Inside the Mind of a Worship DrummerInside the Mind of a Worship DrummerMy attempts at figuring out what it means to be a Christ Follower through my life journal, other blogs and prayer. Also some humor, sports, worship and drumming included. Articles
1/21/08 - Life Journal - His Chosen
2008-01-22 04:22:00 Then his sister said to Pharaoh?s daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?"Exodus 2:7The next big player in God's plan. Moses started out with little fanfare but that would soon change. Born to slaves and saved from Pharaoh's edict with what seems to be an amazing chain of coincidences. Hidden for a time, set loose on a river in a basket, saved by the Pharaoh's daughter and then returned to His mother to be raised until being returned to become a Prince of Egypt. His chosen will succeed in His plan no matter the circumstances!I am His chosen. He has an incredible plan for me. I'm not sure what it is and I may never know the results. Could be it has more to do with my kids....or their kids. Doesn't matter. I can't dwell, though believe me I do, on what my purpose is. I can't stop thinking there is more than my cubicle at work but maybe not. My part will come to fruition, He guarantees it. So I'll just keep floating on down t... More About: Life , Journal
Worship Sunday - 1/20/08
2008-01-21 21:51:00 All I can say is we are getting better every Sunday . Playing, timing, transitions, confidence............CONFIDENCE!!! OK, so we're all working on that one. Is it a matter of breaking out pride? "How'd I do?" and "How'd I sound?" All of us have talent, God put us in this position. We need to forget those two questions and sing to Him and play to Him and Him alone. If we get so caught up in worshipping Him that we miss a beat, play the wrong chord, our voice cracks........BRILLIANT! Striving for perfection is for practice. Sunday's are for the Spirit guiding us in leading people to Him. Us being tight on stage is going to transmit to the people and the connection between them and Him will be faulty. Sing, play, smile, raise your hands, cry, whatever.............!Did I mention how awesome all of you are and I'm proud at how far you each have come.Anyhow............here was the set........Famous One - Chris TomlinBetter is One Day - KutlessGrace Like Rain - Todd AgnewAmazing Love ... More About: Worship
Blogroll
2008-01-21 19:56:00 I've made some changes to my blogroll, no longer a repository of blogs that I read but of friends, people that link to me and people that actively comment on my section. More of an online buddy list than a list of the "big names" that I read and make me look smart. Thanks to all my friends out there, if I missed you it wasn't on purpose, let me know and I'll correct my oversight.**if you're not on the blogroll, check the list of Life Journallers, you might find yourself there** More About: Blogroll
Jen Ledger was Amazing!
2008-01-21 18:28:00 From the first note all trepidation in seeing Lori Peters's replacement, Jen Ledger , was completely wiped away. Is it wrong for a 36 year old to want someone half his age to give him lessons on the skins? Jen was amazing, I don't know how long she's had to get ready for this but it doesn't really matter. Watching her play you could see the skills she has accumulated in her few years (comparatively) on earth. Jen was kicking out the rythmn with such power and more impressive, such control!The entire band was awesome and the short set we saw at Winter Jam Friday night was enough to convert my daughter into the newest "panhead"!Can't wait to see them again!!!Previous posts concerning Skillet can be read here and here More About: Amazing
Final Salute
2008-01-21 03:53:00 If you don't shed a tear your heart's in a bad place.The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of "Cat," and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."HT - DP - from - Digital Journalist More About: Final , Salute
1/20/07 - Life Journal - Who am I?
