Spread Your Roots and Fly

I woke up with these words in my head…. Some may trust in instruments, some may trust in voices, but we will trust in the name of the Lord. A perfect reminder as we started the day full of recording and then preparing to play in church in the evening…

That night I had the opportunity to be a part of leading worship at Frontline Arlington, a church full of really creative and talented young people. They set up for church every Monday night in an old theater that makes for such an intimate atmosphere, not to mention, a perfect place for playing and listening to music. This community of believers is incredibly vibrant… people were bringing food and coffee to give to the homeless, 4 people got baptized, their pastor spoke on what it means to authentically worship the Lord… it was such a beautiful thing to get to step into their world for the evening and see such passionate people. I was able to share with them my song I’m Coming Back, and to share the story behind it: Christ’s longing for His Bride, and a challenge for us to examine our lives and see if we are truly making ourselves ready for Him; Are our eyes and hearts fixed on Him, and not just on the here and now of this world? Do we live with a holy longing for ever-deepening intimacy with Jesus? And to play I’m Coming Back with such talented musicians who complemented the sweet and subtle song so beautifully. We also played my song This Is What I Bring, the perfect match for a service that was all about how true worship is submission and honesty. It was truly a pleasure to be a part of Frontline Arlington, and my prayer for this community of believers is that they continually have their eyes lifted, their gaze set on Christ, as they serve Him and the people He puts in their path, with diligence, until Christ’s return!

Click here to visit Frontline’s website!

Also, the album is coming along quite nicely, and to let you in on a little of what it’s sounding like, follow these links to download two songs for FREE! A-Yo!

Click here to download “I’m Coming Back”

Click here to download “This Is What I Bring”

I’m sitting in the cutest little house in Spingfield, VA, watching snow fall on the woods outside the warm livingroom. Downstairs is a beautiful studio with a microphone that seems like it was made for my voice, a gorgeous guitar that is taking the place of my poor Takamine that once again cracked it’s neck on the flight up here. I’m sipping Jasmine Green tea loaded up with honey to soothe my throat as my unfortunately timed cold takes it’s toll this morning.

So many things about this experience so far have seemed absolutley unfortunate. Tony (the guy who’s recording me) has been sick with food poisoning and he has had to conduct things from the couch in his control room. The next day I was battling stomach flu symptoms all day, too weak to do much other than sit and listen as we tracked drums all day on 3 of the songs. The area has had record breaking amounts of snow, causing some homes to lose electricity, which would bring this project to a swift halt.

But at the same time, so many things about this experience so far have seemed absolutely perfect, as though God’s hand is directing it and this was the plan from long ago. I am personally amazed at how much peace I have in the process. God has His hands gently supporting mine as I open them, letting go of my plans and saying YES to His.

I could get discouraged as I look around at the circumstances, but then how could I go downstairs and sing Take Courage, which tells the story of God’s encouragement to His people when things didn’t look the way they thought they were going to look.

I could cling to my own plans and dwell on the ways God seems to be emptying me of myself, but then how could I honestly sing Naomi’s Song, the story of God’s refilling of His precious presence when He empties us of ourselves.

I could just buckle down and crank out these songs though my heart isn’t in them, but then how could I allow myself to call the Church to stop going through the motions and surrender their hearts hearts to intimacy with Christ, as in Where Is Your Heart? I am challenged by the very words I am recording myself singing, and I need to be the first one to be taught by them if I want them to have any impact at all.

The more opposition we face in this recording, the more I am assured of the fact that God is doing something big. And in moments of discouragement I have been so grateful for the people that are surrounding me in prayer and support. Your prayers hold my arms up as I walk out what God has given me to do! Thank You!!

In the midst of all this, I am very pleased with the way things are coming together. The songs are really coming to life in a new way as some really talented musicians do their thing. It seems that we’re ahead of schedule as well… that’s one good thing about being snowed in, there’s nothing to do but lock ourselves away and get down to business! I’m excited to be able to share this album with you soon!

