Consider Serving this Fall

Hey, how about the music at the Royal Wedding? - loved it! The couple wasn't too bad either, I guess. It was nice to see that I'm not the only one who has trouble with the words to church songs - I saw Elton and even the Queen miss a few!

I'm spending a little time this morning reflecting on a great year at Bay Life Worship Arts. It's truly a privilege to be able to lead this ministry and to constantly find the nuggets of creativity and beauty in the worship activities that each year brings. I'm amazed at the depth of our team and the dedication of all who serve - you each bring a different set of skills and personality to our ministry making it an exceptionally diverse group. I appreciate you all and love doing ministry with you.

Christmas '10

This past Christmas was especially enjoyable for me. I'm still so grateful that we could stage a work by one of our own at our Christmas Dessert Theater event. Also a highlight for me this year, were the opportunities that we've had to introduce our people to new talent - we've added lots of new faces to our team. I feel confident that our community is stronger than ever and I'm excited about what God has for us next year. 

For now, we head into our summer season with a little less demanding schedule. Pray that I can come up with a creative plan for a worship event this Christmas. Fortunately, next Easter is already in the bag - it'll be called OPHE or EPOH and it's gonna feature a giant cross on the dirt road to Emmaus! : )

I pray that this summer brings rest and amazing times with friends and family. Make plans to join us in the fall when many of us will expand our weekend schedule from 2 services to 4! We'll start on the Thursday following the first week of school. Can't wait to see you there!

Blessings!

Brad

I Annoy Myself!

Have you ever annoyed yourself with something. I drive myself nuts with my constant humming and lately, I've been annoyed that something with no flash, no woohoo!, etc. has really made me think. I've been intrigued by a simple little song by Laura Story called "Blessings" that turns the idea of trials upside-down.

Brokenness. An egg, is almost useless until it’s shell is destroyed and taken away. In fact most foods are only useful when we chew them, swallow them and their nutrients are broken away and taken for nutritious fuel.

Soil left alone, will be hard, dry and impenetrable. Before we sow seed we have to break up the soil, we have to work it, etc. The soil’s former existence is sacrificed so that it can serve the needs of the plant - the soil’s true purpose.

Sacrifice. You guessed it, there's an example of sacrifice in baseball. Young players don’t like sacrifice plays but they're often essential to any team’s success. There’s a sac fly, the sac bunt, we sacrifice a runner to advance another, we even sacrifice a run sometimes, to get an out. In each situation, players stats are sacrificed to further the goals of the entire team.

I'm sure that you've heard this before - sometimes we need to break something about ourselves or about our play on the team to become all that we can be - God looks at our greater purpose and wants us to be willing to be broken so that He can use us for our true purpose.

Short term pain for long term gain, right? But what if we endure trials - AND WE STILL LOSE. What about that?

"What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy; and what if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights, are your mercies in disguise."

Think about it,
Brad

"Blessings" by Laura Story
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet Love is way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
It's not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise