Hello all,
I know that it has been so long since I've posted a blog. I also know that I am going to have to get much better about updating and writing. I want people to know about the great things that God is doing in my life, the life of my family, and the life of our church. Let me begin to unpack all of this..
In October (Kyle Raney, the student pastor of FBC Broken Arrow, OK) and I went to talk to our pastor about a call on our lives as church planters. We shared with him our desires and dreams and convictions. Our church and church staff at FBC Broken Arrow have been very encouraging and supportive in this process. They have prayed for and affirmed us every step of the way. It has been a great honor to serve here at Broken Arrow with all of the staff and I do mean all. It has been a huge honor to serve and worship with all of the students and adults that God has brought to the student ministry at FBC Broken Arrow. You have blessed our hearts (my family and Kyle's) in so many ways, ways more numerous than are capable of being described here on this page.
Our leadership at FBC Broken Arrow felt it in the best interest of our church plant, FBC Broken Arrow and the student ministry for us to depart from OK and make the move to Fort Worth, TX to begin the new work in January. On January 24, we will have our last day of service at FBC Broken Arrow. It is bittersweet for us. We love the people that we were privileged to serve there, but we are so excited to begin the work that God has called us to and prepared us for.
Kyle and I will be the teaching and worship pastors at the Portico Church that will make its base in Southlake, TX. We will be living in Keller, TX which is about 15 minutes from Southlake. Tentatively we will begin once a month services in June or July. Prayerfully, we will be up to weekly services by August or September. Our website will be up and running soon. The link is pasted with the title of this blog entry. On the website, you will be able to find our doctrinal and core beliefs. In the meantime, if you have any other questions about what our beliefs are and what we believe church should look like, please message or contact us. We would love to share with you what we believe God has called us to in the north Fort Worth area of the metroplex and ultimately, the world.
I tell you all of these things to inform all of you of the great things that God is doing. He has been so gracious and has gone before us in everything associated with Portico. He has softened and prepared hearts and is continually showing us people that need to hear the Gospel and be loved in the name of Jesus in the north Fort Worth area. I ask that you pray for us and for the people that God will send us to minister to. I ask you that you pray about partnering with us in this ministry. Perhaps God could stir your heart to such an extent to join us in Southlake to share the gospel of Christ to a people that desperately need his grace. Perhaps that partnership could be financially and/or through prayer. God is amazing and I love the way that he blows our mind in His plans for his ultimate glory!
A portico was the area outside of the temple where people would come to be healed and to seek help for those who were sick and hungry. The pool of Bethesda in John 5 was located on the portico outside the temple (or porch). People came to the portico to receive healing and seek hope, that is the reason that we chose this name.
We are excited about what God has called us to and honored that he would call us and see us worthy to suffer in any fashion for the sake of His gospel. Again, we ask that you rejoice with us in this time. We ask that you pray with us to seek wisdom and guidance for the church that he has called us to lead. Again, if you have any questions at all about what is going on please message us, text, email, or call; we would love to hear from you. Please spread the word of the great calling and things that we believe our Lord is about to do in the Southlake (north Fort Worth) area. We pray that above all things that Christ would receive the glory for everything that happens at Portico. He is ultimate and good. He is our hope. Love you all.
For His glory,
Dusty Gallup
Worship Pastor
Portico Church
gallupd@gmail.com
918-223-5504
Kyle Raney
Teaching Pastor
Portico Church
kyleraney@hotmail.com
918-894-7280
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Contentment...
I hope that this message finds you all doing extremely well and enjoying the amazing luxuries that we all enjoy as Americans. I wanted to share this metaphorical "crowbar" with all of you. It's too great not to tell about.
In light of this weekends events, i.e. the "GO" Celebration, I thought this would be a good thing for all of us to check out. In case some of you don't know what I'm talking about, our churh is hosting about 45 missionary families this weekend and we are pouring into their hearts and lives and thanking them for what they do for our King. We will be listening to their stories and the challenges that they lay out for us through the Holy Scriptures of our Powerful Lord. Our Wednesday night service has been moved to Friday night and I hope to see all of you guys there to hear about the amazing stories that two of these missionaries are going to share with our student ministry.
