discipleship

The Peace of God [Audio]

2019-12-27T16:31:02+00:00By Joel|discipleship, Kingdom of God, memories, prayer, Spiritual Formation, theology, Worldview|

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14:27 "The peace of God is not about the mere absence of conflict, but rather about His abiding presence throughout whatever comes our way." December 8, 2019; Invitation to Peace Peace. It's a topic that I keep coming back to. It's like north on my heart's compass. I may get off-track. I do get off-track, but 'peace' - it keeps leading me back. I never understood why until my feet wore to callouses and, well, my heart did too I guess. I've walked [...]

Worshiping God When You Don’t Feel Like It [Audio]

2019-09-13T17:37:02+00:00By Joel|Audio, discipleship, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, Worship, Worship Leading|

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! David (shepherd boy turned king), Psalm 103:1 One thing that has been a part of my spiritual and character formation has been worship. Yes, worship is a response to what God has done, but what happens when worship (or rather, creating the environment for worship to happen) is your job? Through the week to week routine of it all, as well as in the times where you are walking through personal battles or frustrations of your own, there is temptation to slip into autopilot, in a way that does not engage the heart (personally). One thing I've found, however, is [...]

Living with Joyful Endurance [Audio]

2019-05-17T00:51:51+00:00By Joel|Audio, discipleship, Jesus Christ, Jesus Shaped Community, Kingdom of God, Missional Living, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation|

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. James 1:2-4 (The Message) This year, as our church prepared for Holy week, I had an opportunity to share something that the Lord has been working in my heart and experience. The end of 2018 and early 2019 was a difficult time for our family, but in it the Lord taught me much about joy and endurance. As [...]

Thoughts on Worship from a Ragamuffin: the worship pastor side of me

2018-01-16T06:21:01+00:00By Joel|discipleship, Jesus Shaped Community, Worship, Worship Leading|

Like many church professionals, I have more than one income stream. Half of my time I'm a worship pastor at a Vineyard church, and the other half I'm a team leader at a humanitarian anti-hunger organization which is doing some great things in addressing global hunger. While schedule-wise, I need to watch my time allocation so that my family doesn't go crazy (as well as for my own sanity), right now I'm blessed that I get to live out my calling in this way. What I mean by 'calling' is the re-occurring theme in my life that I've been pursuing and endeavoring to live out for most of my life: the reality that worship, prayer, and [...]