Mike must be the only one who can keep up with my blogging. About once a week I get 5 or 6 comments-not because I say anything worth commenting about, but because that’s when everyone happens to check my blog…only Mike actually checks it pretty regularly (daily). What a guy…

Things have been pretty crazy at church lately. We are remodeling the auditorium, so lots of things are shaking…but even beyond that, something weird is going on. I can’t put my finger on it. Our attendance (before you read any farther, note that I don’t give a rip about the “numbers”) has been down-drastically down-since Easter. And I’m just not sure exactly what is gonig on, but a lot of it is good! And then I keep thinking to myself, “Are we reaching people? Outsiders? Are we reaching our world? Or are we struggling to keep our own heads above water?? Trying to please the people that are already here? Massively overloading the already committed to try and fulfill all the tasks that we think need to be done?” Sometimes I feel like we are progressing and changing and moving forward at Warp speed. Sometimes I feel like a hamster in a wheel-running really fast and going nowhere…isn’t that the oddest thing??? Am I crazy??

Lord, we need your guidance.

We had two new folks last night at orchestra! A trumpet and a sax player!! Fantastic!!! They really added a lot!!! Thanks guys!! Now if only Mike would stop whimping out and play alto sax with us…oh yeah, he only plays when there’s a scholarship involved…

I need you choir members to recruit!! More singers!!!! MORE MORE MORE!!!

Can’t wait til my office is finished. I’m just painting and moving things around. It was too cluttered and was not a good work environment. I tell you, with nothing but my computer and a couple of files in that office, I had one of the most productive days ever! It was cool!

Tried to watch the new show “Revelations” last night, but I thought it was on AFTER American Idol, turns out it was on DURING American Idol…bummer. I only wanted to see it after reading about it on the web from the Christianity Today website. It looked really interesting…
gotta go

Great choir practice last night. It’s always a little difficult when you come to a new season and you are rehearsing all new music. All the non-sightreaders (most of the choir) are fumbling through the pieces and trying their best, and I’m trying to rely on the others to lead the way. This one wasn’t so bad, though. There were a number of folks who came on SAT and looked at the new music, and were ready to lead out. I believe that people caught on REALLY WELL last night, it was a lot better than rehearsals like this one in the past! Great job MPC!!!!!

Excerpts from Psalm 77
—————-
1 I cried out to God for help;
    I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
    at night I stretched out untiring hands
    and my soul refused to be comforted.

11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD ;
    yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will meditate on all your works
    and consider all your mighty deeds.
13 Your ways, O God, are holy.
    What god is so great as our God?
14 You are the God who performs miracles;
    you display your power among the peoples.
15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
—————–

If you read this entire Psalm, you can learn a great lesson. David is in the depths of despair–he’s discouraged or whatever. So what he says in verse 11, basically, is that in the middle of his discouragement, he will remember all the cool things God has done for him in the past, regardless of how he feels, or if God is ignoring him right now. He recounts all this stuff about the Lord, even though he’s wallowing…Who is as great as our God? Who is as holy as you…? etc..

What a great thing for us to do, even today. When you’re discouraged, REMEMBER WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR YOU ALREADY. Recount the great things He has done in your life, AND His greatness regardless of what He’s done for you. This would be a fantastic exercise for all of us to do. Thank you Lord for clear instruction from your Word today!!!

side note: Paula Abdul is bothering me. So much that I don’t care if I mispelled her name. Ok, really. She is annoying me. She just needs to do a little less drugs before the show, just wait ’til after Paula…she’s high or something, and it’s really weird and distracting.

Also: A really cool thing happened yesterday. I went to Starbucks to get a frappacino before choir, and one of the baristas totally started asking me about our church. I’ve been building relationships with these people for a year or more and I was feeling the other day like maybe it was futile, and yielding no results. But lo, and behold-right outta the blue she just asked me about our church ’cause her daughter wants someplace to go…it was really cool. She and her daughter came to our Christmas show, which was cool. I’m praying that she’ll come. Praise the Lord for encouraging us when we need it!!!!

Really interesting small group last night.

Looking forward to choir tonight. I’m in the middle of cleaning out my office and rearranging it to actually look nice, instead of the catch-all that it has been for the last two and a half years. When I came they said, “You’ve got $500 to fix up your office”, and I think I bought a chair, and a couple of shelves. Now, finally, I am going to complete the task of making my office cool. Hopefully. Maybe.

Excerpts from Psalm 75:
——-
1 We give thanks to you, O God,
we give thanks, for your Name is near
men tell of your wonderful deeds.

6 No one from the east or the west or from the
desert can exalt a man.
7 But it is God who judges:
He brings one down, he exalts another.

9 As for me, I will declare this forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
——-

So I’ve been reading the Psalms for a couple of months now. Probably one a day (about), and it has been very uplifting. I’ve said it before that if anyone would like to study worship, study the Psalms. David (or whomever wrote the Psalms, I think we know David wrote a lot of them), is quite the worshiper, and it is incredible to see the contrast in his life—-and that through it all, whether good or bad times, he is worshiping the Lord. Quite incredible!

