Never Give Up Your Dreams. Never? Really?!?

These people all had a dream in the 70's. 9 of them are millionaires and 2 are billionaires. Dreams are important for success. One of my favorite passage in the Bible is Proverbs 28:18.

Abraham was told that he would be the father of multitudes. His descendants would outnumber the stars. The Messiah would come from his bloodline. He and his descendants would be given the land which is now known as Israel. His wife Sarah was barren and both of them were old. He and Sarah wanted all that was promised from God. They wanted it so much that they tried to help God fulfill the prophecies. Genesis 16 has more info on this part.

The part I am interested in is after Abraham was given what he and Sarah wanted and were promised. When God promises you something how can you not feel a sense of entitlement? Their dreams were realized. They had their son. God asked Abraham to give up his dreams, his destiny, and turn it back over, as a burnt offering to God. An interesting thing about a burnt offering as opposed to a regular sacrifice is that the sacrifice is fully consumed by the fire. There is nothing left to bury or that would have any value. Rather than hold on to his dreams he trusted God with it. He was willing to give it back completely.

Through our recent past people have asked why I am willing to walk away and leave my dreams right when it seems I am in the midst of them being reality. They see me playing for Casting Crowns, Avalon, Michael English, Buddy Jewel, and our band, The Daniel Doss Band, being on a major label as me on the edge of my personal dreams becoming a reality. The truth is, if God asked me to sell everything I have and leave music forever I would. I am not exactly sure how I would function, but it would make me dependent on God that much more. I tell the ones who ask me that I am not walking away from music, I am walking with God. He knows the plans He has for me and that is exactly where I want to be. Jeremiah 29:11 is a great passage to live in.

Peace

You Got-ta Know Your Roll

This past weekend Cassi and I were out with the Daniel Doss Band. It was great having Cassi out on this weekend. It was a youth rally for Providence Baptist Church in Pageland, SC. She helped us out first off by cooking some biscuits and making sure there was coffee for our 5 am departure from the Nashville area. Our guitar player had to leave an hour earlier to be here by 5 am. Yuck! Daniel had an hour drive to Chicago for a 6:40 am flight. Needless to say this was an EARLY morning for all of us.

The youth pastor, Brandon Smith, saw us on tour with Avalon and Michael English last year. He loved the DDB CD and thought we would be a good fit for what he wanted the event to be. The night had a local worship band named Fading Doubt. It was a four piece band led by 2 female voices and rounded out with a guitar player and a drummer. My initial reaction was that of surprise that you could have a band without a bass player. :-) Actually, the guitar player did a great job of setting his pedals to compensate for the lack of a bass player. The band was pretty good and reminded me of Evanescence. Very cool female harmonies.

After Fading Doubt, we went on to do a 40 minute praise set. This youth group was a little more familiar with our originals since Brandon was such a fan. We did a few covers also. Lately, we have been starting our set with Here I Am to Worship instead of a song that is up and in your face. It is such a cool way to set the tone for the evening. We started as a worship band and have tried to stay true to those roots.

Next, a very dynamic speaker came up. His name is Matt Pitt. His back story is pretty amazing. Six years ago this weekend he almost died from a drug overdose. That helped to trigger his transformation from a drug dealer to sold out Christ follower. His website will do a much better job of selling his story.

I will say this, I learned quite a lot about the importance of knowing your audience and message delivery. This was the first speaker I had experienced that had his own DJ. When I say speaker, it was only by title. It was more like a screamer. The DJs music was so loud that it was hard to understand about 40% of what Matt had to say. There were also slick videos that went along with the message with cool sound effects. Parts of the message were emotionally charged and, unfortunately, came across as contrived. This is not to say that Matt Pitt is not genuine, or that any part of his message was wrong. I do feel that he believes everything he said. He comes from a ministry that has up to 7,000 participants a week and is high energy. For him, this kind of presentation would be par for the course. It seemed out of place in rural South Carolina.

This along with some technical difficulties made me realize that what ever you bring to a service needs to be able to stand on its own merits and not be so heavily leveraged on presentation. When Cassi, I, and the rest of the team are in Belgium, we will not have the ability to present a message or service in such a slick manner. We need to make sure that we bring the Truth the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. I have nothing wrong with bringing your best, but you need to know your audience. Belgians are typically reserved. We need to minister to them in a way that they can "get it".

Pray for us that we can connect in a real way with with the people of Brussels.

Peace

5 Out of 6 Ain't Bad, Or is it?

I have not been doing much of a "normal" life over the last month and a half. It has been the busiest season I have had in a LONG while. That is good in the fact it means I am working. I will be writing a series about my time on the road with artists such as Buddy Jewel, Avalon, Michael English, Daniel Doss Band, and Casting Crowns.

Five of the last six weeks I have been traveling the country. I have seen some of the most beautiful scenes in nature and on earth. My job allows me to see THE most breath taking thing on earth week after week. The Mona Lisa, Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, et. all pale in comparison. I am in front of thousands of people who 1.) recognize who created them, 2.) recognize their position in relation to Him, and 3.) return the ONLY thing they have back to Him in the form of praise. Have you ever really watched people worship? It is truly amazing. Maybe just to me and that is why God chose me to "stand and deliver" on stage.

Cassi has been busy holding down the full-time job and the house while I have been gone. This is the first Saturday we have had together in 6 weeks. We are going to Morton's Steak House tonight on someone else's dime. That is the best way to go!

We both are happy I am home now for at least a few weeks. The Casting Crowns shows are coming up soon. Pray for Chris and his wife that these last few months go smooth. I have already been called up and put on notice once for a slight scare.

Look here in the future for more Belgium updates and road reports.

Peace