My wife and I watch American Idol. There, I said it. We record it, fast forward through all of the commercials weigh in on all of the people we think should be going home or staying.

All in all, it’s fairly trivial. I mean, does the world really need another pop star? In the middle of this show that celebrates our love of reality television and celebrity all in one, however, is Idol Gives Back.

Last year, this show changed my life. Watching Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell holding the hands of hurting people in Africa made me ask myself, “why are they there and I’m here?”

Jenn and I couldn’t live that way for too long and so we decided to go. Since last year’s show we: challenged a team of people, they prayed and were led, we raised money, prepared spiritually, coordinated with a team over there, went, had an unbelievable experience, and came back.

As we flew back into the states I remember thinking that my life would be forever changed, and that I would never forget. Well, I have forgotten, and my life, unfortunately has gone pretty much back to the way it was before. That is, until Idol Gives back came on again.

I haven’t seen the show yet (it’s waiting for us on DVR), but seeing Forrest Whittaker and his wife last night and their story along with some of the stories we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks of hurting people in Africa, I have to ask myself again, “Why am I not there?” or at least, “why am I not doing more, praying more, telling more people?”

I’ve heard it said that the church is the hope of the world. If that’s the case, why do only 3% of Christians nation-wide say they would give to help fight AIDS? Why do we buy up things and take vacations from our Disneyland lives to go to an even more Disneyland type of place?

I spent 12 days in Africa that I thought would change my life. It took less than 12 days for me to get back into my normal routine and to stop thinking about it.

Buying stuff and taking trips are not bad things. Having fun and enjoying the blessings God has given us are not bad things. When we can’t see past those things into the lives of people with nothing, however, then we have missed it.

Let’s pray for those who are hurting. As a church, let’s remind each other about the things we have seen. Let’s be a people that care about things beyond our bank account. Let’s be the church.

Believe it or not, there will come a day when American Idol is no longer around to raise money and sing songs that inspire. Who will do it when they’re gone? Who will do it now?

A lot of people have an experience with Church music that’s different than what we do. In many churches people can just show up and play; not here. Being a part of the worship and arts ministry at Clovis Hills is a huge time commitment that includes rehearsals, three weekend services and prep time on your own, not to mention, the dreaded audition.

I’ve tried various ways to explain to people why we do auditions, but I think the best reasoning is found in this short video.

Enjoy.

Thanks to all of the singers and musicians in our ministry that faithfully serve and that passed the audition!

Hi, I’m Paul.

I use Twitter.

Some people think “Twitter” sounds stupid (Christa).

They’re wrong.

Here’s how Twitter works.

What are you doing?

One of the amazing parts of my gig is getting to work with an amazing team of volunteers. In every area of our ministry, we have people who are remarkably gifted, and since just saying that doesn’t really communicate all that they do and how much they mean to me, I thought I’d start letting you meet some of them. Each week I’ll be pimping a new volunteer and letting you in on all that they do to make my life a whole lot easier. With that said, here we go!

This is Shirley K.

Shirley is our vocal coordinator and sings in our choir and on our worship team. It is impossible not to like Shirley K. which is good, because it saves me from saying stupid things to people, because she says it and people love her for it.

Shirley is such a big part of our team and I could not do what I do without her help. She loves singing and is great at it and more than that, she loves Jesus and that’s evident right away.

Taking this picture was a bit of a process (thanks to Joni Gibson for hair and make-up; I wish I had my video camera during this one), but if you see Shirley around make sure to say thanks for all she does.

This weekend was fast-paced and crazy, but it was a ton of fun. I got to take a weekend off and head on down to LA to visit old friends and celebrate Jenn’s Birthday. We had an amazing time! Jenn and I took a quick trip to Disneyland (still season pass holders) and hung out with people we dearly love. We have been incredibly blessed to be a part of this community here at Clovis Hills, but it’s so great to be around people that know you at a core level.

Most of these people were people we lived with at one time or another (when we were single) and who were in our wedding and we were in theirs.

We had to take off on Sunday morning to be back for the first Clovis Hills Worship Night, which was awesome! Pictures and video are coming later this week, and The next worship night is June 22nd. Mark your calendars and come out for an amazing time!

This is my bride. Isn’t she cute? It’s her birthday today and as she hits the big 27, I thought I would tell the world (or at least the 4 of you reading), that I am so thankful that she married down and picked me! How amazing it is to know that there is this unbelievable woman who walks with God unlike anyone I’ve ever known and that she chose to hang out with me forever.

Happy birthday sweetness! I love you and pray that God will do amazing things in your life this year. You are amazing!

Happy Birthday!