It hit me today–there are so many commands to, or declarations of singing in worship to the Lord. David says numerous times (too many for me to remember!) that he will sing to the Lord. Sing sing sing. Sing praises. Shout for joy…all this stuff. And here we are thousands of years later, still singing. Churches all across the world, all different kinds of denomenations, are singing on the weekends in their services. What kind of power is there behind the voice? What kind of power is there in music, that we use it so often to declare our feelings to the Lord? I think this is pretty deep, here?? Too deep for me…can hardly fathom this phenomenon, music in praise and worship.
But I know this…I may never remember a sermon, the three points of why we should evangelize, or whatever…but I can sing you a hundred songs RIGHT NOW that I’ve learned and sung in worship over the last 15 years of my life (not that I’m 15 years old, but I thinkn that’s about how far back I can remember singing…hee hee!).

Music is incredible. What power and universatility. Yes, I may have made that word up. But still. I am honored to be a musician in the Lord’s service. I only hope that the songs I choose to teach and sing in church can minister to the people around us in a way that lasts a long time…

On another note: on Friday night I finally beat Bowser after collecting 120 stars in SUPER MARIO for N64. It was great! I may never play the game again, but I CONQUERED IT!!!
Thanks Nintendo Power, for all your help…

Just saw the movie “Guess Who”. I thought it was nice and funny in some parts. I’ll wait ’til Mike sees it I guess, before I can say Janke and Semsen give it two thumbs up…or whatever…

There’s a contest at www.skittles.com where you can win a free STAR WARS themed iPod. That’s so cool!!! What’s next?? Are they going to start selling REAL Ewoks or something?? I mean, c’mon, how much more merchandising can one do?? I’ve seen Star Wars stuff everywhere-and I love it. I think this has to be the biggest promotional campaign I’ve EVER seen for any movie since I’ve been alive. It’s not like it’s the end of a six-movie series or anything…

By the way- Mike’s Favorite Movie List is pretty lame. He’s got a few good movies on there, then there’s some I just go “WHAT!?!” to. Pretty weird. I’ve never seen at least five of those movies, and a movie like CONTACT doesn’t deserve a spot on the top 25 movies of anyone’s list…not when you’re omitting works like Anchorman, or Elf.

Speaking of Will Farrell, I saw TWO extended trailers tonight at the movies for TWO movies he is in coming out in the summer. They both look HILARIOUS!! Will Farrell is like the new Bob Hope or Bill Cosby or something. This guy is funny, and he’s just not stopping…I love it!! Keep it coming, WIll!!! I’d see FIVE movies you were in this summer if you could be in that many! (GET OFF THE SHED!!!)

So glad that Derek is playing guitar this weekend. He’s the BEST! I’m sad he’s going out to sea for awhile (not just because he rocks the guitar…).

NOTE: My wife and I are going to the “10 Great Dates to Energize Your Marriage” seminar during our church’s Personal Growth Institute and it’s fun! Not that our marriage lacks energy, but we went on our first date tonight and you do these little exercises during the dates-fun! Highly recommend for all you married folk!! (yeah, who reads my blog that is married-like two people??). Just a note…

Paula-you’ll have to send me a link to your blog, otherwise, I have no idea where it is…

I gotta tell you, LOST last night was absolutely thrilling. I am rarely that emotionally involved in anything-and I don’t mean I was sad, I am talking about anxiety, stress, anticipation, ok, and some sadness. I know 24 is usually pretty thrilling, but the whole thing with Boone was just so much. I have so much to say about how much I love this show, I can’t do it all here…

When I’m not relying on the Lord, I get crabby, selfish, prideful, suspiscious, I’m angered easily, and very “the whole world revolves around me”-ish. What a pain I am…and it is very hard to live life with all of those problems/feelings in one day!! I woke up today just saying, “Lord, I need you-desperately” so I’m going to go hang out with Him. See ya.

By the way- here’s the email Mike Speck wrote us here at Midway as a thank you for premiering his Musical, “The Heart of Christmas”:
—–
To the choir and drama team at Midway,

I do not have words to adequately express the love in my heart for you. Thank you for the marvelous way you communicated the musical The Heart Of Christmas. It was obvious that God clearly had His Hand on you and His anointing was powerful. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought the Lord would be so good to me. I could not have hand picked a better group to sing The Heart Of Christmas. I feel like I owe each of you far more than a simple “thank you.” It was an honor to have had the privilege of working with you in this project. May the Lord receive all the glory and may His Kingdom be advanced as a result of our effort.

The response from those in attendance was incredible. Over and over they remarked how the choir sang with such passion. They simply could not believe you had memorized the material in four weeks. I am still thrilled by the thought of the evening. My only regret is that the soloist Luke Garrett was so sick. He did the best he could. In spite of his sickness, the song “I Choose Jesus” was truly a moment.

I look forward to the opportunity of singing alongside you again. May the Lord bless and strengthen each of you. I hope that when you think of this experience, it will be a joyful, and satisfying thought.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike Speck
—–
Thanks, Mike. It was our pleasure!!!!

Highlights from Psalm 71 (my favorite parts!!)
———–
1 In you, O LORD , I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.

5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD ,
    my confidence since my youth.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
    you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
    I will ever praise you.

