If you are like me, there are albums or songs that you listen to when you want to turn up the volume and sing along because life is good. Then there are songs that you crank up and listen to because they help you to feel the pain that you are trying to find a way to let out. And then, there is, at least in my experience, the hardest to find variety… the music that you listen to because it is actually a conversation. The lyrics resonate with you in many ways, challenge you in others, and help you think through the same old ideas in new ways.

In some ways Derek Webb’s music has played all of those roles in my life. Center Aisle and Table for Two from his Caedmon’s Call days helped me to wrestle with the loneliness that I occasionally wrestled with in college. I have also been known to just turn up the volume and sing along to Daring Daylight Escape and Thankful (also from Caedmon’s days).

But then in seminary I went to a concert to hear Caedmon’s Call. I was honestly going to hear Derek Webb sing the songs that were almost all of my favorite songs by Caedmon’s. Except he wasn’t there. After the concert I learned that he had left Caedmon’s to start a solo career.

And then came album after album that have brought both good music, and challenging, edifying lyrics. Each album has had different themes, but they have all had songs on them that were profound. “Crooked Deep Down” was my favorite on his first solo album, “She Must and Shall Go Free”. He sings:

my life looks good i do confess, you can ask anyone
just don’t ask my real good friends
because they will lie to you
or worse, they’ll tell the truth

because there are things you would not believe
that travel into my mind
i swear i try and capture them
but always set ‘em free
it seems bad things comfort me

chorus: good lord, I am crooked deep down,
everyone is crooked deep down.

and then there are the occasional lyrics that are just awesome, like at the end of “Crooked Deep Down” when he admits to having one thing on his mind, “squeezing me and my camel through the needles eye.”

And then there are the lyrics that just make you stop and think, because they are so powerful and so confrontational. A great example is from “My Enemies Are Men Like Me” from the album “Mockingbird”:

peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication
it’s like telling someone murder is wrong
and then showing them by way of execution

He is one of the few people who I do not know who has helped me to grow in my faith. I am grateful for his music and his ministry. If you have not heard the music of Caedmon’s Call or Derek Webb, I would recommend them both to you. You can see the full listing of Derek Webb’s albums here.

Last night I realized I need to update my “currently reading” list. I recently finished Free of Charge by Miroslav Volf and was wondering what to read next. I thought, hey why don’t I go and check out what I’m currently reading on my blog. And there was one book left. Then this morning I thought, why don’t I ask for help from the blogosphere…

So, what are you reading? Or, what have you recently read that you would highly recommend?

I just uploaded the last sermon of the “Family Matters” sermon series to my podcast. I apologize for not getting it up sooner, but last week was a very busy week with Annual Conference and I wasn’t at the office much. You can listen to this sermon by clicking here or by clicking on the link on the right side of this page “deeply committed sermons.” Then, simply click the green play button that is under the heading What Children Need from Their Parents.

Once you are at the main podcast page you can also scroll down and listen to any or all of the sermons from the Family Matters series, again by clicking on the green play button under the title of the sermon you want to listen to.

This sermon series had some of the most difficult sermons I have ever preached, but I can say that I learned a lot and it was very good for my prayer life! It is also humbling to attempt to preach on a subject that you are aware that your audience has so much more experience than you do. I deepy appreciate my congregation’s patience with their very imperfect pastor and their encouragement and support.

This morning I heard a great story that reminded me of how often I miss out on God’s presence simply because I am not willing to go where the Lord wants to send me. Especially when it comes to going on mission trips, it is amazing how often we are initially reluctant, or unwilling, to go. Yet, often times, if I decide to take a step in faith, I find that God is already there.

Have you ever experienced something like this? I will never forget the first short-term mission trip I went on. I thought I was doing something really special. But what surprised me the most about the trip was that I found that serving God was more fulfilling than anything else I could do. That first trip was more fulfilling, more rewarding, and more fun than anything else I could have done during Spring Break my sophomore year of college.

I guess I need to be honest enough to admit that every mission trip I went on was not a mountaintop experience. There were trips that were not nearly as memorable. But looking back, I think that was because by then I thought I knew what to expect. Going on a one week mission trip had become rather, well, comfortable.

Is there something that has been in the back of your mind for awhile? Something that keeps coming up, but maybe you are afraid to try? What if that is the voice of the Lord, calling you out of your comfort zone? Are you willing to take a risk for your faith?

When I first began this blog I asked Andrew Conard of Thoughts of Resurrection for his advice. He provided several helpful suggestions, one of which was to check out a post called Blogging 101 for Pastors by Church Communications Pro. This is a helpful series of blogs if you are thinking about starting your own, or even improving the one you’ve already got. One of the things that was highly recommended was making lists.

So, taking that advice, here are my Top 10 Highlights of this year’s Oklahoma Annual Conference:

10. One precious hour spent in Barnes and Noble.
9. Reconnecting with colleagues and friends.
8. Lots of great food.
7. The Africa University Choir
6. Gloria Jean Fenn’s election as an alternate lay delegate. (She is the wife of Phil Fenn, who was the first person to take the time to talk to me about my calling to ministry, and she is also very important to my wife.)
5. Lunch with Matt Judkins and Randy Shrauner.
4. Father/son time with my dad, who was one of the lay delegates representing New Haven UMC.
3. Hearing that, as a Conference, we raised over $77,000 to be divided between Africa University and Nothing But Nets.
2. Bishop Palmer’s sermon at the Commissioning service.
1. Finishing!

The following laity were elected as alternates:

1. Sam Aguirre
2. Janet Boone
3. Kristin Terrel-Wilkes
4. Mytrtle Clingenpeel
5. Gloria Jean Fenn

The lay delegation to Jurisdictional Conference has been set:

1. Kent Fulton
2. Paula Severe
3. Coleman White
4. Aubrey Wells
5. Carl Young
6. Fred Sordahl
7. Mona Waymire
8. Katie Mayes
9. Joanne Kurlin
10. Mary Ann Smith

The final lay delegate to Jurisdictional Conference has still not been elected.

The following five clergy have been elected as alternate delegates.

1. D. A. Bennett
2. Michael Chaffin
3. Ray Crawford
4. Craig Stinson
5. Twila Gibbens-Rickman

That concludes the election of clergy delegates.

In this round of balloting the following clergy were elected to Jurisdictional Conference:

1. Tom Harrison
2. Grayson Lucky
3. Sam Powers
4. Wade Paschal
5. Tino Espinoza
6. Robert Feist
7. James Kim
8. David Burris
9. Stan Basler
10. Patricia Malloy

This completes the clergy delegation to Jurisdictional Conference.

In this round of balloting no lay delegates were elected.

There were no more clergy delegates elected.

The following lay delegates have been elected to Jurisdictional Conference:

1. Kent Fulton
2. Paula Severe
3. Coleman White
4. Aubrey Wells
5. Carl Young
6. Fred Sordahl
7. Mona Waymire
8. Katie Mayes
9. Joanne Kurlin