Hungry

This morning I popped in a song that I haven't listened to in quite a long time. It's a worship tune from the late '90s called We Are Hungry. I was first introduced to the song from the Passion: The Road to OneDay album that came out in 1999. Anyway, as I listened to this song, I couldn't help but fall on my face. I began to cry out to God to make this song true in my heart as well as in our church...to be hungry for God.

Through it all, I decided to make a little video to this song with pictures of worshipers from different events at TrueNorth. So here it is...

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Alive. I've been thinking about that word a lot this week. What does it really mean to be alive? The dictionary defines it simply as "living; not dead." Another definition I saw was one that reads "continuing in existence."

Steve talked a lot about what it means to be alive this past Sunday. You can read a recap of it here. And then last night at JTeam, we watched a Louie Giglio message titled "Alive", which was a look at the intricacies of the human body. He spoke of how our bodies are made up of over 70 trillion cells. 70 trillion. That's a lot of zeros!

So what I've learned through it all this week is that God made me, and in a incredibly amazing way. As Psalm 139:13-14 says, "For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." I guess what's so captivating for me with this is that God knows me intimately. He knows what foods I like, what music I'm in the mood to listen to, the amount of stress in my day...and He knows each of the 70 trillion cells in my body. That's amazing to me!

I have to say that I want to be more than "not dead". I want to be ALIVE! I don't want it to be said of me that I'm just continuing in existence. I want to take life head on and live for Jesus with passion and excitement.

Life is definitely more fun when you live it ALIVE..

What if...?

I was checking out the myspace page of my buddies Merge Sunday and they had something that's got me thinking. The section talking about who they are says this:

Four passionate guys with hearts for worship and a passion for sharing that through their musical talent. mergeSUNDAY is a lifestyle. What if everyone took the way they live on Sunday morning and made that a part of every day instead of saving it for that one special day of the week? We were made to worship, and not just on Sunday mornings. God doesn't want the best of what we have; He wants ALL of it. Our bad days, our good days, our broken and bruised. All of it. Live every day like it's a Sunday.

What if we lived everyday of our lives with the same passion and energy for God that we save for special occasions, whether it's church or a Facedown-type event? I was talking to Gene today about worship and that worship is, at its simplest form, our relationship with God. It's how we respond to Him when He reveals Himself to us. Did you catch that? It's our response to God's revelation of Himself.

Have you ever wondered why people act they way they do when they sing a worship song or say the things they do in everyday conversation when talking about God? People raise their hands, shout at the top of their lungs, clap their hands, fall on their face, sit silently...and that's just a few things! I've heard people say that they are better then they deserve, or they are blessed. Why is that? I believe with all my heart that it is because they are feeling something inside that they have to get out through speech or action.

I'm curious...why do you respond to God the way you do?

Blocked Out

I have been suffering from MAJOR writer's block lately. I think it's because life has had my head swimming. Sometimes I come home at the end of the day and my brain is just dead. I'm worth nothing for about an hour or two until I can unwind.

That's where it's good sometimes for me to play hide-and-seek like we did tonight with our kids. Now, I'm at a slight disadvantage because I'm what you'd call a "big guy". Hiding a 6'4", 200 lb frame is not the easiest thing in the world! And then you have Laurie who can lay on the bed and throw a blanket over her and the kids can't find her for a good 20 minutes. What's up with that? So how do you unwind?

I read this post the other day and it really got me thinking about how I would respond. I mean, the idea of faking worship? But there is something there. If I were to really be honest (which I'm going to be, so watch out!), I would have to say I'm going through a worship funk right now. What??? The worship leader is going through a worship funk? What's that all about? But it's true. I'm human and sometimes it happens. It's hard to keep things fresh and real. Reading the above mentioned post was good for me because it made me realize it's okay not to be "super worship guy". In fact, I don't want to be that. I just want to come unashamedly just as i am.