Why is progress so painful?

Why is it that progress is always a painful process? Why do we fight against things that may improve our lives and/or situations? I'll never understand it but it seems like every effort for progress always encounters roadblocks, differences of opinion, fear of change.... That's really it, I think. Fear of change. We fear the unknown therefore we fear what has yet to be experienced. We fear the uncomfortable, and since we do not know if the new (fill in the blank) will be comfortable, we fear the new. We fear change because we grow used to the known and the comfortable (or what has become comfortable). I think we become lazy and don't want to put in the effort that change requires up front. We fear change because it may mean (and usually does) that we have to give up some control and/or we have to walk in faith.

Faith. Isn't that what we Christians should be striving to walk more in? Isn't that what is supposed to be growing in our lives as we walk with Christ? Why then is progress fought against the most within the walls of the church? Isn't that contradictory to what we are to be doing? I find it most interesting and indeed most saddening that progress is often looked on as "wrong" or "worldly" or causes divisions in the body of Christ. I am a member of the leadership in my home church and we are currently in the middle of some decisions we believe God is leading us to. These decisions are considered to be somehwhat of a "progress" from the church's past, yet they are so far causing quite a stir among some of the congregation. I'm praying very hard that things will turn out for the best but progress can be so painful.

Isn't it a good thing that Jesus didn't turn away from pain when He made His progress towards the cross?

Are all bass players the same?

OK, I know we aren't all the same but it appears that Glenn Lavender (of Downhere) and I have a few things in common. I was recently reading his blog and his post today (as well as one he referenced from earlier) could have easily been written word for word by me.

Here's his earlier one entitled "Risking Stupid"...

And here's today's post entitled "We Should Sing"...

God is in it...

Wow! I haven't been very faithful at writing here have I? Sorry everyone. I will try and make a better effort to post my thoughts and events on more occasions.

Today is just one such occasion....

This past Sunday was another one of those moments in life that God really reveals Himself to you. You know those times? Well, my band SoulFlight played at my church during the morning worship service. It was the first time we've ever been there for a morning service and everyone was present (the band, wives, some friends/supporters, etc). Wouldn't you know but God had the whole thing planned. This week's message was on several topics that we as a whole group (band members and all) have been dealing with lately and it became blatantly clear why we were all there together. We weren't there just to play and lead worship for the congregation (although that was a side benefit we enjoyed) but we were there for God to speak to us, clear our minds, and get us all back on the same page so we can keep doing this ministry we call SoulFlight. It was indeed an eye opener from God showing us just how much He cares about us and wants us to focus on serving Him. It was also a confirmation that He is in what we are doing and wants us to keep doing it.

I'm sure it won't come as a shock when I say that I drove home Sunday afternoon on a spiritual high, singing a new song God started giving me within minutes out of the church parking lot! I'm finishing it up so I can take it to a future practice and begin laying down the music with my band mates and I'm looking forward to seeing what else is in store for this Fall. If this past Sunday was any indication, I will have quite a bit to post here before the first snow flies....

God bless! I'll catch you all next time!

Science... I'm a little kid again.

When my oldest daughter reached school age (kindergarten), my wife and I made the choice to homeschool our children rather than send them to public schools for their education. It was a personal decision for us that we felt a conviction towards. No, we aren't one of those extremist couples who removes their children from all contact with the outside world. We make sure they have plenty of interaction with other kids and do activities outside our home setting. We just felt that our children could receive a better education at home away from all the garbage that permeates our public school systems these days until they were old enough and grounded enough spiritually to make a decision with us on whether or not they would graduate as homeschoolers.

That being said, my oldest daughter (Breanna) is now starting in third grade studies as of a couple weeks ago. My wife teaches most of the lessons while I'm at work because she is a stay-at-home mom. However, I get the privilege of helping teach at times in certain areas of study that fascinate me because I am considered by my wife to be the "better teacher" for those subjects. One of those subjects is science.

Breanna's current topic of study in science is the planets in our solar system. She has already learned and memorized the nine planets that orbit around our sun. One recent project she had for this section was to make a "model" solar system that will help keep things in perspective as the chapters go through various aspects of the world of outer space. The book suggested a small setup that would hang in a corner of her bedroom, but being the "we gotta do better" type of dad, I decided that we would make some nice circular cutouts from construction paper (cut to a better size so she could get an idea of scale) and tape them to the wall in our stairway with the bottom doorway being the sun and Pluto taped way up the stairwell. She was so excited and pleased with the outcome that we decided to do more. We made a moon for earth and plan to add moons for Jupiter and others as we go through her lessons. She made stars and scattered them across the wall to give it more of an "outer space" look, and we have plans to add comets, meteors, asteroids, etc. as we cover each topic in her book along the way. Can you tell dad is getting into this?

So, that being said, I'm feeling a bit like a kid again this week. Is that acceptable for a 36 year old male who just recently gave in to owning a minivan? (OK, so I really needed it with three kids and a fourth on the way. What's your point? At least I got a sport model with a wing and a kickin' CD player!)