Wordpress

I hate that I am using blogger to say this, but wordpress is better. So now you can find my blog at joshfowler.wordpress.com, but I won't be updating for a while. Hope to see you there soon!

Josh

Pause

God is doing great things in mine and Susan's life. We are moving to Atlanta, (Long Story) and for now, I am taking a pause on the blog. I will let you know when I'll be back. There are some changes coming down the pipe.

Josh

Ever feel...?

Okay, It seems like it's just one of those days. You feel unproductive, stressed, overwhelmed, somewhat lazy, tired, happy, depressed, and everything else under the sun. Well, that's what I feel like today. I know that some of my pentecostal brothers and sisters would tell me that I just don't have enough joy in the Lord, or my faith isn't big enough, or "No one that has Jesus in their heart should feel that way!" BTW- I have plenty of Pentecostal friends, and not all of them are loons. And just so you don't think I'm a cynic, I know they say the same thing about me in all my weirdness. But anyways, it's just one of those days for me. One thing is that I haven't had my medication in about 3 weeks, and I can say with no hesitation that it has all finally wore off. That's like depriving a heart patient of their medication. Like my brain, it will eventually just start flipping out. All that to say: I freakin need my meds!

Pray for me,

Josh

I am alive

Yeah, I am alive. No, other than the fact that I lost my password, I don't have a good excuse for not bloggin in forever. Well, I guess it has been a bit busy. Anyways, I hope you are doing well. So here's the deal, I would give you a rundown of what my vacation was like, where I've been, and what i've done, but that is exhausting to me. So, I'll tell you what's been going on MOST recently.

1.) I realized that the longer I'm married, the hotter my wife gets.

2.) God is doing some really great things in the Creative Arts Department here at Pinnacle. We are having a cookout this Saturday night which I am really exited about.

3.) Me and one of my best friends, Michael Seay have had a chance to re-connect recently over a good Hardy's hamburger. Michael, who is my accountability partner, is probably reading this right now. I would like to think of Michael and myself as the Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin of the next 20 years. We're in a holding pattern, though. Neither one of us can do anything until we are 30. Crap! I hate the thirty year rule!

4.) My wife is hot.

5.) Christianese phrase of the day- "Slain in the Spirit" Tell me where in the flip this comes from in Scripture. I think if I hear one more person say this I'm gonna sucker punch them with a lead pipe. (Not really, It just kills me because no one who is a fan of this can explain it to me with any scriptural backdrop) Evidently this is when your in a worship service and some preacher knocks you in the head, and you're out cold for no apparent reason (At least not one anyone can explain to me) and this gets you closer to God. Yeah cause Jesus did that a lot, right? Don't say this around your non-christian friends. This will turn them off REAL quick.

6.) This random day in history- We bombed hiroshima. ouch... Maybe I should have left that one alone?

Have a great day, all you bloggers livin' at your moms house wearin' Pajamas! ©2008 Mark Driscoll/Michael Seay Used by permission sort of.

Josh

Hangin out

I'm hangin out with Mickey and the crew right now in Orlando. I'll update you the first chance I get.

Bye!

This i think could help Barrack

I have an announcement

Well guys, I am very sorry to be holding out on you, but I have a very important announcement to make, and I really need your support. In effort to make this as widespread as possible, I have chosen this video to help share this:

More to come later! Have a great day!

Un-Christian

Un-Christian is a book that came out around a year ago or so, and it is written by a guy named Gabe Lyons who is the founder of the Q conference. Experts, feel free to correct me, but I think he also does Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Ga every year as well. One of his most recent accomplishments is a book that he wrote called Un-Christian. I haven't read the book, but it is on my list of books to read in the next year. The underlying message of the book (Again, experts feel free to correct me here) is that Christians often times do a lot of things that are very unchristian in effort to "Win souls" or to try to change people. I think a lot of times their intentions are good, but they have no idea how great the power of words is, and more often than not, they end up offending someone. Now, don't get me wrong here, I know that there are some things in the bible that because of what they say, may be offensive to someone who struggle with something the bible says not to do. For example, I know many people who would think be offended if I told them that gossip is a sin. But we know from the book of James that it is. All I am saying is that in effort to be a Christ -like example, we often times don't mirror Christ at all.

