Near and Far Faith

Diggin Carlos' podcast! He had some great resources that are so practical for worship leaders. Started using one of them today - worshipplanning.com - Check it out!

He also was on L.A. ink recently - watched it last night (God made the DVR himself).

Bought my tickets for the David Crowder Tour this morning! WOOO HOOO!! I can't wait to see a show where he headlines! AND he's touring with Phil Wickham who's music has been rocking the Hibbs house for the last year or so.

I'm still going through Daniel and I'm in chapter 9 where Dan is praying and he says this (in The Message): [God] Act out of who You are, not out of what we are.

That thought just blows me away. First off, what if God in all his power did act on who we are? Some of us that have been in church for a long time may immediately wander to "the Sinner" (ie. the murderer or adulteress), completely passing over our potentially gossip filled and lieing hearts. Yeah, see, what we deserve, you and I, is the same that"they" deserve. We deserve eternal separation.

One of the students at Ignite asked this question Tuesday during Open Mic: Why is hell so bad? First we established and agreed that South Park and the Simpson's were a little OFF with it. It's sad, but they're really just expressing what the culture truly believes - Hell's fun. Then I told them this (and it was good to put into words what I've thought - not often we have to do that as Christians): what's so bad about hell is simply that we are alone - no friends, but most importantly, no God. See we'll have been judged and have seen our true and exhaustive need for Him by then and be destined for eternity apart from Him.

That's what we deserve. But the second thing that gets me about Daniel's prayer is this: How often do we act like we'll get what we deserve - good or bad? I believe that we lack a true understanding of Grace in it's purest Godly form.

Way back The Newsboys wrote a song about it. Check it out here.

Let's find out what it means to live in grace.

Tuesday we wrapped up Parents of the Caribbean and got the results from the DX and I was blown away. Just goes to show that people are looking to connect with their creator.

One student gave up texting. Another gave up TV. Tom gave up torturing his teachers and told us how much he learned for 3 days. One of the V-Staff fasted for 3 days. Another student let TV go for the DX.

To read more about how the DX started click here.

Can't wait to turn it onto LTM tomorrow!

Ok so it's not a real danger (no limbs are close to falling off) and many of you most likely do not face it as much as pastors, however I've realized that at the rate that I listen to podcasts (one a day sometimes) it's easy to stop thinking for yourself. The primary job that have as Christians is creativity - using the imagination God gave us to show His message as the ever appealing gift that it is.

Some have said that creativity is really just stealing other ideas and improving on them, but I believe God's bigger than that. While I'll continue to get ideas form other churches, I will make sure to sink my thoughts more into the living Word.

It's easier to listen to other pastors and get "fed" (check out what Perry said about that here) than to really study scripture for ourselves. It's simply a wrestling match of priority.

Last night was my final night without TV.

Here are a few things I've learned from The Disciple Experiment:

• TV easily distracts me from my family time and my God time - I need to be careful
• I miss The Office the most (THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!)
• Time with Cher is precious and it needs to take priority - while we do love watching thins together - that's NOT quality time.

I'm pumped to share this same message that brought on The DX with Langhorn Terrace Ministries next Sunday! Their pastor and good friend has given me the privilege of speaking and leading worship for them.

The picture doesn't really do it justice. I tried to get Rory (my 2.5 yr. old) a sticker at the grocery store and instead she got one of those temporary tattoos of Donkey from Shrek. She's now watching Shrek and comparing the tattoo on her stomach to the actual character. It's priceless.

But it's got me thinking, how often do we question God? He speaks into our life - gives new revelation - and while we're in the midst of moving on it we doubt. If we're honest we doubt ourselves more than anything else. It really comes down to a misunderstanding of Grace and it's forgiveness. That doubt is reluctant wafts of past failures, mistakes, or sin. They've been forgiven but East from West (Psalm 103:12) hasn't solidified itself in our hearts. It also says in Psalm 103 that He has "removed" our sin. It's gone - all gone. Restoration is the outcome of grace - the working of that which we don't deserve or quite understand. We should have confidence, obviously not in us, but in the grace and power that we've submitted to. That is where the confirmation will come from.

I feel freed by The DX! Today I spent the day with my family at the zoo. Spent a lot of time with the elephants as Rory needed to work on her elephant noise and seek their approval. She has the attention span of her dad - we did the reptile house in about 7 minutes.

Then we went by Ikea on our way home and they've begun to sell their Swedish meatballs Fro... wait for it... ZEN! Tally has no idea what the glory of this development is which is a shame. VA needs some Ikea! I saw God today in those meatballs that we later enjoyed for our dinner.
I just don't think we realize what traps us and keeps us from being who God wants us to be. It's the little innocent things that we rationalize away so easily.

So last night was amazing! It was the 1st time we've not watched TV together in almost a year during the we're-at-home-during-prime-time... time. I'm ashamed that I haven't done this sooner and that it isn't part of my life regularly. Well, it will be from now on!

