The Last of the Weekly

I did a survey of those that I though were reading this blog weekly, and I came up with five people. And as much as I would love to continue this for you faithful five, I am going to go to once a month. I hope what I have said in these blogs for the past year and half have moved you to a deeper walk with Jesus.

So this morning, I have a some short thoughts for us all.

1. Live the life God gave you to the fullest.
2. Do all you can do. Don't stop short.
3. But in so doing, find time to be still.
4. Jesus loves you more than you can ever know.
5. Start 2010 with a new revived passion of loving Him.

Have a great Christmas, and I will catch you in 2010.

Love you,

Phil

People

I have heard the statement many times through the years of ministry that "ministry would be easy if it wasn't for the people." Every time it is said it always gets at least a little chuckle. The real funny thing about that statement is that it is true. If all I had to do was prepare a worship service that would express how great Jesus is, that would be easy. But that in itself is not ministry. Oh it is a vital part of what I am called to do as the Associate Pastor of Worship, but that is far from what true ministry is.

The true definition of ministry is people. People are to be valued (not worshipped) but certainly recognized as valued.

So here is the question. How do we look at people...people in our local church body, people at work, people at the store and the malls, and even those on the street corners holding a sign that says "I will work for beer"?

The challenge...in the hustle and bustle of the season of this season, of course we want to exalt Christ above all the other trappings of Christmas. But we need to go further and love those store clerks and the people that cut in front of you in those long lines.

Most of you know that I am a Kenneth Cole clothes nut. Well we don't have a Kenneth Cole store where I am, so I go over to Dallas to the Kenneth Cole store. Well over a two year period, I am on a first name basis with all that work there. There is Ken, Bernard, Josh, Emberly (wow Emberly...there is a story and half), Stephen, and Kelek. Periodically I will stop and buy them a Starbucks card for the store to go get something together, or most like chocolate, so I bring them a box. I truly believe that one day they will all know Jesus.

So how will we bless people today?

Love you.

The Heart of A Champion

Something that 99.9% of you will relate to is how a great champion of a sport is made. There are many elements that go into making a champion, but there is one that outshines them all...endurance and being sold out to the task. Scripture has ways of reminding us who we are in Him. We are overcomers...winners in this life. We are holy, we are righteous because we are covered in His righteousness. We are joint heirs, and we adopted into the Beloved. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. On and on the Scriptures tell us that we are winners.

The biggest hindrance to becoming a champion in sports or even in music is lack of focus and endurance to finish the task. Christmas time is such a busy time in the life of a local body of believers. There are thousands of parties, musicals, and other ministry opportunites we have no other time of the year. Let me encourage you to keep going until the end. There is much that God longs to use us for.

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Church Lingo

Out of the message yesterday morning we were reminded that the building is not the church, but rather we are. Francis Chan, a well known pastor and conference speaker said in a recent Catalyst article that it is not semantics. If we are going to realize this truth deep in our lives, our lingo needs to match. I have to admit I thought it interesting that from different people I talked to yesterday afternoon and in last night's service, I heard at least six or seven references to "coming to", "going to" "being at" or some other form of describing the building as "the" church.

So how serious is this? I tend to agree with Chan...it is so much more than semantics. Scripture refers to us as "over comers, joint heirs, blood bought, winners." Yet I know I personally in my words, I don't refer to myself that way.

Just a thought...maybe we need to get serious about our language.

Have a great week,
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Discipline

A few years ago there was a situation at a large church in Nashville that 71 people were actually "de-churched" from that congregation. In our present history, especially in Southern Baptist Churches, this is unheard of. No one takes discipline to that extreme. But because of the absolute venom that these 71 people publicly spewed about the church and her leaders, the church had a vote. This vote was a church-wide vote and the results were against these 71.

So how do you feel about that? Does the church of 2009 have the right to say there is sin in the camp and it has to be dealt with in such a strong way? The media got hold of this story and of course put their interesting spin on it. So what do you think?

Scripture says that being in the midst of discipline is never easy. But it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Let me have your feedback. I truly believe that the standard we are called to live by as a body of believers (and when I say standard I am not just talking morally, but Biblically) is far above that of another organization. We are called to have our word mean something. Let our yes be yes and our no be no...all other is evil says the Scriptures.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Love you,

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Day of Rest and the Lord's Day

As Tom Kemner taught the study lesson yesterday, all kinds of thoughts were going around in my head. Alex Wascolm brought up the point that everyday is a day of worship but there is one day per week that we have an intent and elevation of worship collectively. Tom pointed out that a day is 24 hours. The thought of what we do from midnight to midnight on one day a week came to light. If a day is 24 hours, then what we do with one day of the seven day week we have becomes pretty important.
In this 24 hour period, we need to accomplish the following:
1. Rest-ceasing from work activities and our normal routine of the other six days.
2. Collectively worship

So not to be legalistic, does that mean if these are "THE" two things that God asks of us on one day a week, why is it that our focus is on so many other things too? Why is it that we add to the list? Why is it that we subtract from the list? Why is it that we think it is okay to not tithe on that day, or not be involved in other collective times of worship so as to pick and choose what "we" want to do?

Just a thought...think about it and answer this question that I have to seriously answer in my own life. As I look at the Lord's day or Sabbath, am I giving 24 hours to intense worship and focus on the Lord?

Thank you to Chris Shirley and this series on Myth Busters and also for Tom Kemner being one of the best challengers of my thinking.

Have a great week.

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Context

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and the subject of context came up. Through the years well meaning people have basically taught the Bible in error because the same well meaning people build a doctrine or judgment on one verse, or even worse a part of a verse. This seems to be used mostly for trying to use Scripture to prove a point instead of the point being what Scripture was proving.

For instance, go back with me to a very long running TV show..."Touched by an Angel." One of those feel good, everything always works out in the end type of shows. The angels said in many episodes "the truth will set you free." You hear that from many people's mouths....but that is NOT what Scripture says. The actual Scripture says, "If you abide in me, and My words abide in you, THEN you will KNOW the truth, and the truth will set you free." Just because we know a little truth doesn't mean we will walk in freedom. 1 Corinthians 6 talks about several things and I have heard many a sermon that stops before it reaches the good news. Verse 11 says "such WERE some of you." But now.... Hebrews 6 has been used to prove that if you turn away from the Lord after being surrounded with the truth you will go to hell. Verse 9 goes on to say that even though we are talking this way, we have better things concerning you.

So about this time you are saying...get to the point Phil. Okay...here you go. Get into the Word, but when doing so get into the whole Word We need to make sure that we keep things in context to glean the TRUTH. The enemy will use anything to keep us in bondage...anything...even the Word of God.

Think about it!

Love you
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Short and to the point

We use the word "amazing" to describe many things, but there is only One who is truly amazing. His name is Jesus. He is "Everything" and more! How can this be? How can He be more than everything? Because nothing we could ever think of in our finite minds could ever describe how truly amazing He is.

I hope that this week we together experience Him in a new and "amazing" way that takes us to a place of abandonment of our will to be engulfed in His.

Have a great week.

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Burdens

It has been said that God will not put us through more than we can handle. The Scripture that people are taking a stab at to back that up is found in 1st Corinthians 10:13 which says "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." The key word in this passage is "temptation". No where in the passage does it say God will not take you past what you are able to handle. This is specifically in context talking about temptation not circumstances.

When it all comes down, there may and most likely will be times in our lives that God pushes us to the point of utter exhaustion. Why? Simple! So we realize it is He that we live, move, and breathe in. Without mistake, His strength is made perfect in our weakness. We become strong only through His strength.

