How to Leave a Bootprint on the Face of the Enemy

I have heard so many reports of people feeling as if they are in the midst of a battle this week (or this month, or this year). I know I have felt battle weary myself, and I wanted to encourage you: Do not lose heart!! God IS on our side!! Although many times life can throw us curve balls, I really believe that right now we are under the attack of the enemy. But, I also believe that he has revealed himself, is firing all weapons and that his "shields are down"! It is the perfect time to counter his attack. So how should we proceed??

Judges 1 and Judges 20 tell of two separate instances where Israel was faced with a battle and upon asking God which tribe should go first, God commanded, "Judah!" Judah was Jacob's fourth son born to Leah. Genesis 29:35 says "And [Leah] conceived again and bore a son, and said, 'Now I will praise the Lord.' Therefore she called his name Judah." (Genesis 29:35) The name Judah actually comes from the Hebrew praise word yadah: to praise with the hands, make a proclamation; the Magnify Principle. When we lift our hands and make a proclamation of who He is, we essentially bring Him closer revealing that He is indeed much larger than our circumstance. God wanted Judah to lead the advance in battle because it reminded everyone involved how great He truly is.

In 2 Chronicles 20, the tribe of Judah is surrounded by three enemy armies. When Jehoshaphat prayed and asked the Lord what they should do, God's reply was, "You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!" (verse 17) At battle time "[Jehoshaphat] appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness...Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated." (vs. 21a and 22) Woohoo!! Worship in action right there!

I came across an article (http://www.blackandchristian.com/articles/pew/patrick-04-03.shtml) by Donna Ray Patrick about sending Judah first and here was her closing encouragement: "I want to challenge those of you who may be neck-deep in battle right now. In the heat of our spiritual battle let Judah go up first. Let the praises of God go forth out of your mouth. Let the praises of God be as rivers of living water flowing from your belly (John 7:38). Before you spend hours just talking about the problem and how bad things are, stir up the power that God has already given you in your praise to Him; sacrificial though it may be. This is the kind of praise that reaches the heart of God. It is this kind of faith-building praise that will sustain you while you wait on God. This is the kind of praise that will keep you focused on God's promise, His plan, and His provision; it will keep you grounded in His faithfulness, and determined to press into your blessing."

When we praise and worship our God, the enemy shakes in his boots, because we remind him of the things that God has already done; we remind him that our God has already won; we remind him of his right place under our feet!! Let's stand our ground, lift our hands and voices, worship our God together and see the enemy scattered!!!

Have you been foolish lately??

I was asked last night at worship practice to pick one of the 7 Hebrew Words for praise for this week. Well, after attending the singer practice that was full of joy and laughter, I could think of none other than "hallal."

Hallal - to praise the Lord by celebrating, dancing, shining forth; acting clamorously foolish; acting like a madman; acting furiously; to flash, radiate, shine.

And, just like the other 6 Hebrew Words for Praise, there is a principle attached to this word as well: The Party Principle. Don't be afraid to have fun and party with God! He loves it! He invented it!

But, in line with all the things I've heard recently in home group, ladies' ministry events, among friends, etc. I was also reminded of something that Pastor Olen said about hallal. If hallal is acting clamorously foolish, how can that translate to our everyday lives apart from just whooping, hollering, and jumping around in praise to God? How about just in the way we "foolishly" believe what God says!? I absolutely love that concept! We have every reason to believe that God is going to provide for us abundantly this next month no matter what "recession" might be happening around us. Why? Because He said so in His word! And because He loves us and wants the very best for us.

I say we should live today "foolishly" believing that we have no worry about tomorrow's bread. I say we should not care about what we look like to the rest of the world who is hiding in a corner stockpiling their goods fearful of who might take them, and give of what we have generously! Because "foolishness" to the rest of the world is just a complete faith and trust in the One who holds the universe, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who can give eternal life, and the only One who can actually back up His promises 100%!

So, I encourage you to HALLAL the Lord today! Believe in Him foolishly and whole-heartedly in whatever area you need that faith!

Hoping to be as foolish as they come,

Staci

New Songs

Heads up everybody! There are some great new songs on the horizon for The Rock. Here’s a list so you can seek them out and get familiar with them!

