Making God Famous ... Even Now!

... It has been a couple weeks since I broke my thread of continual posts on this blog, but those thoughts are still quite present in my mind.  I really do know that God is working something in shaping me into who I've got to become, but recently, I've really come to another realization.  I've mentioned it before, but it's one thing to hear it, and another thing to know it!  (To my team, no, that was not a joke).  I came to this realization today in a conversation with Laura (our team's great Music Supervisor), and over the past while, wrestling through some of these things.  

I've been living for tomorrow too much.  I've always desired the "extra horizon," thinking that I'd know when I got there.  I knew that I wouldn't ever feel completely, "ok, I've arrived and this is it" with life until, well, heaven, but I just always thought that the 'now' is not the 'then'!  Does that make sense?  I guess all of that said in a nutshell, I often viewed the now as a stepping stone to the future that God is calling me to.  

'To make God famous with my life' has been my commitment!  But, I never thought that the influence I desired could be found in the position I'm in.  I desire to be used in ways by God to reach out to the young adults of this world and encourage them to live that radical, unashamed life!  To be used to fire up a generation that commits to live a life that desires to make God famous ...

... I never realized that I was right in the middle of doing that right now.  

I always pictured that to look like me traveling the world, and me speaking to people, and me playing music, and me doing this and that on the front lines.  Don't get me wrong, I still desire to be used on a large scale (if that sounds selfish, please go back and read the previous blogs so that you understand that comment ...), but I also know that God doesn't NEED me.  He doesn't need me touring to do what He wants to do.

One of the most beautiful sights that I love to see is not that of a mountain range with the sun gleaming or a deep forest with a hazy mist (although God's creation is an incredible sight!), but the sight of an individual soul connecting with Christ through a worship setting!  Whether I see that from the back of an auditorium or from behind a microphone, there is nothing more beautiful to me than to see that single person connect with the God of this universe in a deep, genuine and authentic way!  Not so that I feel like, 'yes, I got 'em!' ... Not at ALL!  But you can walk away knowing that this person is a changed individual and is leaving this place more on fire for God than (s)he walked in!  I desire more than anything to see a generation that is completely sold out to God!  To make Him famous.  

So, for me, the thought of being used in a way like this is so exciting, but my mind was narrow.  I kept thinking, once I get back into a worship setting, leading or whatever, I'll be able to be used in that way again!  The thought of that really excited me.  The thought of that STILL really excites me!  But, I always asked the question, what about now?  What's the connection between that desire, that passion, and where I'm at now?  How are 'pushing papers' helping me to be better prepared for that future??  haha, it seems foolish to even say that now ... My perspective was all wrong!!

First things first - I have to stop living for tomorrow more than today!  That's scriptural, I know, but I never made the connection.  When I start living for every situation that God throws onto my path, then something will start to happen.  Not only will my perspective change, but I'll start realizing that where I'm at NOW, is just as important as where I'll be in 5-10-15 years.  My influence is no different now in God's eyes than it will be in years to come because where I'm at now is where He wants me to be.  

So then, with my position with this choir in perspective, what does all this mean?  How can pushing papers and making phone calls and dealing with administration details be a fulfillment of where I feel I need to be!?  Well, who ever said that I had to be on the front lines in order for my life to make God famous and to be used to set this world on fire for Christ.  Who am I, anyways, to be used in that way??

Remember that beautiful sight that I talked about??  I feel that I've been blinding myself so much by longing to see it in the future that I'm missing out on seeing it right in front of my eyes everyday!!  What about the person who comes back and talks with me at the sponsorship table in tears, wanting to pour their life and finances out into a single child to help them through school??  What about the person who gets up and starts to dance on their seat in excitement while the kids are shaking their "kabina's (Yes, that's what you think it is) for Christ" (the wording of our wonderful Choir director - Frank)!!  What about the person who stays sitting in their seat after the concert, stunned at what they just saw and then eventually leaves silently, but deeply moved to live a life of justice!?!  What about the pastor or detail contact that walks back into the church after waving goodbye to the tour bus, saying to him/herself, "wow, now THERE was a body of believers who are passionate about God!"!?  

