Crazy Month, Delayed Post

Man what a week. Started Sunday night with leading worship at The Church Coffee House and speaking there. Elder's meeting Monday night, Conference Tuesday, lead worship Tuesday night 2 hours away (4 hours round trip), Conference Wednesday, rehearsal Wednesday night, and conference Thursday. I taught a seminar on worship on Wednesday at the conference.

Beyond that we are expecting another staff member to arrive this weekend and the last few weeks have been PM'ing the office reno etc. Moreover there is the short and long-term strategy, annual meeting and report, and audit. There is a lot there.

I am also entering the season of infrastructure changes to the church AV area. I have some amazing help there, but it is still my PM responsibility. The sound board went in this week and there will be many more changes coming, I will keep you posted.

Through it all, it is so important to keep the missional, big picture stuff at the forefront - with humility. That's a constant gut check, a process that is never easy to go through. Through it all one thing - press on man, press on.

Maybe Really Independent (About Distribution)

Well at this point I have not penned a national distribution deal for my new release, Noticing the Sky. I may, however, have to start considering the self distribution option. The gigs have been piling up a little, although slowing right now, and requests from concert goers to bookstores has and will pick up. I may do some additional marketing regarding the online option, but I think I am about to become self-distributed as well. Interesting, I will let you know how it goes.

Talk to you soon.

Peace

Meanderings

This will truly be meanderings tonight. I expect I am going to parse through several very un-related topics but here I go.

I had planned to spend some time reading Fast Company magazine this late evening, one of my favorites, well I relaxed and contemplated life. I am constantly in a state of flux as I evaluate my journey. I went into ministry (as a pastor) 3 years ago tomorrow. I left behind some friends, and a management team that I worked with. When I look back, we were a unique gang of characters, but I really liked them. Very smart, diverse, even eccentric, but good people, I miss them.

I left them, decent money and the potential for one heck of a lot more to chase God. Yeah, THE GOD. The one who some use as a swear word, the one many hate, the exclusive, you don’t get into heaven unless you believe in this one God. Man, weird eh. Not just a career move, not just chasing a dream of music, trying to convince others that God is real. That we are all created by Him and find our meaning in Him.

So how and what I am I doing. Well…. I am a pastor. About 8 months ago I started preaching too. You know, the old fashioned, talk about the Bible and what it means for us today kind of thing. You can check out some talks at www.thechurchcoffeehouse.com. Well, the how gets complicated. I am just a guy. I don’t have all the answers. I do believe I have The answer, just not all the little answers. I know where I am going for the rest of this life and for eternity – but man, a friend on mine’s wife has cancer. I ache for them. Another friend of mine’s wife left him. Heavy.

I love to sing. Love it. Mostly I love to express the spirit of God, of the universe moving in me, but that’s complicated isn’t it. Kind of mystical, kind of weird. But listen to www.cliffcline.com. On my site is the song “Coffee Shop”. That’s the reality of God in my life. The struggle, the art, the beauty of God.

There are people who I loved, still love really, who don’t talk to me anymore. Perhaps I love too easily. One thing I said to one of them years ago, was that “it isn’t art until it touches someone.” In the end I want to create art that touches people. That touches people with the reality of an existence that includes God. I have tried to do that with my CD, “Noticing the Sky”. I humbly recognize that it is an offering, not a masterpiece. I know that, in the end, I will lay my talents and abilities (hopefully ever improving) at the feet of those who will listen to this minstrel and say: “I have been thinking of you, I love you all, you are beautifully created and deserve to be loved in the name of the God of the universe.”

Peace.