david nasser outreach

Jumping through Fires

2009-09-30T11:07:00.007-05:00

Jumping through Fires
by David Nasser

Release date October 1, 2009

In this honest, suspenseful, and moving memoir, author David Nasser recalls being forced to escape from his native Iran during the 1979 Revolution. Through the lens of a terrified boy you will witness the destructive power of religion and the pull of peer pressure as he tries to fit into a vastly different culture–the American South.

Nasser's raw and transparent account of his transition from hating religion to having a living faith will touch your soul. His unflinchingly honest, yet humorous, assessment of the church from an outsider's point of view is both enlightening and challenging.

Jumping through Fires takes you on a riveting journey from religion and fear to the life-changing discovery of God's grace.

"Whether speaking or writing, David Nasser is quickly rising up as one of today's new relevant voices. This generation demands 'the real,' and in his new book, Jumping through Fires, David Nasser brings the heat." – Toby Mac, recording artist

"David is a great friend who has spoken truth into my life through his ministry." – Mark Hall, Casting Crowns

"Once you open Jumping through Fires, you won't be able to put it down... A life-changing book." – Mac Powell, lead singer of Third Day

Glory Revealed II NEW RELEASE!

2009-07-14T08:12:00.006-05:00

Glory Revealed II - NEW RELEASE July 14, 2009

Today's the day!

Wow! I can't believe it is actually here! Last June a number of this generation's most anointed worship leaders got together on a beautiful farm in south-central Georgia to collaborate on the worship album Glory Revealed II. What an amazing few days it was.

The building where everyone gathered was an old wooden corn silo that had been converted into a beautiful hunting lodge, which was then converted into a recording studio. Amidst the sounds of crickets, frogs, hoot owls, and an occasional thunderstorm, were the sounds of guitars, mandolins, banjos . . . and the click of laptop keys as these phenomenal worship leaders and artists worked together to take the very words the Holy Spirit had written thousands of years ago and put them to music. With the same commitment to Scriptural integrity as the first Glory Revealed, this second album uses texts from the Bible and pairs them with earthy, acoustic music to help us all worship with the Word.

Needless to say, I am so excited about this album . . . which comes out TODAY, July 14 . . . and I hope that everyone who loves the Word will grab a CD or purchase online here and experience it for yourself.

I hope you have a great day and let's all make a commitment today (whether it's with Glory Revealed II or not) to worship the Lord!

Warmly,
Jennifer (David's wife)

Turn Down the Music

2009-04-10T10:08:00.005-05:00

Turn Down the Music Tour

with Shane & Shane,

David Nasser

and Matt Maher

It's that time of year again...tour time.

I will be hitting the road with my good friends, the Shanes, next week for a 19-city run. This time the amazing Matt Maher will be joining us. If you are not familiar with Matt as an artist, you might know his songs since you probably sing them at your church. Matt has penned such classics as “Your Grace is Enough” (made famous by the golden child Chris Tomlin) and a handful of others. Matt is an anointed worship leader and you’re gonna love him. Between Matt and the freak of nature duo better known as Shane & Shane, plus a brand new message from yours truly, it ought to be a special night.

The tour is called the “Turn Down the Music” Tour. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will tell you that we are very excited about the tour theme. So what does it mean? Turn down the music? Musicians want to turn down the music? What???? Come and find out...we’d love for you to join us.

Apr 16, 2009 Springfield, MO Baptist Bible College 628 E. Kearney, Springfield, MO 65803
Apr 17, 2009 Columbia, MO Parkade Baptist Church 2102 North Gatrh Ave. Columbia MO 65202
Apr 18, 2009 Marion, IL Marion Cultural & Civic Center 800 Tower Square, Marion, IL 62959
Apr 19, 2009 Naperville, IL Harvest Baptist Chapel 185 High Point Drive, Naperville, IL 60563
Apr 20, 2009 Off Day
Apr 21, 2009 Off Day
Apr 22, 2009 Off Day
Apr 23, 2009 Fargo ND Hope Lutheran Church / South Campus 3636 26th Street, Fargo ND 58104
Apr 24, 2009 Cokato, MN Dassel Cokato Fine Arts Center 4852 Reardon Ave SW, Cokato, MN 55321
Apr 25, 2009 Oshkosh WI Reeve Memorial Union 748 Algoma Boulevard Oshkosh, WI 54901
Apr 26, 2009 St Paul Northwest College/ Maranatha Chapel 3303 Snelling Avenue North, St Paul MN 55113
Apr 27, 2009 Orange City IA Northwestern College 101 7th Street SW Orange city, Iowa
Apr 28, 2009 Lincoln NE University of Nebraska Union - Centennial Room 200 Nebraska Lincoln Nebraska 68588-0452
Apr 29, 2009 Fayetteville AK University Baptist Church 333 West Maple Fayetteville, AR 72701
Apr 30, 2009 Overland park KS Heartland Community Church 8301 Lamar AveOverland Park, KS 66207
May 1, 2009 Colorado Springs Vanguard Church 3958 North Academy Boulevard Colorado Springs CO80917
May 2, 2009 Lakewood, CO Colorado Christian Univeristy 8787 W. Alameda Ave, Lakewood, CO 80226
May 3, 2009 Off day
May 4, 2009 Off Day
May 5, 2009 Berkley, CA First Prebytarian Church 2407 Dana Street, Berkeley CA
May 6, 2009 Yuba City, CA Crossroads Community Church 445 B Street, Yuba City, CA 95991
May 7, 2009 Brentwood, CA Golden Hills Community Church 2401 Shady Willow Ln., Brentwood, CA 94513
May 8, 2009 Anaheim, CA Sa-Rang Community Church 1111 N. Brookhurst St. Anaheim, CA 92801
May 9, 2009 Cave Creek, AZ North Ridge Community Church 6363 E. Dynamite Blvd., Cave Creek, AZ 85331

Brothers and Sisters Around the World

2009-02-05T12:27:00.004-06:00

Obviously, we need to pray for our brothers and sisters all around the world. But if you're like me I forget. Sadly, the "out of sight, out of mind principle" applies here. If we don't know who to pray for we simply quit praying. I think practicing the discipline of awareness can be the cure that arouses prayer for others around the world. I received an email the other day that reminded me of the persecution of Christians in Muslim nations. I wanted to make you aware of it as well. Here it the article from the Christian post:

Islamic nations made up more than half of the top 10 countries listed as the world’s worst persecutor of Christians in a new report.
Saudi Arabia again took the No. 2 spot, followed by Iran (No. 3), Afghanistan (No. 4), Somalia (No. 5), Maldives (No. 6), Yemen (No. 7), and Uzbekistan (No. 10). Compared to last year’s Open Doors’ World Watch List, the 2009 list had one more Muslim dominated country.

Taking the top spot again this year for the seventh year in a row is the totalitarian and reclusive state of North Korea.

Dr. Carl Moeller, Open Doors USA president, highlighted several changes to the 2009 World Watch List including the reemergence of Somalia into the top 10 list.

“Somalia and Eritrea are also in the top 10,” Moeller noted to The Christian Post in an interview Tuesday. “You can see that the Christian community in that part of Africa has just been hammered."

Also Afghanistan moved up two spots to No. 5 this year because of increased activities by the Taliban, a Muslim extremist group that formerly ruled the country.

Interestingly, Moeller noted, both China and Bhutan, both Asian countries, dropped out of the top 10.

Although China (No. 12), which has a troubled history with religious freedom, is no longer part of the top 10 list, Moeller said the ministry will continue to keep a close eye on the country he describes as an “enigma.”

“China is an enigma in many ways in relations to persecution,” Moeller said. “There has never been greater openness in China, and yet at the same time - having spent some time there, in particular just a few months ago – we still hear direct reports from individuals who have been arrested, interrogated and even held for days without being told why."

“And this type of persecution continues to go on especially in rural areas,” he said.

The two countries that showed the most improvement in Christian persecution over the past year are Vietnam, which dropped from No. 17 to No. 23, and Columbia, which was dropped from the top 50 list after ranking high for many years on the list. Vietnam was No. 8 on the World Watch List in 2006.

World Watch List 2009

1. North Korea
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Iran
4. Afghanistan
5. Somalia
6. Maldives
7. Yemen
8. Laos
9. Eritrea
10. Uzbekistan

Here is the link for the actual article.

Wolfe Family Update

2009-02-03T09:56:00.005-06:00

Many of you have been praying for the Wolfe family. Here is an update and video that I think will bless you.
Warning: tearjerker alert!!
David

A Good Cause

2008-11-24T09:16:00.002-06:00

I need your help.

My assistant LeAnn received an interesting email sent to our office the other day, here it is:

LeAnn,
I emailed you last week asking for your help in spreading the word about my husband raffling off his Super Bowl ring. I understand this sounds like a far-fetched story; so here are some links to help prove the validity of this story!! Won't you please help us get the word out on this so we may raise the most amount of money to help children locally and globally! David played a part in our spiritual walk, God used him to instill something into us (or remove something) that helped us eventually get to this point where we are willing to give it all back to Him!! His words "These children deserve the very hell that is their lives...but so do we!!" kept ringing in my head the night that Jim Brown shared. And as I saw the pictures and heard the statistics that he was sharing…that was all I could hear. My children deserve this just as much as any other…and it’s by God’s mercy that it isn’t them. And what I am willing to do about it!!

So please help us spread the word so we may raise the most funds to go to these poor children locally and globally!!

Have a great day!!

Samua Cherry

We want to help Samua and J'Rod Cherry get the word out. J'Rod Cherry played pro ball for the Saints, the Eagles, and the Patriots. He is a big dude, with an even bigger heart. It was obvious as I was talking to him that God is up to something really special through this. The is about a whole lot more than a jock giving away his ring. This is about a guy who is casting down idols in his own life and calling all of us to examine what we can do for the kingdom. Even if you're not into bling, or into the patriots, this is a really special cause.

This is not a joke. You buy ten dollars worth of raffle tickets (ten bucks gives you five raffle entries)and you're entered to win an actual Super Bowl ring. You also win the 18 grand it takes to pay off the taxes on 142 diamond's and pure gold value of the ring. Obviously it's worth a whole lot more than that...

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Super-Bowl-winner-to-raffle-off-ring-for-charity?urn=nfl,108295

http://www.buildmomentum.org/jerodcherry.asp

https://www.celebritiesforcharity.org/raffles/RaffleID_SuperBowlRing.cfm

So go to this site and buy a few raffle tickets. You only have a few days left.
If you win, wow....if you don’t, you're still helping out a great cause.

Happy Thanksgiving,
david

Thoughts on The faith Forum at Saddleback, with McCain and Obama.

2008-08-18T07:14:00.003-05:00

Before I get started I want to make sure that you understand that I am not endorsing either candidate. I’m not trying to tell you who to vote for. I will however go on record to say that you should get out and vote. Make your mark.

Saturday night’s Faith Forum at Saddleback has been swimming in my mind, my heart, and on my tongue since the moment it aired two nights ago.

First of all, I want to declare a winner! The winner of the forum is...(drum roll please)...

Rick Warren. Whatever you think of Rick, his mega church, or even more mega selling book, you've got to give him points for asking questions that were both revealing and timely. Rick did a great job of asking the kind of questions that everyday people want to know the answers to. He was also fair and gracious to both candidates. Hats off to you Rick... Now, if we can just convince him to get rid of the goofy Hawaiian shirts...

