Psalm 9:1-2
I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart. I will tell of all your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You. I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Tonight, I will head to the church for what will be my third Living Sacrifices Worship Conference. For me, these meetings have become a time to reset my spiritual compass. To remember who I am and what I have been called to do.
It is a time of refreshing and renewal for my soul.
I'm not a real big conference person. I don't go to a lot of them. I'm not against them,just don't attend many. But this one, being in our own house, has become a special time of reconnecting. Every church, every denomination has a "spiritual genetic code" that makes them uniquely them. The Vineyard is no different. I've quoted Bill Jackson, from his book Quest For The Radical Middle, time and time again. Bill said, "You don't go and join a Vineyard church...you just discover that is who you are." Truer words could not have been spoken. I could not put words to it, but I knew the first time I attended a Vineyard meeting, I was home. I still had a lot of questions, but I was fascinated by what I saw going on in the meeting. The love the people had for God and for worship was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Not that such doesn't take place in other churches...it was just the first time I'd ever been a part of such a meeting.
This photo is of Carl Tuttle teaching at last years Living Sacrifices Worship conference. Carl was John's pick to replace him when he stepped down from being the Senior pastor of the Anaheim Vineyard. Carl's life has taken many a twist and turns since the early days, but God is using Carl today in ways that even he (Carl) might not have ever imagined. To me, Carl is a living example of someone who does not give up and presses on.
The thing I remember most about this conference was Carl's stories of how we, as a church movement, got to where we are today. The one thing that endears me to the Vineyard movement is there willingness to tell the whole story. The good and the bad. The successes and the failures. If anything could be written about us as a church movement, it would be they were willing to be transparent and honest about themselves.
These are the two who will be here tonight for 2015 Living Sacrifice Worship Hoo-ha. Bobby McDonald on the bass guitar (I'm telling you the guy has 19 fingers on each hand). Bobby can run the fret board like nobodies business. That is Crispin Schroeder on Accordion as well as a few thousand other instruments I'm pretty sure he can play. There will be teaching sessions and times of worship. We'll share our stories and pray for each other as well as the church at large. If you've never been to a conference, this one is a pretty good way to get your feet wet. Now due to the logistics of putting on a conference, we do have a charge...$30.00 per person. That helps us to cover the expenses. But if you're a regular to Saturday night's Vineyard ReCovery Church, then tomorrow night you can come at 7 p.m. for no charge.
Looking forward to seeing everyone!
Y'all come on out.
God on you...
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