Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas!! Here is a clip from one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time, plus it is very spiritual. Enjoy and again, merry Christmas!

Grace and peace.

Oh How He Loves Us

I confess, I am lazy. There's no getting around it, I am lazy. Just look at this blog, I haven't posted since December 1st! Most of that is laziness but it could due to the fact my life is fairly monotonous...saving lives...church...saving lives...church...occasionally making it to the gym (had to throw that one in there for you Annie)...saving lives...et cetera, et cetera (is that even how you spell that?). I am looking forward to a little change when I head down to Macon for a few days. It is going to be so good spending time with the parentals, brothers and sister-in-law. I'll be down there for 3 days and then it's back to, as you might guess, life-saving!

Anyway, lately I have also been really lazy when it comes to getting into the Word. I put it off and give the excuse, "I'll wake up early and do it." Yeah right Justin. Since when are you the one to get up early?! Never. But not allowing God the time to speak to me through His Word has totally stolen my joy. My fuse is a little bit shorter, and in a way, I shrink back from people because I really don't want to be social. I'm just being honest folks! Then I think of what I'm missing by not spending time reading and listening. I'm depriving myself of the very heart of God! I'm depriving myself of the mysteries of God, the love of our Father and the joy and beauty of being in His presence! I just need the hunger and drive for His Word to return.

But hold on my friends, there is the truth that His heart beats for us. His heart melts with one simple glance towards Him. The thing is He is jealous for us! He gets so jealous when we spend time doing other things (especially insignificant things) instead of turning our eyes toward Him. It's a jealousy that is basked in love. I simply need a love encounter with Him!!

There is a song that has been ministering to me in amazing ways lately. I first heard it when I was watching clips from the Call in Nashville. A worship leader named John Mark McMillan was awakened in the middle of the night with this song after one of his closest friends died (there is way more to this amazing story, so please do yourself a favor and look up John Mark McMillan on YouTube). Just look at the words:

He is jealous for me
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.
Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.

So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

That he loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

I love that 2nd verse. I need a big fat sloppy wet kiss of heaven meeting earth in my life. And that last line is truly a line to live by. "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves us." Beautiful.

Please, please, please watch this video clip. The video is of Kim Walker with a worship group called Jesus Culture singing John Mark McMillan's song. It will bring you to tears and give you goose bumps, and for me, every time I listen to it I have to raise my hands in adoration.

Enjoy. Grace and peace.

Shane and Shane

Tonight was the Shane Barnard and Shane Everett concert at Riverstone and let me tell you, it was amazing! Those guys are incredible. Their voices are superb and Shane Barnard is insane on the acoustic guitar. They did Vision of You as an opener and I could have left after that song and it would have been worth it! But I sucked it up and stayed the rest of the show. I know, it was a tough call to stay! It was their "Christmas Tour" so they winged some Christmas classics. And when I say wing, I mean wing. A few of the songs they had to stop and start over, or they didn't know some of the words of the verses. To me, that's what makes a musician, artist or a worship leader great. They have enough humility and vulnerability to show that they are human and make some mistakes, but at the same time point their lives, their hearts and their music upward towards heaven. This was made even more clear after the show when I got the chance to talk to both Shanes. They are such nice and humble people. They are the epitome of David's heart of humility. When David went before King Saul before he defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17), he was confident in his ability and giftings given to him by God, but continually called himself "your servant."

Humility is one of the hardest characteristics to develop. There are 2 misconceptions on humility. Number one, "we have this humility thing in the bag," and two, "we make ourselves out to be nothing." The latter is what is commonly called "false humility." We need to be confident in our skills and abilities, but we need to take hold of and walk by the truth that it is only by and through God's grace that we have those things. So how do we develop and maintain this life of humility? First you need to focus on God's grandness and on the incommunicable aspects of His character (omnipotent, omniscient, uncreated, etc). You look at the stars and galaxies and how vast they are, but in one passing sentence in Genesis He spoke those into existence. Second, invest in obscurity. Be a "behind-the-scenes" person; look to serve! Thirdly, delight when others are blessed and/or when doors are opening for other people. We have to make sure the jealous root doesn't go deeper. We cannot have the attitude of, "Why is that person being blessed am I'm not?" or "Why did that person get chosen and I didn't?" The jealous root, if not sought out and prayed out, can ruin you!

