As far as I understand, the plans for my church to renovate our new building hinges on one rubber stamp on one piece of paper. Literally all we need is the approval from one department. But we’ve been waiting since we turned in all the necessary paperwork in October. That’s five months of waiting.

It’s easy to get discouraged when hope gets delayed. I’ve been in seasons when I thought I would pull my hair out waiting for a day or for an event. Back in my childhood, I could hardly stand the wait for Christmas Day to arrive. It seemed to take forever plus a few days. Now, it comes and goes before I can even get mentally prepared.

But waiting is hard sometimes. Especially when you know it’s for a good thing. Why does God delay? Why doesn’t God act sooner? If God is truly sovereign, then shouldn’t He expedite the matter?

I’ve learned that waiting always comes with a reward. Typically, God makes me wait until I am ready to receive the gift. He knows that in my current state I could not handle it. Or maybe He’s preparing something much grander than my imagination and dreams can conceive.

I forget sometimes that I only see a small part of the big picture. God has a grand design that is so much bigger than my desires and dreams. I also tend to forget that I’ve never ever waited in vain in my entire life. Every time, the promise fulfilled has been more than I could have hoped or dreamed or dared to think.

So I wait. I don’t just sit by with folded hands waiting on the proverbial phone to ring. I need to prepare myself to receive the gift, much as a farmer prepares his field to receive the rain. I can’t know God’s whole plan from beginning to end, but I can be obedient to what I do know.

In the mean time, I’m praying for favor with the city. I’m praying for the houses on the street where our new location is situated that God would already be at work in the hearts of all those who live there, awakening a desire in their hearts for Him. And I am confident that I will see God acting to make good His promises in His good time.

“Love through me, Love of God.
Make me like Thy clear air
Through which unhindered, colors pass
As though it were not there.

Powers of the love of Good,
Depths of the heart Divine,
O Love that faileth not, break forth,
And flood this world of Thine” (Amy Carmichael).

I read one time that it’s amazing what you can do when you don’t care who gets the credit. Imagine what the people of God could do if they got out of the way and let God get in the way? Just think how we could revolutionize the world if we were willing vessels through which God’s love could reach the world?

On my own, my love is weak and selfish. I can barely love myself, much less other people. But when I accept and receive God’s love for me, when it moves from head knowledge to heart reality, then I become a conduit through which others can witness true unconditional love that is able to redeem and transform anybody anywhere at any time.

“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first” (1 John 4:17-19, The Message).

I can’t tell you how much the music of Rich Mullins has meant to me over the years. I’d even say that if I had to pick my top three favorite Christian artists who influenced who I am as a believer, those would be Keith Green, Mark Heard, and Rich Mullins. And I might even go so far as to make Rich Mullins the top artist.

It follows that when I discovered about The Bellsburg Sessions, I was overjoyed. These recordings are some of the stalwarts of Christian music such as Amy Grant, Kevin Max, Andrew Peterson, Carolyn Arends, and others who gathered at Rich’s old homestead in the unincorporated town of Bellsburg in Dickson County, Tennessee to record covers of some of Rich’s most revered songs.

I was not disappointed. Hearing these songs from different voices in different settings really brought out the beauty of the words. My two favorites have been Hold Me Jesus and We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are. There are even two Rich songs that I had never heard before that sound like he recorded them as demos on a tape recorder.

Rich Mullins had a unique confessional style of writing with an honesty and authenticity that is missing in a lot of what I hear on Christian radio. Sometimes, it felt like he was reading my diary when he wrote these songs because they often hit so close to home. But as the saying goes, when you are faithful to tell your story, other people will hear their stories as well, even though the specifics may not be the same.

I almost want to drive up to Bellsburg and see Rich’s old house, although I’m sure someone else lives there now and might not be so appreciative to see me showing up in their driveway. But at least I have the musical legacy of one Rich Mullins.

'Bellsburg' – Deluxe CD + Download

“Twin girls, Brielle and Kyrie, were born 12 weeks ahead of their due date. Needing intensive care, they were placed in separate incubators. Kyrie began to gain weight and her health stabilized. But Brielle, born only 2 lbs, had trouble breathing, heart problems and other complications. She was not expected to live.

