Sunday Set Lists

Set List from March 6 & 7, 2010

1. Freedom is Here – Hillsong United
2. Your Grace is Enough – Chris Tomlin
3. Come Thou Fount – PLC
4. From the Inside Out – Hillsong United

Our Adoption Journey: Home Study pt. 2

Yesterday morning, our Home Study Investigator (love that title) came to our house to look it over, ask us some final questions, and gather our reference letters.

This was the last time we will see him until our Home Study is completed. Right now we are pretty much done, just waiting on our fingerprints to come in.  Once the prints come in, it will take 3-4 days to write up the final draft of the Home Study and we’ll be done with that step. Then on to step #2 in our adoption journey.

Desperate Worship

(Great thoughts by Adrian Carpenter…)

Worship is the act of freely giving love to God. This forms and informs every activity of the Christian’s life. Worship can also be defined as a physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual expression of awe, submission, and respect toward God.

Worship is important because we have been created to worship. We are “wired for worship.” Worship is in our genetic code. Therefore, we will worship God or we will worship something else.

We worship by expressing adoration. We praise God simply for who He is. We worship by expressing thanksgiving. We give thanks for what He has done. We worship by confession. We acknowledge sin and guilt to a holy and righteous God.

There are several phases of worship. The first phase is the Call to Worship. It’s like a declaration of intent. The second phase is Engagement. It is the electrifying dynamic of connection to God and each other. The third phase is Expression which is the physical, emotional, spiritual awakening to His presence. This phase can take the form of tears, laughter, jubilation, etc… The fourth phase is Visitation when Almighty God visits His people. It is important to recognize that Visitation is a by-product of worship. We worship not just for His presence but because He is worthy. The last phase of worship is the Giving of Substance. It is when we allow the Kingdom, the dynamic reign of God, to flow through us.

However, before we form a theology over the “What’s, Why’s and How’s,” we must realize that worship is always changing. The content, the expressions, and the manifestations are always changing. If our goal is truly more freedom and intimacy then as we mature and grow so does our worship.

Even though worship is changing, it’s changing into what God always wanted it to be. God has given us a blueprint, a pattern. In Exodus 25 God tells Israel about His pattern the focal verses are verse 9 and 40. It’s a blueprint for a tabernacle. We see a New Testament reference in Acts 7:44-50. It speaks of God’s tabernacle or His dwelling place. I suggest that God’s dwelling place is a place of worship.

You can look at worship from the beginning (Old Testament) or from the other end (Heaven). The Levitical priesthood served as a copy of the heavenly. With the Holy Spirit now actively in the picture, worship on earth is to be a carbon copy of worship in Heaven. Worship in Heaven is holy. It’s expressive. It’s continual. It’s overwhelming. When we picture worship in heaven, we picture the Father! We see the Father as Jesus did. When we see a picture of the Presence, we will see a picture of the Glory. With the glory comes the substance (John 5:19 and Luke 4:18-19).

My favorite definition of worship is an over-simplistic one. Worship is simply singing love songs to the Father. Again, I realize the definition is too simplistic for some. However, I believe it is okay to find and use a simple definition as a foundational framework.

A lifestyle of worship produces an ever-expanding view of worship. As that view grows so does the definition. For instance, I am what you call a Kingdom person. I eat, drink, and sleep the kingdom. As my view of the Kingdom has matured so have my feelings toward worship. The Kingdom is an expression of God Himself. As I become more desperate for the Kingdom I become a more desperate worshiper.

It is important to stress that desperate worship has no formulas and not even a standard definition. Desperate worship is our reaction to that expression of God; His Kingdom. Desperate Worship is when we can say and live …God You’re all I need …God You’re all I want …God You’re all there is.

So let us push toward the Kingdom. Let us push toward the very heart and face of God. And let us worship desperately in the process.

