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After hearing about the much-anticipated, controversial book for nearly a full year, Randy Elrod has officially released his book, “Sex, Lies, and Religion”.

I’ve had the pleasure of spending some quality time with Randy and his wife, Chris.  He’s one of those guys that you are immediately captivated by.  Chris, his lovely wife and life partner is equally amazing and when you hang around them you get the idea that this is how God intended marriage to be.

I got my pre-release copy of this book a couple of weeks ago and was drawn into the story from the very beginning.  The opening scene hits home for me because it is literally taking place a stone’s throw from my home and I couldn’t help but smile, recalling the “personal connection” I had to this book and it’s author.

I won’t go into a lot of details about the book – you can get that information when you buy it and read it for yourself.  Known for beautiful works of watercolor art, many of which are nudes, I began to get a better understanding of Randy’s heart for true art, the physical body, and expression.

What is the difference between nude art and pornography?  This book addresses that topic and many, many others.

“Sex, Lies, and Religion” will be a challenging read, especially for those who are overly religious.  Randy will tackle some issues of sexuality, expression, and intimacy that can challenge your thinking.  He certainly challenged mine.  I honestly can’t say that I’d endorse or agree with every statement in the book.

On the whole, the book is a welcome challenge and I am already inspired by reading it.  Personally, with four young children in our home and decades of religious influences  affecting my paradigms and ways of thinking,  I NEEDED TO READ THIS BOOK.

In closing, I think this book can certainly bring about freedom to so many people who could be in bondage to sexual sins, lusts, or intimacy issues.  Most importantly, the purpose is not just to “improve your sex life” … it’s to bring a greater awareness of our intimacy with Christ.

Curious yet?  Go get your copy of “Sex, Lies, and Religion” by Randy Elrod today at:
http://sexliesandreligion.skyroo.com
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from cre:ate 2.0 Publishing to read and post a review on my site. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 > “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Hey Everybody,

I’m about to board a flight to Nashville, TN with my good friend Russ Hutto for the annual “re:create” conference.  Can’t wait to make new friends and see lots of folks like … well, to list all of their names and link to their blogs would take all morning!

I want to be “in the moment” as much as possible so probably will restrain myself from blogging every day and “tweeting” about every nuance.  (Can I hear an “amen”!?).  So, I’m going to embed the code that will allow you to view all tweets from myself and others who attend that use the #recreate hashtag.  Enjoy.  Be sure and view the Media tab as well!

You’ll hear from me whenever I can.

Today we’ve kicked off a new, 8-week series called “Deep Roots” at SSCC.  I’m excited to get into a deep teaching where we break down God’s Word, verse by verse.

Part of the creative discussions we’ve had is how we could incorporate some older creeds and songs.  Today we proclaimed “The Apostles Creed” together.  Now you may be in a church where this is done every Sunday but that’s not normal for us.  In my nearly 3-years of serving on staff as the Worship Pastor, we’ve never recited it.

Here’s how the flow of our worship service went today:

Walk In Song:
“Washed by the Water” (Needtobreathe)
Comments:  I’ve always loved this song and one of our guitarists/vocalists, David Dantzler, nails it.  It was our first time and people really got into it.

Opening Song:
“Glorious One” (Steve Fee)

After a short announcement video, I took about 4-5 minutes to discuss the history and heritage of the Apostles Creed.  I wanted to make this come alive so that it wasn’t some creed we said out loud that meant nothing.  I tried my best to put this creed into context.  It seemed like people were connecting with it and when we proclaimed it together, it was if I were saying it for the first time.

From there, I transitioned with the team directly into the traditional hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy” in the Key of C.
This made for a smooth transition from “old” to “new” with “Revelation Song” (Gateway Version) in C.
(yeah, I know, some of you saying “that’s not new!” … haha, indeed it’s a few years old now, but still a great song for our congregation!)

After Pastor David’s sermon, we closed by reinforcing what the Book of Colossians was stating … by singing “Center” (Charlie Hall), stating how Christ is the center of it all.

That’s a recap of our services.  I’m sharing this in cooperation with the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival hosted over at TheWorshipCommunity.Com, where you can see our recap along with many others!  Go check’em out!

I’m 39 years old. I will hit 40 in November.
I’ve been involved in church music since I was a kid.
I’ve been on a praise team since I was in High School.
I’ve been a worship leader (either as a volunteer or as paid staff) since the early 90’s.
I’ve been on church staff since 1995. Yep, that’s 15 years.

I am discovering a profound truth about Worship/Music Ministry.

Picking songs and leading music is a very small part of what this job is really about. This job … this ministry … it’s really about:
* leading people
* bridging gaps
* listening and learning
* being a peacemaker
* navigating through personalities and expectations
* managing volunteers
* building relationships

Playing the music and leading the singing on Sunday?

That is by far, the EASIEST PART of this job!

Hey Gang,

Join us tonight for a “Night of Worship” at St. Simons Community Church at 6:00 PM EST.

If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll come and worship with us.  If you’re out of town, consider joining us “live” online at:
www.sscclive.com

Let’s join together in person and across the internet for a glorious time of worship and praise!