Josh Patterson is the Executive pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, TX. Matt Chandler, whom Jamie and I have pictures with and Kyle, Jamie, and I have huge respect for as a teacher, is the lead pastor/teaching pastor at The Village. Josh recently preached a message called "Contentment". The first fifteen minutes he talks about his trip to Africa and the things that he saw. My explanation does not do it justice, so just listen to it. Be prepared, in the words of Kyle, "You'll be angry, hurt, moved, happy, joyous, and crushed." I love you all.
You can download it on iTunes under The Village Church podcast for free or you can download it from their website at this address...http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/sermons
For His glory, for His people,
Monday, February 09, 2009
Teachability...
First of all, as far as our English language is concerned, I am not sure that "teachability" is even a word. Blogger spell check says that it is not. However, if I were going to assign a definition to the word "teachability" this would be it:
teachability: The capability and or eagerness of one to learn from a given situation or over a certain time period.
What is your teachability?
That being said, I want to ask this question in regards to Collision '09 (ie. DNOW) and any given life circumstance or even life itself, "What is your teachability?".
Because we deem ourselves as intelligent life forms, we assume that most of us have the ability to adapt and to learn. Whether we realize it or not, we learn everyday. We see things that others do and learn from their decisions whether or not we will allow ourselves to enter into the same circumstances that they were in and whether or not we will handle ourselves in like manor.
Our salvation is much the same as our everyday life. As a matter of fact, our salvation is very much a part of our everyday life and thus part of our learning process. Paul says that we should work through our salvation with fear and trembling. If we are working through something, are we not learning from the experiences that we have? Each day we are faced with choices that will ultimately lead us to ten, fifteen, fifty years down the road. As we go throughout our day we have encounters that we call, "experiences" that shape who we are as human beings and as Christians for those of us who believe and have accepted Christ as our Savior. Through those expereinces we learn to trust or not to trust. We learn to have joy in this circumstance and be furious over injustice in another. We learn that we should be humble in this circumstance and then awe struck and blown away in another.
The Holy Spirit guides us down paths that will further perfect our salvation and ultimately bring us closer to Christ and make us more like Him. On these journies, we are shown things that we need to surrender to Christ and let him have control of in our lives. Many times these things invlolve lying, sexual immorality, cheating, anger, stealing, etc. But also at times they include our letting go of our will and control. They may involve things like, career decisions, relationships, being called to ministry, our desires, etc. Not all things that we learn from and must surrender to God are bad. Some are very good. We simply can not make those things ultimate in our lives. For if we do, they become our gods and we worhsip them and not the true Creator.
My point to all of this is that this week is our Disciple Now weekend at church where many of our students come together for a time of worship and teaching and are encouraged to bring their friends to see and experience the power of the Almighty. If we truly believe in the power and sovereignty of our Lord, then we believe that all of us are here for a purpose and by divine appointment. All of you are where you are for a reason and that reason may only be known to God himself. This week and this weekend, this year and at every point in our lives, the Spirit is trying to teach us something. He is trying to mold us and make us more like himself by replacing the things that are in us that are of ourself and not of him. My questions is what is your spirit like right now? Are you ready and asking God what it is that he wants to teach you this week or weekend or day or year? That's a hard place to be at times because we often don't want to hear what he wants to teach. We must be open and be willing to learn from our Lord. We must submit our will and our hearts to him, proclaiming that he is King of our lives and that we will listen to whatever he asks us to do. So, ask yourself and let the Spirit guide you in your thoughts and prayer as you ask, "What is my teachability?".
teachability: The capability and or eagerness of one to learn from a given situation or over a certain time period.
What is your teachability?
That being said, I want to ask this question in regards to Collision '09 (ie. DNOW) and any given life circumstance or even life itself, "What is your teachability?".
Because we deem ourselves as intelligent life forms, we assume that most of us have the ability to adapt and to learn. Whether we realize it or not, we learn everyday. We see things that others do and learn from their decisions whether or not we will allow ourselves to enter into the same circumstances that they were in and whether or not we will handle ourselves in like manor.
Our salvation is much the same as our everyday life. As a matter of fact, our salvation is very much a part of our everyday life and thus part of our learning process. Paul says that we should work through our salvation with fear and trembling. If we are working through something, are we not learning from the experiences that we have? Each day we are faced with choices that will ultimately lead us to ten, fifteen, fifty years down the road. As we go throughout our day we have encounters that we call, "experiences" that shape who we are as human beings and as Christians for those of us who believe and have accepted Christ as our Savior. Through those expereinces we learn to trust or not to trust. We learn to have joy in this circumstance and be furious over injustice in another. We learn that we should be humble in this circumstance and then awe struck and blown away in another.