Their nurse did everything she could to make Brielle’s health better, but nothing she did was helping her. With nothing else to do, their nurse went against hospital policy and decided to place both babies in the same incubator.

She left the twin girls to sleep and when when she returned she found a sight she could not believe. She called all the nurses and doctors and this is what they saw. As Brielle got closer to her sister, Kyrie put her small little arm around her, as if to hug and support her sister. From that moment on, Brielle’s breathing and heart rate stabilized and her health became normal.”

That’s a powerful example of how two are better than one, as the verse in Ecclesiastes says. Christianity is not and has never been an individualistic faith. It’s meant to be lived out in community from start to finish.

The reason that the Church exists is not for us to have something to do for one hour a week on Sundays. It’s a place for us to acknowledge our weaknesses and to be strong for each other in areas where they’re weak, just as someone else can be strong for us in the places where we’re weak.

Christians fall and fail because they isolate. They withdraw from other believers in times when they need other believers the most. In some cases, believers have been ostracized from community instead of seeking to bring them to healing and restoration.

The best witness is still how much we love each other. It’s when we forgive each other instead of cancelling each other like everyone else does. It’s when we offer restoration instead of revenge and retaliation. It’s when we love those among us who deserve our love the least but need it most. It’s when we love each other like Jesus loved us and gave Himself up for us.

Let’s love those God has placed in front of us. But most of all, let’s love each other like our very lives depended on it (as The Message puts it), because sometimes that may just be the case.

I saw this little sign at my dentist office last week. I can’t think of a better way to relax on a Saturday morning.

“I’m caught up in Your presence
I just want to sit here at Your feet
I’m caught up in this holy moment
I never wanna leave

Oh, I’m not here for blessings
Jesus, You don’t owe me anything
More than anything that You can do
I just want You

I’m sorry when I’ve just gone through the motions
I’m sorry when I just sang another song
Take me back to where we started
I open up my heart to You

I’m sorry when I’ve come with my agenda
I’m sorry when I forgot that You’re enough
Take me back to where we started
I open up my heart to You

I’m caught up in Your presence
I just want to sit here at Your feet
I’m caught up in this holy moment
I never wanna leave

Oh, I’m not here for blessings
Jesus, You don’t owe me anything
And more than anything that You can do
I just want You

I just want You
Nothing else, nothing else
Nothing else will do
I just want You
Nothing else, nothing else
Nothing else will do

I just want You
Nothing else, nothing else
Nothing else will do
I just want You
Nothing else, nothing else, Jesus
Nothing else will do

I just want You
Nothing else, nothing else
Nothing else will do
I just want You
Nothing else, nothing else, Jesus
Nothing else will do

I’m coming back to where we started
I’m coming back to where we started
When I first felt Your love
You’re all that matters, Jesus
You’re all that matters
I’m coming back to what really matters
Just Your heart
I just wanna bless Your heart, Jesus

I’m caught up in Your presence
I just want to sit here at Your feet
I’m caught up in this holy moment
I never wanna leave

And oh, I’m not here for blessings
Jesus, You don’t owe me anything
More than anything that You can do
Oh, I just want You” (Cody Carnes/Hank Bentley/Jessie Parker Early).

How many times have I been a kind of Martha, too busy doing things for Jesus to simply be with Jesus? How many times have I been so focused on my wish list of needs and wants that I forget to listen to what He’s speaking to me? So many of my prayers have been so one-sided because I almost never leave room for silence and listening.

Sometimes it’s good not to ask for anything. Sometimes it’s good not to even say anything or do anything other than putting yourself in a posture to hear from God. Being still and silent may be the hardest discipline for most of us whose minds are like computers with 15 tabs open at all times and music coming from some mysterious source.

I think that it’s not something you learn how to do in one setting. It will take lots of times where all you hear are your own thoughts. Gradually, you learn to let your mind rest and then you can discern the voice of God. But it is a discipline, and that always takes practice and time.

I’m so thankful that God wants to speak to me more than I want to listen. I’m more thankful that He’s more persistent in speaking than I am in listening. Again, I say with all the saints, “Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening.”

“Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward, save that of knowing that I do your will” (St. Ignatius).

I heard a pastor say once that no one stands at the foot of the cross and argues percentages. You won’t stand before the Savior with scars in His hands and feet to debate whether you tithe off your gross or your net income. In fact, if you have to count percentages, you probably haven’t yet learned the real spirit of generosity.

