Royal weddings, Tornados, The Bluebird... and Community.

Romans 12:15 says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn."  Thankfully God gives us the capacity to do both of those at the same time, because life seems to bring great joy and great tragedy all at the same time, doesn't it?

Yes, I was one of the hopeless romantics that set my alarm for 4:30AM to get up on Friday morning to watch the Royal Wedding.  I know, I know.... I could've dvr'd it and watched it at a decent hour, but there was something cool about getting up and watching it LIVE while the rest of the world watched it at the same time.  I heard something like 38 million people watched as William and Catherine became man and wife. 

It wasn't just the "fairytale" of the wedding that drew me in.  It was so much more.  Life is about relationships.  Not just between a man and woman, but more about community.  What builds "community"?  Shared experiences.  That seems to be what bonds us.  It can take complete strangers and give you common ground to develop a relationship that starts true friendships.  The wedding was an opportunity for millions of strangers to "bond".  It gave families a wholesome experience to to enjoy together.   It brought joy into the day of so many people.  It gave us hope.  It embraced tradition.  Joy, hope, tradition, love....  getting up at 4:30am to celebrate those things was well worth it to me!

On the flip side of things... watching all the devastation in Alabama from the deadly tornado outbreak was heartwrenching.  Watching the tweets of friends, looking for missing loved ones... and then finding they had been lost forever was just horrible.  Seeing the news reports of whole communities flattened was tragic.  One year ago, Nashville was flooded beyond belief.  Our town is still rebuilding and recovering.  However, thankfully, the loss of life was nowhere near what happened in Alabama this week.  Losing all your material possessions is hard, but losing your loved ones at the same time is just unfathomable.

These tragedies also build community.  I saw it during our floods.  Strangers jumping in to help strangers during their time of need is truly humanity at it's best.  I'm so proud of my church, Crosspoint Community Church, here in Nashville.  They had a group of volunteers heading down to the hardest hit parts of Alabama within 24 hrs of the tornado outbreak.  Armed with rebuilding tools and a lotta love, they immediately headed out to help however they could.    How I wished I could've jumped on board and made the trip with them, but this time I had to stay in town because of commitments I needed to honor here.   We can't ALL do everything, but we CAN all do SOMETHING.  Some go physically to help... some donate money towards the cause... some pray.... some spread the word... some organize the rebuilding and recovering missions.  It takes it all.  Pick one and do it!   When we get involved on some level, it helps us all not feel so helpless in these situations.   We aren't helpless.  We CAN help.

I played the Bluebird last night with one of my favorite people, James Casto.  If you aren't familiar with his music, do yourself a favor and check him out at www.jamescastomusic.com   I also became a big fan of my two other ITR writers last night.  Jesse Terry and Carole Ford.  Two truly great musicians and amazing people!   If they are playing a show in your area, GO!!  You won't regret it.  It was a night full of joy and inspiring music.  Music is another thing that builds community.  It brings strangers together to share a common experience.  A common interest that bonds us.

When God made Adam, he saw that it was not good for man to be alone.  So He made Eve.  That was the beginning of "community"....  Let's embrace one another.  We all have faults.  We all fall down.  But we CAN get back up again with the help of our friends and family.  Our community.  Let's not spend time tearing one another down.... or squabbling over things that don't matter.  Life it too short.  Let's build each other up and watch as we all benefit from sharing the love.

Spread a little kindness... it sweetens the soul and strengthens the heart.

Happy Easter Everyone!

If you are looking for a place to come and celebrate Easter today... please consider my church, Crosspoint Community Church.  It's a place where everyone is welcome, nobody is perfect & anything is possible!   As you can see above on the flyer, we have several services to choose from at 5 different campuses.  I'm looking forward to being there with my family today to celebrate the Love our Father has shown for us in the most AMAZING way!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever might believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life." -- John 3:16

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter, filled with love, laughter, and the TRUE realization of God's love for you!!  .....plus a chocolate bunny or two!!  :-)

Are you "Nice"??

I guess we all worry at times about how we are being perceived by the rest of the world, right?

 I see some people that are consumed with making sure they dress a certain way, drive the newest coolest car, buy a fancy house in the “right” neighborhood and show up at all the trendiest spots in town.  Why?  Just so people will have a certain perception of them.  If people think we are cool, then we ARE cool, right?

Then there are others who don’t worry so much about all the “worldly” stuff, but seem to spend all their time and effort into making people believe they are nice.  Nice.  They bend over backwards doing stuff for other people so that some will marvel at how nice they are.  But really the main reason they are busting their butts for everyone is just so that they will be perceived in a certain way.  They want to remind everyone how nice they are.  So, deep down, they are still doing it for themselves. –They are doing it so that they can maintain everyone’s perception of them.  I must admit that I find myself falling into this category at times. 

“I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” – Rev. 3:1  -- Ouch!  That was a harsh reminder for me this morning.   We can spend our lives “doing” all the right things and still miss the big picture. 

We can give to charities, show up every Sunday at church, be the first to offer to help a co-worker when they are in a pinch.  Nice. 

We can go out of our way to support our friends, mow our neighbor’s lawn when they are out of town without being asked, volunteer at a retirement home.  Nice.

We can give a dollar to the homeless man on the corner, spend hours on the phone listening to your friend’s drama’s when you really need to be doing something else, take dinner to a family who just lost a loved one, and ALWAYS send thank-you notes appropriately.  Nice.

We can build our reputations on being the “nice” one and live our lives consumed with keeping that reputation alive, all the while not having the right motives behind our actions.  But God sees our heart.  He knows our motives. 

Bottom line is this:  It doesn’t matter what the world’s perception is of us – all that matters is the reality of who we are before God. 

That was a good wake-up call for me today.  I don’t wanna miss the big picture of what God wants for me while I’m busy making sure the world thinks I’m… well… Nice.

Tickets for Bluebird Show...

Just a reminder that tickets for our 4/29/11 Bluebird show go on sale at 8:00am this coming Monday 4/25.  You can either call the Bluebird, or go to their website www.bluebirdcafe.com to make reservations.  Reservations are strongly recommended for this show.  I'll be In-the-Row with 3 other awesome singer/songwriters.  They are: James Casto, Carole Ford and Jesse Terry.  Show starts promptly at 6:30 on Friday, April 29th.  Hope to see you there!!

Crazy Love

I've been hearing about the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan for awhile now.  I was serving at church last Sunday on the worship team and as I was wandering around between services in the front lobby outside the auditorium, I saw the books for sale and there it was, calling out my name.  I was immediately drawn to the title because I know that the love God has for us can only be described as "Crazy".  I mean, really... He's got to be a little crazy to love us. Think about it. 

Would you love someone who constantly pushes you aside?

Would you love someone who rarely makes you a priority?

Would you love someone who doubts your motives?  Who questions your every choice? 

Would you love someone who turns their back on you and seems to only run to you when they need something?

I'm guilty of doing all those things, yet He loves me.  Crazy, right???   I'm SO thankful that He DOES have that "Crazy Love" for me.... He has it for you too.   God loves us because of who HE is, not because of anything we have or haven't done.  Way cool!!  

Check out this video.  I watched it this morning.  Believe me, it's worth 15 mins of your time. 

Women of Hope

My sweet and talented friend, Lisa Hentrich is featured on a new "Women of Hope" CD, singing a song that I wrote with her called "God Will Give You Wings".  You can go here to find out more about it!  I just love to see people using their talents for the greater good.  Lisa is one of "those"... love her and love her heart for spreading hope and goodwill through her music!  You can check out more of Lisa's music at http://www.lisahentrich.com/.