It's Monday!

Good Monday morning Team!
And it is a good Monday. More about that in a minute...

So what happens when your strings break? What? OK... This week, my guitar needed to have its strings changed (I have to do that about every 3 weeks or so) and I decided to use some new, expensive, beautiful sounding strings that I had used before, but had a problem with them breaking on me. I thought, "This time will be different! Maybe these new ones are better than before." It had been several months since I had tried them so I was hopeful. Well, as you saw yesterday, I broke a string on the second song. Fortunately, I had a chance to quickly replace the broken string during the announcements. But after we began singing again, I broke another string. Guitars have 6 strings, so what if only one breaks...there are 5 more. Ha! It doesn't work that way. Every string is important and when one breaks, the guitar will not function properly. And its not just because one part of the chord is missing, but because when one breaks, all the others go out of tune.

Sounds like our lives sometimes. There are sins that have haunted us in the past and we sometimes think that if I go that way again, the results will be different. Nope. Sin doesn't change over time and its results on our lives will be the same...broken strings and a life that is out of tune and therefore, useless. And fixing only one of the strings and not the others doesn't work either. It wasn't until I replaced all the bad strings that my guitar functioned properly. Our lives will never be in tune until we give it all to Him. Are you hanging on trying to play music with a broken string? Replace it and make sweet music!

And that leads me to Monday... it's a great Monday, when we are in tune with our Lord. Go make sweet music this week!

See you on Wednesday at 6:15!

Blessings,
Dave

It's Wednesday!

Hi Team,
I heard this on the radio and want to do it next Sunday in our contemporary worship celebration. Unfortunately, Michael Robert hasn't released the album yet (I think you might want to get this one) so here is the video from his site:





You can check out more about Michael Robert at

http://michaelrobertmusic.com/

Blessings,

Dave

It's Monday!

Good morning Team,

"We will shine like stars in the universe
Holding out Your truth in the darkest place
We'll be living for Your glory
Jesus, we'll be living for Your glory!"

I have been challenged by pastor's message to begin living outside the Christian bubble. A friend of mine has done that by participating in a local theatre group, only to take "friendly" fire for being worldly. I wonder if I am strong enough to take that risk. Then God graciously reminds me that its not my battle, but His, and my job is to be obedient. Guess that excuse is shot down. Anyway, I'm still looking for ways to step outside the bubble...let's see what God has planned...

Speaking of stepping outside the bubble, the Owego Naz Worship Choir has a ministry opportunity that I'll ask you about on Wednesday...6:15PM. It was so good to have you back leading worship this week. There is a freshness and excitement that you bring to our worship celebrations and God uses that to bless His people and speak to everyone present. Thank you for stepping up for the Lord. He was pleased with our offering this week and my heart leaps for joy when we please Him. Well done!

Have a great week living outside the bubble!

Dave

It's Monday!

Good morning Team,
Happy Labor Day everyone. It was great to see so many of you with us in worship yesterday. "Sing to the Lord a new song!" I could tell by your awesome spirit that you were singing fresh and living praises to our Lord.

So... for those of you who were unable to make it to our opening rehearsal of the Owego Naz Worship Choir... here's the HUGE announcement:




AUGUST 13, 14, 15, 2010
The Owego Naz Worship Team will travel to New York City and share in the ministry of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. This vision expanding trip will include a time of mission work and a time of fun in NYC. We'll conclude the trip on Sunday with worship at the Brooklyn Tabernacle and the opportunity to experience the 300 voice Brooklyn Tabernacle choir leading worship. Woohoo!

The trip will be open to Owego Naz Worship Choir members first and then other members of the Worship Team. What a nice incentive to join the choir :)

The choir will be singing this Sunday so our rehearsal this Wednesday is real important (not that every rehearsal isn't important!) See you Wednesday night at 6:15pm.

Have an awesome week!

Dave

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