"Enough" by Elias Dummer

This song brings tears to my eyes. Jesus IS enough and yet I make things matter more that don't matter most.  THANK YOU Lord for your forgiveness. For extending grace to me. Thank you that you extend grace and tenderness to me when I choose not to extend it to others. You are all I need.  You are all I have.  Thank you Lord!

Jeff Stalnaker, OceanPointe, and the Gospel

This morning my friend, Pastor, and Chief confidant, Jeff Stalnaker (stah-na-kurr) joins the F.A.B. studio to talk about Rhode Islands fastest growing local Church (per me), current events linked to the #blacklivesmatter movement, and the Gospel.

For more about OceanPointe visit: oceanpointeri.com OceanPointe is a non-denominational contemporary church in Newport County, Rhode Island.

Services at 8:30, 9:45 and 11:00.

Oceans (live at Boston University)

Worship night with Hillsong at Boston University with my wife and some friends.  I love being immersed in people who give themselves over to worship. There were thousands of people in the arena just letting themselves go in worship.  The last time I let myself go in a concert was at a Snoop Dogg show 11 years ago at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim.

Recently i've had a huge conviction; namely, "I'm pretty pathetic if I can loose myself in a Snoop Dogg show but worry about what people think if I raise my hands in Church!"

How about you friends?  Do you ever sit in Church and think, "I wonder what people will think if I loose myself while worshipping God?"  That is pathetic.

But thank God for his grace and mercy. He allowed me to be pathetic all those years.  I heard his voice with so much clarity tonight.  He told me, "Welcome to freedom son.  I've given you the gift of sight.  You can see clearly now. Your soul can breathe.  You are aware.  Be satisfied in me."

I love it. 

What is Worship?

I absolutely love to be around people who are free to express themselves in worship.  You'd be hard pressed to find me in a worship service today where I don't walk out of there with tears in my eyes.  I just "get there" these days.  I can go right into worship and cry out to God.  I thank Him for delivering me and allowing me to walk in freedom from fear of peoples reactions.  Freedom from worshipping insurance claim money.  Freedom from "needing" my wife to be a better X, Y, Z, etc.  It's so easy to get there because those walls of pride and deception have been knocked down.

Two years ago, I'd watch this video and say:

Look at these emotional people. So stupid. All they need is doctrine!  Nobody has a Bible open.  If they really want to worship they will have their Bibles open with the Greek text and be exegeting all night.  Morons.  God is so disappointed with them.  When a general walks in the room you never start singing to him. You come to attention and hear what he has to say.  Christians think that worshipping God is sining, but they're stupid.  Worshipping God is from the Greek Word PROSKUNEO, which means face to face.  Your face should be in the Bible...

...and on and on and on and on and on the pride and hate and satanic thoughts plagued my mind.  This wasn't "Doctrinal" thinking.  This is Doctrine of Demons.  So so so evil.

And by the way... I'm having this conversation with a bunch of other "free grace" people who consider themselves "doctrinal."  I'm having this conversation with people who consider themselves "Baptist."  I'm hating on other brothers and sisters in Christ with other Pastors.  I'm mocking the unashamed worship of the living God with other Seminarians.  I'm making a home in my heart for the enemy!  with other "leaders" in the local Church.  How foolish was that!  How deceptive is that!?

When you enter into a place of Worship (not a building by the way), but a sacred place designated to worshipping the God of the universe I've found my eyes go one of two ways; namely, UP or OUT.  I'm either looking at people or looking up to God.  I'm either criticizing the worship band, the people worshipping or crying out to God to save me from the desire to control my wife.  I'm crying out to God to deliver my from FEARING what people will think if I raise my hands in worship.  I'm crying out to God to deliver me from elevating people higher than God.

I didn't even answer the question, "What is worship?"  It's not merely singing. It's not merely studying the Word.  It's basically putting God higher than anything else in your life. I put this video because these kids, in this moment, care more about God than what others think.  This is an example of worship.  Perhaps you worshipped last week at the bar when you saw your favorite live band.  That is worship. You gathered to give them your undivided attention.  This is worship according to Romans 12:1:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Time to worship...

Newport Folk Festival and a Spiritual Perspective

Over the past few days, 10,000 people gathered in a small little town called Newport, Rhode Island for the famous Newport Folk Festival.  Why would people gather from all of the world to sing their hearts out, embrace strangers to their left and right and "let themselves go."  The answer is simple, we (humans) were all created for this; that is, to worship!  

Whether or not people realize it, they get passionate about things because in the depths of their soul, they long to worship...God that is.  God created you and I to worship Him.  But most of us Christians, if we are going to be honest don't worship God, we worship the stuff he gives.  We engage in Idolatry when a good thing surpasses it's appropriate place in our lives and God takes second place.

I love music.  I grew up listening to Punk Rock and playing in a Punk/Hardcore band.   I can remember being fascinated with all types of Genres simply because music was a great way to express what you were feeling.  And even to just play something and feel the emotion was a moving experience.  Little did I know, It was worship.

When 10,000 people get together and sing their hearts out and forsake all other things on their summer agenda, they are engaging in worship.  They are simply acting how God designed them to act; that is, as worshippers.  God just desires that our attention/focus/worship would be directed toward Him.