There is so much to discuss here, but as you might have guessed, what got me blogging was the question about when life truly begins, and the candidate’s stances on abortion. Don't get me wrong, everything they talked about was important.
Their heroes? Important.
The war? Important.
The economy? important.
The education of our children? Important.
The responsibility to care of the needy in the world? So-so important.

But to me the plight of the unborn, is still the most important.

Why? Because every other decision that a president makes flows out of his core belief about the sanctity of human life. Not just the sanctity of life for an already born adult, but for those in a mother’s womb as well. This is not just a pro-life stance, but what many conservative evangelicals like myself like to call a “whole-life stance.”

Here are the facts, no matter what your opinion:
1. Although abortions are on a decline in the past few years, almost every third baby conceived in America is aborted.
2. Since 1973 (Roe vs. Wade), when abortions became legal in the United States, there have been nearly 46 million abortions to date. This is not to mention the illegal, and untraceable abortions now more frequent because the abortion pill.
3. Most scientists, Christian or not, agree that some form of a “new living” cell begins at conception.
4. Combine these facts with the belief of billions of people that abortion is the termination of that “new life”, and you can see why this is a searing hot topic to say the least.

So here are a few thoughts on each candidate’s response to Rick Warren’s question.

John McCain:
The question was: At what point does life begin? His answer: “At conception.”

I know his voting record on pro-life issues before the forum. I know that he was in favor to uphold the ban on partial birth abortions. It’s also important to note that I also know that, unlike me, McCain approves of embryonic stem cell research. I fail to see the difference between a parent who discards an unwanted or leftover in-vitro embryo, or an unwanted embryo in a womb of a mother. While I recognize the urgent need for stem cell research in the fight against such things as Parkinson's disease, I see adult stem cell research as the only ethical choice. Is a human embryo a human life? If so, when is it OK to kill a human embryo for any reason?

Barrack Obama:
The question was: At what point does life begin? His answer: Basically, “I'm not sure… I'm pro-choice, because I believe that women make this decision with much thought and serious consideration. I want to see abortions reduced by offering better options.”

Rather than taking potshots at his “above my pay grade" comment, I will pose a question instead. Let’s say that no one really knows when life begins. Let’s say that none of us can really ever be sure. Let’s just say the question is above everyone’s pay grade. Since we don't know, Senator Obama, could it be that we MIGHT be killing babies through abortion? Aren't you admitting that they might be alive, by saying, “I don't really know?”

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the FDA approved a drug that we think might be killing millions of people. It’s a highly controversial drug that many people disagree about. Let’s say no lab really knows for sure whether the drug is safe or not. All we know is there is a valid argument on both sides that this drug could or could not be lethal. Would you be OK with allowing this kind of Russian roulette game go on as the president? Would you say that since you don't know if the drug is really killing people or not, that we should continue to use it? How is that not a pro-death stance?

I heard both men profess Christ as their Savior, and I heard both men stress the need to stand against the innocent killings in places such as Darfur and Rwanda. I heard both men say that 150 million orphaned children need a home, and that this great nation must rise for the oppressed. But, I also heard both men agree that evil exists. What greater evil can there be than the holocaust of 46 million innocent children in our nation alone?

Our prayer:
Oh Lord, we repent. We repent for the lack of tears, the lack of shouts, the lack of passion, and most of all, the lack of vigilant prayer for the unborn. Revive this land, Lord. We are a desperate people in need of you. We pray for our leaders, both present and future. Break their hearts for the things than break Yours. We don't need a king, Lord, we already have one. You are it. We need You.

Canada Tour

2008-05-02T12:02:00.002-05:00

On Friday April the 25th, Starfield, the Shanes, Bethany Dillion, and I were leading 1,300 worshippers in a church sanctuary, when a serious incident took place. During the Starfield set, the floor in the front of the stage collapsed, causing an opening that was over 25 feet wide. The crashed in floor caused the lighting truss, speaker stack, and lifts to fall down over the audience and into the hole. Many people fell in as the ground under them buckled.

As you can imagine, the next few minutes were filled with shock, fear, and panic. The intense moments were also filled with fervent prayer and heroic action. Many rushed to the basement to drag people out of the rubble, while hundreds huddled in prayer in the church parking lot.

By the end of the night, 35 people were hurt and 25 had been rushed to the hospital. Most of the injured suffered cuts, bruises, broken limbs, and other non-life threatening injuries. Three patients however had to be admitted overnight. Here is the current update on the three so that we can all pray for them by name.

Debbie—Debbie has suffered severe spinal damage. At this moment she is paralyzed, but we are petitioning our Great Physician for a miracle.
Adam—Adam's hand has been crushed in over a hundred places. My personal prayer is that on the one-year anniversary of this event, Adam can use that very hand to write about the grace of God through trials.
Sidney—Sidney has been back and forth to the hospital due to a severe concussion. We are praying that Jesus the Prince of Peace will calm her mind. That by his wounds, healing would come.

Obviously our tour family of 24 (from artists, to crew) will never be the same. God has used this incident in our lives to revive our passion for Him. Rather than derailing the tour, the Lord has fueled us with a greater sense of urgency and focus. Pray for us. We need you... two shows had to be postponed, but even as I write this blog, we are on our way to Edmonton to lead His people in celebration. We have so much to bless Him for. His grace and provision has never been clearer to us, and we can't wait to tell of His goodness tonight.

If you noticed, I am referring to all that happened as an incident and not accident. This was no surprise to our God. God was on the throne, sovereign over every second of all that happened and for that, we are thankful. We trust His Word that uses all things for the good of his purpose. He and only He, is our firm foundation.

Sola deo gloria,

D

Jeans Offering

2008-04-01T12:57:00.009-05:00

This blog is far overdue, and a bit longwinded, but I assure you, I'm giving you the reader's digest version! To get a better grasp, you might want to go the blogs I have highlighted. They offer more insight. You're also reading my perspective of the story; so let me assure you that there are many better versions and back-stories. Anyway, I promise to get another blog out next week (a much shorter one!) about the Ukrainian trip last week in which God allowed history-making things to happen for His namesake. But now: an overdue story that I can't wait to tell you all about.

It all started back in November when Jennifer was told through an adoption agency about a group of siblings from Ethiopia who desperately needed a home. Due to their older ages, for these kids to be adopted would be no small miracle. As always, Jenn wants to save the entire world by inviting everyone in it to live with us, so her first response was to adopt them immediately. I had to be the heavy who pushed the pause button. By the way, this happens all the time in our home. If Jenn had her way, our home would look like the United Nations, filled with children from all across the world. As for me, I’m a little slower to act on every adoption need that comes our way. Anyway, back to the Kinfe siblings’ story...

The two sisters and one brother had been blogged about because of their two-week visit to the United States last summer. Through a program that allows orphans to visit the U.S., these 17-, 16-, and 15-year old teenagers had captured the heart of their host family in a powerful way. Although the host family was not led to adopt the siblings since they had just finished their own adoption of a little girl, they were heralding the Kinfe's need for a home by writing about their visit. It was obvious that God had placed these beautiful Ethiopian children with a Christ-centered family that had a broken heart for the 200 million orphans of the world. Especially them. (Click here to read Paige's endearing blog not only about the Kinfe kids, but the adoption of their own little girl from Ethiopia)

Jennifer had been reading the blog and keeping up with the situation of the Knife siblings for several months. Jennifer's concern was backed with the urgent need to have Aschalo (the 17 year old boy) adopted before his 18th birthday. After that, he would not be eligible to be adopted. If he were adopted, Jenn told me on several occasions, then maybe Aschalo can get some assistance to go to college. Aschalo had shown interest in wanting to be a chemist one day. The blogs about him gave Jennifer insight that that dream was impossible in his present condition.

Then came Christmas, and our trip to Rome and Paris. During that trip, my dad generously gave five crisp, 100 dollar bills to each person in the family as a Christmas gift. A few days later, while in a cab in Paris, Jennifer informed me that she and the kids felt as though God wanted them to give their Christmas gift money to start a scholarship fund for Aschalo’s college dreams. After some discussion, I agreed and pledged to match any funds they gave with a gift from D. Nasser Outreach as well. The goal was to raise funds to allow Aschalo to go to college, even if he were never adopted. All that said, this was much more on the front burner for Jenn and the kids than for me. The Kinfes’ were Jenn's passion, and I was there as backseat support.

Fast forward a few weeks later, to Martin Luther King holiday weekend. What a tragic weekend that turned out to be. A friend of mine lost his 2-year old son in a drowning accident. I had only met little Bronner Burgess once, but it didn't matter. It felt as though we had lost one of our own. We all mourned this loss with the Burgess family. Rick, Sherry, and the rest of the Burgesses allowed their loss to be used in such a powerful way. What Satan meant for evil, God used for good. The goodness and grace of God in the midst of sorrow was so evident as the Burgess family used their very public lives to minister to people in the midst of their loss.

On Tuesday, January 22, Jennifer and I, along with thousands of others, gathered together for the memorial service. What an anointed time. The presence of God filled the room as we worshiped the Lord in the midst of such a storm. As Rick spoke at the memorial about the Gospel, priorities, and the gift of children, my heart was both filled and retuned. (Click here to see Rick speak at the memorial) Sadly, I had a flight to catch and had to walk out of the memorial service early to head to the airport. I was flying to Lynchburg, Virginia, to speak for Liberty University's Spiritual Emphasis Week. I sat on the plane with my heart filled to overflowing from what I had experienced at Bronner's memorial service. I got out my Bible, a note pad, and began to write new revelations for a neglected message I had written years before out of James 1:27. This was a message that I had never really embraced or preached a lot. But for some reason, the loss of Bronner, our time of worship at the memorial service, and Rick's sermon had rekindled the passage and this old message back to my heart.

On the second night of Spiritual Emphasis Week in Lynchburg, I decided to preach my newly resurrected sermon out of James 1:27. In the middle of the message the Lord gave me a mandate. I sensed the Holy Spirit urging me to call the 3,500 students in the audience to something practical and applicable about God’s call in James 1:27. The passage basically tells us to care for the widows and orphans in the world. I have to admit, stuff like this doesn't happen to me often, but I was sure that the Lord was speaking to me as clear as day. "Take an offering and give it to orphans and widows," God told me. In obedience, I told the students what God was calling us to do corporately. We called it the "Jeans Offering." I asked the students to come back the next night and to bring the financial equivalence to the pair of jeans that they were wearing that night. That way everyone was called to equal sacrifice, not equal amount. I told them the funds given would be divided to go three ways: locally to widows, domestically to strangers, and internationally to orphans. At that moment, the Kinfe kids where nowhere in my mind, but after the service, when the Liberty University leadership and I began to strategize about what we wanted to see happen with the offering, it quickly hit me that the Kinfe kids were orphans who possibly could receive help. “Maybe this is one of the reasons God had placed them in our path for the last few months,” I thought and prayed.

The next morning after much prayer and consideration, the Liberty leadership team decided unanimously that 1/3 of whatever was given would be allocated to help in funding the adoption of the Kinfe siblings. That night, right before the offering, I showed the children's picture to the audience, explained their situation, and after praying for them, we asked the students to not only give graciously for them, but also for the other 2/3 of the offering that would go to widows and strangers in the world. Our goal was so much bigger than physical needs being met. We wanted to see the redemptive work of Christ done through these funds, not just charitable social work.