I talked to my wife - had great conversation - like we haven't had in a long time. It was like getting to know her again. I read more of Daniel - rockin my world by the way that young men had that commitment to God and that's what He honored and displayed in His word - not being the most popular Christian, but the most controversial. Check out Perry's podcast on Jesus being controversial. I even read myself to sleep with Frodo and the gang. I've been wanting to read more and suddenly feel that all the time and motivation that I've been lacking has been looming behind the TV!

Today... THE ZOO! We're taking the kids to the Philly zoo. We've never been with them. The last time we went was when Cher was pregnant with Rory. Can't wait to see Rory (2.5 yrs. old) interact with creation!

The DX is totally worth it!

Try reading through this the first time skipping the parenthesis.

Stupid little confession - the Firefox browser underlines all of your misspelled words with a red dotted line as you type - similar to Word. I play this game... You see, my grammar (spelled that wrong the first time - saw no problem with and "er" ending) is sloppinesses (tried to misspell that, but believe it or not, it's actually a correctly spelled English word) and my spelling worse. Actually, my spelling is very phonetic because I learned to read, write, and spell in French before English (by the way - English is spelled wrong if not capitalized) - how's THAT for an excuse. The rocket scientist who designed (forgot the "g") the "learn French (also should be capitalized) or die" curriculum who's spel I was under from kindergarten through 4th grade didn't think English grammar was necessary (who spells THAT right the first time - is it 2 "c"s or 2 "s"s?) until 3rd grade.

So here's my game - can I try to actually correct the word on my own without right-clicking on it to get the answer. Sometimes I'm a ringer! I immediately (can't believe I actually got that one on the first try) see the mistake and correct it. Other times... I look at the supposed misspelled word and see no issues (no "r" in that by the way - figured that out without the right-click) threatening the English tradition. I'm A.D.D. though so I give up after 7 seconds. Try reading this again with my little notes on my game.

I knew this would be the time when the choice would come - prime time. This is when replacing TV with God and family is going to hit home for me. As God would have it today, Cherie is out, Rory's with my mom, and Tate's asleep - and it's not even 7PM.

Part of me is keenly aware of the criticism that may come from this experiment. One might say that it shouldn't even be an experiment... it should be life all the time. To them I would say that anything that gets us out of the box to experience God in a new way is worth all the time and effort. If this was life, perhaps a good experiment would be to watch TV for 3 days straight and find God in our culture. BOO YAA (red line indicates this is spelled incorrectly)!

Just a note of Newspring: diggin' their "Reel Life" series podcast. Started to listen to Perry talk about prayer today on my way home and begin to dissect Matt. 6 and even in the short 15 min. ride home God revealed some new things to me.

Thankful for the Ipod.

Today begins The DX - The Discipleship Experiment. We challenged each other last night at Ignite to replace one thing in out life with God Time for the next 3 days. I'm replacing TV. Another one of the V-Staff is replacing sleeping in.

The experiment is based on the premise that the disciples spent time with Jesus and thus new Him better and had greater awareness of their power through him. We were encouraged to team up with 2 others until the experiment ends Saturday to encourage each other through it.

I am really excited to hear what God has done by then in our lives! To those who are experimenting - be strong - it's worth it! Go for God's heart and let your selfishness drain!

2.5 days left.

So I'm extremely pumped about not watching TV for the next 3 days!!

I challenged the students of Ignite tonight to The Discipleship Experiment - where we chose to replace one thing in our lives with God time in the form of prayer, scripture, or family time (family counts as God time because God gave them to you - find God in sunsets and sushi).

And I'm doing it together with them - I'm replacing TV with God time. I watch 2-3 hours of TV per night, by the way. It starts tomorrow morning so stay tuned for updates!

I know there might be criticism about all the time being God time, but there's always time for criticism later. Right now, I'm psyched about hearing students stories about the next 3 days.

Oh and it will all culminate with Tony's leadership training Saturday night!

I'm about to start the book of Daniel today after finishing Ezekiel yesterday. I'm pumped. I've been amazed at how much is in these "hidden" books that applies so well to life in general. Proof that the Word of God is living and active, not just to the church, but to everyone everywhere. Check out Ben's post from the other day - it messed me up and I'm still thinking about it.

I finished Ezekiel this morning. Whenever I finish reading anything I feel like I've accomplished a lot. Ezekiel has been a journey and it ended final measurements and rules for the Temple and the division of the land between the tribes and the land for the temple. It left me with this one thought: God is willing to do anything to make himself known. We are the ones who get in the way with our wills. God can and will use us to do amazing things, but He will not force us dictatorially. He desires our passion for the same things He is passionate about.

We often pray empty passionless prayers hoping that God will step in and "intervene". What of the responsibilities we have as Christ-followers?

When my father was dieing I prayed for his recovery with more passion than I've ever prayed before - believing that God could do it. Looking at my prayer life now... it is rushed and abbreviated as if I'm getting the "prayer star" on the Sunday School chart.

Ezekiel has left me asking myself what details I've missed of God's plan due to my impatience and lack of focus on God's passions? It really all comes down to selfishness vs. selflessness.