One shining example of this today is when James Dobson lashed out at Barrack Obama saying that he "distorted the word of God." Maybe he did, I don't know. My question is this: Is that the most appropriate way to teach people wanting to be like Christ? To call say that the senator has "Fruitcake theology?" Fruitcake theology can only come from a fruitcake, so in my opinion, he was calling Obama a fruitcake. It seems like every time I get a chance to listen to Dobson, he is always lashing out at someone, for something that he doesn't approve of. I don't understand this, and it frustrates me to no end. He may be the biggest voice for Christians in the US except for Billy Graham, and now everyone in America who hears him gets there view of Christianity from him. This bothers me.

What can we do? Continue to spread the news of jesus in a way that's relational. That all I can think of.

Today's lesson in Christianese presented in Foxworthian:

You might speak Christianese if your view of the King James bible is: "If it was good enough for Paul, it's good enough for me!"

On this random day in history:
The U.S. Air Force released The Roswell Report, closing the case on the 1947 Roswell, N.M. incident concerning UFOs and alien bodies.

Well, that's all for today!

Have a good one.

In a hurry

Christianese word of the day- Old man/ New man or Old woman/new woman
FYI- If you are talking to someone who doesn't go to church, they don't know what the heck you mean when you say this, and if you have to explain it, you've probably already lost their attention. So, word to the wise, instead of:

"I found Jesus, and I crucified my old man, and now I'm a new man!"

Try:

"Wanna get some coffee?"

Then, using language they understand, tell them about the great thing God has done in your life.

Thoughts?
******************************************************************************************************************

This day in history-

1934- The FCC was created. Howard stern probably hates this day.

The good thing- It's my Mamaw's Birthday. Yay Mamaw! Happy birthday.

Other than that- That's it.

Now- Go apply what you have learned.

Bye!

My blogging niche?

People find their niche in very different ways. Stevie Wonder, for example, never gave music a thought until a teacher he knew called him one day when she lost a mouse in her room. She absolutely could not find it. Being a very witty woman, she knew she could call on Stevie to help her find that mouse. You see she appreciated the fact that because he had lost one of his senses, he had four more that were heightened. He may not be able to see the mouse, but he could definitely hear it. Needless to say, He found the mouse. When he himself began to grow in awareness of this heightened sense, he very quickly picked up piano and became one of the biggest American pop sensations in history. He found his niche.

The moral of the story: There isn’t one. But isn’t it inspiring? I’m not a professional blogger, but I am looking to find something that sets my blog apart. So, I thought about it. What are two things that set me apart? Number one, I’m A.D.D. Not just a little, I mean chronic. It’s a wonder I can function sometimes. I have more crazy ideas running through my head than a 14 year old A.G. kid at the inventor’s convention. Seriously. I’m really spastic and random. What else sets me apart? I hate, hate, HATE it when Christians live in Christianville, USA. That’s where they live in their Christian homes, driving their Christian vehicles, wearing their t-shirts (not that I REALLY have much against those, it’s more how they’re worn), they go to the first presbamethabapticostalic church, and oh….. You guessed it… They speak my favorite language… Christianese!! Again, if you want to know what Christianese is, you can view a real life, uncensored, written by the world, there you have it definition right here. I hate Christianese. Why? It excludes people who don’t know God, or don’t go to church. (It’s what makes people hate “Christians.”) So how does this all come together? Let me bring this plane in for a landing.

My good buddy (For anonymity reasons, we’ll call him Bob,) helped me find my blogging niche. What’s my niche, you ask? The random, Christianese blog. Yes that’s right. I’m going to try an experiment. Every weekday for the next month, I am going to write about two things in addition to my other thoughts. It will be the Christianese word (or phrase) of the day, and “This random day in history.” Yes Bob suggested this to me today after discussing my blog. Now before we go any further, I want to say this. I am going to be exposing, and discussing some real life terms and phrases that all of us church goers just love to say. Problem is, this “language” in which we’ve invented, could hurt your influence on a non-Christian. I often times may link to pages, which contain examples of these “Christianese” words and/or phrases that could be offensive. No more offensive than what you would find on network TV past nine o’ clock at night, and I know you watch that. So don’t blast me for doing this. If you would blast me over my Christianese busting, and then turn around and watch your favorite weekly drama, I would question your authenticity as a person anyways. And if you don’t keep up with culture through some form of media like the internet, radio or TV, WAKE UP! How do you plan on influencing people who are far from God if you can’t even relate to them? Also know that I don’t endorse the major networks, MTV, Urban Dictionary, or the like. However, you better believe I’ll use one as an example!

