Many of these shortcomings came at a time when I made a decision that directly conflicted with God's word. Like most people, I think I have a tendency to want to take control in my life. Those are the times when life seems hard.

Please pray that I would allow the Lord to take control of my life. He has my heart, but there are certain areas in my life that I know I need to surrender completely to Him.

Yesterday in my quiet time I came across this verse in Hebrews 12. I'm not sure its entirely relevant to the blog topic, but it was a source of encouragement to me.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Family

Today is Thanksgiving. As I sit around the dinner table surrounded by my family I'm overwhelmed by the Lord's goodness. Seldom do I take the time to reflect on His blessings in my life. When I do, I find that I truly have much to be thankful for. My sister, brother-in-law, and their two young children have recently moved home after a three year stay in Sweden. My brother and his wife also made the trip down from Orange County to spend the day with us. I look over at my Dad and Mom and I think back to the times when I was young and we didn't always see eye to eye,(mostly because of my own selfishness and immaturity) and I am thankful that they never gave up on me.
In a time when high value is placed on material possessions, I am filled with joy when I reflect on my family.