The Holy Spirit guides us down paths that will further perfect our salvation and ultimately bring us closer to Christ and make us more like Him. On these journies, we are shown things that we need to surrender to Christ and let him have control of in our lives. Many times these things invlolve lying, sexual immorality, cheating, anger, stealing, etc. But also at times they include our letting go of our will and control. They may involve things like, career decisions, relationships, being called to ministry, our desires, etc. Not all things that we learn from and must surrender to God are bad. Some are very good. We simply can not make those things ultimate in our lives. For if we do, they become our gods and we worhsip them and not the true Creator.
My point to all of this is that this week is our Disciple Now weekend at church where many of our students come together for a time of worship and teaching and are encouraged to bring their friends to see and experience the power of the Almighty. If we truly believe in the power and sovereignty of our Lord, then we believe that all of us are here for a purpose and by divine appointment. All of you are where you are for a reason and that reason may only be known to God himself. This week and this weekend, this year and at every point in our lives, the Spirit is trying to teach us something. He is trying to mold us and make us more like himself by replacing the things that are in us that are of ourself and not of him. My questions is what is your spirit like right now? Are you ready and asking God what it is that he wants to teach you this week or weekend or day or year? That's a hard place to be at times because we often don't want to hear what he wants to teach. We must be open and be willing to learn from our Lord. We must submit our will and our hearts to him, proclaiming that he is King of our lives and that we will listen to whatever he asks us to do. So, ask yourself and let the Spirit guide you in your thoughts and prayer as you ask, "What is my teachability?".
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Stethoscope or guitar...
As a senior in high school my close friends and I, the "three musketeers" as our English teacher called us, had high hopes and aspirations of becoming great and successful men. We would be wealthy and call each other on the weekend in between patients and cases and family outings and schedule tee times at the golf course in Augusta, GA. Two of us started in Biology and Chemistry at Louisiana College and one at Louisiana Tech in Chemical Engineering. However within two years we had all changed and lent ourselves more to the things that we had said that we would never do. One changed to business, one to agriculture, and one to kinesiology. We left our dreams. Could we have achieved them? Yes. Was it the best thing and would we be where we are today? I doubt it.
I've been graduated from college for almost three years now. I've always struggled with money and power and fame. I've always wanted to be the Lex Luther, not so much the sadistic and hateful wretch that he is, but the guy that can do anything he wants at the slightest whelm. I always knew that I had it in me to be the successful doctor or the wealthy and powerful businessman; however, I've never really felt like that was God's will for my life.
Recently, my wife and I, well more so me than her, have become addicted to the TV show, House M.D. I am excited like a school boy at how he handles himself and the knowledge that he and the other doctors seem simply to carry in their pockets along with their stethoscopes and extra seringes. My friends will tell you that I have a bad tendency to let my mind and imagination adapt to whatever it is that I'm watching at the time. This could be a case of that or it could just be something that I've dealt with internally for quite sometime. Watching that show reminds me and makes me think of what I could have been, or...what I could be. I remember how I decided to get out of pre-med because I couldn't handle the responsiblity of having a person's life in my hands. Is it really in my hands and not in God's? No. However, to the world and to my guilty conscience, the life would be in my hands. I couldn't handle knowing that because of a mistake I made or simply because the person was beyond care, that they would die. That bothered me to no end and I never even had anything like that happen. I never made it to med-school although I've thought of trying several times.
The question that I've posed to myself in the past few hours is this. Is the job that I'm in now not that much different? In my heart and my knowledge I posses the "medicine" of life. I know what can cure a person's wretched soul and restore them to a true relationship with Christ. However, I let people die. And truth be told, so do you. That is disheartening. That troubles me. I've felt many times and still struggle with the idea sometimes that I could be making a larger impact in the world if I were working as a doctor and saving people's lives and making a lot of money where I could financially bless people and not have to worry any at all about my family and where I could give God the glory for saving their life and not take it for myself. I've struggled with that many times and to be honest, at times, I still do. I wonder if a guitar is just as effective as a stethoscope.
