Oak Grove R.O.M.

Ladies and gents, you are looking at he Oak Grove Elementary "Ram of the Month"!!!!

Mema came to visit!!!

And boy how the kids are happy!!!!!!! Here are some lovely pics for you to enjoy:

Worship Idea

I recently heard worship compared to a High School pep rally. We look at our song leaders and worship leaders like the cheerleader pumping up the fans (who are us of course ), to go and win the big game (aka…live right lives, walk like Jesus etc.). The assemblies fulfill a particular purpose: to lead us on to victory! I remember thinking this was pretty accurate. I also remember thinking there is much right about this, but also much wrong! Is this really all worship is about?

The pep rally concept leaves the crowd with no real part to play. We can scream and shout, but we don’t get to take the action on the field. So, often times we think we have nothing to do with securing the victory. I don’t think this is correct. Without the screaming fans, a team would find it hard to win! A popular worship chorus says “Lord keep us from just signing and move us into action”, implying that “just singing” is not as important as the “work of faith” we will do after the pep rally is over. It is my belief that BOTH are equally important. The mission we are “cheering” about as well as the actual “cheers” we offer !There HAS to be balance. If worship is just the “fluff” of faith, the stuff we use to make us feel good, and push us to go do a good deed, then we’re missing the point! But if mission work is all that matters to us, we also lose. God calls us to both!

In worship we encounter the living God! We come face to face with the good news and are transformed. Without transformation our efforts are fruitless! In this presence we realize that only HE can change the world, and we line ourselves up with HIS mission. And in worship we are brought into community with each other. And after meeting God in worship and experiencing the good news we are compelled to act on our faith! It flows directly from worship and the 2 cannot be separated.

A true life of worship DOES NOT end with the singing. It also includes feeding the hungry, befriending the lonely and visiting the sick and incarcerated. Jesus says we meet him here too, in the faces of those we serve. In our actions, mission becomes worship!

I challenge us to live out worship on both fronts. In the pews together, and on the streets of our daily lives. We talk about worship and mission too often as 2 separate entities. No more! LIVE your worship, SING your worship and let God direct our paths!

(paraphrased from RELEVANT)

Hunt Mix

My buddies leave early in teh AM for a 2 week elk hunt trip...really manly and outdoors. So...they needed a red blooded, Americana mix for the drive. here is what I got. Let me know what ya think:

Casino Queen- Wilco
Shame- Avett Brothers
Down Home Girl- Old Crow medicine Show
I'm Amazed- My Morning jacket
Drown- Son Volt
Rusty Cage- Johnny Cash
All That Matters- Todd Snider
Shady Grove- Mudcrutch
Carolina Drama- The Raconteurs
New Madrid- uncle Tupelo
Pearls on a String- Ryan Adams
Sic Em on a Chicken- Zac Brown
Whoa Mule- Black Crowes
Guitars Cadillacs (acapella)- Dwight Yoakam
lovin' Arms- The Wood Bros.
Streets of Baltimore- Gram Parsons
Friend of teh Devil- Grateful Dead
Roadhouse Blues- The Doors

In the Army Now

Nope....we don't need health care reform

read here

Free Music Friday

The drummer is one of my best friends. These guys are really good. this is totally different from their "normal" sound and I love it. So, straigth outta' memphis I give you The Central Standards:

Pat Pat...a real American Idol

In today's celebrity sports world, athletes that we would WANT our kids to look up to are rare (Tebow and McCoy aside)....but this kid is a young man I can get behind. Read the story here


let's hope Cal don't ruin him