Last night I should have been in bed early since I had to be up at 5:30am. You know what that means though, I wasn’t in bed. Instead, I got caught up watching inspiring and amazing audition performances for the various talent shows on TV like “America’s Got Talent”, “The X-Factor” (various locations and nationalities), “The Voice” and “American Idol”.

Lucky for me last night I stumbled across an audition performance from Lillie McCloud, a 54-year old grandmother of 7 (remember that when you watch her perform)! She performed a song made famous by CeCe Winans called “My Alabaster Box”. Watch her performance below.

Her performance on the merits of talent alone were incredible. On top of the talent in her vocal ability was the presence she commanded on the stage. After I watched her performance a number of times I began to think about the amazing opportunity artists like herself are able to take advantage. When an artist of her talent performs a powerful, Christian song like that the audience is being ministered to whether they know it or not. God is speaking through those lyrics to people who may have never heard the song, like Simon Cowell stated himself, one of the other judges, Kelly Rowland, who said it was one of her favorite songs. These true and powerful lyrics and the message of the song are making an impact, perhaps where there was no chance of the gospel being shared before. That’s powerful stuff to think about.

Kellie had a number of other powerful performances, but sadly didn’t make it to the final show for the final win. Luckily it appears she is still performing due to the exposure she enjoyed on the show and you can follow her on Twitter or on her official Facebook page.

This past Sunday at our church, we were continuing our series “Finally Free” talking about the freedom that’s found in Christ. For the special song, our worship band played “Beautiful Things” by Gungor while the video below played. It was a very powerful moment for me personally. Things are kind of tough right now, but I know He’s in control. It was a solid reminder and lift to my spirit.

Today marks the 34th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero.  For the past year, through music, film and performance, we have sought to tell the story of this remarkable man. There are strong indications from the Vatican that he will be declared a saint in the not too distant future. He is, however, already recognized as both a martyr and a saint by millions around the world.

We are asking you to help spread his story – a story of faith and of courage, a story of what it means to follow in the steps of Christ. Even if you have seen it before, click to watch the video below… be shocked by the actual gunshots (recorded by a nun who was in the chapel at the time)… hear his words of hope that form the lyrics of the song.

Romero’s message of social justice, non-violence and self-sacrifice are needed today as never before.  We’re asking you to be partners in spreading that message.

“ROMERO” is the first single from The Project’s special event album, “Martyrs Prayers.” To purchase deluxe edition CD or obtain more information, please visit http://www.themartyrsproject.com.

All lyrics contained in this song are the transcribed prayers of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero (1917-1980). Romero was murdered in 1980 while celebrating mass in a small hospital chapel in San Salvador.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kiana Levi has always loved to sing. For as long as she can remember she has been singing every day. Whether it was TV theme songs or classic Disney tunes, she was always using her voice to project beauty. By first grade she performed her first solo, a song called “Speaking With Kindness.” This talented teen artist is Kiani Levi of Venetia.

Kiana has recently taken her talents to the next level with her first self titled album, “Kiana Levi”, produced by Tate Publishing. In 2011 Kiana auditioned for Actors, Models, & Talent for Christ when they were in her home state of Pennsylvania. Kiana’s talent was noted and she was chosen to sing in AMTC SHINE event in Florida. There, she also impressed representatives from Tate Music Group. Tate asked me to write three songs and send them a CD,” recalls Kiana. “Very soon, I began composing lyrics and music for my first original, ‘Soaring,’ which prompted a recording contract from Tate for an eight-song album.” With seven additional originals completed by last September, she headed to Tate’s studio in the mid-West to record her first album and her first music video.

Kiana’s story is not just one of youthful ambition, it is also a story of overcoming great difficulty. Kiana was diagnosed with debilitating juvenile rheumatoid arthritis as a young girl. With prayer and faith she has persevered and is now completely healed. I am blessed and I pray that others may see Christ through me and be inspired by my music,” Kiana went on to say. A dominant voice in Christian music, her second album (in the works) will feature Christian music as well as uplifting contemporary music about life.

Click here to view the embedded video.

To reach Kiana, email kianalevimusic@gmail.com.

During worship at Hermitage Nazarene this past weekend, we sang “Like an Avalanche” by Hillsong United. I wasn’t familiar with the song oddly enough so it was a nice new tune for me. One of the things that really caught me about this song was one girl on the worship team that sang the verses as a solo. Her voice was very unique and lended itself to the experience of me hearing the song for the first time. I remembered as I was listening to her sing was that she had the kind of voice that would have intrigued the judges on a show like “The Voice”. The other great thing about her singing is that you could tell she was connecting with the songs and lyrics she was singing. There were occasions on other songs where she would sing a lyric and just smile. It wasn’t a smile to the audience, it was a smile of worship and thanks to the Lord. Great to see from a member of a worship team.

If you’re not familiar with the song either, I encourage you to watch the video below. If you’re like me, it will probably be added to your list of current favorites. It makes for a great worship song too, so maybe you’ll let the worship leader at your church know about it as well if they hadn’t heard it yet.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What do you think about God’s will? This is something I’ve thought about quite a bit over the course of my life, and what I keep coming back to is that it’s not pre-defined path of binary right or wrong answers. For instance, back in college it was questions like “Where will I work” or more importantly back then, we were all worried about “Who should I marry”? I never really did believe God had THE wife in mind I should marry and be within His will, but He had A wife in mind for me. I believe there were multiple people I could have married, but I am very thankful that God lead me to the one I ended up marrying.