In my heart, I know that it is. God uses me and many others to teach and tell of his good news and great "medicine for the soul" that without the doctors of the gospel, they would never hear. So is one profession more impactful than the other? In some circles, one might say that being a minister is more effective and another circle would say that a doctor of medicine is more effective. However, I beleive that we both can and do make a huge impact on the world and do a great deal for our God. God gave us medicine and God gave us the Gospel. He made us and only he can fix all parts of us.
So are we as ministers as knowledgeable about lupus, cancer, anemia, and all the other crazy and long worded diseases that Dr. Greg House is? No. However, we do deal with people's lives and their eternity every day. I wonder why so many of us don't take it as seriously as the doctors of medicine do. We are "Doctors of the Gospel", so to speak. Stethoscope or guitar? I'll keep my guitar for now.
I've been graduated from college for almost three years now. I've always struggled with money and power and fame. I've always wanted to be the Lex Luther, not so much the sadistic and hateful wretch that he is, but the guy that can do anything he wants at the slightest whelm. I always knew that I had it in me to be the successful doctor or the wealthy and powerful businessman; however, I've never really felt like that was God's will for my life.
Recently, my wife and I, well more so me than her, have become addicted to the TV show, House M.D. I am excited like a school boy at how he handles himself and the knowledge that he and the other doctors seem simply to carry in their pockets along with their stethoscopes and extra seringes. My friends will tell you that I have a bad tendency to let my mind and imagination adapt to whatever it is that I'm watching at the time. This could be a case of that or it could just be something that I've dealt with internally for quite sometime. Watching that show reminds me and makes me think of what I could have been, or...what I could be. I remember how I decided to get out of pre-med because I couldn't handle the responsiblity of having a person's life in my hands. Is it really in my hands and not in God's? No. However, to the world and to my guilty conscience, the life would be in my hands. I couldn't handle knowing that because of a mistake I made or simply because the person was beyond care, that they would die. That bothered me to no end and I never even had anything like that happen. I never made it to med-school although I've thought of trying several times.
The question that I've posed to myself in the past few hours is this. Is the job that I'm in now not that much different? In my heart and my knowledge I posses the "medicine" of life. I know what can cure a person's wretched soul and restore them to a true relationship with Christ. However, I let people die. And truth be told, so do you. That is disheartening. That troubles me. I've felt many times and still struggle with the idea sometimes that I could be making a larger impact in the world if I were working as a doctor and saving people's lives and making a lot of money where I could financially bless people and not have to worry any at all about my family and where I could give God the glory for saving their life and not take it for myself. I've struggled with that many times and to be honest, at times, I still do. I wonder if a guitar is just as effective as a stethoscope.
In my heart, I know that it is. God uses me and many others to teach and tell of his good news and great "medicine for the soul" that without the doctors of the gospel, they would never hear. So is one profession more impactful than the other? In some circles, one might say that being a minister is more effective and another circle would say that a doctor of medicine is more effective. However, I beleive that we both can and do make a huge impact on the world and do a great deal for our God. God gave us medicine and God gave us the Gospel. He made us and only he can fix all parts of us.
So are we as ministers as knowledgeable about lupus, cancer, anemia, and all the other crazy and long worded diseases that Dr. Greg House is? No. However, we do deal with people's lives and their eternity every day. I wonder why so many of us don't take it as seriously as the doctors of medicine do. We are "Doctors of the Gospel", so to speak. Stethoscope or guitar? I'll keep my guitar for now.
Monday, November 03, 2008
The boasting axe...
Music, most specifically singing, has always been a part of my life. Musical ability runs deep in our family. It goes back several generations and it is something that many have always been a part of and it has usually been in a setting of church or some sort of venue for a worship type service. As a child, I heard my dad sing and was totally blown away by the strength and power of his voice and how he could move a crowd to tears or cheers simply by the way that he lead the song and the dynamics with which he sang. I began to sing in church when I was six years old. My dad always told me that anytime someone tells you, "Good job." or "That was a beautiful song.", that you should immediately turn that to praise for God. Many times I saw my dad speak silently with his lips, "Thank you Lord." when someone would give him a praise. It's been twenty years since I received that bit of advice and it's something that I've tried to practice in my own musical career.