Sunday Set Lists

Set List from February 27 & 28, 2010

1. All We Need – Charlie Hall
2. Spring of Life – Kristian Stanfill
3. Beautiful Jesus – Kristian Stanfill
4. Let Your Kingdom Reign – Elevation Worship

Random Thoughts at 10:53am

• Today is Friday, which usually means one thing.  It’s my day off.  But today, it actually means two things.  1) It’s my day off, and 2) It’s my birthday.  Yep, today I move into the 30’s.  I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I have heard that your 30’s now are the new 20’s.  When I found out what that means I’ll let you know.
• Last night we had our first Worship Leader Community gathering.  This gathering is made up exclusively of the worship leaders (or potential WL’s) at Prairie Lakes Church.  We want to create a type of environment where we can encourage, build, and pour into each other, and ultimately become better worship leaders.  It was a really good time with the three guys that came.  I’m already looking forward to our gathering in March.
• The Phoenix Suns are starting to play some good basketball again at just the right time.  They’re on a 5-game winning streak and have moved up into the #4 seed out west.  It would be great if they could get a #4 seed or high going into the playoffs so that can have home court.  On another note with the Suns, I was extremely happy that they didn’t trade Amare.  They are a better team with him, and he’s still young, only 26.  I’d like to see them sign him to a long-term deal over the summer.
• So we are just a couple days away from March and we still probably have 7-8 inches of snow on the ground, and I just saw the forecast, and it looks like we might get some more snow early next week.  Seriously?  I mean, I like the snow and cold weather.. but really, please no more snow.  That’s all.

Blogging Workshop

Today I had the privilege of guest speaking at a Blogging Workshop we had at Prairie Lakes Church. Blogging is one of the major ways that we want to communicate with our church community here at Prairie Lakes Church.  Here are the 3 simple things that I hit on today, to become a better blogger:

1. Content
Determine what you are going to write about and be confident in it. Find out who your audience is, and write to them, tell them a story, and be yourself. Your readers will appreciate you being you.

2. Consistency
Whether you post everyday, once a week, or once a month, do it consistently. If you don’t think you can post every day, maybe pick one day a week that you can post. The more consistent you are with your posts, the more likely it is that people will follow your blog and read it. People will anticipate seeing a new post from you.

3. Interaction
One of the best ways to grow your blog readership is to interact with the people who stop by and comment. If someone leaves a comment on your blog, respond back to them. It’s a simple way to start a conversation. Also, if you are reading other blogs, comment on those as well. It’s amazing how something as simple as that, can grow into something large.

Thanks to Patti Dykstra for inviting me to be a part of this workshop. Patti did a great job leading and facilitating us today!

Way.

One of the books that I’m currently re-reading is Velvet Elvis (Rob Bell), here are some thoughts from some of the reading I did this morning:

As a Christian, I am simply trying to orient myself around living a particular kind of way, the kind of way that Jesus taught is possible. And I think that the way of Jesus is the best possible way to live.

I’m convinced being generous is a better way to live.

I’m convinced forgiving people and not carrying around bitterness is a better way to live.

I’m convinced having compassion is a better way to live.

I’m convinced pursuing peace in every situation is a better way to live.

I’m convinced listening to the wisdom of others is a better way to live.

I’m convinced being honest with people is a better way to live.

Over time when you purposefully try to live the way of Jesus, you start noticing something deeper that is going on. You begin realizing the reason this is the best way to live is that it is rooted in profound truths about how the word is. You find your living more and more in tune with ultimate reality. You are more and more in sync with how the universe is at its deepest levels.

Jesus’ intention was, and is, to call people to live in tune with reality. He said at one point that if you had seen Him, you had “seen the Father.” He claimed to be showing us what God is like. In His compassion, peace, truth telling, and generosity, He was showing us God.

(Taken from Velvit Elvis – Rob Bell)

OneRepublic – All The Right Moves

Love this song.

Sunday Set List

Set List from February 20 & 21, 2010

1. Takin’ Care of Business – Randy Bachman
2. Hard Days Night – The Beatles
3. Sing, Sing, Sing – Chris Tomlin
4. Glorious One/Glory to God – Steve Fee
5. Majesty – Charlie Hall

Our Adoption Journey: Home Study pt. 1

This spot feels somewhat familiar.  But, for whatever reason, this time it feels more tangible.

On Saturday morning we had part 1 of our Home Study process done.  This was the part where you tell the Home Study investigator who you are, where your from, what you do, your family background, etc.  Then the HSI takes all the info and does an extensive write about you.  The second part of the process will be for the HSI to come out to our house and make sure everything is functioning.  After that point, he will write up our Study, give us a copy and our Adoption Agency a copy and we can move on to step #2 in the Adoption process.  When we live in Indiana and Arizona we worked with the state through this process and it was quite different.  So we are excited to be going the private route this time.  It feels a little less invasive.

The Home Study is the key so to the door into the Adoption process.  Once you get it unlocked, it opens up a whole new realm of doors within the process.  Follow us along the way.  Here.. we.. go..