The Gospel according to Axl...huh?

Catchy title, right?
I was thinking about the ever present question--where do we go now?

Every leader must face it almost on a daily basis.
What direction for my business?
What products do we back?
What investments do we make?
What personnel do we hire? invest in? let go?

Back to the title. My mind works a little like a roulette wheel and a kaleidoscope. Thoughts, phrases, music, pictures, and ideas all swirl around the wheel until one drops in the slot. Then the kaleidoscope takes over and colors it with associations that on the surface seem strange but they tie me to the idea and help me not only remember it but develop it.

So, this is where the gospel according to Axl comes in. The phrase that dropped in the slot was of course---where do we go now? (In reference to every area of life right now.) As the kaleidoscope pressed into action guns-n-roses violently attached itself to the thought. Now with guitars wailing, drums pounding, bass driving and Axl screaming it becomes---where do we go now, ba-nu-ba-nu-nu-na-whe-e-e-e-re-re do we go now-no-no-no-no-no-no-now--sweet chi-ild--sweet chi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-eld of mi-e-ine!!!!! Phlumpt!

Thus my thought process on this occassion. Laugh if you must but now that song is cycling around your brain and it's gonna be a while before it leaves. Maybe I get the last laugh...on second thought we'll just laugh together--it does a body good.

My conclusion you may ask is to do what any good leader does--move forward-press on.
There is no retreat, there is no surrender!

Paul a dude who had been through some bad stuff and had done some rotten things put it like this:
Phil 3:13-14ish-"But here is the one thing I do. I forget what is behind me. I push hard toward what is ahead of me. I move on toward the goal to win the prize. God has appointed me to win it."
Go on to the things that lie ahead. Leave the past behind.

In Luke 13 Jesus was travelling and doing great things for people and he talks about pressing on.
"At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day."

In Luke chapter 8 the woman with the bleeding issue "pressed in" to Jesus and got results after countless years of failed attempts.

Not to mention in 2 Cor 4--it talks about being pressed on every side but not crushed. Being confused, confounded and bewildered but not despairing.
This reminds me of the time in Star Wars when they were in the trash compactor with all of the sides closing
in---um, nevermind.

To sum it up...no matter the circumstances or situations in our lives. The only God thing to do is to move forward, press ahead, and keep going.
We have work to do and a prize to get. God has appointed us to win!
Focusing on the past and the things we coulda, shoulda, woulda done differently will do nothing but tether us to post of stagnation, defeat and regret. In Him we live, and move and have our being.

Move...
Forward...

Keep spreading the Word and doing the works of Jesus...sweet chi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-eld of mi-e-ine!!!!!!

Living In The Zone

The Importance...

...of the Word. I have been thinking about 2 scriptures that have been stuck in my head for several weeks now. I am sometimes slow to catch things but I go this one. If it is staying with me there must be something to it. Let me share these verse and then share a few thoughts.
John 1
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
Proverbs 4
My child, pay attention to what I say.
Listen carefully to my words.
Don’t lose sight of them.
Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.

I am convinced more than ever that the Word of God is to be forefront in our lives. I believe that apart from it we cannot have the kind of deep intimate relationship that the Father is calling us into.
Think of it...the Word has always been. The Word created and brought life and light to everyone and everything. The Word took on human form and lived with us. That's Jesus folks! Apart from Jesus there is no relationship with the Father.

Think of the benefits...life and health. Now I don't believe that many of us have a deep seeded desire to be sick and weak and suffering through life. Personally, I believe that is not the plan of God for our lives. I believe that included in the redemptive work of Jesus health and healing has been provided. Any way you slice it, Proverbs tells us that the Word is health to our entire body and life for us. As Jesus is the Word, He is life and health and strength to us. I think that is hard to argue.

Notice that there are precursors to these benefits. You must listen to the Word, you must pay attention to the Word (Attend for you King Jamesers--wait on, serve and give it your full attention), you must hide it in your heart (for out of the heart are the rivers of life), and you must not lose sight of it--keep it continually in front of you.