In the next day and a half, the students at Liberty generously gave, and gave, and gave, and gave, and gave... an amazing offering that totaled $85,000 at first and then neared $93,000! The offering buckets were filled with actual currency from not only the U.S, but also the Ukraine, China, Canada, and even Ethiopia. Some gave their checks from work, some their Starbucks cards, some their own Christmas money. That night I put in our Nasser family's Christmas gift money as well. There were literally hundreds of letters and cards attached to many of the offerings. Most were for the Kinfe kids. Some students burned Ethiopian worship CDs they wanted delivered to the Kinfes. I even saw a few handmade necklaces as gifts for the two Kinfe sisters. I had never seen James 1:27 brought to life like this.

Best of all, thousands of us began to pray for "big" things to happen through the "big" offering. (Click here to read the Liberty article about the offering)

Then came the calm before the storm. In the next few weeks, the Nasser's sat and prayed about discernment and wisdom about the Kinfes. The adoption agency had a few signs of interest, but none that looked promising. We had begun to pray about adopting them ourselves, but due to different circumstances, we could not get a peace about it no matter how much we tried to convince ourselves. A few more weeks passed and then on the 23rd of February, I was in Inman, South Carolina speaking at an event, when afterwards several different Liberty University students approached me, curious about the latest news on the Kinfes. After the event, Jenn and I were riding in the hotel elevator and I told her about my conversations with the inquiring students. As we were walking down the hallway to our room, we both agreed that if the Kinfe's were not being adopted by summer, we would go ahead and pursue them ourselves (fyi: we weren't planning on taking the money given if we adopted them—we would have given it toward someone else's adoption.) I walked in the hotel room, and ten minutes later checked my email and read the amazing news. The Kinfes had found a home! Not just any home, but an amazing one at that!

In the audience at Liberty the night we took the offering sat Kristin Wolfe. She and her family had been praying about adopting older children, and Kristin knew that these three might be the ones. In the next month, God began to confirm in the Wolfe family that these were the children for them. I am thrilled to announce that the Wolfe family has officially begun their paper work to adopt the Kinfe kids. The email was a link to their site, letting us know that they were called by God to adopt these precious teenagers. (Click here to read their journey so far. Warning, tear-jerker alert!)

The remainder of the "jeans" offering has now been designated as well. Outside of local ministry in Lynchburg, the funds are being spent to assist a couple of medical teams in upcoming trips to the Amazon and to the Andes mountains. There are also funds going to India in efforts to help with widows and orphans in that nation. Last, but certainly not least, some of the funds will be used to build a hope center in Uganda.

I write all this to testify that the God of this universe is sovereign over all things. He orchestrates His plan in ways that reveal to us His glory in magnificent ways. God uses all things for good, and I am just so thankful that we got to play a tiny, tiny, role in His “big” story. Sole de Gloria.

HomeLife - January 2008

2008-01-21T10:48:00.000-06:00

God wants His Word to be more than
a spice that accents your life.
He wants it to literally soak into
the core of who you are.

Everyone was crying but me. To my right was a lady with her hands held high and tears streaming down her face. To my left was a man on his knees, singing at the top of his lungs. I was standing between them, listening to the worship leader shout, “I want to touch You! I want to see Your face! I want to know You more!” One by one, people were making their way down the aisle, flooding the altar. It felt as though God was revealing Himself to everyone. Everyone but me.

Whatever the congregation was sensing — I wasn’t. I was wide-awake in a sea of people clearly receiving something divine. My heart desperately wanted to be right there with them — but it wasn’t.
So what did I do? I closed my eyes, lifted my hands, and sang even louder. I didn’t want to get left behind.
I wanted to see what everyone else was seeing.
Touch what everyone else was touching.
Feel what everyone else was feeling.

Know what everyone else was getting to know.

You can know His will if you read His book.

Make the connection. Have you ever felt as though you’re missing out on a real connection with God? You hear statements like, “I saw God in a powerful way” or “God spoke to me today.” It sounds like God is busy making the rounds, connecting with others, but somehow you’re incommunicado.
Welcome to the club. Throughout history, man has always longed to hear from God. Problem is, we often look for God in our experiences, events songs, and sermons rather than looking in the primary way God speaks: the Bible.
What are some practical ways to use Scripture as a means to connect with God? When I attended a class led by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, here’s what I learned:

• Hear the Word: Paul wrote about how trust is generated: “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17, NIV). In the field of education experts say that about 10 percent of what we hear stays with us. At school or at work, we absorb and apply only a tenth of what we hear. The rest is flushed from our brains, and it’s gone. This percentage is true in our spiritual lives as well: We absorb only about 10 percent of the sermons, seminars, and talks we hear. Hearing is important, but it’s only the first step.

• Read the Word: When it comes to reading, the statistics are more in our favor. We actually absorb about 25 percent of what we read. The physical and mental effort expended in reading pays greater dividends than simply hearing. Reading reinforces truth so we can understand and obey God. The pages of the Bible are the source of God’s wisdom: about relationships, career, parenting, tragedy, pain, death, purpose, values, lifestyle, and all the principles you and I need to live successfully. Many Christians complain that they don’t know what God’s will is. You can know His will if you read His book.

• Study the Word: Hearing and reading are effective, but not as effective as studying. This discipline allows us to take in and apply the truth. Solomon, the wisest man the world has ever known, wrote about the benefits of searching for the truth: “If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless” (Prov. 23-7, NIV).
The simple truth? We will be motivated to study God’s Word when we become passionate about knowing God.

• Memorize the Word: Studying God’s Word will have a huge impact on your life, but memorizing the Scriptures will be even more effective in changing your life, because 80 percent of what we memorize stays with us. In Psalm 119:9, David writes, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word” (NIV). A couple of verses later, he describes how the Word penetrated his own heart: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (v. 11, NIV). Hopefully we’ve all been in situations where the Holy Spirit brought to mind a particular Scripture at just the right time. Memorizing God’s truth makes it easily accessible for the Holy Spirit to use it any time, any place.

• Meditate on the Word: To enjoy the greatest benefit form God’s Word, learn to meditate on it. In fact, cross out the word meditate and replace it with the word marinate. God wants His Word not just to be a spice that accents your life, but a daily marinating process that literally soaks into the core of who you are, forever changing your very identity.
Soaking yourself in God’s Word is 100 percent effective. Paul even admonishes us in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (NIV). A renewed mind is one that continually marinates in Scripture.

Enjoy the richness. The truths found in the pages of the Bible hold the keys to purpose and fulfillment. But soaking them up requires effort and determination. Don’t miss out on a real connection with God. Soak His Word into the very core of who you are.

4 WAYS TO SOAK UP SCRIPTURE
Take the Plunge

As parents, model for your children that immersing in Bible study is imperative to a healthy Christian life. But go beyond the surface of just letting them see you study God’s Word; invite them to take the plunge with you so they begin to form Bible study practices at a young age.

1) Find a book or devotional study that is appropriate for all members of your family.
2) Set aside at least one night per week and get together to read, pray, and discuss what God is doing in your family.
3) Use HomeLife’s new family devotional, “Family Faith.” It includes a monthly spiritual emphasis (self-control is this month’s focus), Scriptures to memorize together, discussion points, and suggestions on how to involve your family in applying God’s Word.
4) Encourage your kids to read something in the Bible every day and tell you about it. Share with them what you’re learning in your study of God’s Word.

2007-12-21T14:34:00.001-06:00

I just got back from a seven day video shoot in Rome, Italy. The Bible study curriculum we shot is focused on the life of the apostle Paul. Rome was amazing. I took my family. And I mean all ten of us. My parents, my brother, my sister, her kids, and my wife Jennifer and our kids as well. TEN in all!!! My days were filled with early to late filming, but I got in some really great family time as well.

I taught about the cost of discipleship at the Roman Colosseum, the supposed spot where the apostle Paul was beheaded. It was haunting to be in the very place where so many were martyred because of their conviction to follow Christ at any cost.

I preached the “Roman Road” on the actual Roman road...the Appian Way. The “Roman Road” is a nickname for five passages in the book of Romans that explain the plan of salvation. We shot the gospel presentation on a cold rainy morning on this ancient and very picturesque road.

I preached about grace at the Scala Santa. The Church of the Holy Steps is a basilica built around the 26 steps that legend tells of Jesus standing on when he was condemned to the cross. These were the very steps in front of Pontius Pilate’s house in Jerusalem. The steps were brought to Rome and a church was built around them.

I got to teach on mentorship at the Mamertine Prison. The location where we believe Paul wrote his urgent and passionate letter to Timothy. It was surreal to read 2 Timothy in the very place it was written. To think that Paul was giving us his last recorded words...

All that said, my favorite segment that we shot was at the Roman Forum. Walking among the ruins and deteriorated remains of what at one time was the “center of the world,” serves as a reminder that no nation, no matter how powerful, is indestructible. Ancient Rome can serve as a real warning for modern day America. Rome was the fashion, entertainment, military, social capital of the world at one point (much like the United States today.). Ultimately, the only thing that was able to conquer Rome and bring it to its knees was its own arrogance and depravity. It was very sobering.

The video series will be out in August. I’ll keep you posted...

Walk The Line

2007-08-25T12:19:00.000-05:00

Walk the line.

My schedule in the last few weeks has been filled with interviews with radio, newspapers, and TV. Most of the press has come our way due to the national release of the book Glory Revealed. The book officially released about a month ago, and in an attempt to be a good steward of the message entrusted to me, I have been hitting the airwaves and getting the message out. Most of the interviews have been with Christian media outlets…that is until last Thursday.
I was asked by CNN/ Headline News to comment on a story that at first glance had nothing to do with the release of the new book. Many of you may not be familiar with the much debated- and press-covered story of a dispute between a church in Texas and the family of Cecil Sinclair. You can read about the dispute in the Dallas paper by clicking here:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/081007dnmetgayfuneral.3617689.html

You can read the church’s statement on their site here:http://www.churchunusual.com/statement.html

The short of it is that a church in Dallas had agreed to host a funeral for a military man who had died of heart failure. The dispute began when the church found out the deceased man was homosexual and that the family desired to perform a funeral that celebrated his way of life. Having the conviction that homosexuality is a sin; the church felt as though allowing the funeral to be held in their sanctuary would send the message that they are condoning the gay lifestyle. The church says that this decision was based on specific pictures submitted for a slideshow and the all-gay quartet that the family wanted involved in the service. The day before the funeral, church called and reneged on hosting it. The church did offer to pay for an alternate location and to make food for the guests. But to the family, that was just more salt added to the wound. The family of the man was irate about the church’s last minute cancellation. They said they were never given the option to tweak the slideshow; that the quartet was only going to sing Amazing Grace; and that they were open to the church giving an alter call if so desired, etc. The family felt as though the church in the midst of a time of mourning mistreated them. So, by the time the press, the bloggers, the talk radio guys, and other spin doctors got hold of the story, it was an explosive incident that dared many to ask some hard questions about the church's role in modern day culture. To add more fuel to the fire, the man had served our country in war, making the incident harder to stomach as patriots. Some accused the church of hate and legalism, while others backed the church for taking a concrete stand. The church had made an official statement, but was not engaging in further dialogue about it. This is why CNN was asking me to chime in. Obviously there were many sides to this story, but the only info I had was what I could read on the web.

