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Well, here I am, back at work on a Monday morning with no vacation days in sight. I haven’t worked a full week in about a month, so it will be good to get back into the swing of things here (at least, that’s what I keep telling myself between sips of this rat poison. no i kid…it’s good to be back)

I’ll quickly catch you up on the last 3 days of my life, even though you couldn’t care less.

Friday

+ woke up in Virginia Beach for the 2nd straight day. Spent the morning at the Wave Conference with the other leaders from our church. Heard a great message from Bayless Conley on not believing the lies that can worm their way into our heads. Also listened to some of the Hillsong guys talk about how they organize their worship teams at church, and how they handle different situations. I came away with more of an appreciation for these guys than I had before.

+ Spent the afternoon chilling. Read a little, answered emails, listened to music. Took a walk to the beach, which was 2 blocks from the house we were staying in. It was freezing. Must have been 50 degrees with a stiff wind whipping in off the water. I went down there to get a picture of me in my new shirt. (That might be the most un-manly sentence I’ve ever typed.) I bought the shirt from Carlos Whittaker at RagamuffinSoul.com. He donated all his proceeds to the Global Food Crisis, plus it’s a cool shirt. I took about 20 pictures, and ended up with only a few in which I didn’t look like a complete moron.

+ After the final session at Wave Conference (which was great), I drove home with my friends Dwight and Peggy. We left at 10pm and got back around 3am, but the 5 hours flew by thanks to great company and good conversation. And yes, for the record, I do soap before I shampoo. And anyone who does it differently is abnormal.

Saturday

+ When I got in at 3am on Saturday morning there were 3 handmade cards waiting for me in the kitchen. There must have been some chopped onions lying around or something because my eyes got a bit watery. My fam is the best.

+ Slept in until 10am and spent the day with the kids while Erica went to work. I decided on the spur of the moment to redesign the front page of my website using one of the pictures I took at the beach. That took a few hours, but I’m pretty happy with the result. You can check it out here.

Sunday

+ Had a great time playing guitar on the worship team for both our 9am and 11am services. Can’t really think of a better way to start a day. My bro-in-law Chad does a great job leading the team and the congregation…I’m so thankful to be able to serve under him and to be able to use the sliver of talent I have to help people connect with God by praising Him.

+ Went to Parker’s soccer tournament. It was the final day of the season and all 8 teams played 3 games, after which the top 4 teams advanced to the playoffs. Parker’s team (Argentina) was one of the better ones. They went 2-1 in the round robin and earned a semi-final match-up against Germany. The game was tied after regulation and a 5-minute OT, so they had to go to penalty kicks, and Parker’s team lost 2-1. I don’t think Parker minded too much though, halfway through his last game (his fourth 20-minute game of the day) he said, “I’m tired of playing soccer”.

+ After soccer we watched some football with Than and Kandace, then I played Wii with Parker, then I played living room tackle football with Parker, then I played a board game with Kylie, then we put the kids to bed and Erica and I watched the Phillies and vegged on the couch before crashing.

So that was my weekend in a nutshell. If you’ve made it this far, I’m impressed. Give yourself a pat on the back and get back to work…

Tags: weekend recap

A lawyer argues. A lawyer convinces, cajoles, and spins. A lawyer makes a case and tries to convert. A lawyer plans and schemes. A lawyer only tells the side of the story that benefits the case. These are not bad things…it’s just what a lawyer does.

A witness tells what happened. A witness does not speculate or assume. A witness was there. A witness felt it, saw it, and lived it. A witness relies on the truth of the story.

I think too often as Christians we think we are supposed to be lawyers for Jesus. Like God needs us to make a case for Him, or else the jury will convene and rule against Him (or us). And if that happens, that we’ve failed because we weren’t convincing enough.

It’s a lie.

We are called to be witnesses. Share what has happened to us, how we felt, what we’ve seen, where we’ve been. It’s our story that’s important. It’s our story that will connect with people, not our arguments.

So let’s put away the spin and the rock-solid defense (that’s not so rock-solid) we’ve tried to construct. Let’s stop acting, thinking, and relating to others like we were lawyers.

Let’s share our stories with love and humility and listen to others as they share theirs.

Tags: Lawyer, Witness

One quick story I forgot to tell in the last post. During Joel’s session this morning somebody’s phone starting ringing. Embarrassing right? I mean, it was a small room, and this guy was sitting right in front of me, just 10-15 feet from Joel as he was speaking.

The thing is, his ringtone was a Hillsong United song. It was Joel singing “Point of Difference”. Worse yet, it took the guy a good 6-8 seconds to get his phone to shut up. Not sure if Joel heard it or not. If he did, he played it off pretty well. Kinda funny though, eh?

Tags: Joel Houston, Ringtones

Joel Houston plays in a band called Hillsong United. They’re out of Sydney, Australia and they play what most people call “worship music”. I guess that means many of their songs would be considered appropriate for congregational singing in a church. I know a lot of people reading this aren’t huge fans of Hillsong United. Some of you think the music is more “pep rally” than “God glorifying”. Some of you think the music is too loud and too fast. Some of you think anything that isn’t a hymn is somehow less holy. Some of you just think it’s not good art. You know what, that’s all cool. I’m glad we all like different music.

I love their music because not only does it glorify God and Jesus lyrically, it’s just great music. I’d probably listen to them if they were singing about dissecting frogs or mopping floors. (ok maybe that’s not totally true…but you get my point). In my opinion, it is great art.

A few of the members of Hillsong United led the worship service last night at the conference I’m at. It was very cool to sing along to some of my favorite songs live and in person with the band. Then today i sat in on a 30-minute session that Joel led on guarding your heart as you create art and use your gifts. It was cool to hear a little about his struggles and the things that inspire him.

As you can see in this crappy picture I took of him, he’s a tall dude. In this picture he looks like a giant, but in real life, I bet he’s only 6′ 3″ or something like that. He also wears skinny black jeans. A lot of the musicians here are wearing skinny black jeans. It’s a bit unnerving, actually.

Tags: Hillsong United, Joel Houston