 The Rock New Songs 6/2009

1. I Give You Glory | Klaus Kuehn
   
2. Love Is Here | Tenth Avenue North
3. God of this City | Chris Tomlin
4. You Are | Tenth Avenue North
5. I Have Found | Kim Walker
6. Ancient Skies | The Michael Gungor Band
7. Yes You Have | Leeland
8. How He Love | Kim Walker
9. Children and Kings | Michael Gungor
10. Stay Amazed | Klaus Kuehn
11. May Our Praise | Leeland
12. Be Praised | The Michael Gungor Band

-Staci

 

Waiting in Hong Kong...

We've officially left the Philippines, and it's bittersweet.  We are all looking forward our American comforts, but we certainly developed bonds with our brothers and sisters in that beautiful land.

We intrepid travelers have seen and experienced things that few other Americans have.  We swam in crystalline pools the color of gemstones.  We rode a native fishing boat to a tropical island no larger than a tennis court.  Most memorably, we poured a spiritual deposit into the worship leaders and pastors there; a rich field that will return a many-fold harvest.

I will elaborate more as the occasion allows, but as of this moment, we are sitting in the Hong Kong airport waiting for our flight to Los Angeles, and I am writing to you on my Google Phone.

Please continue praying, I will update as I can.

God bless!

__________________

- Andy Pace

The Pastor Junnard Express

The Perfect End to a Perfect Day!

Hello all! Our day began early in Bacolod City. Because of some minor discomfort in the lower abdomen accompanied by more unpleasant and unmentionable things for Jim, Staci, Pastor Al, and myself, we got away from the hotel a little late (8:10 am). We then ventured to the church building to pick up someone who would be able to drive our van back to its owner when we'd been dropped off at the airport. Ourflight to Cebu left at 10:30.

Before heading to the airport, we needed to drop off the Cunningham's housekeeper, Juliette, at the bus station. She was catching a ride back to her home in Dumagete. Navigating through the traffic to and from the bus station was interesting, but we did get to see areas ofBacolod we hadn't seen on Papa Dan's "Caddilac Tour".

After dropping off Juliette, we raced to the airport which was at least 45 minutes away. Papa Dan got us there quickly, again driving in true Filipino fashion. We drove in, around, and through everyobstacle.

<>Door security was a snap, aside from the short line to get there. We strode to the check-in counter expecting to be able to check our 50 lb. bags with no trouble. Unfortunately there was a 10 kilo limit (about 22 lbs.), and we had to pay for the extra weight at a rate of 100 PHP (Philippine Piso (pronounced peso)) per kilo. With our bags checked, we moved upstairs to the aircraft gates, and once again through security. This is of course after each of us have paid our 200 PHP Gate Area Entry Fees, a local travel tax. Our rushing paid off, and there was enough time to enjoy a quick cup of coffee Americano before boarding (most Filipinos do not have the
pallete for American coffee, and instead prefer Nescafe instant coffees).

After about 10 minutes with our coffee, it was time to board. We piled around the gate attendant and waited our turn to have our boarding passes ripped. All passengers bypassed the jetway, and instead made our way out on to the tarmac to board our aircraft. It was a Dehaviland turbo-prop driven commuter craft, slightly smaller insize than a McDonnel Douglas DC-10.

Our white faces stood out against a sea of olive-skinned Filipinos, and we made our way back to rows 18 and 19, just 4 rows short of the tail of the plane. We quickly taxied to the runway and were airborne, my poor wife was a little green around the gills thanks to our shared illness. It wasn't long before she took full advantage of her airsickbaggie.

On a personal note, I felt so bad for her at this point. She is feeling much better now, but please be praying for her continuedrelief.

<>A whopping 26 minutes after takeoff we landed at our stop in Cebu. We exited the aircraft, picked up our bags, and headed upstairs to check into our connecting flight to Butuan. Unfortunately, we also needed to pay the fee for our additional weight again, along with the gate
access fee again. We made it to the gate just in time for last call. Back out onto the tarmac we went, to an identical plane, sitting in the same spot where we had just disembarked from our last flight... I know what your thinking, and the answer is "Yes." We did just have to leave our perfectly good plane for no solid apparent reason.

Staci felt much better on the second flight, this time at the front of the plane. Our flight was a 40 minute scenic tour over the beautifulPhilippine Islands; and it was truly an incomperable experience.

After landing, we again retreived our luggage. This time though, we headed out of the warm open-air terminal, into the warm Mindanao afternoon. Pastor Junnard Torrevilles' smiling face was waiting for us, and we were quickly loaded into our latest form of transportation,a sky blue Mitsubishi van.