I'm in a position right now that is Making God Famous!  And I'm not stationed in one area ... the team that I lead and the children we tour with are going to have the opportunity to make God famous to thousands and tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of people in 12-15 fast months!  I never realized it, but God has been answering my prayers without me even knowing it.  Sometimes He answers with a LOUD crashing "HEY I'M HERE NOW!", but sometimes he lets our minds go to where we take them until we come to the realization that He's been working just as powerfully all along, despite our thoughts and actions.  

An influence on the Kingdom ... I've been a fool to think I had to wait for that one.  I've committed my entire life to make God famous, but in this season, I've realized that that's actually how God has been using me all along.  I'm finally jumping on board ...

America, watch out!  The ACC is coming ... 

Leia Mais…

1 God said, "Abraham!"
"Yes?" answered Abraham. "I'm listening."

 2 He said, "Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you." 3-5 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham told his two young servants, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we'll come back to you."

 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them went off together.

 7 Isaac said to Abraham his father, "Father?"

   "Yes, my son."

   "We have flint and wood, but where's the sheep for the burnt offering?"

 8 Abraham said, "Son, God will see to it that there's a sheep for the burnt offering." And they kept on walking together.

 9-10 They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.

 11 Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

   "Yes, I'm listening."

 12 "Don't lay a hand on that boy! Don't touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn't hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me."

 13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

 14 Abraham named that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It). That's where we get the saying, "On the mountain of God, he sees to it."

 15-18 The angel of God spoke from Heaven a second time to Abraham: "I swear—God's sure word!—because you have gone through with this, and have not refused to give me your son, your dear, dear son, I'll bless you—oh, how I'll bless you!

_______________________________________________________________________

So, I guess one can hear it hundreds of times, even preach on it twice and still have it hit home pretty hard in a new and fresh way.  That's the word of God.  

'Yes?  I'm listening ...'

Leia Mais…

What this world needs ...

2 posts in 2 days ... I know.  Something's wrong ...

What does this world need?  No, don't worry, this isn't one of Andrew's 'hey, let's fix the world' rants.  Really, it's not.

But seriously.  What does this world need?

I've been really encouraged by the writing and music of Chris Tomlin lately (and actually Hillsong's Latest - This is our God!  Wow!).  But I just picked up a book written by Chris Tomlin yesterday called The Way I was Made, and I'm quite blown away by it.  Can I be honest?  My whole life, I've been working so hard trying to make the connections, write the music, sing the songs and develop the gifts that will get me from point A (being a musician who desires to lead worship to thousands) to point B (leading worship for thousands).  Now, to some who don't know my path in getting to this point, you may take that last comment as one that sounds prideful or arrogant, why aren't you satisfied with leading worship for 5 people, Andrew??  For those of you who are thinking that, just go with me here.  There more behind the story of my life and my dreams than just wanting it ... I promise you that.

Something that Tomlin wrote in his book was something that hit me pretty hard was that (in my own paraphrase) it's not a bad thing to desire to make God famous!  We should all have a desire to make God famous!  Some people are wired for the large scale presentation of this desire and others are wired for the much more intimate presentation in their work places, or wherever they are!   Tomlin admitted that he was wired for the large scale stage thing!!  I've always felt so guilty for desiring that so much.  Ya, my heart desires more than anything to be up there for the purpose of seeing others connect with God on a deep and intimate level ... and if that can be done without me being seen at ALL ... Praise the God who is capable of that working in their lives!!!!  I honestly don't desire the mainstage for people to know me.  I desire the large stage so that MORE people will know GOD!  Large stages have always excited me ... and I've always felt guilty for that.  But, God has been doing a work in my heart here over the last couple of days and I'm really starting to think that God has wired me for the purpose of getting excited for the ministry that He has before me.

Now, again, that sounds presumptuous ... I'm going to be performing at the level of Tomlin one day!  No, that's not what I'm saying.  Although that really excites me if it were to be true, I can't be living for the day when I'm on the mainstage.  I have to be taking advantage of the now and living a life of worship so that others may know him today!!  Not so that I can be used in 5-10 years.  

