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Build your Ark

December 14, 2011 in Deep Stuff, Inspiration with 0 Comments

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” – Hebrews 11:7

This verse is one that sticks out to me from Hebrews 11. Among many other great people of God, Noah was one of the people mentioned in the Faith “Hall of Fame” here. Here’s the story…

God told him rain was coming.
A flood.
That Noah should make an ark.
A big boat.
Really?
A boat?

Everyone thought Noah had lost his mind.
Noah didn’t give up.
He kept going.
He knew that the simple act of obedience was what He needed to do.
Even when He faced the opposition of everyone around him, he didn’t give up.
And when the rain came, Noah was ready
Sometimes I don’t always feel that God is there, but I know He is. He promised. I have faith in His faithfulness.

Right after in Hebrews 12:28-29, the writer says this:

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Trust that God’s word always comes true.
His Kingdom cannot be shaken.
But everything around you will be shaken.
You’ll be mocked.
You’ll be discouraged

But I’ve seen the forecast.
Rain is in the forecast.
If you want the blessings of God to rain over your life,
You’ve got to build.
So pick up your hammer and start building.
All it takes is your Yes.

Maybe in this season God doesn’t want you to add more “to-do”s to your list to serve Him, maybe He wants you to get to know Him.
God wants to shape who you are around Him before He sends you out to change the world.

Will you be ready when the rain comes?

I’ve got my hammer and nails going.

Don’t Stop!

December 12, 2011 in Deep Stuff, Inspiration, Life with 0 Comments

Home Alone 2 was on TV today.
You know.. The movie where the kid (Kevin) ends up on the wrong flight and goes to New York City instead of Florida with his family for Christmas vacation. At one point, Kevin runs into burglars that he’d had a previous run in with in the original movie. He catches them robbing a toy store of money that was supposed to be donated for charity. He ends up getting calling the police, but they catch up to him and kidnap him.

I always wonder what’s going to happen to him, if the money will get returned to the owner of the store and donated, and of course whether he’ll be reunited with his parents.

Every single time.

I’ve seen the movie hundreds of times.
I know the ending.
I know he gets away from the bad guys
I know the money gets donated
I know Kevin’s parents find him.
Yet every time I watch the movie, I have the same feeling.. Like something might change and the ending could be different.
But it never does.

It’s like this in your life.
You face troubles.
You are hurt.
You are taken down a path you never thought would happen.
And you think you need to just give up.
But I know the author of the script.
God has won battles we haven’t even fought yet.
He knows the ending.
He’s won every time before, and it’ll happen every single time.

This is the confidence I walk in. That my God has already won. I’ve read the script. The bible clearly says that God will be faithful in all situations.

One way to it up in 2 words is.

We win!

So don’t quit.
Keep running.
You’ll have to run from those burglars
Don’t Stop
You might even fly to NYC by accident instead of florida.
Don’t Stop
You’ll have to fight.
Don’t Stop
It’s not a fairytale.
Don’t Stop
The pain you’ll face is real.
Don’t Stop
God is Faithful. He is Faithful.

and if you don’t quit…
You’ll Win.

P.s. Enjoy this post? I’d love you to share it with others!

Jesus Loves….

November 16, 2011 in Deep Stuff, Inspiration, Life with 0 Comments

…Porn Stars

This is one of the slogans of xxxChurch, the organization that I am partnering with to go to Vancouver to be part of a convention where I’ll be able to put this into practice. (Here’s the link you can find out more/support me) The people who I’ll be interacting with, may have only ever had negative/condemning experiences with Christians. I really pray that I’d be able to be different than that. In my interactions, I hope they see that I am just as broken but have surrendered my life fully to Jesus and love Him and His people. That they’d see the Jesus living in me.

xxxChurch founder Craig Gross says, “I believe Jesus would be at the shows with us. He’d be mixing it up with these people. ‘Cause he doesn’t look at them as porn stars, or porn producers. He looks at us as all the same.”