As hungry as we were, we headed straight over to McDonalds. With lunch in our belly, we ventured into a local mall to get some supplies we wouldn't be able to get in Hinatuan. Many people couldn't resist staring at the sight of 6 Americans strolling through the mall on aFriday afternoon.

Supplies attained, we headed over to a local music store to look at a keyboard. Pastor Al, Jim, Pastor Junnard, and Papa Dan went inside to inspect the instrument, while Mom Barbra, Staci, and I waited in the van. The city heat was oppressive, and the stares from the locals were a tad unnerving, but the Hand of God was on us, and half an hourlater we were on our way out of town.

The trip to Hinatuan was packed with vistas of rice fields framed by coconut palms. In the distance, rain clouds buffeted verdant mountains. Swaths of blue sky cut through fluffy cumulous clouds. Needless to say, our eyes were glued to the side windows. As an added
bonus, our attention was diverted from the freakishly scary drive.

"Imagine if you will," intoned Rod Serling, "a car full of hapless American missionaries. Missionaries who are trapped in a blue van hurtling towards the horizon at breakneck speeds, weaving through and around creeping pedicabs, full log trucks, packed jeepneys, and unobservant pedestrians. These missionaries are about to enter (dundun DUN!!) the Twilight Zone."

Ok, so that is REALLY an exaggeration. I know, but it was hard not to let my imagination run away with me. In fact, I seriously considerednaming this entry "the sphincter express". Enough of that though.

<>For three hours we drove through some of the most fertile land on the planet, it was lush and green over plain and mountain. Rivers cut through the landscape, and were bridged by, well, bridges. Just before dusk gave up and night took hold, we arrived at Pastor Junnard's church in Hinatuan, Mindanao, Philippines. We were relieved to be here safely. It was hot and humid during the evening, but the home-cooked meal was delicious and filling. A midnight rainstorm
cooled everything down, and we slept like weary travelers.

Due to network limitations, I am unable to post pictures of our trip, but as soon as I am able, I will.

We love you, miss you, and thank you for all your prayers. Please continue praying! We will be starting the new Worship Works classtomorrow afternoon.

--
Andy Pace

Day 3 bRE/-\kDOwN

The Breakdown Battle Hymn

---

Another day under the belt.  The teachers worked hard to include all the necessary materials.  3 days of solid teaching, and there’s still more!  God is faithful though, and these worship leaders have a firm foundation on which to build new revelation and experience.  Final exams were taken yesterday, and if the students were paying attention and taking good notes, they will have done well.

There is a growing sense of confidence in these people.  They see a bigger picture.  They are no longer just singers that sing songs about God.  They now see how God wants to use them to bring His people deeper into his presence.

Bacolod City Testimonies

---

Today is Day 4 and the final day of the Worship Works class in Bacolod City.  Tests are being graded, the students are being prayed over and released into their ministries.  Tomorrow we will be flying to Cebu city, then to Butuan in Mindanao, then driving 3 hours to Hinotuan on the eastern coast of Mindanao.  Be praying for safety and for God to prepare the new class of students in Hinotuan!

In His love,

AP

---

Day 3’s Schedule (Wednesday the 22nd):

9:00 Praise & Worship

9:30 LAB – Song Guide

11:00 Engaging the Congregation

12:00 LUNCH

2:00 Stance of a Worship Leader

2:45 Directing the Worship Team

3:45 LAB – Transitions

4:30 Songwriting

HOMEWORK – Finish Test

5:00 DINNER

7:00 Living After His Hearts (Lover)

 

Day 4’s Schedule (Thursday the 23rd):

9:00 Praise & Worship

9:45 Impartation

12:00 Close - Certificates

Day 2 Br3@Kd0Wn!

The Breakdown Battle Hymn

---

Day 2 went smashingly!  More rabid hunger to learn on the Filipino’s part, more incredible teaching on Pastor Al and Staci’s part.  If you can’t tell, I’m a little AMPed on caffeine (we found a Starbucks).

They’re learning.  They’re taking notes, and now they’re learning the importance of worship and their roles in it.  The beautiful thing is, you can see it click.  It’s like when you put the key in your car’s ignition.  You turn it, and the car jumps to life.  It’s ready to go.