Ah, but alas, He truly wants to give us that strength to overcome. Let go to hold on to the very strength of God. It is only in letting go that we find He is the Rope that will hold us.

Have a great week.

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O is for Offering

Offering sacrificial praises with our voices and instruments to glorify Jesus (Hebrews 13:15)

As we sang yesterday with the congregation..."on my lips there's a shout of praise". Scripture puts it like this, "that the fruit of my lips offer up a sacrifice of praise."

Sometimes we are so overwhelmed with His love that it is not a huge sacrifice to lift our voices up in energetic praise to our Savior and Lord. There are other times that we would rather not sing a word. Being the extremely deep emotional person that God made me, I have to constantly keep those emotions in check when the negative things of this world hit me. If I let it, my emotions could absolutely shut me down. I know I am not alone in this. There are many of you that feel the same things. But it is those times where the sacrifice of praise comes to our lips. No matter how we feel (or even if we like or dislike the song or style of the song) the sacrifice of praise that is on our lips can be pleasing to God.

It is in these hard times where our trust in the Lord pushes us through and we sing loudly and boldly to the Lord.

Have a great day.

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Our Mission

Wedgworship is committed as a team to EXALT CHRIST and to lead others to EXPERIENCE CHRIST.

Even though the method statement specifically emphasises others, it is inevitable that as we exalt Christ we will experience His presence also. In experiencing Him personally aids in other's experience of Him.

This week I want to focus on "L" of the mission statement. Lifting up Jesus! Scripture says in John 12:32 that if we lift Jesus up from this earth, He would draw all men to Him. Breaking this verse down we see that it is not a particular song, style, advertisement, presentation, or production. It is based on the heart of lifting Him up. The second part of the verse is an interesting phrase. He said that He would draw "all" to Him if He be lifted up. So we have to look and see if that is being done. As Pastor says quite often in so many ways, God does His part, but we must do our part. God is calling Wedgworship to go deeper into our motives of why we do what we do. He is asking us to make sure our heart is focused on Him and Him alone every time we step out on that platform. The great part is that when one puts the whole verse together and in context of John 12, we see a promise that it is God who will grow His kingdom. He is the One responsible for the growth. Our responsibility is to lift.

I hope that this encourages us to do just that.

Love you,
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Confession

Good morning,

I hope this finds you doing well. I have a confession to make. I had such a great time this past week living in basically a fantasy world. It was a world of being waited on hand and foot, pampered beyond anything normal, and entertained beyond my wildest imagination. Who would not want to live in that world? Who would not want to live a life of ease and relaxation without demands of life?

But reality set in the moment I got back to Texas.

Wait though! Isn't that what we are called too? Aren't we told that in this life we would have these things...but oh yeah..."Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world." What a great promise. We are overcomers in this life...not just the life when we reach heaven's doors.

So reality? Yeah it is filled with struggles. It is filled with stepping up to the plate even if we don't want too. It is filled with "doing the right thing" because it is the "right thing." It involves in pushing through to victory time and time and time again. It comes down to one word... "trust" in our heavenly Father that says He will never leave us or forsake us.

He is the love of life that gives us victory in the "real world."

Love you,

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The Vision, Mission, and Methods of Wedgworship

Exalt Christ…Experience Christ

Our Vision

The Wedgworship team exists to EXALT CHRIST and to EXPERIENCE CHRIST.


Our Mission
Wedgworship is committed as a team to EXALT CHRIST and to lead others to EXPERIENCE CHRIST by:
• Lifting up Jesus from this earth so all will be drawn to Him (John 12:32)
• Offering sacrificial praises with our voices and instruments to glorify Jesus (Hebrews 13:15)
• Vertically singing to the Lord rather than just singing about Him (Psalm 33:3)
• Engaging both the believer and unbeliever in authentic, relevant worship (Philippians 4:8)


Our Methods
The Wedgworship team method of leading others to EXALT CHRIST and to EXPERIENCE CHRIST by:
• Thanksgiving and Prayer
Wedgworship will spend time thanking God and praying every time we gather together
• Excellence of Leadership and Heart
Wedgworship will continually set goals to be leaders that strive for excellence in communication of the gospel through music and a heart after God’s heart.
• Accountability
Wedgworship will not be a silo of its own, but will strive to be accountable to each other and the other areas of ministry in the local church.
• Modeling in our walk
Wedgworship commits to being a leader in our relationship with Christ, and in so doing, aid in equipping others to be fully devoted followers of Christ.

Example

I will end the “EX” series with the word example. The definition of example is “one that serves as a pattern to be imitated.” I really think that is a great definition. Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:17 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” As Wedgworship, we are to be that to the body of Christ, to our co-workers that are lost, to the store clerks, and even to the server at the restaurant when it comes down to the tip we leave. We are to be the example of Christ’s love.

Obviously that is not always easy to do. But that is why we press on toward the goal. I know for myself that I offend people when something catches me off guard and I sarcastically answer back. (I am working on that!!!! Please forgive me if you have been the receiver of this.)
So as we exalt in, exult in, experience Him, the challenge to all of us is to be a shining example of Christ.

Have a great week.
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Excuses

In my 29 years of full time vocational ministry, I have heard my share of excuses, and unfortunately given my share also. When I was on the road, youth ministers, worship pastors, senior pastors, and administrative assistants would out right lie to me of why a Phil Beck concert was not going to happen at their church rather than to tell me they just didn’t want to do the concert. My favorite all time lie was from a youth minister’s administrative assistant. I was calling a youth minister at a rather well known church in Oklahoma. She said, and I quote. “hold on, he is walking across the room to his office and he will be with you in a moment.” I waited about two minutes and she came back on the line, and again I quote, “oh, he is not here today. Can I take a message and he will call you back tomorrow”? (Tomorrow was Saturday…thus the second lie) Guess what! I never heard from him.

Excuses can be lies wrapped up in a softer package, but they are still lies. When we look at why we give excuses, we have to go back to last week’s “ex” word…examine. Scripture says “out of the heart, the mouth speaks.” OUCH! So my heart’s words are fueling those excuses….those are just down right hard words, but honest. When we start analyzing our heart is when we find out the truth.

I challenge us all to be truthful, honest, people. Examine before we offer an excuse. Think about it.

Love you,
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Examine

Over the last few weeks we have been talking about "EX" words. Our vision statement is to EXALT CHRIST....EXPERIENCE CHRIST. The word I want to concentrate on this week is "examine". Lamentations 3:40 says "let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord". 2 Corinthians 13:5 says "test yourself to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourself!..." By definition the word "examine" means "to test by questioning in order to determine progress, fitness, or knowledge." Keeping in the context of Wedgworship's vision statement, how are we doing? When we stop to examine our walk with Jesus, how are we doing? Is the self-examination results one that we know makes the Lord proud.

Taylor Hicks has a song on the charts called "Do I Make You Proud?" As you listen to the words he poses the question to his father which I pose to my heavenly Father. Do I make You proud? Is the life that You live through me so You and not me that it brings a smile to Your face?

EXALT...EXPERIENCE...in our examination, our test, do I bring a smile to the face of God?

Think about it.

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Exult

A couple of weeks ago we talked about the word exalt. Sometimes we use the word exalt and exult interchangeably. But they have two distinct meanings. As we said before the word “exalt” means “to elevate by praise or in estimation.” “Exult” on the other hand means “to leap for joy” or “to be very joyful.” Even in our text yesterday in our small group bible study, it used the word “exult” when it talked about hope.

