Mental Musings

Many people put an expectation into the holidays that is far beyond anything reasonable. Nothing can stand up to their idea of a perfect holiday. And when the day is not as they had hoped, they begin to crash emotionally. For others the holiday was difficult because they were not able to spend it with their loved ones. Either because of their work (military, missionaries, medical personnel, law enforcement, etc.) or because a loved one passed away during the year. All of their holiday cheer was drained away by the feeling of loss. Some people spend too much on the holiday and the realization of what they have done hits home when they notice how empty that bank account has become. The financial stress is put off during the buildup to the holiday, but after all of the festivities they have no other distractions to prevent them from focusing on the pending payday shortfall. Then there are those who physically lost control during the holidays. The food and drinks were passed...

After 14 years of studying music and 32 years of being paid as a musician, I am coming to the end of my music career. This decision has been something I have struggled with for almost 3 years. And now, as I come to the end, the emotional strain seems to be no less difficult. About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with asthma after a couple years of continuing respiratory illnesses. Even if I felt fine, I noticed that there was physical pain when I played my trumpet. I also would become exhausted after leading the three morning worship services. This exhaustion would last for days just in time for me to begin rehearsals for the next Sunday's services. Those would leave me physically spent as well and I would generally recover just in time for Sunday mornings. It took the doctors more than a year to diagnose me because the spirometer tests showed that I was breathing at about 90-95% of capacity, which is normal. But I knew that the tightness in my lungs and the exhaustion was ...

General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) has been credited with the famous phrase, “War is hell.” No matter how war has been depicted in books, songs, and movies, there is nothing glamorous about war. War is the physical result of a spiritual condition. My father, Lt. William James Poole, Ret. USN, served his country for 22 years. He graduated Valedictorian from the Traveler’s Rest High School in Traveler’s Rest, South Carolina. He then entered the navy as a Seaman fresh out of high school. While stationed in Rhode Island, my father somehow met Jane Louise Hearn, who was living in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. They fell in love and married before he was transferred to Florida where my sister was born. My father attended Perdue University and graduated after 4 years just 9 ours shy of completing his master’s in Electrical Engineering. The Navy would not allow him to take any further classes, so he had to delay his master’s until many years later. During that time my br...

Every time you turn around somebody is asking you to give money to help with some cause. Many people just get tired of hearing groups beg them for money; especially when they cannot afford to make a commitment to give a significant amount of money toward any cause, no matter how worthy it is. As a church planter I am learning even more about how difficult it is to get churches, groups, and individuals to give financial support. I hate begging people for money, but the cost to start a new church is expensive. That cost is just a drop in the bucket for the costs to run an established church. And since church plants are more successful in reaching lost people than established churches, that cost is definitely worth supporting. But how do you get that support when most churches are very focused on their own budget needs and many families are not willing to sacrifice large amounts of cash? For decades marketing experts had determined that the average person considered anything ...

Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world-what is viewed as nothing-to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one can boast in His presence. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 For a long time I knew that I would never be great. As a child I was good at pretty much anything I attempted, but I was never going to be great at them. It wasn't because I lacked a competitive attitude. I was a fierce competitor and have always hated losing, no matter what I am doing. It wasn't because I lacked the understanding of how to do it. I had a voracious appetite for knowledge. If it interested me, I taught myself how to do it. I even taught myself to read. Adults were always telling me, "Yo...

Sermon from October 12, 2014

There is an understanding among Christians that we don’t really like to admit out loud. We tell ourselves that we shouldn’t speak about it because it could harm the church. We pretend it doesn’t exist because we don’t want to turn people away from the church. We hide behind our good works and smile as if nothing was wrong. Christians can be some of the most hurtful people. I didn’t say hurting people, but that is also true. The church building is often full of people that are struggling just to make it through another week. And perhaps that contributes to the hurting toward others. Lashing out at others because of our own hurts. Christians more than most understand just how vile, how dirty, how undeserving we truly are. Scripture even tells us that our very best is like a soiled garment (Isaiah 64:6). Don’t get me wrong. Christians are good people; not because of something we have done. Christians are good only through the redemptive grace of Jesus Christ. It i...