In order to do this, we must have accountability. We need prayer! It's crucial to have an intimate relationship with friends, pastors, etc that will pray for you and hold you accountable if you struggle with humility and jealousy, which we all do in some form or fashion.

Back to the concert (and on a little bit of a side note), Shane Barnard wrote a song called "Burn us up." The song is based out of Daniel 3 and the amazing story of the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you're not familiar with this story, read it and you will be blown away! If you haven't read it in a long time, read it again. I say this is a side note because I play drums in a worship band called The Fourth Man (based on the story in Daniel 3) and we are recording our first CD! The weekend of January 19th we will be in a studio in Nashville, Tennessee recording! Shane Barnard told me tonight he would draw his "Sunday School" picture of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for us to put on our CD cover. He was joking but I told him we would send him a copy. So hopefully The Fourth Man will have a CD out by spring. Stay tuned!

Grace and peace.

Don't see this movie...

I was recently sent this article regarding a movie that will be released on December 7th called "The Golden Compass." The commercials make it out to be a pretty intriguing, Lord of the Rings/Chronicles of Narnia-type movie to draw in the kids. However, the author has different motives. Phillip Pullman is an atheist who "hated" C.S. Lewis and hates Christianity. The author says he wants children to see the movie and read his books and decide against Christianity and decide against the kingdom of heaven. He is actually quoted as saying, "My books are about killing God." Pay attention people. In this movie there is an "Aslan" like character; however, in the movie he is killed and does not come back to life like our favorite lion Aslan did. This dude claims to be both an agnostic and an atheist, which I don't think is possible...so the guy is very confused and cookoo. I'm praying that this movie makes zero dollars at the theaters. The movie stars Nicole Kidman so it is definitely going to get some hype but I'm asking all Believers to boycott the movie.

I've attached an article that you can read for yourself how disturbing this is. Just click on the link below...

The Golden Compass


Grace and peace.

Nashville and my Tuesday

This past weekend I made the trip up to Nashville and it was a great trip! My older brother, Andy, and his wife moved to Nashville several months ago when he took a job at Vanderbilt to work in their Sports Information department. They were previously in Huntington, West Virginia where he worked at Marshall University. Anyway, I headed up Nashville after I got off of work Saturday night. My parents and little brother got there earlier in the afternoon. The next day we had an early Thanksgiving dinner since Andy will be traveling with the Vanderbilt basketball team over Thanksgiving. I ate way too much (which tends to be the case whenever I eat holiday meals). Meagan, Andy's wife, and my mom prepared an amazing spread. That night one of my cousins and her husband stopped by. It was my first time meeting her (I think she's my second cousin? I don't understand family lingo sometimes). Anyway, her husband plays in a bluegrass band in Nashville and he plays with Alan Jackson! Needless to say he is really good on the 6 string...and mandolin...and banjo...

On Monday I headed over to the Mann house! I was able to see Kevin, Mandy and Bennett, as well as Mandy's parents. Bennett is a super cool baby. I particularly enjoyed the mix of laughs, hiccups and spitting up...priceless! Then Kevin and I went and had lunch together. I hadn't had good quality Kevin time in over a year. It was so good to catch up and laugh together again. Kevin and Mandy are like a brother and sister to me, which makes me Bennett's uncle...Uncle Justin...I like the sound of that! You know you have a close friendship when you can not see someone for 1-2 years and once you see them, you pick right up where you left off. That's how Kevin and I are, and I'm so thankful that he is as close as a brother to me.

Now I'm back in Marietta. I don't have to work any before Thanksgiving so it means I get to fill my time up with whatever I can find to do before I head to Macon on Thursday for another Thanksgiving dinner! I'm going to gain so many pounds over Thanksgiving...oh well. That will just mean I will have to get back in the gym...so I can throw out my back again!

Today I had the cool opportunity to go to McClure Middle School and talk about veterinary medicine. Emily and I prepared a power point presentation about why we chose to become a veterinarian, what veterinary school was like and what a typical day looks like for us. We also brought in some radiographs (ie. x-rays) of some cool cases we had seen (pregnant Pug with 7 puppies inside of her abdomen, broken bones, x-rays of a dog who ate a bottle cap and a nickel, etc). The kids were very attentive and asked some good questions. I find that I really enjoy teaching people about animals and what I/we try to do to make them better.

Well, that's it for now. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving with their respective families. Be safe.

Grace and peace.