Let me translate to how it relates to Wedgwood and Wedgworship. As we come together, our vision is to EXALT CHRIST…EXPERIENCE CHRIST. Out of elevating Him in praise one of the experiences that it brings is exultation. When the Spirit of the Lord truly inhabits our praises, there is a joy that engulfs us and even a sense of that joy that is in the room that can’t be explained. What I find very odd is that one person can experience this joy while the person standing beside them is looking around the room watching everyone else.

So let me wrap this up by saying a good way to know what our focus is when we come together is to examine our joy. Does our praise bring exultation?

Think about it.

Love you,
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Experience

Last week we talked about the first word in the Wedgworship purpose statement...exalt. This week we discuss the other "EX" word in that statement...Experience. Most are very familiar with Henry Blackaby's "Experiencing God" study. Blackaby points out in many ways in this study that we can talk about the Lord all we want, but until we come to the place of experiencing Him, our understanding of Him is short-sided at best.

Experience by definition means: "something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through." That is quite a definition when it comes to our purpose statement.

I taught a new song to our congregation several months ago. It is called "Encounter." The chorus of the song simply says, "I long to encounter You, I long to encounter You in this place."

So what does this mean in the light of statement? We are to exalt Christ in such a way that moves all that are present to a place of choice. A place of choice? Yes... as much as I would like for everyone in the sound of our voices to be moved to encounter Him, there are those, that for some reason or another, will not be moved to that place. The calling we have as Wedgworship is to exalt Him to that place of experience.

Before I go on to the next "EX" word, I will use next week to give you three basic ways we can exalt Christ to lead others and ourselves to experience Him.

Love you,
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Exalt

Wedgworship exists to: Exalt Christ...Experience Christ. Say that with me. Wedgworship exists to: Exalt Christ...Experience Christ. For the next year or should I say the next chapter in the story of Wedgworship will be purposed under this statement.

For the next many weeks, we will be discussing ways to carry out the purpose of Wedgworship. The first word in this statement is "Exalt." The word exalt is defined as: "to raise in rank, power, or character and to elevate by praise or in estimation...in other words glorify."

1 Corinthians 10:31 simply exhorts us to do all for the "glory" of God. That means that whatever we find ourselves doing the purpose behind what we do or say is to exalt Him.

I have a challenge for us all. Take a few minutes at the end of this day. Look back over all that you said and did today. How many of those things we said or did were motivated to bring glory to the One that loves us unconditionally? This is not to bring condemnation. It is to only bring analyzation. As we analyze where we are in our lives with our words and deeds being motivated to exalt Him, we can move one step closer to "every" deed and word exalting Him.

EXALT the Lord at all times.

Have a great week.

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Junk

There is a songwriting team named Michael and Stormie Omartian. Many will know Stormie from the many books she has authored. Many years ago they wrote a fun song called "Mr Trash Man." Some of the words in the chorus said, "Mr Trash Man, I'm glad You came today. I've got a collection of things I'm throwing away." The Trash Man is the Lord. The things referred to as trash is sin.

I started cleaning out a closet the other day. I sat there in amazement at the junk that I had there...not only junk that I have collected over the past few months I have been at Wedgwood, but pure junk that I have moved from place to place.

The Lord used it to bring to my attention how easily I can stack things that are just pure junk in the out of sight places of my life. I guess that is another reason Paul exhorted us to examine ourselves daily. We are to open the areas of our lives to make sure the things we carry around with us from place to place is not junk but those things we can truly use for the kingdom.

It is great to know that God's cleansing is just a prayer away.

Have a great week.

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The Big Picture

There is a thought that has gone around as long as I have been alive, and that is certainly a long time. It says I can make a decision and it won’t affect anyone else. I have discovered that is very rarely the case. Every once in a while it might possibly be true, but I can’t think of any.

We as Christians are called to see the “Big Picture” in things. As private of person as I wish I could be my life, as well as every Christian’s life is on display for the world to see. Yes! That is a huge responsibility to carry around. The cool part is that we are chosen by God to do that. John 15:16 says that we did not choose Him, but He chose us and ordained us to go out and bear fruit... The question of course is not if we are going to bear fruit. That is a given. The question is what kind of fruit are we bearing in what we do.

Life is one choice after another. It is astounding how one change in something can affect so many people. So by now you are probably asking yourself…”what is Phil trying to say” to us? Bottom line…know for every action there is a reaction. The life we live affects countless people daily. It is a great thing to know that Jesus longs to be our life and the more we decrease the more He increases. That is a wonderful thing for the world to see.

Think about it!

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Squirrel

There is a movie out right now that has a really funny line in it. As the animals are talking and concentrating on this intense conversation, a squirrel passes and and suddenly all the attention goes to the squirrel.

Sometimes I think our attention span is just like that. We can get sidetracked so easily by the things of this world. In the 1st chapter of Joshua we are exhorted to not look to the left nor to the right but keep our eyes straight ahead.

I challenge us all this week to not be distracted by the squirrels and keep looking to the Author and Perfecter of our faith....Jesus

Have a great week.

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Peace

The world cries for peace constantly. Thoughts of fighting for it, manipulating situations for it, and creating false peace abounds. But how can we really have peace from the war that rages inside of our minds?

Well, I never want to give simple Sunday School answers to anything, but in this case it is as simple as that. Philippians 4:8 tells us how to usher in the God of peace. In this verse we are told that whatever is true (Jesus), whatever is honorable (Jesus), whatever is right (Jesus), whatever is pure (Jesus), whatever is lovely (Jesus), whatever is of good repute (Jesus), if there is any excellence (Jesus), anything worthy of praise (Jesus), dwell on these things. It goes on to tell us to practice these things and the God of peace will be with us.

Jesus is the answer to all those things. He is the Truth, the honorable One, is always right, always pure, truly lovely, is of good repute, is excellent, and certainly the only One worthy of praise.

So I guess...it all comes back to Jesus.

Think about it,

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Blessings

There are thousands of things that I enjoy from the Lord. One of the coolest things is how the Holy Spirit works things together. I probably should be used to it by now of how wonderfully he orchestrates things, but I think I will always be amazed. (which is probably a good thing)

Romans 8:28 comes into play quite often as I see God doing really cool things. If you were in the morning service yesterday, you noticed that Anthony was not there. He is on a little vacation. Of course Genny is with YCAM. So I played which of course I love, but the real blessing was my accountability partner Scott Weckerly from Nashville, was in town the same weekend I needed a drummer. I was also blessed to have Christian worship leader and artist Rory Partin. So I was able to use him for offertory. Of all the places these two could have ended up, they were playing for a wedding the same weekend at Fort Worth Presbyterian Church which is a mile from Wedgwood. I couldn't have put that scenario together better myself. It is amazing.

So then I get to the airport this morning to fly out to San Diego. The flight was overbooked and I was able to give up my seat to another person. I got a voucher that will enable me to aid in my Dad's move from Nashville to Fort Worth. I wil still get to San Diego in time to meet the group for tonight. Pretty cool! On top of that my old youth choir from Sulphur Springs was at the airport to catch their flight to New York for their choir tour. I am still very close to a lot of those kids and parents and was able to see them off. Again pretty cool.

These are the things that I know that the Lord Himself just says...hey my child, let me do something extra for you.

Have a blessed day.

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WHJL?

WHJL…Where has Jesus landed?

You have heard me talk time and again about the definitions of Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength. The heart is the center of the emotions, the soul being the center of your personality, the mind, the center of comprehension, and of course the physical body that is to love the Lord…

I want to go back to the heart and emotions. Scripture in 1 Corinthians 8:1 says that “knowledge puffs up.” Many have taken this verse and built a doctrine on it that says that we are to be about doing more than learning. One could reason that the more knowledge one has, the possibility of more arrogance will be displayed. Although I certainly know some people that this describes, I don’t think Paul was saying don’t learn. Rather he was saying don’t let it stop there.