This is why I want to go. I want to look at people in the eye and see them for what they are. Sons and Daughters of God. I hope that all of us, through our daily lives, would look at people through this perspective, the eyes of heaven, and see people in this light. I believe that we’d be able to interact with them and show them love like never before. We’d be able to see Jesus transform lives, not through our words or anything we’d have to say, but the fact that we are present. Loving people.

I want the world to know that in spite of the effed up human being I am, Jesus keeps giving me a second chance. I am a living breathing example of the 2nd chance (and the 3rd, and the 4th… oh.. and the 9543th too) So instead of labeling anyone as some stupid, lazy, porn watching, lying, cheating, self righteous, loud mouthed person and kicking them to the curb, I have decided to look in the mirror. I see myself, where I came from, and what Jesus has transformed me into, even though I am constantly screwing up to this day (so much)

He doesn’t give up.
He doesn’t let go.
His love NEVER runs out on me.

This is the kind of love I’ve experienced and the kind of person I want to be around others.

It would definitely be better that way.

Vancouver or Bust!

November 11, 2011 in Deep Stuff, Inspiration, Life, On the Road.. with 0 Comments

You don’t have to go to another country to be a missionary. xxxchurchCanada (in direct relation with xxxchurch.com) walks into the darkness of the sex industry to bring hope, awareness, prevention, and recovery through the love of Christ. (you’ll see to the right, I’ve been advertising their web software for about a year now and recommending it to everyone I know.)

In January 2012, I’ll be attending a porn convention show in Vancouver BC with xxxChurch. This is might be the last place you would think of going to do an outreach trip. XXXchurch meets a need that is very real in our society. So often, Christians are seen as people who just condemn the struggles that are very real, and unfortunately, most of us all struggle with them as well. Gandhi is often quoted as having said, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” I want my life to be marked not by being the one who points out why people don’t deserve the love of God, but how His grace is enough and that no matter what, He loves us. I don’t want to be the thing standing between Jesus and the world that He died for. I believe He has placed this ministry on my heart for a reason and I’m very excited to be a part of it! We’ll be setting up a booth on the trade show floor to hand out bibles, gear, raise awarness of what xxxChurch is about and most of all, show that being a Christian doesn’t make us condemn others, but love them.

Want to know more about what happens at an outreach event? Here’s a blog by the attendees of a recent New Jersey convention eXXXotica.

Setting up a booth at a trade show isn’t cheap. There are many costs involved. The funds that you donate to support me will go straight into the outreach. This trip will involve personal sacrifice on my part. I don’t want to just ask for you to pay for my trip and not play a role in trusting God with my resources. This may mean skipping out on the next piece of music gear that I’d want, but I am covering my own transportation. I want the funds raised to affect as many people as possible. This will involve getting bibles that xxxChurch has printed and different materials and resources that will be handed out. Of course, all donations are eligible for a tax receipt and those will be issued by the organization.

This post isn’t just to get your money, I would love prayer. This is such a powerful and unique opportunity, and I don’t want it to go to waste. I really believe that through our team, God wants to pour out love and grace over people who are living in darkness. Prayer for our team as we go out and live out the gospel, and that people would respond and truly see that our God is a God of love! I also want to raise awareness for what xxxChurch does. This organization is amazing. In the weeks coming up to the trip, I’ll highlight what the ministry does and how it has been a huge resource in many peoples lives, including my own.

If you’d consider giving financially, please click here.

2 prerequisites to be used greatly by God

October 28, 2011 in Deep Stuff, Inspiration, Leading Worship, Life with 0 Comments

I’ve seen so many people in my generation want to be used greatly by God. It’s amazing to see how God has transformed and shaped people, that they want to respond by serving Him and making Him famous. But way too often it only goes on for a certain amount of time and then they give up or limit the dreams that they have for God to use them. Today I want to encourage you to break the limits you’ve placed on what God wants for your life. He is calling each one of us to do extraordinary things through our ordinary lives. Not by anything that we are doing, but by His power.

I truly believe that no matter what, God can use us in powerful ways, but to go from good to great, I have learned that there are a few ways we can respond to what God has done in our lives.