In the Name of Jesus

I was going to blog about this earlier, but I went ice skating with a big group of folks...it was fun. Then I read Annie's blog and I sadly realized we were blogging about the same subject. There is a guy that used to work at a veterinary clinic I work at fairly regularly. His name is Denard and a few months ago him and his wife had a miscarriage. She was 7 months pregnant and they were expecting a boy. He was devastated but still remained amazingly strong and faithful to the Lord. Then I find out today that their 4 year old daughter, Kristen, was diagnosed with a rare lung cancer on Halloween and just finished her first week of chemotherapy. I'm having a hard time conjuring up how I would react to this same situation. But I don't think I would be handling it as well as Denard is. His faith is still strong and he is trusting the Lord for great things.

I just don't understand why this sort of thing happens. The Sunday School answer is to say that this happens in order for God to show His glory. Don't get me wrong, I totally believe this. I believe God is going to show Himself mighty in both Kristen and Evan's (see Annie Down's blog) situation. But still, it breaks my heart when a young boy or girl has to undergo something traumatic and painful. Maybe it stems from my own personal history as a baby, but I think it touches every man and woman's heart.

So, please pray for Denard, Keisha (his wife) and their little daughter, Kristen. She is at Eggleston Hospital right now and I heard that she is still a light and so full of joy in the hospital, even when her hair is falling out. Some of these kids are so strong! To be even bolder, let's join together in prayer to eradicate cancer. It is killing so many and it needs to be gone!

Grace and peace.

You don't like it? Deal with it!

Ok, there is one thing I have a problem with...well there are lots of things I have problems with but this one makes me shake my head in disgust. I have a big problem with people saying they do not like a particular worship song. I know I know, there are plenty of songs out there that really are NOT good, a one bit. Just listen to the Fish every now and then and you will hear some songs that musically are not that good. But don't listen to the Fish now because all they are playing is Christmas songs. They have been playing Christmas songs since Halloween! Yes, Hallo-freakin-ween!! Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one? Still, the focus and heart behind the song is Jesus and what He did and is doing for us. How can you dislike this?! And even more absurd is that one can have the nerve to go up to somebody else and say, "Hey, you know that song that talks about praising God? Yeah...I don't like it. Let's not sing that one anymore." What?! Please do not confuse this with singing a song too much or too often on Sunday mornings. I am totally in favor of putting a song on the bench for a while and bringing it back some time later. It tends to have a rather profound effect on worship. Nor am I talking about playing a song the same way every single time. I am all about doing the old songs in a new and fresh way. I'm talking about criticizing a song because of how it sounds or because you don't like the wording.

Anyway, I'm sorry to be venting a little but sometimes I get fed up with "too" opinionated people. More people these days are getting their theology out of the songs we sing than by liturgy or a good Sunday sermon. Music across the board is very influential, especially the words inside the music. I used to be a big cynic when it came to worship songs and I was full of musical snobbery. But after realizing how much music affects people, and how much people are paying attention to the words they/we are singing, I've slowly but not so gently, put the proverbial foot in my mouth. Writing songs is hard; writing congregational worship songs is THE hardest thing to do (I know, I'm trying and I can't seem to finish nary a song). I truly believe God anoints and speaks songs to those with the gift of song-writing. So by criticizing and passing judgments, you are doing the same thing to God. Stop it!!

Sorry this came out of nowhere. People just need to think before they speak.

Incredible!!

I was going through old emails today and I came across this one that was sent to me by Amy Norris. This kid is like 12 years old I think at the time and he is SICK!!! Throughout the whole video my jaw is dropped open in awe of his skills. There's a part towards the end where he starts playing the toms with one hand...you can barely see his hands. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Grace and peace.