If all we have are facts about God that we can spout back when called upon and we haven’t allowed Him to take hold of our heart (our emotional center), then we are missing a great blessing of connection. It affects everything in our lives…from how we see ourselves and others, how we interact with others, and most importantly how we interact with the Father.

So simple question today…Where has Jesus landed? Is He stuck in just facts in our head or has He landed in our hearts and we are emotionally attached as well as filled with the knowledge of Him?

Think about it!

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The Calling of God

What is the calling of God? Apostle Paul said of himself that he was the called one of God. So are we all called by God or just a chosen few? Well of course we all know the right answer is that we all have a calling on our lives as a Christian.

Our calling is simple. It is to know Him and to make Him known. It is to live every breath breathing in and out the life of Jesus. I have yet to meet a person that lives this calling to its fullest extent. I have to say with Paul that the very thing I don’t want to do, I end up doing and the very thing I want to do I find I don’t always follow through with. (Oops ended that last sentence with a preposition…bad writing.) But still in our calling we are exhorted time and time and time again to press on toward whom we really are in God’s eyes. We are to live in a manner that exemplifies that high calling.

I have to admit though, I feel sometimes like I take three steps forward in getting to know Jesus better, and something comes up that takes me two and half steps back. It does get frustrating at times….HEY but great news…we are overcomers, joint heirs with Christ. We have been made in His image and from glory to glory He is changing us. It is great news and absolutely gives such a positive spin to life to know that though I am not the man in action all the time that God sees me as, I am certainly not the man I was without Him. He truly is the source and lifeblood that flows through us. We are adopted by the King. We are royalty!

Have a great week.
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Emotions

Emotions are an interesting part of our human make up. They can cause us to fall to our knees in praise (figurtively of course since we are Baptist) or to be angry or to be happy. Some get offended or hurt and the next day the emotion is under control and the offense is forgotten. Some hold on for a lifetime. Emotions...what do we do with them?

I say go for it! Use it for the benefit to walk with God. Be passionate in our emotions toward the One that not only saved us to take us to heaven as Rusty talked about last night in his message for the church, but saved us to walk this present life in total abandonment to Him.

I encourage us all this week to do buy into 1 Corinthians 10:31....whatever we say or do, do all for the glory of God.

Have a great week.

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Why? Part 3

For the past couple of weeks I have been explaining how I am led to the songs that I choose for the choir to sing. Again, I want this blog to always be encouragements from Scripture, and I hope that in the past few weeks as I explained procedure that you still very much received a deeper understanding of the Savior.

This week I want to talk about other aspects of what enters into picking a particular song and what does not!

1. Performance verses worship leading? My understanding from all that I have been told is that over the past several years Wedgwood Baptist Church choir has truly become a worship leading choir. The hearts of the choir members long to connect people to the Father rather than perform the next Sunday special. Other than the musical aspects of a song, this is the number one thing that steers me toward or away from a song. There are church choirs out there that unfortunately are in show business. They work countless hours on the next performance. Although I expect excellence from the choir every time they sing, it is never a performance at Wedgwood. It is always about putting the emphasis on the Lord instead of “wowing” the audience with great abilities.

2. Connecting with the sermons? Although this is not always the reason I pick a particular song, the more the choir can enhance the vision of the message, and the overall flow of the day the more purpose a particular song has. I will never pick a song that has nothing to do with what is happening that day. Now there is wide latitude here, but still the song the choir sings never is a song that just features the choir so the choir can be featured. We can save that for the show choirs. I strongly believe that the purpose of the choir “special” is to be in line with everything else happening.

3. Multiple uses of the song? Because I am charged with also being a good steward of the funds allotted to me through the budget, I must be able to see multiple uses for the song. If I am purchasing a song from one of the publishing companies, a single song can cost between 200 to 400 dollars I must be able to use it more than once for the amount these songs cost.

4. Is the Lord speaking? I know this phrase sounds super-spiritual, but I choose songs for the choir to sing just like I choose every song for a particular Sunday. Scripture says in James 1 that if I lack wisdom, all I have to do is to simply ask with right motives. My main concern more than any other person being pleased with my selections is the Lord being pleased. So I must ask Him for wisdom…every time! Opinions on what songs need to be sung are as many as there are people in the congregation. Again, not to sound pious, but there is only One opinion that really counts.

So there you have it. I hope my ramblings will help explain a little better of why the choir does a particular song and doesn’t do another.

Have a great week.
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Why Part 2

Why? Part 2

As I said last week I was asked how I am led to the songs that I choose for the choir to sing. I want this blog to always be encouragements from Scripture, and I hope that you are truly ministered to in understanding the method to my madness.

This week I want to talk about the second most important element of the song…the music. There are several elements in music.
1. Does it compliment the lyric? Sometimes as I listen to songs, the lyric is a very emotional lyric and the music is this kind of a happy go lucky sound and melody that doesn’t match. The purpose of the music is to enhance rather than detract.
2. Is it sing-able? Let me name drop for a second… J When I was traveling full time, I got to do a couple of concerts with Michael W. Smith. I’ll never forget the words he said to me. He told me that no matter what kind of style of music I wrote, the big score was when someone could walk away singing it. Although I don’t expect everyone to walk away singing every song that the choir sings when only hearing the song one time, the melody needs to connect easily.
3. Does the style of music work at Wedgwood? In Christian music there are all kinds of styles from country to heavy metal. Although we do have a variety of music, there are parameters that we stay within. What works at one place doesn’t necessarily work at Wedgwood.
4. Do the harmony parts in the song fit well with the voices of Wedgwood? We have some very good voices in the choir. The best sound the choir is going to produce is simply from music that fits their voices.
5. How fast can the choir learn the song? Since the choir sings a song almost every Sunday, the learning curve of a song is extremely important. I do choose songs that are hard to learn because of rhythms or harder to hear harmony, but these types of songs can only make up a small percentage of what we do because of how many songs we need to learn. I want to challenge the choir to stretch and grow musically as well as spiritually, but the main objective always has to be to lead people the next Sunday in worship. I try to balance the hard with the ones that don’t take much to learn but still gets the message of God’s love across.

So this is the music side of choosing the songs. Next week I will close this by explaining aspects that don’t enter into the decision of picking songs.

Have a great week.

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Why?

Why? Part 1

I was asked the other day how I am led to the songs that I choose for the choir to sing. I want this blog to always be encouragements from Scripture, and I hope that over the next few weeks as I explain procedure that you will still very much be ministered to in how it is tied to Scripture.

This week I want to talk about the most important element of the song…the lyric. There is a set of criteria I use for analyzing the lyrics.
1. Is it Scriptural? Obviously this is the most important aspect of any song that is being used for worship of the Lord Jesus. There are many cool grooving songs that are written that claim to be worship songs that fail this first step.
2. Is it sing-able? Do the words make sense and easily understandable by the worshipper? Are they corny lyrically? I received a song in one of the packets a few weeks ago called “Don’t Get Me Started.” I thought it was an interesting title…well after I read the words guess where that song went…you are right straight to the trash. CORN CITY!!!!
3. Is it usable in this setting? Again, there are many wonderful songs out there that meet the first two requirements lyrically but will never be used here at Wedgwood. Why? Because they don’t head us in the direction of the vision.
4. Are the words vertical or horizontal? I lean toward the vertical…not to say that we don’t proclaim statements of our faith through music. Psalm 33:3 weighs heavily when I am analyzing lyrics…sing TO Him, not about Him. But of course you can and will continue to see many songs that come across Wedgworship that are proclamations.