It is easy to say that pride is the enemy of humility. However, I would say that pride in one's self is the enemy of humility. If we have pride in ourselves, we take glory away from God. We can do absolutely nothing without the power that God gives us to accomplish whatever it is that we are doing. If someone comes up to me after a service and says, "Thank you so much. That was a great time of worship." it would be easy for me to develop of since of pride in myself. It would be easy for me to think, "Wow, I did really well." However, if I have the attitude that the Holy Spirit worked through me then I can have great pride and boast in my God that he is capable of using someone like me to achieve his glory. That is humbling. I blows my mind to think that God is so great and so powerful that he can use me to facilitate worship and lead people to his throne of mercy. I am proud of that. I am proud of the power of my Savior. He is great and he is worthy of my praise. I am not worthy of praise, none of us are.
It's actually somewhat odd to me that we think that we are capable of anything. The Bible tells us that nothing has authority or power unless God has placed that someone or something in a place of authority and given them the power that they have. After all where does all power and authority come from except from God who is the ultimate authority over all of eternity and creation? I've been reading in Isaiah and in chapter ten Isaiah is talking about the king of Assyria that God is allowing to be in power and to basically wreck shop on the Israelites because of their disobedience to God. The king of Assyria begins to boast in himself and not in God for the power and things that God has allowed him to do and to see. The king says, "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones." Arrogant? Do we not do the same thing? The student ministry that God has allowed me to be a part of has been growing and we are seeing movement among our students and they are beginnning to tell their friends and family about the hope that is Christ. The worship band that I lead with is coming together in great ways and sounding better than before. It would be easy for me to take pride in that and think that we had some great part in it. I can bring no one to the throne of God. I can save no one. I can give no one eternal forgiveness. I am not God. Later in that same chapter the Lord says this of the king, "Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!" God really lays out that he is the one who moves us and uses us. We are simply the tools of His will and His glory. We can do nothing on our own. Should that be a troubling thought? I think not. I feel as though it should be a great comfort. I know me and you know the depths of who you are. Thankfully, it doesn't rely on us. If it did, it would fail.
It is easy to say that pride is the enemy of humility. However, I would say that pride in one's self is the enemy of humility. If we have pride in ourselves, we take glory away from God. We can do absolutely nothing without the power that God gives us to accomplish whatever it is that we are doing. If someone comes up to me after a service and says, "Thank you so much. That was a great time of worship." it would be easy for me to develop of since of pride in myself. It would be easy for me to think, "Wow, I did really well." However, if I have the attitude that the Holy Spirit worked through me then I can have great pride and boast in my God that he is capable of using someone like me to achieve his glory. That is humbling. I blows my mind to think that God is so great and so powerful that he can use me to facilitate worship and lead people to his throne of mercy. I am proud of that. I am proud of the power of my Savior. He is great and he is worthy of my praise. I am not worthy of praise, none of us are.
It's actually somewhat odd to me that we think that we are capable of anything. The Bible tells us that nothing has authority or power unless God has placed that someone or something in a place of authority and given them the power that they have. After all where does all power and authority come from except from God who is the ultimate authority over all of eternity and creation? I've been reading in Isaiah and in chapter ten Isaiah is talking about the king of Assyria that God is allowing to be in power and to basically wreck shop on the Israelites because of their disobedience to God. The king of Assyria begins to boast in himself and not in God for the power and things that God has allowed him to do and to see. The king says, "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones." Arrogant? Do we not do the same thing? The student ministry that God has allowed me to be a part of has been growing and we are seeing movement among our students and they are beginnning to tell their friends and family about the hope that is Christ. The worship band that I lead with is coming together in great ways and sounding better than before. It would be easy for me to take pride in that and think that we had some great part in it. I can bring no one to the throne of God. I can save no one. I can give no one eternal forgiveness. I am not God. Later in that same chapter the Lord says this of the king, "Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!" God really lays out that he is the one who moves us and uses us. We are simply the tools of His will and His glory. We can do nothing on our own. Should that be a troubling thought? I think not. I feel as though it should be a great comfort. I know me and you know the depths of who you are. Thankfully, it doesn't rely on us. If it did, it would fail.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Rubber Meets Road...