Thank God for grace which means that Jesus has powerfully supplied to us everything we need and our flailing cannot mess it up. These benefits are already provided. This Word training is not for Him it's for US! You can only have what you know about. You can only get what you believe for. You can only love the One that you know. Knowing Him comes from His word.

I am throttling ahead with a renewed focus on the Word and truly learning more about the grace of God, the life of God on the inside of me, and walking in the righteousness that Jesus gave me. I encourage you as a believer to get in step with this Word study so that it will be a great benefit to you and your family.

If you are a kidmin, I encourage you to reach your kids with the Word this year. Impact them with the truth. Share the One who gave it all. Share the One who loves us. Be fun, be relevant and be true.

Remember, you are loved perfectly and completely by God.

In the Zone,

PJ

Change...

I fully intend for this to be my shortest post ever--just to prove to myself that I can do it. I am taking the twitter approach 140 words or less. There is much change going on around me right now-which got me thinking about how we react to change. Do we embrace it? Do we reject it? Do we just flat out refuse it? Well, at least try to -change is ongoing and is an irresistible force. At some point, on some level-we must embrace it. I am usually really good with change but find myself struggling right now. Not sure why...but this I know..order will soon be restored and the change wave will pass. Calmer seas will prevail just long enough for the next big kahuna to come along. Embrace it! Aloha and happy surfing.

PJ

So many thoughts so little time

I was thinking about the vast number of thoughts and ideas about the most effective way to do children's ministry...or any ministry for that matter.
I wonder how often we get caught up in the creativity, coolness, and methodology but miss the heart of the matter? The bottom line is touching lives.
I have been through several different curriculums and have written my own and have come back to try some other things that I thought may freshen up my approach to ministering to kids. I have fought the battle of live skits and puppets versus videos. I have gone through the thoughts of what is better live worship or videos. I have also tried to figure out the right balance between teaching and involvement. I have learned a couple of things through the journey.
1. Kids (at least most kids) are definitely doers and not sitters
2. Small group time with kids is really valuable in connecting them to the heart of the message
3. You have to find a way to extend your influence beyond the church doors and into the homes

The first idea is that kids like to move. They have the wiggles in their pants and the giggles in their heart. This is the way a kid is. Go with it--don't fight it! Leverage this to your advantage. It will take some effort and a lot of energy on your part but have a lot of doing in the lesson. Involve them in everything that you can. Having them do voiceovers during a story, acting out characters, watching for clues, doing games to help the truth of the lesson come alive. Videos are ok too. The only key here is not too long and make sure it is funny.

The second thought is that connecting the kids minds, bodies and hearts to the lesson is vitally important. No better way that I have found than small group time. If you haven't tried it I highly recommend doing so. Just as with adults, the smaller the group the less the intimidation to talk and share. If you get kids broken off into smaller groups where they can share their thoughts and ideas rather than going along with the crowd...you reach them on a deeper level and they have ownership in the discussion and in the lesson.
A-HA! This is what we are shooting for all along.

The third thought is an ongoing discovery. How do we extend the influence? Kids are in church a couple of hours a week but with their parents, friends, teachers and even pets more than that. We must have a strategy for partnering with the parents especially. If we can have a combined effort to learn the Word throughout the week and apply it on a kids level we will have the greatest success. We want lifelong, devoted followers of Christ. Find ways in your setting to reach across to the parents and work with them at helping their children reach this goal.

Some many things to do and work on. As Dori said, "Just keep swimming."

Remember to keep the first things first--Love God and Love People that'll put you...

In The Zone!

PJ

Unrelenting

The unrelenting love of God. WOW! What a thought.
The God of all creation is unrelenting in His pursuit of and dedication to us.
The one who framed the world with His Words and holds galaxies on the tip of His finger never tires and never pulls back from His pursuit of us.
His mercies are new everyday. Stop and think about that. No matter the challenge. No matter the difficulty we face His mercies are new to us everyday to process these things and give us the key to unlock victory--EVERYDAY!
His Grace is sufficient. He is strength in our weakness. He is joy in the midst of sadness. He is life in the face of death.
He is eternal. From before time..wrap your mind around that. Our spirit gets it but our brain cannot comprehend it.
This Great God-Master of all creation-chose to take His infinite massiveness and permeate our whole being with Himself.
What a concept! In all of His might and power He could not force His way in. He would have blown us up trying to fit all of Him into tiny us. He came up with the way and that was for us to ask. That seems to simple. Ask-that's all we have to do? Yep, ask!
Are you kidding me? All I have to do is ask and the Lord of all things will somehow enfold Himself and His life into my being?
That's it. Simple as that.

