Purpose

I know this isn't a new thought or revelation...but it is a fresh one for me right now.

Without God, I am useless. Even though He created me for a purpose, apart from Him I cannot/will not accomplish anything of eternal value.

A light bulb without electricity flowing through it is useless. A sink faucet without water flowing through it is useless. A vehicle without gasoline flowing through it is useless. It doesn't matter what function they are supposed to have. Without their source, they are useless.

God is our source. He is my source. All of my talents and abilities and desires and callings are nothing if I don't stay connected to Him. Jesus said that there would be some who prophesied in His name, healed people, and did all sorts of ministry that He wouldn't even recognize.

I don't want to be a professional floor display for God. I want to...I need to know that as I'm seeking His pleasure and His face that His spirit is flowing through me.

That's where I am today. I'm aware of this truth. How 'bout you?

j

My Favorite Sounds

In order:

1. My wife saying my name...not "baby" or any other term of endearment. Hearing her say "Johnny". It cuts to my soul.

2. The sound of my little boy belly laughing. Haven't tried it on anyone yet...but I'm pretty sure that this sound could cure cancer.

3. A group of redeemed, grateful Christians singing from their hearts with passion to God Almighty.

4. My little boy talking. It doesn't matter what he's saying. It's just dang 'ol cute.

5. A freshly tuned grand piano. There's just something so moving about a big instrument like that resonating in perfect tune with itself. It's like the "sound of integrity".

6. Any really good a capella (sp?) group. Like Take6 or some other ensemble like that. Gives me chills.

7. The "slap bass" music that plays on Seinfeld in between scenes. I love that show.

8. While we're on the low notes...I love the sound of a good Upright Bass. Makes me feel all "Charlie Brown" inside.

9. My Anderson Hollow T guitar plugged straight into Marshall's Bad Cat amp. Sweet and warm like butter. Makes me want to practice some blues licks.

10. My Uncle Clyde's Gibson J150 guitar. Man that thing resonates the whole room when you play it.

Well there ya have it. I'm a musician can ya tell?

A little about me

For anyone who might be interested, I have some fairly current video samples of me leading worship on YouTube. Just search for Johnny Rohrbeck.

I'm still in search of a new church home to partner with in ministry as a worship leader or worship pastor as well; just in case anyone who reads this is aware of any open positions that might be a stylistic fit.

I guess that's enough shameless self plugging for now.
Thanks!

Johnny

Twitter

Well...for anyone who might care, I'm now on twitter. You can follow my daily blabbering there if you'd like at http://www.twitter.com/johnnybeck

If you aren't familiar with twitter...it's more of a "one sentence" type blog that I update throughout each day. Sometimes I drop in an interesting quote I just heard or whatever thought is on my mind. Other times I just post what I'm currently up to. It's a neat way to keep up with what folks are doing.

Later!
Johnny

A new bow

During a recent conversation with a pastor friend of mine he made a comment that got me thinking. We were talking about the need for people to be grateful and he said, "Folks ought to just put a new bow on the 4 wheeler that's already sitting in the back yard."

I laughed at the tongue-in-cheek comment and then started thinking, "What would it teach our kids if we actually did something like that?". After all, it's obvious that our country's culture of consumption has played a huge part in the current economic state of our country.

So what if we literally or figuratively put a new bow on the stuff we already have. What if we began teaching our kids that the "magic" of Christmas isn't in getting more toys than their cousins or friends. But rather that the miracle of Christmas is that Christ gave his all for us and we should be grateful for every blessing we have and then go and bless others.

Chasing this rabbit trail of thought, I made a statement to my wife the other day. "If we could convince one of our families to pool all the money they would normally spend on gifts for the family gift exchange and went to Sams and bought food to feed some homeless, hurting people, we could probably feed about 50 people steaks and potatoes and pie." I don't know about you, but I'd rather go feed some hurting people a jam-up meal than get another sweater.

Just some thoughts. I could go on for a while. But I'll spare ya for now.

Grateful,
Johnny

Perspective

In recent months, my attitude and outlook on several things has changed significantly. As I've been thinking through how to communicate some of these changes to others in my sphere of influence, I've come to some conclusions.

When our circumstances change, our perspective changes. When our perspective changes, our attitude usually changes. When our attitude changes, our outlook changes. Here's the catch though. This can go either way. We have choices to make at each stage of the changes that determine whether or not we'll experience a positive change or a negative change.

When our circumstances change for the better we run the risk of developing a "I'm awesome so I deserve great things" perspective which leads to a spoiled attitude and a self-centered outlook. When our circumstances become more difficult, we run the risk of developing a "God doesn't love me and life isn't fair" perspective which leads to a bitter attitude and grim outlook.

I think that God's plan for us is this:

When circumstances change for the better we shouldn't lose focus on the fact that there are people WAY less fortunate than us. Thereby maintaining a healthy perspective which will lead to a humble attitude. Our outlook remains sober and grateful, realizing that none of us are guaranteed the easy street for life.
When circumstances change for the worse our perspective should still be to realize that there are those less fortunate than us. Thereby continuing to maintain a healthy perspective and humble attitude. We should become even more grateful for what we have and what we had.

SO WHY ALL THIS RAMBLING JOHNNY?

Several months ago I lost my salaried job in full time ministry. Since then, I've been leading worship around the Southeast every week. A couple of weeks ago at one of the churches, the love offering and honorarium was more than double what I have been getting every week. I immediately and thoroughly began thanking God for the provision and generosity of that day. THEN IT HIT ME: The amount was equal to ONE WEEKS PAYCHECK from my previous church position. Then the conviction hit me. I don't remember there being ONE WEEK that I came home with my paycheck and giving God that kind of gratitude for providing that amount for my family.

What's changed? My circumstances have changed my perspective which in turn has affected my attitude. So, I'm choosing to maintain that perspective and attitude so that God is honored. It's HIS pleasure we should be living for anyways.

Just a few thoughts. It's where I am.
Johnny