8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
    declaring your splendor all day long.

12 Be not far from me, O God;
    come quickly, O my God, to help me.

14 But as for me, I will always have hope;
    I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
    of your salvation all day long,
    though I know not its measure.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD ;
    I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
    you who have done great things.
    Who, O God, is like you?

22 I will praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God;
    I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
    O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
    when I sing praise to you-
    I, whom you have redeemed.
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
    all day long,
—————
A few things that I see here:
God is a protector-David has trusted in the Lord since BIRTH!! Since he was young. That’s a lot of trust and faith-and we know the story of David and Goliath, so we can really say, “Yeah, I guess he has trusted him for a LONG time”. I don’t know if I can say that my trust has been that unwavering. I grew up in a Godly household, and I have trusted the Lord since I was young, but let’s be honest. Daily trusted?? WIth a faith like David?? I think I have some work to do…

Many times here Dave says that he is proclaiming the praises of God all day long. In v8, 15, and 24. I think this is an area where many of us fail (myself included). I even work in a church surrounded by other church people…does that mean that I am declaring the praises of God ALL DAY LONG? No. But I need to. I think my life would significantly change if I practiced the talking faith of David. Praying all day. Praising God all day. How could you go wrong?? Where would your attitude be? It would probably be right on the money…what distractes us from this task? Work? People? Situations? Whatever…help me Lord to focus on YOU all day long. To sing of Your praises all day, to pray to you and talk to you all day…wow, then, I think, people might really see Christ in me.

btw- I got a really encouraging phone message from Mike Speck. I’ll bring it to the next choir practice for y’all to listen to. He’s also going to type up something for me to read to the choir. Exciting!!!

Psalm 70
1 Hasten, O God, to save me;
    O LORD , come quickly to help me.
2 May those who seek my life
    be put to shame and confusion;
    may all who desire my ruin
    be turned back in disgrace.
3 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
    turn back because of their shame.
4 But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
    may those who love your salvation always say,
    “Let God be exalted!”
5 Yet I am poor and needy;
    come quickly to me, O God.
    You are my help and my deliverer;
    O LORD , do not delay.

Went back to MUSICalifornia yesterday. Went to the Doc’s seminar from 2-4PM and then off to dinner with Christy’s bro and girlfriend and back to hear Steve Amerson and the UCO from Cal-Baptist. Steve Amerson was great, I’ve never really heard him much before, so it was a treat. In addition, the UCO from Cal Baptist also did great. I had heard a few of the songs before, but it was nice to hear them with orchestration and with the nice tone and energy of that choir. I must admit, when I heard this group 2+ years ago, they were really bad, so I have to hand it to Doc, whether by recruiting, or whatever, his group is way better than it was.

And no, I am not a Bonner-ite. So stop calling me one, Jonathan. Or I might just have to spell your name wrong…

On a side note, the UCO from APU is coming to our church for a concert on May 11th. Now THAT is exciting!! They will be on tour, so we’ll be getting them housing and all of that fun stuff. And it will be very interesting to see what Rod has done with the group.

So Doc did try to recruit me to be a grad student in his Master’s conducting program. He walked right up to me and said “Daniel, you did such a great job with your premiere that I want you to come be a student in my master’s conducting program in the fall…” then he introduced me to a lady who’ll be driving up from El Cajon and said we could carpool, etc, etc, etc… Now, it’s Monday and Tuesday from 4-10PM, which is crazy. It’s a million miles away, which is crazy. AND there’s about two thousand other reasons why I shouldn’t and can’t do it–but let me tell you about the power or personal recruitment–that guy made me feel like a million bucks for a little while there–even if I am smart enough to see through the compliments and know he’s really just trying to recruit. WHen he told me that he WANTED me in his program, it felt good. SO TAKE NOTE, ALL OF YOU CHOIR MEMBERS OR WHOMEVER ELSE IS READING: people want to feel important, and feel like they are needed. You want our choir to grow, it’s going to take you being like Dr. Bonner–you go and tell those people that our choir is suffering without them, that we really need them, etc…it really feels good- AND IS PRETTY PERSUASIVE, LET ME TELL YOU!!.

Needless to say, I’m not going to Cal Baptist in the fall, but I did think about it for a couple of hours…

This scripture is good…Psalm 67:5-7
——
5 May the peoples praise you, O God;
    may all the peoples praise you.
6 Then the land will yield its harvest,
    and God, our God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us,
    and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
——-

Notice the word “THEN”. “May the peoples praise you, O GOd. THEN…our God will bless us.”

Hmm…so don’t sit there waiting for the blessing, THEN praise the Lord (I think we often do this). PRAISE THE LORD FIRST!! Make it the foremost thing on your plate no matter what else is going on. THEN God will bless us. The Bible also says that God inhabits the praises of His people…so many times we say to ourselves, “where is God in this situation?”. He is in your praises. So praise Him when your car is towed, praise Him when you break your leg, praise Him when tragedy happens all around you-that’s where God is.

David also says in Psalm 68:19
“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”

Let the Lord bear your burdens DAILY. Let Him bear them today-right now (if you got some burdens…)