July 27, 2008
Well, the rubber met the road today for me in regards to leaving my life here in Monroe, LA. Today, at Trinity United Methodist Church I played my last gig with oneway. Honestly, I’m not really sure what to say but I just feel like writing so you’ll just have to deal with my ramblings.
I’ve been the lead singer for oneway for the past ten years. Granted, we were Everafter, Jacob’s Story (for one gig), and finally oneway for the past six or so years of playing. The Lord has blessed us in some incredible ways and allowed us to be a part of people coming to know the greatness of Christ and seeing his glory put at the forefront of things. It’s been a crazy fun and wild ride all the way here.
We’ve seen a ton of electric guitars players come and go and Harris has actually played with us before. He’s the current lead guitar player in the band. We’ve seen acoustic players change and even a bass player recently. We’ve seen a couple of singers leave even. But Matt Mc (drummer) and I have been the constant. I have to be honest, I never thought that I would see this day. I never thought that I would be the one to leave. I never dreamed. I just knew that I’d be in oneway until we all decided together that we’d done what God asked us to and fulfilled our mission and it was time for us to do something else. I never thought I’d be the one to pack up my equipment and not put it in the trailer. However, here I am.
I suppose what I just said has really happened. The part about we decided to go our separate ways because we’ve done what God called us to do for that season in our lives. Oneway has fulfilled that call and we’ve seen God do some crazy things. It’s a great feeling to know that you’ve been faithful to something like that for so long even when it was rough and took you away from friends, family, and new wives. Oneway itself really has come to an end. The other four guys, Jon, Tim, Harris, and Matt will continue on to lead worship as God leads them as a different band with a different name and perhaps a different mission. I’m glad that God asked us to be a part of his kingdom mission for this time. It’s been amazing.
As some of you know, I’ve accepted the worship leader position for the student area at First Baptist Broken Arrow in Broken Arrow Oklahoma. It’s right beside Tulsa. I’ll be moving up there for good on the 9th of August and I’ll start working with the worship band up there this coming Wednesday. It’s going to be different playing with people that I don’t know. It’s going to be different than playing with people that I know musically and think like and have experienced life with. Does that mean that I’m not excited about moving? Not in the least bit. Does that mean that I don’t want to go? No, it doesn’t. It does mean that I will miss the guys that I have played music with and been through hard things with. I’m excited about the future for them and what God has in store for them as a band and as individuals. I’m excited about being in Broken Arrow and working with our praise band there. Oneway belongs to God, it always has. The greatest thing about all of this is that God knows what’s going on and he has all of this under control. Not at any point has he wondered, “I wonder what is going to happen to the guys in oneway.” He knows. He always has. Matt, Harris, Jon and Tim, thank you for the honor and privilege of making music with you and worshiping our Savior together. Brian, Barber, Donnell, Lee, Harris, Draughn, and Gwin, I know how it feels now to leave something that you love so dearly. Thank you guys too for allowing me the honor of serving with you.
Worship hard,
gallup
Well, the rubber met the road today for me in regards to leaving my life here in Monroe, LA. Today, at Trinity United Methodist Church I played my last gig with oneway. Honestly, I’m not really sure what to say but I just feel like writing so you’ll just have to deal with my ramblings.
I’ve been the lead singer for oneway for the past ten years. Granted, we were Everafter, Jacob’s Story (for one gig), and finally oneway for the past six or so years of playing. The Lord has blessed us in some incredible ways and allowed us to be a part of people coming to know the greatness of Christ and seeing his glory put at the forefront of things. It’s been a crazy fun and wild ride all the way here.
We’ve seen a ton of electric guitars players come and go and Harris has actually played with us before. He’s the current lead guitar player in the band. We’ve seen acoustic players change and even a bass player recently. We’ve seen a couple of singers leave even. But Matt Mc (drummer) and I have been the constant. I have to be honest, I never thought that I would see this day. I never thought that I would be the one to leave. I never dreamed. I just knew that I’d be in oneway until we all decided together that we’d done what God asked us to and fulfilled our mission and it was time for us to do something else. I never thought I’d be the one to pack up my equipment and not put it in the trailer. However, here I am.