You see, I don’t believe God’s will for our lives is a single course of left or right turns, but His will is a single map that I’m looking at as I travel through this journey of life. I believe when we are saved God gives us a new map. It’s full of different options and roads we can take and lots of different places we can go and things to see. All of them can be within His will for our lives.

I believe God’s over arching will for our lives is that we continually draw closer to Him and continue to get better at being obedient when He does guide us in a certain direction within His map for our life. As long as I’m seeking Him in everything I do then I’ll be on the right page and the options available to me are potentially endless. There’s a lot of freedom in that, along with a lot of guidance as well.

My family and I are going through some uncertain times right now. We’re basically homeless, no full-time job for me and currently separated from each other. I’m in the process of living in Nashville, TN looking for full-time work while my wife and two kids are back in Indianapolis living with my parents until I can bring them to Nashville to join me. There were a number of people in our life that challenged us on whether or not we were in God’s will in doing what we were doing. We absolutely believe we are and I believe that’s confirmed by the fact that my wife and I are in complete harmony and agreement with this major decision in our life. We have never been closer to each other and on the same page as we are right now in our marriage. As I spoke with a friend about our current status, he just looked at me and said it must be God’s will because I just had a peace about me that was really unexplainable (you know that peace that passes understanding that we’ve sung about?) Any normal husband and father would probably be stressing out about where the roof over his family was going to come from or exactly what job was going to pay for that roof. I’m not worried about it, I know who’s in control.

I think many times as Christians, we can think if everything is going well in our lives then we must be in God’s will and if things aren’t going well, then we must not be. As Jarrid Wilson recently wrote, “It’s Ok To Be A Christian And Go Through Tough Times“. I heard recently too that when things are going well for Christians, many times we look at things we’re doing that we credit as the source of God’s blessings on our life. Think about this, when you’ve been coasting on those calm waters of life, have you ever thought to yourself, “Yeah, I’ve been reading my Bible daily, devotions have been strong, I haven’t missed praying once this week or I’ve been to church every Sunday this quarter!” You see the problem with that is that you’re giving credit for blessings to something you’ve done! Let me let you in on a little secret, you have blessings in your life because your Heavenly Father loves you and has showered you with blessing you could never earn for yourself. Your “works” haven’t protected you from the just actions you actually deserve, Jesus has taken what you deserved to bear on the cross for you.

Am I saying we shouldn’t do all those things? Absolutely not. But we should remind ourselves and instill the right motivation for doing them. I should do those things because they keep me in sync with God and keep me looking at the right map He’s given me for my life. I do those things because I love Him and I want to express to Him (all of these are better seen as acts of worship) how thankful I am that He’s loved me and blessed me and sacrificed everything for me.

So, stop fretting about that next right or left turn in your life. Draw close to Him. Make sure you’re on His page for your life and then make the decision your heart tells you to make. If you’re in sync with God, I’m pretty sure the desires of your heart won’t be in conflict with His desire for you. Enjoy the journey and thank Him for the blessing to explore His love in your life.

My wife forwarded me an article today that she thought might be an interesting one to share on the site for our readers. She was correct.

The article was entitled “Stop Dressing So Tacky For Church” and was published in the religion blogs on CNN.com website.

It was an interesting read and presented both sides of the coin for the conversation. There’s the side of dressing up to be prepared to enter into the presence of the King and the “come as you are” crowd. Honestly, I can fall into both camps.

Growing up as a preacher’s kid, rare was the Sunday that wasn’t attending church in my nicer clothes. That was the reason we had the phrase I heard frequently growing up of “Sunday clothes” and that collection of “Sunday socks” that were never worn on any other day unless it was for a funeral or some other very formal event. I have always loved ties, so for me Sunday was a place for me to have the opportunity to really wear a tie and dress-up more than I would for any other event through the week.

I absolutely get the point of the “come as you are” argument as well. I believe that expresses an openness and invitation to people to come and feel welcomed in the church without pretense or the need to impress someone else. One of my favorite analogies in being accepted where you are before you become a believer is saying there’s no need to get cleaned-up before you take a bath. But as existing believers, have we become lazy to not even take the time to prepare ourselves more in preparation for worshiping our Savior?

I think perhaps the answer to this question is an honest question of love, acceptance and motivation. Are we dressing for church to impress people or to show our love for God? When we see people come into the church, are we thinking too much about what they wear or are we loving and accepting them regardless? A person’s motivations for their attire should be based on their own relationship with God and how they feel they are most in tune with that relationship. They shouldn’t be judged by the mere adornments of their dress in their attendance of church, but as a soul seeking connection, healing and renewed strength in God’s house.

I believe this topic is open for great discussion, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

I had an epiphany today. No, it wasn’t painful.

