It's Monday!

Hi Team,
Two!!! Two more days until kickoff for the Fall 2009 season for the Owego Naz Worship Choir! I have finished up the lineup of songs for this year and will have CD's available for everyone at our rehearsal...

WEDNESDAY
September 2nd
6:15 PM - 7:30 PM
Owego Naz sanctuary

The choir will sing for the first time on Sunday, September 13 in the second service.

"Sing to the Lord a new song. Play skillfully and sing with joy!"
-Psalm 33:3

This is the theme for our Worship Team this year and I'm excited to share more about this with you at rehearsal. I am also going to make a HUGE announcement about a HUGE event coming up this year. HUGE!! See you Wednesday night!

Blessings,
Dave

It's Monday!

Good morning Team,
The countdown begins...10
10 days until we kick off the fall 2009 season for the Owego Naz Worship Choir!

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 6:15pm
IN THE SANCTUARY...WOOHOO!!

Yesterday, we worshiped the Lord joyfully and sent two of our worship team members off to college. Janel Lantz and Phil Rodgers will be leaving this week for Mount Vernon Nazarene University where they will undoubtedly be used in ministry. In fact, Phil is already lined up to lead worship at a friend's church when he arrives. I know they will appreciate our prayers.

Most of you know that Coleen and I made a trip to Niagara Falls last week to celebrate Coleen's ___th birthday! Here's a quick look at a highlight..

We enjoyed our trip home as we traveled along the west coast of NY on Lake Erie. There are some awesome estates on the Lake! I was actually surprised to find out that there are some significant bluffs on Lake Erie that make the shoreline very interesting. More later...

Coleen loves HGTV and with her real estate background, she loves the property shows like "Real Estate Intervention." This is a show where people who are trying to sell their home get a reality check about the market. The lesson they learn is that what you are selling is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. How much are you worth? The Bible says,
“You have been bought and paid for by Christ, so you belong to him—be free now from all these earthly prides and fears” (1 Corinthians 7:23 LB).
Oh yeah! You are priceless! Praise God!

Have an awesome week!

Dave

It's Monday!

Hi Team,
I am sitting in my chair, looking out the window at a beautiful morning...quite different from yesterday afternoon when that nasty thunderstorm hurricaned it's way through our area. My purpose driven devotion this morning was quite fitting. I've included it at the end of this blog.

Coleen and I had a wonderful couple of days last week allowing the Lord to speak to us. There is real benefit in getting away from the normal routine and letting God control our time. God had some wonderful things to say to us and I'm looking forward to sharing with our Worship Arts Team(Liam, Suzanne, Sue, Denise, Andy, Bob) tonight. We started our retreat at Kingdom Bound on Wednesday and were totally blessed by the Newsboys. They debuted their new lead singer, Michael Tate, best known as the lead singer for DC Talk. Their energy and the crowds enthusiasm was electrifying. But the biggest impact on me was from Phil Joel. Phil is a former lead singer and bass player for Newsboys who went solo and discovered how knowing Jesus, not knowing about Jesus, is our purpose. Check out this 4 minute video:

We only get to know Jesus in the same way that we get to know anyone...spending time with Him. How do we do that? There is only one way to make it work in our busy society. It must be intentional and regular. We must discipline ourselves to set the time aside every day to meet with Him. When that time is is up to you to decide. Phil found that it was early in the day. For some of us that's not the best time...then how about later after the kids are in bed. Is there anything on TV that is so good we couldn't shut it off and be quiet before bedtime? Whenever your time is...commit to it and make it a routine or better yet...a habit.

Here's my devotion from this morning...

August 10, 2009 Being Positive in Spite of Your Problems by Rick Warren “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way” (James 1:2–4 MSG).