2008-01-21 03:37:00 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?Psalm 8:3,4David looks around at all God has done and rightfully so asks Him how He could care for us messed up people when He is "majestic in all the earth". How? We are His children! We are the completion of "the works of His fingers". No matter what my own kids do, won't I still love them with everything I have in me? Sure I might no like them a whole lot sometime but that's temporary. I get angry and punish them when they don't obey. How then could God, who IS love, not love His own children, us? Again, I'm sure He doesn't like us all that much and we know from scripture that He has no problems with "sparing the rod" when we get out of hand but the bottom line is that He loves us and we must live our lives with this constantly on our minds. Everything we do should reflect this love b... More About: Life , Journal
1/19/08 - Life Journal - Even the Rocks Cry Out
2008-01-21 03:12:00 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."Luke 19:40The disciples were praising the name of Jesus as He made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Naturally the Pharisees didn't like this and told Jesus to "rebuke" his men. Jesus the explained to them that it doesn't matter what men say or don't say, creation screams out the majesty of God.We can't stop it! No matter how we screw up the Kingdom of God is here to stay. If we need a little help along the way nature will give us a kick in the rear. Whenever I have any doubts it seems the Spirit always puts the awesomeness of His creation in my thoughts. Something as simple as meditating on how a simple tree goes from an acorn to a full grown oak amazes me. I can't see how anyone can have any doubts about our Creator when simply taking a look at His amazing works.God, your works are awesome! Thank you for these reminders you put on my heart, keeping my mind and heart in the right place. More About: Life , Journal , Rocks
1/18/08 - Life Journal - Like a Child
2008-01-21 02:41:00 "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."Luke 18:17When the disciples tried to stop the people from bringing infants to Jesus he was like, "Hold up, what're you guys thinking?" (How did He find a teaching situation in everything that happened?) He told them that we must receive the Kingdom like a child. Huh? My handy, dandy study bible says to be like a child means, "With total dependence, full trust, frank openness and complete sincerity." I think it also speaks a lot about how children are so filled with awe when they are introduced to something new. It's a feeling that we should have continually, never loosing our wonder in ho awesome He really is!I can't loose any of these characteristics. If I need an example I can just look at my kids. They don't have a worry in the world because of their total trust in me. They never doubt that anything they need will be provided, they are kept safe all the time and only the best ... More About: Life , Journal , Child
Come on Ashley? A Nose Job?
2008-01-17 23:13:00 What could the pressure be like if a succesful teen star, Ashley Tisdale , feels the need to alter the face that got her there in the first place? I mean, I never watched any of the HSM's with my kids and thought, "WOW, what a honker!" I just hope her new look doesn't do for her what it did for "Dirty Dancing" star Jennifer Grey............ More About: Nose , Nose Job
1/17/08 - Life Journal - His Plan Plows Forward
2008-01-17 21:04:00 "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die."Genesis 42:2God's plan is starting to come clear! All of Joseph's trials and successes led up to this point. God planned the 7 years of excess, 7 years of famine, planted it in Pharaoh's head in the form of a dream and had Joseph right where he wanted him to take advantage of this situation. Now, the famine has spread throughout Canaan which leads Jacob to send his sons to the Governor of the land of Egypt, who just so happens to be Joseph, to buy some grain! Brilliant! One more step on the people of Israel's journey to the promised land.God's timing, God's timing, God's timing..........I gotta get a grip on this subject. His plan will come through when He has set it come about and nothing we do will stop it or even slow it down for a second. Joseph's brothers did all they could! Even if they had managed to kill him we'd just be reading a different historical acco... More About: Life , Journal , Plan , Forward
Now THAT'S a Change!
2008-01-17 21:00:00 An image of a piece of toast on the Virgin Mary! More About: Change
Good One...
2008-01-16 22:37:00 ...from Bob Hyatt:God has revealed exactly enough of Himself/evidence for His existence so as to ensure that you CAN believe but withheld exactly enough of Himself/evidence so as to ensure that you are not COMPELLED to believe, thus offering you salvation while protecting your free agency. More About: Good
1/16/08 - Life Journal - Oh, for the Integrity of Joseph
2008-01-16 19:55:00 The LORD was with Joseph , and he became a successful man...Genesis 39:2This is the overriding theme of the next 3 chapters. Joseph is constantly getting a raw deal. His brothers want to kill him, he's sold into slavery, he's accused of attempted rape and thrown into jail and then forgot about for 2 years. So what does He do about it? He continues his life as a man of integrity and of God. Because of this the Lord was constantly with Him. His brother talks the rest into not killing him, he's sold to a wealthy man that sees his value as a leader, he's put in charge of the prison, he's given the gift of dream interpretation which eventually leads him to being the second in command of all of Egypt! Out of his pitfalls, literally pits if you count the first his brothers threw him into and second the one where he was kept in prison, God raises him to positions of increasingly greater importance. All the while Joseph points all his gifts and successes back to Him that provided.And I l... More About: Life , Journal , Integrity
When the Adulteress Went Home
2008-01-16 17:11:00 Adam spoke this past Sunday about the adulteress that was brought before Jesus by the Pharisees. It was a great message of Grace, but have you ever wondered what it was like for her to go home?Check out Jon Bloom take on it here at Desiring God. More About: Home
YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!