So, that being said, enjoy. Hope this stretches you, as well as entertains you. Thanks again Bob for your valuable insight!
“Random Christianese” © 2008, “BOB” All rights reserved.

Twitter, and other random thoughts.

Twitter... Is it the new wave sweeping the nation, or merely a short lived urban trend that will die in less than a year? Is it both? You decide. Before you say anything. Check this video out here about Twitter. Then click on the red highlighted bar near the top right hand side of the page that says "watch video." It's not a waste of time. It's a new way to get to know people in a deeper manner. You can even update it from your cell phone... for free.... Not a waste of time... It's an investment into the lives of your friends. They will see the real you. Just watch the video and you will see..

Also... I can't decide on a blog template that is right for me. Do you like this one? Does it make me look fat? Just kidding... But in all seriousness: does anyone know of a good place to get a decent blog layout?

In other news- Saturday, June 21st, there is going to be a concert at the Asheville Civic Center. Playing there will be Jeremy Camp, Avalon, and the ever popular Jaci Valesquez. I have to be honest. Although I am a worship leader, I am not the biggest fan of Christian music. I think a lot of it stinks, but on the other hand... Who I am I to judge? I don't have a record deal..... yet. But anyways, I think these three are pretty dang good. Not all my favorites, but they are definitely good. There is no doubt about that. Why am I exited about this concert? Well the thing is, clear channel is hosting this event. While they are in charge, they aren't making any money on this. The concert is to benefit my friends at the WNC Rescue Mission. During the concert, they are going to be showing a special video of a project that they are working on called "My night in a box." It is the opportunity for people to spend one night outdoors, sleeping in a box, so that they can fully appreciate what a homeless person would go through on a cold night alone. What a great idea. Cool thing about the video is that the song in the background is "broken," which is the title track off my new CD. If you haven't heard the CD, you can check it out by going here. It's also available on iTunes by searching "Josh Fowler." That may not excite you very much, but as a new artist, anywhere I can get my music out is a win for me! I'm absolutely thrilled.

So what's been the highlight of your week? Anything good going on in your neck of the woods? Let me know I would love to hear.

By the way did you get the book yet?

Have a great day!

How to Win Friends & Influence People, Part II

Ok, so here's the deal. I can't say this enough when I am talking to people: This book is changing my life! It is absolutely a must read for anyone who is a leader, aspires to be a great one, or just wants to be a better person. Please, go right now to Amazon, or your local book store and get this book now! The title, one more time, is "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. If I can only master a small fraction of the qualities that this book challenges me to do, I know that I will become a better leader, and a more likable person. I look around me at all the great people whom I come in contact with on a day to day basis, and I often find myself saying such statements as these: "Why aren't they at the top of their game?" or "Why aren't they a huge success?" I even find myself asking similar questions about myself. I think through the reading of this book, that I am beginning to find out some of those answers. I'm finding out what separates the good from the great, and hopefully, I am taking the right steps to go in that same direction. So, enough on that... Just go get the book!

Yesterday... Was awesome. Here was our set:

Broadcast..........Fee
Forever.............Tomlin
Glorious one.....Fee

The way I was made.... Tomlin
Undo...........................Rush of Fools

My wife was singing BGV's and she did a phenomenal job!

The band yesterday was Brian Barnett, Joel Sellers, Danny Jackson, Danny Buckner, Mike McGrew, and me on the keys. We had a great time, and the sound was awesome! (Props to Ryan Riddle)

Well that's all I've got for right now... Hope you have a great day.

P.S. Pray for this guy's family. He had a lot of friends and a lot of influence on politics.



Tim Russert 1950-2008

So I was curious

What my score was. What score, you asked? My theological worldview, that is. I have seen this on a lot of folk's MySpace pages and blogs, and so I thought I would give it a shot. I think that there are a few small dicrepencies, but overall, it's right on. You should try it. Just click on the picture below to try it out yourself:




So other than that, it's been a pretty busy day. Got a couple of ends to tie up before Sunday, so I gotta run.

Have a great day!