Mentors

As I sit down after playing guitar non-stop for over like 4 hours (and after reading most people's blogs that are doing the daily blogging), I feel the need to write a little somethin somethin. I just got back in town from a Continuing Education seminar in Raleigh, NC. Veterinarians here in Georgia have to have 30 continuing education (CE) hours every 2 years to maintain their license. Anyway, at this conference, there was a professor/clinician I had at vet school. He was/is a mentor of mine and he is awesome...I mean he has his own Infectious Disease Book (Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat). Dr. Greene is an amazingly smart doctor. One time during one of our clinical rounds sessions, he asked me if I had considered this one particular bacteria as the cause of this cat's swollen joints. I of course answered no (in my mind I said heck no). Dr. Greene then chimed up, "It's on page 430, 2nd paragraph on the left hand side." I was like, "Wha?!" I got out his book at home and checked his referencing skills. He was exactly right! Way too smart for me! Well, he is also really stinkin funny. If you know a little about medicine, steroids (not the kind that's plaguing are sports these days) do have some benefit, but also have some bad side effects. Dr. Greene will not call these steroids by their name. One in particular is Prednisone. He calls it "Vitamin P", or "Pixie Dust", or "the exogenous unmentionables" to name a few. He used to randomly call me after I graduated, introducing himself as "El Presidente" or "god" and ask if I was keeping my "gun in my holster," which meant that I was not using any steroids. I would tell him of course...I was a little bit of a brown-noser. Anyway, before I left for North Carolina, I picked up 2 toy guns with a holster and put "P"s on all the handles. I gave them to him before one of his talks and he thought it was pretty funny. He actually used them in a few of his sessions! Again, I am a little bit of a suck-up.

You are probably wondering where the heck I'm going with this. I do have a point, just be patient! As I thought about Dr. Greene and how he has influenced how I practice medicine, I began to think of other "mentors" in my life that have influenced or affected me. The first person I thought of was Kevin Mann. He has been so instrumental in my walk with the Lord and my passion for worship. He is such a kind, gentle and wise man of God and I thank the Lord everytime I think of him. Kevin, if you do read this, I plan on coming up to Nashville the weekend of Nov 17-18th. I hope to see you, Mandy and Bennett!. Then I thought of other mentors of mine. Here they are in no particular order: Bill Tanner, Mark Fritchman, Tom Tanner, Steve Hambrick (miss you dude), Clay Kirkland and of course, my dad. All of these people spoke words of life, wisdom and encouragement into me, whether through meeting one on one, praying for me, teaching and admonishing me, or just simply being my friend.

What I've realized is that I need to tell these people that they have been a huge part of my life and have helped mold me into who I am today, and that I need to thank them! So, if you are on the list and you read this blog, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

I encourage you to think about those who have affected and influence you and find them! Find them and tell them thank you. I just hope one day someone will find me and tell me how I influenced them. It would be such an encouragment to me!

Grace and peace.

Approaching His throne with boldness...

Last night at cell group during the prayer time, Tom asked a very unique question to a group of the guys. He asked, "If you could ask God to give you one thing right now, what would it be?" I thought that this was a mesmerizing question. I then thought, could God follow though and actually give us this one need/want instantly? Obviously the answer is an emphatic "Yes!" But, would He? I'll admit, it is a little difficult to believe. I mean, I want to believe it. In my mortal, infantile mind I find it hard to fathom that God could instantly grant a want or need that I have been praying for for the past however long. May God rid me of this doubt.

Anyway, I asked God to allow certain dreams and past prophecies to come to fruition sooner rather than later. Over the past 10 years or so, I have had numerous dreams and prophetic words spoken over me regarding my kingdom destiny, which is to lead worship. I know that I know that I know that this is what I will be doing in the hopefully near future. For some, this may come across as redundant (because you know where my heart is), but that's ok. If you so desire, you can read past posts of mine that cover my thoughts on worship and my journey: Worship, Make a Joyful Noise, So timely, Got to Crawl.

At times I find myself leading a particular song in a corporate worship setting, or I see myself leading worship with other "more famous" worship leaders. I often wake up at night singing certain worship songs! The only way I can explain this is that there is a much higher purpose in my life. I believe there are interests in your life and there are your passions. I can only speak personally on this matter and for some, the two line up. For me, the interest I have had since I was a wee lad was working with and being around animals. God has allowed me to have a job (and be good at it...I think) that pertains to my interests, so that I can perform to the best of my abilities because I enjoy doing it. However, the PASSION in my life is worship. God is slowly working this out. I understand that it is all on His timing, but I'm believing that He will make this happen soon!

So, maybe you are reading and you are feeling what I'm saying. You have heard God speak kingdom purposes over you and you are waiting for those to fall into place. Or, maybe you have something else that you would ask God to fulfill NOW or give you NOW. Maybe you need wisdom? In James it says that if any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God to give you wisdom and HE WILL! Whatever it may be, I encourage you to be bold in your prayers. Approach His throne of grace with boldness (and humility) and ask for a speedy granting of your needs. He is a God that longs to give good gifts! Don't forget that promise!!

If you feel led, you can leave a comment saying one thing you want God to give you right now and I will join with you in prayer for this...if you will join with me.

Grace and peace.