Nothing Compares

I am from the Philadelphia area. I have been championship starved my whole life. I remember teh ‘93 series and losing that. I remember the sixers losing to the lakers in ‘01. i remember the eagles in ‘05. But when i remember, i remember the heartache, the “it figures because we’re from philly” comments. The William Penn Curse is no more. No one cares about the 10,000 losses. they mean nothing. I still have not fully grasped the situation. But My Philadelphia Phillies, that i have cheered for my whole life, are the World Series Champions…it feels weird to say. No team currently is better than we are. and can’t be for another year. Seeing the players excited faces was more joy for me than i can ever remember. I’m beside myself with happiness. They finally did it. It’s the best feeling in the world and how could this year get better? oh yea, Penn State is 9-0 and rolling toward a national championship. And before i saw the phillies seal the deal, we had a great worship night at ACF, i shall blog about that next…

RIP…Philly’s championship drout…RIP

Retreat Wrap-Up

Those of you that went, i hope you enjoyed it. I felt like Matt Cohen brought a lot of good scriptural things to the table that i know are valuable for me at least to think about more. Some of my favorite thoughts:

“Christianity is a daily struggle to believe in the Gospel or not”

i know this is true for me, but it is sort of like we are afraid to say it. It was cool to hear a pastor or soon to be pastor say that as if to say it’s okay to struggle and wrestle with these things, in fact, it’s a good thing. I always believe that anything that makes you think and challenge your beliefs is a good thing. It will grow you and firm up what you really believe.

“The church needs to get over their soft, weak view of God.” 

It was definitely cool to hear him break down the way we view jesus as this gentle, meek, carpenter who was just a guy that didn’t sin, no biggie. And transform him into the Living God sitting on the throne ruling over all. His power and dominion is beyond my understanding. Him becoming a man is a big deal, not regular, not admirable, a biiiiig deal. That is humility and obedience in its utter true form.

“Guys, don’t just hang around a girl until its obvious (or awkward) enough that the girl has to ask you what your intentions are.”

I laughed pretty good at this, because we all know how much this happens. Guys dunno what to do or say cuz they get nervous after they put up the facade of a tough guy in control, so they say nothing and just linger. Was also cool to hear Matt say the scripture does not say girlfriends submit to your boyfriends, that is reserved for marriage. simple but good reminder. To the previous point i say “let the relationship juices flow…” guys…that is my phrase, alas, that is an explanation for another post…

Overall, i felt challenged to think about a lot. Even Nate K. going through whether we actually love God or not regarding our whole heart, soul, and mind was good to hear. I think i might have the mind done, just cuz i’m a thinker, but the other two are tricky. then again, i’m a doubter and worrier and maybe that’s part of my mind too, so never mind….i’ve got none of them down. he bottom line to a lot of this however, is that if your heart does not connect with this, or does not desire a eternal perspective, then it won’t happen. I love to think about this, but i could think until i’m blue in the face and if my heart doesn’t click with it, my life will stay the same. That’s my prayer for myself currently. is to say, Lord, break my heart for what breaks yourself, let all of this click and resonate. Let me think through my faith and come out the other end stronger and closer to you than before. I want the passion, joy, and sorrow that goes with the heart emotions of faith. Make it real. Not ideal, not a good way to live…make it real. When that happens, this life will change, this fellowship will change, this campus will change etc.

In case your wonderin’, i’ll put retreat set lists here, however it’s long so i will skip writers this time:

Friday-

• Give us clean hands
• Not to us
• here is our king
• your name
• the stand
• mighty to save
• how deep the father’s love for us
• still
• let me sing
• salvation is here
• yesterday, today, and forever

Saturday-

• Jesus You Alone
• Undivided
• Our God is Love (chorus)
• From the Inside out
• Refiner’s fire
• Great are you Lord
• surrender
• God of 3 strings
• you are still holy – when finally set free
• only one love
• world’s apart – Jars of Clay
• ***thanks guys for tons of good requests!!***
• Salvation is here – came to my rescue (bridge reprise)
• Amazing Grace