1. Obedience.

As soon as I think about obedience, I think of David. In my last post I wrote about how David was anointed king, but had to wait hiding in a cave until the time that God had planned would come. Of course I’m sure he would have preferred to just get on with the king-type stuff, but didn’t want to miss out on the process that God had him going through. For some of us, that might mean not leading a worship service with 20,000 people, but 20 people. Some of those small gatherings have been excellent times for me to engage in worship. Leading in this setting is where God started a foundation. Teaching me that none of this was about me, and that worship was a response to the fact that He loved me. He would just keep reminding me how much He loved me, and wanted me. He wasn’t concerned if I was leading a specific style of song, whether the songs flowed together nicely or I had the right thing to say in between songs. I’m incredibly thankful and humbled that I was shaped and marked by this journey. It has played a large role in who I am today.

I believe God has a process and journey He wants to take you on. Are you open and available? Jesus isn’t worried about your perfection, but that you are willing to let Him do the perfecting.

2. Surrender.

I need a constant heart check. Each day I face a new struggle to stay humble and let God be the one made famous. This requires me giving myself and any chance of me being noticed for the Glory of God. It has been a process that I am always walking through. While God can still use whatever I give Him, if I give Him my whole self and every part of me, then He gets all the credit. Things happen that are usually impossible…. but not for God. Aren’t you thankful that Jesus didn’t just give 10% of himself for us? He gave it all. Sometimes I think we take the numbers and specifics a little bit too seriously as to make it easier on ourselves.

Think of this.

When Jesus fed the 5000, he could have used one fish or even done it on His own without any of the boy’s fish. But Jesus asked the boy for all that he had. The fact that He wanted to include the boy in the miracle is just an example of the way God wants to use you to impact the world around you. The boy didn’t take any of the glory, but gave all he had and saw God work a miracle.

If you are obedient and surrender yourself to God, can you imagine what would happen? How big are your dreams to see God move around you?

Do you want to see your city saved?
Do you want to see what we view as entertainment redeemed?
Are you an artist? Want to use your gifts for the Glory of the Lord?
Go. Listen to what God has to for you, and surrender yourself before Him.

Then…

create.
love.
share Jesus with those around you.

And you’ll see God do exceedingly and abundantly more than you can ask, imagine or dream.

Do you dream big?

I Love Honour

October 25, 2011 in Deep Stuff, Inspiration, Life with 1 Comment

I Love Honour. (I spell it the Canadian way. Sorry USAmericans)

It’s probably one of my favourite topics. I get so fired up about it. (I even preached on it last spring)

But my generation is seen as one of dishonour, in culture and in our churches.
Don’t believe me?

Let me ask you this.
Where is the honour?

In our Entertainment? No Way. Ever watched TV before?
In our Nation? Do we respect and honour our leaders? Not really.

It has become cool and sexy to bash, dishonour and be cynical.

I fell for the trap.
But thankfully, God has kept drilling into me the biblical virtue of honour.
He keeps reminding me of 3 things.

1. Honour the people who dishonour. No matter what. Don’t give them what you think they deserve. Jesus honoured you when you didn’t deserve it.

2. Honour when everyone around you is dishonouring. When people all around you are dishonouring someone, honour that person. When people look at the negative in someone, bring out a positive. I am so thankful that I have people around in my life who speak words of life when I’m facing opposition or a large task at hand. Hearing things like this drive my determination to the next level and it blows my mind at the impact I can have when I’m believed in. This is the kind of person I want to be. When someone is facing opposition and struggle, a lot of people might not want to get involved because it requires work. Let’s be the kind of people who step in and honour each other.

3. Don’t see people for what they’ve done, but who’s they are. We all get labelled by culture based on what our past looks like. This can totally limit what impact we can have on the world for God because we carry it around like a huge suitcase with no wheels to help offset the weight. Ever stood before a huge staircase with your luggage at an airport or hotel? It doesn’t help to have to carry along an awkward suitcase when walking up. When facing a huge challenge, it is huge to be told that you are believed in and that you are a Son or Daughter of the King… not whatever thing to did or whoever you used to hang around. It’s time for us to see people for who they belong too, not what they do.

