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So my pal Shawn Wallace (pictured here spinnin’ the wax at our Easter gathering) IMs me with this question: What are 5 top suggestions you would give worship leaders? I must have been a little hyped up that day. Here is what I responded with:

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I’m not a big fan of funerals, but then again, who is? Friday morning, I found myself at Faith Wesleyan Church for the funeral of Ruby Gormong. She was the grandmother of one of my best friends, Jeff Gormong. I sat near the back with another favorite traveling companion and friend, Jack the Fox. Somewhere in the middle of the songs they were singing at the funeral this image hit me. This image thing happens every now and then. Call it a spiritual thing, a distinct impression, an overactive creative gland, ADD, whatever. Anyway, it was the image of a person scooping a child from a crib, as if moving them from one place to another, from aloneness to a place of safety and comfort. There was some kind of calmness once the child was taken up, and why not? There is safety in the arms of a parent. It reminded me of a conversation a few years earlier . . .

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Every once in a while we have these experiences where we know that the moment is surreal. Cataclysmic. It could be good, bad, or ugly, but we know that whatever happens in that moment, history (even in a small way), will change us. I love those moments. It’s something that makes us feel alive. Especially when there are times when more than anything, we just want to . . . feel.

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. . .so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. [24] As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.”   2 Samuel 5:23-24 (NIV)

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I think most of us dream of being part of something bigger than ourselves. Something beyond ourselves. Something bigger than we could accomplish. Something other-worldly. Something . . .God. If there ever was a doubt that we are in the middle of a God thing, theses reminders run around like rednecks at the demolitions derby. I could write a ton of stories on how people are becoming more aware of God and who he is. Jesus talked about the harvest being plentiful. Seems like the wind is blowin’ and the grain is falling and some of us are just standing back with jaws dropping. Things we have been dreaming are coming true. Things that we have yet to dream are unfolding. Wow.

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