There were definitely some awesome worship moments. I know the retreat had me re think the song Great are you Lord to the point where i was almost in tears. Surrender was a good song. its obvious that the song is  hard to sing in the grand scope of things, but who cares, in that moment i believe God loves to hear us attempt to surrender everything, it’s a step in the right direction. God of 3 strings is a new one that we brought back from days of old…really cool lyrics from God’s perspective. The Stand is always good, the words are simple and powerful. I hope you all enjoyed some of the newer songs we have done this year. I know i only brought songs to the table that had simple chorus’ that resonate with us and have great worshipful value. your welcome to comment here on what you think of them, but i think singing to the lord a new song is not only scriptural, but refreshing. Most important, i hope you all were able to experience God in a new or cool way through musical worship this weekend. Much like pastors who want to know how many people they impacted, if you were set free from something, or experienced God in a new way through worship or whatever and would like to share that with me, of course i would love that. I do this whole leading worship thing because the best times of worship i have are alone in my room. And myself and the team desire to share that aspect of personal worship with you all as a congregation every time. We want to break down walls and let God in and ultimately give Him glory. Thanks and God. Bless

Magic Carpet Ride

Yea, i thought the carpets were sweet and homey, i hope you all did as well. At least our bums won’t hurt as much from sitting on them. 

I’m pumped for retreat, hope you are.

I’m pumped for worship night next week, it will be great. we have a lot of surprises and different things that are going to happen up our sleeve. i urge you to make it out. We will continue our experiencing God series through this worship service. There will be opportunities for worship, prayer, journaling, communion, scripture and whatever you want to make out of it! come hungry!

Last Night

• My Glorious :: Martin Smith
• Cannons :: Phil Wickham
• All who are thirsty :: Brenton Brown
• I run ::Forty Days
• Salvation :: Charlie Hall

Reflecting is not that hard…

This evening, i would like to thank Sanctus Real for their incredible good lyrical writing abilities.

Reflect on this: “If weakness is a wound, that no one wants to speak of, then cool is just how far we have to fall.”

stop…read it again. think about it. it took me the 37th time listening to this to fully grasp it.

i’ll go on: “…i am not immune, i only want to be loved. but i feel safe behind the firewall. can i lose my need to impress? if you want the truth, i must confess…”

“I’m not alright, i’m broken inside. broken inside. All i go through, leads me to you. leads me to you.”

again…think about it. when will you be willing to admit that? when will you see that what your going through might be leading you back to God? when?

“Burn away the pride. Bring me to my weakness. Until everything I hide behind is gone. And when I’m open wide with nothing left to cling to, only you are there to lead me on….Honestly, I’m not that strong…I’m not alright…”

-Sanctus Real I’m not Alright

Seriously, if you get this, really get this, i feel like you can’t leave the same. you can never utter the words burn away the pride and bring me to my weakness and still be the same person on the other end.

Lord, i cry out to you tonight. For whatever reason that brokenness and depression have found me, allow me to have nothing left to cling to. that i fully recognize you are the only one to lead me on. I ask so much of other people to stop caring what others think, to let go, to drop a desire for approval. It has to start with me. Burn away my desire for acceptance. Because what does it matter if the whole world likes me but i forgot to serve you? let “cool” be the amount i have to fall. Let brokenness settle. let me admit the times i’m not alright and not let my pride get in the way. Let my only hiding place be you and you alone. I’m not that strong God, i never have been. Make your scripture real where you are strong through my weakness. Don’t let me be the same. Don’t let a day go by and allow me to stay stagnant. For all of this will lead me to you. it always does. Amen.

Outreach and Michigan Sucks

yea i said it…i hate Michigan. maybe you don’t understand. Maybe you weren’t standing in the Big House in ‘05 as you felt your heart ripped out of you unjustly and wrongly. Maybe you weren’t there last year as morelli continued our hopelessness versus this horrible opponent. I hate everything they stand for. Let’s be legit, scripture says “for jacob i loved and Esau” and God said that. You want to know how to relate that to modern day terms? for everyone in the world God loves and Michigan God hates….

maybe that’s a stretch, but i really don’t like them. It felt great to finally beat them. more living proof that a 5 year plan is the way to go. It was one of the best student sections i have ever been in. It rivaled OSU in ‘05 and that was loud! So what a year, Phillies in the series and Penn State beats Michigan, i don’t see much to complain about.

Outreach series today. i liked it. I didn’t even think it was just for others, i enjoyed everything he said as well. Good reminders. and i loved how he did not focus on the silly prayer to be saved. This is a life long deal, an opportunity to really let God in and change you and how you look at the world. i thought that was cool.

coolest worship moment for me “break my heart for what breaks yours, everything i am for your kingdoms cause. show me how to love like you…have loved me.”