My son just recorded his first album and it is available on NoiseTrade for free (but you can always leave a tip). This is the same son who had no interest in taking piano lessons from his mom even though she has her master's in piano performance. The same son who had no interest in choir or learning to sing even though his dad is a worship pastor with a master's in music. Yet, he found time to teach himself how to create electronic music using GarageBand. Check it out . I'm enjoying it right now.

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (HCSB) What Is Keeping You From Telling Others About Jesus? Whenever I speak to Christians about witnessing I discover that there are many Christ followers who have never told another person how to accept Christ. They usually tell me that they don't know how to explain it to others. My response: you accepted Jesus, right? How did you do it? Tell them that. Others tell me that they are afraid to offend people. They are afraid that their friends will be turned off if they start getting all religious with them. I do my best not to respond with sarcasm: and you don't think that it would offend them to spend eternity in hell because you didn't tell them about Jesus? Still others tell me that they are afraid that people will ask them questions that cannot answer. Nobody can know be exp...

Church Planting comes in many different models. Some of the most successful church plants are those that take a core group from an established church and begin another work down the street. The model that God has called me to do is not like that. In fact, it is perhaps one of the most difficult models of church planting. We are going to move into a community where we have no momentum built-up and try to start a work completely from scratch. Some call this method the parachute drop. As an avid action movie fan, I know that if a paratrooper wants to stay alive, he must hit the ground running. You have a mission that has been assigned to you and you must get out of the drop zone and begin to focus on the mission. The anticipation of the initial drop is perhaps the most frightening moment. Imagine sitting packed together like sardines inside of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain waiting for the moment that you reach the drop zone. Before the ramp even opens you hear the enemy trying to kn...

My son is planning to help with our church plant as the social media director. The first thing he told me that I needed to do was create a short video using the Voice app by Adobe. Voice only works with the iPad, but it is very easy to use. It includes a very easy walk through and templates that help you get started. Below is the end result of our initial exploration of this app. My son has several video ads that he has planned for me to do soon. He wants these to be on location in Annapolis. He may even include some of his own musical creations that he has been working on in GarageBand.

Two years ago God started an exciting process with our family that has led to a decision we made 5 months ago. God is directing us to become church planters in Annapolis area starting in January 2015. This church plant will become Elevate Church in the Eastport area of Annapolis, Maryland. Why Annapolis? Annapolis is the state capital of Maryland. While the population for Annapolis is only about 38,000 people, the surrounding area is closer to 75,000. Annapolis is also the county seat of Arundel County, which is one of the 146 largest counties in the country. These 146 counties comprise 50% of the entire population on the United States. In an area of around 75,000 people around Annapolis, there are 50,000 unchurched people with very few evangelical churches. Many of these unchurched people have had no prior church experience. It is fair to say that the harvest is plentiful in Annapolis. Vision The vision that God has given to us for Elevate Church is that it wil...

Vacation Bible School is often a program that shifts the entire focus of your church on children for one week during the year. It actually takes months of planning and preparation and we have some wonderful volunteers at our church who help with this ministry. While the week is packed with exciting songs, fun games and activities, mission stories, and more, the primary purpose for VBS is to share the message of salvation with the children. Many churches around the world pour lots of time and money into their children's and youth ministries because they know that the older a person becomes the less likely they are to accept Jesus as Lord. 43% of Christians accepted Christ before they were 13 years old ( Barna Research ). 21% accepted Christ between the ages of 13 and 18 and another 13% between the ages of 18-21. In total that means that 77% of Christians were saved by the age of 21. Our church actually has VBS twice during the summer: once for the children and a separate ...

Where there is no vision, the people perish. Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) What is the purpose of the church? This question has been debated for many years. While at seminary I noticed that the various schools within the seminary all had a different opinion about the purpose of the church. The School of Theology taught that the primary purpose of the church was evangelism (missions, proclaim God's Word). The School of Religious Education taught that the primary purpose of the church was to disciple others. The School of Music taught that the primary purpose of the church was to worship God. It would seem that these differing opinions would be grounds for disunity. But, in fact, they all are part of the same primary purpose of the church. Directing others to Jesus. School of Music Our worship exalts Jesus so that others can see Him, in our songs, in our words, and in our actions. When the people of Israel were being attacked by venomous snakes, God ins...

