Story #1. So It’s 1:00pm on Sunday and I’m processing everything I experienced this weekend. I need to start with the first thing I saw yesterday when I pulled into the parking lot of NorthRidge. I was sitting in my car letting the song “If my heart was a home” by Owl City finish playing (love that song…anyways I digress) and aside from my car and a couple others, the lot was empty. I saw a car pull in near me and a man and his 3 kids got out; about a minute later an suv pulled in and a woman got out. The kids ran straight towards her… and then it hit me; these parents are divorced, and dad had the kids for the weekend and is now returning them to mom for the week and they chose NorthRidge as the meeting place… I wanted so badly to go over and invite them back in a few hours for service, but I didn’t so I prayed that they would come.

Story #2: This weekend I was blessed by multiple individuals who made many attempts to find me to get a copy of my EP (it’s not sold at NorthRidge (yet) and not up on iTunes (yet)) I was thinking we would meet up somewhere in the church after the service of their choosing and they would give me $5 and I would give them a cd. I was wrong. The kind words and blessings that came from the mouths of these individuals touched my heart in a way that I can’t really explain, other than knowing that they spoke a special word of blessing into my life that I won’t soon forget. Thanks everyone who bought an EP today!

Story #3: When I was picking songs for this weekends set list I had this undeniable urge to introduce the song “Great Are You Lord” to our church… If you haven’t heard this new song please do, it’s an amazing song declaring just who God is to us that I hope will be one that resonates with the hearts and lives of NorthRidge Church (the people, not the building).

so that’s all… just my thoughts as I download a bit from a great but busy weekend full of cool surprises from God.

So I was just engaging with a post on Blaine Hogan’s Blog (a must read) on the topic of “whining and pouting” and when the ideas don’t come… I won’t post the complete thought here because you can read his post on it. So it got me thinking about “when the ideas don’t come” and how that can be viewed as the same as the lack of “fruit” in our lives. The “fruit” can be anything; if you’re a creative that works in and for a church it could be that the video, music, drama… any kind of art that you’ve been anointed to create isn’t being created like it used to be. If you’re the leader of a ministry it could be that you find yourself suddenly not having the impact you once had with those you’re leading and discipling.John 15:5 says 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

The times that I feel dry and useless for the Kingdom are the times when I spend the least amount of time with God. The times when I feel the least creative are the times when I’m not plugged into the ultimate Creator, The Creator of Creativity Himself. It’s funny because as I type this my Twitter feed displays the latest post from Carlos Whittaker which reads, “Do you employ God by asking Him to show up when you need some work done? Or does He own you? Think about it.” So let’s face it, we’re all busy, some of us too busy, and we find ourselves gradually outputting less fruit in our lives because we’re not inputting the very things of God. Maybe we can all just take a minute, or 5, or maybe even 10, to plug into The Creator today, to ask Him to forgive us for forgetting Him, and telling Him we’re getting back on the journey to devotion to Him…

Have you seen it? You know, THE look? It’s the way people dress to look a certain part, to fit into a certain mold, and be a part of a section of our culture. The scene kids have their look, the hip-hop crowd has their look, the jock, the cheerleader, even the young worship leader now a days has a certain LOOK. You’ve seen it, I know I have: usually it includes some of the following: tight dark jeans, a v-neck shirt, and a choice between some slip-on’s or the amazing converse all star shoe…

lately have you ever stopped to think about how much time you spend on certain things throughout your day? I’ve been convicted personally lately with the time on spend on a variety of things; sitting and doing nothing, surfing the interwebs, wasting time at work, figuring out what I’m coffee I’m going to order… you get the picture. Recently though I found myself in a place that I thought I would never would.

It was a Saturday night and I found myself spending a considerable amount of time standing in front of my bedroom closet debating the only thing one would internally debate with ones-self while staring at closet; “what am I going to wear”? I honestly probably spent 20-30 minutes trying to figure it out. The night before I was set to lead there I am struggling to find the right shirt to go with the right jeans that ultimately would go with the appropriate color of Converse All-Stars. So here’s my point: Is the time that I’m spending attempting to find the right “look” equal to the time I spend preparing for an encounter with our almighty, passionate, loving, creative God?

I wanted to share this experience with you because it was a huge wake up moment in the life of my ministry that caused me to re-evaluate where I intentionally use my time. Truth be told: we all could probably use some more time at the feet of the King, asking Him for His divine guidance as we prepare to step up on a platform and connect people to Him in song. So to all worship leaders out there; remember that it’s about more than V-Necks and a sweet pair of Converse.

So what about you? What do you need to spend less time on so you can focus on God?

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