created to love Him...

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time reading and thinking about Abraham and Isaac…partially because this is currently my focus in my worship class for RMS and partially because I feel like Abraham’s story rarely leaves the surface of my thoughts. He teaches me so much about what a lifestyle of worship looks like. I thought I’d share some of my musings with you.  If I could sum up Abraham’s relationship with God I think it would look like this: GOD SPEAKS = I DO.   In Genesis 12, God appears on the scene of Abram’s life and says to him, “GO from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” Immediately we learn from this that Abram’s life in God was built on trust. God didn’t tell him exactly where to travel to, which means that this journey involving leaving everything known behind would be spent listening to the voice of the Lord for direction with the intent to obey what He speaks. Right from this beginning we see Abram’s...

All fear is but the notion that God's love ends. Did you think that I end, that My bread warehouses are limited, that I will not be enough? But I am infinite, child. What can end in Me? Can life end in Me? Can happiness? Or peace? Or anything you need? Doesn't your Father always give you what you need? I am the Bread of Life and My bread for you will never end. Fear thinks God is finite and fear believes that there is not going to be enough. In Me, blessings never end because My love for you never ends. If My goodness towards you end, I will cease to exist, child. As long as there is a God in heaven there is grace on earth and I am the spilling God of the uncontainable, forever-overflowing-love-grace. ~God I love that AND the very warm chocolate-chip cookies I just pulled out of my oven. 

NASB:             "In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." ESV:                "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." MESSAGE :    "Thank God no matter what happens. This the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live."  KJV:                 "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Holy Spirit, I need your help! Thank You that You are the Helper.  If it is God's will for us to give thanks in every circumstance, that means that there are things to be found in every circumstance to be thankful about. This is a partner verse with "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4) If it is God's will for us to rejoice (re-joice = to joy again) in every circumstance, it means that joy can...

I am a Twitter snoop. I don't have my own account. I mooch off of other people's accounts to get into the thoughts and business of people I know & don't know, but greatly respect. There. I've made my confession public. Tonight I ran across a Tweet from Brian Johnson from Bethel Redding asking worship leaders to post their set worship list from this morning's service. Upon reading people's responses, almost everyone had similar to identical worship lists. Most of the songs were from Bethel Music or Tim Hughes, who might as well be a part of Bethel Music! :) I enjoy both of these by the way, and also lead much of their music at Redeemer. But, what I was seeing is that across the country or maybe across the world. the same songs were being offered all over the place. I'm thinking this could be one of two things: either unity across the church or a deficit in creativity in the church. I don't know how it goes for other leaders or musicians, but I fin...

I know the title of my blog is "The musings of a worship leader," but today I'm really thankful for the other part of ministry that God has given me and that is my kids at Redeemer. Today 3 of my kids (and 1 of Redeemer's youth) were baptized during our church service. A few weeks agos, one of my girls stood in front of the church and shared a prophetic vision that God had given her for our church. This morning as we worshiped, the front of the sanctuary was filled with kids dancing, singing and laughing. I'm so excited about what God is doing in them! We've had a tradition at Redeemer since I was a child where we call the kids up to the steps every Sunday morning and pray for them before they go on to their classes. This is always one of my favorite moments on Sundays. This morning as they came running up, my heart felt overwhelmed with how wonderful they all are and the greatness that God has in store for them. Our assistant pastor, Josh, has said many tim...

This building is a great place to play hide and seek! It's missing because the people of Linden Avenue Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio have stolen it! The thieves! :) I'm back home sweet home and thinking a lot about the people I've met this week. God is the Rescuer and I just spent 4 glorious days with people who have been rescued from much for Much. I met former alcohol and drug addicts. I met former prostitutes. I met people who are wholeheartedly seeking after God's plan for their lives who yet struggle with addiction...people still crying out for freedom from their old life. I met servants, humility, hospitality, teachability, generosity, vulnerability, gentleness...real people in touch with their weaknesses and need for a Rescuer. I was in good company. I need a Rescuer, too. I don't ever want to forget what God has saved me from. I never want to become desensitized to my moment of salvation. We all have sinned...we all have fallen short of God's in...

If I lived in a hamster wheel, this is what it would look like! I am still in Dayton and yesterday was a very full day...filled with wonderful God moments, coffee, Despicable Me, and good conversation. I spoke twice at Linden Avenue on worship, intimacy and identity. I preached my first "sermon" during a Sunday morning. I think it was preaching...I don't know the difference between preaching and teaching. I guess I should take Pastor John's clas s to find this out! I had prepared something specific to give to the congregation before I arrived in Dayton. However, early yesterday morning I woke up and immediately felt like God had something different in mind for me to say. This was fun for me because it means He loves these people so much to give them something straight from His heart that day and it means that He loves me enough to use me to speak it. On top of changing my sermon around, I also felt like He gave me a few prophetic words for 2 people whom I've ...

I'm sitting in a hotel in Dayton, Ohio. I love hotels. For some reason, they make my heart happy! Even though I'm technically still in the midwest and only a few hours from home, I am in a constant state of giddyness when I'm on a road trip. The coolest picture of Olivia EVER! I'm here with Olivia Wantz and her family who are pastors at Linden Avenue Baptist Church. Olivia went to our ministry school this past year and leads the worship ministry at Linden Avenue. I am going to be teaching on worship, identity and intimacy over the next 3 days. I'm excited to meet these people tomorrow morning. God has filled my heart with compassion for them and I believe He is going to do great things in them. I know He is going to speak to them. Why not? I believe God speaks to us today. I believe God wants to speak to us and has many things to say if we will but lend an eager ear and quiet our mouths long enough to listen. I love telling people how much God loves them and w...

Last night I read a story that has me thinking today. In fact, its directing my prayer time because I'm wondering if God would want to do a work in me this morning as I meet with Him. This story is out of a book I'm reading about a woman who has questions very similar to my own. This portion of her story went like this: Naomi was re-locating from a rural town, where apartment rent is cheap and affordable, to San Diego, where you can get a 300 square foot studio for triple its value. Finding a place that would fit her budget and accept her golden retriever, India, was proving to be a challenge. Finally, she found a place renting an apartment over a garage, which meant sharing a lawn with the landlord, an older woman with a meticulous lawn. The landlord reluctantly agreed to accept India on a trial basis. Naomi and India moved in immediately. The next morning, Naomi woke up to find that India had dug, not a hole, but a pit in the middle if this perfect lawn. Scared that he...

This summer I have given an invitation to my worship team to join me in studying the Psalms. We've been taking one Psalm a week and meditating on it each day. When God speaks, we email it to the whole team to share with them what we're learning. This week we're focusing on Psalm 97. I've been reading and reading Psalm 97 this week. To be honest, I'm having a hard time getting past verse 1! I feel really challenged by this verse: "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad." God is challenging my level of rejoicing. I should be the most joy-filled person ever to walk this planet. The God that I serve is in absolute control and calls me "daughter," "beloved," "friend," and "priest." Not only does our God reign over all things, but we've been given the highest rank, greatest titles and most beautiful position under this all supreme Ruler. In confidence of this, I should be pra...