Remember the God of your youth. Return to your first love.
Living life wide open in pursuit of a Holy God is all the better when you realize He is pursuing you.
Get Caught!
It's worth it all. Living the life God intended for you is the greatest joy attained by man on this spinning ball we inhabit.

Take time to know Him more today.
Take time to be in wonder of the amazing things He has done.
Take time to be thankful for the unrelenting Love He uses to pursue you.
Jesus loves you this I know--simple as that.

Keep the first thing first.
PJ

Worship 1

I was thinking a lot about praise and worship over the last few months and have decided to blog it. I am currently serving as a children's minister/associate pastor/get'er done guy and I absolutely love it. I wouldn't trade it for anything. But before I was doing this particular area of ministry I had been on or leading worship teams for a lot of years. It really is a passion for me. I didn't play any instrument-except for that month long stint with piano in 5th grade-until I was a senior in High School. Since then I have done a lot of things but music has always been involved. I have played with brilliant musicians far better than myself in countless venues. Jazz, rock, country, theatre, symphony, big band, wind ensembles, percussion ensembles, and churches. Most of these areas I have played many times over with many different musicians. I have learned something from every one of these situations and good or bad from every musician.
I guess the reason for the blog is to communicate how great all of these things are and to point out the one that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Also, to express my observations, concerns, and thoughts so that maybe the younger generations(and no I am not old) can possibly avoid some of the pitfalls that I have seen along the way.

Being a praise and worship leader is absolutely the highest calling or the most noble and important thing you can do with your musical talent. There is no doubt about it. God created music--He loves it--He sings--He enjoys us enjoying it--and ultimately when we sing and play to Him and talk about Him and how great He is the we are using music for it's highest purpose-to Glorify God. What an awesome thing to connect with the creator of the universe through something so totally fun and lacking abandon like music.
With all of that said, I wonder why people who have the greatest gift to lead people into the presence of God choose to lay it aside for other pursuits or they mistake the anointing that is on them to minister as the same for them to live under. If that is confusing--let me try to clear it up. Why do some leaders live like major heathens and then get up in front of a crowd and lead worship as if there is no consequence to it. Hurt people in the wake of wayward worship leaders is one of the most damaging things to the togetherness of God's people. I know that God cares for His people above all things and that He is constantly bringing new ministers to the forefront to help people and lead them and nurture them. I know that no person can destroy the things that God does in people--but they sure can sidetrack it for a while.
I guess the bootom line for now is that we need to watch what we say and do. We also need to watch what we spend our time thinking about and what we expose ourselves to. It's not that everything is bad but the more you expose yourself to unruly, violent, impure things the less tuned in you become to the Spirit of God. Your mind and spirit become dulled to the bad things around you that would have shocked you a year ago. Soon---there is nothing left to surprise you or cause you to be shocked. The bible refers to it as hardening of the heart. Then you are in a dangerous place because you have blurred the line between wrong and right. Then you are in a place where you are unprotected and you are vulnerable to giving in to the things that tempt you and provoke you to sin. The devil is always skulking around like a lion looking for someone to have for dinner--looking for someone to rip apart. Don't give up-don't quit-but win. When you aren't sure, He is and He can help you if you'll just ask. He said, "if you seek with all of your heart I will let you find me."
Follow Jesus--Be Like Him. Praise and worship the highest call-we can all do it. You might as well practice now and get used to expressing yourself in your way to God thanking Him for His greatness because the truth is---His children will be doing it for eternity. This is just the rehearsal before the big show. It matters-so do your best.
I am done for now with this final thought--Keep the first thing first! You'll never fail. PJ

Amazed?