As you’ll see in Day 2’s schedule below, the night service covered the 7 Hebrew Words of Praise.  If you’ve never learned about this, you should ask Pastor Al to teach it!  If enough people bug him about it, eventually he’ll do it! :)

In the original Hebrew texts of the Old Testament, there were seven different words for praise, each with it’s own specific meaning and action.  When translated into English, the translators simply wrote “praise”.  As in “Praise the Lord!”.  Here’s a run down:

Hallal – the Party Principle

Shabach – the Shout it Out Principle

Tehillah – the Aligning Principle

Zamar – the Fulfillment Principle

Yadah – the Magnify Principle

Todah – the Diversion Principle

Barak – the Rulership Principle

Any of these words can be found in your Strong’s Concordance.  Look them up!  You will be amazed at what you find!

That’s all for now.  Thanks for the prayers!  We can feel them, and we can see God’s hand on these people.

---

9:00 Praise & Worship

9:30 The Journey

10:30 LAB – Master List

11:00 Prophetic Worship

12:00 LUNCH

2:00 LAB – Song of the Lord

3:00 Worship Prep II – Song Guide (HOMEWORK – Song Guide)

4:30 Building a Worship Team

5:00 DINNER

7:00 Seven Hebrew Words for Praise

Day 1 - Night Worship Service

Where we're staying - much different from the air!!

View Bacolod City in a larger map

Worship Works – Day 1 – Bacolod City, Philippines

Yesterday was officially the first day of teaching and instruction!  There are roughly 80 people here for the class.  Their number includes pastors, worship leaders, and musicians.  We were expecting no more than 60!

Most Filipinos are quiet and subdued by nature.  They rarely speak out in class, and when they do, it’s because they are prodded to do so.  When they do speak out though, they answer correctly! 

These people are hungry to learn anything they can about worship.  They listen carefully, they follow along in their workbooks, and they know what the teachers are talking about.  They are passionate about God and about loving Him.

Day 1’s Schedule:

8:30 Registration

9:30 Introduction: Praise & Worship

-Team Requirements

10:30 Why Worship

12:00 LUNCH

2:00 Theory/Chord System

3:15 Worship Prep I – Master List

4:15 Relationship of a Worship Leader

(HOMEWORK – Master List)

5:00 DINNER

7:00 The Tabernacle of David

 

Pictures from days 1 & 2:

An Adventure In Local Fare

Last night we were treated to a fresh, flavorful, succulent meal that in the States would have cost us a small fortune!  The kicker is, for 7 people, our bill came to about $40 US.  Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Dying to know what we ate?  Freshly caught Filipino seafood.

I’ve seen Andrew Zimmerman, Anthony Bourdain, and countless others sample foreign fares in exotic locations.  I’ve seen them eat squid adobo cooked in its own ink.  I’ve seen them eat raw fish cooked not over heat, but in vinegar (not sashimi, but kinelau).  I’ve seen them eat whole scallops (roe and all) and rave about the flavor.

As of last night, so have I.  Guess what?  It was sooo tasty! 

Most Americans are so consumed with the appearance and texture of food to be able to consume some really good things!  Because of this simple-minded fact, we miss out on so much (I include myself in this generalization).  We say, “How can you eat that?” when the simple fact is we consume far worse things in processed foods.  I’m straying from my story…

We drove up to Palipali, an open cabana-type restaurant.  A massive canopy stretches across wooden beams.  The moist south Pacific air moves through the open walls.  The potent smell of seafood emanates from the freshly caught fare at the choosing station.  Apprehensively, we followed Papa Dan and Pastor Al to where the “food” waited. 

A broad selection of fish, shellfish, beef, pork, and chicken was spread across several counters.  Not having the faintest idea about what I should choose, and frankly being a little turned off by the strong smell of fish, I opted not to give my input on the meal choices.  I placed my wellbeing into the capable care of Papa Dan and Pastor Al.  As the men behind the counter quickly attended to our order, we walked over to our table.  It was at this point I decided I would try whatever came our way, even if it was a small bite.

Soon our waiter came to take our drink orders.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear that sodas in glass bottles were available.  Soda is always better from glass bottles!

I ordered a Sprite.