So there I was on CNN being asked to throw my two cents in. Mike Galanos was the interviewer. Mike was great at being unbiased and it was obvious that he had done his homework. After hearing from the Sinclair family Mike asked me if I believed the church dropped the ball and what would have been the appropriate response. I began by giving my condolences to the Sinclair family for the loss of their loved one. It is an awful thing to lose someone you love. I told CNN that although I agreed with the church theologically, it did seem as though the church had dropped the ball culturally and practically. The church had approved the funeral initially and in my opinion should have explored every option to allow the funeral and to not have it moved at the last minute. The attitude of a church should always be how could we say “yes” to this, not “no!” The Sinclair family said that the church just cancelled. What if the church had said, “The answer is yes, but we need to ask you to remove one or two photos from the slideshow.” or, “Can we talk through the song selection of the quartet?” or “We ask that you not say anything that...” What if the church engaged in dialogue about options and a “meet in the middle” scenario? Not compromising, but comforting. The family claims that was never done. The church says they offered to pay for a non-religious location, and to pay for the food.
The thing that was perhaps most unsettling to the Sinclair family was that the church compared allowing pictures of a gay couple being shown at a gay man’s funeral to allowing pictures of a man murdering someone at a murders’ funeral. Wow. I can see the point being made by the church about projecting an act of sin through their projectors, but is that a fair comparison? Does it lack sensitivity to compare homosexuality to murder in the midst of the Sinclair family's time of mourning? How about a little tact? If the quartet wants to sing Amazing Grace, do we not let them because they have sin in their life? If only sinless people could sing in our churches, then who can sing? They did not want to sing pro gay songs. They wanted to sing Amazing Grace. It's not as though the church was asked to perform or host a gay wedding. That would be condoning and celebrating. The case can be made that if the major theme and purpose of a wedding is about celebrating and condoning, then a funeral is for comforting. As I see it, the church in Dallas could have figured out a way to be clear that they were not condoning, but giving people a safe place to mourn and reflect on their loss.
Although it is not easy, we, as the church, need to learn to walk that line.
It’s not a gray line, but a bold black one. It’s a bit of a balancing act, but in order to meet people where they are, we can’t have a knee-jerk reaction when we encounter situations that are out of our religious “norm.” What if this had been treated as an outreach event?
By the end of the CNN interview, the one thing that was clear to all parties involved was is that the church of the future will be a church that will have to learn to navigate through these kind of issues proactively and reactively.
This brings me back to the original question of what the CNN interview had to do with the book Glory Revealed. The intent of the book is to point people to scripture as a means to hear from God. God is not silent about anything. Including the Sinclair funeral arrangements. What does scripture have to say about this? Not just homosexuality, but about reaching out to people in the midst of a sinful lifestyle? Maybe a good place to see God reveal himself to us in this matter is the story we know as “the woman at the well.” So go ahead. Grab a Bible, and turn off all the talking heads (including me) on this matter. Go to Scripture and ask God to reveal.

God's Glory Revealed

2007-06-25T14:48:00.000-05:00

God continues to leave me standing in awe of His great work! I just received this news and thought I would share it with all of you. It's becoming clearer each day that I am simply a small piece in this giant move of God.

“By His Wounds” sets radio chart record

“By His Wounds,” the single from Glory Revealed (Provident-Integrity), a 10-track CD that features such high-profile artists as Third Day lead singer Mac Powell, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman and ex-Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell, set a new record on the R&R INSPO Radio Chart when it stayed at No. 1 for 11 consecutive weeks, according to Reunion Records—the worship album's label.

“By His Wounds” also reached the top five on the adult contemporary charts. Released March 6, Glory Revealed has sold more than 35,000 copies and the Glory Revealed Tour recently wrapped up a 16-city run with several sold-out shows, Reunion Records said.

Glory Revealed is tied to a companion book of the same title by popular college and young adult speaker David Nasser. The self-published book releases to the Christian market next month after a 90-day exclusive distribution period through Family Christian Stores. In the book's 20 chapters, Nasser reveals how God weaves His glory into daily life, whether by conversation, suffering, fear, experience or other factors.

Seventeen Pounds

2007-05-25T13:57:00.000-05:00

Seventeen pounds. That’s how much weight I gained during the 17-city Glory Revealed Tour! One pound per city! As our three tour buses rolled out night after night, I can honestly say I took a piece of each city with me! I guess looking back it must have been the fourth meal that did me in. It’s hard to resist hot wings at 1:30 in the morning when all the guys on the bus are feasting! But on a much more serious note, I do feel as if all 17 cities have left an impression in such a greater way than pounds added.

As my summer diet begins and pounds slowing come off, what I will never shed is the memory of what God did in each and every city. What I wanted to do in this particular journal is to give you a small glimpse of the amazing things God did on tour. Rather than telling the story myself, I’ll let you read for yourself excerpts of emails www.gloryrevealed.com received. These are by no means the most sensational, but these touched my heart. I think they’ll touch yours. Blessings, David.

From Woodbridge, VA: You stated nearly verbatim the things I've emphasized to my children over and over again regarding God's Word. Third John verse 4 is one of the verses I have committed to memory and can claim – all to the glory of God! I've been saved for 42 years; and though you had me second guessing myself as to the number of Scripture verses I've committed to memory, I double checked myself when I got home and was relieved to count more than 42 verses that I've memorized over the years.

From Chicago, IL (attended the Waukasha, WI show): It was so evident that it was not a concert to showcase the awesome talent but it was a night of worship. Everything from how the stage was arranged to how everyone (including the artists) had the chance to sing along or just sit back and praise God through reflection of the words. Thank you for making it not about a performance but about our Lord and Savior.

From Duluth, MN: You did an awesome job in Duluth, MN last Saturday! That was the best concert I have ever been to. It was a great night of worship and I am glad I was a part of it. Your musical and evangelical talents were amazing. Thank you for using your divine gifts to glorify and spread God's word.

From Knoxville, TN: This was, by far, the best music I could have hoped for – I was constantly aware of the amount of talent gathered together on one stage – and it wasn't about anyone or anything except God's glory.

From Pensacola, FL: The entire night was full of such conviction for my husband and me. After the show, we talked in the car about our lack of time sent in God’s word and how we should hold each other accountable. My husband admitted he realized he needed to lead the way. He is a good man, but so busy providing for his family. Because the concert was so long, we got home late, paid the babysitter and went to bed. The next morning my husband woke me up by bringing me breakfast in bed (for the first time ever). We sat in bed and opened up the Bible together (for the first time ever) and read from the book of John. It was one of the greatest mornings of my life. I got closer to my husband and to God, all at the same time.

From Birmingham, AL: I am 25 years old and for as long as the Backstreet Boys have been THE BACKSTREET BOYS Brian Littrell has been my teen "idol." During the concert, David asked people who had been a Christian for three or more years to stand. Of course I stood because it has been seven for me. But then he wanted the ones who could quote a Bible verse for each year they had been a Christian verbatim to continue to stand...I sat down… a little ashamed. It occurred to me that I could tell you Brian's bday, all his songs, probably sing them word for word, and all Backstreet Boy history as if I worked for Rolling Stones @ one point or something. It was, to say the least, shameful and embarrassing on the inside. I had to repent right then.
Later we were given the option to even meet the "stars" @ the end of the show. Something I have always wanted to do, to touch Brain Littrell or to hug him, or just be face to face with him. I turned my back on the opportunity because I realized I had been worshipping a false idol for all these years. I chose to leave that concert with my new self worth and the revelation that Brian is just as equal to me as my husband is. It is Jesus I should have those feelings about. It is Jesus's life story I should know from beginning to end. I should be able to quote more than seven scriptures!!! And until I can know My Jesus, inside and out, I will no longer get giddy when a cute star crosses my past. Not only was I being sinful in my heart by lusting, so to speak, in the same presence as my husband, but it hurt my heart to know that although I am a strong Christian, I wonder would I have went had Brian Littrell not been there.

God, I'm Speechless.

2007-04-27T14:19:00.000-05:00

For the past few days I've found myself beginning a sentence or two of this blog and stopping. It's hard to come up with words that describe what God is doing in the Glory Revealed Tour. City after city, we have all been humbled to see how God is using this little tour to make Himself big. God's agenda truly has taken precedence as all of us have been blown away by the response. Thank you for all the emails, blog postings, comments, and texts. They continue to remind us through this endeavor that we as God's servants decrease as God continues to increase. I know that some of you want to get a glimpse of what God is doing, and since there are no words that accurately describe this encounter, I thought I'd post two video clips. We still have several cities to visit and would love for you to join us. The evenings are selling out fast and there is a real atmosphere of expectancy that God is going to do something great in all our hearts and lives.

-David

copy/past video link
into web browser: http://gloryrevealed.com/tour.php

Mac and David visit K-Love Ranch

2007-03-17T08:08:00.000-05:00

Mac and I spent most of last week doing press for the Glory Revealed CD release. even though our week seemed jam-packed it was great to stop and relax at our good friends' the Rivers' ranch on Tuesday, March 6th. They do the KLOVE morning show out of their studio at the ranch.

While on the ranch. Mac and I attempted to be real cowboys as we rode a few tame horses! However, the highlight of our day came afterwards when we had lunch. The place was about as "Americana" as you can get! There was literally a painting hanging on the wall of John Wayne's torso floating over a mountain! The Dr. Pepper, was old school with pure cane sugar and came in small bottles, and the fries were hand-cut and made to order! After lunch Mac and Jason got out the mandolin and sang for our lunch! They wanted me to wash dishes, but some how I got out of it!

One last thought.. I wanted to thank all of you for supporting Glory Revealed: The book, tour and worship CD. What a blessing! We had a great first week, please continue to tell others..maybe get on iTunes and leave a review (we're ..3 on the Christian charts), maybe call the local radio station and request the single, maybe send an eblast to your friends..every little bit helps! Thank you for partnering with us to make His glory known..

Check out the new pictures posted in my slideshow!
d

Anna Nicole Smith and Brittney Spears

2007-02-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

The death of Anna Nicole Smith on February 8th has been the #1 news story in the past few weeks…that, and the shaved head of Brittany Spears! When I heard about Anna Nicole's tragic death, unfortunately, I was not surprised. Who was? Before her death, Anna Nicole had become a routine punch line on Leno and Letterman. Today however, her notoriety takes on a different picture. Anna's story is now a modern day parable to the apostle Paul’s statement: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, but to forfeit his soul?" Anna reminds us all that you can have the fame and fortune, but still be bankrupt in Kingdom currency.

We see this proven everyday. Just pick up a People magazine on any given week and find the famous and idolized falling apart in front of the world to see. Most celebrity marriages have the life expectancy of a carton of milk and the rich and famous seem to be the depressed and shameless. One would think that the message of Anna Nicole's death, would be a wake up call to the Brittney Spears of the world.

Anna Nicole and Britney seem to have a lot in common. They both seem to be surrounded by entourages that don’t have the best of intentions. When you surround yourself with people that have the intent to profit from you at any cost, all sense of accountability is lost. Where were the people in Anna Nicole's life to stop her out-of-control behavior? The more erratic she acted the more her entourage exploited her shortcomings for profit. Who is speaking hard truth into Britney's life? Who tells Britney “No!” you can’t leave rehab two times in one week? I pray not only for the Britneys and Anna Nichols of the world, but their children as well.