That is really cool and definitely an honest prayer that i feel like we all should be praying daily. Without this type of prayer every day, we can’t really be effective for the kingdom. Praying for a broken heart is hard, you better mean it when you do. and asking to Love like God is a tall task, you also better be ready to go. Christianity requires your A game all the time. The gospel makes up for the C’s in life which is awesome. But outreach is about the A game, about bringing more to the tables than PSU did the first quarter ay? ha. no worries.

hope you are all pumped for the retreat, i know i am. Start opening the doors and windows to your heart mind and whatever else now. God can use a crack, but really let him in, will you?

• You are so good to me :: Third Day
• Hosanna :: Brooke Fraiser
• Blessed be your name :: Matt Redman
• Undivided :: Elevation Worship
• Cry in my heart :: Starfield
• I am free :: Desperation Band

Dude Worship

sometimes ministry sucks. churches are not even close to perfect. nor are fellowships. struggles are real. hardships are frustrating. perspective is difficult. fakeness is the easy way out. that’s why i love our pastor. He is never fake. i love that fact that he was real with us last night. I loved his willingness to be vulnerable and to be one of the few pastors to admit that sometimes ministry sucks and that he was frustrated and disappointed and all the other crappy emotions he had. I loved it. i think it takes a real big man to do what he did. To give us the inside look at his thoughts instead of letting us assume happy pastor man has got it all under control. ACF has issues. it’s obvious. outreach, cliquishness, unwelcoming outside our little friend bubbles. That’s real. I personally believe that all of that falls on us. the individuals that drive this fellowship. I respect a ton that Aaron was willing to take blame and question his leadership. That’s what you want in a leader. you want your quarterback down 7 in 4th quarter to want the ball in his hands. However, we gotta start blocking for him, running correct routes, holding on to the ball…in non football terms, we need to step up as a church and fellowship.

That aside for a second, i did love how aaron handled it all and i really hope people felt challenged by both sunday and wednesday. Do you care about the people around you more than what they think of you? more than the awkwardness you might feel? do you really?

My advice for outreach and being missional is don’t think about it. thinking about it makes people projects. makes you focus on YOUR words. Make God number 1 in your life and it will exude from you. Come the the drastic reality that this life isn’t about you. this college experience isn’t about what you can get out of it. what your 4 years will look like. what fun you can have. Don’t leave this place like that. those are empty memories. i’m not saying don’t have fun. leave footprints though. do you remember kenny hiser? edith clogg? of course you do, cuz they got it. Their lives weren’t about them. they didn’t outreach or be welcoming cuz they felt like they had to. they did cuz they really really cared about people and living out what God says.

bottom line, if you feel like you have to do anything or things i just said…then don’t do them. i’m serious. If you don’t legitimately want to love on people, then don’t attempt. Forcing is Religion. This was never about Religion. Do’s and Don’ts are crap. That’s Religion. Christ being real in your life is Christianity. And following Christ means following his basic way of life: love God and freaking everyone.

This was a bit of rambling, i apologize. hopefully it makes sense, apparently there was a lot on my mind about this.

I have seen 5 different dynamics of ACF. 1 per year. I have slowly watching ACF change. from a place where it was the number one priority. no one wanted to ever miss an ACF. no exam thursday (which is a crap excuse by the way), no club meeting, no anything would get in the way. People cared first and foremost about being a part of this body, encouraging one another, worshiping together, and being filled up on the word together. It has changed to a social gathering at times. A place where if it is convenient in peoples schedules, they come. It is not number one priority. THEIR college experience is. THEIR grades are. THEIR fill in the blank is. ACF is a direct correlation to a walk with Christ. Everything describing church in the bible is here. I think people are taking it for granted. and mis understanding the importance of the body and a weekly time to meet as believers and worship, be challenged, encourage, pray, read, etc.

maybe this is harsh. maybe your thinking its not so bad. that’s fine. but i see it. Numbers aren’t everything, but look at them…room doesn’t fill anymore, almost no freshman. no charismatic worship. Something is in the way of letting God break through. I believe change is coming. I think Aaron has stirred the sleeping giant if you will.

