Story Behind the Song: "I Am Not Ashamed"

When you come to a worship service at Greeneville First Church of God you will probably say to yourself, “These people are very engaged…they get into the singing…they get into the preaching.” I consider myself a very blessed worship pastor—I get to lead these people every week and it is a thrill! I love how our people use the altar rails. It is not uncommon for the altars to be full during the song service, choral selection or testimony. I love how when the congregation is seated if something is being sung that an individual identifies with, they stand up. The people here are not afraid to raise their hands in praise. Some of them even shout! I look forward to Sunday mornings and evenings.

I wanted to write a song that illustrated the way the congregation in Greeneville expresses herself when it comes to our faith. It only makes sense that you see a physical expression of joy or thankfulness or overwhelming gratitude if that is what is in you for God. If I am scared, I look scared. If I am sad, I look sad. I just love how our people unashamedly display their affection and adoration for our Lord.
The song is very simple: “I am not ashamed. I will not be hindered; nothing can hold me back from lifting my voice. I am not afraid to lift my hands up to Him; I have seen His power in my life.”

The last phrase is the reason for this—so many of the people in our services have SEEN God’s power in their lives. We have people in the pews that have overcome addictions, many have been miraculously healed, some have survived car accidents, cancer and other terrifying situations. Even our senior pastor’s testimony is quite amazing. God’s power has been so evident among us that we cannot hold back when we praise Him.

In this spirit, I wrote “I Am Not Ashamed.” I am grateful to Tim Hybarger that helped refine the music to this song. I pray that other congregations will latch hold of it as the congregation in Greeneville, TN has.

Story Behind the Song: "I Hear the Lord"

The song “I Hear the Lord” was born out of several conversations I had with a young man a few months ago. He had just recently been saved and we were doing Bible study together. I had shared with him that it is important during his prayer time to not just talk to God, but to also listen. I told him, “Listen with the expectation of hearing God speak to you.”

Anyone who has become a student in the school of prayer understands that it sometimes takes awhile to hear God at first…there are so many distractions in this world. I remember this young man becoming frustrated that he didn’t hear God speak back to him. So, we talked about the ways that God speaks to us.

He sometimes speaks audibly, but I believe it is rare. Romans 1:20 says that “since the creation of the world [God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen”…I not only see who God is in creation but I can hear Him in the wind, in songs, in all of the sounds that are present. You see, God not only made what we can see, He made what we can hear, taste, feel and smell. I hear God in creation.

I also hear God when I look at my life. Isaiah 42:5 says that God gives breath to the people in His creation. God not only gives us every day that we have, He gives us every second. Should He decide to not give me my next breath, my life ends. This is how active God is in our lives…He literally controls every second of our existence. Colossians 1:17 says that “in [Jesus] all things are held together” which also tells me that without Jesus all things fall apart. Jesus is the glue that holds us together, I find this powerful. When I think about this fact, it tells me what He thinks of me—it tells me how He loves me. I hear the Lord just by existing.

The most common way of hearing the Lord is by reading His Word. As you have seen, the previous two ways that I hear God are derived from Scripture. Had I not known the Scriptures that tell me about creation and who I am, I would not have known to listen through them. The third verse to “I Hear the Lord” says, “I read His Word, principles clear, from His mouth to my ear. I obey as I go into His world. I hear the Lord.”

During this time, I was also reading a book entitled The Making of an Atheist by James Spiegel. (I highly recommend this book!) Spiegel tackles the argument that God may have made creation out of pre-existing matter. But for this to be true, matter would have existed before time along with God and the assumption can be made that God depends on matter in order to exist. We know that this is not true. Psalm 90:2 says that “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth; from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” God existed before creation. For this to be true, God must be able to exist dependent upon nothing. I find this to be a foundational truth that many people do not take seriously. God is dependent upon NOTHING. He created this universe out of nothing, He is dependent upon nothing. Hence the bridge lyrics, “Surrounded by proof that I cannot deny of a God who exists on His own…”

I am so glad that the Lord speaks to me and that I see Him at work in my life every day. I pray that you will seek to hear Him more through this song.

Happy Veteran's Day

To all of you who have served or are currently in the U.S. Armed Forces, thank you for your service. It is because of your sacrifice that we live free today.

I had a wonderful time attending the Veteran's Day program at West Greene High School this morning. Alexa Wilson, granddaughter of Leland and Brenda Wilson and a member of our choir, is a student at West Greene and sings in the high school chorus. The chorus did a fabulous job. I was also very impressed by the high school band. The entire student body was attentive and very respectful during the entire program.

I'm very proud of Alexa and all of our students that sing in school choirs and play in school bands. Keep up the good work!

Worship Ministries Service Project

I think most of us know that Jeff and Karen Jones' son, Jed, is deployed with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines in Afghanistan right now. Jeff plays, faithfully, in our band and serves as our steward of property. Karen has just finished a long tenure in our children's ministries and is continuing to serve in other areas in our church including worship ministries. Their daughter, Abbi, is active in the youth group and is growing into a leader, herself.

Karen, along with many other mothers of the 1/8 Marines, are collecting items to pack in gift boxes for Christmas. ForwardAir, here in Greeneville, has agreed to ship the boxes to these Marines in the field in time for Christmas.

I would like to invite all that are involved in worship ministries at GFCOG to help Karen by donating items for these boxes. Here are the items that she would like to collect:

• socks (green, gray or brown, that rise above their boots, tube sock style)
• travel-size tubes of toothpaste
• travel-size bottles of mouthwash

We will begin collecting these items this Sunday, 11/14 and ending the donation period on Sunday, 12/5. A box for the items will be in the choir room.