To end with a glimmer of hope I want to bring to your attention a video that’s been posted on You Tube. It’s an interview with Anna Nicole. In it she talks about her faith. Sure it’s riddled with spiritual jargin and you don’t want to hang your hat on any of her theology, but it does give us hope that she was a believer in Christ. Here is the link to the interview: http://www.jesuslives.com/

d

Hot corporations know how to swing

2007-01-29T10:16:00.000-06:00

I recently read the following interview in USA Today and it resonated with me on
several levels...as in everything else, I am still processing, and asking
myself how these little nuggets of wisdom can be applied in our ministry. To
say that this interview is worth the read is an understatement.
Let me know your thoughts.
D

Hot corporations know how to swing

Updated 1/14/2007 10:11 PM ET
By Frank Franklin II, AP

Wynton Marsalis has long been renowned for his musical abilities,
but he also was recently honored for his talents in leadership.

Leading a company is often compared to conducting an orchestra. But organizing a jazz band may be a more appropriate analogy. That’s because business leaders increasingly want to set free the creative juices of individuality while maintaining the discipline to make music, not noise. USA TODAY’s Del Jones went to Wynton Marsalis, 45, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, who was named one of America’s Best Leaders in 2006 by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and U.S. News & World Report.

Q: Does a jazz stage really have anything in common with the typical workplace?
A: When you listen to great jazz musicians, you hear the respect they have for each other’s abilities. During a performance, most of the musicians’ time is spent listening to others. You see the trust they have for each other because they are always making adjustments and improvising based on what someone else does. I think (drummer) Elvin Jones articulated it best when he said, “In order to play with somebody on a profound level, you have to be willing to die with them.” You might not like your colleagues that much, but that is jazz and that is feeling.

Q: What can ruin jazz or business?
A: Lack of integrity. Jazz music always stood as a fortress of integrity. The musicians’ skills were so hard-earned that they did not easily sell out. Once the musicians decided to be less — for notoriety, publicity or money — our art began to face challenges: dearth of leadership, reducing human labor to a line item on a budget, and so on. We have control over how we choose to confront our challenges and reconcile contradictions.

Q: The roots of jazz go back to slavery. Do the best leaders have to experience a level of pain to be their most creative? For example, can a company thrive under a CEO born of privilege?
A: The farther away from the sun we are, the colder it gets. To know the essence of a thing requires us to go back to the origination of that thing, because time erodes meaning and enthusiasm. The originators of jazz were a second generation out of slavery and victims of rigorous forms of segregation in which humanity was routinely and institutionally denied. You would think that they were thinking about getting revenge, but in actuality, they were thinking about sharing and communicating with all kinds of people, and they became masters of achieving balance with others. These early jazz musicians worked out a perfect way to co-create using improvisation and a basic unit of rhythm called swing.

Q: What is “swing,” and how can a business get it?
A: Swing is a rhythm, an era in American history, and it is a world view. In this world view, there is a belief in the power of a collective ability to absorb mediocre and poor decisions. When a group of people working together trust that all are concerned for the common good, then they continue to be in sync no matter what happens. That is swing. It’s the feeling that our way is more important than my way. This philosophy extends to how to treat audiences, consumers, staff or dysfunctional families. This may seem idealistic, but think about how church congregations recite, nearly together and completely unrehearsed. They proceed by feel. Swing is the single objective. It is the core that makes us all want to work together.

Q: How can we unleash creativity and spontaneity on the job?
A: When I was younger, just beginning to play jazz and getting publicity, almost every critic and older musician came out of the woodwork to say that my playing was inauthentic — lacking soul and feeling. They said it was too technical and young. I had not paid enough dues to play with meaning or feeling. The great jazz trumpeter Sweets Edison, who played in Count Basie’s 1930s band, asked me “Where are you from?” I said, New Orleans. He said, “What did you grow up doing?” I responded, “Playing.” Then he said, “Why are you trying to act like what you are? Be what you are.” This was a profound lesson in creativity. It’s about being yourself, valuing your own ideas, mining your own dreams. You can be creative inside or outside of tradition. Outside of tradition, you create a new world. Inside of tradition, you create a new way to do the old things much better. Both can be innovative, because in one you reinvigorate a tradition. In the other, you counter-state it.

Q: The originator of jazz, Buddy Bolden, combined church music with music played in houses of ill repute. Is that the ultimate lesson for thinking out of the box?
A: Everybody knew the church music and they knew the whorehouse songs, but they didn’t have the courage to put these two opposite genres together. But the innovator understands how things that appear to be opposites are in fact the same. Bolden invented a way of singing the melodies through his horn that made the trumpet, the clarinet, the trombone, sound human.

Q: Every company longs for creative employees. How does a jazz band get swing without chaos?
A: Jazz is the collective aspirations of a group of musicians, shaped, given logic and organized under the extreme pressure of time. When we work together, the music is swinging, and when we don’t, it’s not. The perception of jazz is that we all get along. In actuality, we’re always trying to get along, and it is the integrity of that process that determines the quality of the swing. A business that swings will definitely be successful.

Q: On stage, what’s the difference between a leader and a follower?
A: Children are only responsible for themselves. As adults, we find ourselves responsible to and for more people, our families, our neighborhoods, our communities, our country, our world. Our ascension to a mature level of citizenship is directly related to the responsibility and size of things we choose to take on. In the arts, this ladder leads from your personal artistry to your art form, then on to all the arts and finally to humanity itself.

Q: So, is there a boss in a jazz band who takes charge?
A: In jazz, hierarchy is determined by your ability to play, not your position in the band. The philosophy of jazz is antithetical to the commoditization of people. It is rooted in the elevation and enrichment of people. The reason that jazz is the most flexible art form in the history of the planet is because it believes in the good taste of individuals. It believes in the human power to create wonderful things, and it embraces that instead of attempting to administrate it away with senseless titles and useless hierarchies.

MARSALIS’ TIPS

• Everything in jazz and business starts with integrity. Listen to others. Respect them. Build trust.
• Groups who work together “swing.” They believe “we” is more important than “me,” and by doing so, absorb mistakes.
• You can be creative inside or outside of tradition. Inside, you reinvigorate. Outside, you counter-state.
• Creative people dare to be laughed at. They don’t act like what they are. They be what they are.
• Embrace opposites. They are, in fact, the same.

MARSALIS BIO

• Native of New Orleans. Got first trumpet at age 8. By 14 was invited to perform with the New Orleans Philharmonic.
• Entered The Juilliard School in New York in 1979 to study classical trumpet but left to pursue jazz. In 1997 became the first jazz artist to receive the Pulitzer Prize in music.
• More than 40 jazz and classical recordings. Nine Grammy Awards; in 1983-84 he became the only artist to win Grammy Awards in both classical and jazz.
• Time magazine selected Marsalis as one of America’s most promising leaders under 40 in 1995.
• Performance schedule: jalc.org.

Glory Revealed: The Book • The CD • The Tour

2007-01-23T11:12:00.000-06:00

Glory Revealed: The Book • The CD • The Tour is coming together beautifully. In the next few weeks gloryrevealed.com will be completed and this site will provide all the information needed to stay updated about all three aspects of Glory Revealed!

In the meantime, here’s the information up to this point:

Glory Revealed: The Book
The Book is currently being printed and is available for pre-sale at www.davidnasser.com. It will be available to ship after March 6, 2007. In addition to our on-line store, in April the book will be made available exclusively through Family Christian Bookstores for 90 days until the national release in June when it will be in bookstores across the nation. The book will also be available on location throughout the tour.

Glory Revealed: The CD
The CD release date is March 6, 2007. The single, By His Wounds, is already in the market. Contact your local radio stations to request airtime! By His Wounds features Mac Powell of Third Day, Mark Hall of Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys.

Glory Revealed: The Tour
The Tour will begin March 29, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia and will continue nightly across the country until its closing concert in Clearwater, Florida on April 29, 2007. Although we’ve not finalized ALL the cities, here is the list so far: Birmingham, AL; Clearwater, FL; Lakeland, FL; Ocala, FL; Pensacola, FL; Atlanta, GA; Alexandria, MN; Duluth, MN; Minneapolis, MN; Knoxville, TN; Nashville, TN; and Woodbridge, VA.

Continue to check back at www.davidnasser.com and soon at www.gloryrevealed.com for more updates!

Blessings!
David

Beauty in the Broken Tour

2006-10-04T11:12:00.000-05:00

I just returned from the “Beauty in the Broken” tour that began at one end of Canada and ended at the other. Words cannot express how amazing this tour was. Night after night Drew Brown, the men of Starfield and myself walked into a maxed-to-capacity room and saw the church in Canada gather to make much of Jesus. Starfield held no punches as they connected worship songs to screens full of mind-blowing visuals to create a night of imagery worship. It was truly a pleasure for me to be able to hit the stage every night to preach about Jesus, The Word!

We even managed to get a copy of the message during the show one night. Check back in the next few weeks and we’ll try to post it on the web for you.

Philly

2006-08-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that the last official week of the summer is always a bittersweet thing. On one hand you’re excited about camp season ending. And on the other hand you’re sad about the season ending. The hardest thing to battle is the fact that you see the finish line and you have to fight so hard not to mentally checkout.

This camp however helped me with the struggle. It was hard to look ahead of this week when so many great things were happening. We saw students come to know Christ, lives being changed, youth groups united stronger.

Joel Engle and his band led our worship. Joel is a very close friend and it was great to not only be led by him in song, but to get plenty of one-on-one time with such a great guy. My only regret is that I spent an entire week in a suburb of Philly and never went downtown to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall or even to grab a Philly steak sandwich! Oh, well, maybe another year!

New York

2006-08-09T09:03:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I finished a weeklong camp in Ocean City, Maryland, and decided to spend the rest of the weekend in one of my favorite places, New York City. I knew the following Monday I had to be at another event in Philadelphia, PA so it was not worth the time to fly back to Birmingham on Saturday only to have one day at home and then fly right back out on Monday. The weekend was great. New York is the city that never sleeps and I was its pupil. I saw four shows in one weekend and, as always is the case in Manhattan, ate some amazing food. I even managed to go to church on Sunday morning. All that said, the weekend was going just as expected until Monday morning.

I guess to explain properly, I’ll have to go back to Saturday afternoon when I arrived in front of my hotel with the rental car. I was asked by the bellman if I wanted to valet park my car, I asked him how much and he answered $43 a day. Then he noticed a car right in front of us pulling out of a parking space. He pointed to it and said that another option would be to just park right there. He told me I was in luck because during the weekend you can park in that spot for free. On weekdays, however, it’s a NO PARKING zone, as long as I moved it by 8:30 Monday morning, all should be good and I’d save myself $90. Obviously, I went with that option!

Now, fast-forward to Monday morning, 7:45. Picture me standing in front of the hotel looking for my rental car, which is nowhere to be found! I asked the bellman (who was not the same guy as on Saturday) what should I do? I told him my car was gone, and I pointed to the empty spot. He agreed and informed me that my car had been towed, that I had parked in a NO PARKING zone. I told him the other bellman had told me that it was OK to park there until 8:30 a.m. He laughed and said the sign says 7:00 a.m. And, that in New York the tow truck begins backing up to that spot every Monday morning at 6:55 a.m. This, he said, it the only thing that ever happens in perfect precision in New York City! He watched my car get towed away at 7:05!

So, 45 minutes and a $15 cab ride later, I was at the car impound yard waiting in line to pay $185 plus processing fee to get my car out of jail! So far it was not a good morning.

And then everything changed!

