Create Something

Like anything else, my creative side has to be fed, exercised, sometimes jolted and often waited upon to bear mature creations. Recently, I’ve been in a lull of creative thinking. It’s been a little disconcerting as I rarely find myself without a creative bent but I think I’ve been in slow-down mode. I’ve been a little worried that I might be out of ideas!

Here’s what I’m learning. To be creative, it helps to be around creativity; to be interesting it helps to be around interesting things; and to be excited about ideas, it helps for the ideas to be necessary. I guess I know these things but I’m reminded that when God created me to be a creative arts person, He didn’t expect me to do it with my eyes, ears and other creative senses stopped up. 

Likewise for you. Maybe you too need to take a look around and get practical. If you want to make something happen, get out there with people who are making things happen; if you want to be a great parent, spend time with some great parents; if you want to change the world, find some earth-shakers and get after it!

Sounds obvious but we often forget.

Here's our Creator at work - read PSALM 8. 

Blessings,

Brad

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

Details vs. The Big Picture

I AM A BASEBALL COACH!

You see, I'm one of those Dads that started in baseball because my son wanted to play t-ball and now I think I may just register my kid each year because I can't register myself. And, I don't play vicariously through my son - no, no, I'm worse! I have my own thing going. I'm out there each game, smack dab in the middle of the action! Oh, yeah!

It's Tuesday evening, we have a game at our home park and off we go as if to war, toting all the necessary gear - catcher's equipment, gloves, bat, uniform and iPad 2! That's right, iPad 2. I've got a new app that will revolutionize the way that I can score the game and provide information to my fellow coaches. To contrast my previous equipment for this task, the iPad 2 replaces a pitch-count clicker - $5 at any sports store.

That's right, enough said - by the third inning the iPad was in the car and I couldn't even tell my comrades the number of pitches our pitcher had thrown. No more details for you because I'm not really sure what happened myself. I remember people laughing and having to ask a teenager why he wanted to know who's mom the nice looking woman (my wife) in the bleachers was.

Here's my point. Sometimes we can be so caught up in trying to manage the small stuff that the big picture is secondary or even worse, completely out of control. This approach will lead to failure and a group of real ball players and coaches watching you try to catch up with your clicker!

Apply generously to your life.

Blessings,

Brad

It's All About Perspective

To hear more click here.

I hope you're all having a great week and that you're making plans to join us this weekend for an incredible church community event - Feed the Bay. Come to Bay Life and be a part of what God's doing in the Tampa Bay area to provide food for those who need it most.



I'm sure that many of you know that I'm a biker - well actually, I was a Scooter-er until just recently when I purchased a real motorcycle. I'm having a great time on the new bike and I'm looking forward to the beautiful Florida weather this spring and summer as Reba and I plan to really enjoy it. I know what many of you are thinking - Brad had better be careful. Don't worry, I promise that I will be very tame and responsible as I hit the road on two wheels - which brings me to my thoughts about perspective.

It's been an interesting week. I spent Monday and Tuesday in motorcycle endorsement class - a very different couple of days compared to my normal routine. It was quite interesting and I got to meet some great folks but the most curious part of the experience was the fact that everyone in the room had actually driven themselves to class. That's right, they travelled streets and highways; drove through water, potholes and construction; took sharp turns, probably made u-turns and I would guess that some may have even done a few things that were questionably street legal (some of them drove their motorcycles to motorcycle driver's license class! - but I digress). Everyone there had negotiated the factors that stood between their residence and the training facility but all had arrived to learn how to drive; and not just because they felt that it was the responsible thing to do but because even the government deems it absolutely necessary. The difference of course, is that driving from the perspective of two wheels is a completely different thing than driving on four - you see what I'm getting at, it's all about perspective!

Life is inevitably a series of significant pitfalls. Either you've experienced them already or today, you're one day closer to your heartache - we're human, it's our nature. Now, that's really bad news but it can be much worse news depending on your perspective. I choose the perspective of the loving arms of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I will absolutely face pain, difficulty and heartache but with Christ, I  have hope and the knowledge that, "I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13

All that and they just give me a temp document - bummer, right?

I know a number of people who today, are facing the potholes and sharp turns that life throws at us. Some are struggling outside of the comforting arms of a loving God, others are experiencing a peace beyond understanding. What's your perspective? What are you going to do about it?

Life, like pavement, is hard - but God is good! See you out there on the open road.



- Brad

Feed The Bay March 26-27

Most individuals struggling with hunger are NOT homeless and out of work. Want to be part of the solution? Feed The Bay - March 26-27 @ Bay Life Church. 

Have You Ever Been in Need?

Good afternoon Lifers!

Have you ever been in need? I mean, you've been completely unable to do anything to attend to your problem and without the help of someone else, you weren't going to make it. Fortunately, up to this point in my life, there haven't been very many of those situations. Most of the time, I've been able to take care of myself but I know that eventually I'm gonna need help too. There are many in our community who, for one reason or another, are in desperate need. God has designed community so that we're able to find that help and so that we can provide for those who can't provide for themselves.

Which one are you today? If you're in need, reach out to someone in your life and let them help carry your burden. If you aren't in need today, make sure that you're living in community with others so that when the day comes, you will have someone to call on. If you know someone in need, take the initiative to be their answer to prayer - it usually doesn't take much to make a huge difference. Go ahead and be God's hands and feet in a broken world.

Blessings,

Brad