The real me

I have found myself to be in a horrible pattern lately. Actually, for about the past two years. I have found that I am quite the politician. (Hear me when I say this. Politicians are great just keep reading.) Some of our politicians we trust. others we do not. They pander. They lie, and they try to please everyone. All this to get votes. To stay in office. To feel important. In my time in ministry, I have fond out that everyone wants to be important. They want to feel significant, to be a part of something great. Well, I have news for you. I have been a little political in my time. I have known the right people, (Name dropper) read the right books (Does skimming count? I actually only started reading them all the way through about a month ago), and knew the right things to say. (Cultural chameleon) So here's what I have to say now...

God has called me to a new level of authenticity. To be unapologetic about who I am. So what if I haven't read the latest Maxwell book, or I don't know every last bit of new technology available? It's OK. For too long, I have been the name dropping, know it all, cookie cutter worship leader, and it's gone on long enough. I want to be man enough to tell you who I am and what I think. I want to learn to be honest enough to tell you that a lot of the time, I don't know what the right answer is, or how I feel about a certain political view. I am me. I am young. I am growing, and I think the first step to being great is just to be myself. That's what I intend to do. If you'll notice, I updated my "about me" section to express more of really who I am, not who I want the internet world to perceive me as. One day, I want to be an expert in my field. I honestly hope that I'm a top 40 recording artist, or maybe get the privilege to lead tens of thousands of people in the worship of a holy God. Who knows? But for now, I am not going to pretend to know it all. I am going to focus on honing in on the abilities that God has given me. I am going to learn how to be a better leader, husband, son, worker, co-worker, brother, professional, singer, musician, worship leader, listener, and most importantly, a better follower of Christ. So for the next few months, I am going to be reinventing my method of social interaction. I might not talk as much. You may find me being very quiet just so I can listen and learn from the people around me.

This isn't something that I woke up this morning and decided to do. I've been trying to shift to this mindset for a couple of weeks, and it's been very liberating. I have blogged more. Said what I really thought. Learned to value friendships more, and give more away. Spent less time wasting time, and more with my wife. (I'm getting there) It's felt great. I think what God wants us to be next to being sold out for him, is to be exactly what he created us to be- ourselves.

For whoever read this- Thanks for not wanting to cut yourself as a result of this post. If you read this whole thing- I count you as a true friend. So here I come.. Just me, the real Josh. Good or bad, pretty or ugly, dorky or not, I want you to know me. I hope I get to know who you really are too.

Cheers,

Josh

I'm a magnet

Good. I thought the title would get your attention. Yes, I am a magnet. Not a chick magnet. I am married to the hottest chick in the world, see:


So, I already have that under control. No, I am a magnet for drunk and homeless people. Not sure why, but I am. Now, if you are the type of person who revels in the fact that you the perfect person, with the perfect family, who drives the perfect car, who goes to the perfect church, with the prettiest pews, who has the best relationship with God, who, when it comes down to it, would take or leave Grace cause it's basically just a cool thing to have, you are probably not gonna like this post. I don't write posts like these to intentionally piss people off, but just hear me out on this.