So that is the criteria for choosing a particular song lyrically. Next week I will talk about the music itself.

Have a great week.

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All

I have always been the type of person that had the thought that anything worth doing is worth doing well. I try not to find myself in the midst of things that I can't do well. Oh, psycologist would say that I need to do things that are uncomfortable for me so I can get over fears. I don't necessarily disagree with that, but through the years, I have come to know what I should not try to even discuss let alone try to do. (Hmmm...any kind of sports comes to mind...)

Obviously I have a passion to worship the Lord. And I have a tendency to want everyone to be as energetic as I am about that. I have to be transparent and say I will never understand how someone can stand with their hands folded or in their pockets with a scouring face while we are in the midst of lifting up praises to the One that has the power over sin and death and His lifeblood is flowing through us. Well, that is me.

But what about you? What is it that gets you so excited that it makes you want to shout "get on board with me...NOW!" What is it that is your passion? Go for it! Live in freedom and go for it with all of your efforts and might. It will change your life.

In the seven months I have been here, I think of Al screaming Hallelujah because the Holy Spirit touches him deeply. I think of Rachel Stephens longing to dance before the Lord. I think of the drama team that gave a great sketch yesterday.

You know the old beer commercial really is true...you only go around once in life, so grab for all the gusto you can. We really do have this one moment that is guaranteed...go for it...Jesus said, "I come to give you life and give it to you abundantly."

So think about it....can the life we live be described as abundant?

Have a great week...

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Words

Psalm 19 says "may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to You, O God." In Ephesians 4:29 Paul exhorts us to let every word that proceeds from our mouths be words that edify.

Have you ever noticed how much we complain every day? We are a society of whiners. I am so guilty of this. I expect good service at a restaurant. I expect people to follow through on their word. I expect...I expect...I expect. Whether we say anything out loud since we are not supposed to complain about one person's action to another person...that is except that person that gave us the offense in the first place, we think it.

I find it far easier to do the first part of Psalm 19 and Ephesian 4:29 than the last part of Psalm 19. Meditation. What do I meditate on?

Philippians 4:8 tells us what our minds should be fixed on...whatever is pure, lovely, of good repute...let your mind dwell on these things. Isaiah 26:3 tells us that we can have perfect peace if our mind is on Him.

So why is it that we struggle so much with this? I submit to you that it all comes back to the ninth part of the fruit of the Spirit...self-control. We don't practice taking the thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. So instead of us controlling our thoughts or meditations, they control us.

Yet, 1st John 5:4 says that we are over comers. That is the good news. We can overcome! We have the Holy Spirit inside of us that is ready and willing to get our thoughts in line with Scripture. It is a matter of the will of our mentality.

So for me...it comes down to choice. Do I want to live in the mire of negative meditations or soar with eagles on the purity of God? Ahhhh choice...don't you love it?

Think about it.

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In the Midst of the Storm

And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. And they went and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” Matthew 8:23-25

Maybe today you feel like the disciples did when they saw Jesus sleeping in the midst of the storm. Perhaps you’re thinking, “God, don’t you care about me? Can’t you see that I’m hurting here?” This is a natural, human reaction when it seems that God is distant or unconcerned in the midst of our pain and struggle. But the fact is… if we are a child of God… He is there in the boat with us. He will either calm the storm or at least brave it with us.

Look at the first line again in the Scripture. When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. Sometimes we complicate our struggles simply because we miss the first step. They followed Him. If they had not followed Him into the boat, the disciples would have never experienced what Jesus could do in the midst of the storm.

But until we are on the other side of the storm, we must remember that trusting God produces questions we won’t be able to answer. I think that’s worth repeating: Trusting God produces questions we won’t be able to answer.

If we really stop to think about it, disbelief is pretty easy. Anyone can not believe! That is an easy one. Choosing to trust in God and believe in His promises in spite of our questions… in spite of our problems… that’s the real challenge! To suffer and hurt and not know why… but to keep believing and hoping… that’s extremely difficult.

But no matter what we may be going through today… remember this: Jesus is present in the midst of everything even though He may seem to be absent. In God’s own time and in His own way… if we will wait on Him and trust in Him… He will calm our storms!

It is awesome to know that The One who has power over demons, The One who has power over disease, and The One who has power over death also has power over despair and the pains in our life. Jesus is our peace in the middle of the storm. If we will follow Him into the boat and watch Him in action, we will be amazed.

Phil

Coincidence

Some say that a coincidence has occurred when an event takes place that can’t be explained why it happened as it happened. Some say that there is not such an occurrence but rather everything happens for a reason. If I believe God is in control, which I absolutely do, then everything happens for a reason whether or not I understand why.

This past weekend I led worship and taught two small group breakout sessions at a conference outside Knoxville TN. The way this particular conference is set up on Saturday is that it has a morning part and an afternoon part. I was originally scheduled to fly out Sunday morning because there is not a late enough flight out to get back to DFW. About two weeks ago I was called informing me that the afternoon part was cancelled which meant I could fly back on Saturday night and not have to miss Sunday morning service at Wedgwood. So after a $150.00 flight change fee, I was booked to fly back to DFW Saturday. Bad weather happens and the flight was cancelled out of Knoxville. Of course if it is weather related, the airline will not pay for hotel which ended up being another $130.00. So after almost $300.00 including overpriced food and me missing Sunday morning anyway, we were back to the original scenario that would not have cost anything extra. WHY? Was there some reason I was supposed to be in Knoxville? Was there a reason I wasn’t supposed to be at Wedgwood on Sunday morning? OR, was it not about me at all? Was there some other master plan? Who knows?

Whatever the reason that I probably will not know this side of heaven, I know that my God is in control even when I am out of control. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the Healer in the midst of a virus outbreak. He is the One that owns the cattle on a thousand hills during economic dilemmas. He is God. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is truly my All in All. There is no one greater. The US may win or lose battles. Terrorists may do really stupid self-serving things in the name of a god, but there is only One true God. Jehovah, our Provider.

Isn’t it great to know…GOD IS IN CONTROL!!!!!
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Deny Him

The Lord has been showing me that priorities, (what truly is most important to me) guides my life. There is no real doubt that the above statement is true for everyone. Statistically speaking when parents are asked what they value most where their kid is concerned unfortunately is not that they love the Lord with all of their heart, but that they get a good education, especially one that will make them money. I have some friends that I believe know the Lord, "work" diligently in their local church, but what is admittedly most important to them where their two boys and their daughter are concerned is not that they walk deeply with Jesus, but that they get a good education from a fine upstanding university so their "future" will be set.

God is drawing me (again) to the simple fact that there is absolutely nothing more important than knowing Him, loving Him, and letting Him work in me. There is no desire, talent, gifting, or ministry more important than knowing Him.

The bottom line of it all is that to the extent that Jesus has control of my life dictates every decision and action of my life.

Once again my favorite verse..."that I may know Him..." Philippians 3;10. Oh to go deeper, oh to let my life be engulfed and obsessed in the relationship I have with Jesus Christ! It is better than anything else.

Mary chose the best...to sit at the Master's feet.

Like always...think about it.

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Union

I have been reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning. He is one of the few writers of Christian literature that dares to be honest. We as Christians have become a people that take the words "JUST FINE" to a whole new level. We hide our hurts and "issues" away in the effort to protect ourselves from ridicule from fellow believers. When I was at First Baptist Church of Sulphur Springs, we had this I.T. guy named Jeff. It became a joke with us that when I had a problem with my computer I would call him and say, "Jeff! I have issues." I was walking through Macy's one day and saw a shirt that read, "I have issues." I took a picture of the shirt and when I had a problem with my computer, I would text Jeff the picture.