Spirited conversation occupied our time until our food arrived.  When it did, rich smells accompanied beautiful dishes, and we had so many to choose from, it’s hard to focus on just one or two.  So, here’s a recap of all the really good stuff:

1. Kinelau  (Kin – e – laow) – Raw fish cured in vinegar, onions, other things.  Really tasty.  Tangy from the vinegar, nice pungency from the wild onions.  The texture?  Great.  Nothing like any other raw fish I’ve had.
2. Yellow Fin Tuna Steak – 1 inch thick, moist, flaky, tender, perfectly seasoned.  Zero fishy flavor.  Eat your heart out.
3. Scallops – Visually, a little scary.  Served on a half shell with roe and connective tissue intact.  Cooked in native Filipino spices and flavorings, and really just delicious.  The muscle is the most flavorful part, but the roe is pretty good too.  And the texture of the roe isn’t what I thought it would be like.  It’s not squishy or slimy.  It’s firm but delicate.  Very nice.
4. Squid Adobo – Holy cow, was this good.  The squid didn’t have that rubbery quality it does at your local Italian restaurant.  This was quality stuff, and the flavor was fantastic.  The squid was actually cooked in it’s own ink, but other spices and flavorings were added.  It was served in a bowl with veggies and the sauce.  Scoop out and enjoy.
5. Barbequed Pork – pretty standard, right?  Not so much.  Thin strips of pork, basted in a local sauce, roasted.  Sweet and savory at the same time.  Just good stuff.

Everyone also got the sticky garlic rice, and that’s always good.

The evening was very surprising.  Once I tasted everything, my fears were gone.  I loved the meal from beginning to end, the smells, flavors, and company were perfect and none could have been better.

The Youth at River of Life, Bacolod City, Philippines

Yesterday afternoon, while shopping at the mall here in Bacolod City, I learned that I was to speak to the youth group just a few hours later. Yes, I heard for the first time. Last minute. So, of course what else would I speak on but worship? Luckily, I had brought a few of my notes from other things I've taught, and so I had a good starting place. 

After a couple of hours of preparing, and getting a message together, Andy and I were picked up by the youth pastor, Peter, and his wife, and our driver Adrian at the same time the rest of our crew was heading to the Spa for massages. (I do believe I will be making time later this week for one of those massages! They are so CHEAP here!!) We were taken to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. 

Adrian drove us the back way to the restaurant to avoid the heavy traffic, and we truly got a look at some of the homes in the area. It is definitely a different world, and a humbling experience for us spoiled Americans. When we arrived at the restaurant, the sidewalk outside was fairly crowded with people, some of which were children. On the way inside, we were greeted by a few of those children. Peter let us know that these children have recently started coming to River of Life for Sunday worship. During dinner we found out that these children live on the street outside the restaurant. Many of the children look after others who are younger, but not related. It was both heartbreaking and inspiring. These children that have nothing still look after one another, and they still smiled and laughed and looked happier than many children you might encounter in a normal American home. We packaged up all of our leftovers to give them when we left. Not enough. I wish that we could build them all homes and provide them daily meals and clean clothes. 

After our delicious dinner, we headed to the church, briefly met Pastor Emilio, and found the youth gathering in the well-equipped sanctuary. Peter was disappointed that about half of the youth, who range in age from 13 to 25, couldn't make it to church due to the downpour of rain that hit the area earlier that day. Still, there were about 30 youth present. To me, that is a big group! 

The service began with worship, led by a VERY talented youth band. I truly enjoyed the worship and was able to enter the presence of God. It was encouraging to look behind me and see that 90% of the youth present were also entering in, hands raised before the Lord. After a short message from another youth about the importance of tithing, and the giving of the offering, Peter introduced me, and I shared what I had. 

After my message, which was about personal destiny and finding that destiny in worship, Peter gave an altar call and asked Andy and I to pray with each of the youth that came forward. When I stood up to begin praying, I asked God for guidance for the 10 or so youth that stood ready for an encounter with Him. If that was not overwhelming enough for me, the line just kept growing, so that by the time we were finished 2 hours later than their normal end time, we had prayed for about 25 youth! 

God was good and He spoke specifically to many people. It was humbling for me to be treated with so much honor: my doors were opened for me, my bags carried, my dinner paid for, and showered with thanks. I still am praying that I was obedient to the Father; that I spoke His words and not mine, and that He was able to use me to minister all that He wanted to. 

Although I left completely and totally exhausted, I also came away with a completely new experience that filled me with an excitement for what is to come. 