David was the king of honour even when he wasn’t the king of Israel. He was told he was to be king, but had to wait. He could have killed Saul and “fast-tracked” his way to power, but he didn’t. He wasn’t willing to try it his way, but wanted to go God’s way. He chose to honour the authority of Saul and of God “because of the Lord”.David chose to be more like the character of God than to worry about getting earthly glory or an instant pleasure of being made king sooner, but he chose to follow the path God had set out for him. His faithfulness and desire to become more like God gained favor for David. The Lord blessed him. David becomes the King.

Scripture calls David a man “After God’s own heart”. That is the kind of person I want to be. David wasn’t perfect. You can read about all the times that he messed up, but he never de-valued the call of God on his life. The word honour means to hold value, worth & weight. Something that might not have monetary value, but is precious to the owner.

You were created by God.

You are loved by God.

You are His child.

If we started to see each-other like this, imagine the way our relationships and interactions would change.

Who wants to help me “Bring Honour Back”?

“brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”

-Barack Obama (said about Steve Jobs)

What talent do all successful recording artists have in common?

September 27, 2011 in Deep Stuff, Inspiration, Life, Music, Worship with 0 Comments

I asked this question on social media last night and got some interesting responses. But I wasn’t surprised. Things like fanbase, money, work ethic, among others were mentioned. But one person said something that was exactly the direction I wanted to go with this question.

“The ability to connect”

This semester in school, I am taking an analysis class that involves a lot of study about the relationship between music and the brain. Most importantly, our emotions. Already I am seeing how simple little waves coming from speakers or instruments can affect a life-form in ways I’ve never imagined. Think about it. We all have those songs that we play when we are driving (which involves drumming on the steering wheel), when we are excited, sad, in need of relaxation, etc. And it’s not just a certain type of lyric that fits each mood. There is something more. There is something sonically happening that is affecting the listening. There is a reason I pump up music to

As a worship leader, David recognized this. He was to play before Saul (who was demonized at the time) and used music as a tool to cast out the demon. In Revelation, there is talk of music, as the angels are said to be singing. This leads me to believe that music has divine power and is a weapon we can use. I think this is why we are so affected by music.

Popular artists have the power to use their music to move us. There are many different brilliant songwriters who keep listeners “coming back” because of this. Especially in music, there isn’t a physical product being sold. (okay, some people buy physical CDs/vinyl). In physical art, a piece of canvas and a bunch of paint isn’t really worth a lot of money, but if you are moved by the painting, you will pay money to purchase it to experience it over again. The thing that sells a song and keeps us coming back isn’t what type of gear was used to create the song (although they are tools to help bring out different emotions). The selling point is the emotion of the song and how the listener feels afterwards.

A worship leader who’s blog I frequently visit, Vicky Beeching, wrote an extremely challenging post about worship songwriting this week. It seems that we manufacture our worship songs and just want to pump out quantity. I believe that we need to be coming to God with honesty and our best. Saying that He is good just because it fits in a line well isn’t probably the best idea. I really hope that when we all put “pen to paper”, “fingers to piano/keyboard” etc, that we come with a heart to respond to what God has done in our lives and the unique story that He is “penning” in us. When I think about God and who He is, I think of many emotions that I experience during different seasons. I try to capture one of those specific emotions and lay it at His feet through musical worship. Sometimes this results in a song, sometimes it’s me praying while strumming away on my guitar. Either way, the heart is the worship and not a mechanical song that “works”.

While successful recording artists might not all be writing for the glory of God, they all recognize the power of music to lead us to a different place. It’s time that we as Sons & Daughters of the King recognized that and saw the “comfortable weight” that songwriting for worship actually has. It’s a really unique and exciting opportunity, but not one to be taken lightly.

What do you think? In my own mind, this post created more questions. I’d love to banter more about it.

The Second? most important decision you will make (Guest Post)

September 19, 2011 in Inspiration, Life with 0 Comments

Hey! I’m really excited to again have another post by my pastor Jeff Lockyer from Southridge Community Church. I originally just asked him to send me the post I shared earlier. (If you haven’t read it, click here). He sent me 2… and I just had to share this second one with all of you as well. For those who know me well, you know I’m quite passionate about purity and relationships. The funny thing is, I’ve never dated. For some, that might seem weird to hear, but I’m quite proud of the fact. God really shaped my perspective on spouse selection and put different people in my life who inspired me in that way. This post right here is just another example of this. My generation really needs to grab hold of this. We need to rise up to the standards that God wants us too, so that our marriages can just be another enhancement to our kingdom minded living. I really pray that this blog post inspires you as you consider spouse selection.

