In November of last year, the musicians of our church took on a huge and risky project. They wanted to create a worship CD that reflected who we are as a church and make it available for people outside of our walls. This was a huge and risky idea because we’re not a mega church. We don’t have a hundred thousand dollars to throw at projects like this, but we still believed we could do something pretty incredible with the talent we’ve experienced.

One year, and a whole lot of learning later – the CD is finished. So much time and effort has been dished out by so many and this first album is the payoff for all that hard work. The best part – it freaking rocks.

There are lots of different styles going on in this album. Some of the songs were written by our peeps and some were not. Here’s a sample of a few songs that are available on this fine piece of audio goodness ♫

These first two were written by my friend and co-worker Jon Price:

Pushing Back The Darkness

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Jesus You Are

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We Prepare The Way // Mighty Warrior

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I’m so proud of our team for what they’ve accomplished with this project. You have to understand that this just isn’t something that churches our size do…it’s…impressive. They learned a ton through the process and I have a feeling it’s not going to be their last CD. I can’t wait to see how far this worship album will reach.

These babies would make some great Christmas gifts!

Purchase a Pushing Back The Darkness CD for $12 – shipping is included!!

U.S. orders only – other countries can be shipped to for an additional shipping fee.

We’ve got some great people set up to ship these CDs out quickly to those who order them online. I’m sure our worship team would love to hear what you think of it. Thanks for your support!

A common phrase in Alcoholic’s Anonymous is, “You’ve got to fake it until you make it”.

It basically means to ACT AS IF…

Act as if you’re living a healthy and normal life…

Act as if you’ve got enough confidence…

Act as if you want to work out…

Act as if you’re moving on after that breakup…

Act as if cleaning out the garage is fun…

Act as if you’re not afraid…

Someone did a research project at Wake University where they asked 50 students to ACT AS IF they were extroverts for 15 minutes in a group discussion…even if they didn’t feel like doing so. Research results? The more extroverted, assertive, and energetic the students acted – the happier they ended up being after the experiment was over.

This concept is also used as a treatment for depression. The idea is to go through the regular routines of life in a way where you ACT AS IF you enjoy them, despite the initial feelings that it’s forced. You continue doing these things, acting as if you enjoy them, until the happiness and enjoyment becomes real. Simple.

Thinking back to when I first started following Jesus around, I remember one of the most profound things for me; that I was a new creation. I could be whoever I wanted to be. The old self was gone and the new self had come to life. That new self could be positive and decent and encouraging and extroverted and…happy.

I’ve done this in other areas too.

I don’t want to read the Bible, but I can fake wanting to read the bible. Oddly enough – my faking it turns into something real somewhere along the way and all of the sudden I actually have a desire for it. Call it the power of positive thinking – Call it spiritual discipline – Just don’t call it late for dinner.

If I’m really being honest, I don’t really feel like playing with my kids most of the time. But, I can fake it – and eventually, the same as the Bible-reading, I want to do it more and more. I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing…all I know is it’s a real thing.

Also, I have no idea why I’m thinking about this idea right now.

An update of things:

* Most of my extra blogging time has been eaten up with Physical Therapy. It’s been more than 9 weeks since my lousy, no-good motorcycle accident and I’m still fighting with it. I’m hobblin’ like a goblin quite a bit less, but I’m still not able to do things the way I want to. Boohoo…cry me a river. A surgery is planned for my foot in 3-5 months – hopefully it won’t have to happen, but that’s the plan for now. The Physical Therapy is for my knee. I never knew how terrible 1 and 2lb weights could feel to a grown man.

* I bought a Volkswagen Jetta. It’s an 01′ Wolfsburg 1.8t for you VW peeps. Immediately, I joined a club of automotive weirdos that I had no idea even existed. Volkswagen people are loyalists like I’ve never experienced and I’m starting to understand why. This is a sweet little ride. 4 doors for easy access with the kids, but a 5-speed manual that is sure to get me my first speeding ticket in a while. Das ist gut.

* We’ve been enjoying the fall the same way most people with kids do, getting as many outdoor playtime sessions in as possible before the white death is upon us. There have been birthday parties, and Halloween parades, and nice days followed by freezing ones. Also, I can’t get Finn to stop singing Justin Bieber’s song Baby. Das ist nicht gut.

* Ava is starting to make actual friends, and now she’s asking about play dates and sleepovers. Her schedule is starting to hinder ours. On the left is her bestest buddy Alexa, and on her right is…some other kid.

* I’m certain these two are related.

* On Halloween, our church gave away over 300lbs of candy out by the street. We set up 8 6-foot long tables and covered them from end to end with candy and let kids fill up a small bucket with whatever they wanted. It was a lot more fun than having some kind of “Harvest Party” or some lame attempt where churches try to provide “Halloween alternatives”. Sorry, but those kinds of things just irritate the Holy Spirit right out of me. {POST SCRIPT: I don’t have any problem with having parties at church on Halloween…Harvest, Halloween Alternative, or whatever…so sorry if I offended anyone – My real issue is that the church still wants to take part in Halloween, but call it something else…even though it’s the exact same thing. I’ve even helped put together very successful “Halloween Alternative” events…I just can’t get over the church being afraid to call something what it really is.:END POST SCRIPT} Massive amounts of candy – Das ist gut.

* This concludes our broadcast day.