Friday, July 24, 2009

National Worship Leader Conference

This week I had the opportunity to attend the National Worship Leader Conference. It was held in Leawood, Kansas at Church of the Resurrection so was just a hop, skip, and a jump away for me. It was pretty incredible to get so many leaders (estimated 1,600) in the worship music area across the nation together. There were concerts by musicians such as David Crowder Band, Mac Powell, Laura Story, Aaron Shust, Paul Baloche, Matt Maher, Jeremy Riddle, and Christy Nockels. During the day there were also seminars touching on a variety of topics relevant to worship leaders. The days were long but it was very cool to spend time with so many worship leaders and the times of worship were amazing. The audience was ready to be set aflame with hearts in worship to God.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Once in a Millennium

Tomorrow at precisely 4:05:06 AM a once in a Millennium event will occur. The date and time will be 04:05:06 07/08/09. This will not occur for another thousand years.

Monday, July 06, 2009

Fireworks

Here are some pictures from 4th of July fireworks at Hidden Valley park and Worlds of Fun. I'd not taken the moving sparkler shots before but thought they turned out very cool.








Saturday, July 04, 2009

Singing Warriors

2 Chronicles 20:21-22 "And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, 'Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.' And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed."

The background story for this passage is that Jehoshaphat (as a side note, this would be a great name for a cat :) and Judah were about to be attacked by the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites, "a great multitude." Needless to say, the nation of Judah, along with their king, were a bit afraid. They fasted and prayed and cried out to God recognizing their inability to conquer the enemy. He heard them and the Lord of angel armies assured them that they would be victorious in battle. When they got up, ready to go out to battle, the king appointed people to sing praise to the Lord. Not only did they sing, but they LED THE WHOLE ARMY! They were claiming victory before the battle even started and were so confident in God's power that they put the singers up front.

I don't know what it sounded like but I like to think of something along the lines of "O Fortuna" by Carl Orff from Carmina Barina. It's a massive choral piece that starts out very terse and soft and half way through the timpani kick in and the chorus goes from pianisimo to fortismo immediately. It's huge and would strike fear in opposition. At the huge part, I think of the angel armies of God rushing forward utterly decimating and destroying the enemy.



Judah then went to gather an enormous amount of plunder for 3 days followed by a time of worship and celebration for God's providence.

I think there's application here for people going through difficult circumstances or seemingly insurmountable obstacles in life. Of course, proper preparation and wisdom is vital but don't get so caught up in the tough spot that you forget who is Lord. Instead of freaking out and worrying to death, praise Him in the moment then go and stride forward claiming victory.

Here's a simple song I wrote based on this passage.

I will praise you Lord in the darkest night
when the battle roars when it's hard to fight
I will praise you Lord when evil comes
when I want to hide when I want to run

I'm gonna praise You, yes I will praise You

The victory is Yours oh God
You are the Lord the mighty One
Salvation comes by Your own hand
and with You, I'll always stand

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Town Hall with Sam Graves

Yesterday, I went to an outdoor town hall to hear my congressman, Sam Graves, speak. There were around 250 people there and the topic was centered on tax reform. He talked about the unfairness of the estate tax being a double tax after having the money already taxed at the time it was earned. He also mentioned the Fair Tax which seems to be gaining some support in congress. The fair tax is a concept of abolishing the current income tax system and instead using a national sales tax. This would allow people to choose when to pay tax by when they choose to purchase things. There are also provisions that would make necessities like food effectively non-taxable. He also talked about making the tax system less onerous on small businesses and the fact that the government by and large does not create jobs but rather small businesses create jobs.

A lot of times I don't entirely agree with a politician but through responses to emails I've written him and along with hearing him in person, I found that his philosophies match up with mine, at least fiscally. It was nice to see an actual member of congress in person and get the sense that he is really working to make a difference in the federal government.
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