2010

I love music. I enjoy making music, listening to music, and finding new music. I happened to catch a portion of MTV’s Video Music Awards two weeks ago (the VMA’s). I have been on the fence about a particular artist until recently. I’m talking about none other than Taylor Swift. It sealed the deal for me when several weeks ago now she included one of my favorite pastors, Pete Wilson and his family in her most recent video. Check that story out here.

I happened to be watching during Taylor Swift’s performance. It was unreal. She did an incredible job. The message she was sending was huge! Since MTV has taken all of the video’s down from youtube all I have is the audio from her performance. Listen to this song.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF0x2_mXjM4]

Regardless of you know what happened in 2009 during the VMA’s or not(Kanye West!), this song still speaks profoundly.

Some of us feel like Taylor is singing about our lives. Maybe you’ve lost your balance on a tightrope. Maybe you’ve blown your relationships with everyone around you. Maybe you’ve cursed your family out and left them behind without a care. Maybe you’ve gotten yourself chemically dependent on some thing or another. Perhaps you’ve given parts your sexuality away to people it was never intended for. Guilt can set in and just about wreck a person and cause them to feel worthless and alone.

Jesus knows about this and took care of this problem. See the reality is that every single one of us has ‘blown it and left ourselves in the warpath.’ We’ve all ‘lost our balance on the tightrope’ of life. Jesus died on a cross, was buried as every other dead man is, and unlike every other dead man He rose from the dead!(1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Because of that one action you and I have a hand back up on the tight rope. We have been picked up out of the warpath and placed in safety. Forgiveness is here for you. Hope is here for you. Restoration is here for you. True life is here for you.

I watched as a young woman in the spotlight demonstrated forgiveness on national television. I listened to a musical narrative that made me immediately think of the one who is in the business of forgiveness; Jesus Christ.

~Peter

This past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to take eight of our youth leaders down to the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta Georgia. We heard from some great speakers, (Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, Donald Miller and others) all of us were challenged in one way or another. We learned what it looks like to lead in uncertainty, we were challenged to love the Lord with all that we are, we were asked to commit to leading Godly youth ministries focused on Jesus, and challenged to share the greatest story that has ever been told with an unswerving diligence and dedication.

Over the course of this extended weekend I honestly believe that God has stretched me. There were times of heartfelt worship, moments of raw emotion, thoughts of missed opportunities, and words of encouragement. I was challenged to adopt a bigger dream and vision than ever before. There are many details that I need to work out yet before I share with you and my church body what this means and looks like. However, I know that this is exciting! It is big! It is going to rock our worlds and hopefully the worlds of many around us.

So in preparation for this dream right here at the start of seeing God fulfill it I have decided to quit blogging for a little over a month. I will resume blogging here at www.thesaltlick.tv on January 1^st, 2010. My desire is to use this time to really focus on listening to God, and following the leading of His spirit.

Others in the blogging world have called what I am doing a “Blogatical”. That’s a pretty good description… There is a lot that I don’t know about what’s to come over the course of this next month. However, here’s what I do know. I know that God is the God of all things! I know that I want to hear from God. I know that I want to rely solely on His Holy Spirit and be led by Him alone. I know that I want to see God do some amazing things here in this online community as well as the community that I live in.

So until 2010, I’m signing off!

~Peter

I guess you really did it this time

Till 2010