Where Were You

Below you'll find the link to a video of the Riverside Band playing Alan Jackson's Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) for the 10th anniversary of 9/11/2001.


This song, along with the rest of the elements from that Sunday really made it a great day of remembering that God is always there, even in the darkest of hours.


Click here for the video link

Book Review: Radical Together

In Radical, David Platt called for Christians to take their faith back from the American Dream. This widely resonated with readers and the book quickly became a best seller on the New York Times best seller list. Now in Radical Together, Platt is once again calling Christians to focus their faith around the Gospel, and live out a Gospel-centered life. 

At first this book looks like an easy, light read, being only about 150 pages long. However the content is extremely heavy as Platt is showing us how there is a spiritual revolution happening right now, and WE can be on the front lines.  Platt shares, “the only reason I have heard the Gospel of God is because of the grace of God.  Meanwhile, nearly two billion people still do not have access to the Gospel. For generations they and their ancestors have been born, have lived, and have died without even hearing the name of Jesus.”

While Platt’s challenge to us all is a good enough reason to read this book, many of the stories he shares make this book absolutely spectacular. Platt shows us how the staff at Brook Hills (the church he pastors) competed with each other to cut major portions of their budgets so they could use that money to spread the Gospel around the world.  We learn of Darren and Julia who are able to see Christ transforming lives as they “serve in a residential facility that provides shelter and rehabilitation for women.” We learn of Dominic who has a passion to not only lead people to Christ, but to disciple and help them grow in Christ. We also learn of Jacob and Stephanie, who instead of buying a bigger house, decided to adopt a child with Down syndrome and buy a smaller home, which would allow them to free up resources for God’s purposes. This book is full of stories such as these mixed with Platt’s knowledge of the Bible. It is truly an eye-opening experience. 

I would definitely recommend this book for you to read. Just be ready to rethink the way we “do” church here in America. I, received a free copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers to review, however this did not persuade me in way I read this book. If you would like a copy of this book I suggest getting it here.

9/11 Ten Years Later: part 2

I promised and so I shall deliver.

Here is the link to the remembrance video I had the privilege to make for Riverside this week.

Click on the link below.

http://vimeo.com/28870401 

9/11 Ten Years Later

So today is Friday.  By the time I finish writing this post it may actually be Saturday but who’s really keeping track.  

Anyway, this Sunday is the tenth anniversary of the events that happened on 9/11/2001. Since this day fell on a Sunday I had (or God gave me) the idea over a year ago to do a video interviewing different members of our church about what they remembered from that day ten years ago.  

Going through the interview process was an interesting one as I was able to listen to five different, however, eerily similar stories about that day.  I was amazed at the clarity and vivid details of the memories and stories from each person.  (I’ll share the completed video with you soon). I felt blessed just to be able to listen to their stories, because as we were all reminded of on that day, life is fragile.  We are never guaranteed tomorrow.  

But as I was putting together this video by reviewing each interview, watching clips on YouTube and reviewing pictures from September 11, 2001, I began to feel wrecked.  So many emotions flying around at once.  I nearly began to weep just watching the video I was creating for our church to use as a remembrance of that day.  I was once again put through the disbelief that somebody would attack us on our own soil.  I felt the pain, sorrow, and grief for the families that lost loved ones on that day.  I was reminded that the world is not safe.  Evil is real, Hatred is destructive, and security is an illusion.  

As I was begin drug through this feeling of being wrecked, I was reminded through a small video clip from my friend Ron, that we can never be sure of anything, but it is the love of Jesus that will always prevail.  Now I never forgot this, but it was amazing to be reminded of that by a friend in a video interview talking about one of the worst acts of terrorism ever in American history.  

I think it’s amazing that through this terrible event we can still find hope.  We saw that heros do still exist.  Courage and Bravery knows no limit.  There is power in Unity and joy in Community.  And as the time continues to pass we will never forget that Faith is our refuge, Hope sustains us, and Love endures all things.  I love this passage from 1 Corinthians 13:6-8 (yea, the love chapter) 

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails …”

  

To close I just want to say thanks to Rose, Ron, Linda, Jennifer, and Jeremy for willing to be a part of this project.  Your stories are what made this project successful and they have had a great impact on me. Also, thanks to the Riverside band for helping write the questions.  It was your input that got this project off the ground.  

Book Review: Enemies of the Heart

I received a free copy of Andy Stanley’s new book Enemies of the Heart from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers to review.  To start I must say that Andy Stanley is one of my favorite pastors to listen to whether through podcast, small-group studies, or books. He delivers extremely practical messages without distorting the truths of Scripture. 

In Enemies of the Heart, Stanley discusses four areas (guilt, anger, greed, and jealously) that if left unexamined, can cause spiritual heart disease.  Andy says, “… just as a heart attack has the potential to destroy your body, so spiritual heart disease has the potential to destroy you and squeeze the life out of your most valuable relationships” (11).  Using this basis, he explains that as these enemies quietly invade our hearts, we begin to live them out.  If left unchecked, these four enemies could be extremely destructive forces in our lives.