-Staci

Online Worship Workshops

Here are 4 links to fantastic training videos regarding playing together as a worship team. (Thank you to Brian and Peter for taking the time to locate these awesome tools available to all of us via the internet!) Please take a look at each of them when you get a moment. The first 2 are about 9 minutes in length a piece, but well worth the time, especially considering you can watch them in your pjs. :) The last two are simple, short, but well spoken clips. As Brian mentioned to most of our team members, we will be implementing some new exercises in May to aid us in our growth together as a team. So, try to take a look at these before then to get an idea of our goal in these new exercises. Thank you for your commitment to The Rock Worship Team! And thank you for committing to your own personal growth as a singer and musician!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RMdPu0N7Ho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5DDCxjeQZw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q77iV75uH7U&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NTHzSTu_RQ&feature=related

Feel free to leave any comments that you have about the videos here. And remember to encourage one another. We are all so very blessed to be able to minister to God the way that we do! And I am so blessed to lead such a wonderful team of people with a heart after God!

Much love to you all!

Staci

30+ hours to the Philippines

I'm torn over whether to tell all this as a narrative or to just play it straight.  I think I'll do my best to just play it straight.

Our journey began on a mild evening in Denver Colorado.  The sun's rays reached over the Rocky Mountains as a final farewell.  We would not see its light again until we were somewhere over Japan.  I donned my brown fadora and hung my whip from my belt...

Ok, really.  We left Denver for San Francisco around nine, then from San Francisco to Hong Kong at 2 am.  We were delayed a little bit as the flight's original 2nd officer was ill and we were forced to wait for a replacement.  Cathay Pacific is a pretty nice airline, each seat has it's own entertainment system, complete with movies, games, and music.  This made up for the fact that the seats did not recline.

The flight over the Pacific was very bumpy for long stretches of time, but never frightening at any point.  We were treated to beautiful views of Tokyo sometime during the early morning hours.  Masses and masses of tiny twinkling lights covered many square miles.

Soon after, we were amazed by the sight of Mt. Fuji.  It was truly breath taking.

It wasn’t long before daylight washed away the night, and the sun rose over a cloud covered South China Sea.

The descent into Hong Kong had all of us glued to the windows.  It was just like every picture I’ve seen.  The sea was emerald green, and was framed by sandy beaches.  The green hills and mountains were peppered with tall buildings.  Busy roads wound their way through patches of suburban settlements.  Classic Chinese pagodas sat right next to massive modern power line towers. In the distance, Hong Kong’s skyscrapers rose through a thick fog.

 

Once we were on the ground, Hong Kong’s airport was modern and clean. People of every race, religion, and creed could be found at each turn.  Hong Kong was truly a nexus of trade and transportation for this part of the world.

After the 14 hour overnight marathon from San Francisco to Hong Hong, the quick hour and a half jaunt to Manila was over before we knew it.  The process of going through Philippine immigration control, getting our baggage, and getting through Philippine customs was fairly painless, though time consuming.  To catch our connecting flight from Manila to Bacolod (Ba-ho-lohd), we had to jump on an airport shuttle, which was surprisingly new-looking.

 

I thought I had seen crazy driving in Paris and Puerto Vallarta.  I thought I knew what it was like to clutch your seat and wonder if the driver knew what he was doing.  Sadly, I had no idea.

 

Drivers in the Philippines are more like a swarm of ants or bees in a colony than “drivers” in the traditional sense.  Lanes are really just a suggestion, and to get through the winding interchanges, our driver literally had to drive haphazardly across several lanes of busy traffic to reach the next turn.

 

When we finally made it through the Manila Traffic Madness, Terminal 2 stood ready to receive us.  2 security checkpoints, 1 grumpy baggage clerk, and an hour’s wait later, we were on a Philippine Airline’s 737 headed to Bacolod City to meet Papa Dan, Mom Barbra (yes, if I added the extra “a” into Barbra’s name to make it Barbara, I would fear for my life), and Juliette (the Cunningham’s Filipino assistant).

 

The plane was clean but well-worn.  Mist blew from all the plane’s air conditioner vents, and added to the surreal experience.  Lower the lights, add a couple of strobes and lasers, and you could have the worlds highest-altitude rave.

One hour later, we were in Bacolod, but we hadn’t arrived yet.  Papa Dan drove like a true Filipino, avoiding the intruding traffic, blasting his horn with reckless abandon, just like he’s been doing it for the last decade.  Through it all, I felt as safe as would a babe in it’s mother’s arms.