I’ve been struggling to to devote time to this site as I have wanted to and haven’t been keeping up with the album reviews I need to finish and publish. I’ve been looking for help from those interested in writing, but haven’t had very much luck in that arena either. The other challenge is that I’ve noticed that I’ve been sharing more lately on the social networks for this site (Facebook, Twitter, Google+) topics of interest more around faith in general in our society that spreads out to much more than just music.

I’ve always loved consuming media. Whether that be music, television, movies, books… whatever. And I’ve always enjoyed sharing those interesting things I’ve found, heard, read or watched with others to get their thoughts and opinions on the topics as well.

I recently relocated my family to the Nashville area and I’ve been excited about the potential of me being in Music City and the heartland for Christian music helping me expand the interest and content I’ve been sharing on this site. Somewhat unexpectedly though, my connections moving back to Nashville have put me in contact with more movie and film media contacts than purely music.

And that’s when it hit me (here’s where the epiphany happened), why don’t I more actively expand what I’m talking about here on the site to all things related to media and faith and our beliefs. Don’t limit it to just music, although we’ll obviously continue to cover that area, but also expand to more discussions about film, television, general portrayals of Christianity in our culture. What’s happening that’s good. What’s still being challenged? I’ll even post about some things the church and Christians are doing that I believe is hurting the overall efforts of the Church to spread the Gospel.

As I began thinking about this new direction, it also became clear that this might also provide a broader spectrum of topics and content that would interest others in sharing their viewpoints and opinions here. So if you’ve got something you’d like to share about faith and culture, let me know. I’d love to share your post with our readers.

Here’s to change… I think it’s going to be a fun new journey. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the ride with me.

I was introduced to a new and beautiful song this morning as I attended church. The name of the song is “Take Me To The King” by Tamela Mann. The vocalist at the church did an amazing job delivering the vocals and emotion of the song. I had to come home and find the performance from Tamela and watch it as well. There were a few different videos I found, but the one below from her singing at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden is my favorite that I saw and the one with the clearest vocals in the recorded. She also finishes the song with merging the song with “I Surrender All” and “I Can Only Imagine”

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s nothing like music to connect us to the emotions in our lives and the lyrics of this song are powerful words for sure.

Lyrics: “Take Me To The King”

Chorus
Take me to the King
I don’t have much to bring
My heart is torn in pieces
It’s my offering
Take me to the King

Verse 1
Truth is I’m tired
Options are few
I’m trying to pray
But where are you?
I’m all churched out
Hurt and abused
I can’t fake
What’s left to do?

Truth is I’m weak
No strength to fly
No tears to cry
Even if I tried
But still my soul
Refuses to die
One touch will change my life

Chorus
Take me to the King
I don’t have much to bring
My heart’s torn in pieces
It’s my offering

Lay me at the throne
Leave me there alone
To gaze upon Your glory
And sing to You this song
Please take me to the King

Verse 2
Truth is it’s time
To stop playing these games
We need a word
For the people’s pain

So Lord speak right now
Let it fall like rain
Oh, yeah, we’re desperate
We’re chasing after you

Bridge
No rules, no religion
I’ve made my decision
To run to You,
The healer that I need

Chorus
Take me to the King
I don’t have much to bring
My heart’s torn to pieces
It’s my offering

Lay me at the throne
Leave me there alone
To gaze upon Your glory
And to sing to You this song

Take me to the…

Lord we’re in the way
We keep making mistakes
The glory’s not for us
It’s all for You

Chorus
Take me to the King
I don’t have much to bring
My heart’s torn to pieces
It’s my offering

Lay me at the throne
Leave me there alone
To gaze upon Your glory
And sing to You this song

Take me to the King
Take me to the King
Take me to the King

I did something today that I haven’t done in quite awhile, perhaps since college… read an entire book in less than 24 hours. The book was an advance copy of a new book titled “Overrated” by Eugene Cho that I was contacted about to read and review. The sub-title is “Are we more in love with the idea of changing the world than actually changing the world?” As the author admits in the very beginning of the book, it’s as much a confession of his own challenges as it is a calling-on-the-carpet to others who may find themselves in the same motivational struggles.

There was a hook to this book that brought me into my original interest of reading it. It was the awareness and connection of the author to social media. I wasn’t sure how he was going to connect it all, but it didn’t matter. The hook was enough for me to crack the book open and start to read. Less than 24-hours later, I’m finished and writing a review about it.

As I continued to read, the message of being more interested in the idea of changing the world is much easier to talk about than actually taking the action that’s required. Eugene talks about fighting injustice in the world and how that doesn’t have to conflict with being a Christian. How being a Christian is a calling to living justly! It reminded me of an old video I say online by BlimeyCow. Watch it below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here are some other key thoughts I made note of as I finished reading the book today.

Drive-thrus vs. Waiting Rooms

The power of waiting. We all have good ideas. I’ve been told in the past that good ideas are a dime a dozen. They’re everywhere. The hard part isn’t a good idea. The hardest part is taking action on the idea. Sometimes the best thing you can do with a good idea is wait for it to last. I love the statement, “Don’t just do something… stand there!” In our society, we’re so interested in immediacy and not waiting that we can frequently set ourselves up for failure. Perhaps we don’t think things through and make mistakes. Perhaps we should just wait and make sure we’re committed to this idea before we just get started on something. Sometimes our good intentions can really do damage if not well thought through, after all must of us have heard the statement about the road to Hell being paved with good intentions. Eugene challenge me to stop looking for the drive-thru in life and instead just take a seat in the waiting room.