Poetry, regardless of what type or whether or not it is accompanied by music, is an essential form of communication. It speaks to the soul even more than mere written or spoken language. The ebb and flow of the rhythm, the connectedness of the rhyming patterns, and the underlying emotion embedded in the context all combine to create a medium of expression that draws us together through a bond of solidarity in thought. I have been writing poetry for my own benefit for more than 40 years. It helps me to express myself in a way that I cannot seem to do verbally. The written word just seems to come easier to me. Usually it takes me less than 15 minutes to put my thoughts into a poem when it would take me hours to try and explain myself verbally. Below are a couple that I have written to express various ideas from war and freedom, frustration, and the ultimate fight for our souls. These use various rhyming techniques and rhythm schemes. All art is meant to elicit an emotional respons...

I lived in the Middle East for two years. I have traveled to five foreign countries around the globe. I can tell you with firsthand knowledge that people all over the world want to come to America. They see America as a kind of Promise Land. A country where they can escape all of their problems. A country where they can make a better life for themselves and their families. America is by far one of the best places in the world to live, but the things that have become our basic values are the very things that have moved us so far from God. Based on recent studies, there are 5 things that Americans really value. Entertainment - the average family with an annual income of $55,000 spends over $5000 per year on entertainment or 9% (based on study by the United States Bureau of Labor Statics). Entertainment, is fully a self indulgence. We want to do things that make us happy. It can include participating in sports, watching sports, vacations, purchasing music, attending concerts,...

In my lifetime we have had over 60,000 Americans die in the service of their country. May our country never forget the great sacrifice made by these brave men and women. Today I pray for those they left behind: their families and friends who have had to continue on with a part of them missing. And may we also remember the more than 200,000 people wounded in that same time. Many returning home with lifelong difficulties and struggles because of their willingness to protect us. We must never fail to help them through these struggles. We owe them a debt that is well worth the cost of medical and rehabilitation expenses. And let us not forget the millions who returned from combat without any physical injuries yet injured just the same. Many with emotional pain and suffering, memories of horrors, and nightmares of things we cannot even imagine. Many of these men and women, especially in Vietnam, returned to a country that had turned their anger at politicians and political motiv...

5 Ways to Control Your Thoughts Do you ever find yourself wondering if something you are doing is a sin? I’m not talking about the biggies, like those described in the big 10, or the ones that everyone seems to understand are just plain wrong. I am talking about the small, imperceptible things that weigh on you during those quiet moments when you are alone and let your guard down. When the deceiver whispers lies into your ear and you take notice for a nanosecond. Is that a sin? I’m thinking about those times when you walk past a woman and notice that she is beautiful. When you pass a sports car and appreciate the sleekness, the form, and the speed. When you see a billboard for the lottery displaying some ridiculously large amount of money and you suddenly realize how incredible empty your checking account has become. Is that a sin? I am talking about those times when you notice the Facebook posts about an event that your friend’s child is attending which costs more t...

Plugging Into the Power of Prayer Prayer - direct communication with the one and only Creator of the Universe. Do we really understand how incredibly fantastic the idea of speaking to God is? We have an instant hotline to the Ruler over everything and there is never a busy signal, He is never away from His desk, He is never in an important meeting and cannot be bothered at the time, and we never get stuck into an endless computerized answering system. We can talk directly to God. If none of that excites you, then perhaps you need to do some serious checking into your relationship with God. I don't see how anyone could be a believer in Jesus and not be excited about the ability to speak with their Lord and Savior. It is perhaps the second biggest thing about being a Christian - right after that whole forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God thing. So why do so few people pray? Oh, we all spend a little time in prayer: bless this food, help the car start, let me pas...

What did the Beatles know about loneliness? Everywhere they went, people flooded from all over just to get the chance to be near them. But their hit song "All the Lonely People" shows that they understood loneliness. They knew what it meant to long something more, to be noticed, to be needed, and yet to spend day after day doing the same, unfulfilling thing. Chances are that even in the biggest crowd imaginable...there are lonely people. I have been there. Surrounded by hundreds of people, focused on my assigned tasks, doing my best to be unnoticed...only wishing that I wasn't so lonely. If I have felt that way, lonely in spite of serving God in a crowded church, I can only believe that millions of others walk around daily just wishing that someone would care about them. As a follower of Jesus, I have been charged with the task of engaging people around me. I admit that I don't always do that. Often when I am in the public arena I am more like a hunter in t...