Aloha! I am back with a different topic this time. I am giving worship a break for this edition and focusing on the theme of lessons I am currently doing in CC. Amazed!
What amazes you? or ______________ is the most amazing thing I have ever heard or seen or experienced. Either way--are you amazed by something?
I am. I am amazed by lots of different things. Structures amaze me. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, the Petronas Towers, the Sydney Opera House, the Biltmore House, the Storebaelt Bridge in Denmark, Christ the Redeemer Statue in Brazil, the Great Wall of China. Creation amazes me--the rich, vibrant colors in tulips and daisies. Cheetahs and sailfish and pergrine falcons--the fastest animals on the planet. I am astonished that something can run 70 mph, swim 68 mph, and fly up to 200 mph. The height of Mount Everest and the depth of the Mariana Trench are astounding. Sunsets, and giant waves, thunderclouds, and lightning all leave me thunderstruck. Machines and the things men can make are awe inspiring. Giant trenchers that can dig scoops of earth big enough to swallow a little over 960 football fields a day. Airplanes-especially fighter jets and show planes like the Blue Angels, Snowbirds, and Thunderbirds. I am also amazed by people: the kindness they show because they want to not because they have to. The speed of runners-every 4 years the Olympic 100 meter race comes around and in reality a 10 second race took 4 years to prepare. The love of a child and the simple way that they see the world. They are more thoughtful and insightful than most adults--just because they don't know as much stuff or have as many misconceptions and learned fears-does not mean that they don't know more. I am dumbfounded by the way families can at once love and build each other up and the very next second bring strife and turmoil, hurt and division.
Needless to say, I am sure you all have your own things that Amaze you. Things you love and treausre. Things that interest you and entertain you. I would be curious what those are. Every person different than the next.
The thing that flabbergasts, blows me away, bewilders, stupefies, shocks, astounds, stuns, floors, and leaves me speechless more than aall of these is the love of God. The grace of the master--the power of His Word and His Name. The strength of His blood the healing and provision in His life. All in me--- and every other Christian who takes the risk to believe. It all comes down to this though--He loves us. He loves you. Better yet He loves me. I am His favorite child in all the world-and so are you. Mary and Joe were amazed at the things Simeon said about the baby Jesus. The disciples were amazed over and over at the words and actions of Jesus. How did the fig tree die so quickly? How do the wind and waves obey Him? How does He heal and break bondages so easily? This is importatn because they were His friends and they were amazed. Amzing your friends that really know you is sometimes the hardest thing to do. All of the huge crowds that followed Jesus or showed up wherever He went were amazed by Him. They were amazed how He healed everyone, how He taught with such authority on the subject of knowing and loving God and how to treat other people, how He showed kindness and compassion, how He was never too busy to help anyone who needed it, and how He never was worried or anxious or afraid. It was all becase of the love He had in His heart for people and the desire He had to do His best in the job that the Father sent Him to do. He didn't quit in the middle--He started strong and finished stronger. Amazingly--the King was also amazed both for good and bad. He was amazed at the strength of faith that people had in Him and His words. "Speak the Word only and I know my servant will be healed"--Jesus referred to this and several others as having Great Faith. Sadly--He was also amazed at a lack of faith-He even questioned His friends "how is it that you don't have any faith--or why don't you use the faith that is inside you, why do you choose to let it sit and do nothing?"
Jesus also said that the ones to come that had not seen Him and that would believe would be ones of great faith. That's me. It seems we are at a point of making a decision--the subject--JESUS
the question....
ARE YOU AMAZED?

He gave His life for yours and took all of your sins and obliterated them so that they were unrecognizable and unremembered. He destroyed any shortcomings and failures. He fixed every problem--healed every disease--and made a way for you to have everything you need--here and now and in heaven.
If you are AMAZED open your mouth and say it. The power and love of God are always ready to do something good when you talk about Jesus. You are just like Him. He fills every part of you when you believe and you can do everythig He could do if you believe.

So now... What Amazes You?

Keep the first thing first.
PJ