Sunday, March 25, 2007

tomlin and crowder here we come...

Fourty-six of my friends, Jen and I are on our way to worship with Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and Louie Giglio tonight at the Schott. Should be a great time and we are eating at my favorite Italian place..the Old Spagetti Warehouse...

Monday, March 19, 2007

i must say that I am addicted...


Ok, I must admit that I am a huge David Crowder Band Fan! I love their worship, music, style, and openness. So I watch his site all of the time, i read his blog, i read his books, i cover his music, I imitate him in worship. Ok, i guess it sounds like I am a David Crowder stalker... so then he goes and does the coolest thing you can do for a stalker...you install 6 webcams in your house to allow people watch you create your next cd! I must say that I am addicted! I mean I am writing this blog entry while i watch David talk around the kitchen table with his fellow band members at 11:21 at night! They may be actually discussing the lyrics of the next great hymnal of our time! How can you not be drawn into the life of such a great worship leader, song writer, musician? Ok, may be i have gone slightly overboard with this, but thank you David Crowder for allowing me to sneak a peek into the process of creating songs of praise that I personnally feel is changing the face of today's worship of our Mighty God!

http://www.dcb01.com/remedy/

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

it is that time of year....

I love this time of year! The weather is warming up and the flowers are starting push through the ground. Everything is starting to turn green and look alive again! Just when you thought there were to many things to occupy a persons mind with spring around the corner, the month of March awakens College Basketball! March Madness baby! I have always been a sports nut, and the craziness of the NCAA Tournament has feed that addiction. Starting at Noon on Thursday, we will witness the corporate world shut down and bow to the greatness of this weekend! Time will stand still in the office...in between phone calls and emails, millions of people will be updating their office pool brackets.

So I wish you well this weekend and may the maddness begin!

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

it is a start....

Will I hear you to night
will you make everything alright
when i lay my head to pray
will you hear the words I say

Will you show me, will you show me, everything..everything
Reveal to me, reveal to me, all I need...All I need

Whisper in my ear
shout at the top of your lungs
anything to know Your near
for i am coming undone


Will you show me, will you show me, everything..everything
Reveal to me, reveal to me, all I need...All I need

Just a glimpse,
just a little peek
a word or thought
Lord, give me anything

Will I lay here and cry
hope that I might die
from my old selfish ways
to awake to a new day

I think the first verse needs some work..sounds to cliche' but anyway...this stems from my post about being so close, but yet feeling so far away! God, show me everything! Everything I can handle....right up to where it kills me.

Monday, March 12, 2007

this is high school basketball

On Saturday, we went to watch the Chillicothe vs Greenfield District Finals at the beautiful campus of the Ohio University. CHS won 66-60 in double overtime. 12K people in the convo? This is high school basketball? WOW

Saturday, March 10, 2007

so I just had to post this too...


HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are:
34
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?



The funny thing is that 6% fo all Marty Ford's go to River Valley Community Church :) But even better...our church has 100% of the worlds Eli Ruggles' !!!

Monday, March 5, 2007

how can i feel so close yet..

I am in the midst of two books. This is the first time since college I have been reading out of two books at the same time, but this time is for my own enjoyment. I am reading Rob Bell's new book Sex God and Don Miller's book Blue LIke Jazz. Rob's book is one i totally connect with and am in awe of his thoughts and teaching. Don Miller's work quiet frankly pisses me off. I love it! I think he takes great pleasure in saying things that he knows will get people upset. I being one of them. It is all great stuff. So all of this study is being followed up with about 5 weekly podcasts that dive into everything from Youth ministry to worship leading to Christian pop culture. I feel like a sponge at the moment, trying to take everything in, trying to grow, trying to improve, trying to feel closer to God. How can I feel so close, yet be so far away?

So I decided to drop a few Podcasts a couple of months ago. I just did not have time to listen to all of them or they were just not reaching me. So I unsubscribed to a few of them and I feel a little better about the amount of time I was spending listening to Pod Casts. I grabed my ipod and fired up my weekely lessons and I found that one of my old podcasts came back? I am not sure what happened, or how it got there, but I continued to listen and i found out that it was actually an interview with Donald Miller? It was a great interview. He actually answered some questions I had that had really been bothering me about the last time I heard him speak. Mind you he was still not the bearer of great news, but he did make me feel alot better about his previous comments. Thanks Don.

Now I am listening to Rob's book, he is talking about Jesus always chooses the path of love. Is that the path I always take? I wish I could answer that question with an immediate YES. Unfortunately, I can't answer that queston so quickly. I find that I want to love people, but I find it hard at times. I have a much easier time loving people I don't know. There is no risk. If they turn me down and don't allow me to love them, then I just move on. The risk is taken when I try to love people I know, people I am close to, or have relationships with already. I find myself in the middle of drama. This drama allows for me to choose a side, to be angry with people i should love. It is crazy. Why does this drama happen in our church? It is no wonder why people look at the church and say "Why would I want to go in, they are just as messed up as the rest of the world." It is so much easier to be mad. It makes me feel better to close off and build a wall between myself and the conflict or the actual people who I have trouble loving. Being angry takes no risk on my part. I do not have to work hard to ignore these people. I need to take the risk. It could blow up in my face, but I know I need to love them. It doesn't mean I can't confront them. But I must love them. I want to love them.

I find myself with all of this advice, all of these resources that should help me through these situations. It is interesting that I find myself with all of the tools, but I don't quite know how to use them. I have all of these things that should bring me closer to Christ, but yet I actually feel so far away from God's love. I find myself frustrated, rather than loved. I realize only when I let go and let God help me love these people who make me furious, will I find that I may allow myself to be loved by God. I need to take the risk!