This morning I was reading on Michael Hyatt's blog about the importance of a music playlist for a Good Morning! I loved the idea so picked some of my favourite tunes. Here is a selection, a few kinda old, but nostalgic:

The City Harmonic — Manifesto
Heard of this band recently. Love em! Inspired by famous creeds, this song summarizes what I believe and has a cool piano riff to prove it! (Check out the story behind the song and the 'how to' in this video.

Mark Stevens — To Be With You
Unfortunately, this tune isn't on YouTube yet cause Mark just released this album. Hot off the press! Purchase and preview it on iTunes here.

Israel Houghton — Everywhere That I Go
Purchase on iTunes here or watch this fun live video. Way to go with Jackson Five intro! Hear a bit more from Israel about this song here.

Mike Harvie from RPM — Freedom Never Felt So Good
Here's Mike teaching the song (acoustic version).I wish there was a full band version to show you on YouTube, but having played this with the RPM Edge band, it's rocking! Love it. Here's a tiny clip of it live: 

Deluge — Unshakable
Heard about this band off my friend's facebook a while back and loved their album.

NewWorldSon — Salvation Station
I'll never forget when I met these guys in person in Toronto. Cool folks.

Classes  = Awesomeness
During weekdays in the mornings, we have sessions in different categories: Christian Theology, Leadership, Life Application. We have multiple session speakers and this year I've heard from many amazing speakers -- I started to list my favourites, then realized the list was too long.

We also have seminar groups twice a week, which are where we discuss in smaller groups. (Check out our seminar session on character and check out my "About" page for links to all Academy Quote sessions.)

My favourite day of the week, Thursday, is where we split into our elective streams, and I'm in the Worship Elective.

Foundations for Worship
Matt Hooper, Jock James, and Mark Stevens (pictured above) are great session instructors for the worship elective and I've been so influenced by everything I've learned. Here's a few great quotes:

Preparation Breeds Confidence: "You need to prepare and make ready your life: your thinking, finances, relationships, application to life, your attitude to things, your personal and internal disciplines, your quitting points... If you’re in the word of God, you know what God says, you know what He would do about things. You’ve clean hands before God and your heart’s in expectation. " (Matt Hooper, Nov 24, 2011)

Music influences: "Listen widely, He’s a God of variety." (Matt Hooper, September 15, 2011)

"In our worship, we have a reverence, not a blase attitude. We need to understand that God is all powerful. God could change your world instantly! Especially as a part of platform ministry, there should be a sobriety, a reverence: "Wow, I’m carrying the presence of God. I’m going to live my life and go up there with a heart that is to honour You." (Jock James, October 13, 2011)

"Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? Do you just look at the joy and expectancy in the room, and reflect it? Or like a thermostat, do you set the temperature — and turn it up!?" (Jock James, November 10, 2011)

"One devotional size doesn’t fit all. Never let your walk with God weaken or get lukewarm. Stay hot on fire for Him, every day. He wants you to walk deeper with him" (Mark Stevens, September 22, 2011)

"A true worshiper awakens the worshiper within another. When a true worshiper gets on the platform and leads you, they provoke you, challenge you, they arrest something in your spirit." (Mark Stevens, October 6, 2011)

There are so many great quotes, it's hard to choose. Check out my links to session quotes on my "About" page.)

Academy students!
I've been blessed with so many new friends from various places in the world. Most from England, but also Poland, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Australia, and Spain.

A few of the many highlights with new friends: caving on our Academy trip away, having a special dinner and evening at Thomas & Natalie's apartment, spending meaningful chats with Liza during Freedom in Christ classes, being beaten mercilessly by Matt at many table tennis games, and practicing music with fellow muso Anna for Academy Worship time. I'm excited about the deeper friendships God is bringing me into with all my classmates!

In a New Worship Team!

Joining the worship team has been the definitive highlight of my time so far. It's been an absolutely amazing few months getting involved. Being a new joiner to the team, there's lots to learn and adapt to, but I feel so humbled and privileged to be involved, learning from the best!