I’m sure you’ve heard the riddle involving the genie and the magic lamp. The riddle goes something like this: if you found a magic lamp with a genie inside and were given only one wish, what would you wish for? The wise answer, of course, is to wish for more wishes. By wishing for more wishes, you allow yourself a lifetime of dreams come true.

For young adults who aspire to live significant lives of faith in and service to Jesus, I believe there is a similar kind of decision facing you⎯the choice of whom (or even if) you’ll marry. From my experience, I feel like choosing your spouse (if in fact you marry at all) is one choice that has the potential to either open or close many more possible choices, kind of like wishing for more wishes with a genie and magic lamp.

Many times I’ve seen people under-appreciate the significance of this decision. For starters, people assume you’re supposed to marry just because that seems to be normal or expected in our culture. Have you ever realized that in the New Testament the value of singleness is esteemed even more than marriage, because singleness allows for a singularity of focus on knowing, loving and serving Christ? Give 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 a read sometime!

From the perspective of marriage though, imagine your life once (if) you’re married. What happens if you suddenly sense God calling you to a new adventure in ministry, one that demands leaving your comfortable home and job? Or what happens if your church is embarking on a new ministry adventure and needs member families to support it financially? How about when your teenagers (now we’re really imagining!) are making life-trajectory altering decisions what advice do the two of you as their parents provide?

What I’ve observed is that those kinds of decisions are either significantly supported or significantly stifled by your spouse. Sometimes in the church all we pay attention to is marrying someone of similar faith identity (meaning as a Christian we marry another believer), where I’ve heard it encouraged that we should also consider aligning around common faith intensity. If you want to live your spiritual life in 5^th gear but your eventual spouse is fine with living theirs in 2^nd gear, guess what gear your family will live their Kingdom lives in? You guessed it: 2^nd gear.

So as you start to consider the notion of marriage, and even start to pray about, reflect on and consider prospective spouses, consider whether they’ll enhance your capacity to live a fully-devoted life or whether they’ll encroach on it.

From my experience, it only goes one of two ways: spouses either help you or hinder you in living fully for Christ. Their Kingdom capacity will affect every other faith and ministry decision you’ll ever make. That’s why I consider the person you’ll marry (if you marry at all) to be the second most critical decision you’ll ever make apart from choosing what to do with the Person of Jesus.

So choose wisely. Choose a Kingdom-minded, Christ-centred spouse. Give yourself the wonderful gift of freedom to wish for more wishes in your life together. And give God a chance to have all of His dreams for your life come true!

Vertical Worship

September 14, 2011 in Inspiration, Worship with 0 Comments

“To live a life of vertical worship, not horizontal. Looking towards heaven and not out at an audience.”

This is a cry coming from my heart. Over the summer, I’ve experienced a lot of growth from the messages that I’ve heard, the words that God has given me, and the conversations I’ve been able to have with people. I had so many fresh revelations of how God loves me, and how He wants my whole heart. He isn’t interested in how “pretty” everything looks, but the heart behind it.

Because of what Jesus has done for me, and the fact that I know that God loves me more than I could imagine, the response for me to abandon myself and have so much gratitude. This love is what causes us to dance, shout, clap, sing. All of those are physical responses. I pray that as we do these, we would catch the heart behind them. The Father’s heart. That we’d learn to totally lose own agenda and go for the Glory of the Lord. To look straight at heaven and sing praises, dance, and even to come before God with our tensions/falls. Growing in a way that we can spend time with Jesus no matter what our circumstance is, and be honest with Him while we do so.

I pray that as we give our whole hearts to God, that we’d be filled and have a fresh revelation of His glory.

“Even now, return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and (wailing)…Afterward, I will pour out my Spirit…” Joel 2:12, 28