We all have issues. We all struggle with one thing or another, and for most of us that "another" is "another(s)".

The furious longing of our Abba Father; the relentless tenderness of Jesus; the gospel that transcends our deepest hurts and issues screams to us and says, "I love you unconditionally. I long for you. I want to be in union with you." In John 17:22-23, Jesus asked the Father to perfect us in unity and to make us one as He and His Father are One. In Galatians 2:20 Paul wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God." Union with the Lord...intimacy, letting go to the point that He so moves "into" our lives that we are one with Him as He is with the Father.

Think about it!

Love you,

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Moving On

Sometimes our lives can be characterized by one event to another. I received a text on Saturday night from a friend of mine that just finished a competition. The text in as few of words possible and of course "text-isms" told of the next event almost forgetting about the win that was just done.

Last night after Easter Sunday, I found myself already thinking about the next "big event" and what that is going to entail.

Years ago Stormie Omartian penned the words of a song that for some reason, come to my mind at least once a month. The lyric says "you're looking so hard for the flower, when the hour is still ahead." In the context of the song, she was saying we look so hard for the next thing that we miss what is right in front of us...what God is doing now.

For those that know me, there is one thing that people say about me all the time. I AM A PLANNER. I have to admit...guilty on all charges. So it is very easy for me to think of the next event and miss celebrating what God has done in the one just finished.

So what is the point of my ramblings? Just one point...it is fine to think ahead and plan but always being careful to see what God is doing now. So I leave you with one question? What did God do yesterday that was something that only He could have done? Celebrate it! When we get to tomorrow and we look back on today...celebrate it. God is doing incredible things in our midst. We don't want to miss it because we are on to the next "big event" before we look at what God has done today.

Think about it!

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The Main Goal

What is the main goal of a Christian? Is it to know Scripture backwards and forwards and have a brain full of knowledge of the Lord? Although this is a great thing and certainly will help in our walk, it can't be the main goal. Is it to be at the church building every time the doors are open, or to give the required tithe to the Lord? Well, being at the building when services and other great worship times are going on is very much an important aspect of our lives. And certainly we are to be obedient in giving financially. We must not be selfish with financial gifts.

But as 1 Corinthians 13 says, we can do all these things and just be clanging cymbals. Cymbals are great. They give accent to a piece of music, but if all you have is clanging cymbals, the song is void of rhythm and melody.

I submit that the main goal of a Christian is Christ Himself. Paul said in Philippians 3 to "press on toward the high calling of Christ." The highest call in a Christian's life is simply to know Jesus. Everyday making strides to know Jesus better. I challenge you and me this week to do just one thing everyday to know Jesus better.

Think about it!

Love you,

Phil

Spiritual Rut

What is a rut? The definition according to the "good book" (Webster), is: 1 a: a track worn by a wheel or by habitual passage b: a groove in which something runs; 2: a usual or fixed practice; especially : a monotonous routine.

Look at the last three words in that definition..."a monotonous routine." I am definitely described as a routine guy. I get up every morning except Fridays at the same time. I put on the coffee to brew, make my bed, take a shower and get ready for the day, fix breakfast (which also includes the exact same thing everyday), go to my home office, study the Word and pray, and of course check my home email, and then on Sunday through Thursday off to the office to get there by 7:00 AM.

As structured as my morning routine is, God is calling you AND me all out of our monotonous routine. What would happen if we came to the service next Sunday and all we did was pray? No music, no preaching? What would we do? But what if we came back that night and the same thing happened? What if all we did was sing? What if all we did was listen to an hour and half message that God laid on Al's heart to give? We might, and I say might make it through one Sunday morning. But what if that happened two Sundays in a row? By the third Sunday we have people looking for a new place to call their home church. Why? Because we are comfortable in our box of Christianity.

So what will it take for us to let God do something with Wedgwood that is totally different than what we have ever seen before? I don't know much, but what I do know is that it begins and ends with prayer.

This Thursday at 6:30 PM, we are meeting in the worship rehearsal room behind the worship center to pray specifically for God to do something through our Easter Musical. As we join together in one force bombarding heaven, crying out for God to do specific "God things," the words of Scripture will be fulfilled that say: "if my people pray..."

Come, be a part!

Love you,

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"That I May Know Him"

Philippians 3:10 continues a very long sentence that begins in verse 8. Apostle Paul stated that he counted everything as loss for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. The first five words of verse 10 has become my personal life purpose statement...."that I may know Him." There is no better words that can be used to describe what Paul meant by the word "greatness" in verse 8. "That I may know Him" says it all. It says what the real meaning of life is. It gives purpose, direction, and strength to our life.



Several years ago, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California wrote a book called "The Purpose Driven Life." This book started a chain reaction of other books filling the bookstore shelves capitalizing on the word "purpose."



The purpose for life is a huge struggle for many; for both the believer and unbeliever of Jesus Christ. The unbeliever obviously struggles because the pursuit of happiness built around things will never satisfy. But the believer also has struggles at times. I find one of the main culprits that pulls us off course is our busyness. To simplify our lives is a nice buzz word, but we just don't have much success at it. We work long hours thinking that next week will be different and we can devote more time to the "important" things but we just don't quite ever get there. But still the real key to focusing on the True Purpose in life is to slow down. Psalm 46:10 in the NASB reads to "cease striving and know that I am God." The word "know" is a word that means to be intimate. Let go...slow down, and spend intimate time with the Creator. It makes all the difference in life.



Like always,



Think about it.



Love you,



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Strength

This will be the last in this series on Loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and and strength. For the past three weeks we have been discussing what this verse means. The heart is the emotions....love the Lord with our emotions. Sometimes we have this concept that God is always serious. Scripture tells us that we have been made or fashioned in God's image. We laugh. We cry. We are silly sometimes. All of those are emotions and come straight from the Author of emotions that fashioned us in His own image. The soul is the center of our personality. Again, some of us are more serious and subdued than others. But whatever personality traits God has blessed an individual with can love Him. Our mind is obviously the center of thought. Our thoughts can absolutely glorify and magnify the King of kings.

Now we come to the last in the series....strength. The word strength is usually aligned with a physical aspect. When I am leading a group of children in worship and we do movements to the songs, I always hold up my arms to show my muscles (as little as they are) for the word strength. In fact this past weekend, I led a group of adults and children on the song by Lincoln Brewster that is based on this verse. When we got to the word strength, I did just that...raised my arms making my huge muscles pop up. But the word here in this verse means so much more than physical strength. Its definition means power and force.

The old Star Wars line that everyone used to quote is "may the force be with you." The definition here is not a person or army, but it means to strongly persuade. So how can we love the Lord with force? There is a line we hear quite frequently these days...using the "power of persuasion." It could be said the "power of force." Loving the Lord with power and force simply means to use our influence on whomever we come in contact with for the sake of the kingdom. Love the Lord by influencing people for Him. God can use us to make a difference in 2009 by loving the Lord through power and force. NOW, this doesn't mean to be confrontational. Influence has to be tempered with the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. It can be said like this: we can use our influence to love people while leading them to the real joy and peace in life, while patiently praying and waiting for the Spirit to move, approaching every situation in kindness therefore watching God bring goodness, trusting Him in faith, while we gently go through life. This is all under self-control.

Like always...think about it.

Love you,

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In Your Mind!