One of the deciding factors for Academy enrollment here was the worship department, and I haven't been disappointed by the character, creativity, heart for God, and sheer brilliance of so many musicians I've gotten to know.It's been a journey to turn off the intimidation, but to turn on the gratefulness at being in such a greenhouse of musical talent!

The schedule has been busy, requiring hours of practice and personal sacrifice with a little bit less of a 'free time', but it's been so worth it. I've been most active in:

1. Academy worship, called Focus." I love to see how God has helped us grow as academy musicians and worshipers this term!
   
2. Friday night is the youth and young adults night — I've most often been joining the Edge band. It's loud, it's energetic, and it's got some of the talented musos ever.
   
3. Playing offsite in a chapel setting with a few ALC church musos on Sunday mornings. It's a different church setting, but great chance to get to know fellow ALC musicians in a personal setting.
   
4. Playing at the ALC Leeds church Sunday evenings. So cool to see how God's been stirring us up!
   
5. Christmas services: special set-pieces and carols. Fun joyous times — check out my xylphone blog!

I've been in a steep musical learning curve since I got here (so ready for a little holiday break), but there's a great benefit to learning new songs! And, best of all, it's inspiring me with my own songwriting - read my blog on how to let songwriting flow.

Spiritually: Finding Freedom in Christ

The personal spiritual lessons (which I don't often write about here) have been significant, and it's certainly not over yet.

• My mom's brain aneurism and surgery in September caused an immediate spiritual response in my life, where I had to simply surrender control to God. I felt powerless, but God gave me such a peace in that time. Read my blog "The Atlantic Ocean Can't Stop Family Prayer for Mom" for more on this.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)

• I am becoming free from ways of thinking that aren't true, including ideas about self-promotion. In a world that strives to be in first place, I need to find my own identity not in what I do or achieve, not what others say about me, but in who God says I am. I'm learning to relax in God's grace. This means putting others first... (Check out a great talk from Charlotte Gambill gave at a RockNations conference called "After You")
  

"When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." ( Luke 14:7-11)

• Finally, I'm learning that grace means true love from God... no strings attached.

_I just had a FANTASTIC morning involved in a set piece "Born is the King (It's Christmas)" played at Abundant Life Church this morning. It was my first time playing (get this!) a xylophone ... and bells!

Here's the original:

Joy!!
This morning, I was reminded how our God is a God of joy. It's so awesome when that feeling floods me, and that happened during "Born is the King." So fun to see joy on the faces of people clapping along this morning.

I'm not talking about man-made joy based on how good our day was, how good our week was, or how good our spiritual performance was.... no, joy is the fruit of God's spirit.

Even though I had a spiritually rough night last night, somehow God's grace floods over me and my failures, and He gives joy anyway. Joy given just because He wants to. (That's grace.)

I'm counting my blessings. WOW! When I think of my Mom and her recent brain surgery and how well she's doing now, I feel so blessed! I'm living proof that God puts the lonely in families. I've made many good new muso and non-muso friends. Really, I don't deserve it, but this is grace!

Music music music!!
In other great news, I played keys at ALC Leeds tonight and keys at Friday's Edge (11-18 year olds). I had a blast and really feel that I've got new siblings in this band! I'm a (bit) older than most of the musos, but I feel like I fit!

God is doing amazing things in my heart, and in the church meetings I attend. Being on the receiving end is so strange. It's Christmas time and I'm the one getting gifts!

Wahoooo!

_It's coming down to the final month of the year, and at this time last year I wouldn't have pictured myself in England in a completely new lifestyle, taking in all these amazing lectures here at the Leadership Academy of Abundant Life Church. It feels great to be rooted and planted where I know God has destined me to be for right now! (More on that later.)

