Phil’s blog

Hey guys, just thought I’d let you know that I am in the preliminary stages of a new album. (!) Nothing is concrete yet, but I thought it’d be cool to let you know what’s happening along the way, so look for updates here and on my facebook music page. Here’s the deal right now as it relates to the next album. I’m still deciding what kind of album this will be. Right now there are really two choices.

1) I have a bunch of songs on close family relationships that I’m dying to get out to the world. I really think the themes are pretty universal. In my head, I hear them as very organic, mostly acoustic in nature.

2) There are also several songs that I think are more church-oriented, songs you’d hear in a worship service. I’m really excited about these as well, cause I think they are probably more friendly to most congregations than any I’ve ever put out before. There is also the potential for some of them to rock, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

So, my dilemma is that I really do have two different albums. The problem is, the album about relationships wouldn’t be as marketable to most of my current “fan-base” (for lack of a better word). What I mean is, it’s a lot easier to sell a “worship album” to people who know me mostly for my worship stuff. I’m still working through it, so pray about that for me, will ya?!

Ok, that’s it for now, don’t want to overload ya. I’m heaps excited about it. I feel like this is what I was born to do, so that’s very cool. Alright, see you soon. More updates to come.

Nothing fancy today, folks, just thought I’d share a little acronym I’ve come up with. I am not the most disciplined or organized person in the world, but I’m getting better. S.T.A.Y. simply stands for

Spend Time Alone with Yahweh

I use it to remind myself just how important it is to spend that time alone with the Maker and Savior every day. It’s on my little schedule I’ve made up for myself under a certain block of time.

It’s amazing how easy it is to forget or to think I can handle even one day or hour or minute or second by myself. I need Him moment by moment.  Hope you make some time in your daily routine to S.T.A.Y.

You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. (Isaiah 26:3, Amplified Bible)

via Relevant

I am reminded tonight that strife and tension are not always bad, that, as a parent, you have to make decisions that necessarily cause your children some grief. When you’re 3, not getting your way can be a major headache for all parties involved. Actually, I know some 30 year olds that still cause major headaches for people sometimes when they don’t get their way. I won’t mention any names (ahem…Phil….ahem).

Some parents think that as long as their kid isn’t screaming or throwing a tantrum they’re doing alright. Others are too harsh. Somewhere in-between is the truth that there are acceptable levels of strife in a given household – children need unbending rules, even when they protest. I’m convinced that firmness and discipline (as long as there is love evidenced behind it) is the best way to raise a child. I’m no expert, but it seems to have worked for the now-adults I know who were raised by their parents in this way.

Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. “Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, “so you will live well and have a long life.” Fathers, don’t exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master. (Ephesian 6:1-4, The Message)

I work in a building that allows for personal and corporate prayer time. It’s truly a blessing. After chapel time last week, however, I was confiding in a friend how out of date the music was and seemingly irrelevant to our generation. (I know, not very unifying thoughts.)

Well, fast forward to this morning. I arrived at work just in time for chapel and decided it was a good idea to pop in. I’m glad I did, because I experienced one of the most profound prayer times in recent memory. It was really good. I felt the message was just for me. But, more than that, the corporate prayer time that followed was amazing. God spoke to me deeply and impressed upon me this thought:

Music will not be what unifies us, prayer will.

It was as deep and as tangible as I am sitting here typing on my keyboard and you are sitting where you are right now, and it is so true. Musical styles change. They come and go and then come back around again. There are styles that are dear to you and those your parents (or kids) can’t stand. If we try to base community around musical preference, we’ll only ever have a segment of the population of our church.

Prayer, on the other hand, is a unifying force in the body by its very nature. I have prayed with 9-year olds and 90-year olds, men and women, blacks and hispanics – and have never felt closer to someone else as when we are lifting our concerns to God and just worshipping Him for Who He is. There is a definitely something to be said for keeping our music on the cutting edge so that we aren’t becoming increasingly irrelevant to youth – but when it comes to being of one mind, prayer is where it’s at.