#GottaGoDeeper

In the book he shared a few different stories about people wanting to take action and change the world but not even knowing all the facts and details about what they’re getting involved in in the first place. People thinking the answer to the water crisis around the world is to dig more wells. That may not be the best answer. They want to take action in Ghana but couldn’t even tell you where it is aside from it being in Africa. Someone interested in fixing the injustices in Central America but not being familiar with Archbishop Oscar Romero (which we’ve written about previously). I was challenge to significantly increase my own knowledge of things that I say are important to me. For me, that’s investing more time in increasing my own knowledge in my profession. Increasing my discipline to personal devotions and prayer. Increasing my thirst for knowledge in general by reading more and “watching” less by reducing my screen time.

Eugene Cho’s book “Overrated” is available September 1st. I encourage you to check-it-out and read it for yourself. . You can click on the image up there of the cover and pick it up at Amazon in printed or digital form. If you’d like to win a free copy of the book, keep reading to the end of the post.

If you’re convinced you should read this book, then maybe you’ll be interested in also taking the Overrated 5-Day Challenge. If you haven’t been convinced yet, listen to the author talk about the book here.

Eugene Cho Introduces the Book

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can watch more videos of Eugene Cho talking about the book on the David C Cook YouTube channel.

Eugene Cho is someone that I feel like I’ve come to know somehow through reading his book. As I stated in the beginning, he himself admits that his book is confession of his own life and own challenges. But his writing allows you to peer into his life and his world and his story. For this reason I’m now very interested in staying in touch with him through his various social media accounts.

Eugene Cho is the founder of One Day’s Wages, pastor at Quest Church, proprietor at Q Cafe and can be found on Twitter @EugeneCho, on Facebook/EugeneCho and Instagram and his blog (www.eugenecho.com)

Win a Copy of “Overrated” FREE!

Okay, you’ve made it to the bottom! If you’d like, you can win a copy for free by doing one of the following things (or all of them!)

• Leave a comment below telling me why you’d like to have a copy of the book
• Retweet the message below from your Twitter account
  

  Book review of “Overrated” by @EugeneCho #OverratedBook | http://t.co/XY3jvA8tsf

  — Mission Notes (@MissionNotes) September 1, 2014

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  Post by Mission Notes: Faith & Culture Blog.
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Entries should be completed by September 7th. I’ll collect all the entries from all the platforms and use www.random.org to pick a winner. Winner will be contacted after selection and confirmed for delivery of your free book.

Disclosure: (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

I know it’s early for Christmas music for most people, but I just received this notification in my email of Pentatonix covering “Mary, Did You Know” on their latest Christmas album. The song was originaly written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene. It’s been covered by a variety of different groups, but this may be one of the best versions I’ve heard.

Pentatonix is one of my favorite groups and they’ve done some amazing interpretations of popular songs as well as a number of great spiritual songs on their Christmas albums. If you’re not familiar with them, they were the winners of the a cappella talent composition show called “The Sing-Off” back in 2011 during it’s 3rd season. Their harmonies and interpretations of popular songs are unmatched in my opinion. Add on top of that the fact they everything they do is a cappella and it just puts it over the top!

Take a listen for yourself and see what you think. Not sure it gets much better than this.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What’s your favorite version and performance of this song? Let us know in the comments and share your opinions.

If you’ve been alive over the last decade or so during the holiday season you’re probably familiar with the seeming effort to remove “Christ” from Christmas and to replace it with “Happy Holidays”. You may also have experience with Christians forsaking Christmas as well because of the historical associations of the holiday with pagan rituals. Who’s on the right side of the argument here? Kirk Cameron, has a movie coming out in theaters this Friday called “Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas” and it looks like it’s both a fun and perhaps somewhat irreverent look at the behavior of people in and out of the church as they participate in this debate.

I’ve had a little bit of multiple contacts with Kirk’s viewpoint on things over the last couple of weeks and one of them is shared below in the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What I loved about that video was a comment that he made at the end. The comment about what God has made is good and we need to reclaim what was created as being good and has been perverted and twisted against its original intent. He says, “they’ve always stolen and perverted… convince those things belong to them… my Bible says the Earth is the Lord’s and everything it contains is good, sacred and belongs to Him.”

There’s much more to this film than that though and I believe many people will have opportunities to relate to the ideas and perspectives that Kirk shares in the film. Here’s a little bit from the official website for the film.

This Christmas, have your family join with Kirk Cameron’s family and dive headfirst into all the joy, dancing, celebration, feasting, imagination, and traditions that glorify the true “reason for the season.” KIRK CAMERON’S SAVING CHRISTMAS is an engaging story that provides a biblical basis for our time-honored traditions and celebrations, and the inspiration to stand strongly against a culture that wants to trivialize and eliminate the faith elements of this holy season. So take in the splendor; take in the majesty; take in the story. Take it all in… and let’s put Christ back in Christmas! KIRK CAMERON’S SAVING CHRISTMAS is in theaters for a limited engagement beginning November 14 for two weeks only!