I was second in line when the lady in front of me went to the counter for her turn. She was about my height with blond hair and perhaps in her mid-40ís. Typically, I try not to eavesdrop on other people and their business, but all of us in line could not help hearing was said in the next few minutes. The lady in front of me began to talk to the city worker behind the glass wall. She told her the make and model of car and where it was parked before being towed. Then she asked how much it would cost to get her car back. The city worker replied $185.00! The lady began to cry uncontrollably. She just kept saying over and over, “I just don’t have that kind of money.” The city worker, having become callus from many years of sad stories and excuses made no effect to comfort the distraught lady said, “You can put it on your credit card or debit card. But we will not take a check.” The reply came quickly, “You don’t understand, I just don’t have it! I don’t have a credit card, and I don’t have the money!” The city worker said, “Well, you can come back later and retrieve your car when you do have the money, but it will be an addition $20 for each day.” That did not make the matter any better. Gayle (I found her name out later), bent over doubled and began to sob, as if the pressure was too much to bare… kept repeating “I can’t pay it! I don’t have it!”

That’s when it hit me… I do! I put my hand on Gayle’s shoulder and said, “Ma’am, I don’t want to get into your business, but I was wondering if you’d give me the privilege of paying your fine for you?” Gayle looked at me with confusion. The only thing she could muster was “What?” immediately followed by “Why?” All I could say back was, “Because I can, and because I want to.”

The city worker, watching the whole thing then said out loud, “I don’t know if you’re allowed to do that!” Then we, and everyone standing in line behind us, gave her a look as if to say, “You have got to be kidding!”

“There is no law that says I can’t give someone $200, ma’am!” I stated.

“I’ll have to go to the back and see if this is OK,” she replied.

Obviously I was ruining her power trip moment! Then the other people behind me started to use expletives that are very New York, to say the least!

As the city worker started to walk away, I pulled some money out of my pocket and handed it to Gayle. “When the lady comes back,” I told her, “pull this out of your pocket and hand it to her. That way it will be coming from you.”

Two minutes later, the city worker returned, along with two of her co-workers. And with a frown, she told us that it would be fine for me to give Gayle the money. I watched as Gayle dried her tears and handed the lady the money. Her paperwork was getting processed and with a different kind of tear, Gayle looked at me and said “Thank-you.” By this time, I was crying just a little myself and I replied, “Thank YOU!” Gayle then walked away to wait for her car. I finished paying my fee and went to the waiting room myself to find Gayle gesturing toward me to come sit with her. We sat together and talked for over 30 minutes, talking about her tough life, your financial stress, and how life is hard in such a big city. We talked about Alabama, my family there and why I was in New York for the weekend. She asked me what I did for a living and when I answered, “minister.” She shouted out loud, “I knew it!” And I started to laugh! I told her how she had ministered to me much more than I could ever have ministered to her. We then talked just a few more minutes about Christ.

No, I didn’t pull out a track, or try to close the deal in some systematic way, but instead, we talked about how ruthless the law can be, how it makes no exceptions, and how Jesus paid the fine for all of us when we couldn’t pay it for ourselves.

Eventually our papers were processed and we were ready to go. As we got up Gayle asked for my address so that one day she could repay me. I told her she owed me nothing. I told her there was no strings attached, that she didn’t have to pay me anything. It was a gift. And that I didn’t do anything she wouldn’t have done herself if she could.

Ten minutes later I was back in my rental car trying to navigate the traffic mayhem. As I was stopped in bumper-to-bumper traffic I thought about all that had taken place in the past few hours and I thanked God that my car was towed!

Ocean City, Maryland

2006-08-09T08:47:00.000-05:00

I just finished my fourth Student Life Camp of the summer. This particular camp was located in Ocean City, Maryland. What a beautiful area! When I think of the North, generally I don’t think about the beach, it’s fair to say that is because of my lack of knowledge. The Maryland coast is a beautiful place. The camp was, by Student Life standards, an intimate one with nearly 400 students. Todd Agnew and his band led our worship. All Things to All People brought the drama every day and every night. It was obvious on the first night that God was up to something great! We saw students give their lives to Christ. And Christians came openhearted, ready and receptive for God’s truth.

In some ways ministry is a little easier in the North because the students come hungry and not burned out on religion. In the South everyone goes to youth camp. In the North things are obviously different.

I guess my only regret for the week was that Agnew and I never really got to hang. Outside of a few minutes here and there he spent all of his free time working on an upcoming Christmas record and I spent mine catching up on office work.

Oh, yeah! I forgot to mention that the Shanes came in on Wednesday night for a concert! It was good to catch up with them but it was even better to sit in the back of the room during their concert and be loved in worship. Between Todd and the Shanes, the worship this week was truly anointed.

One last thing, thanks everyone from the First Baptist Norfolk gang for the “Big Mac” t-shirt!

Trump-Off

2006-07-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

Last week’s camp was in about the most beautiful place it could possibly be! Durango, Colorado is one of those spots on earth, where the entire time you’re there, all you’re thinking is, “God is such a show-off!”

Many of us own SUVs knowing that we will never make use of the 4-wheel drive feature. We also own Crocks knowing we’ll never really need a shoe that can get wet one minute and be dry the next. In Durango, Colorado such things are not fashion statements, but necessities! You can climb, fish, ski, mountain bike, canoe, and that’s just the beginning! Whether it is a river, a mountain, or just a wide-open space, Durango is gorgeous and breathtaking.

All that said… I just spent the entire week in the Durango Hampton Inn checking emails and going back and forth to a gym where I spoke twice a day! It’s sad to be surrounded by God’s beauty and only sit and stare at the same computer screen all day long! The next time I’m in Colorado, I’ve got to get out and explore!

Camp was simply amazing! Charlie Hall led timely and appropriate songs for the messages. What you always get with Charlie Hall is honesty and transparency. He is a veteran who knows how to move an audience God-ward.

The Student Life staffers, who have now gotten into the swing of things after weeks and weeks of practice, didn’t miss one beat. Probably the only thing that did NOT go as planned during the week was my goofy ambition to play the trumpet at every morning session. On the first day, due to a dare, I brought out a trumpet onto the stage and told the kids I was one of the most talented trumpet players they would ever hear! Then I told them not to let their jealousy of my amazing ability hinder them in their worship. Then I attempted to play the first trumpet solo of my life!

The next morning I came out again with the trumpet and this time challenged a student (who could actually play!) to a Trump-Off. During the Trump-Off the next day, the student played his solo. (And frankly did a very good job!) Then it was my turn. The lights were dimmed, the smoke machine was turned on and through the sound system began the trumpet solo “The Flight of the Bumblebee” (by Miles Davies) as I lip-synced on the trumpet!! I then appointed myself the “winner” of the Trump-Off!

From there, tragically, things only got worse. The following day the students challenged me to a Dance-Off! I let it be known that since I was a Southern Baptist it was against my denomination to dance! But I asked students, who were not Southern Baptists, to bring on the goods! We had a Dance-Off between two guys, (who frankly should become Southern Baptists because they should never be allowed to dance again!) But all in all, it was a whole lot of fun!

Thank you, everyone, in Durango for making it such a great adventure! God was honored. Lives were eternally changed. And “The Flight of the Bumblebee” was fictionally trumpeted!

David

Living la vida loco.

2006-07-13T09:45:00.000-05:00

Living la vida loco. No, literally. That’s how I feel most of the time. Like I’m living this crazy life and Ricky Martin happened to actually write a song about it. Summertime especially adds to the fun – back-to-back summer camps, Christian music festivals, trips to the pool, birthday parties, VBS, mission trips – and to top it off, the kids are home, yes, 24-hours-a-day. Sometimes I have to take an hour or so hostage in the middle of the madness and try to process and reflect so that I don’t miss the lessons (good and bad) in it all.

Tonight is one of those nights. We have just returned from a weeklong mission trip in Guatemala. David, me (Jennifer – David’s wife), Rudy, Grace, my parents-in-law, brother-(in-law), sister-(in-law), and her two children tagged along with a group from Bellevue Baptist in Memphis to go and do some mission work in Guatemala City (Rudy’s birthplace.) After much planning, lots of phone calls, a couple of anxiety attacks, and a bottle of Pepto Bismol later, we had it all planned out. We would meet David in Atlanta on Sunday, spend the night and fly to Guatemala the next day. David would speak at a nightly crusade at the Baptist Theological Seminary in the city, we would tag along at the school assemblies during the day and then visit a couple of children’s homes. When we flew back to Atlanta, we would get in our cars and drive to Knoxville, TN for a wedding the next day and then drive back that night in order for David to preach three services at our home church (Hunter Street Baptist) the next morning. Whew!!!!

In all reality, on a trip where things could have gone horribly wrong on many levels, God chose to allow us the trip of a lifetime. Things could not have gone more smoothly. Our hosts (Bellevue Baptist) couldn’t have been more gracious, the missionaries we worked with couldn’t have been more servant-hearted, and the Guatemalan people couldn’t have received us more warmly. We truly saw God’s hand at work from the moment we got in the car to drive to Atlanta until we returned home. We saw Him change the lives of unbelievers and just lavish encouragement on believers, both Guatemalan and American. We, with our own eyes, witnessed how amazingly BIG God is… how He really does weave all things together just so we can look at what He has done and marvel at His providence. We were all (needfully) reacquainted with the grinding poverty that grips most of the world that we live in, and we were (thankfully) given several opportunities on this trip to respond to it.

I, particularly, was humbled and reminded of how gracious God is to have given us Rudy and of how many more “Rudy’s” there are who need a mama and daddy and a warm bed. (I’m now gonna get on my soapbox about adoption – the world needs Christians to love and adopt these children. It seems to me Jesus said something about that in James… I’ll save the rest for another blog.) We got to meet an 8 month old, 10 lb. orphan child with Down’s Syndrome who needs surgery to correct multiple holes in her heart. How blessed we were that God allowed David’s brother Benjamin to pick Angela up and she immediately open her mouth to kiss him. That was one of the sweetest moments! We were all overwhelmed at the maturity and attitude of service we saw in all the American teenagers we were with. I thanked God over and over again for allowing our children to go on this trip and make concrete all this “missions talk” they hear. And to top it all off, Grace and her cousin Simene gave their hearts and lives to Christ on this trip. How amazing that in the country in which my son received life, my daughter received life, too… I don’t even know where to begin to unravel my thoughts about that right now!
I could tell you many specific stories, but I’m not sure at this point if they would be one sentence or two pages. I’m still processing… maybe I’ll be a “guest blogger” about it another time.

Thanks for listening to my rambling!
In Grace,
Jennifer

PS – Money is trying to be raised for Angela’s open heart surgery. If you would like to donate to this, please e-mail me at Jennifer@davidnasser.com and I will let you know how to do it. About $10,000 is needed, and $5,000 has been collected so far.

Bravo God

2006-07-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

This week I spent a rain-drenched week in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, speaking at what they told me was the largest World Changers ever. The event was called World Changers XL. Students from all over the country came together to paint, roof, do lawn work and other chores for the needy in the area. The idea is to spread the Gospel by being a help in the community.

The weather presented challenges all week for the students. It’s hard to roof a house when it’s raining like cats and dogs, day after day... Never the less, the students prevailed. When it rained they went inside and painted, and when it stopped raining, they hit the roof tops and worked super hard... At night, we gathered together and had worship services. I had the privilege of speaking and encouraging these young missionaries. Jamie Smith lead our worship, and did an amazing job (as she always does).

