The Big Red Tractor from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Francis Chan.  Maybe you’ve seen him at a Passion conference, or watched his sermons online.  Or, you may have read Crazy Love.  [If you haven't, please take advantage of a few links...]

Chan’s latest book, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect for the Holy Spirit has been on repeat in my mind.  I haven’t removed it from my ‘now reading’ section on the blog, as I am reading it again for the second time.  Sometimes I tend to gloss overs sections of a book, and I need to go back to read again so I can soak it all in.

The above video is from the book’s DVD Study Guide.  I thought I’d share it with you all.  The cartoon depicts the condition of many American churches.  It’s interesting to me how a “children’s story” can speak so much clearer to me than other things.  Perhaps it’s that whole ‘innocence like a child‘ thing that Jesus was talking about.  Take a look…

What are your thoughts?  Do you find yourself trying to move the big red tractor?

Although I’m a big fan of the “Caption Please” posts on a lot of blogs, I’ve decided to go a different route for Fridays here.  I’ll be sharing interesting/inspring/funny/enlightening/etc. quotes that I’ve come across in my 29 years of living.

Seriously….I may just make this the Friday CS Lewis quote post.  But, I’ve been reading a lot of his work lately, and it’s just blowing my mind.

We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.

-CS Lewis (The Weight of Glory)

I realize that National Slavery and Human Trafficking month ended in January, but I wanted to share an update that I’m pretty stoked about.  Yes, I said “stoked.”  I live near the West Coast now, so it’s totally appropriate.

Last month I wrote about Streetlight, an organization here in Phoenix who is doing some amazing things to combat the problem of human trafficking.  You can read the post here.

I will be the musical guest tonight at [mission], which is a service/venue who’s focused on both creative arts and global missions.  Tonight’s theme is “Glow,” and will center around Streetlight, and allow for brainstorming about what we can do locally to fight human trafficking.  I’ll be playing a few original songs as we start.

Please pray that conversations stir up actions.  And, on a selfish note, please pray that I don’t succumb to nervousness and faint.

This post is inspired by Tyler Braun.  He discussed the question of theologically-sound lyrics in worship music today.  If you weren’t in that discussion and would like to be, go to his blog.

Attention all worship leaders/pastors/creative arts directors, etc. :

Are you writing songs for your church?  If not, why?

I love a lot of the current worship music that’s out there just as much as the next person.  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using that to lead worship in your corporate worship setting.  And sure, not everyone can necessarily write songs.  But, my challenge to us all is this:  Write songs for your church.

We’re worshipers first, worship leaders second.  God is a creator, not a duplicator.  He’s making all things new, and He’s certainly doing unique things in different churches all over the world.  Besides, think about some of the songs you lead your congregation with now.  Where were they birthed?  Most of the time in the local church. Think about the song, “The Heart of Worship” by Matt Redman.  I’m sure a lot of you know the story behind it–totally unique to their church at the time, and now being sung all around the world.

I’m a big proponent of writing songs to use in a corporate worship setting.  One crucial thing I think one needs when doing this is a trusted friend, be it a pastor, another worship leader, mentor, etc. that you can bounce these songs off of.  I’ve tried to send any song I’ve written to my former pastor who lives in Indiana.  I ask him to critique every lyric, as I want to make sure the message of the song is Biblical.

What is God doing in your community of believers? Perhaps there’s a theme/phrase of a sermon series that your church is really holding on to, or a particular scripture that could inspire songs of praise.  I’m not saying that we throw out everything that we sing, but let’s allow ourselves to listen to that stirring in our souls.  And let that stirring bring forth worship.

So, are you writing songs for your church? If so, I’d love to hear your process.

A few weeks ago at work, I had the pleasure of being the first person for a woman to tell that she had accepted Christ as her Savior.  She shared that she was unsure of so much, yet knew that everything was going to be different.

Tears ran down her face, as she explained that she was embarrassed because she didn’t know where to go when the speaker asked everyone to turn to Colossians.  I encouraged her to get connected to a Christ-centered community of believers where she could be real, as she was asking me about what kind of church she should attend.  At the end of our conversation, she said….

I just got chills.

I was immediately envious of her, because I remember feeling the exact same way when I met Jesus.

And I missed that.  The feeling of coming alive.  Why in the world have I forgotten?

Ironically, it was her new-found faith that reminded me of mine.  In that very moment God used a person ransomed to awake a person complacent.  I was reminded that I was only breathing by the grace of God, and I need to stop taking that for granted.

So, what about you?

Do you remember? Do you remember the last time you were overwhelmed at the thought of what Jesus did for you?  Have you ever stopped to think about where you have come from and what you have become?

For me, it’s overwhelming to think that I would be in full-time ministry.  This is not what I had planned to do, nor wanted to do.  Now, almost two years later, I look back at all the random people/events that came into my life that were used to push me in that direction.

What about you?  What do you see when looking back (even if just for a brief period of time) that reminds you of something other than yourself?  Where have you seen God in your life?

From what I gather so far in the early existence of this blog, there are several Christians who read it, as well as some who may be new to their faith.  Feel free to share with each other to encourage and challenge.  You know, that whole iron sharpening iron kind of thing.

Ready?  Go.