A few months ago I was invited to a Hillsong concert that was scheduled for December 1 (this past Thursday). I was looking forward to it.

Up until the week of.

It was right after the week of ThanksGiving. We had family in town for the previous 2 weeks, we had barely been home. And that week we were incredibly busy. Between work schedule, projects, fundraisers, life group, meetings, phone calls and just life it seemed like it would just be better if we didnt go.

But the problem was we were invited and I wasn’t going to tell our friends that we couldn’t make it.

So we took the almost hour trip during rush hour as soon as Tara got off work and headed to the “concert.” (Its not really a concert.)

I didn’t know what to expect, we hear Hillsong worship songs every week at church, listen to it on itunes, spotify, car, and so on, so I figured it was just another event to go to and listen to good music.

What I experienced was 2 hours of worshipping God like I have not had in a long time. What was great was that im not up on my “Hillsong worship leaders” so I didnt know who the people on stage were. I mean, I know Darlene Zschech and Joel Houston and I knew neither of them were on stage, so to me it was just like another worship service, except in a big arena with thousands of people there. (A couple of days later I learned that Reuben Morgan was the main guy leading and I recognized that name.)

So many thoughts, truths, ideas raced through my mind that night, that when I got home I sat at the computer and worked through until 10 AM the next morning.

The interesting thing is if you asked me this past weekend about the concert I wouldn’t have told you that the concert was in any way “Life Changing” of “Life Defining”

When I woke up this morning I had the following chorus in my head:

Holy are you God
Holy is your name
With everything I’ve got
My heart will sing how I love you

I didn’t even know which song that was to, So I went to my friend Google and asked him. The song is Beautiful Exchange. As I read the lyrics and listen to the words and think about how they so CLEARLY and RELEVANTLY apply to my life I cant help but to be overwhelmed.

I don’t think that December 1, 2011 between 8-10 PM CST at the Verizon Theater was a specific defining moment in my life. But I think what it caused was a quiet transformation.

So often, especially in our western culture, we are looking for the instant. The right away. We need it now. This is why we stand in long lines waiting for the newest iProducts, Black Friday, etc etc.

We do the same with God. We bring our broken, cursed, burdened lives to Him and expect the clouds to part the light to shine on us and for there to be immediate results. Wether its with an addiction, a sickness, finances, relationships, whatever it is. We want it changed and we want it done NOW!

Dont get me wrong, I know God is able to make immediate change, I have met people and have heard from people who were instantly delivered from the craziest of situations, healed etc. But what im saying is will we give up when our will isn’t instantly granted? When what I want supersedes what God says is better?

I think what i’ve learned, and not on purpose, is that transformation takes time. Both time invested and time to develop. It takes my time invested in His word. In worshipping Him and in waiting… I HATE THAT WORD… WAIT!!!

Maybe the change won’t be on the surface. Maybe its hidden. Maybe its a quiet change. Maybe its something I won’t even realize right away.

“ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ” - James 1:4 

You were near
Though I was distant
Disillusioned I was
Lost and insecure

Still mercy fought
For my attention
You were waiting at the door
Then I let you in

Trading your life
For my offenses
For my redemption
You carried all the blame

Breaking the curse
Of our condition
Perfection took our place

Chorus:
When only love could make a way
You gave your life in a beautiful exchange

My burden erased
My life forgiven
There is nothing that could take this love away
And my only desire and sole ambition
Is to love you just the same

Chorus:
When only love could make a way
You gave your life in a beautiful exchange
When only love could break these chains
You gave your life in a beautiful exchange

Bridge:
Holy are you God
Holy is your name
With everything I’ve got
My heart will sing how I love you

I don’t know what I’m doing. That’s something I tell myself often. Not just when it comes to doing something I’m unfamiliar with, but when im doing what I do day in and day out. The truth is most of the time I feel out of place. I’ve told Tara this a lot of times. I’m afraid one day I’m going to get found out.

Read More…

Earlier this year I met a couple of guys who were starting a new NPO (Non Profit Organization) called Love By Action, whose purpose is to serve those in poverty, specifically in a slum area of Nairobi called ‘Mathare’. Read More…

A note of warning. This post will probably be extremely long. You are more than welcome to read it. Some of it may not make any sense, this will serve more for me to be able to go back to and remind myself about my time in Kenya.

Im finding it extremely difficult to sit and write this. I think its because 1. it’s hard to go through and revisit the emotions i’ve experienced in the last 11 days and 2. by writing this update its like its officially over.

Starting from the beginning (before the trip)
If you read my first few posts you know that 1. I love to dream about things that seem way huge and bigger than anything i can do. 2. One of those dreams is to travel and tell the story of people and organizations doing work around the world. Read More…

If you read my post here you saw that God is opening some incredible doors for Tara and I. Im a huge dreamer and its still surreal to me that when God gives you dreams, as crazy as they may seem, if you give your all to pursue them he will make a way for you!
I think i have a little experience about giving something up to pursue a bigger dream. We’ve given stuff up four times in the last six years! In February 2005 i quit a full time job to pursue media as my career, In June 2005 we sold everything we owned and moved to Denmark to work with Master’s Commission there. In 2006 we moved back to FL without knowing where finances or work would come from Read More…

“A moment without technology.” Those words meant something to me tonight. By default because of my work and what im passionate about i’m always connected. Always on my phone, laptop, desktop, i can even log on to twitter on my TV through my blu-ray player.

Read More…

In 2006, as i was helping a missionary friend with some media projects, God began to give me a dream.

Up to that point my biggest dream was to work full time doing what i had found to be my passion back in 2002, media creation (graphics, web, video).

So in 2006, almost immediately after landing my first full-time gig, it was time to dream again. This dream was a little… a LOT bigger… and i knew it would take time before it would begin to unravel.  Read More…

So im definitely not a “writer”. I will usually think of something and think “i should write/blog about that” and when i sit to write nothing comes to mind. I do think blogging is good and i want to start putting stuff down so i can look back in the future and see the path ive gone down. This blog will be completely random probably.

As i write this tonight im in a hotel in Arkansas. Tomorrow i’ll be attending a conference (http://genesisconference.tv/), but im mostly here to hang with one of my good friends who lives in Europe and is in town for a few days. Its been cool to sit and dream about the future.

Im looking forward to dreaming the next few days while im away from home, and outside of my daily routine. I feel like God has been showing me snapshots of the future over the last few weeks. Things i have dreamed, prayed, hoped for are falling into place and it is crazy exciting! I really wish people would challenge themselves to pursue their dreams more often.

If your dream is crazy, expensive, takes more time than you have, more skills than you have and takes more imagination than what you can give….GO FOR IT!