A few days ago I was driving down the Sebring Parkway with everything I own in my car. On one hand I felt like I was doing pretty well to have simplified my life so much that I can actually fit it all in my car. On the other hand it felt like it was still way too much. The pile of it is now sitting in Terrah’s (a kind friend who’s let me stay for a month)  living room waiting for me to go through it and downsize again, an event that happens pretty frequently even though there’s not much to begin with. It’s a strange feeling to have so little rooting me to a place. I feel like God is getting me more and more ready to head out in a new direction (which at this moment is in the direction of Bozeman, MT to be around the man I’m going to marry in June :).  But it’s also another reminder that my roots are not in any place… my roots are in Him.

This nomadic lifestyle can feel lonely at times; this constant state of unsettled is not for the faint of heart. But this morning I found a glimmer of encouragment as I sat down at the table (Terrah’s table) with my mug of coffee (my mug…soon to given away to some lucky recipient) and I opened up the Word (God’s Word). I’m reading my way through the Bible again and I am at Joshua. There’s a whole lot of land-dividing going on at the moment. But every now and then there’s a mention of a group of people I find myself relating to more and more. The Levites.

This is how things are going for the Levites as I read Joshua…

This guy’s family gets this land. That guy gets that land. “Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritence; the offerings by fire to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritence, as He spoke to them.” (Joshua 13:14)

Give this guy’s family that section. That dude over there gets this portion for ever and ever. “[But] the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritence.” (Joshua 18:7a)

 At first I felt a little sorry for them… did they feel left out?… do they feel like the last kid chosen for the kickball team? And then I read again “…the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritence, as He had promised to them.” (Joshua 13:33) God is their inheritence. God promised Himself to them as they walked out the job He had given them to do. God set it up so that there would be a group of people whose lives were completely and totally given to worship and serve Him. They were a people set apart to minister to Him. Every resource they had went toward the tabernacle… nothing for themselves. But God promised to take care of them as they served Him. He wrote into His law ways that the Levites would be taken care of; parts of the animal that was sacrificed would be given to them for food; cities to live in and pasture land to raise the sacrificial animals were given to them by each of the other tribes of Israel. The Levite’s life was not about personal wealth… everything they had was for the service of the Lord.

Now, I realize that I am not a Levitical priest… not a descendant of Aaron or Abraham for that matter. But as I give my life to Christ I am part of a “royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that [I] may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called [me] out of darkness and into His marvellous light.” (1 Peter 2:9) Peter was writing to Gentiles… people spread out and dispersed in lands that were not their homeland. He was writing to people with no permanent home, possibly shepherds who were always on the move. He was writing to landless people… promising them a permanent inheritence as they pour out their lives to honor God. 

So as I once again pick myself up and move to a new place for an indefinite amount of time… I am confident and rooted and settled. Settled on the fact that I will “obtain an inheritence which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for [me].” (1 Peter 1:4)

God is my inheritence and my portion forever.

Update time:

1. I’m going to Washington DC to record an album on Feb 4th-12th with Tony Alany at Browndog Studios. Please pray for us be united and efficient in our goal to get it all done in that week!

2. I am engaged! David proposed on Christmas Eve and I said, “Yep.” We’re getting married in June in Montana, which is why I’ll be heading up there in a few months.

3. We are going to be doing some travelling after the wedding, hopefully in an RV that someone is going to lend us , throughout the states. I hope to make some plans to play music  in churches/livingrooms of people I know. If you want us to make a stop in your town, please let me know!!!

About 2 months ago my Pastor preached a sermon that I don’t remember at all. I couldn’t tell you what scripture it was from, what his key point was, or the powerful story he no doubt closed with, but there was one sentence that he said that I can’t get out of my head. Seriously, for the past 2 months this one sentence has been haunting me and has become the key point of this season of my life.