So you think you’ve got problems? Consider Brian Hise: He had more than his share of bad luck a few years ago in July. When his apartment in Provo, Utah, became flooded from a broken pipe in the apartment above his, the manager told him to go out and rent a wet/dry vacuum. That’s when Brian discovered that his car had a flat tire. He changed the tire and went inside again to phone a friend for help. But the electric shock he got from the phone so startled him that he inadvertently ripped the instrument off the wall! Before he could leave his apartment a second time, a neighbor had to kick his door down because by now water damage had jammed it too tight to open. While all this was going on, someone stole Brian’s car! But since it was almost out of gas, Brian found it just a few blocks away. He then had to push it to a gas station where he filled up the tank. That evening Brian attended a military ceremony at the university he was attending. He injured himself severely when he somehow sat on his bayonet, which had been tossed in the front seat of his car! Doctors were able to stitch up Brian’s wound but, in the meantime, no one was able to resuscitate four of his canaries who were crushed to death from the wet, falling plaster in his apartment. He discovered their deaths after arriving home and then slipping on the wet carpet in his apartment, badly injuring his tailbone. Brian said he began to wonder if (and I quote), “God wanted me dead, but just kept missing!” The Bible says, “Is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete” (James 1:2–4 LB).

Blessings, Dave

It's still Monday!

Good evening Team,
Yes it's still Monday. It's been a busy day and I'm just finding the time to get to my blog.

Did you notice Dan Eash on bass in the second worship celebration yesterday? What a great surprise when Neil text ed me that his brother was in town and willing to play with the band! Thanks for adding to our worship experience guys!

Didn't you love the kids yesterday as they sang and did the motions for the Crocodile Dock program. It was a great time at Summer Bible Adventure and the best part is that 25 kids gave their hearts to Jesus. Woohoo!


CHRISTMAS! If you haven't picked up your CD of Rejoice!, our Christmas musical, they are on the front pew...still wrapped in Christmas paper. Start listening and enjoy.


Next week, I will be taking a few days away to get with God and plan for the year. My enthusiasm is growing as I get ready to see what's in store for the Owego Naz Worship Team. I would like to meet with our Worship Arts Team (Liam, Suzanne, Sue, Denise, Andy, Bob) at our house on Monday, Aug 10 and share! Lets meet at 6:30pm.

REMINDER! The OwegoNaz Worship Choir will be singing with Sweet Aroma next Monday night (Aug 3) at Muldoon Park in Waverly at 6PM. Let's meet at the church and take the van at 5:30pm.


We've been talking about getting real with God in our prayers. We talked about using normal language and pausing to concentrate on Him when we pray. Then we start our prayers with PRAISE. The next step in our getting real with God deals with giving Him our worries.

Philippians 4:6 says: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (NIV).

Hmmm...do we really believe this? When we pray, trustingly, He hears our petitions. And notice the attitude we need when we petition the Lord...thanksgiving. Yeah baby! That's the ticket! Gratitude before the Lord is powerful. Keep that attitude at all times and see how many good things come your way!

Blessings,
Dave

It's Monday!

Good morning Team,
What a fun time we had Saturday at our OwegoNaz Worship Team Christmas Appreciation Brunch. Thanks to Coleen, Wayne and Darlene Cobler and Crystal Rutan for the awesome food...oh, yeah... and thanks to Sams Club for the pastries :)

We honored some of our team members:


Kyle Schreiner - Rookie of the Year

Bob Rutan - Techie of the Year
Sue Camin - Servant Heart Award

Suzanna Miller - Spirit Award



Our Christmas musical is here!! CD's are available now, so you can get an early start on Christmas. If you didn't get one on Saturday, you can pick one up at the church... they are on the front pew in the sanctuary...still wrapped in Christmas paper :)


Pastor Dennis continued his series on "Getting real with God" by sharing that we begin our prayers with Adoration for God. Praise is one of the best parts of being a worship team! Keeping our eyes wide open to the wonders around us is a great plan! Another idea is to pray the names of God. The names of God deal with His attributes. Rick Warren lists these:

• God is present with me.
• God is my Shepherd.
• God is my Provider.
• God is my Healer.
• God is my Peace.
• God is my victory in conflict.

