Yesterday, we had a guest speaker at our church by the name of Gary Bell from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He is an awesome speaker, and he will be doing our Campmeeting services tonight through Wednesday night. The service went well, and the songs that we were able to do were fitting for where our church is right now. I feel that our ministry is extremely relevant and on track because of the presence of God that has permeated our services. I feel so overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit at times during our worship, and that is great. I can honestly say that the enjoyment that I get out of playing drums now is exponentially greater than anything I have felt in the past. I feel like I am fulfilling the purpose that I was created for and that fills a huge void that was present in my past.

Last year, my music pastor was doing a sectional worship workshop in Gladewater. He asked the crowd a question that made everyone think about their purpose in their worship ministry. His question was "How do you get and keep volunteers?" After everything was over, he spoke with my friend, Doug (previous sound booth man) and I. I didn't have a quality answer until now to his question. I think that the thing that draws volunteers and then retains them is the atmosphere that they get to volunteer in. As a musician in our music ministry, I feel an atmosphere of love and patience coupled with a desire to worship. That is what keeps me from wanting do do anything else. That is why I look forward to practice and worship. We fight the things that every worship ministry fights (new versus old music, volume, personal preferences, etc), but the measuring stick that gauges every concern is guidance of the Holy Spirit. We don't look to the environment that we live in, or the most popular sentiment. We don't submit to popular culture of the latest trend in worship. We instead trust our leader, and pray for God's guidance in our worship. I think that all of the men that I get the pleasure to play beside have the humility to know that our talents are nothing away from God. We also know that what we are participating in is so much bigger than the sum of our parts, and we cannot even fathom the fullness of God's purpose for our lives.

Gary Bell spoke about Moses and his call to free the Israelites from Egyptian oppression. He brought to light the character flaws that God addressed in Moses prior to the magnificent liberation of Israel. The concerns that Moses had were extremely important to him. Had he not trusted God to change him and used the faith that was ignited by the burning bush experience, who knows if he Moses would have been a part of the results. The message that was delivered seared my heart. I find a million reasons that I cannot do the things that God has called me to do. My inabilities and faults top the list of excuses that keep me tied to my present comfortable situation. Reason after reason pile up as I go through my life with a magnifying glass. With all comparisons, though, we have to look at both sides. My problems, and God's will. In looking at God's will, I can't get past the title of the column - "God's Will." The relationship that I have with God is something peculiar. He is the only one that will never fall short on His end of the relationship, no matter what I do or fail at doing.

What Pastor Bell spoke of was drive - the pushing factor that keeps us from giving up despite the situation. We are called to greatness for Christ, and were created for that ultimate purpose. In your life, pursue that thing that draws you. Get in the vehicle and let God do the driving. He won't miss an exit or take you somewhere you don't need to be.

Wow is West Virginia beautiful or what! I think that this is God's country. The area has been carved out of the hills here, and is extremely striking with chiseled, unpolished features. On the trip up, I was able to fly on a company plane, and it was nice with the exception of the last few minutes before arrival. Turbulence is not my friend.



I had a moment while flying that allowed me to start to look at the creative power of God in a different way. Looking up at clouds from the ground, you are fooled to believe that they are somehow attached to the blue background of the sky. When you are eye-to-eye with these billowing masses, you realize that they hang suspended in mid-air. It amazes me as to how these gigantic beings float. These masses of "nothing" sprawl like a carpet, letting nothing penetrate their protective cover. When you are approaching, it appears that the sky stops at the cloud bank, but only when you break through can you see the complexity of the atmosphere that they conceal.

As we flew over this part of West Virginia, we were able to see the flooding that had taken place over night. In an area that is ripe with trees and greenery, the creamy brown flood waters stood out against their backdrop. I saw that the water rushed and filled the low-lying areas, overpowering residents and structures in their path. From this point of view, I felt extremely insignificant in the big picture of things. God is mighty. His creations are purposeful and have meaning. Nature follows his lead, and anything standing in his way cannot stand very long.

After we broke through the cloud bank, we had a span of time to just observe the peaceful beauty of being isolated from the destruction on the ground. The clouds were our buffer. The light was brighter, the white was whiter, and the absence of color was outstanding. I guess that what this revealed to me, is that we can be lifted above the problems this life brings. We look at the horizon and see the limitations of what can be done. When we break through these limitations, we see the magnificence and provision that God is capable of. Our ceiling becomes our floor when God takes us into His safe place. Our world is changed in the blink of an eye, and we can no longer even see the troubles that haunted us. For those moments that God carries us on his shoulders, we experience true peace and trust. We look face-to-face at the majesty of our Heavenly Father. We now see that the reality that we looked at while in our situation was only a small portion of what was present. While we are enjoying the sanctuary from devastation, we don't realize that we are being taken out of the situation and are being delivered to a new place.

We began our descent, and came through the cloud bank. When we could see the ground again, we were much removed from the flood waters. The view was normal and beautiful again, like nothing had ever happened. We had been delivered to a new destination without having to trip through the troubles on the ground. I guess that this was one of the things that drove Noah when he took on the project of boat-building.