In the summer of 2009 I had the opportunity to travel with our youth group to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Habitat for Humanity was building over 20 new homes in a community ravaged by a great flood in 2008. In making final preparations for the trip our youth pastor Josh called and asked me to bring my guitar. I quickly objected since I could barely play 3 chords and the transition between them took quite some time. He told me to bring it anyway since we had no other person who could lead worship. I printed out the lyrics and chords for 3 or 4 songs and loaded up my guitar for the trip.
After a long hot day in the sun on roofing duty it came time for us to gather for small group worship. It was one of the most anxious moments of my adult life. I have always been comfortable singing in both small and large group gatherings. The idea of leading worship on a guitar I could barely play in front of youth group kids was a scary proposition. Then I remembered that worship had nothing to do with me and everything to do with God. In my quiet time alone with God before our time of worship I committed to offering everything I had. My ability to sing along with my inability to play guitar. In the end it was one of the worst musical performances I have ever heard and the single most profound worship experience of my life.
God sparked a new passion for worship within me. He used that experience to quite literally change my life. This new passion has led me to pursue and worship God like never before. God has given me a renewed vision for corporate worship. God has given me new eyes with which to see the lost and hurting as He sees them. God has revealed more of Himself to me. The aim of this blog is to share parts of my journey with you. My desire is to encourage you towards a passionate pursuit of God.