To be generous isn’t to give of your excess but to give everything like that widow who gave the two small coins that didn’t look like much but were all she had to live on.

Generosity is about more than money. It’s giving of your time, your treasure, and your talents because you believe that the Kingdom of God is like the pearl beyond price that you would give anything to own. Generosity says that real wealth is heavenly treasure that thieves can’t steal, that moths can’t get at, that rust can’t destroy.

Generosity means that you give because you have been given much. Because Jesus gave absolutely everything for you. Generosity isn’t just giving your time, talents, and treasures. It’s giving your life. It’s about giving your very self.

To say that the Tedeschi Trucks Band put on a concert seems almost like an understatement. It was more of an immersive experience. I’ve never been to another musical event where the crowd was so visibly affected. It was very close to what I would imagine a Pentecostal service would be like.

The entire band was on point and at the top of their game. Susan Tedeschi’s voice was as amazing as ever and I was pleasantly surprised to see her put in her fair share of solos and even on a couple of occasions trading solos with her husband and fellow bandmate Derek Trucks.

They definitely carry the mantle of the Allman Brothers Band legacy quite well. I can’t think of many other bands that are as good at sustained improvisations both as individuals and as a collective whole. One of my favorite things about music is when it goes someplace unexpected. I read that good jazz is the sound of surprise, and I think that assessment applies here.

I didn’t have the best seats, so part of the stage was cut off from my viewpoint, but I saw enough to know that every person in the band was having a grand time and that they really enjoy playing with each other.

I can’t go without saying that Derek Trucks might just be the best electric guitar player I’ve ever seen in a live setting. He was astonishingly good. Apparently during the intermission, he ran over to Bridgestone Arena to join in with Billy Strings and his band for a couple of songs before running back to the Ryman for the second half of the concert.

Hopefully, I’ll get to see Tedeschi Trucks Band again — hopefully from some better seats. It was one of my favorite nights in a long, long time.

I went to a Tedeschi Trucks Band concert at the Ryman tonight. It was great. I got back home at nearly midnight, and apparently I’m too tired to sleep just yet. I’m also too tired to be able to properly put down my thoughts about the concert.

Do you ever get so tired that you’re annoyed at just about everything? Including how tired you are? I’m sure there’s a medical term or a technical term for it, but I’m too tired to think of it at the moment.

I’m in that dead zone between being able to function like a normal human being and being able to sleep, also like a normal human being. It isn’t normal. It’s also very annoying.

Still, I’m very thankful for a good night with some good music, followed by what will hopefully be a good night’s sleep.

The end.

“Marriage is not a lifelong attraction of two individuals to each other, but a call for two people to witness together to God’s love. . . . [The] intimacy of marriage itself is an intimacy that is based on the common participation in a love greater than the love two people can offer each other. The real mystery of marriage is not that [two people] love each other so much that they can find God in each other’s lives, but that God loves them so much that they can discover each other more and more as living reminders of God’s divine presence. They are brought together, indeed, as two prayerful hands extended toward God and forming in this way a home for God in this world.

The same is true for friendship. Deep and mature friendship does not mean that we keep looking each other in the eyes and are constantly impressed or enraptured by each other’s beauty, talents, and gifts, but it means that together we look at God, who calls us to God’s service” (Henri Nouwen).

The best relationships, whether marriage or friendships, are the ones that best reflect God’s love for His people. They aren’t generated out of a self-initiated kind of love but a love that is first from above, as in we love because God first loved us. We are lovable because God is love and showered His love on us when we were yet sinners and very unlovable.

I heard that the ideal marriage is not you and me in a perfect setting, i.e white picket fences and 2.5 kids, forever, but two people who have discovered that they can serve God better together than apart. Together, they mirror the love Christ has for His bride, the Church.

True friendships are the ones that make us more like Jesus and spur us on to pursue the things of God — and God above all — more and more the deeper the friendship gets. They never let us settle but always encourage, challenge, rebuke, and restore us to keep keeping our eyes on Jesus at all times in all places.

May we never stop seeking those kinds of marriages and friendships that are a display of God’s love and a witness to a watching world of how that kind of love can save and redeem.