For some reason, God puts a lot of homeless and drunk people in my path. Perhaps he does that to us all and we simply ignore it. I don't know. Regardless, I encounter a lot of them. Last night, as I was finishing my evening of delivering Pizzas, (Yes I deliver pizzas on the side) a man approached the store after we were closed asking if there were any more pizzas left. He was hungry. We told him that there were no more pizzas, and that we were sorry. The other people I was there with left, and then I tried to do the same. I drove off, all the while hearing the still small voice deep down inside that said "feed him." What? I asked God. "Feed him" he said. So, I turned around in the parking lot, drove up to the gentleman, and rolled down the window. The next words that came out of my mouth were without question the dumbest words I could have said all night. "You still hungry?" I asked.. Well what the heck was he supposed to say? "Nope. Somewhere in the past 45 feet I was walking, and the good Lord dropped a big mac and fries in my stomach, so I'm good... Take it easy!!!" Yeah right. Dude was starving. "Brother, I'm bout starved ta death" he said. So I looked around, thought about what I was doing, and said "get in the car." He then looked at me like I was some serial killer, and he said "no, son, I better not do that." I realized that my demeanor might have been a bit off, so I gently reassured him that all I wanted to do what get him something to eat. "I can only get in if the Lord says it's ok.." He said. I still don't know what he meant by that. But I just looked at him and said "God told me it's all good, so get in the car." In he got, and off we drove. Now... Here is the part where my wife will kill me. First of all, she hasn't even heard this story, because I forgot to tell her. (I do that a lot... Thank God she still puts up with me!) Second of all, she gave me some really good advice a while back: "If someone is hungry, don't take them to get them fast food! Take them to the store, so you can spend less money, and feed them more food. Beyond that, it's way healthier for them anyways.." So baby, as you read this, I must apologize because I didn't take your advice. And as a disclaimer to everyone; not because I didn't want to, but I just didn't think about it. In the heat of the moment, and all I cared about was feeding this guy. Back to the story... So we drove up the road to McDonald's and I bought him a value meal. He really appreciated it. He was blown away by the fact that I would buy him a meal. He told me that he hadn't had a meal in three days... As we were driving down the road to the spot where he asked me to drop him off, he told me where he was at in life, and where he was heading. His name was Rick, and he was heading to Arkansas. I asked him how he was getting there, and he said "My thumb!" He asked what I did, and I told him that I did the music for a church. (I have a feeling that he would have looked at me like I was a complete idiot if I told him that I was a Creative Arts Pastor.) He thought that was pretty cool. He really liked music, and told me that he was a follower of Christ. "Great" I said. I was at a loss for words, because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that that this man was very drunk, and if you've ever had a conversation with a drunk man, you know how hard that can be. So as we pulled into the Bi-lo parking lot in Waynesville, I stopped the car, and asked him him if I could pray for him before I left. He said sure, and then he held out hid dirty hand. I looked down at it, messy with dirt and what looked like a scab or two, and then back up at him. I didn't know what to do, so I just held his hand and began to pray for him. Who knows how long it had been since Rick felt the physical touch of another human being. I prayed a very simple prayer, asking God to protect Rick in his travels, and when I was done, he looked like he was going to cry. I don't think he knew quite what to think, and really, neither did I. One thing I do know, though. We were both blessed. Immensely... I drove off, and I still don't know why, but I wanted to cry. I'm not sure how, but I know, even if in some very small way, God used that situation to impact both of us. I was reminded of how blessed I was. I was reminded that all of us have probably been one decision away from heading down the path that Rick was on.

So this is what I have to say about this: You have no idea how much this happens to me. I encounter these people all the time, and they are so badly in need of real human interaction, and even more, interaction with their Heavenly Father. The sad thing, is that they will never have either one of those unless we as the body of Christ can have the courage to MEET them where THEY are at. This comes full circle back to what I said at the beginning of the blog. If your life involves you living in the perfect "Christianese" world where we wear our Christian T-shirts, and hang out with our Christian Friends, and Listen to our Christian music, and go in our Christian Churches, sitting on our Christian seats, driving our Christian cars and never encountering the lost where they are, haven't we fallen severely short of the Mark? Have we not given our lives to Christ only to get our fire insurance card, never daring to enter in to the world of a non-believer, or better yet, a believer who is hurting. We walk in a world full of hurting, jaded people. These people haven't been hurt by God, but by the church.

Listen... if you know me, you know I have a long way to go in my faith. I'm certainly not the picture perfect Christian. But one thing God has challenged me to do is to get out of my box, and get into someone else's world. I would challenge you to do the same. Don't worry about your car seat getting dirty, or your reputation being put on the line because one of your friends saw you with an individual out of your social class. Reach out. That's what our Jesus did for us. He entered our world.

I am reminded of something that I heard Andy Stanley say one time. "God, give me the wisdom to do what's right, the courage to do what's right, even when it's hard." If only we would all pray that. Yes, I think God would put amazing opportunities in our path. So as you read this, I hope you feel Challenged.

Have a great day, and don't be shy. Let me know what you think.

Josh

P.S. If you want a real, uncensored view of what the world calls Christianese, you can view that definition here.

