(This week I'm sharing the top 5 Whole Life Worship posts of 2013. This is #4. I appreciate being able to share things from my our life journey with you, and this was a really tough chapter during this year. Thanks so much for your support! I'll be starting brand new posts on Jan 6th.) … Continue reading #4 – Thanks for the memories

(I thought it would be fun this week to share the top 5 posts of Whole Life Worship 2013 - based on readership hits. This is the 5th top post. I'll be starting new WLW posts next Monday, Jan 6th. Enjoy!) In the Old Testament times, the great saints marked their encounters with God by … Continue reading #5 – Personal Worship Time – Putting Our Lives on the Altar

Tomorrow I'll be leading worship for five Christmas Eve services, and after that I will be celebrating Christmas on the road with my in-laws. So the Whole Life Worship blog will be taking a break for the rest of this week. Hopefully, I'll get it going next week. I want to take this time to … Continue reading A Merry Christmas Break

I often play this game at Christmas parties when I led singing of holiday songs. I’d have us sing a familiar song like, “Here Comes Santa Claus” or “Home for the Holidays, have the people sing as many words as they know and sing “la, la, la” on the rest of the words. Everyone would … Continue reading Beyond the First Verse

It’s 4am and I can’t sleep. I’ve been up for about an hour, thinking, pondering, reflecting and praying. That’s not unusual, as there have been many nights where I am awakened in the wee hours for some reason. I see it as God’s way of getting my attention when I am too distracted during the … Continue reading The Longest Night

Lights are up everywhere. Homes, stores, street decorations. If there is a trademark to the Christmas season, it’s lights. In fact, one of the nicknames of Christmas is “The Feast of Lights.” No, it wasn’t the slick invention of Madison Avenue! It goes back to the core of the meaning of Christmas that we see … Continue reading Light that exposes Darkness

There is an imposter out there posing itself as “Christmas.” I call it “X-mas.” X-mas has a lot of people believing that it is the genuine article. X-mas wants people to buy into (literally) the notion that Christmas is all about gift exchange, holiday songs, cards, parties, decorations, red and green M&M’s, programs and cramming … Continue reading Living Out Christ-mas

During this time of the year, we have lots of parties and celebrations for work and ministry. It is a good time to step back and reflect on what God has done over this past year. It is a time to appreciate the fact that we get to work with others in getting things accomplished. … Continue reading It takes a Team

Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent. In many churches, the JOY candle was lit – joining Hope (week one) and Love (week two). In a short devotional after our church’s children gave a delightful musical performance (starring, among others, my two grandsons, DeeJay and Aiden – I am so humble to confess this!), Pastor … Continue reading The Simple Formula for JOY

For the past few days, I’ve been feeling a little down. Actually, it’s more than just a “little” bit. It’s quite a bit. It’s a general state of despondency, and I can’t really explain it. While there are some reasons why I should be down, I know they are not the reasons why I feel … Continue reading Why so downcast, O my Soul?