Monthly Archives: October 2013

October 22, 2013 · 6:51 pm

Sails

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One of the most influential forces on Earth is wind. Wind opens up worlds of endless possibilities. When the first exploratory boats were set in water, it was wind that allowed them to sail. When Meriweather Lewis, William Clark and the Corps. of Discovery became the first Americans to cross North America in 1806, it was wind that aided them by helping to push the Keel boat upstream to the Continental Divide. Wind puts forward legions of energy when captured by the arms of a windmill. When the Mayflower crossed the Great Ocean on its way to the New World, it was wind that got it there. Its wind that causes the beautiful, majestic rock formations in the American West. Its wind that allows navigation across the globe based on patters. It was wind that lifted Oliver and Wilber Wright off the ground, enabling the first human flights in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17th 1903. It is wind that blows a gentle warm breeze at your back on a barefoot, soft grass, firefly, summer night. Its wind that comforts us by the sweat of our brow when the sun beats down on a day of hard labor. Its wind that, in the beauty of Autumn, brushes your cheek and rustles the fallen leaves, which become caught in the folds of your scarf on a blustery, golden day; And yet… It was Wind that struck fear into Peter causing him to sink as he walked across the waves toward Jesus.

Wind is a powerful and beautiful force of nature but it can also inspire insurmountable fear. Everyone knows that the wind will blow, and right now I am learning to capture it. I’ve learned that when you set sail on any voyage, there will at different times, be different forces of wind. Some may be gentle, and others not so much, but what you do with the wind is the difference between success and failure. When the wind bellows its destructive forces you have your choices. You can be a testimony, or you can blame everyone else for your past and present difficulties. You can hold a grudge, or you can forgive others for their mistakes. You can cry out in terror, or you can sing praises for future success. You can slow everyone around you by kicking and screaming, or you can embrace change. You can exude joy in the fact that a harsh wind can also blow you across the ocean, or you can give up and lay down in the bottom of the boat. You can let the wind sink your ship, or your can capture it in your sails. The choice is now, and will always be up to you.

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October 10, 2013 · 3:43 pm

Simple Nets

Well, Its been two weeks since I experienced a dramatic shift of focus. I have known my whole life that this would eventually become my full time occupation but just never thought it would be now. Yet here I am on the cusp of my future in ministry. Drawn by the spirit to live on the edge of my comfort zone and preparing to take the leap into the great abyss. Believe it or not, I’m actually not afraid. Towards the beginning of Discovering Dimes, I was quite timid and shaky, but there is a big difference when you know something is in capable hands. When we risk our lively-hood for dreams of our own, of course its terrifying because our lives are in our own hands. But when we risk the same for dreams not of this world there is peace knowing that our lives are in the hands of the one who sent us, made us, and takes care of us.

My favorite verse is Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” I loved this verse when I was younger and I love it now. How comforting to know that we can be taken care of. Yet as I have discovered, its also extremely difficult to swallow sometimes. You do have to give up your selfish dreams. You must forfeit “acknowledging” yourself, in favor of acknowledging Him. It may be the most difficult thing for one to do; But the longer I live, the more I’m figuring out that I don’t want things to be completely in my own hands, on my own path, in my own time. My humanity is just too flawed. That’s why God invented the idea of human mistakes, for us to know who exactly to trust.

Much to my amazement, the plan is beginning to form. In short we will be moving to Sydney Australia to be a part of Leading Edge International. To begin with, we will be spending December in Austria with family, which is something we have been talking about doing since we got married and are ridiculously ecstatic about! Then, We have an opportunity to serve as a part of Leading Edge on a worship conference tour which starts on December 28th in London. Throughout January we will travel through England, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and possibly Germany. We will be traveling to churches and putting on seminars designed to teach on worship, and leadership. We’ll be holding worship concerts and other events. Throughout our days we will be rehearsing and preparing for these events in which these pastors allow us to speak into the lives of their churches as a team. Ultimately we hope to be a resource to the body of Christ in which we can be used to empower other believers to reach their full potential and therefore help to further the Kingdom.

At the end of the tour we will return to Sydney. We will be working and traveling under the leadership of Pastor Dave Reidy, who is one of my heroes in the ministry. He is a worship leader based in Australia who, in the days of Frank Houston, worked with other worship leaders in the early days of the amazing church we know today as Hillsong. He was the Worship Pastor for seven years and was instrumental in the founding of “Youth Alive”. Needless to say, I have my humility close by, these days. Whats intriguing to me is that he talks like he’s blessed to have us come help this ministry and I don’t doubt that, but it’s actually the other way around. We are the ones who are blessed to be getting the opportunity to serve in this powerful ministry. I don’t see that he feels like he’s a BIG DEAL, even though he is. But even though he’s highly influential, he doesn’t view himself as this great person, or Gods gift for mankind; Just a real leader that recognizes his humanity as equal to mine, but lives a life of extraordinary significance in which he is called. A Godly person who is empowered by the Holy Spirit to do incredible things.