I suppose what I just said has really happened. The part about we decided to go our separate ways because we’ve done what God called us to do for that season in our lives. Oneway has fulfilled that call and we’ve seen God do some crazy things. It’s a great feeling to know that you’ve been faithful to something like that for so long even when it was rough and took you away from friends, family, and new wives. Oneway itself really has come to an end. The other four guys, Jon, Tim, Harris, and Matt will continue on to lead worship as God leads them as a different band with a different name and perhaps a different mission. I’m glad that God asked us to be a part of his kingdom mission for this time. It’s been amazing.
As some of you know, I’ve accepted the worship leader position for the student area at First Baptist Broken Arrow in Broken Arrow Oklahoma. It’s right beside Tulsa. I’ll be moving up there for good on the 9th of August and I’ll start working with the worship band up there this coming Wednesday. It’s going to be different playing with people that I don’t know. It’s going to be different than playing with people that I know musically and think like and have experienced life with. Does that mean that I’m not excited about moving? Not in the least bit. Does that mean that I don’t want to go? No, it doesn’t. It does mean that I will miss the guys that I have played music with and been through hard things with. I’m excited about the future for them and what God has in store for them as a band and as individuals. I’m excited about being in Broken Arrow and working with our praise band there. Oneway belongs to God, it always has. The greatest thing about all of this is that God knows what’s going on and he has all of this under control. Not at any point has he wondered, “I wonder what is going to happen to the guys in oneway.” He knows. He always has. Matt, Harris, Jon and Tim, thank you for the honor and privilege of making music with you and worshiping our Savior together. Brian, Barber, Donnell, Lee, Harris, Draughn, and Gwin, I know how it feels now to leave something that you love so dearly. Thank you guys too for allowing me the honor of serving with you.
Worship hard,
gallup
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Dismantle. Repair.
Wow. So much has changed since the last time that I posted. So much has changed that I'd probably have to take several days of blogs or simply write a short novel to capture them all. My life has been flipped, turned up-side down and and then turned right-side up again.
For the past several months Whitney and I have been talking about getting married and on the seventh of June, I asked her to be my wife. Things have been amazing for us and there have been several things that came in our way and presented themselves as a challenge to the relationship that we believe God had blessed us with. He has blessed us with something great and a great opportunity to serve him in different areas, in different ways and now, in different places. Wedding planning is no easy task. I'm not very involved in it and it's probably a good thing. I tend to overreact to things and worry about things needlessly. So, it's a good thing that Whitney and her mom are handling the whole thing. One might say, "Isn't the groom supposed to stay out of that anyway?" Well this is true; however, I want to be as helpful as I can. I also want to avoid making a nuisance of myself. That may be the tricky part. In getting ready to be married one must look at expenses and needs. Whitney and I have been looking at furniture for our bedroom and living room and I must say that it caused to me to border depression. Furniture is expensive! To make a long story short, a friend reminded us to look at IKEA and a good friend owns Direct Buy so my worry and depression has left, thankfully. I told you that I worried needlessly.
I've also recently accepted a worship position at First Baptist Church Broken Arrow which is located in Broken Arrow, OK, near Tulsa. It's an amazing place with amazing people and Whitney and I both love it there. It's going to be a great adventure and a great place to start our life together. I'll be leading worship for the student ministry there and working with some great people. Kyle, Jamie, Brooke, and Todd are a great team and I'm excited about doing the Father's work with them. It does suck however that I must leave oneway, the worship band that I've been a part of for the past ten years. I do have comfort however knowing that if I stayed, it would hinder God's work there and that Tim has the ability to be a great leader and all will be fine there.
There are a lot of things that I didn't mention but will be included in the short novel that will be accompanied by pictures and illustrated by Jamie Pope. God has been doing some amazing things in my life and blessed me with these last few weeks in Louisiana to focus on spending time with friends and family. However, in the midst of all of this stuff going on that I do believe was God's will which he carefully orchestrated to make happen in my life and the lives of those involved, I've managed to not spend as much time with him. Is this one of those confession blogs? No. Is this one of those confession blogs? Yes.
It's so amazing to me how we get so distracted by the things that go on around us that we forget who allowed those things to happen and put all of the right pieces in place for them to happen. It's downright embarrassing when you think about. We have what Francis Chan referred to in his book Crazy Love, as "spiritual amnesia". We get distracted by the things that we've been blessed with and allowed to participate in and wind up forgetting about spending time with, giving glory to, and worshiping the one who set all of it in motion. I've been guilty of this. I've been so focused on tying up loose ends here, spending time with friends and family, spending time with Whitney, getting ready for my last gig with oneway, getting things ready for OK, and trying to prepare for all these things that I've totally neglected my relationship with Jesus. I've not talked to him as much. I've neglected reading my bible.