Soon we arrived at the Saltimbocca Tourist Inn.  Amenities are familiar, our toilets flush regularly, we have water heaters and televisions, and the beds are clean and firm.  A tropical courtyard with tropical birds completes the experience.  It’s not the Ritz Carlton, but it’s truly as nice as one can hope for when traveling abroad.

We dined at a local restaurant, feasting on barbequed chicken, which may very well have been the best barbequed chicken of my life.  It was delicious.  The chicken was accompanied by rice and roasted garlic.

After diner, Papa Dan treated the tired travelers to a series of decadent treats at a nearby bakery.  The coffee we had with dessert did little to diminish the oncoming exhaustion brought on by 30+ hours of grueling travel, and as soon as we reached the hotel, this chronicler was out for the count and completely unable to report on anything that happened until this morning.

Breakfast was good, we had our choice of sausage, fish, or chorizo to go with an egg and rice.  Afterwards we went to the local mall to pick up some necessary items.  Water, plug adapters, underwear.  If it weren’t for the humidity, I could easily been at the Westminster Mall in Colorado today.

We will begin ministering soon, and we are as excited as we can be. 

I’ll post more soon.  Look for more pictures and video.

Philippines Trip - Map

View Larger Map

Philippines Trip - Flight Itinerary

Journey to Philippines

4/14/2009

Denver to San Francisco

     9:30pm - 11:10pm

4/15/2009 through 4/16/2009

San Francisco to Hong Kong

     1:20am - 6:25am (cross IDL)

4/16/2009

Hong Kong to Manila

     8:00am - 9:55am

4/16/2009

Manila to Bacolod City

     2:10pm - 3:25pm

Return from Philippines

4/29/2009

Butuan (Philippines) to Manila

     1:10pm - 2:40pm

4/29/2009

Manila to Hong Kong

     5:55pm - 8:00pm

4/29/2009

Hong Kong to Los Angeles, CA

     11:40pm - 10:05pm (cross IDL again)

4/30/2009

Los Angeles to Denver

     11:15am - 2:28pm

Amazing.

Kind of unrelated to worship, but just amazing.

Thank You!!

To the incredible Worship Team Members at The Rock:

Thank you all for coming to meet with me this past weekend! I truly enjoyed meeting with each of you and I look forward to seeing God move mightily in and through all of you this year. 

I also LOVED reading all of your Worship Encounter Stories!! We have a team full of people who truly love God. We are all so very blessed! 

Have a tremendous week!

-Staci

What's in a Name?

Subtitle: The Impression of Light

I was recently asked what the title of this blog means. When I originally came up with it, it was pretty abstract. I was really going for "looking at heaven" or something like that. I pulled up thesaurus.com and went crazy looking for the right descriptors.

Eventually, I came back to a phrase I heard many times in my worship class - to be "born in Zion". In other words, to be dipped in the river of God's presence. To meet the presence of the Living God in a worship setting; something that holds special relevance for me. It was in the place of worship I can truly say "God changed my life". So there was "Zion".

"Looking at" was a little more challenging.

Nothing I ran across really struck me as relevant or cool. Coincidentally, I was really getting into photography about the same time. As it relates to a camera, an aperture is a camera's iris, so to speak. It is the opening through which light passes to be imprinted on the film (or CCD image sensor for digital) in the form of an image.

Initially, I liked the two together - Zion and aperture. There was something poetic about it, but it took me a long time to really come to grips with all of the implications. Z & A. The end and beginning of the Latin alphabet. Kind of like Alpha and Omega - the beginning and end of the Greek alphabet. So there was that, which was completely accidental, but still pretty cool.

But also, when you look deeper at the words, and how they relate to one another. Zion is the Mountain of God. More or less a physical representation of the Lord's power on earth, under the old covenant. So really, all together, the name is "the opening through which we see the Mountain of God's Worship". For me, the logical extension of that is to ask - on what is that light of God's Worship being imprinted? Well, my soul.

A soul is defined as - the emotional part of human nature; the seat of the feelings or sentiments.

Essentially, the human part of us.

Romans 12:2 says "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

(FYI - mind is a synonym of soul, hit the link)

For me, Worship is the perfect method to be transformed and renewed.  Psalms 97:5 says "The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD."  If the mountains themselves melt, how can my flesh withstand Him?  When I expose (ha ha, a pun) my soul to him through the aperture that is Worship, I can only expect to be transformed.  The presence of the Living God is the most amazing thing there is!!