You can watch the trailer for yourself here as well:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I so appreciate the work that Kirk has done to spread the beliefs that we share and I’m torn that there’s so much resistance to his perspectives on things. I believe it can really be attributed to that there is resistance to faith and belief and the culture around us doesn’t want to be responsible for their actions in the ways that matter. I encourage you to check-out more of his stuff and I’m very eager to hear from everyone on your opinions about the work Kirk is doing. Not just for this film, but many of the other projects he’s been involved in over the last few years.

Go see the movie yourself with your family this weekend. It opens in select cities tomorrow, Friday, November 14th for a limited engagement only of two weeks. To find out where it’s playing near you, just visit the theater page on the Saving Christmas website.

Stay in touch with Kirk, this project and others by following him on his social channels below.

Oh, and don’t forget. You’ve got the opportunity win some cool stuff by sharing your thoughts about Christmas and the work Kirk is doing on our blog. A random winner will be selected from those that leave comments on this blog post, share the post on our social channels and comment there as well. Here’s what you can win:

• A “Saving Christmas” poster signed by Kirk Cameron
• A “Saving Christmas” air freshener that smells like Christmas trees
• The “Saving Christmas” soundtrack with the following tracks:
  • Joy – 1 Girl Nation
  • Christmas Time Again – Steven Curtis Chapman
  • Saving Christmas – Building 429
  • Let Us Adore – Jason Crabb
  • Away In A Manger – Casting Crowns
  • Deck the Halls – Tenth Avenue North
  • Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Matt Maher
  • Silent Night (Christ Is Born) – Jason Crabb
  • O Holy Night – Kerrie Roberts
  • O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – Rhett Walker Band
  • Bonus Track: Father, My Father / Silent Night – Isabella Cameron and Kenzie Mae

So, let us know what you think and share it with your friends and family!

I’ve been working on reading a book by Gary Chapman and Arlene Pellicane called “Growing Up Social: Raising Relational Kids In A Screen-Driven World“. You’re probably familiar with Gary Chapman and his book “The 5 Love Languages”. In this book, the authors deal with the issue of our kids growing up in a society where they’re constantly connected. They are continually confronted with screens around them with constantly moving pictures and audio. Reading this book should equip you with the following skills and actions you can begin using immediately to make a difference in your family.

• Equip your child to be relationally rich in a digital world
• Replace mindless screen time with meaningful family time
• Establish simple boundaries that make a huge difference
• Discover what’s working for families that have become screen savvy
• Learn healthy ways to occupy your child while you get things done

Here’s a video introduction to the book to give you a broader view of what you’ll be learning about in the book.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s an intriguing paradox to be so connected with devices and applications that let us immediately connect with our family and friends across the nation and around the world. So much for the adventure of a pen-pal as a kid, you can now actually see for yourself what it’s like for someone else living in a foreign country that’s a kid like you.

I’m in a bit of a challenge here with myself on this topic. You see, I make my living online. I assist various individuals and organizations with their online activity and Internet marketing. Above and beyond that, I absolutely love what I do so I’m passionate about continually improving my own awareness and skills of online activity. It’s a challenge for me to try and keep a balance between my work, my enjoyment of the topics and my family and other responsibilities. I was excited about reading this book as I’m sure I would find some strategies and tips for managing my own online behavior. With that being said, I also have no desire to think about eliminating my kid’s exposure to screens in their life. I believe, as with everything each of struggles, it’s all about being disciplined and in control of our actions and thoughts.

One of the interesting items mentioned in the book that I hadn’t really thought of before was that digital screens (and digital anything for the most part) gives immediate rewards. There is an immediate response given and provided for activity and actions taken. There’s far less learning the self-discipline of delayed gratification for kids these days. I’ve seen this (and been irritated myself) even as I’ve watched my kids play video games. I played a lot of video games as I was growing up, sometimes for hours on end trying to conquer the latest edition of Mario Brothers or some other Nintendo game I was playing at the time. We didn’t really have cheat codes or discs we could put in to get the quick win. We had to put in time and effort learning and getting better at actually playing the game before we accomplished the achievement of beating the level boss or making it to the next board. Even in my own kids I’ve seen the result of wanting the quick and easy way out.

In addition to that there’s also the far too common activity these days of awarding everyone that participates in something with a trophy. That doesn’t provide any of the additional motivation that kids should have to push themselves harder to do what it takes to actually achieve something worth getting a trophy. The trophy is delayed gratification. You have to work hard. You may not get or earn a trophy your first year playing a sport, but you come back next year to keep getting better and win the trophy the next time.

As I mentioned earlier, there’s definitely a lot of discussion in the book about getting our own adult lives disciplined and in control. Perhaps the best way to ensure success in our children is to do our best to model it in our own lives as well. My wife has done a good job of trying to get us to avoid having our cellphones at the table during meals. My own mature parents have established the rule with their own group of friends that if you’re caught with your cell phone at the table, you pick up the bill… for the entire table! There’s some less-carrot, more-stick motivation for you. However, I think even that solution presents its own challenges, particularly when I’m trying to get in touch with my parents for some reason and they’ve left their cellphones in the car!