None of us are immune to "spiritual amnesia". We are all able to be side-tracked by the things of our lives. Think about it. If there is someone that you are blown away by and really care about, don't you do everything within your power to spend time with that person and get to know them? It doesn't matter what you have going on. You will make and find time. I haven't. I know that we are all just as capable of doing this. I'm capable, Francis Chan is capable, C. S. Lewis was capable, Paul was capable, we all are capable. Take the time to spend with Jesus. Get to know him. He already knows everything about you and could most likely show you some things about you that you didn't know. Some cool, some not so cool. Why do we continually neglect the most important relationship of our lives? May the Holy Spirit move us to know Him.
For the past several months Whitney and I have been talking about getting married and on the seventh of June, I asked her to be my wife. Things have been amazing for us and there have been several things that came in our way and presented themselves as a challenge to the relationship that we believe God had blessed us with. He has blessed us with something great and a great opportunity to serve him in different areas, in different ways and now, in different places. Wedding planning is no easy task. I'm not very involved in it and it's probably a good thing. I tend to overreact to things and worry about things needlessly. So, it's a good thing that Whitney and her mom are handling the whole thing. One might say, "Isn't the groom supposed to stay out of that anyway?" Well this is true; however, I want to be as helpful as I can. I also want to avoid making a nuisance of myself. That may be the tricky part. In getting ready to be married one must look at expenses and needs. Whitney and I have been looking at furniture for our bedroom and living room and I must say that it caused to me to border depression. Furniture is expensive! To make a long story short, a friend reminded us to look at IKEA and a good friend owns Direct Buy so my worry and depression has left, thankfully. I told you that I worried needlessly.
I've also recently accepted a worship position at First Baptist Church Broken Arrow which is located in Broken Arrow, OK, near Tulsa. It's an amazing place with amazing people and Whitney and I both love it there. It's going to be a great adventure and a great place to start our life together. I'll be leading worship for the student ministry there and working with some great people. Kyle, Jamie, Brooke, and Todd are a great team and I'm excited about doing the Father's work with them. It does suck however that I must leave oneway, the worship band that I've been a part of for the past ten years. I do have comfort however knowing that if I stayed, it would hinder God's work there and that Tim has the ability to be a great leader and all will be fine there.
There are a lot of things that I didn't mention but will be included in the short novel that will be accompanied by pictures and illustrated by Jamie Pope. God has been doing some amazing things in my life and blessed me with these last few weeks in Louisiana to focus on spending time with friends and family. However, in the midst of all of this stuff going on that I do believe was God's will which he carefully orchestrated to make happen in my life and the lives of those involved, I've managed to not spend as much time with him. Is this one of those confession blogs? No. Is this one of those confession blogs? Yes.
It's so amazing to me how we get so distracted by the things that go on around us that we forget who allowed those things to happen and put all of the right pieces in place for them to happen. It's downright embarrassing when you think about. We have what Francis Chan referred to in his book Crazy Love, as "spiritual amnesia". We get distracted by the things that we've been blessed with and allowed to participate in and wind up forgetting about spending time with, giving glory to, and worshiping the one who set all of it in motion. I've been guilty of this. I've been so focused on tying up loose ends here, spending time with friends and family, spending time with Whitney, getting ready for my last gig with oneway, getting things ready for OK, and trying to prepare for all these things that I've totally neglected my relationship with Jesus. I've not talked to him as much. I've neglected reading my bible.
None of us are immune to "spiritual amnesia". We are all able to be side-tracked by the things of our lives. Think about it. If there is someone that you are blown away by and really care about, don't you do everything within your power to spend time with that person and get to know them? It doesn't matter what you have going on. You will make and find time. I haven't. I know that we are all just as capable of doing this. I'm capable, Francis Chan is capable, C. S. Lewis was capable, Paul was capable, we all are capable. Take the time to spend with Jesus. Get to know him. He already knows everything about you and could most likely show you some things about you that you didn't know. Some cool, some not so cool. Why do we continually neglect the most important relationship of our lives? May the Holy Spirit move us to know Him.
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