So, back to the beginning.  What does this world need??  First off, it needs people who are desiring to make God famous ... and for them to unashamedly live their lives with a radical freedom to proclaim HIS fame, not caring about their own.  Whether that's on a large scale or a smaller scale, it DOES NOT affect your influence!  A person in an office helping one particular person could influence millions by building into that specific, strategic (intentional or not) individual who has this vision!!  Or on the contrary, a person who speaks to millions, sings to thousands can have very little impact if they're living to glorify themselves.  It's all about our approach and the willingness to let the Spirit move in and through us!!!

So, 1, the world needs radical Christians desiring to bring the fame of God to the world!!

But I've also learned another thing while reading more of Tomlin's story!  I always thought of Tomlin as a sole leader who made it on his own (with the help of the spirit of course) and is now an influential leader because of his talent and writing (not minimizing the work of God in that)!  But, that's certainly not the case.  I never realized what an influential role a man named Louie Giglio played in Chris Tomlin's life.  You may have heard of him.  He is one of the founders of the Passion Movement across this world.  It's a movement focused on Young Adults (college / University age) to stir up a passion for God!!  It started with a vision.  And not a vision of, 'hey, let's focus on this university and stir up their hearts and maybe God will bless that into something bigger!'  There's nothing wrong with that, but that's not the vision that Louie had.  His vision from the beginning was "Let's bring the young adults of this WORLD to a place of passionate powerful relationship with God!"  There's something different there.  There's the obvious difference of the magnitude of the vision, but there's also the other potential element of fear in there.  Maybe there's someone who has a vision for a specific group of people and wants to pour into them specifically ... if so, God bless you in your ministry there!  But maybe someone who's reading this has a desire to reach the WORLD but has minimized their dreams to something more manageable so that you don't look like a fool if it doesn't happen!  Please, join with me in making the decision right now to stop that foolishness!!  

This very instant, I'm making a commitment to stop putting God into a box and start letting HIM mould my dreams into what He wants them to be!  I don't have to know the way to get there, but I know that God is thinking a much larger scale of influence than what I could possibly formulate in my mind!  As a radical Christian, who cares if things change down the road and make a turn for the unexpected!  We trust that God is at work in and through it right!?  If that's the case, then it's exciting ... not embarrassing!!

So, 2, this world needs radical Christians who don't put God into a box and limit HIS dreams for you!  Cause HE wants those plans for you more than you want those plans for yourself!!!!!

But, I've been trying to get to this third point for a long time ... and I'm running out of time here, so I'll just put it out there!!  

God works through people working together!  As I was trying to say with Christ Tomlin meeting and beginning to work with Louie Giglio, they're a team that is being used to stir up the hearts millions of young adults, which in turn are influencing millions of others!   This world is being transformed through the work of a few people!!  Those who have vision, look for others, or let God open your eyes and make those connections for you that will fulfill not your dreams for yourself, but God's dream's for glorifying Himself!!

God bless those ministries that are in place making a difference in this world for the purpose of making GOD famous while willing to be invisible in the process!!

... so with that said, anyone want to take over the world??  hahaha.

Leia Mais…

Looking beyond from experience behind!

So, I've had a couple comments like, "you remember that you have a blog, right?"  so I guess it's time to try again.  I have tried to write on this before but a lack of internet made me lose one post and a lack of train of though made me lose the other one!  Let's give this another shot.

I could attempt to give an update on the last month or so, but that would take too long and quite honestly, I'm not in a space to do that right now.  

Let me spend a little bit here expressing my journey to the choir.  Now, yes, I get asked this a million and 7 times at EVERY venue that we go to, "so, how did you get hooked up with the choir?"  But, I know that those who read this are on a little deeper level with me than most of those who ask, so here's my real story.  There's a reason for me sharing this too ... it's not just out of the blue.  

January of 2008, I knew the choir was coming to Moose Jaw (close to where I was going to school) and I thought, ya, that'd be really good to go to.  I had NO idea where I was going to be this coming year.  I didn't know where God wanted me to be.  

