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Note to Readers:  my “Dear God” category of blog posts is simply my own, written prayers.  They are vulnerable, transparent, honest offerings.  Most of these prayers are never published but from time to time, I like to share them.  I share my prayers not to be judged, but to encourage others to be real and authentic in their talks with God.  If you happen to read this, feel free to engage with God yourself, and consider jumping into my own prayer here by leaving comments below.

Hey God,

Ya know, I prayed on Easter Sunday that You would stir up a passion in my heart, and that I would experience Your resurrection all over again.  I prayed that You would breathe life into my dry bones.  Life keeps getting the best of me.  Busyness.  Ministry.  Work.  Parenting.  Trying to be a better husband.  Entertainment.  Over and over again, I keep taking You for granted.

I know that in a small, simple way, You answered my prayer.  I seem to be more aware of Your Presence again.  All of a sudden, I’m feeling that hunger and thirst for You … not out of spiritual obligation, but ouf of sincere desire.  That excites me.

I think about the past couple of days … unspoken victories … in my heart, in my mind.  I can’t say “thank you” enough.  Thank You, God.

The truth is, I’m pretty overwhelmed.  I’m facing some big decisions.  Relational decisions.  Career decisions.  (I’m trying to hire a new employee in our e-business, so don’t worry SSCC peeps, I’m not contemplating a ministry-career move!)  Financial decisions.  I’m chasing this dream of a retreat in October and have so many questions and thoughts.  God, You know I need to resolve some things in my heart regarding my schedule, invitations to say “yes” or “no” to, financial commitments … and the thought of making those decisions on my own freaks me out.   It seems that with more responsibility and more influence, the decisions I make have even bigger impacts.  I don’t want to mess things up.  I know that You will lead me – I know that You have the answers.  My fear is that You have them, but that I don’t stop to find out what they are … and forge ahead, in my own strength.  God forbid.  Help me, please.

I’ve realized how easy it is to rely on my own strengths and talents.  God, as I lead people into expressions of worship, I want it to more of an overflow than ever before.  How easy it is to be a professional “worship pastor” – leading from my own talent, strength, and decades of music ministry experience.  God forbid.  Help me, please.

Countless times, I’ve confessed my selfishness.  God, it’s ridiculous.  I have to be one of the most selfish people on the planet.  This doesn’t glorify You.  I confess it.  Change my heart, God – help me learn to love others, to listen to others, and to serve others.  Teach me the joy in giving sacrificially – not just of money … that’s always seemed to be much easier than giving things like my time, attention, and care.

The bottom line for me?  God, I want You to know that I realize how helpless I am without You.  I’m stopping to remind myself … and to acknowledge to You, that I need You … desperately.  I don’t want to walk this path alone.  I know You are there beside me.  I’m reaching out.  Take my hand.  Lead me on.  I trust You.

In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

This picture has to be one of my favorites taken at our church, St. Simons Community Church.  This is a shot of our Groups/Discipleship Pastor, Jon Blankenship, in the baptismal, about to celebrate baptisms.  What an incredible way to have Easter Sunday – with baptisms.  We had powerful baptisms in every service accompanied by incredible video testimonies.  Huge kudos to my friend, Chris Moncus, for the as-usual-awesome photography.

Our songs:
“Glorious” (Baloche/Brown)
“Alive Again” (Matt Maher)
“For All You’ve Done” (Hillsong)
“Christ the Lord is Risen Today” (Trad. Hymn featuring Russ Hutto on trumpet)
“Jesus Saves” (Travis Cottrell)
“Christ is Risen” (Matt Maher)

Both services were powerful, with strong worship, baptisms, testimonies, and the Spoken Word.  We saw responses for salvation in both services as well.

With the exception of the air conditioning dying in our 9:00 service (which was completely packed), it couldn’t have gone much better.

Interested in what other churches did?  Checkout “Sunday Setlists” over at TheWorshipCommunity.Com.

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Do you ever feel overwhelmed with life?
Do you ever feel that you can’t accomplish anything?
Do you ever feel that you are always behind, and can’t catch up?
Do you struggle with necessary disciplines in life and give up?

Zorro can help.

I’ve been reading a fascinating book by Shawn Achor called “The Happiness Advantage” (and hope to blog about the book when I’m finally finished) and one of the concepts Achor introduces in his book is called the “The Zorro Circle”.  This principle comes from the movie “The Mask of Zorro”.  In the movie, Anthony Hopkins is training Alejandros (Zorro, played by Antonio Banderas), the young hero.

“This is called a training circle, a master’s wheel. This circle will be your world, your whole life. Until I tell you otherwise, there is nothing outside of it.” Alejandros progress depended directly on how well he could learn to master only the things within his circle. At first, it was a large circle with obstacles, ropes and at times, Zorro in it. “As your skill with the sword improves, you will progress to a smaller circle. With each new circle, your world contracts, bringing you ………..that much closer to retribution.”

The concept of a focused circle isn’t a new one.  We’ve all heard the phrase “just take it in bite-size chunks”.  This concept is played out in Dave Ramsey’s financial baby steps when he tells you to pay off your debts from the smallest balance first (as opposed to the traditional argument of paying off the highest interest balances first).

Are you overwhelmed with bills?  Create a “Zorro Circle” around the debt with your smallest balance, and focus all of your attention on it and pay it off.

What about the spiritual disciplines?  Instead of trying to read the Bible in a year, consider a smaller Zorro Circle … like a commitment to read a specific book within a specific time.

What about fitness?  (oh dear)

I tend to lean towards the obsessive compulsive nature.  (that is, if being completely immersed in that nature is leaning!).  So, I’m either going 100%, logging my food and exercise every single day, or none at all.  This is not healthy or productive.  Make a Zorro Circle and master what’s in that circle, and nothing else.

One example in “The Happiness Advantage” was about an executive who absolutely could not keep his office clean.  They took ONE CORNER of his desk, cleaned it off, and his Zorro Circle was to defend that corner of the desk for a week.  After he successfully kept that corner of the desk clear for a week, they enlarged the circle to include two corners, and so forth.

I think you get the idea.  Rather than having me continue to elaborate, let’s discuss this together.

I’d like for you to consider commenting about ONE ZORRO CIRCLE for you to tackle for the rest of this month.

Ready?  Go.