We have our work cut out for us that’s for sure. This will be far from a leisure trip. It will be a lot of hard work and will require great sacrifice. It requires us to give what we have to the cause, but In the end isn’t that what we are supposed to do? Jesus died in our stead and paid the ultimate price for our security in Him, so is it that much to ask that we drop our simple nets, as the disciples did, to follow Him? As far as our day to day life in Sydney, we don’t have many details nailed down; However, one thing we know for sure is that the one who knows when each sparrow falls, is guiding and directing our every step, and that is enough detail for me.

Look forward to more updates if you are interested in following along on this journey, and please click the follow button to get an email upon each post. I’m planing on updating as much as possible with the things God does on the tour and in ministry. And thanks again for being a support. You really don’t know what it means to me. Until next time, Be blessed!

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October 3, 2013 · 9:52 pm

A Moment Of Honesty

Hi Folks! I know its been a while since I have last written, Let me explain… at the beginning of July I realized that I had been writing for the wrong reasons. I started feeling that things had changed. I had embarked on a perilous journey down the road of the unknown. If you don’t live near San Antonio you would not have seen it unless you were following online, but I had seen many things start to happen. I was utterly amazed that the course of things had taken me and my music to places I never dreamed possible. I accomplished some awesome things if I do say so myself! But as amazing as all that was, one fact was equally amazing to me… I didn’t feel satisfied… I felt more empty than full… I just didn’t experience the bliss I had expected. No matter how many successes I saw, now matter how boldly the light of what I thought were the realities of my dreams shone through, I felt like something was missing. I killed my self night and day for months trying to figure it out. In the end it finally became clear… The desires of my heart unbelievably AFTER ALL THESE YEARS were still very unknown to me.

Matthew 6:19-21, Says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Here is a verse I had ignored. My life is but a vapor, and here I was trying to make it more vapor-y…. Why? It says in Gods word that “He has placed eternity in our hearts”, so of course it makes sense that my heart was not satisfied. I needed even more of Him more than ever. In a time when I seemed to have everything I could ever want, I didn’t have what I needed most…. His heart. And I had only been giving the easy parts of mine, to Him. God does desire for us to be satisfied but I what I found out through Discovering Dimes that we can only do so much of that on our own. He is the only one who can really give us a cup that overflows.

Through a series of recent events, I have found out that my life is about to change drastically. I was given the privilege of getting an invitation to spend a lot of time on the road in Europe and Australia being a part of a worship ministry with one of my heroes. Adrie and I will be traveling through country after country with a team who’s heart is to empower people and edify the church. Lets have a moment of honesty shall we? One of the things that I’ve dreamed of my entire life was traveling and playing music. And I have lots of friends that do it for a living. Am I happy for them? Yes. But it was difficult sometimes for me because it just seemed like it was so close I could taste it, feel it, just barely reach it….. But it never happened, not to the extent I had wanted. After a number of years of asking why it never seemed to be my turn, I had become resentful, jealous, and numb. Why wasn’t it me? When was it going to be my turn? I have talent don’t I? I paid my dues didn’t I? I put in the work! Why is it that my number is just never called?? The answer was that God had something better than that for me. My gifts were not meant for me. They were meant for Him. There’s nothing wrong with being in a band and playing music. In fact I know a number of people who do just that. But I found that unless your goal is to establish something everlasting, you will always fall short of your own expectations. You might have fun riding the wave of success for a while but eventually it all must end. When that day comes for me, I don’t want my treasures to be here.

Discovering Dimes Is still part of my heart but in the light of what I know I’m called to do, I’m feeling a change is necessary. I will continue to write music and produce it, but ultimately the failures or successes of my project no longer mean what they used to. And as far as this account goes, I have decided to tell the story of my journey. Now I know that there are hundreds of you who have signed on with me in interest of me choosing to follow my heart. If you end up deciding to stop reading I will understand. In return, I hope you will understand that while I believe deeply in following your heart, I believe its more important to follow His.

Ill be doing my darndest to write about once per week as I go though the ups and downs of ministry life. Ill write about the experiences I have being a part of many other cultures. This is not expected to be an easy journey, but that’s why its so rewarding. Ill need your help to get though it. Please feel free to write me and be a part of my story. As a great person once said, “We’re all in this together!” You may have noticed that The “likes” are disabled. That’s because I don’t like how they effect my writing. It tends to really distract me from my goal. I give way to much thought to how many people like what I say, and that’s not what writing is about. Its about getting the truth out, un-hindered. Its about the expression of honesty, and I intend on contributing the right way, not based on how many people press the like button. Please comment though and I promise I’ll write back to you. Also feel free to keep an eye on my other project “A Picture A Day Keeps Forgetting Away”, where I am committed to taking at least one picture per day for 5 years. Its available on the top of the page. Thank you so much for reading and coming along with me! You have no idea how much I appreciate all of you! Much love and I’ll see you next week! Be Blessed!

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