I went to the concert and God was working in my heart a passion for this ministry.  I went back and talked with the Tour Leader of that choir, not knowing that 5 weeks later, I'd be named the Tour Leader of one of the following choirs.  I went through all of the applications / interviews / flights / Welcome Weekends that were required of a new volunteer and received a phone call from Marci, my boss asking me to be the TL of Choir 32.  This in itself was confirmation of where I was supposed to be as I'd been praying through this whole process asking God to take away any direction that was not of Him.  So, I had my next year all planned out.  I'd jump on the road with the ACC and enjoy a year of deep growth and development while building into the lives of Ugandan children ... I thought I knew what to expect for the next 2 or so years at that point .......

My graduation weekend, a friend of mine approached me and told me something flat out that excited me, yet scared me like crazy at the same time.  "Andrew, God wants me to tell you that," always a good way to start a conversation, "your next year is going to be a year of sacrifice, but that's ok because God is in control!"  This resonated with me, especially because just a few weeks earlier, my father was diagnosed with cancer and I knew that I wouldn't be around for or with my family through that time.

I was able to spend a few months at home with my family this summer (which I wouldn't have traded for the world) but then off to Uganda I went!  The first sign of a year of sacrifice was found when I was in Arua (Northern Uganda) during the day of my father's major surgery!  Praise the Lord, the surgery went well ... it's just the 2-3 month recovery that wasn't expected or easy to deal with while touring around.  Now he's back on Chemo and I'm in Texas for Christmas.  more sacrifice.  

I never thought it would be so hard to be away from not only home, but also music.  Grade 10, Snowflake '03, God spoke to me, "Andrew, I'm going to use you to reach out to the younger generation through the gifts that I give you in music."  I grabbed that and ran hard after those dreams that God planted in that time.  I started really focusing my passion and heart for worship leadership ... I went to college for a BA in Music with an emphasis in Worship Leadership.  I had experiences through that time that changed my life and did nothing but ignite and even bigger flame in me for the hearts of believers who long to connect with God on a deep and raw level.  As time went on, I learned about the fact that worship went far beyond music and spread into a life of Justice and Hope for the weak and poor!!  A heart for Africa began to stir quite violently.  Enough to strip me off of the stage for a year.

Now, I'm not trying to come across as, 'oh whoa is me!' or looking for sympathy at all, in fact, this is a testimony to God's leading in my life ...

'... Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual act of worship!' (Romans 12:1).   If being the hands and feet of God is really an act of worship, if being a hand to the poor is an act of worship, if pursuing a heart for justice is an act of worship, the I've got to expect that my life is going to be a living sacrifice not just this year but for the rest of my life.  There are seasons of fulfillment and seasons of dryness ... I'm not saying this is one of those extremes, but regardless, through those seasons, I'm still going to worship God!  I'm still going to praise Him not only on stage through music but with my life.

If I'm truly desiring to lead worship on a large scale for my life, I've got to truly understand what a life of worship is!  I have to truly understand what it means to worship God when life is looking like crap!!  I have to have a deeper understanding of how God truly comforts those in need!  I have to be tested.  The life of a leader (and in my opinion, especially the life of a worship leader as this tends to be the front lines of war in the world we live in), I have to be refined by the fires of God, I've got to be planted deeper and deeper in WHO God is so that once the mainstage comes, I'm founded on Him and not fame.  

... I know people on my team are reading this (maybe they're the only people who read this anyway), and I don't mind them knowing that I'm a broken leader.  When I'm real with myself, I understand that I can't even make the first phone call or deal with the first problem in a day without the strength that God provides.  Don't tell them, but I haven't the foggiest clue how to be a leader for 9 other adults (let alone 22 children) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Sometimes, when I feel like I'm giving all that I can give, it turns out to not be enough.  But praise God for an understanding and forgiving team.  

That's where I'm at in tour.  Dealing with the refining powers of my God and deliverer, while pressing through the joys and many trials of tour life.  

... On days like today, I've just got to trust that I'm doing something right for my team and these kids.

Love you all.

Leia Mais…