Thanks to everyone for helping out in advance...may God bless you and God bless America!

A Life for the Playoffs

I will be sporting black and gold a lot this weekend. Tonight, I will be on the sidelines with the Chuckey-Doak High School Black Knights in their first game in the 3A Tennessee State Football playoffs. It has been an honor for me to stand behind the Black Knights as their chaplain for the last 10 weeks, and I am looking forward to it again, tonight. I have packed my mock turtle, ski jacket and ball cap for tonight’s game.

Monday night, I will not need my outerwear, because when I am watching the Steelers vs Bengals in my own living room, it will be much warmer. I will be donning my #43 jersey, the number of my favorite player in the NFL, Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I like Polamalu for several reasons, and the hair is not one of them! I like his attitude on and off the field…he doesn’t have diarrhea of the mouth. Most of all, I love Polamalu’s stealth. As you watch the Steelers defense, when #43 makes a big play, many times you don’t see Polamalu on the screen until a second before he makes the big play, itself. He comes out of nowhere, he catches you by surprise.

I remember in junior high watching Junior Seau play for the San Diego Chargers. Seau’s nickname in the early 90’s was “Tasmanian Devil”. Again, I liked his stealth, his speed, his agility. I wish Seau would have been on the Steelers roster, but I have to have respect for a great athlete.

The Black Knights have some great athletes on their squad this year. Some of these players may go on and play in college. Many on this football team play multiple varsity sports. Going into the playoffs with a record of 7 and 3, I have witnessed, first-hand, some great athleticism…I have seen some great talent.

Being around a high school football team for the last few months, and being a fan of football for most of my life, has made me reflect today on why teams make the playoffs, and why teams don’t make the playoffs. You see, bad teams don’t make the playoffs. Teams that can’t work together don’t make the playoffs. Teams that clown around in practice don’t make the playoffs, or face losses early in the playoffs.

I attended one of the CDHS football practices this week. The first drill after the warm-ups was a tackling circuit. This is a learning tool with four stations with the players rotating between the four every so many minutes. Each station teaches a different fundamental in great tackling—hitting low, wrapping the defenders arms around the waist of the one being tackled, etc. I stood and watched these high school athletes learning to hit, to take hits. I heard grunting, pads and helmets slamming against one another. There were definitely some scraped elbows and probably a few were sore later. They were getting ready for a playoff game. They were suffering in order to learn the skills that they need.

1 Peter 4:1-2 (NIV) says, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”

Those who have suffered in their bodies, spiritually, are done with sin. I look at football and I cannot help but think about the struggle, the battle that we wage everyday against an enemy so much bigger than an opposing team. If you talk to a believer that has stealth, speed, agility and endurance in their life, you will find that they have done as Peter has said here—suffered. They have suffered in their bodies and they are done with sin and they do not live for what their bodies once desired. They have, as Paul says, beat themselves into submission. They have trained, they have worked.

Seau proved, and Poloamalu is still proving, that the skill of a great athlete starts with a small amount of talent and is capitalized in the work that is put in building upon the talent. CDHS football has a lot of talent, and as seen this week, the talent must be built upon in order to meet a formidable opponent in a playoff game.

The talent that we have been given as people in this world is Jesus Christ, Himself. He is the truth and the life that we need to get a life started on the right track. However, we are called upon to suffer to get over the sin in our life—the habits, the thoughts, the words that do not honor God.

A series of playoff games, if won in succession, leads to a championship. The good part is that if we have Christ on the throne of our life and we suffer and are done with sin, the championship is already won for us. Revelation 21:7 (NIV) says, “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Are you living your life in the playoffs? Are you suffering in your body so that you can be done with sin? Do you have the stealth, the agility in your life that you desire? Or, are you sitting the bench watching someone else make the plays and looking in the stands seeing the fans wear someone else’s number?

An Exciting Week

Friends, I wanted to share with you some of the exciting things the Lord is doing in our midst, just this week. I had the opportunity to speak to the First Priority group at Chucky-Doak Middle School. This is a group of about 60 students in grades six through eight that gather after school on Mondays to have Bible study and learn how to evangelize their school. Two of our youth, Allison GeFellers and Kori Smith, are student leaders in CDMS First Priority. I am pleased to tell you that 4 students accepted Christ last Monday. PRAISE THE LORD!

I am also very excited about our worship ministries gathering at Locust Springs Christian Retreat Center this Saturday night. I am planning on dressing up in a costume and I hope that those attending will, also. I made a double batch of my chili Tuesday night and it is in the fridge aging and getting very happy for all of us to enjoy.

Many of you know that I have been the chaplain for the Chucky-Doak Football team this year. What an honor to stand behind Head Coach Ben Murphy and these fine young men. I am very proud of what they have accomplished this year. Going into tonight's game against South Greene, CD Football's record is 7 wins and 2 losses. This is the best record they have had at least since the early 90's and they are headed to the playoffs next month.

You know, none of this is possible without the presence of God in our midst. The Bible says that "all good things come down from the Father of lights", this is our God. He is a good God. He is a generous God. I wonder, do we give God credit everywhere He is working? Do we give Him credit for our personal successes? Do we give Him credit for our friends' successes? I have learned, especially hanging out with a football team, that our God is everywhere...and He is actively working everywhere. So, church, give Him glory for all that He is doing in our midst.

See you Sunday...be ready to lift your voices in praise!

Yesterday was a great day for the GFCOG Choir. We travelled to Winchester, KY and took part in the opening service of the Pastors' Fellowship gathering.