“You become the person God wants you to be as you spend time alone with Him. But you CANNOT accomplish the work God’s given you to do unless you function in the community of the local church and build a team of the people around you.”

Okay, so it’s 2 sentences. And he probably said it much more eloquently. But this idea, this word…TEAM…has been my default thought in recent months.

You see, my instinct is to be the lone ranger. I want to clear out on a crusade, with my cause and convictions, through the country causing change and challenging the Church (sorry, i got really excited about alliteration in that sentence).  But God has grabbed firmly ahold of my hand as I try to run ahead, and He has shown me that this thing is going to go differently than I thought.

I cannot do anything on my own. I will not accomplish the calling of God on my life without the people of God in my life.

I am still in the process of figuring out what this means specifically for the ministry that I feel God is giving me, but He has my attention in this area. As more and more of my generation decide that they can do Christianity without the structure of the community of God, I am increasingly aware of the fact that it is only in the locking of arms with each other that we will accomplish what God has given to the Church for such a time as this.

K

(this wasn’t meant to offend your sermon-writing skill, Pastor Randy… God used your mouth to say the words I needed to hear that Sunday .. so thank you.)

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to get a fresh breath of air in Minnesota as the temperature had just started to drop and the leaves had just started to change color. I saw the trees hanging over the Mississippi River and quickly took a picture with my mind as traffic moved me along the river of I-94.

My time was full of rich experiences:

Reconnecting with precious friends,

drinking good coffee (thanks Common Roots),

eating a most delicious beet salad! (thanks Birchwood Cafe),

celebrating new seasons of life with very special people (Congratulations Cora and Jake),

and much reflection time for me… on where I had been and where I am going, and all that’s happened in between.

There was a lot of time to “just be” in the very familiar setting of Minneapolis, and there came a sensation I wasn’t sure I’d have…I didn’t long to return. I appreciated it for all the things I’ve always loved about it, and I remembered all that I went through and learned and all the passages of life I walked through while I lived there, and yet it didn’t need to be NOW. I was okay with it being THEN. It was like re-reading one of your favorite chapters in a beloved book. And it left me ready to dive into the next chapter.

While I was there I had the privilege to lead a time of worship in music at The Salvage Yard Church of Jesus Christ, the community I was a part of for some of the time I lived in Minneapolis. A friend accompanied me on accordian and drums (it takes some serious talent to play both at the same time!). It was a beautiful time and I am excited about what God is doing in that amazing group of people who are serious about walking out the gospel right where they are. And their hospitality in putting me up for the 2 weeks I was there left me so grateful for the Body of Christ, The Church, when we function the way God intended us to.

On Sunday morning I made my way out to the suburbs as I got to play a song at Bethany Church in Bloomington, a church that was a huge part of making me feel welcome to the Midwest when I first moved to Minnesota. I shared my song, I’m Coming Back, a picture of Christ’s longing for His Church who He is soon returning for.  This message seemed to be an echo of what the heart of this congregation already is focused on. It was so encouraging to worship with a group of people who are truly hungry for Jesus and are doing their part in ushering in His return with prayer and worship.

There were so many things about this trip that made me feel extravagantly loved and cared for. And there were so many encouragements along the way of His guidance. I really feel that God is moving me around to use me in whatever way He sees fit. And I am absolutely up for it.

Hopefully more churches to share with soon, and more adventures to report…..

Moses. Now there’s a guy I can relate to. Every time I read about him I feel like I’ve found a kindred spirit.

He hardly ever had a home. A constant sojourner, his roots were in Heaven. Psalm 90 is accredited to him and it starts out, “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” He seemed to have his eyes and his heart fixed on the Lord, and not on building for himself a comfortable life here on earth.

His life was marked with a sense of calling, not because of him being anything special, but because he was God’s chosen man for the moment. When God tells him what He’s going to have him do, he thinks of every possible reason why he is not qualified, capable, or even willing.