For the past two weeks, I have talked about the first two parts of loving the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. The heart is the center of the emotions...loving the Lord with all of our emotions. Secondly the soul is the center of who we are...what forms our personality. We are to love the Lord with all of our personality.

Today I want to talk about the mind. The is the place where our thoughts are. There is a little phrase that goes around in Christian circles that sin is anything we think, do, or say that is against God's will. Well, I want to challenge that a little bit. In the book of James, Chapter 1, we see the three things leading up to sin. It is plainly seen here that the mere thought going through our head is not the actual sin. What makes it become sin is what we do with it once it gets there. We can't control what comes in to our minds...oh yes, we can choose to stay out of places that will feed thoughts, but still, we can't control the air waves. James 1:14 and 15 tells us the three steps. "But each one is tempted when he is carrried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished , it brings forth death." See the three parts? It is not the thought that is sin. It is when we allow the thought to manifest itself in our minds and we are carried away by our own lust. Then that lust gives birth to sin and then death occurs by the hands of that sin.

So what happens to us when our thoughts are not under His control...when we take our mind's eye off of the Lord. Well, look at Peter. Peter walked on the water....let me say that again! Peter walked on the water!!!!!! As he was walking, his mistake was looking around instead of straight ahead at Jesus. Then and only then did he begin to sink. Joshua 1:8 tells us to not look to the left or to the right but look straight ahead. That way we can be strong and courageous. Peter was absolutely courageous in his attempts. Let's face it. He was the only disciple to get out of the boat. The rest just sat in the boat and watched as this courageous man looking straight ahead at his source of strength started walking on water.

There is a second thing that happens when our thoughts are not on Jesus, but on other things, people, and of course ourselves. It is called STRESS!!! I have to admit, and be totally transparent with you here that there is not one person without stress, and sometimes overwhelming stress. Countless books have been written on how to put up boundaries and release the stress in our lives. I think it is interesting. We think that stress is brought on by all of the things we have to do in a 21st century society. Maybe that is part of it. I certainly don't want to minimize this sinful hold on us. But I think it comes back to something that Scripture talked about a long time ago. So how do we get rid of the stress? In Isaiah 26:3 Scripture says "He will keep you in perfect peace if your mind is fixed on Him." When we start feeling stress or even sense the effects of stress, our first course of action needs to check what our mind is thinking on. Is is fixed on Him or do we have the Peter syndrome? Secondly, in 2 Corinthians 10:5, the Word says "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Wow! Do we really have that ability? YES!

The mind! The thoughts! Love the Lord with all of your thoughts! How? Look straight ahead. His eyes are fixed on you!

As always, think about it.

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Our Life!

Last week we talked about loving the Lord with all our heart, or emotions. This week is the next part of that verse...love the Lord with all our soul. By definition, the soul is life or spirit. The soul is where our very life is. So what does it mean to love the Lord with our life? The life or spirit really describes who we are...the very person that this earthly body holds, the real person that no one can see with their eye. The word person is the root word of person-ality. When Jesus said to love the Lord with all of your soul, He was saying to love the Lord with everything you personally are. Let your personality love him.

I am kidded and sometimes outright mocked because my personality from as long as I can remember has been well let's just say, "animated." Almost everything I do I am very demonstrative in my outward-ness toward it. I tell people all the time when they mention how much I move when I worship that they haven't seen anything of what is going on inside and being restrained on the outside. If you think what I do now is animated, just envision what it would be like if I let everything that is in my soul, my life, my spirit, my personality come out. The subject at Sunday lunch would shift from the Pastor's sermon to "did you see Phil Beck this morning?"

As restrained as I have to be in front of people as not to cause extreme attention, is exactly what Jesus was saying...love the Lord with everything that I have made you. Love me with you.

In Romans 12:1, Paul exhorts us to lay our body down as a living sacrifice. As we carefully read that verse we can see that Paul was saying "you"(your life, spirit, soul) lay down your body. You and body are two different things. He could have worded it like this. Paul, by the mercies of God, urge "your spirit" to lay down "your spirit's body" as a living sacrifice...

It all comes back to freedom. Galatians 5:1 says "it was for freedom that Christ set us free..." A question comes up as we take a look at the soul part of loving the Lord. Have we surrendered our life, spirit, personality to the Lord?

Love the Lord with all our emotions and life/spirit.

Like always...think about it.

Till next week when we will discuss the mind.

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What If?

What if? What if the economy had not done what it did? What if we were not at war? What if there had been a different outcome with the election? What if everyone were on the same page? What if? What if? What if?

Well, the economy did fail. We are at war. Obama won the election...(some are happy and some are sad on this fact). And by far many are not on the same page.

We sang a song yesterday that I know Wedgwood has sung a lot...Love the Lord. Based on the greatest commandment that says that we are to love the Lord with everything, we told the Lord we would love Him with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and all our strength. So here is the challenge? This one stings a little! Were we telling the Lord the truth? Were we just wishing that were true in our lives? Or maybe even asking the Lord in an indirect way to get us there? So what does it mean to love Him with all of our heart?

I want to take the next four weeks and break these four parts of this commandment down. Our heart? Does He want us to love Him with our blood pump? What do we really mean when we say we love someone or something with all of our heart? The heart is the center of emotions. So let's break that down a little further. The last part of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control...emotions. When we say we love the Lord with all of our heart that should translate in that He has control of our emotions. Our emotions get involved in our praise and worship, our service, and our commitment to Him. We can go through this life claiming we are born again believers of Jesus, but until our emotions are committed to it, we will always be on the sidelines. Think about something that your emotions get attached too. It might be a sport, a certain style of music or musician, or another person. When our emotions are involved in something or someone, our actions and reactions are different toward that person or thing.

So what do our emotions show when it comes to how involved we are with the Lord? Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:10 (which happens to be Wedgwood's key verse) that he wanted to know Him. The word "know" is the same word used in the Old Testament when Scripture says Adam "knew" Eve. Paul wanted to know the Lord intimately.

So how about us? Are our emotions so wrapped up in Him that we want to know Him like that or are we just satisfied to be "pals" with Him? I am not sure there is any place in Scripture that would be His desire. So what holds us back from letting our emotions be ruled by Him and getting intimately involved with the Savior of the world? His heart is for us to live in that deep abiding love with and for Him.

Like always...think about it.

Till next week,

pb

In the Midst

And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. And they went and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” Matthew 8:23-25

Maybe today you feel like the disciples did when they saw Jesus sleeping in the midst of the storm. Perhaps you’re thinking, “God, don’t you care about me? Can’t you see that I’m hurting here?” This is a natural, human reaction when it seems that God is distant or unconcerned in the midst of our pain and struggle. But the fact is… if we are a child of God… He is there in the boat with us. He will either calm the storm or at least brave it with us.

Look at the first line again in the Scripture. When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. Sometimes we complicate our struggles simply because we miss the first step. They followed Him. If they had not followed Him into the boat, the disciples would have never experienced what Jesus could do in the midst of the storm.
But until we are on the other side of the storm, we must remember that trusting God produces questions we won’t be able to answer. I think that’s worth repeating: Trusting God produces questions we won’t be able to answer.

If we really stop to think about it, disbelief is pretty easy. Anyone can not believe! That is an easy one. Choosing to trust in God and believe in His promises in spite of our questions… in spite of our problems… that’s the real challenge! To suffer and hurt and not know why… but to keep believing and hoping… that’s extremely difficult.

But no matter what we may be going through today… remember this: Jesus is present in the midst of everything even though He may seem to be absent. In God’s own time and in His own way… if we will wait on Him and trust in Him… He will calm our storms!