2008-01-16 15:56:00 Okay, so I was really psyched when I saw the original line-up for Winter Jam 2008. NewSong, Mercy Me, Skillet, Barlow Girl and Mandisa. Sweet, I've always wanted to see Barlow Girl.oops, read the fine print, the Tampa show is the only one where Barlow GirlWON'T BE APPEARING!!!Okay, I can handle that, Sanctus Real puts on a great show. At least I'll still get to see Lori Peters, the drummer for Skillet, she's got some serious skills and to be able to finally see her was going to be awesome!So picture me in my car driving to work this morning when I hear Carlos break the news on Spirit FM. Seems Lori has retired from the band, her last show being the New Years Concert they put on............YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!!Nothing against Lori, she's ready to move on to the next chapter in her life and I can understand that. Seems they've replaced her with another female drummer, an 18 year old that is ready to "Rock your face off". Sounds encouraging, but it's not Lori.Wherefore art... More About: Kidding , Gotta
1/15/07 - Life Journal - The One Lost Sheep
2008-01-16 02:58:00 Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' "Luke 15:3-6The Pharisees couldn't understand the fact that this person, Jesus, who was said to be a prophet or the Messiah would sit down with sinners. He then used this parable to explain again that he didn't come for those that were "righteous" but for the lost. In other words the parable could be about me, leaving two of my kids to find the third if they were lost or lost their way.Our concentration can't be on those that are saved. Yes we need to continue teaching, discipling and growing them until they can feed themselves and go on to be teachers and apostles on their own but our main focus must be o... More About: Lost , Life , Journal , Sheep
Maxine and God
2008-01-15 22:22:00 Maxine was driving down the street in a sweat because she had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up toward heaven, she said, 'Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up swearing and and tequila .'Miraculously, a parking place appeared .She looked up again and said, 'Never mind. I found one.'Ha ha, great joke right? Not so funny when I look inside myself. Little things like this happen every single day and I write them off as coincidences, no big deal. Green lights all the way to work, elevator there when you really need it, that phone call you've been waiting for, just enough milk in the morning for breakfast and yes, a parking spot right up front. God does all these little things in our lives and how often do I stop and give Him a few props? UH, never. This is one area where I need to take a lesson from Sheri. She's handin out little "Thank You Jesus'" all day ...
Life Journal Make Up (whew, made it)
2008-01-15 21:56:00 Click here for December 30th's entry......and here for December 31st's... More About: Life , Make Up , Journal , Made , Make
ProMark Hot Rods
2008-01-15 15:49:00 As you've heard, Journey has moved into Churchwell elementary school. We are meeting in the cafetorium (cool word) and as you can imagine the acoustics are a little different than the sound swallowing walls of the movie theater. At our first service we had to turn off all the drum mic's. Not cool. For one, I'm behind a shield so the sound from the drums is muted while still being loud, two, I have headphones on so basically I was the only person in the whole place that couldn't hear my drums!This is where the hot rods come in. Made up of individual birch dowels they give a lighter sound but still have some attach in them, unlike brushes. They worked beautifully, we're now able to use the mic's to control the volume of the drums without causing everyone else to crank up the volume. (One problem, I don't get any volume from the bell of my ride and rim clicks are out of the question, any suggestions?) More About: Rods
1/14/08 - Life Journal - Grace > Law
2008-01-15 14:00:00 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?"Luke 14:3Jesus wasn't really expecting an answer here. After He went on to heal the man he highlighted the Pharisee's hypocrisy, asking them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?" It was a straight forward story of another healing but the message was that the law kept people trapped in their infirmities and deeper still, it kept them trapped in their sin. The law couldn't save.Nothing I do should stand in the way of Jesus' saving grace reaching one who is lost. That is, above all else, our purpose here. When we start using excuses devised by man we are derailing His plan for humanity.Father let me be a vehicle for Your grace and not an obstacle for the lost. More About: Life , Journal , Grace
Life Journal Make Up (cont.)
2008-01-14 20:21:00 Click here for December 29th's entry More About: Life , Make Up , Journal , Make , Make-up
I Get to See Lori Peter's Rockin the House!