How to Win Friends & Influence People

Great book. Check it out- It's by Dale Carnegie. If you work with or in a church, I highly recommend it. I am reading a chapter or so a day, and trying very hard to apply it. When I get presented with personal challenges, such as the ones that I am reading in this book right now, I begin to understand what kind of person I am. Now, I know that I am my worst critique, but, I realize that I need to grow immensely in the area of organization and self discipline. Some hard truths that I have realized this week: I spend way too much time watching TV. Maybe not even too much time, but I think that it is sad that I have no problem giving Jay Leno an hour of my time, but I struggle sometimes just to get in the word. Also, I now know the reason I didn't make it through college. It wasn't because it was too hard, or I had two part time jobs, or the girls I met, or any of that. I attribute it solely to the lack of self discipline. As I grow older, i realize that there are some things in life that you have to do. Sometimes they suck. I can't pretend I'm this guy that school just comes so easy for, or just put on a pretend face and act like I'm happy about it. For me, college sucked, and so I dropped out. That said a lot about my character at the time. All that to say,- Self discipline is something that I am still working on hardcore. I deal with it everyday. I deal with it when I know I need to give my best to God, no matter what the situation is, how much I like or don't like it, and if it makes me feel good or not. Now before I go on, please don't take this post wrong. I am not railing myself and all of the bad qualities that I have, I am just speaking to you with a very sincere heart, hoping that something I say will spur you on to a greater level of self discipline, and re-alignment of priorities. I have had a huge shift in mine this past week... What about you?

OK enough of that. Let me give you a Sunday recap. This past Sunday at Pinnacle was spent in awesome worship, and a conversational message about money and how we spend it- A subject that is very near to the heart of God. Wanna learn more? Click here.

Here was the lineup:

Opener- All because of Jesus- Fee

Worship-
You Are- Todd Fields
No Other Name- Todd Fields
How Great is Our God- Tomlin

The band: Brian Barnett, Rick Ingle, Danny Jackson, Danny Buckner, John Klinger, Scott Foster, and Me. Fun stuff!

Tomorrow night, I am leading worship for the students here at Pinnacle. It's going to be a blast!

Well, that's all for today.

Ciao!

New stuff from North Point

As many of you may know, I am a huge fan of North Point community church. They do some great things, and have some awesome environments. On top of that, they just get it as a church. They won't settle for anything less. Now in my mind, Pinnacle is just the same in a lot of ways, however we are a much younger church with WAY limited resources, so we just have to be really creative when it comes to making our environments. If you want to check out North Point's way cool website, you can do it by clicking here. I know a couple of guys down there really well, and know OF a lot of other ones. One really good musician I know OF, who also happens to be on staff there always has some really cool things to share on his blog. His name is Reid Greven, and he is always talking about the coolest things on his blog. Go check it out!

Steve Fee, who is one of the worship leaders there at the church has got a really cool song that I would say will be released in the next year or so. It's him and Eddie Kirkland on this song, and Reid did a really cool intro of it. Listen to it here!

So one more random thought before I close this post today: have you ever been around someone, and you could just feel the success dripping off of them? Well I have a friend like that. his name is Jonathan Jones. I got to hang out with him for a few short minutes today, which is rare because I am never in Asheville. But it was cool. We hadn't seen each other in a while, and it felt good to reconnect. As we were talking, I realized how much he was impacting our world for Christ, and neither one of us probably realized it. Let me explain. Jonathan loves coffee. He lives, eats, sleeps and breathes coffee. He might figure out how to run a car on it one day. But anyways, we were in the shop he works for called Bean Werks. They roast their own coffee, and then distribute it to coffee shops all over Western North Carolina. Jonathan is always coming up with new blends, new ways to grind and roast, and all the other stuff that goes along with that. He trully is passionate about what he does there at the shop. Now, I don't think he is making any major bank working there, but the really cool thing is how awesome it is to be able to watch him work. He loves it! Write this name down: Jonathan Jones. He will be a pioneer in the coffee world one day. He will be successful. He already is. He loves God, loves people, and weather he knows it, he is changing lives. One cup of coffee at a time.

Well, that's all folks. See you next week. (Or maybe tomorrow.)

Upgrades!

This one is for all you tech heads out there who have a gear addiction like me. Truth be told, I have a soft gear addiction compared to most of the guys that I know. So here's my stuff:
I am a huge fan of apple computers. Mainly because they just do what they are supposed to do when they are supposed to do it. Today, light of all the upgrades I have recieved from ProPresenter today, and all the other stuff that Mac has sent as upgrades, I had to go ahead and make the jump to leopard. I like it pretty well. There are some things that I am still getting used to, but all in all I think it is a smooth system.