On a fun note, I have to tell you about the gift I received from the students on the last night. All week long I jabbed little jokes about rednecks and mullets. On Saturday night, the students presented me with a sand dollar that had a confederate flag airbrushed on it. It also said with bold letters "Iranian Redneck." So funny!! It will definitely end up on my office wall.

Thanks to John Bailey and the rest of the World Changers staff for a great week. Bravo God.

Alive Festival

2006-07-03T13:46:00.000-05:00

I just spent a great day in Canal Fulton, Ohio at the Alive Festival. As one of my favorite places to do ministry, Alive has proven time after time again to be a historic place where God moves in so many lives.

Festivals are almost like family reunions for many of us. Speakers, bands and festival directors look forward to special moments when we each have a chance to get together and catch up on everyday life. Don’t get me wrong! It’s not that I don’t desire to see a Casting Crowns or Barlow Girls show! Just more than that I look forward to seeing them backstage to catch up on the family and how they’re doing.

Thank you so much for the great feedback already. Both the seminar in the afternoon and main stage talk that night were new messages and it’s been so encouraging to see how God has used them in the lives of others.

My friends, the Graenings, do such an amazing job directing this event! The Alive Festival is more about ministry than about entertainment!

Adopting Love

2006-06-30T12:51:00.000-05:00

Recently I was on the air with my good friends John and Sherry of K-Love Radio. I never know what the conversation will be about, I just know it’s always a whole lot of fun! As we got on the air, John and Sherry told me that they were celebrating their daughter Lexi’s second anniversary. The anniversary marks two years that Lexi has been part of their family since they adopted her from China. I shared that my family also had just celebrated my son Rudy’s second adoption anniversary just a few weeks before. We then continued to discuss the beauty of adoption. We talked about how it mimics the gospel and becomes an act of worship for believers. The listening audience was challenged to look into the wonderful world of adoption which is exactly what happened following the interview. Thank you for your overwhelming interest!

Many of you have requested information and I wanted to post some trustworthy agencies that deal with adoption. These are people we know first hand and can vouch for wholeheartedly. So whether God is call you to begin the process of adoption or He is leading you to just get more informed so you can pray for these children, it will be time well spent.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
Ps 68:5

http://www.familylife.com/hopefororphans

http://members.shaohannahshope.org

http://www.lifelineadoption.org

http://www.bethany.org

Myrtle Beach/Atlanta Fest

2006-06-21T08:31:00.000-05:00

Last week I spent Monday through Friday hanging out with nearly 1,500 students at StudentLife Camp at Myrtle Beach, SC. For me, when I think about the beach, South Carolina is usually NOT the first place that pops into my mind! I’ve been to Myrtle Beach before and although the beach is beautiful, the change of environment seems to be a bit on the redneck side. My motto has always been “Myrtle Beach…Hey! Even rednecks deserve the ocean!” But all kidding aside, I found out last week that Myrtle Beach is a wonderful place!!

First, let me tell you about the amazing accommodations! Sheridan was the hotel attached to the Convention Center where the event was held. Pound for pound it rivals any Ritz-Carlton anywhere! It’s a beautiful hotel with great beds and great food! It sure didn’t feel like we were at a camp, but as if we were on vacation! I had my family along as well as my in-laws.

On a much more important topic… the spiritual aspects of camp were amazing. The StudentLife Beach Crew is a well-oiled machine that makes sure everything is done in excellence. Starfield led our worship. They made sure that session after session the worship was authentic and effective. I got in some quality hang time with students and it was very encouraging to hear how the messages God has put on my heart are connecting on many different levels.

Early Friday morning, (and I mean early, as in 4:15 a.m.!) I got up to head to the airport to fly to Nashville for an all-day meeting. Not much on that except to say that a great partnership opportunity seems to be on the horizon.

Saturday was spent at Six Flags in Atlanta, Georgia where I had the opportunity, for the fifth year in a row, to speak at one of my favorite festivals – Atlanta Fest. I spoke three times and although the day was physically hot and long, spiritually God’s presence was really evident. The highlight for the day on a personal note was that my friend Rick Stanley came to hang with us. Another highlight was getting to catch here and there my friends from Building 429 and Casting Crowns. Both bands have really mastered their summer sets with great ministry and precision. All in all, Atlanta Fest was amazing this year. Also, thanks to my friends Frances and Terri for helping at my merch table!

Hyperbole

2006-06-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

This week, I spent four nights with 1500 students at a StudentLife camp. The great folks at StudentLife always go above and beyond in serving youth ministries by putting on amazing camps. Tree63 led worship and All Things To All People led in drama as well.

Wow. What a great week. Day after day, we saw God do amazing things. The lost became found. The wounded became healed. And the hope entered the hopeless.

Here are just a few highlights and thoughts:

Monday: I had lunch with some StudentLife staffers and the Tree63 guys. I really enjoyed getting to know them. These guys are the real deal and they have a passion for the church to worship God. At lunch we talked about movies, family, South Africa, and vegetarian dishes. It was random, but fun!

Tuesday: We saw God do amazing things Tuesday night. The campus was transformed into a counseling haven. Everywhere after the service, students were in circles weeping and praying. God set many students free that night. I counseled with several students that night, one on one. If you’re reading this... (you know who you are), know that I am praying for you specifically this week.

Wednesday: Great things happened all day. On a recreational level I got to play tennis with my new friend Kenneth. He is a solid player, and frankly a stud. He attends one of my favorite churches on the planet (Eastminster Presbyterian Church). It was fun but luckily we ran out of time! I was running out of steam and he was just getting started after an hour or so. I’m such an old man!!!

Thursday: The only thing that was kind of weird was that on the last night a bat flew into the Conference Center. It was distracting to say the least! Everyone freaked out for a minute and then we got focused again in what God was saying through His Word.

All in all… it was a great week. The new messages seemed to really resonate with people and the summer is now officially started. Hyperbole. (Inside joke for campers!)

Meeting Jesus

2006-06-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

I recently received a personal journal entry from my friend Wendy Garner that was so encouraging to me. She didn’t put two and two together until long after her journal was written. When she realized that the young man she journaled about back in December was in fact my brother Benjamin, who has Down Syndrome, she forwarded me her journal entry. I was moved by it and wanted to post it today in hopes that you would be moved to become more simple-hearted as well.

Meeting Jesus

What would Jesus look like today if He walked the earth? Would we recognize Him? I believe I saw Him in the eyes of a very humble man.

Scripture tells us, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him,” Isaiah 53:2. I guess that means we’d only recognize Him by His heart.

My story is one of many frazzled mothers of preschoolers. I’ve been blessed with two boys, 22 months apart. Cole is 4; Reece is 2. Little angels or double trouble; from day to day, moment to moment I never really know which I’ll get. Let’s just say on this day their halos were quite askew!

It was the middle of the Christmas holiday rush. I thought I could “dash” into Family Christian bookstore with two preschoolers in tow. I’d pick up the items I needed and we’d be on our way. (Call it a mother’s amnesia. The last time I was able to “dash” into a store I was also able to talk on the phone uninterrupted and sleep through the night. Some things will never be the same!) Everything went as expected. A few, “don’t-touch-that-put-that-downs” later it was time to check out and we’d be on our merry way. But alas it was the holiday season. The checkout lines were long. We’ll have to wait. My arms were full of merchandise. Not a free hand in sight, which is delight to the eyes of a preschooler. You can almost see their little minds putting the pieces of the puzzle together: mommy’s trapped, she can’t get me, I can do what I want and best of all… I have an audience!

I should say, separately my boys are saints. Sweet, good-natured, mild mannered, but when they’re together it can be like a pack of wild dogs. A gang mentality takes over as each tries to one- up the other in devilish delight. They start with picking through (and trying to put in their pockets) the knick-knacks that are at the checkout counter, thousands of little bracelets, rings and crosses. You know, the merchandise that’s just at eye level for a pre-schooler, a mother’s nightmare. With my hands full, the only weapon I have is my voice. “Stop that!” “Cole!” “Reece!” “Put that down!” Then they start running circles… around me, then around the customers. A kind lady behind me says, “I remember those days. They know when your hands are full.” Then she told me about how she carried a fly swatter around in her purse for just the occasion. (Note to self!) Then I hear it, “Ding dong!” “Ding dong!” “Ding dong!” I look and my two year old has the door chime in his hand! Every move he makes, it chimes.

This time I have no choice but to step out of line long enough to repair the store’s security system. When I step back in line, more chaos ensues. That’s when I see him. I had noticed him a few minutes earlier but in my frazzled state paid little attention. A brown haired man around the age of thirty, bent down. I instantly recognized his distinct features. He had Down’s Syndrome. But while his handicap caught my attention, his heart captivated my children.
While kneeling down to their level and looking intently in their eyes he started first with small talk, then the sweetest words. “Jesus wants you to obey your mommy,” he said. For a moment my children were spellbound. I think I and the other customers in line around me were as well. He went on to tell them about Jesus and His love.

Who was this man? His sweet spirit and kind words to my children brought peace to a frustrated mother’s heart and broke through the mad holiday rush. You could feel the tension in line relax, as if in an instant we were all reminded to slow down and cherish the true meaning behind the season. Then as if scripted to ease the depth of the moment and provide comedic relief, he announced, “If you obey, then your mommy will get you ice cream!” Fellow parents in line joined me with a chuckle.
Soon after, I made it to the cash register and completed my purchase. As I loaded my kids and Christmas gifts into the car I couldn’t get the man out of my head. A man, who despite his disability, was an inspiration. Who was he? I felt like he was a gift from God, as Christ-like a person as I’ve ever met.

So would we recognize Jesus if we saw Him? I believe I did through the eyes of a very humble man. I saw Jesus in his heart.

12/05 wg

Great Men and Women

2006-06-06T10:26:00.000-05:00

(I wrote this over the holiday and even if it's late, I still wanted to post it in honor and memory of the great men and women who have served in the American Armed Forces.)

If we are not careful Memorial Day will become for most of us nothing more than a day off from work or a long weekend that marks the beginning of summer. In reality, Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have lost their lives in service to this great country.
Much like communion when we take the bread and the wine to remember the sacrifice and high cost of our spiritual freedom, on Memorial Day we remember the great sacrifice of our Armed Forces so that we can have physical freedom in America.
Just to interject a thought here: Whenever we think of soldiers dying we think of men, but many women have lost their lives in service, many children have lost their mothers, all for the high cost of freedom. As an American and a Christian, I exist in a free country, able to freely worship Jesus Christ because of these sacrifices.
Memorial Day, however, is not just for those who live in this country, but about freedom all over the world. With over 2,500 American casualties in the Iraq war to date, we are reminded that freedom for the Iraqi people is coming at a high price for the American people. When Iraq was invaded, over 500,000 Iraqis were found in mass graves alone. Conservative estimates tell us that Saddam Hussein’s army killed over one million people. That is 1/24 of an entire nation. Just think of how many people Saddam would have continued to kill had he stayed in power.
Our soldiers represent freedom, not just here in the states, but everywhere. I know that I speak, not just for myself, but for everyone on our staff when I say “Thank you and that we remember you.”

Listening in the Quiet

2006-05-19T12:58:00.000-05:00

I recently left all the distractions of everyday life behind to go and sit in a cabin in the middle of Oklahoma City for four nights. My goal was to be alone to write a new message series. This for me is a once a year ritual…right before the summer camp and festival season begins. I pray for revelation and I gather thoughts, ideas, articles, manuscripts and anything else I can get my hands on. Entering a time of quite where I hope God will shout.

