Happy 4th

Cheeseburgers + Potato Salad + Bake Beans + Strawberry Shortcake with Ice Cream + Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest + FREEDOM = Independence Day.

Everything is Right

Today when Michelle and I were taking a stroll through our neighborhood, everything just seemed right.

The sky was a deep blue, with a few clouds strolling by. There were kids who were playing out in their front yard, smiling, laughing, just having a good old time. There was a nice cool breeze that was blowing on us as we were walking. You could hear the wind rustling through the trees. And the grass just seemed so green, it was like it had been painted. The birds were singing like they had no care in the world. Not to mention I was enjoying being with my bride.

For those few moments around our block, it felt like everything was right in the world. It felt like this was just the way everything is suppose to be.

FREE Coldplay Album

If you haven’t downloaded the new Live FREE Coldplay album, go here and do it now.

Auto Tuning

Freaking hilarious!! Gotta watch it more than once…

Nothing Can Separate Us

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

(They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.)

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Romans 8:31-39 (The Message)

Lifemusicministry.com is Retired

After three years.. lifemusicministry.com is going to bite the dust.. and the JonLloydBlog.com is going to rise. It’s going to be the same blog, same content, same person, and it will still be about life, music, and ministry. The only change is the title and domain name to yours truly.

So.. for all of you RSS peeps and all of the 3 people (well, hopefully I have more than that) that subscribe to this blog.. if you wouldn’t mind, please make those changes to your blog rolls and keep the link love alive and well.

Airports

I’m sitting here in the Nashville International Airport waiting to board my flight to Dallas, then on to Phoenix. This is the second weekend out of the last four that we’ve been traveling. This is my first time flying out of Nashville, and a couple weeks ago was my first time flying out of Kansas City.

It got me thinking how many airports I’ve flown out of over the years. Let’s see…

1. Evansville
2. Phoenix
3. Indianapolis
4. Chicago
5. Nashville
6. St Louis
7. Louisville
8. Atlanta
9. Memphis
10. Kansas City
11. San Diego
12. Orange County
13. Charlotte
14. Orlando
15. Dallas
16. Fort Myers
17. Sarasota
18. Cincinnati
19. Las Vegas

Ok, I think that’s it.. at least what I remember. I’m sure that’s not very many airports for the big world travelers out there.

So what airports have you been to?

When The Music Fades – Easter ‘09

I was out in Scottsdale, AZ last weekend leading worship at McDowell Mountain Community Church.  I led worship for their two services, and met a lot of neat people.  They had their biggest crowd ever, so it was cool to be a part of that.  Here was the set list…

Intro Songs

• Salvation is Here
• Your Grace is Enough

Middle Worship Set

• Mighty to Save
• Holy is the Lord
• Jesus Paid it All

Closing Song

• Marvelous Light (2nd service – recapped ‘Salvation is Here)

How was your Easter Sunday?

Random Thoughts at 10:27pm

The Final Four begins tomorrow, and I’m officially 0-4. My brackets didn’t turn out to bad overall, but none of my Final Four picks made it to Detroit. I think that UNC is playing the best basketball right now. Having Ty Lawson back has been a huge spark. I knew Lawson was a good player, but he’s really been impressive to me. I think he’ll be a lottery pick. He’s not flashy, but incredibly solid. Since the Suns are going to miss the playoffs and end up in the lottery, I think he would be a great pick.

We’ve lived in Evansville now for just over two years. In those two years we’ve tried to find a mexican food resturant that satisfies our tastes. You see, we lived in Arizona prior to coming to Indiana, and in Arizona they have REAL mexican food. We got spoiled. We knew that it would be hard to find good mexican food here. They have some ok places here and some ‘chain’ ones as well. But nothing that we’ve just left saying, “That was real mexican food.” Well, tonight I think we may have struck mexican gold. It’s called Acapulco, and probably the closest thing to authentic mexican food here in Evansville.

On another note, I’m going to be leading worship at a church in Scottsdale, AZ next weekend. It’s going to be a quick trip (Fri-Tues), but I’m really looking forward to it. Should be a great time. More to come on this later.

Oranges and Apples

Left-brained (Oranges)  thinking is linear and logical, focusing on details, facts, and figures. It makes silos. It’s segmented. It thrives off of hard facts and bottom lines. Left-brained thinking is methodical and compartmentalizes ideas or thoughts into definitive categories. Left-brained thinking expresses itself in thoughts and words.

For the last century or so, left-brained thinking has dominated our culture. It’s impacted every arena of life from the workplace to even our churches.

Right-brained (Apples) thinking is very different. It’s experiential. It’s imaginative and creative. It’s abstract. There’s no clear lines or dimensions. Right-brained thinking values design and aesthetics. At it’s core, right-brained thinking thrives in the context of relationships. Right-brained thinking expresses itself in images, experiences and metaphors.

And more and more in our hyper-connected culture, right-brained thinking is dominant.

While left-brained thinking creates a product (example: a cell phone), right-brained thinking buys a relationship (the connectivity and experience that the cell phone will provide).

Right-brained thinking dominates the way that we are advertised and marketed to. Marketers don’t use words to convince us like they used to, they use images and experience. That’s why a half-naked person sells a pair of jeans, cologne, a car, or a toothbrush.

When you think about right and left brained thinking it’s a lot like comparing apples to oranges.

To eat an orange you first have to peel it. Once you peel it, it’s compartmentalized, and segmented. Neat. Orderly. To eat it you have to pick it apart.

To eat an apple you just take a bite. It’s messy. It engages all of the senses. It’s something that’s consumed.

Now let’s look at how we tend to approach the word of God…

Left-brained thinking is like reading/studying the Bible like it’s an orange. It peels layers away. Compartmentalizes everything by chapter and verse. It is logical. It defines everything (think of all of the –ologies that are out there). It’s black and white.

A lot of churches treat the Gospel like an orange and communicate its message with words and thoughts. It’s one person talking and a lot of people simply listening. The service is judged by the performance (of the band or pastor) and the quality of the message.

Right–brained thinking approaches the Bible like an apple. It’s not segmented or compartmentalized. It consumes. It experiences. It lives and breathes. It’s explored fully to get to the core.

Right-brained churches communicate the Gospel using images and experience. It’s judged by the context of relationship and experience, and is all about the participation. Worship isn’t about a band performing but of a community of believers participating.

So… how are we, as the Church, presenting the Gospel? Are we apples or oranges?

It’s not our job to make the Word come alive to people, it’s already the Living Word of God. Our job is to help people come alive to what’s already living.

The Church of today MUST use captivating images, compelling stories, engaging experiences, and creating space for authentic community for people to truly engage with the Gospel and encounter the Living Christ.

I think there’s a reason Apples are so popular these days.

(Thanks to Tim  for these Interesting thoughts.)