It is awesome to know that The One who has power over demons, The One who has power over disease, and The One who has power over death also has power over despair and the pains in our life. Jesus is our peace in the middle of the storm. If we will follow Him into the boat and watch Him in action, we will be amazed.

Phil

FIRST LOVE

On Saturday, I had lunch with a friend of mine and his brother. I had not seen Michael for a couple of years. We email and talk every once in a while on the phone, but we have not physically been in the same place for a while. I listened intently as he described his life and then how his brother described his. These two grew up in church, sang all the songs, loved spending time in the Word. In fact Michael's brother went to seminary. But both have experienced such harsh situations in life that the response was to give up.

I could lay out a list of reasons that both have chosen a different path but it all comes down to one thing...they have left their First Love. It is so easy to do that as the world and circumstances hit life. We wish it could be so perfect. No one prays asking for trials and tribulations. But that is the very thing that matures us as Christians. Our response to the struggles many times determines how these struggles will manifest themselves in our lives.

Many of you have heard me quote the first part of Colossians 3:4 which says "Jesus, who is our life." When I look at my life...when I really stop long enough to take a hard look at my life, what do I see as my life? Do I see my life defined as Pastor of Worship of Wedgwood Baptist Church? Do I see it defined as a musician? OR...do I see my life as being defined by the name that is above all names, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Alpha and Omega, the Ancient of Days, JESUS?

So what is the formula? Is it more Bible Study? Is it more prayer? Is it more time at church? Is it more service? No! Do we need to spend more time in Bible Study, prayer, church, and service...probably! But the one thing that helps define our life as "Jesus" is surrender to brokenness. It changes everything. It draws us to our First Love.

So what is it that keeps us from being broken? Again, I could give you a list, but when it is all said and done it can be defined by one word...pride.

So I leave you with this...have we come to the place where we have received the grace that He gives to the humble?

Just think about it.

pb

The Importance of Importance

Value and cost are two different things. We could own an item that costs very little money wise and it have very high value to us. Of course the opposite could very well be true too. An item could cost a great deal of money, but not be of much value to our life. The weight of value or importance we place on a certain item or person makes all the difference. Whether it is a person, place, thing, or even time what determines its worth to us is determined by our own emphasis.

The importance we place on certain things changes as circumstances change. Take for instance a baby being born into a family that has never had children. Suddenly the way time was spent before the baby was born changes because of the importance placed on making sure that baby has the attention needed. Because of what is happening in the economy right now, things that were important to us in 2008 might have to take a back seat to what is important financially in 2009.

There is one specific importance that determines and directs our lives...you guessed it...the importance we place on our relationship with Jesus. I am totally convinced that a person that is not in a growing vibrant relationship with Jesus cannot approach life in a mature way. The drama of life in and outside of the church seems to be guided by lack of maturity. People make emotional and selfish decisions because of lack of maturity. How can we "press on to maturity" if we have no direction from the Holy Spirit to do that? Oh we can press on, but to what...the world's point of view? How empty is that?

The importance of Importance! Is He our very breath of life? Is He really the most important person in our life? The attention and emphasis we give Him, the importance we place on Him determines how we spend money, how we spend our time, and even every other decision we make. The daily decisions that we make all comes down to one question. How important is Jesus to us?

Think about it...love you!

pb

Raising the Bar

What does raising the bar mean when it comes to walking the Christian life? Does it mean that we work harder and be more committed to what we do? Maybe in some cases it might. But I believe that it goes much deeper than the outward actions. Would I love to be involved in a local body that every member gave 100% all the time, gave their tithe no matter what, bought into being here no matter what both Sunday morning AND Sunday night even if they weren't in the limelight of the stage? Absolutely! If every person just gave 5% in a tithe, it would flood our budget with revenue that we have yet to see. But again, there has got to be more to the Christian life than outward actions.

So what is it? Raising the bar when it comes to the Christian life is actually very simple. It is realizing that we will never realize all of God. Apostle Paul challenged us greatly in Philippians 3:12-14 when he made a statement about his one goal. He said "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Two things...this ONE THING I DO and I PRESS TOWARD THE GOAL. When we look at our lives, how many "things" do we find ourselves doing that pull us away from the goal? Are we so overbooked, double-booked, triple-booked in our lives that we are so far removed from the statement "this one thing I do"? The goal...what is the goal? Again, if we stop long enough to look at our lives, are we living a life that is pressing toward the goal of knowing Him?

The first five words in Philippians 3:10 describe the goal of Paul's life..."that I may know Him."

This week's blog is a challenge to us all to "raise the bar" of knowing Him. We can't stay where we are in our relationship with Him. The divorce rate in this country is over 50% and one of the reasons for that is that the relationship is still back at the "I do" stage instead of the "I am doing" stage. Although we know God will not divorce us, it still spurs us on to be men and women who are not the same place today as we were yesterday in our relationship with Jesus.

So the challenge to you and to me is..."will we raise the bar?"

Have a great week!

pb

The week of 19-24 2009-Conversation Material

When I was growing up churches used to have an annual youth Sunday. This Sunday the youth taught all of the adult classes. If the church had a youth that could lead the music, that person did, and sometimes even a youth would preach. In order to get ready for this task of teaching the adult Sunday School classes, the youth had to show up to "training union" where one person would teach the lesson to the youth so they could teach it to the rest of the adults.

I remember the lady that always taught training union. Her name was Mrs. Jennings. I will never forget her opening statement to us one year that I taught. She said and I quote, "I will never apologize that I only have one subject to talk about. His name is Jesus." What I didn't know at the time is how important that statement would come to mean to me.

Lately, two different people have brought this point up to me about how much time conversations between God-loving Christians area about anything besides just wonderful He is. We can find everything under the sun to talk about besides just simply carrying on a conversation about what Jesus is up to in our lives. We can talk about TV shows, and those that know me well know I there are many shows on TV that I love to watch. We can talk about movies, and again those that know me know that I really enjoy going to movies. We can talk about sports (well alright you can talk about sports...I know very little and that is certainly alright with me). On and on we can talk, but what is the purpose?

Scripture in Ephesians 4:29 gives us an insight on what is important to come out of our mouth...that which edifies and builds up one another. Now, is quoting Scripture the only way to do that? Obviously not, but I do know that the joy of the Lord comes on people's face that love the Lord when the conversastion is all about Jesus. We can't help but smile.

So what I am trying to say? I think that 1 Corinthians 10:31 says it best. So whatever we say or do, do all for the glory of God.

Have a great week.

pb

When Leaders Lead

What happens when leaders lead?

• Leaders operate in their God-given gifting
• The followers have a sense of security
• The followers have a sense of unity
• The followers have a sense of direction

Because God has called us to be followers first of Him, that calling requires us to be examples in everything we do and say (1 Corinthians 10:31). But as I have said many times, the Wedgworship team that includes the choir, orchestra, band, drama, and media are called to step out to a higher calling.

Leaders that operate in their God-given gifting not only thrive on being leaders, but truly make a difference in this world as they follow the Lord's leading in their leading.

Followers that are following a leader that is truly leading have a sense of security and know everything is going to work out in the end. And what a sense of unity of having that team be all on the same page and knowing the direction they are to be traveling.

In 2009, we as Wedgworship purpose to lead people to worship through connecting them to Christ through brokenness.

Over the next few weeks, we will talk about the methods of making that happen.

Have a great day. Know that we have great days ahead. We have such a huge calling on us and I know that it is hard to see it in a tangable way sometimes, but when we look back on it at this time in 2010, we will see it.

Till next time...Phil

PS...this blog is not really developed yet as you see, but that will also be a cool thing to watch as we get more stuff on it.