2008-01-14 03:09:00 This Friday, USF Sundome, Winter Jam 2008! I've been wanting to see Skillet for years and it's happening now! Lori is an amazing drummer and I'm seriously psyched to watch her play. On top of that we'll see Mercy Me, Newsong, Sanctus Real, and Mandisa. Should be an awesome night! More About: House , The House
1/13/07 - Life Journal - The Kingdom of Heaven
2008-01-14 02:32:00 "What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."Luke 13:20,21God's will is worked into the fabric of our lives and this whole creation. The Kindgdom of God cannot be stopped just as a pinch of yeast can't help but spread throughout the entirety of a hunk of dough. The Kingdom has slowly been infiltrating the whole, bit by bit. It's influence has been rising and ebbing, but never shrinking. It will one day be totally entrenched in this world when the old passes and He comes back to reign!Nothing I do can speed up or slow down this process. All I can do is spread the knowledge given to my by the Spirit to as many people as possible to prepare them for something that I don't have any idea when it's going to happen. Piece of cake! It's not my worry. Jesus himself said that only the Father knows when it's going to happen. I just know it is going to happen and my faith in t... More About: Life , Journal , Heaven , The Kingdom
1/12/07 - Life Journal - A Steward's Mentality
2008-01-14 00:51:00 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'Luke 12:16-20God had blessed this man with plentiful crops. Enough that it was more than he could handle. I don't think it was His purpose to have this man sack it away for himself so he could live the "good life". Jesus asks the people what would happen to this surplus if the mans life is demanded from him this very day? Instead of sharing this excess with those in greater need his selfishness, greed and worry led him... More About: Life , Journal
1/11/08 - Life Journal - Despite All My Rage
2008-01-13 23:15:00 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Psalm 4:4It's hard to keep your mind under your own control when you get angry. You don't have to tell me this twice. When we're in this state it's easy to give yourself over to sinful situations like striking out, seeking revenge, screaming at your loved ones or getting physically violent. Like it says above the best course is to be silent. It's a fact that most everything isn't as bad as it seems if you give it a few minutes to cool off.This really resonates with me. I have a terrible temper and it doesn't take much. I need to take the quiet time, lying in my bed and deeply search my heart. I have to pray and figure out what causes me to snap like I do, symptoms that it might be about to happen and ways to defuse my anger before I give myself over to some form of sin. 90% of the time I feel like a complete ass afterwards, realizing that my reaction was way out of proportion... More About: Life , Journal , Rage
Life Journal Make Up (cont.)
2008-01-11 19:45:00 Click here for December 23rd's entry......and here for December 24th's More About: Life , Make Up , Journal , Make , Make-up
I need, no really, I NEED these for work!
2008-01-11 18:15:00 These "Quad-series headphones" from Qlick double as desktop speakers when you flip around the ear pieces.I think I'll start a new series here on ITMOAWD and call it:So here's to Qlick's new headphones, they're.......everyone now....... More About: Work
Books on the Horizon------------------->
2008-01-11 16:13:00 Jotting down some notes on books I want to read soon, (got a nice Books -A-Million giftcard for Christmas).Overcoming Sin and Temptation - This compilation from editors Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor contain three works of John Own, "Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers", "Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It" and "Indwelling Sin". Must reads for the Christian battling sin.Culture Shift: Engaging Current Issues with Timeless Truth - Albert Mohler' book coming out January 15th on engaging our culture from a biblical perspective. Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices - Frank Viola and George Barna's look at where the ritual's of our present day church came from and what the New Testament church actually looked like.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows The last Harry Potter, we just purchased it for my daughter and it's driving her crazy that she can't talk to me about it.I'm still taking my time with Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedon... More About: Horizon
Worship too LOUD?
2008-01-11 15:16:00 Great post from Rick Ianniello on when worship is too loud. I love this quote:I don't know ... when I ran the sound board we adhered to the adage, "Turn it to 10 and let God do the rest." Which reminds me of my favorite sound guy anecdote...(go to his post linked above to read the rest, it's worth it)Thanks Rick, hopefully some people at Journey actually take the time to read my blog! More About: Worship , Loud
1/10/08 - Life Journal - My Birthright for a Bowl of Soup?
More articles from this author:2008-01-11 03:57:00 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.Genesis 25:31-33Esau was exaggerating a bit here. Sure he was beat and "famished" but dying? Whatever he was feeling, with a little prodding from his clever little brother he traded his birthright for a bowl of soup! Seems silly but what would you say to someone who traded a ten minute high, or adulterous/premarital pleasure, or a few hours of risky thrill gambling away their savings or whatever for their eternal salvation? Or even trusting your own intelligence thinking you've got it made, you've done it on your own this far, who needs God?I make decisions similar in consequence to Esau's way to often. Thank God He takes me back, seriously, talk about prodigal son syndrome. I think I have become the poster boy for a new spiritual disease. P.S.S. Unfortunately ther... More About: Life , Journal , Soup , Bowl 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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