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Today was our last day with the kids from the Buckner baby’s home. We took them to the Children’s Museum and Chuck E. Cheese (all paid for from a special offering taken in eXchange) and both were a huge success.

We then returned back to the baby’s home where we spent a little more time connecting with the kids before leaving. You can see some great write-ups over at the blogs of my traveling companions Scot, Jody and Nate and Rachael.

Perhaps you’re expecting a video or photo from our departure but I’d decided early on to make these final moments something of a more personal experience. We sat the kids down, told them we loved them, that God loved them, and that we were leaving tomorrow but would be back.

Estuardo began to cry at the realization that we were, in fact, leaving and then Danny, who’s only a little younger than Estuardo but much smaller in stature due to having fetal alcohol syndrome, speaks up and says, “don’t worry, they said they’d be back.”

It wasn’t so much Danny comforting Estuardo but the trust Danny has in us that got me. We told him we’d be back, we’ve never broken that promise before, why would we start now?

I can only hope that the faithfulness we’ve shown in coming back accurately portrays how faithful God is to them, and how much he loves them. We tell them Jesus loves them, and we’ll continue to do so.

The remainder of the eXchange crew that’s here (those people being Nate and Rachael and Jody) depart tomorrow morning for home. Scot and I then connect with Compassion International to embark on their four day Vision Tour. It’ll be a good time to decompress from all I’ve taken in over the last three days.

Deep down inside me a new fire has been lit. God calls us to be world changers. Soon, I’m going to ask you to join me in doing just that for some orphans in Guatemala.

Are you with me?

So, you want to know how to be the hands and feet of Jesus? Check out this story over at Scot’s blog, resonate, for an eXchange’rs story of how they decided to trust in Him to provide.

out of the corner of my eye – a woman on her cell phone – two teenage kids standing in the line – kids heads down – mother tearing up – I know what’s happening – checkout lady patiently waiting – no, actually clearly frustrated and angry she has someone in line that is not moving through like everyone else – I wait at the door – standing there silently – hesitating multiple times – do I do something – can I do something – surely with her being on the phone with her bank, the money will get transferred – I can go on with my life – do I trust him ….. I am willing to step out to help after God clearly put her and her kids in my path – should I do something – anything – how much is it – 30, 50, 70 dollars – do I trust him ….. – I look at the register – 120 dollars – tears roll down her face – she leaves the store in total embarrassment – humiliated – scared – I can’t leave – I stand there for another 10 seconds – I’m being tested – am I his hands and feet

Head over to Scot’s blog to get the rest of the story. This FIRES. ME. UP!

This post is part of the Sunday Setlists series at FredMcKinnon.com. Head on over there to see what other Worship Leaders did with their Sunday sets.

Our set consisted of the following songs:

• All For Love
• Blessed Be Your Name
• How Great Thou Art

Post-teaching we closed with the following set:

• Obsession
• Open The Eyes Of My Heart
• Heart of Worship
• Jesus Paid It All

We rocked All For Love just like PlanetShakers does it. Great way to start the service. We used an intro from The Killers to start Blessed which kept energy high. How Great Thou Art was done like Paul Baloche’s version; the little turnaround at the end of the chorus is a great hook.

Justin started Obsession, I finished it up and WOW… I’ve never led that song but it was tough. It wasn’t until I finished the song that I realized I had tears in my eyes. Justin did Open The Eyes on acoustic only… actually, that’s not true. That’s how it was supposed to go but he really cranked up the energy which caused Michael (on electric), Rob (on bass) and Paul (on drums) to bring in some garnish for Justin’s acoustic. Loved it. I led Heart of Worship using an electric piano sound which gave it a little old school flair.

We closed with Jesus Paid It All. We modeled it after the Kristian Stanfill version but Justin started the song with a loop in Logic from his Macbook Pro. The congregation really sang out and, needless to say, my voice was pretty much blown after that.

Best part of the night? 5 baptisms!

The image in this post is a shot from last night’s stage. Check out the full image here.

Hey, I’m only a week behind. Not bad!

On Sunday, May 31st in eXchange we ceased our corporate gathering about 45 minutes early to go out and serve our community so our musical worship set was only four songs.

We went with a scaled back band (a more acoustic set) that included Scot on acoustic, Chris Austin on djembe, myself on keys and Kelsie on backup vox.

Our plan was to open with Let Us Be but we just couldn’t make it work. We had tempo issues in rehearsal and the song just wasn’t gellin’ like Magellan so we ended up scrapping it and doing O Come Let Us Adore Him (chorus). In the end I was glad we went this direction. Scot lead on vox and kept energy high.

After Scot set up the night we did a three song set. God of Justice (with me on lead vox), Now to Live The Life (Scot on lead vox) and we closed with Mission’s Flame (me on lead vox).

Rehearsal was, overall, somewhat rough so I was a little scared about the final product but worship turned out to be solid. Definitely not our best acoustic set but it was just one of those nights.

Our community normally runs between 500 and 600 and we had nearly half of our people go out and serve the community in real, tangible ways. I’ve got some video and images of Wendy and her crew cleaning gas station toilets that I’ll get posted sometime this week.

This post is part of Fred McKinnon’s #sundaysetlist.

First, hit up the official Life Journal reading plan for today by clicking here (thanks New Hope). This site is based out of Hawaii so the reading plan doesn’t change each day until 6am Eastern time.

Read through today’s scripture, taking the time for your eyes and mind to catch verses that stand out to you.

If you’re new to Life Journaling and find the daily reading plan a bit overwhelming, just stick with the New Testament reading for that day. If that’s still too much, just read a paragraph or two (or at least until you find a verse that really sticks out to you).

Once done reading, pick the verse you want to journal on for today.

Next, you’re going to need somewhere to keep your journal entries. Your best bet is to use Evernote. It’s free and available for both Mac and Windows. Evernote indexes your entries in real time so it’s fast and easy to search and find information from your previous entries. Copy the verse or verses you want to journal around today and paste them into Evernote.

The other option is to use YouVersion. They have a fully-contained Bible Reader, one-year Bible reading plan (that’s different than the one we use in eXchange) and online journal (that only you can read) along with lots of user-submitted content. It’s also free.

Now, taking the verse that stood out to you, use the SOAP method. Below is the official description for Life Journaling in a paper journal using the SOAP method but the directions easily translate to journaling on your computer. You may notice some of the instructions below duplicate some of what I’ve written above but it’s still good to get exposure to the process.

S for Scripture
Open your Bible to the reading found under today’s date of your Bible bookmark. Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. Highlight, underline or place a mark in the margin of your Bible, next to the scriptures that stand out. When you are done, reread the verses you marked, look for one that particularly spoke to you that day, and write it in your journal.
Helpful hint: If you are having difficulty understanding what you’ve read, you may find a study Bible useful.

O for Observation
What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your own words, in your journal.

A for Application
Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, revelation of a new promise, or corrections for a particular area of your life. Write how this scripture can apply to you today.

P for Prayer
This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture, or it may be a greater insight on what He may be revealing to you. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say! Now, write it out.

As you become more familiar with the process, don’t be afraid to move away from the SOAP method if you find alternatives work for you. I’m simply presenting a method to use if you don’t already have one.

That’s it! That’s all there is to it. I can’t express how valuable Life Journaling is to me and how much its improved my relationship with God. It’s also made me more aware of what he has in store for me as I’m hearing him speak to me through His Word every day I Life Journal.