Penned mostly by Andrew Peterson, the tour is a collaboration by several Nashville artists (mostly in the Square Peg Alliance). To learn more about the album click here.
There are a few more stops on the tour this year. Click here for more info. Highly recommend.
Recently during the Poff Retreat, we went canoeing with the family. It wasn’t the canoe rental company’s best day. We had to wait about 2 hours after we paid before we finally hit the water. It was chaotic and none of the employees ever communicated to the customers what was going on. My brother-in-law (Jared) and I spent the time discussing different process management methods they could use to speed things up. At the same time there were a group of guys loading the boats on the racks. When we got there the same group of guys helped everyone into their boats. It wasn’t until a little later that I realized that they weren’t employees but part of a neighborhood group of families (about 40 of them) that came up together for some camping and a canoe trip.
It was then I realized a couple things:
1) I was blown away by their kindness and helpfulness for people they didn’t know. This wasn’t a church group, it was a neighborhood group. I then wandered if church groups would have acted the same way…probably not.
2) People crave for community. I wander if these people find the same kind of community at their church.
3) I was too busy criticizing to be part of the solution. While I was talking, these guys were helping. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how which had the most impact.
Our church does a Kids Safety Fair each year. It’s really done well. The SWAT team came out with full gear, the fire department brought in a smoke house and demonstrated how they disassemble a car, the coast guard was there as well, and a karate group was out there teaching self-defense. We had a great time, especially at the karate booth where they let us throw a melee of punches at a dummy for 10 seconds and measured our punching power. Here are some pics below
So think again before you mess with me my friends (and foes). I’m packing fists of fury.
Alright, next confession…….I am pretty sure I was the only one over the age of 8 that participated in this event. But at least I know that I could hold my own against a horde of 8 year olds.
Once upon a time, there was a man named Bob
And Bob loved maps, all kind of maps
Bob never asked for directions because he was never lost, ever. He always knew exactly where he was and where he was going…even his wife had to admit it sometimes….although begrudgingly.
....by plane... 
So Bob looked on all his maps, every last one,…..twice, but couldn’t find God anywhere
Bob was really troubled. For how would he find God without a map? Surely there must be a map to find Him…somewhere
For about 2 years now I have been playing in the church band. Over that 2 years my contribution to the band has slowly transitioned (due to others prodding mostly) from a sax player, to a sax player/back-up singer, to now being a lead singer occasionally. One of the biggest obstacles I have had to contend with may surprise you….I have no idea what to do with my hands now. See when I was a sax player, it was pretty obvious, but as I was called on to sing more (and play less), I now suddenly have idle hands that can’t hide behind a sax and suddenly I don’t know what to do with them and feel a bit awkward on stage.
This takes me back to my younger years when I was in a Christian rap group (I’ll wait as you try to grapple with that one)………and as if it was an omen to my current predicament, I just stood there like a scarecrow. Needless to say, I wasn’t very entertaining to watch.
This weekend will be different though, I will be rocking on the organ (atleast for 1 song anyway), finally something to do with my hands. Armed with my jazz piano lessons in college I have been “shedding” (that what we cal it in the biz) the song all week on my little Casio keyboard I’ve had since high school. I didn’t bother telling the rest of the band that I have never actually performed on the organ before, but we will just see if they can figure that out for themselves.
A couple pics from "Family Night"
Janelle and I, along with some friends and collaborators from our church, went to the Orange Conference in Atlanta for the past few days. The Orange Conference is about seeking out how the church can be relevant and engaging in their community.
Had a great time, came back a little shaken, a bit inspired, and grateful for the opportunity. Below are some of reflections on some of the big ideas….
Francis Chan (from Simi Valley, CA) talked about the challenge of living out the 2nd great commandment and the journey he and his church are taking trying to wrestle with it.
Simply: Love your neighbor as yourself.
I am staggered by that statement if I try to really play that out in my life. What would that look like? How would that reshape my life, my priorities, my spending, and my time? Yet this isn’t a request.
Jesus sums up God’s plan for us in these few words: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
It demands my attention, and frankly it scares the hell out of me.
Chan’s church is taking a revolutionary approach to playing this out. Their stance is this: If we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, wouldn’t it make sense to spend as much money on their neighbor (community) as we did on ourselves. So they are implementing a 50/50 budget. Half is invested back in the church, and half is set aside to meet community and global needs. Despite that church budgets are by nature constrained, this church is committed to making whatever cuts needed to live this out. So instead of building a huge new complex as originally planned, they are skimming down and building an outdoor venue….so they can give more money away.
This haunts me…because I think most of us, if we were honest, would admit that we are inherently selfish. That most of our day, time, and resources are centered around our own petty (in the grand scheme of things) wants and desires.
What if we started taking the Bible literally?
What if we started loving our neighbors as ourselves?
Donald Miller, a favorite author of mine (Blue like Jazz), shared about the power of story in our culture.
Essentially, a good story has three parts:
1) The protagonist has to want something. What is the goal, dreams, or ambition of the main character? In other words, if the protagonist dies, what dies with them?
It also has to be interesting. Someone saving up to buy a new Volvo isn’t a page-turner; however someone with a goal to build 1,000 wells in Africa is a bit more riveting (bloodwatermission.org).
2) There must be some kind of conflict or tension that puts what the protagonist wants in danger. Conflict is essential and always a part of a good story
3) Resolution – how does it end? Sometimes a good ending is when the good guy doesn’t win.
What if we applied the rules of a good story to our life? God invites us to live out a good story. Am I working toward an ambition/dream/goal that is worthy of a good story? Would the blurb of my life be an interesting story that I would want to read?
Secondly, what kind of story are we creating for our family? The issue is that we are all looking for a good story, so unless we consciously creating and living a good story, our kids, or even our spouses may look for a better story somewhere else.
So what is your story? Or maybe, what do you want your story to be?
Here are a few links of some organizations that are making a difference, that I came across while at the Orange Conference
fermiproject.org
A group dedicated to repairing the disconnect between culture and the church. A movement that is pushing the church to be part of creating and engaging culture, not just duplicating or copying it in a vain attempt to be relevant.
tomsshoes.com
Blakely Mycoskie was an Amazing Race contestant that decided to go back to some of the countries that he had been in during the show. The poverty moved him into action, especially because he noticed that so many kids didn’t own a single pair of shoes.
So he decided to do something about it and created a company. For every pair of shoes someone buys, he gives away a pair of shoes to less fortunate children.
This year, he will be hand delivering 60,000 pairs to needy children and their families.
ladybugfoundation.ca
A foundation started by a 6 year old girl that wanted to do something about the homeless in her community. Makes me feel like a total waste of space
donaldmillerwords.com
belmontfoundation.org
An organization that Donald Miller is involved in to help meet the crisis of the fatherless children in America through mentors