Faith is not an activity. College is the best time to challenge your faith, make it your own, and leave your parents views at the door. Your right, this is your college experience. It will also be the biggest shaping of who you are. Who do you want to be when you leave here? how are you going to pursue that? I’ll leave you with switchfoot “This is your life…are you who you want to be?“

Set
+Our God is Love :: Lee McDerment
+Marvelous Light :: Charlie Hall
+How Great is our God :: Chris Tomlin
+To know your Name :: Hillsong United
+Our Love is Loud :: David Crowder

Twas cool to see Alums faces

In the midst of the crowd i could see a very distinct set of large lips and emo hair…that of course was pete horning. It was really cool to see him and his wife jackie, and all the alums back at ACF on the other side of leadership. Pete was my mentor and taught me everything i know on electric guitar and most i know on leading worship. It was neat to have him worshipping with me, as if the baton was passed or something corny like that. It made me realize how much i yearn for the same thing. i want to pass the baton back, influence as many people as i can, let God take over this worship team and this fellowship. i’m honored to be a part of it. Maybe one day my face and hair will stick out for something to look out and see me and be encouraged, because that’s how i felt. Thanks Pete, for all you have done for me and for always being my friend. You set a great example. i only hope i can do the same and leave a small footprint that people can look at and say i saw Christ here.

It was also neat to feel like the church caught on to “Hands of the healer” and i could really hear the voices sing it out at the end, that was sweet. I love that song for the record. it blew me away the first time i heard it. Simple, yet really powerful. 

• Because of You :: Bridge Band
• Unchanging :: Chris Tomlin
• Grace Like Rain :: Todd Agnew
• Hands of the Healer :: Eddie Kirkland
• Amazed :: Jared Anderson
• Everlasting God :: Brenton Brown

With regards to the service. I felt like Aaron handled it very well, and i was very challenged by the simplicity and the dire urgency in the tone of his voice. How often to we really sit and pray for this campus? do we believe it can change? soon? Why are we so lazy? why don’t we invite people? why don’t we talk about jesus? or worse, why is our life not exuded jesus enough that it naturally comes out because its who we are? I’m not always sure, but i know i feel challenged from here out to not let moments pass me by, to not be so focused on me and my school work that i forget the greater good that exists here. Not that God is ever counting, but i’m sure his concern is far greater for the souls reached on this campus than your GPA…i’ve seen the real world, and i know it just doesn’t matter. It’s who you know is not cliche, but the harsh truth…anyway 

don’t sit on your bum any more if you are…it’s not worth it. the worst feeling ever is looking back and realizing you could have done more, or you wasted opportunities…or the dreaded question..”what would it have been like if…?”

Let’s step up to the plate church…now

Just a beating and an exile-lation…

I Have been reading Acts recently. In Acts, chapter 5, we learn that Peter and his boys were doing their thing; preaching the gospel of Jesus to everyone. The “spiritual” leaders of that time were enraged that Paul would speak of the resurrection of the dead of Jesus. They wanted to kill them. If it wasn’t for a Pharisee named Gamaliel, they would have. He convinced them that what Peter was doing had to be of God. The rest of the Pharisee’s took his advice. So they called Peter and his crew back into the council, beat them, and told them to leave and never speak of Jesus again…that was the good end of the bargain….what? that is crazy.

They were convinced it was of God, so instead of killing them, they beat them and exiled them…or my new made up verb, a good ole fashion exile-lation. We are too blessed sometimes as Americans. We don’t know what persecution is. we think someone making fun of us for being a Christian is harmful to us. get the heck out of hear! you let me know when you tell a classmate about Jesus, and their response is to beat the snot out of you and tell  you to never come back to class and say His name again….when that happens, you tell me and then maybe we would understand, but we don’t. We are scared of what people think, scared of what to say, scared to go out of our comfort zone. because laziness and selfishness rule this country and that doesn’t exclude Christians. This story in Acts 5 is amazing to me. Their boldness to preach no matter what the obstacles is simply incredible.

I believe the word preach also was meant differently back then. I think the willard preacher and HUB preacher are using it the wrong way. I believe it is simply honest fellowship that involves sharing stories and truths about Jesus. It is very simple actually. if your pursuing God with all  you have, then what you talk about will be Him, or what He’s doing, or what He’s done, or what you believe about Him.

This story, (specifically if you are a guy) poses a very important question….if this happened today, and you were beat, thrown out, and told not to talk about Jesus, would you still? would you man up? would you let nothing get in the way of the only thing that is worth living for in this life? would you really….?

Louder than Creation to You

Hey, sometimes, everything doesn’t go the way you planned. sometimes, it all doesn’t fall perfectly in place. sometimes people aren’t all pleased. and yet, all the times, God is gracious, faithful, and worth all our praise. Do you ever really think about the words on the screen?