Here's another blog in the series on favourite quotes taken from lectures throughout the week. Keep in mind, these are taken out of context of the lecture itself, but still have a great impact on me, which is why I want to share them with you. Also check out previous weeks:
weeks 10 and 11, week 9,  week 8, weeks 5 and 6, weeks 3 and 4, and weeks 1 and 2

Week 12

“That’s what God does: when you think you’re going to quit, God gives you a larger vision.” — Simon Hammond (Monday, November 28)

 “You will have devastated friends. You just do not what to say sometimes. Word are inappropriate. All you can do is just be there. Your presence is enough.” — Stephen Matthew (Tuesday, December 6)

“God asks of Job over 50 questions about life, the universe and nature, to which Job has no answer.” — Stephen Matthew (Tuesday, December 6)

“Every generation of God’s people, including yours, must look back to God’s Word and build the way you act on the model of God’s Word rather than the generation before you did.” — David Matthew (Tuesday, December 6)

_“Don’t just be a history student. Be a history maker!” — David Matthew (Tuesday, December 6)

“Emotions are  a bit of a mystery to us. One of the reasons is that we don’t teach much about it in the Christian church. We often talk about your spirit, and your behaviour, but we don’t often talk about your soul.” — Matt Hooper (Wednesday, December 7)

“You don’t feel your way into good behaviour, you behave your way into good feelings.” – Freedom in Christ

“So why can’t we be honest with God — because we’re afraid that He can’t handle our dysfunction?” — Matt Hooper (Wednesday, December 7)

_“Having a broad awareness of the Psalms really enriches your devotional life and your ability to communicate with God.” —Stephen Matthew (Wednesday, December 7)

Re: Proverbs, “Wisdom is more than a character attribute; wisdom is a person. The more you read, you begin to form an understanding that the wise one who is calling you is very familiar: Jesus!” — Stephen Matthew (Wednesday, December 7)

Re: Ecclesiastes, “It’s the book that helps you get your head around the question, “What is life all about?” It confronts you with the reality that life is completely and utterly meaningless.” — Stephen Matthew (Wednesday, December 7)

Re: Song of Songs, “The religious scholars of old didn’t know what to do with it, so for centuries, Jewish rabbis tried to de-literalize it.” — Stephen Matthew (Wednesday, December 7)

“There has always been a close link between what God is doing and the music that is written in the day.” — Tim Staples (Thursday, December 8)

_“The times when God has moved has been when people would sacrifice the norm and do something different.” — Tim Staples (Thursday, December 8)

“I don’t think you need to have a heart to lead kids in worship, you need to have a heart to worship.” — Esther Nixon (Thursday, December 8)

“When you’re a worship leader, or playing in the team, people know when it’s an act or when it’s not genuine” — Jock James (Thursday, Dec 8)

“Music is neutral. It can be harnassed to promote all sorts of emotion.” — Jock James (Thursday, Dec 8)

“You have to manage money; it’s in your life, whether you like it or not.” — Stephen Matthew (Friday, Dec 9)

“Money is a terrible master. If you serve it, you will be ultimately destroyed. Even those who have stacks of it, aggressively pursue it. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” — Stephen Matthew (Friday, Dec 9)

Give secretly. It demonstrates you’re secure, at peace, and you know that God sees it, and that’s all that matters.” — Stephen Matthew (Friday, Dec 9)

_Check out previous quotes from Academy Lectures:
weeks 10 and 11, week 9,  week 8, weeks 5 and 6, weeks 3 and 4, and weeks 1 and 2

The last few days of this week, I've been involved with Christmas decoration set up at ALC, along with all the Academy Students. Every room in the buildings is being transformed into a Winter Wonderland and I was happy to cut out snowflakes for one day and then yesterday to paint!

Enjoy some pictures, compliments of my friend Fi Holland! :)

It's funny how painting brings back memories. Here's a few from years ago that came to mind yesterday.

• Watching my Grandfather using a screwdriver to pry open the metal lid of a paint can and stirring it with a wooden stick. (I mimicked that technique, using the only tool available: a plastic-handled butter knife: It worked!)
• Helping Josh & Sarah paint their basement apartment on Moss Lane years ago: using a straight edge paint brush to edge the walls with accuracy!
• Aunt Christine teaching me that putting a garbage bag in the pan tray first makes clean up way easier. This I did!

A duplicate of this castle is on the other side of the room, and had been painted 2 years ago, so my job was to duplicate the stone work. Creativity was flowing as I was mixing paint colours to match, using sponges, and worked with silver paint (that's intended for car rust touch up). See the finished silver door behind me and Fi in the middle picture (below).

The only 'downer' of the day was I wore inappropriate clothing. Now they have paint on them. Boooo.