Throughout the book, Andy asks the reader very though probing questions, in an attempt to identify problem areas and then offers clear solutions to dislodge and discard the root problems these enemies cause.  By using the exercises offered in this book, the reader can free him or herself from the bondage of these enemies and walk away with an healthier heart, which could lead to healthier relationships.  

This is a great book for anyone who feels they may afflicted with any or all of these destructive emotions.  The message is clear and concise, with a strong biblical foundation.  If you’d like to get your own copy, you can pick one up from Amazon.com here.

Summer So Far

well it's been a couple of months since I last posted.  the major reason is that I was in the middle of finishing my master's degree at NOBTS.  now I'm just taking some time to relax and refocus.  maybe in the future i'll get better at writing consistently.  or maybe blog posting isn't my greatest thing but hey, I try.


anyway, here are some things I've been dabbling in this summer...


amp repair - so far hasn't gone that well.  changed some dirty knobs but somehow fried some resistors in the process.  so needless to say, my old marshall amp works less than it did when I started.


piano - I started playing around on the keys a little at the beginning of the year to play the song Awakening at riverside.  now I'm wanting to expand that little bit of knowledge to play some other random things here and there.


reading - I think I've read through four Ted Dekker novels since mid-May.  crazy for me since I used to not like reading at all!


web presence - I'm also in the middle of learning how to administer our churches website.  I already admin the facebook/ twitter accounts so this seems like a good fit.
so here's my little plug for riverside's social media. like us on facebook here. follow us on twitter here.


oh, and don't forget the website here.




video editing - had to do a little of this for school but this week I'm going to attempt to produce a VBS highlight video for out Sunday Morning Worship gathering at Riverside.  my little brother may be getting a call later to help me out with some ideas.


anyway, that's my summer so far.
peace out


ds

Crazy Day

Well, today was a crazy day.  God once again reminded me that he is in control.


Today a good friend of mine lost his dad unexpectedly in a car accident.  I'll leave out the details as I don't know if he really wants his family business all over the internet. But it's just a reminder that we have absolutely no control over lives.


But in the midst of this, I was able to fill in for my friend at church tonight speaking to our youth group.  What's really crazy, is that I basically used my blog post from last night, something I didn't even intend to write in the first place.  It goes to show that God knows what he is doing.


Not being the best speaker, or even being close to prepared to lead a youth group message, I was able to use the insights God showed me last night with the youth group.  Whether the kids understood what I was talking about I have no idea, but I really hope so.  At least they seemed engaged.


So through this God once again showed me that he is completely in control.  He's using things I'm learning in my personal devotions and to teach to others.  He also reminded me that we should tell our family that we love them more often.

Late Night Readings

So I decided to stay up a little later than usual tonight to try and keep up with school work.  It's not usual I actually want to do school work so I thought it would be a good idea to do while I had the motivation.  That went pretty well and I wasn't all that tired, so after I thought I'd play catch up with my year long bible reading plan.  As of tonight, I am officially just one month behind my wife, who has done a much better job of staying on track.  

Well tonight's reading reminded me of some really good principles that I think all Christians should be reminded of every once in a while.  However, to me these reminders came from Psalms 49, one of most unlikely of places I thought to find it.  It's not that I don't think there's a lot of good stuff in the psalms, things usually don't come to light for me through them.  I probably shouldn't say this, being a worship leader and all, but I actually have a hard time understanding the psalms.  things just aren't revealed to me the way this was tonight.  

So here it is:

Psalm 49: 16-17 says,

     "Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; 

       for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him."

Typically, I tend to grow jealous when I see people around me able to buy nicer, bigger, better things.  many times I feel like I'm getting a raw deal because I can't buy all the things I want.  I would love to be able to buy a house, a nicer car for my wife, or even a new guitar, but the fact is, I would want those things purely for social acceptance and status, something that doesn't really matter in the end according to this verse.  

This small portion of the psalm reminds me that I need to be grateful for what I have been given, which at times I'm not.  I may not have the biggest house, fastest cars (although I do have a really nice truck), and top paying job, but what I do have is pretty awesome.  I have a nice little apartment that fits the needs (not wants) of my family.  Our vehicles work exceptionally well, and on a side note, I just finished paying off my truck note so now it has to last for a good long while.  I love my job and work with amazing people at church.  

[To take a quick pause from my main point here, but the one thing I think I do have above everyone else is a really awesome wife.  She is pretty awesome and I really don't deserve her. Love you Darlin'!!!]

Now the trick is, what am I doing with the stuff that I have been given?  There's a story in Mark 12 where a woman gave all that she had to live on as an offering.  Even though it didn't amount to much monetarily, Jesus basically said it was the best offering given at the time. He said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on." (Mark 12:43-44)

(btw, this was also in my reading tonight)

I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to give everything I have to live on to God.  The full 100% of anything that I acquired would be sent directly back to God.  It's crazy to even think about! 