Next in line: My favorite. Livewires in-ear monitors. Now I have had a crap load of friends tell me that these things are the deal! When I got them, they fit great and sounded stellar! I have only heard them on my iPod, and haven't used them from stage yet. After Sunday morning when I do use them, I will let you know ASAP how I think they sound. This is my first pair of in ear custom molds, but from what I hear, these things are just as good as westones which cost around $1,000.00. The best thing about these guys are that they're only $250.00!!! Wow! You should check them out here. My only complaint: They said it was going to be a 3 week turnaround. It definitely took more than 6! But it's all good. I got them, and that is all that matters!

Hope you have a fun day checking out new gear!

I DID NOT miss yesterday

Okay... So, many of you think that I missed the post yesterday... Well I did not!! It, in fact did not post properly because I changed the URL for my blog from "joshfowler23.blogspot.com" to "joshfowler.net." So it didn't work for that reason. It's all good. I have a lot of thoughts anyways, and so I will probably put up two posts today.

Well, it's about ten till nine right now, and the staff here at Pinnacle just finished an awesome prayer of prayer together. I love it when we as pastors come together and intercede for our congregation and each other.

Got a lot of stuff to do today. I am working on some positive ways to take our ministry to the next level. The cool thing is that I am not alone on the quest. I have an awesome worship assistant named Mike McGrew, and another friend named Kelli McKinnish who have both served for a long time at other churches leading worship, and have learned quite a bit in their journey. I think it's neat how God creates us with UNIQUE talents and abilities, but at the same time puts people in our path to help coach us along, and give us valuable insight that only comes with what I call Chronological Equity- Just putting the time in to ministry and learning a lot of things the hard way. Also, I have some videos that I am working on, and I have to finalize the service for Sunday. If you're around the Canton NC area, you don't want to miss this sermon series!

Well, I gotta run for now, but look for another post a little later on in the day!

Honesty is the best policy

I know right? I've heard that about nine million times. So, I'm gonna be honest. I really love blogging, and I think that it is important. But, I suck at it. Seriously. It seems like I cannot ever remember to post. I'm so inconsistent when it comes to this. To the few of you out there who read this regularly, I apologize. To the rest of you who are new at reading my blog, welcome! You will find some of my thoughts on life on here. Everything I think about church, family, and everything else in general. 

In light of my extremely hard time remembering to post, I am issuing myself the 5 day challenge. I am going to commit to blogging every day this week. Baby steps, right? So, if you like to read the random thoughts of a really A.D.D. guy, you will really enjoy this! If not, well, I guess i'll still like you??? Just kidding. 

So I went to tapestry church yesterday in Cartersville, GA. Had a great time. They are a new church start down there, and they are doing some really cool things! They have a killer environment, great worship, and killer communicator, Richard Sims. This guy has a huge heart to reach the unchurched and is willing to do whatever it takes to get them in the door. Moxie led worship, and I'm tellin' ya it was awesome! I love churches like that! My buddy Jeremy Moyers is the one who told me about tapestry, and I spent the weekend helping him move in his new house, and talking about a lot of church stuff. It was a good time! 

Well, I am off to staff meeting. Talk to you soon!

What God teaches me

Seems like everyday, God is pulling me and stretching me from the things that I know and am comfortable with. Before you read further, I'm not talking about doing something "super edgy," or saying or doing something that would be offensive to most people, but "anything to get the seeker in the door." No, I am talking about just me. God is stretching me. He is challenging me every day to be more of a man. More of a leader. More of a husband, and I will tell you it's great. I look at my life, some of the things that I do, and just everything in general, and I see a sense of disorganization. Seems like it's hard for me to grab hold to principles that will keep me more organized. I will say that I am a work in progress. Pray for this A.D.D guy. God is doing something big in my life. I'm not sure what it is, but he's up to something.

Peace & Love

Josh

Oh yeah, I know this is random, but check this guy's blog out. Awesome!

Things I hate

I love doing ministry. Mainly just the music part of it, though. I can't say I'm really good with people. Not where I want to be anyway. Honestly, I guess I am a little hard on myself. It's not that I'm not good with people, it's just that I am a young, growing leader, and I have a long way to go. I love working with people, but hate some of the things I have to watch sometimes.