Another nice thing about this book is that it would be perfect for a parent’s group study to read together. Luckily, we’ve found a church after moving to a new state and town that has a small group study for parents while the youth have their services and activities at the church on Wednesday nights. I could definitely see our group working through this book and discussing it each week after reading each chapter. I may present this to them as an option after our current study on the family.

So, if you’ve got kids of just about any age, and you’ve got any kind of mobile device or technology in your home with a screen on it, then you’d probably be interested in picking up this book and reading through its pages for yourself. I’m sure, like I did, you’ll find plenty of insight, inspiration and encouragement to be better at balancing technology with the reality of sharing life with real people on this planet; particularly your own children.

If you’d like to win your own copy of the book to read, just leave do one of the following. You’ll get an entry for each one you do:

• leave a comment on the post below
• leave a comment on the Facebook link to our post
• share our Facebook post link
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Don’t miss the excitement! Join us tonight for what may be the Largest Christian Concert in History! You’ll be able to sing along with 30 of the greatest artists in CCM history including: Laura Story, Nicole C. Mullins, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant, Don Moen, Francesca Battistelli, The Newsboys, Petra and many, many others.

The Concert Starts at 6:00pm (CST)

All you need to do is click on http://live.ccmunited.com and enjoy the show!

Help us spread the word about the concert and share this post and all the details so your friends and family can also register before the live event tonight. It could change their lives and perhaps even encourage them to take a stand for Jesus Christ as well.

We’ll see you tonight!!!

If there’s one thing that’s absolutely breaking my heart over the past few years and making me very angry it’s the number of marriages around me that are being destroyed and broken. I originally was going to say the number of marriages that are struggling, but I want everyone to know that most marriages I know struggle and that’s normal. The challenge is to stick with it and do what it takes to work through struggles. Struggles can be seen as a sort of exercise for your marriage. There’s strain, and resistance and sometimes pain. Maybe even the phrase “blood, sweat and tears” play into it as well. But just like exercise, if you stick with it, those struggles make you stronger. The same goes for your marriage.

When I got the opportunity to pick up a copy of “Team Us: Marriage Together” by Ashleigh Slater I was excited. On the one hand, that I knew after reading it I would be more equipped and prepared for my own marriage, and on the other that I would hopefully be also better equipped to be a resource and support for those around me that may be struggling in their marriages.

The book is a pretty easy ready and it’s not too overwhelming. Ashleigh writes with a very conversational approach and just shares a variety of examples of her own marriage and life to help illustrate and fortify the message within the book. The other thing I like is that she’ll have little asides scattered throughout the text from her husband, Ted. These little thought bubbles of sorts are highlighted with “Ted says:” which gives a little bit of insight from the husband’s perspective. As I’m reading this as a husband, I really appreciated that additional view and insight into the material throughout the book.

Here’s a quick introduction video to the book

Click here to view the embedded video.

And here’s a video message from the author, Ashleigh Slater

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’d like to hear more from Ashleigh, you can also read her blog.

Jumping back into the book though…

The book works through a variety of topics like conflict, life challenges and changes and of course some parenting. Ten quick chapters and your completely through and ready to continue strengthening your own marriage. What I want to encourage you with though is that just reading a book isn’t all that it takes. You’ve got to invest what you’ve read and learn into your own marriage. The statement I continue to come back to when I speak with friends about marriage in various stages is that there’s this amazing thing that happens when you stop focusing on your own needs in a marriage and instead try to focus on the needs of your spouse. Your needs end up getting met as well!

The additional great news is that you can have a copy of this book for free! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post and your name will be entered to win a free copy that we’ll get shipped out to you. Also, keep following along with the discussion with other folks wanting to work on and improve their marriage by keeping up on social by using the hashtag #marriagetogether

I haven’t heard this group yet, probably because I’ve been so swamped with work across a number of other projects I haven’t been keeping up with news and updates in the Christian music industry. The group is called “Anthem Lights” and they’ve got a really solid, harmony together.

Have you seen this video of theirs above? What are music of theirs do you like? Let me know and share it in the comments.

I’m currently participating in a men’s Bible study that meets on Saturday mornings at 7:00am. I’ll say right off the bat that it’s a serious challenge for me to get up on Saturday mornings at 6:15 to get ready and drive to Bible study. My normal schedule puts me in bed usually well after midnight, so getting up early on a Saturday is definitely a sacrifice, but it’s well worth it. I need more of what I get each week meeting with these men. Most men need more of that in their lives.

We’re currently working through the book “No More Excuses” by Tony Evans. Also a good book title to try and motivate you when you’re lying in bed and don’t want to get up. Lots of excuses come through my mind in the early mornings while I’m in bed. Last week part of our study centered around the story of Nehemiah and his efforts in rebuilding the destroyed walls of Jerusalem. We talked about him being “spiritually perceptive”. As we got to discussing what that means, I good analogy come to my mind.

