NEW YORK CITY?!?

I'm blogging from a UMW boarding home in Greenwich Village.  The place is pretty nice, but there are no televisions. I will be sleeping on a twin sized bed (I don't know when was the last time I slept in one!).  There is WIFI though, so I'm able to type on my iPod and/or the laptop in the lobby.  So far, the trip has been nice.  There's plenty of snow here, like every place else.  I'm waiting on delivery from Fat Sal's Pizzeria; wanted an authentic NY pie tonight. 

We rehearse for the UMW Assembly tomorrow with everyone except for two people.  I was asked to bring my violin; I slipped and used my outdated music resume. lol  Anyway, I'll be here in NYC until tomorrow evening. Then I'm off to D.C. for a couple of hours, then back home to STL. 

God continues to bless me, and I'm just glad for the opportunity to use my gifts to praise HIS name.  PIZZA'S HERE!  Gotta go. :-)

New Year, New Beginnings

This post is a month late, but here it is...

Merry New Year!!!  We are now in the year 2010 guys.  Can you believe it?  A new year means a new start; begin things with a new frame of mind.  That's what I'm trying to do regarding the Praise Team at church.  Unfortunately, I'm not really feeling it.

Usually when I go to church, I'm ready to warm up, pray, and give God my praise and worship.  For the past few weeks, I've been ready to get it over with. After talking to a couple of people who are on the team, I started feeling angry.  I recently brought these two ladies to my house to look at different dvd's of various Gospel artists so they could see how other people worship God - just for observation.  For some reason, they thought I wanted them to act like the singers and musicians on the videos.  After telling them that I only wanted to open their eyes to other things that are going on besides what we do, I started shutting down when they would talk to me, or wanna rehearse new music.  I'd start thinking, "Why do new music; it might influence you."

A really popular group is coming to town, and I'm reluctant to telling them about the concert.  I don't want to be an improper influence, so I haven't said anything to them about it.  Maybe I'll change my mind by Sunday; highly doubt it though.

My Family

Here I am between two of the most important women in my life: my mom and sister.  Mama and Cooky got up to hear me when I did my first sermon 8:30 am.  They didn't have to come that early to hear me speak, but they did.  This was one of the most exciting days in my life, and I was truly honored to have shared it with them.

First Sermon

Yesterday I preached my first sermon since answering my call to the ministry.  It was a great experience.  I was so happy to see my family there, along with a few of my friends.  I talked about the Prodigal Son, and I must say it was pretty good.  I can't wait to do my next sermon.

God, is that you???

So I answered my call to the ministry.  I'll deliver my first sermon this Sunday morning.  Since I was told that I would be ministering, I have been trying to figure out what I would be speaking on.  At first I thought I was speaking on bribing God with our fake worship.  Then I was influenced by Psalm 139 that states 'I am fearfully and wonderfully made.'  Now I'm undecided.  Through all of this, I'm wondering if God really wants me to speak on these particular scriptures.  It's hard when you want to do a great job for God.  You basically want to do your best for your parent, ya know.  You don't want to let Daddy down, so you study and study until you fall asleep.  You try to memorize certain scriptures.  You think of what you want to say, yet you want it to sound fresh - not too rehearsed.

I need prayers people.  I'm about to study some more.  Love and peace to you - oh! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!  GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!

Old Tricks, New People

Hey gang.  It has been forever since I posted.  The last post was on my dad's birthday; he would've been 55.  Although he's gone, I thank God for the time I did have with my dad.  He had faults, but he was a wonderful father.  I love and miss him everyday.

This praise & worship experience has its good and bad times, like life.  You have your highs and lows.  Last time I talked about how great the congregation has been responding.  This time is different.

I've been over the P&W team since February, and we haven't gone through a whole lot of changes.  We have become a bit lackadaisical, myself included.  People may or may not show up for one reason or another, and people wouldn't know until later on what happened.  I e-mailed the team to let them know that someone needs to know what's going on since we're very few in numbers; there are eight of us, including the musician.  I asked them to do two things: #1 - make sure that someone knows why they are not there, and #2 - don't sing unless I've heard from them, but come to rehearsal.  Are those problematic tasks?  I didn't think so.

Unfortunately, someone's feelings got hurt.  Instead of coming and talking to me about what's going on, they talked to everyone else after our rehearsal - which they did not attend.  I said loud enough for them to hear, "Come on over and talk to me sweetheart."  They kept walking.  I looked at our musician, and he looked at me.  We both laughed and talked about the situation.  At the end, we realized that satan is trying to pull some old tricks out of his bag.  This time, he's using different people to do his work. 

The devil was already mad when I decided to take on the leadership of the praise & worship team.  Now he's really angry because I have answered my call to preach the word.  I never thought that this person would have acted as immature as they did, but I'm not surprised that satan is trying to mess with my mind by using particular people in my life as distractions.  One thing I have learned is that an idle mind is the devil's workshop.  We have to keep digging into the word of God in order to protect our minds, hearts, and bodies from satan's terror.  It is important to read and memorize scripture so then you can tell the devil that "...No weapon formed against me shall prosper..." (Isaiah 54: 17)  and mean it.  You have to mean it, and show it in your daily walk.  Let satan know that he has no authority in your life.

Wake-Up Call

Since February, my United Methodist church has been practicing what is called Praise & Worship. The Praise Team consists of people ranging in ages 25-42. The congregation was somewhat receptive to us at first, but something has changed within the past two weeks.

Last Sunday, I came to church and found only one member of the praise team. I had to go through my mental Rolodex of songs to find one that he would know. Once we agreed upon a song, it was time for 'Meet & Greet', which is followed by Praise & Worship. I looked up and saw that another member arrived, and I was elated. As soon as our m&g song ended, it was time for us to start. I looked up, and there were only two of us in front of the congregation. Where was my other member? Turns out she got an extra person to help us. Praise God! As I continued to talk and exhort, my aunt came up and joined us. THANK YOU GOD! We started singing - as usual - but this time it was different. The congregation actually joined in with the singing... and praising!!! Even some of the youth got into it. The praise team was singing great; one member started shouting even. We had people shout in church from p&w, to the end of the service.

Yesterday wasn't too different. We sang 'Here I Am to Worship' for p&w. It's something about the bridge, "I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin up on that cross..." I shiver when I think about it. Then for the song before the sermon, we did a song & dance collab on 'That Name'. Talk about powerful! Man, we were both shouting after that. So were people in the congregation. I don't know. It seems like the people are finally waking up to new additions to the service. I just know that I love it!