Shelter In The Eye Of The Storm

The past two Sundays have been incredibly long - 12-14 hours non-stop. It's a busy season, and it's temporary - hopefully soon I'll reclaim the occasional Sunday afternoon nap while I listen to the Redskins lose.

But today was a GREAT day. The gathering at the Powhatan Campus was electric and fun. Our band had three people who had never been part of leading on a Sunday morning - for one of them (David Herring, our drummer), it was not only his PCC debut but also his birthday! Nathan Wheeler did an outstanding job demonstrating his guitar skills and Pat Driscoll proved to be an excellent stage hand turned guitarist (I love these humble guys who shrug and say, "Oh, I play a little..." - that's Pat. And by the way, "a little" turned out to be "Oh, I shred some pretty wild metal licks and can do whatever you need...")

We followed morning services with lots of afternoon activities, culminating with a baptism in the James River in Cartersville. I had the incredible privilege of baptizing my friend Mel, blown away by her bold statement that "Jesus is Lord - and MY LEADER." I stayed in the water and was honored to help with a few more baptisms. I never get over this act of obedience; I looked at this long line of people on the boat ramp today, stepping into the water in faith and expecting transformation, and I'm staggered by the "huge-ness" of this thing we call "church".

Making disciples. Leading people. Reaching people.

It is staggering, indeed.

One of my favorite parts of the day was the second song we did, "Rock In A Weary Land" by Ashley Cleveland. We did this at Element 3 Church with my brother in Tallahassee earlier this summer, and though I remember Eric doing a bang-up job on the vocal and guitar solos, what I really remember is that I FORGOT the counting part. I jumped from number four to number six and back to three or something ridiculous. Well, today, I led the whole thing and I worked my tail off to get those numbers right! It was a ton of fun, especially since the band was made complete by Andy Vaughn (great friend), Sarah Brawley (wonderful daughter) and Tony Stoddard (pretty awesome husband). We had some inherent chemistry, folks.

I loved "Rock In A Weary Land", but I'm no fool. Nobody can top Ashley Cleveland.

So, for your Monday morning pleasure, please enjoy Ms. Cleveland and Kenny Greenburg tearing up this tune.