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)

Today is the first day of my new schedule.  Alas, it has come to my realization that I must – ahem – grow up a little. :p  I know, I know, I swore as a kid I’d never grow up.  But with two kids of my own now, every minute becomes valuable.  And, if I’m really going to be a good husband and father, well… I recall the words of my 7th grade Phys Ed coach, “Suck it up, Laeger!”

Thing is, I know this will make me feel better.  I’ve set myself a wake up time of 6 am and a lights out time of 10 pm.  I’ve tried to work in everything from morning time devos to playtime with the boys – even a modest workout routine.  On top of this, today is the first day of a joint diet with my good friend Dave.  We’ve entered our weights into his Wii fit and will be tracking our progress over the next two months.  The goal is to lose 10 kilos (22 pounds).  I’ll let you guess what that’ll bring me down to.

So, blogging is on the routine as well, falling right after the workout – and man did it kick my butt tonight, which reminds me of a verse:

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

I am in the process of de-friending people on facebook. When facebook first started out, I actually tried to sign up, only to be told during the signup process that I was too old. Too old at 27! Originally, the site was designed for college students, so in order to get an account I had to go back to school, by which time the site was opened to anyone, regardless of age.

At first, I added my closest friends (most of my family are decidedly non-fb people). Then it was the people from my past I’d lost contact with. Then it was the people I worked with or went to school with. Then those I’d met at a youth councils or workshop or retreat. Then it was those who knew me from so-and-so, or who’d heard a song, or knew someone that knew my parents or siblings. For a while, I was just accepting anybody. I’m almost up to 2,000 friends now. But, like I said, I’m in the process of de-friending people that aren’t… well, aren’t really friends.

It’s amusing to me that, in this age of tech, we’re still using the same words to describe our associations online – fans, followers, friends. The weird thing is that those associations aren’t even just a mirror of real-world relationships. We actually now talk in virtual reality using real-world language (which only makes sense). “Are we friends on facebook?” “Are you following me on Twitter?” “Are you a “fan” of Marty Mikles – he’s so dreamy!”

I’ve been thinking a lot about these words, especially as they relate to Jesus. He had loads of fans, several followers, but not too many friends.

The Fans – Matthew 21:7-9
They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”

These guys were fans of Jesus. Imagining the scene, we can picture a show of hero-worship that might put a U2 concert to shame. Fans are fickle though. A couple of bad performances and you get written off as either as has-been or might-have-been. Jesus had a ton of fans before popular opinion shifted – and we all know how that turned out.

The Followers – John 6:1-2
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee … and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.

Followers of Jesus loved being around Him. They loved watching Him do His thing, healing people, feeding them, telling wonderful stories that made their ears tingle and their hearts stir. What a wonderful Person to be around! … But, as with many other terms, Jesus redefines what it means to truly follow: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.“

The Friends – John 15:9:17
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.“

Following the analogy of the Vine and the branches, Jesus speaks here in terms of friendship and love. Friends of Jesus. A relationship that is closer and more intimate than any other. A relationship that manifests itself in obedience to Jesus’ commands, a knowledge of the Father’s heart, and what Paul later calls the fruit of the Spirit.

The progression of our relationship to Jesus follows these three stages of fan, follower and friend. Will we join the crowds on Sunday and offer lipservice to the King, only to deny Him by our lives? Will we merely follow Him for our own personal benefit – will we, like those followers on the Sea of Galilee, “turn back and no longer follow” when Jesus speaks a hard word to us?

Or will we be those few that share His burden and joy, His laughter and hidden sorrows, His mindset and devotion to the Father’s will? Can He really call us friends?

In Matthew 7, Jesus again links obedience to friendship, this time alluding to the judgment at the end of the world. How sad it will be on that ‘day’ for those who thought they were Jesus’ friends because they prophesied in His name or drove out demons or performed miracles or wore t-shirts with His name on them or held a prayer meeting or started a new ministry or whatever… To many of those people Jesus will say, “Depart from me – I never knew you.“

Truly, that would be the ultimate de-friending.