My favorite encounter in this season of his life is when he asks God, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” God’s response to Moses’ doubt is that He tells him to take his  shepherd’s staff and throw it to the ground. When Moses did this, God turned it into a snake. God used what He had already put in Moses’ hands, the very thing that Moses used on a daily basis as he led the sheep around the desert of Midian…but He required that Moses throw it to the ground, let it go. When Moses relinquished it God inhabited it and turned it into something that would be a testimony of God’s presence with him. This is the miracle of being used by God, all you do is throw what you have at His feet, and He comes into it and uses it to draw people to Himself. God was reassuring Moses that people would recognize God’s annointing, and they would know it was about God and not about Moses. 

Another thing I love about Moses is that sometimes he seemed like a failure. He seemed to do what he was supposed to do, and yet things only got worse. He is obedient in telling Pharoh to let the Israelites go, and yet Pharoh’s response is exactly what Moses feared it would be, and he treated them even worse instead. I’m sure Moses was a little confused, he’d stepped out into the ministry God had called him to do, and yet it didn’t seem like God was really coming through with His end of the deal. But God was working on a bigger plan than Moses could see, and it involved getting him to realize just how desparately he needed God… Moses needed his failures to learn some valuable lessons. God’s bigger and better plan seemed like failure for awhile, but it was so that He could, “multiply His signs and wonders (Ex. 7:3).” He knew how He was going to display His power with the most impact, and Moses had to let go of how he thought it should happen, and let God do it His way.

Moses’ failures are incredibly encouraging to me. For it is often that things don’t look how I think they should look and circumstances aren’t as I think they should be, but God’s working on a level that I can’t even see, playing out His plan to bring the most glory to Himself. And I am learning to submit more of myself to Him, letting Him use me however He pleases, and surrendering my near-sighted definition of success. 

This barely scratches the surface of Moses’ life and his role in God’s story, but these are the specific ways that I’ve been learning from his walk with God.

One of my new songs is called “I Will Go”, and I wrote it as I was reflecting on the life of Abram. I was thinking about the way God called him to leave everything he had known, and to set out on a journey towards what God had in store for him. God asked him to uproot himself from his land, his people, his home: everything that Abram had as a sense of security and comfort in his life. But God did not ask these things of him without presenting an incredible promise; He was asking Abram to exchange all that he could see for all that he hadn’t yet seen or even imagined for himself. God was saying, “if you step out of what is comfortable and trust me, I will do more with your life than you could ever do alone.”

But this stepping out had to take place first; the emptying before the refilling.

I was thinking about what it must have been like on the road, maybe in those first few days after leaving all he’d ever known. The reality starts to sink in. Everything he owns on the backs of a couple of camels. Remembering the voices of people back at home who thought he was foolish for leaving the safety of the known for the uncharted territory of a walk of faith.

“Okay, so you heard God talk to you, Abe, but don’t make any rash decisions.”

“What’s your 5 year plan? What’s this going to do to your career?”

 God hadn’t told him exactly where this was going. He had just told him to go. He had just told him that if he went He would, “turn him into a great nation,” and “bless him,” and “make his name great,” and that “in him all the families of the earth will be blessed.” And Abram took God at His word. But it wasn’t until Abram had taken the step of obedience and set out on the road that God said, “this is it. This is the land I will give to your children.” God’s call in our lives becomes more specific as we go, and as we show ourselves faithful to take steps of obedience, God reveals the bigger picture one piece at a time.

Abram’s story is my story. As I started to write a song about this great exchange I found myself using imagery that reflected my own journey of letting go of what I knew so that God could take me on an adventure into the unknown.

Abram’s story may well be your story. That is the beauty of the timeless principles that God reveals in His Word. It was true for Abram in 1850 BCE and it is true for us today in 2009.  It will look different for each person, but it is always true that an adventurous and passionate walk with God will require an exchange of what I can see for what God has yet to bring into my life.

May we become those who are determined to go when God says, “Go.” Because if we will walk in that kind of surrender, we will be used by God in greater ways than we can imagine!