Want more? Google "names of God" and see how many come up.

Have an awesome week with your
eyes wide open!

Dave

It's Tuesday!

Good morning Team,
Guilty! I let yesterday get away from me and got caught up in the Monday crunch of stuff I had to do. And I didn't get everything that I needed to get done accomplished...like my blog. Oh well...it's OK. There are more important things than the stuff we think is so important...

It was an emotionally draining week as we said, "good-bye" to Crystal Paris and did our best to comfort Thad and the children...and dealt with the tuff question of "Why?" Thank you, Pastor Dennis, for helping us with that on Sunday. Thank you, Owego Naz Worship Choir, for stepping up and helping our people to heal. Ethan Paris is continuing to recover and you can encourage him and the family by sharing a note at Caring Bridge... http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ethanparis

Saturday, (yes, this Saturday) is our Owego Naz Worship Team Appreciation Christmas Brunch. If you haven't signed up...call or email me by Wednesday, tomorrow! Meet in the mini-hall at 10am.

"Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world" (Psalm 46:10 NLT)

Last week I talked about being real with God when we pray. Not the flashy, churchy, wordy stuff...the "it's me God...can we talk?" stuff. Another part of being real with God is one I have trouble with. I am a multi-tasker. You all know what that means. I don't like to do just one thing at a time and I like to get things done...NOW! That's a problem when it comes to talking with God. He's a jealous God and He wants all my attention when I talk with Him. That's tuff. I proved that at the openning of this blog. Guilty! Rick Warren says that when he prays, before he starts, he takes a deep breath and just lets the tension flow out of his body and then he can talk to God. Sounds like a plan. Next week we'll talk about "the quiet place."

Blessings,

Dave

It's Monday!

Good Morning Team,
It crept up on me after the morning worship service yesterday. It was not very noticeable for most of the day, but by midnight it was here with all its vengance...a COLD! Dr. Coleen diagnosed it as a result of flying back from Orlando last week. I don't know about that, but its got me real good. I will do my best to not pass it on to anyone, but I'm still going to Karen's tonight for our rehearsal with Sweet Aroma.

Let's continue with our thoughts about being real with God. Last week, your staff from Owego Naz was in Orlando, FL with 25,000 other Nazarenes at our quadrennial General Assembly. We worshiped with people from all over this globe and we were one in the Spirit of God. Some people wore suits and dresses, some wore jeans and T-shirts. Some wore native dress of their country. Here's a video I took in the Exhibit Hall from one of the Missions booths...

It didn't matter what we looked like on the outside...we were united by the Spirit of God. That's what matters to God, not our outward appearance, but what is in our heart.

Matthew 6 teaches us that God is not interested in the flowery speech that we associate with great prayers. Rick Warren puts it like this:

Imagine I walked in the door one evening and my kids said: "O, almighty procreator of our family. How wonderful thou art, who sovereignly deposits our allowance to us. Oh, the majesty of thy wonderful self! We beseech thee to come eat dinner with us." I'd check their temperatures to see if they were sick! I don't want to hear that. I want them to say, "Hey! Dad's home. Good to see you, Pop!"

One of our focal points at Little Church has been on being authentic with our prayer time...not flowery speech, but simple sentence prayers in normal language. Now some are admittedly very "smooth" pray-ers. Again, God is not interested in how we are able to connect our thoughts and words together in a flowing manner...He wants to hear our hearts. So when you pray, don't think about the next line you are going to pray...just tell God whats on your mind...that's what He wants :)

If you haven't signed up or emailed me that you are going to attend our Christmas Brunch on Saturday, July 18 at 10am...do it now! This is for all choir members, band members and tech members. Basically, if you are reading this, you're invited. We need to have the number by this Sunday so please let me know. Gracias!

Have an awesome week!

Blessings,

Dave