Legacy

New Music: Check Them Out

There are three new worship CD's that I am really enjoying.  Two just came out today and two out of the three are also DVD's:

1.  Jesus Culture: Your Love Never Fails

This is the latest release from Jesus Culture Music. This CD/DVD was recorded in the February 2008 Jesus Culture Encounter conference. 

2. David Crowder Band: Remedy Club Tour Edition

David Crowder*Band’s first ever live DVD & CD. The REMEDY Club Tour Edition DVD & CD includes more than 85 minutes of live music shot in high definition from the “REMEDY Club Tour,”

3. Charlie Hall: The Bright Sadness

A collection of songs that reflect his spiritual journaling these last few years, the album, according to Hall, "comes from me understanding my ordinary human condition and my deep love for Jesus."

Car Pooling: The Ultimate Spiritual Test

My wife and I decided to car pool as much as we could, with the cost of gas as high as it is.

On Sunday Mornings for 4 1/2 years, I have always driven to church by myself, usually before Evie and the kids were even out of bed.  Now we are trying to all go together.  

I have learned a lot about my walk with God in the past few weeks on how I have reacted to the pressure of getting out the door with the whole family on the way to church.  I am an evil man to say the least!  If someone was recording the whole ordeal I would not be able to show my face in public for a long time.

Integrity is, “Who you are when nobody’s looking.”  I think our Christian walk can be defined by, “Who we are when we are around those closest to us.”   

 This has been a very good morning.  Not because I acted like a complete fool in front of my family.  Not because I have to repent before God and my family.  But simply because I am able to see how desperate I am for God, and what I need to do to allow God to change me from the inside out.  

War Week 2008: Tim Delina

Tim Delina is the pastor of Revival Tabernacle, the host church for War Week Detroit.  Revival Tabernacle church opened its doors for the first time in 1994. With a passion and a burden for the inner-city Metro Detroit area, Pastor Tim Dilena planted a church in Highland Park, a city that is literally surrounded by the city of Detroit. To house their services, Revival Tabernacle purchased a XXX theater on Woodward Avenue, the main street and gateway to the city.  Pastor Tim is an incredible preacher, and I look forward to hearing him every summer at War Week.

Here is a sample of his sermon from my notes (Please remember my ADD prohibits me from catching everything that he says, so I am not the greatest note taker):

The Sinful Woman Who Washed Jesus' Feet

Three characteristics about her:

1. Her Back: According to Jewish culture, since she was a "sinful woman" (according to Luke), she was required to stand with her back to the wall when she was in a room with religious people.  She broke custom and offended the religious when she fell at Jesus' feet to wash them.

2. Her Hair: If a woman let her hair down, that meant she was "taken" or married.  The only time a female would let her down was when she was alone with her husband.  When the sinful woman let her hair down that meant that she was showing that she belonged to Jesus and only him.

3. Her Tears: The average person's tear fall is 1 cubic centimeters, which is obviously not enough to wash feet.  According to ancient Jewish custom, Hebrew women would collect their tears in a "tear bottle".  The tear bottle was very important to the women and would be buried with them when they died.  Is is possible that this woman used her tear bottle to wash Jesus' feet?  

Bottom Line:

This woman passionately demonstrated her love for Jesus without being concerned at all about customs or religious tradition.  Am I loving Him with this kind of passion?

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."  Luke 7:47 

New John Mark Mcmillan Album - Sep. 09

John Mark McMillan has a new album  coming out on Sep 9 entitled, "The Medicine".  Below you can listen to three new songs that will be on the album.

War Week 2008: Winkie Pratney

Winkie Pratney has been a staple at War Week.  In fact he was the one who came up with the idea of War Week along with Keith Green.  Winkie has been a youth communicator for several years, and is one of the most intelligent men I have ever listened to.  Winkie averages reading a book a day and he also knows more about pop culture than you and I combined.  

Whenever I listen to Winkie, I am always blown away by what I hear, and I always take notes.   But when I go back to read my notes later, I have a hard time understanding what I have written.  It is the oddest thing.

Winkie Describes Idolatry:

One thing I did gather from my notes is Winkie defining idolatry:

1.  The person or thing whom your thoughts turn back to.

2. The person or thing you most spend your money on.

3. The person or thing you talk about the most.  

Winkie said that God obviously hates idolatry, and that is why it is one of the 10 Commandments.

An example of how much God hates idolatry is found in Joshua 7, where the Israelites had to stone Achan for keeping things that God told him to destroy.  

War Week 2008: R.T. Kendall

We had the privilege to hear R.T. Kendall speak at War Week on the first night.  Dr. Kendall was the Senior Minister at Westminster Chapel in England from 1977 to 2002 and is the author of over forty books.  Dr. Kendall preached on "The Value of Unanswered Prayer."  He read from Acts 3:1-15, where Peter and John healed the crippled man who sat at the temple gates each day begging for money.  The interesting thing is that when Jesus was alive he most likely walked by the same man on his way to the temple, but chose not to heal him.  When Peter and John healed this man in Jesus' name, it gave the early church a platform to preach the Gospel.  God's timing is always perfect.  

War Week 2008

Each August we take middle and high school students to Detroit to participate in War Week.  War Week is four days of challenging preaching, prayer and practice. Every year, hundreds of high school students pack the sanctuary of Revival Tabernacle Church in Detroit, MI for a week to hear from a handful of the nation’s finest youth communicators and participate in challenging ministries in the inner-city streets.  Above is a picture of the handful of fine hooligans we took this year.  In the next few days I will write about some of the great teaching and preaching we experienced while we were at War Week. 

20 Years: How Time Flies

This week I watched my eight-year-old daughter Alexa climb on the bus to begin another school year. I started thinking about school and how long it has been since I have been in high school. It blew me away when I realized that 20 years ago at this time I would have been starting my senior year! Can you say, "Old Man"? 

Then that got me thinking on my accomplishments since I flipped my graduation tassels to the left: Bachelors degree, master's degree, marriage, two kids, eight years as a public school teacher, some teacher awards, and my fifth year as a student pastor. Those are the visible accomplishments. But what are the triumphs that will stand the test of eternity? How do we measure those accomplishments?

 Where will I be 20 years from now? Besides being 56, with two grown children and a hot wife, will I be a man that someone would write about a thousand years from now? How do I get to be like Paul, the apostle? Here is what Oswald Chambers said about Paul: "Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim. He was brought into a vivid, personal, overpowering relationship with Jesus Christ. Paul was devoted to a Person, not to a cause. He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s. He saw nothing else and he lived for nothing else. 'For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified' (1 Corinthians 2:2)." My prayer is that the next 20 years be devoted to a person; not a cause, an agenda, or a program. As Paul says, "...Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Happy Father's Day!

I want to wish a very happy father's day to my dad. This is a special one, because he is 80 years old for this father's day. My dad has been a great father to me. The greatest thing I remember about my dad is each day when I would wake up for school he would be out in the living room reading his Bible. Now that he's older and suffering from Alzheimer's, he takes his Bible everywhere he goes. Now that is a habit that has paid off in life and one that I want to pass on to Alexa and Luke! I love you, Dad!

Camp Crestwood Clean-Up Crew

 I just returned from Camp Crestwood with some of the hardest workers I've ever seen.  I'm so proud of the students who went with me to help get Camp Crestwood ready for all the summer camps that will take place.