I currently have a 15-year old in the family who’s learning to drive. One of the roads to our home is through the country and rolling hills of Tennessee. The road (well, the entire area!) is frequented by deer that you’ve got to watch out for while you’re driving. One evening we were coming home and decided to our son drive home at night on this back road. I was sitting in the back seats and my wife and both reminded and encouraged our son to remain alert and be on the look-out for deer. When we arrived home he proudly announced that he saw three deer on the trip. I told him that he then missed the other nine. He was aghast at what he missed. He asked me how I saw them and what I was looking for to see them so well. Did their eyes reflect in the headlights?

Here’s where I tie this back to our Bible study…

I told my son that while I’m driving on roads like this I’m looking in expectation of seeing deer. It’s not necessarily that I know where they are, but I take my previous experiences of where I’ve seen them on previous drives and look in those places. I also pay attention to the surroundings along the drive and think about areas where I believe deer would more than likely frequent. I tried to remember and don’t think I look for their eyes. I look for their general outline and shape breaking up the normal darkness surrounding me.

I shared with the men’s group that I believe that’s how we should be looking at the world around us as Christians and try to be spiritually perceptive. We need to be looking and watching in expectation of what God is doing and where He may be working along our journey. We should be familiar with how He’s worked in the past and the areas of our lives and the lives of others where he frequently shows up and breaks through the darkness surrounding us.

We also shared in our most recent study this morning that we also need to be aware that being perceptive to the world around us involves much more than sight as well. We need to listen with anticipation. We need to feel deeply about the people we’re close to and the struggles in their lives. We need to sense and trust our feelings when we’re prompted that someone isn’t themselves or seems to be struggling. We need to always be looking for opportunities to be a blessing, encouragement and help to others in our lives.

What do you think? How do you see yourself being spiritually perceptive? What can you do this week to heighten those senses in your life? I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments below.

It’s been awhile since I’ve even really thought about picking up a new Bible. The main reason is because since I’ve had my smart phone or Kindle, the majority of all of my Bible reading is done on my mobile device. I enjoy the convenience of having the Bible in digital version available at my fingertips, with all the translations and quick access to the Internet to do a quick search on something I just read. But, sometimes you need to hold The Word in your hand as you read it and digest it. Do you agree?

I had the opportunity to take a look at the ESV Men’s Devotional Bible from Crossway through a Fly By Promotions and Propeller. It was interesting to hold a new Bible in my hand after so many years. To give you an idea, here’s a photo of the last new hardcopy Bible I own and have used for years. As you can see, it’s fairly old and wearing out. That had been my Bible through my teenage years and college, up to the point of my smart phone and YouVersion app.

This ESV Men’s Devotional Bible has some nice features that you’ll find in most Bibles, but the devotional aspects of this one I really enjoy. There are 365 individual devotions available within the printing but also a collection of articles on a variety of topics like “A Man’s Identity”, “A Man’s Inner Life”, “A Man’s Work”, “Marriage”, “Fathering”, and “Leadership”. Some of those topics have definitely grown in my interest since the days of my last Bible journey.

Here’s a brief introduction about the ESV translation itself. I grabbed this from their website at www.esv.org:

The ESV Bible is an essentially literal translation of the Bible in contemporary English, emphasizing “word-for-word” accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning.

Well suited for personal reading, public worship, in-depth study, and Scripture memorization, the ESV is available in more than 200 print editions, e-book formats, free online at ESVBible.org, through the free ESV Bible mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

Since its publication in 2001, the ESV has gained wide acceptance and is used and trusted by church leaders, numerous denominations, and millions of individuals around the world.

I’m a preacher’s kid. And most PK’s will agree with me that sometimes when your dad started a new church some of his sermons would get recycled for the new congregation. When that occurred for me I would begin exploring my Bible. I would read all the content surrounding the actual Biblical text that was available. I particularly enjoyed the introductions that were available before each book that gave me a context for what I was about to read. And when I would be reading passages in the Bible, I loved having footnotes available to help explain or expand on what was being said. The ESV Men’s Devotional Bible has all of this for me.

Devotional (Click to Enlarge)

Footnotes (Click to Enlarge)

There are only two things this copy of the Bible had that I wish were different. It’s a hardcover and the pages are very thin. I realize the page thickness is more a potential feature for keeping the overall mass of the book as small as possible. But many times I wish the pages in my Bibles could be a bit thicker. If you gave me a Bible with thicker pages, I might end up changing my mind on that request though.

For more information on this Bible you can visit their official website and social accounts:

OFFICIAL WEBSITE |  FACEBOOK |  TWITTER |  INSTAGRAM |  AMAZON 

Here’s the great news! If you’ve been looking for a new Bible, I’ve got another copy of this one to giveaway to one of our readers. Just leave a comment below and/or share a link to this post on your social media channel. Be sure and tag us @MissionNotes if you do and use the appropriate hashtags for this giveaway #MensDevotionalBible and #FlyBy. Our winner will be chosen the end of next week!

I had the opportunity to read a book over the past week or so that I believe is an important type of book that more men need to be reading. More importantly than just reading the book, it encourages and trains men to look for counsel from other men in their lives to help them with their growth, wisdom, maturity and obedience in Christ. The title of the book is “Wise Guys: Unlocking the Hidden Wisdom From the Men Around You”.