I’ve learned from years of experience that during this kind of sabbatical one never knows what might happen. Sometimes writing begins immediately…as when a dam brakes and ideas flood in. Sometimes nothing happens. You read and you wait and you pray and it all seems like an uphill battle. You take a walk. You take 45-minute showers in an attempt to push some sort of spiritual reset button realizing at the end of it all that God doesn’t want you to have anything new, but to chew on what you know from the past. Probably the hardest for me is when God gives me something new, while at the same time confirming in my spirit that this is not for me to share with anyone but to keep in my own heart.

I wonder how many songs have been written by the Chris Tomlins and the Nichole Nordemans of the world that were just personal prayers for their hearts alone. Songs that God gave them NOT to share. I wonder how many sermons God gave the Spurgeons and the Lewis’s of our time, NOT to preach… sermons that God gives a preacher without permission to preach. All that said, when it comes to a sabbatical, I never really know which scenario I’m walking into. It might even be a mixture of both.

This year I entered my sabbatical with a game plan to write messages based out of the kingdom parables. Most of my research material was directed toward this goal. But as I look back I see God had a different plan. Today, a few weeks have passed since my time in Oklahoma City and I am looking at a four part message series that only contains one message based around a parable.

Although these messages are still in construction mode, I cannot wait to preach what God has put in my heart and on my tongue. I want to give you a small hint of what these messages will be about this summer by letting you know the sermon titles. As of now this four part message series centers on life-changing truths and encounters. I’m using popular TV show titles to connect the points and provide continuity. Here are the four titles: LOST: the prodigal son (and other lost parables); The Apprentice: Nicodemus; American Idol: the rich young ruler; and 24: waging war while serving the prince of peace.

The main two reasons I’m posting this is first to ask for your prayers and second to solicit any ideas that you might have. Feel free to post any ideas on any of these topics. Maybe you’ve heard a sermon or read an article/book recently that connects with these messages. Please know I’d welcome the insight.

Until this summer, David

What's so good about Good Friday?

2006-04-14T10:23:00.000-05:00

My brother-in-law recently celebrated his birthday on the same day that Mother was going in for heart surgery. I remember thinking about that while she was in the operating room and he and I were standing in the hallway just waiting. My thought was that if my mom were to pass away, then for the rest of my brother-in-laws life, he would always be reminded of the tragedy of her death on his birthday.

On the same note my friend Jay Barker (roll tide!) and his wife had their first child on Sept. 11th. Yes, THE Sept. 11th. For the rest of the Barker’s life they will always celebrate a birthday on a day associated with so much death.

Much in the same way, Good Friday is a day full of sorrow and joy. A day full of death and birth. Today we ponder and reflect on the death of Jesus all the while recognizing that it was his death and resurrection that gives life. It was on this day that Jesus died, so that we can be born again. At first glance there is nothing good about this day. Jesus was wrongly tried and condemned, mocked, beaten, starved, and ridiculed, only to be taken to a hill and hung. The day became night, and darkness came with death, but that's not where the story ends. If the story ended there, there would be nothing good about this Friday. The rest of the story is what happened on Sunday. Death could not keep him. The tomb that Christ’s dead body was placed in was empty. The Savior is alive. Resurrected. Death became life, and a very bad Friday, became a good one indeed.

Maybe you're reading this blog and you’re going through a bad Friday marriage. Nothing about your marriage feels good right now. Then I say, hold on. Sunday is coming. Let the risen Savior resurrect your marriage. Maybe it’s your job, your thoughts, your friendships, your kids...whatever it might be, hang on and let resurrection power make a bad Friday, a good one...

Today we celebrate more than a historical event, but one that gives us hope for every dark Friday of our lives.

Season to Fast

2006-04-05T11:42:00.000-05:00

I just spent the past weekend in Paducah, KY doing a Deeper weekend with good friends Todd Agnew, the boys from Big Daddy Weave and Chris Davis. They ushered us time and time again into the presence of God with amazing worship, and I attempted to challenge and equip the students to go deeper with their faith through spiritual disciplines.

I have to say that I’ve grown quite fond of Paducah. The great folks at First Baptist Church invited me to their community about six months ago, and since then I’ve wanted to return as quickly as I could. Deeper Encounter gave me that very chance. If you’re ever driving through this part of our country, you have to stop in downtown Paducah – it’s full of eclectic shops and cobblestone streets. The city center even comes with its own restaurants full of ghosts and corky history! Probably the most mind-blowing thing about Paducah has to be the Four Rivers Performing Arts Center. Think Carnegie Hall but with a friendlier staff plus, it’s right smack-dab in Bluegrass Country!

Pray for the nearly 1,000 people involved in this past weekends’ Deeper. Pray that God will use the next 40 days to do an amazing work in the life of each individual who took on a season of fasting.

Story upon story

2006-03-30T09:16:00.000-06:00

Wow! It’s been quite some time since I’ve blogged! With Winter Jam Tour and everything in life it’s been difficult to get around to it.

The Winter Jam Tour ended with amazing results. Nearly 250,000 people attended the tour. We saw over 7.400 decisions for Christ. These are big numbers, but as always they’re about individuals, each with their own story. On that note, let me share one of the many stories from the tour.

Ft. Wayne, Indiana, March 11, 2006
That night alone we had 529 decisions for Christ. The counseling room was overflowing. The counselors overwhelmed. I have to admit it seemed as if good counseling was impossible. The ratio was 10 to 1! However, after the dust settled, a guy in his mid 20’s came to me with a story to share. He had been counseling 10 students, but one he really connected with. When the students turned in their decision cards he noticed that this particular student lived just 1 ½ hours from his own home. Making a mental note to visit him, he then noticed the students’ hometown and church. And this is how God works… This young man (the counselor) had just been called as Youth Pastor to this students’ church! He would be moving to this student’s hometown, church, etc. in two short months. God brought him one of his own future youth!

In moments like this, you realize that God is sovereign...a teen who had lost both parents paired with a counselor who had lost his parents as a teen, the young girl who struggles with cutting paired with a counselor who had the same struggles at one time in her life. Night after night, story upon story, life after life… changed for Christ.

Halftime

2006-02-27T11:26:00.000-06:00

Having been to 15 different cities on the Winter Jam Tour, we are now officially at halftime. Wow! What an amazing first half it has been! I think it is safe to say that we have all prayed with an attitude that this tour would have an amazing impact for the glory of God – but even our highest expectations have been exceeded so far!

Just about every night before a concert I find myself sitting in an empty coliseum around 5:00 pm. It is a great moment because that’s when the doors open! Within half an hour I have seen venues that seat anywhere form 5,000 to 15,000 fill up with teenagers, moms and dads, and the occasional senior citizen. Just like watching a glass of water being filled to the top, I watch how a room gets filled with not only bodies but with an anticipation of something great. I guess what I enjoy the most about watching a room fill is that it’s not about the masses but about each individual. Earlier in the day I pick out a few seats to pray over, not knowing who might occupy them later, to see whom God puts in those seats. For some people the night simply needs to be a great night of fun – good, wholesome, God-honoring fun. There’s so much value in seeing a 16-year-old figure out that fun doesn’t have to be sexual or dirty. For some the night gives license to celebrate. For others, it’s a God-ordained moment for salvation. For me, it’s another opportunity to be a servant.

My favorite thing is watching the counseling room fill after the invitation. On this tour God has truly given us a harvest. We’ve seen hundreds of people come to trust Jesus as their Savior. People are realizing that God never brought them to Winter Jam to see a show but to more importantly to be reconciled to His Son.

Our prayer is that the second half of this tour is just as amazing!

Do you love the music?

2006-02-24T08:58:00.000-06:00

So many of you have been asking, "What in the world is that music on our new site?!?" We're received a whole lot of email from you wanting to know how you can get hold of this music.

Well, the truth of the matter is that these songs are instrumental tracks of a record project that is titled "Glory Revealed." The "Glory Revealed" CD will be an accompaniment CD to be released at the same time as David's new book "Grace Revealed."

This CD is a scripture-driven worship record full of friends of our ministry: Mac Powell of Third Day (who also is the producer), Mark Hall of Casting Crowns, Shane & Shane, the amazing Candi Pearson, Building 429, and Starfield are just a few of the guest vocalists so far. Needless to say we are excited about how this CD will go hand-in-hand with the new book to help people fall more passionately in love with God.

Blog or blah?

2006-01-27T12:10:00.000-06:00

That is the question! So here it is my first official blog entry. I guess only time can tell what this page will evolve to from week to week. My goal is to have this be part journal, part confessional, part social rant, and part devotional all rolled into one. one thing I know is that it will be ADDD (attention-deficit-disorder- deliberately!). My prayer is that these entries wont be just a bunch of blah blah blah, but that it can serve as conversation in the journey. I realize the last thing the Internet, or ministry for that matter needs is a blog page from a highly opinionated Iranian, but here goes...

Rant One: Crowds

2006-01-27T09:02:00.000-06:00

I just spent an entire week in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. I went with family and staff by my side to speak at four different conferences. What a trip. God did great things in the life of His people this week. There is however one thing that I wanted to rant about concerning my time in the Smokies: Crowds! I am simply amazed at how many people you can fit on one mountain. The insanity of it all is frankly numbing. To me vacation and retreat should be mainly about getting away from people not joining them in two hours of traffic every morning just to go three miles. In the wintertime, Gatlinburg resembles an ant pile that has been kicked, or better yet run over by a lawnmower. You know what I mean? We’ve all done it. We have all run the lawnmower over an ant pile just to see it go from quiet hibernation to panic and hysteria in one instant second! Well, that’s what Gatlinburg feels like: an ant pile in a frenzy... if your idea of vacation is waiting over an hour to get a sandwich at Burger King due to lines out the door, or driving around and around an outlet mall parking lot looking for a space, then let me invite you to book your room now.

The million-dollar question is: Is it worth the hassle just to watch taffy being made in a candy store, and to browse in overstuffed souvenir shops full of "getter done" paraphernalia? As for me the answer is “yes”. Not because of the crowds, but in-spite them. What I love about the craziness known as Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is that I have seen God do amazing things in the lives of people on this mountain. I have seen teenagers lives eternally changed. I have seen six thousand people bring in the New Year with worship and praise instead of drunken goofiness. I have seen pastors that normally suit up everyday, just be a chaperone and a friend to a handful (or should I say van full?) of teens. It’s those moments and so much more that make Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge worth the traffic!

Jesus ministered to crowds. He had a God-given (to himself) ability to not get overwhelmed by large groups of people. His philosophy was: The bigger the crowd the more personal the ministry. One day he was walking through a sea of people. Suddenly he stops and asks a very strange question. "Who just touched me?" Can you imagine the thought going through the disciple’s minds? “What kind of question is that Jesus? Everyone touched you. You’re in the middle of a crowd!” But Jesus didn’t ask the question so that He would get an answer. He was teaching His disciples how ministry in a crowd should never be crowded but intimate. He knew that the larger the crowd, the more sensitive He had to be. He knew that a desperate woman had reached out for His help. He felt the woman touch His garment. She was reaching out to Him and in-spite of the craziness and the loud noise, He reached back... This week, I saw that same Jesus do His intimate work in the midst of hundreds of thousands of people.