Now, I don't think that giving 100% of our monetary income is what this passage is saying, but I do think that if one takes it in light of the psalm passage from earlier, we should definitely be using the stuff we do have for God's glory.  Why?  Because it's not really ours!  We can't take it with us when we die so the real question should be is, Why Not?

So, to my five followers, here is something to think about. What are you doing with your stuff? How are you using your Car, House or Apartment, Hobbies, or to make somebody uncomfortable, your Money? Are you really giving those things back to God, allowing Him access to the things only He can give you? 

• If you have a nice house, Why Not let a small group meet there during the week? 
• Nice car, Why Not give somebody a ride who doesn't have one? 
• If you have lots of money, Why Not give more? It's not yours, you can't take it with you when you go.
• Have a Hobby that you're around lots of people? Why Not use that to build relationships which lead to sharing your faith? 

I ask the questions not to condemn or question what anybody is already doing, just to get you thinking if you could do more.

Personally, I need to be doing more.  I felt a strong conviction from Passion 2011 that I need to be carrying the name of Jesus and making disciples.  For me, I need to be investing more time into relationships that lead to sharing my faith and making disciples.  I don't know what this looks like for you, but I hope that you are offering the things God gave you back to Him to further His kingdom.

See ya next time,

David

The Tales of a Taylor

so about 10 years ago i was given one of the most awesome gifts a kid in 11th grade could get.  my grandmother bought me an acoustic guitar.  now wasn't just any acoustic guitar.  she sent me to the music store with an uncle and just told me to find a guitar i like.  at the time i had no idea what to look for in a guitar, i just wanted it to sound and feel good.  well i guess i'm naturally drawn to expensive equipment because after we got back, i realized that it was a $2400 guitar!


in case you're wondering, or care to know these things, i got a Taylor 714CE.  it has a cedar top which gives it an amazingly deep tone compared to other taylor guitars.


well my grandma bought me this guitar because i had been leading our youth group worship band for about 2 or 3 months borrowing our youth minister's acoustic.  i had a decent electric at the time but it wasn't suitable to use leading by myself, so she bought me one.  so needless to say, this guitar has a good bit of value to me, both monetarily and sentimental.


I tell you all of that to tell you this...


a couple of weeks ago, due to a careless mistake, i put a nice big CRACK on the side of my Taylor.  when I saw it happen, I literally almost cried.  Now i've put some dings and scratches in it over the years, but I've never cracked a guitar before.


after calling the Taylor factory I realized that it would cost way too much to send up to them to repair so I called around and brought it to a local guy at the New Orleans Guitar Center.  after we looked at it together he told me that the damage was mostly cosmetic.  he suggested that I mark the ends of the crack and watch it.  if the crack grows then to do something but he didn't think it would.


those of you that know my wife well will laugh good at this, but she jokingly told me to put a band-aid on the crack until it got fixed.  if it were any other guitar than my taylor i would consider it but this is my 'serious' guitar.  no stickers on the case, and definitely no band-aids on the crack.


but my wife's sense of humor reminds me that my guitar is just a tool for the work God has called me to do.  no matter how much money the thing is worth, reduced down, it's made of wood, metal, and glue, nothing more.


so now, i'm playing with an injured Taylor but that doesn't really matter.  all the cracks and dings add character not only to the guitar, but to its owner who is continually being reminded that the material things we have in this world hold no eternal value.  whatever we have, we don't really own.  we are just managers of what God has given us.


"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

Mark

so i've successfully read through Mark this week for my New Testament class.  for this class we are required to write an outline for each book so i thought i would share it with you.


here goes my extremely simple outline for the book of Mark:

• Jesus' Ministry up the mountain to the Transfiguration: Mark 1:1-9:13
• Jesus' Ministry down the mountain to the Cross: Mark 9:14 - the end. 

i know this is just a simple outline and most anybody could make a longer one, but i like simple. Mark is a simple, short book, but has a lot of good stuff in it. here's a quote from Mark that i absolutely love...


"It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." 2:17


david

Rambling #1

well hello again blogging world. it's been a while since i've been around here. i have so much to say and not enough time to type it. why you ask? because right now most of my time is going to school work. while it's a lot of work, i do usually enjoy what i'm learning once the semesters are over. that's usually when it actually starts to sink in.


as of right now, i have tons of reading to do each week, about 10 papers to write, and 5 other projects all due throughout the semester. but ... the plus side is ... i'm supposed to graduate with a Master's degree in may, so i'm actually pretty excited.


i would say one of the biggest positives of one class is that i'm going to read through the entire new testament for the semester. i've read most of it before, but not all of it, and definitely not in such a short time frame. i just hope i can retain some information along the way.


anyway, this week's reading: The Gospel of Mark. 16 chapters in 5 days. i started on monday and got through 13 so far. maybe i'll finish it tomorrow... oh and on top of that, my wife and i are reading through the bible together this year. yup, the whole thing. this is going to be an exciting year. i'll put up some details about this later.


well, this is truly one of my rambling posts. more of a stream of conscious thing. maybe because it's 11:00 at night. well i'm out.


david