Living a Circus?

The circus came to town this week. My kids are getting older so it hadn't occurred to me that they might still enjoy seeing a circus. But there we were, buying over-priced cotton candy and watching wide-eyed at the three rings of high-flying flambouyance. It wasn't Cirque Du Soleil, but we had a great time.

As I watched, my mind suddenly re-connected with the reason why - in our workplaces, and in our lives - we sometimes look at the craziness of some situations and say "man, what a CIRCUS!". The three-ring circus is designed to give everyone something to watch at any given time. No breaks. Multiple viewing options. Jaw dropping heroics. If you watch one ring too long, you miss what just happened in the other rings. If you try to watch all three...well you're just getting a small sample of each.

Sometimes our lives become a circus. And we FEEL it. We're tired. We're trying to keep all the "acts" going at once, making sure everyone is happy and contented. So we aren't able to focus on caring for our families or carrying out our responsibilities at work or studying for the next exam...or worshiping God. "God, I can't spend time with you today because I've got elephants falling over in ring three, Ricardo lost his grip on the trapeeze in ring one...and the circus clowns...well, they're just OUT OF control!".

Here's my encouragement for you:

For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other. I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the Lord, speak only what is true and declare only what is right. - Isaiah 45:18-19 NLT

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." - Matthew 6:31-34 NLT

What about you? Are you living a circus? Got any thoughts or encouragement for us? Leave a comment.

Until next time...Slow it down. Seek Him today. Find comfort in His word. Ask him to "order" your life.

God bless.

Dave Schwarm at camp

I'm posting this for Dave Schwarm, who's been away this summer working as a program team member at a Bible camp in California. He's working with a team of people ministering to young kids. Here's some of his story.

Hey dude just writing to say whats up? Things are going great down here. This week was awesome and I had a ton of fun. For our "walkon" skit (the continuous skit we program teamers do every night) was about these two very poor secret agents and two criminals stealing things from camp all week. I was a criminal and my name was SCHWARM.. but all drawn out like SCCHHHHWWAARRMMM! The kids loved it and all week long whenever they saw me they would try to emulate my voice saying schwarm. Super fun kids this week with hardly any problems. Last week I sent a kid home the last night for peeing on another much smaller camper. He was such a punk and we almost had to fight him to get him to leave. My friend curtis and ivan had to pin a kid to the couch cuz the kid was swinging at them. After they pinned him the kid (11 years old) proceeded to spit in their faces. These kids are dealing with some really hard things in their lives so if you think about it pray for them. Pray that we would be able to touch their lives in a way that will enable them to lift themselves out of the tough situations they are in.
By the way I'm a little upset you are playing "all because of jesus" without me. :) jk.. keep it real!
Dave

New Songs?

Heard any good songs lately? Not just songs we can use in our worship services, but just plain good songs. Post them here (or send them to me if you can't post) ...I can put them in the blog "player" if I can find them.

"Your Love Is Strong"

Hope you'll check this out: One of the songs on the playlist for this blog is called "Your Love Is Strong". I wanted to post the lyrics...it's right out of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6. If it's not playing right now you can go to the bottom of the page and play it and follow the lyrics.

Heavenly Father, You always amaze me
Let your kingdom come In my world and in my life
You give me the food I need To live through the day
And forgive me as I forgive The people that wronged me
Lead me far from temptation Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune Or out of place
I look at the meadow And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl On her wedding day

So why do I worry? Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need You know what I need

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens Is now advancing
Invade my heart Invade this broken town
The kingdom of the heavens Is buried treasure
Will you sell yourself To buy the one you've found?

Two things you told me That you are strong
And you love me Yes, you love me

Our God in heaven Hallowed be Thy name above all names
Your kingdom come Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us wicked sinners
Lead us far away from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

Team Lunches

I really have enjoyed these lunches...this one was at King Tin. We also had a potluck in the Brown House, Pizza at Woodstocks and most recently a BBQ at the Lampi's. Great times, great food, great people. Our goal is to meet the first Sunday of each month, after 2nd service. Hope you can plan to come to our next one...

Tutorials for Musicians and Singers

There are tons of great tutorials online for worship musicians and singers. I love getting new ideas from other musicians/singers. Check some of these out, and post new ones if you find them.

From CCLI TV:
All - Creaing "Ambience" or "Atmosphere"
Role of the Drummer
Role of the Bass Player
Keyboards
Keyboards 2
Blending Vocalists
Vocal Style

From Hillsong:
"Mighty To Save" Drums
"Mighty To Save" Guitar
Hillsong Guitarists Insight

From WorshipFrequency (Chris Tomlin and guitarist Daniel Carson)
Worship Frequency Menu