“i will give you all my worship, i will give you all my praise.” will u? what about the times you worship your school work? your schedule? your relationships? your fill in the blank? That’s the thing about Christianity, is that it always makes you a hypocrite. you are always aspiring to something un aspirable. I don’t believe it means you should not sing the song. I think the moment in the song is to remind you of the times you are a liar. So that you can more readily notice it. I think that line is a reminder of how things should be and how your heart should be aligned and what you should strive for. Falling short is the name of the game. learning not to give up or to never stop pursuing God with all you have is the only answer for over coming your hypocrisy.

“i want to be holy, like you are.” all the time? what does that look like? This is another good place to aspire too, though I’m not sure it is possible. There’s definitely a part of me that believes we should never grow weary of singing you are holy to God. it is the essence of who he is and what separates us. It is the one sentence that might sum up the gospel and remind us daily.

“they don’t know the price, you paid for my life, the sacrifice you made…let me sing…” How often do we recall the price Christ paid for us? daily? weekly? monthly? How often do we reflect on what the price is? is that evident while we are singing? sacrifice is the name of the game as well. If we remember Christ’s sacrifice, how little to the things we need to give up become? what about the phrase, let me sing? how awesome is that. such a short phrase, but very powerful, don’t miss it next time. That is the essence of sunday morning you-are-tired-and-groggy-so-not-totally-in-to-worship-God-understands. Worship is easy and great when you are in the mood. but let’s be real a lot of the times we aren’t. our fault? completely. who are we to be so moody that God comes second? He only commands it and reminds us how worthy he is all the time. In the middle of being moody and not knowing how to worship, the phrase “let me sing” becomes so powerful. It is like asking God for help. God let me sing to you, let me give you all i have, let me find the energy and strength to give this up, let me….let me is a powerful line to say to God. you want God to empower you. He likes that. don’t be afraid to say let me. Give God the glory by asking for Him to do something real and un-expecting in your life.

“the cry of my heart, is to bring you praise, from the inside out lord my soul cries out…everlasting” Does your heart cry? How about your Soul? More importantly, have you let God break you down to the point of your heart and soul crying out to Him because you have nothing left? Find ways to let the cry of your heart be to bring God praise. i really think you will be set free and find more and more ways to serve the kingdom when your heart sings like that…

• I will give you all my worship :: David Ruis
• Wholly Yours :: David Crowder
• Let me Sing :: Todd Fields
• From the Inside Out :: Hillsong United
• I will never lose the wonder :: Tim Hughes
• Yesterday, Today and Forever :: Vicky Beeching

I yearn for myself and for everyone who has ever come to ACF and ever will that these words are no longer words on a screen. I pray you can find ways to make it more than that. That you don’t need the screen to experience the living God. Lose yourself in worship, true, genuine worship. You don’t need the band, the screen or anyone around you. God is waiting for all of ACF to let go. For us to cry out with one heart for Him to let us sing.

“I will never lose the wonder of, the blood you shed for me…”

things i love

i love Penn State at 5-0. I love their chances at running the table. i love the phillies doing well in the playoffs. i love skipping studying to hang out with a friend in need. i love getting a letter because who writes letters anymore? i love when guitar strings don’t break. i love worshipping at ACF like there is no one in the room, nothing is more free. i love throwing a good spiral so much that someone else says “that was a good spiral!” i love people forgetting how bad you are at things, like left handed layups, or the times you throw a duck. now that i reminded you, hopefully you will do something i love, and forget. i love jordan egli. his laugh, his spirit, his joy, his wisdom. really all of him. i love how i loved jared egli originally because he was in my small group, but he left, so i replaced him and love jordan more than i thought i could have loved jared. i love learning that anberlin came out with a cd and i didn’t know, so i bought it and it’s great. i love feeling excited inside without control, like to see someone awesome or knowing you are about to eat a fresh warm cookie. i love quoting comedians that other people know, its like you steal their laughs. i love road trips, anywhere anytime. i love nashville. i love a cabin on a lake in the middle of South carolina with a cigar. i love columbia, SC. i love charleston and savannah. i love talking until 4 AM just because. i love classes in computer labs where you can slump behind computer and snooze. i love the blue spoon and gourmet chicken sandwiches. i love how nate van patter always makes you think. i love slush puppies (the original, and bummed myers dairy hasn’t fixed thier machine in 2 months) i love vests. i love the GAP. i love LOST. i don’t love lamp, but i do love coffee table. i love the feeling of a good hoodie. i love the fall in normal places that aren’t state college where cold comes like a brick wall. i love the feeling of your sports team winning or of you doing something right in life. i love tiger woods. i love running into people on campus. and i love realizing how much i love by doing this…have a great day, and love on somebody or something!