Wise Guys Need More “MENtorship”

Over the past year or so I’ve had the blessing and opportunity to be a part of a men’s group and Bible study. This group is full of wise guys. It’s been great to be surrounded by a mix of men who are both older and a few who may be younger than me to gain insight and wisdom into life. What’s amazing to me is the amount of guidance that can be gained from listening to men share about their own lives and how it can almost immediately be applied to an area of my own life.

I think far too frequently as men, we believe there’s some kind of additional honor or reward achieved when we go it alone. We fortify ourselves around this perception of being the self-made man and independent above all other qualities. I believe there needs to be much more active engagement among men in the church. And not just in the church, but more active engagement between men in the church with men who probably aren’t in church. It’s a mentorship and training cycle that helps us all grow.

I know my wife has different friendships with women who are both older and younger than her. I know she has specific older women that mentor her in her life and I know that she has specific relationships with younger women than herself that she actively mentors and challenges. That’s a healthy living arrangement for us as Christians. We should always be open to being poured into by others and pouring ourselves out to others at the same time.

Getting Back to the Wise Guys Book

In his book, Kent Evans shares a collection of 16 stories of encounters and experiences with a variety of wise guys in his life. Some of them as Kent shares had no clue he was actively watching them and learning from them as they went about their lives. Others, were far more interactive with Kent and knowing participants in the process.

The key as Kent points out is to look for these men. Find the ones you admire and learn from them. Figure out what it is about them that draws you to them and pick up as much insight and knowledge from them as you can while you’ve got the opportunity to do so.

One item I like that Kent has include in the book is a collection of questions to help you work through and process what you’ve just read in his examples. I’ll be honest with you, frequently I will skip over these types of things in books like this. I don’t have time to be so inwardly focused, let’s get to the next chapter and get this book finished. I’ve got a long list of other things I need to get one today. How many of you guys can relate? However, as I’m challenging myself, I challenge you to take a moment an look at these questions. Oh, and if you’d really like to go crazy, what if you started journaling your thoughts and answers to these questions. I’ll bet we’ll both be amazed at how much more impact the book will have in our lives if we would engage with it at that level.

Be A Wise Guy, Get Your Copy Free!

So there you have it. A quick overview of the book and a challenge for you to make some changes and improvements in your life along with me. If you’re interested, I’m giving away a copy of the book. All you need to do is complete the little form below and collect your entries. In 7-days I’ll pick a winner and we’ll get the book out to you in the mail.

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More About the Author Kent Evans

KENT EVANS is the board chairman and co-founder of Manhood Journey, a ministry that helps fathers and mentors build the next generation of godly men.  Kent has personally experienced how the guidance of godly men can change the course of a life.  Today he is blessed with a solid 20-year marriage, four wonderful sons and a fulfilling life – largely because of what he’s learned from other men.  You can follow and connect with Kent Evans and his ministry efforts at the following links:

• Official “Manhood Journey” Website
• Amazon Page for the book
• Follow Kent on Twitter @manhoodjourney

On a recent flight from Nashville to Los Angeles I was able to make use of the time by reading a book I’ve been looking forward to reading since I heard about the opportunity to review it and read a little bit about the book and the author.

The full book title is “When Jesus Was a Green-Eyed Brunette: Loving People Like God Does” by Max Davis. Max has published quite a number of books but this is the first one of his that I’ve read. I enjoyed his writing style and conversational tone he used for writing the book and communicating with the reader.

Here’s the quick synopsis of the book provided by the publisher: 

When Jesus Was a Green-Eyed Brunette weaves heartwarming and miraculous stories of Jesus showing up in ordinary people, revealing that He knows us and is fully present in our everyday circumstances, especially in our difficulties. Those hurting and weary from worn-out religion are longing for a fresh touch from the living Jesus. Best-selling author Max Davis challenges us to do more than simply receive God’s grace—we need to allow grace to soften, change, and shape us. As you read this book you will laugh, cry, and come face-to-face with the living Jesus, much like Davis did, when he found Him living in a green-eyed brunette. As Davis puts it, “Jesus is very much alive today and still does incredible things—sometimes supernatural things—through us!”

The book was a good read and I really enjoyed it, but I’ll be honest, given the synopsis above I was actually expecting the book to be more of a collection of vignette type stories of where the author or other individuals come into contact with people in their lives who embodied Jesus to a degree that was far too uncommon for what we normally expect to see in each other’s lives. The verse in the Bible, Hebrews 13:2 comes to mind in my expectations of the book:

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

And that also makes me think of the old song by Newsboys, “Entertaining Angels”. 

Davis goes through a variety of personal experiences and stories that speak on his faith journey and becoming a Christian. One of the story lines that is very much a sub-text but that I found myself attaching to was the transitions the author seemed to go through in the denominational style of the church he grew up in and his feelings about worship and church styles he prefers now. This has been a similar thread in my own life.

Overall, I recommend this book as a good book to read to expand and clarify your faith. The challenges that Davis presents in his own life and his own perceptions and awareness of how things have occurred to him will help you see similar events in your own history and future that will hopefully help clarify the person of Christ in your life and the lives of others as well.

Win a Copy of This Book Free!

If you’d like to win a copy of this book for yourself, just leave a comment or take one of the other actions in the embedded tool below to be entered to win.