My Worship Revolution

Here’s the skinny from Sunday.  A few video clips again, but from a static camcorder on a tripod in the balcony. 

I am so incredibly blessed to have two of the most amazing mother’s in the world in my life, my own and my son’s.




Mom, thanks for all the years of supporting me, encouraging me, and putting up with me!  Ever since I can remember, my mom always encouraged me and told me I could do anything I wanted with a little hard work and ambition.  She helped instill a belief in myself and a desire to excel that has had a huge part in making me the man I am today.  Thanks for everything mom!  I wouldn’t be here without you…literally. 

And then there’s my wife, Rachel.  One of the reasons that I knew she was the one I wanted to spend my life with was the qualities in her that I knew would make her an amazing mom as well as wife.  I truly belief the first way to be a great parent to your child is to be a good spouse to you partner.  For many years, my wife has been THE BEST at this.  But now, as Caleb has entered our life, even knowing that she would be a great mom, she has far exceeded anything I ever could have imagined.  She is the most patient, loving, caring, responsible, and beautiful mother to our on.  Rachel, thank you so much for your dedication to me and to Caleb.  I can’t wait for the many years ahead of raising our child into a bold and courageous man who will follow after God with all of his heart.  You’re amazing!

Alright, so I think I’m gonna slightly betray rule #6 over here, but against my better judgment I think I’ll go ahead and share my opinion.  It may ruffle someone’s feathers.  So if you have really fundamentalist feathers (which I admit I did at one point in time) you are welcome to stop reading now and come back for tomorrows worship confessional. 

First, the positive and fun part.  Last night, Rachel and I drove a couple hours away to see Leeland in concert.  Thanks to Jane for babysitting for us!!  I first became familiar with Leeland at Re:create, and he was the bomb, so well worth the drive I figured to enjoy worshiping with him.  And it was.

First there was a guy named Jimmy Robeson who opened up for him.  He’s from Maranatha Chapel in San Diego.  Really enjoyed him.  Here’s some pics and a clip:

Then, after a 10 minute break, Leeland stepped up.  And they were awesome.  A bit too loud for Rachel, perfect for me.  I love watchin this kid lead.  Again, some pics and clip:

Now you’re probably wondering, "Why the disclaimer?  Bobby’s said nothing but nice stuff about the music so far."  Maybe I won’t break rule #6.  We’ll consider this a discussion on strategy.

Before Leeland’s last couple songs, we’re informed by overseeing staff pastor that we are going to take one more short break, but that we aren’t going anywhere for this one.  They want to be sure that everyone knows the reason we are gathered to worship, and next thing you know we’re at a mini Harvest Crusade as homeboy teaches through Luke 7 to share about God’s plan of forgiveness.

My cynical self is now a bit irritated.  Perhaps I should be excited that people get to hear the Gospel.  Maybe I should be praying for those who need to know Jesus.  Instead, I’m wondering what non Christ follower would actually be at this event anyway?  As far as I knew the purpose of the evening was part of a musical tour, not an evangelistic crusade.

Now some of you are already saying, "If one person is saved as a result, it was worth it."  Fine, I get that.  I guess it’s just a difference of opinion in strategy for me.  If you are having an outreach, call it an outreach.  What I think tweaks me is that it seems to come from the mindset that every event a church holds, they must present the gospel and have an altar call.  I went to a church that actually had that policy at one time.  If we had a ministry game night, make sure the Gospel is shared and people have the chance to accept Jesus.  Maybe that’s one of the reasons people don’t want to bother coming to our events anymore.  They have finally learned that we can’t just get together and have a good time, rather there’s always the bait and switch.

At times, let’s just have our events (especially one that was clearly designed for the already Christ followers) and if non-believers are there, trust for once that God is working in their heart and will continue to afterward and bring them to the appropriate event, or better yet, relationship to bring them across "the line."  OK, end rant.  Otherwise, it was a great fun night with my wife and the music was great.  I recommend you check him out if he’s gonna be nearby.  And I think I intentionally made this long so that people who might not like it or don’t care will have stopped reading by now. 

Now I wish I could find a way to make it feasible to get to L.A. to see United.  I bet you they won’t pull that trick!

my wife rocks.  She sings, teaches, cooks, cleans, shops wisely, changes a mean diaper, puts up with me, and now edits video!  If you didn’t see it already at her blog, check out her first video with shots of Caleb in Southern California during their visit:

One thing I like to do is encourage all of y’all to start blogging.  Especially now that I have a whole new community I’m getting to know.  "Why," you ask?  Well, I actually like getting to know you by hearing what you are up to and seeing what interests you around the web.  Don’t know what to say?  Just start by sharing a little bit about what you do during the week.

And so I will continually encourage and hope to see the CLC list on my sidebar grow.  And so, it has begun.  I received an e-mail this morning with the news.  So welcome Marc Armstrong to the blogosphere!!

This is the scary, "I have a really sharp tool and I’m comin to get ya!" picture.  Marc is on the tech team at CLC.  He and his wife are long time attenders of CLC, and his wife, Jane, is our children’s ministry director.  He has a blog to share about his life as a dad.  Go check it out.

So come on CLC’ers!  Let’s get this community goin?  And soon I’ll have a post to help you newbies make your blog reading much easier and quicker.  Anyone else around here have a blog I’m missing?

It’s that simple.  OK, so there’s more to it than that.  After I posted my last weight video at District Council, I had a dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory and something they said triggered an idea.  Rachel liked it and said she was willing to go in.  Then I got to chatting with Pete Kim online, and we decided to go in on this together.  So, check out the video right here for the details:

So there you go.  I’m kinda excited.  This will hopefully be a fun experiment.  And how could I not lose at least a little weight knowing that every fatty bite I take is in essence stealing money from some poor war torn kid in Uganda?

So here’s the deal – for now, to pledge to this deal just e-mail me here and I will keep a spreadsheet (Mac’s can do those too) of your pledges.  And seriously, any amount helps!  Then I will get a donation button deal goin on later and I’ll funnel all the money over, or you can just donate yourself if that makes you more comfortable.    And anyone who’s gonna join in on a blog, make sure you let me know and I’ll be sure to link you in my sidebar, and give you some serious pub.

So c’mon now!  Who’s in?!  Who’s gonna make some pledges?  Who’s gonna join us in gettin healthy and hopefully helping to save more lives than just our own? And oh yeah…spread the word!

This is what happens sometimes when you make videos like the one below:

He’s so darned cute though, it was definitely worth it.  I already talked to the Apple store and they said they can pop it back in.  So, over the hill I go!  (Was already headin there today anyway.)

I am busy today, which may delay my weight loss update a wee bit longer.  Sorry!  It’ll be here soon though, and worth the wait I hope.

Here’s a few clips of my morning with Caleb this morning.  My wife made fun of the video cause I kinda forgot to button Caleb’s onesie…and his pajamas are horribly mismatched because all of the ones that fit him are in her luggage which is finally at San Jose airport.

Geez…they really do grow up fast.  And I’m not even through the first year yet!

OK, so I know a number of you are wondering about my weight loss.  I know because you’ve asked me.  And I did say I’d try and post on Mondays.  Well…just hold your horses.  The schedule and the plan have changed a little bit.  But it’s gonna be worth the wait!!

Hopefully I should have something for you tomorrow.  So make sure you check back.  And be ready to play a very active role in keeping me accountable and helping me to get healthy.  Details to follow! 

Ha!  This is hilarious!  Check it out:

Enough said.  i’m not gonna even bother adding any more.
HT: Steve Eller