--Andy

Breaking Out Musically

I've been thinking about how I can break out as a musician, and step into worshiping god to my fullest through my instrument, and by extension how we as a group can do the same. When I think about when I started on the worship team, it was a big moment for me, not only in that it was really the first time playing in front of people, but also the first time I was able to worship God. Back then we just had acoustic guitars, and I just filled Chris's spot when he left. Then, we started adding electrics, and started doing something new, and adding a new dimension to what The Rock had done before.

I remember that first Sunday when we first introduced the electrics, Pastor Al was out of town, and the Youth Group took over all aspects of the service. The youth took over the greeting, and prayer, Pastor Mark preached the message, Cody prayed for the offering, and Kelly, Peter, Jeremy, Jake and I did the worship. I felt like we were adding something that was missing. At the time I thought it would be a one time thing, since it was something different and unknown (and loud), but to my surprise the leadership and body responded positively to what we did. It was also the next step for me, I was forced from behind the mostly unheard acoustic, to playing loud electric riffs that had to be heard if we were going to pull off what we were trying to do. We gradually added the electric more and more, and added more electric heavy songs, until we got to where we are with the type of worship we lead.

For a little background, I've been playing guitar for close to 25 years now, when I was a teenager and in my early 20's I was very serious about playing guitar, music was what I wanted to do. I had weekly lessons for many years, learning how to read music, theory lessons, Jazz lessons, soloing lessons. I played in my bedroom for hours every night. I was even in a short lived Industrial band. I thought I was pretty good at guitar, I could play Beethoven and Mozart by sight, I could play most anything I heard on the radio, and any style I wanted. When I graduated high school and went to college, I was a music major at College of the Desert, which is where I met the love of my life. As a music major, there is a lot of compositional homework, we were given a bass line and told to write a four part harmony, or a bass line and soprano, and told to fill in the other 2 parts, etc. It was all about the rules of writing music, classical music. And I was really good at it, ask Melody what she thought, it was almost effortless for me. It's hard to explain, but here was the problem as I saw it, when I sat down to write music for an assignment, I didn't "hear" what I had written, I could look at it "see" what it was going to sound like. I could look at the staff paper and see that this part was too slow, or that part had to much going on. I couldn't feel the music. It's the same for me when doing a cover of a song, I can play that song, but I don't feel the song, I can't vamp on the song. My biggest love at the time was improvisational Jazz, this was before I got into the jam band scene. For me, music in a box is boring, which is why I always gravitate to improvisational music. Why I thought, would anyone want to play the same songs, the same way every night. Where's the excitement, the adventure, the rawness, the emotion of that. And for this reason, after many years of study and devotion, since I could not do what I most loved about music, I quite the music program and went into electrical engineering. For the next 10 years, I didn't play very much, 3 years of school, and starting my career was a big part of that, but looking back I felt somewhat betrayed that I couldn't live my love of music, so why play at all. I began playing again, but not very intensely, until 1-2 years before I joined the worship team at the Rock.

And that brings us to where we are today, where I am, and why I'm writing all this. It's now been a few years since we played that first electric service, and without a doubt, we're much improved. But lately I've felt a little, bored isn't the right word, but lackadaisical about where we are. It feels to me like we haven't made any significant progress as team in quite some time. Worship service on Sunday is not a problem, when we show up, God is there ready to lead us where we need to go, and it's more often than not awesome. No, what I'm talking about is moving to a higher place musically where God can continue to use us to move his people to greater things. While I know that Worship isn't a performance for personal glory, I do feel that there has to be some performance in the music to help get people where God is leading. It might not be very worshipful, but nothing takes me out of worshiping God faster than music that is not very good. I am not trying to excuse my self here, or point fingers, besides my finger would end up in unnatural positions pointing back at me. I am more than willing to admit that when Stasi points at me to rip off some sweet solo, I freeze like a deer in headlights. What I am really trying to do here, is challenge myself, and all of us to make a move to the next musical level. For me that means not only moving past my belief that the only reason I am still playing with you guys is that I have sweet gear, but also putting my musical past behind me, and playing God's love and sound. For you it might be something else. To that end I am commiting to all of you that I will practice more, and more intensly going forward. I do think we have a team that make some sweet music but we all have to commit to it together. I still hope there's some improv in there though, that I will never give up on.

Brian