That being said, if you are familiar with Pinnacle Church at all, you know we are all about extending a helping hand. We tried to do that with my friend D. For confidentiality purposes, we'll just call him "D." Let me tell you the whole story:

So there I was, driving up the 74 on-ramp at exit 98 in Waynesville on my usual morning commute to work. Out of nowhere, I saw a guy on the side of the road. Now let me say this. I usually don't pick up hitchhikers, but it was like I had no choice. It was honestly as if God reached down into my hands, and pulled the car over for me. The car came to a complete stop, the door opened, and in stepped D. Now D smelled a little weird, was very scruffy and unshaven, and reeked of alcohol. Once in, he shut the door, and said he needed to get to Canton. (The next town over) I said OK, and off we went. As we drove down the road, he wasted no time before telling me that he was an alcoholic, and was in a fight which eventually led him on his trip to the county jail. All this while he was crying. This annoyed me, I'm just being honest. I was already taking him to his destination, but I felt like I needed to minister to him somehow. I asked him if he had eaten breakfast yet, and he said no, so I took him to McDonald's to get him some food. After going through the drive through, we started towards the office where I introduced him to Lee Brown. Now, if you Know who Lee is, You know Lee doesn't play games. Lee is heavily involved in recovery ministry, and really knows how to deal with guys like this. I wanted to meet his needs, but because of his situation, I really didn't know how to speak his language. I didn't know what was best for him. Maybe Lee didn't either, but I think he had a better idea than me. After sitting with Lee and D for a while, we both came to the conclusion that D was a whole lot more wasted than either of us thought he was. That being said, our conversation ended after Lee issued D a few challenges, and then it became obvious that D was very uninterested, so he left. And that was that.

Months later, D showed up at our door again. This time more sober. As he came in the door of the newly renovated Hub, we began to strike a great conversation, just like old friends. immediately, I still felt the need to minister to this guy, but wasn't sure how. As we began talking deeper, he told me that he wasn't in much better condition he was in the last time. He was asking for money, and other things, but I felt like if I gave him that, I wouldn't be really helping him at all, just band-aiding a problem. I knew of a ministry in Asheville that may be able to help him- The Western North Carolina Rescue Mission. They have an in-stay recovery program targeted at helping people who are addicted to Drugs and alcohol. They also lend a big helping hand to the homeless. What a perfect fit! Here's a guy who's got no where to go, no money, and wants booze. So I told D about the opportunity, and he was interested.

So there we were the next day, clothes in hand at the WNC Rescue Mission. he was nervous, but ready to make a life change. Now hear me out, this wasn't going to be easy, for sure! D was still fired up and ready to go. In the fist month, D came to know Jesus as his savior, and began a great walk with God. I even watched D get baptized as I stood there with my wife and his 10 year old daughter. She was proud... Gleaming actually. It had probably been a long time since she seen her dad sober like that. It was a happy Day.

Last week, he got a pass so that he could come see his daughter again. He had a ride back to Canton, who was evidently an old friend whom he had called. When his ride didn't show up on time, he began to walk. Bad idea. You can leave the premises of the recovery center unless you are with someone, and for good reason. D's first stop on his short lived stroll: The liquor store. When he arrived back to the center, they new what was up. They don't tolerate belligerent behavior, and rightfully so. You have to show tough love to those guys sometimes. So, D was let go from the program. He has the option to come back in 30 days, but it doesn't look good. I went to take D to get some glasses this morning, and when I went to go get him, he was so blistered he couldn't walk. When I finally got him in the car and out of the older Lady's home he was staying with, and causing lots of trouble, I quickly saw that this was going no where. We went down the street, and parked on main after having quite an incoherent conversation. When he got out of the car, he began walking down the street, and was so drunk he nearly fell out in front of a car. He could have been killed. Unfortunately, for his own safety the local law enforcement had to be called. So D went to jail. I hated to watch that, so I didn't. I just went back up to my office trying to have the confidence that I did what I knew was right.

Very Sad. I hate this part of ministry. Never did I want someone to succeed so badly. I think that this situation is the kind of stuff that real ministry is made of, yet we don't think about that on ordination day. In all of my frustration and disappointment, I still knew how good of a person D could be. I also realized through the help of a good friend that we as humans are quick to want grace, but slow to give it. I hate it for D. My plan is to go pick him up from jail tomorrow, and talk to him, and see what I can do to help him. Kind of a hard task, huh? I hope that as you read this, you can partner with me to pray for D. He needs it. I believe in him, but I'm not sure anyone else does. Pray that God will show me, and him what to do, and that when he shows us, we'll do it.


Tell me what you think...

Josh

Hillarious

Found this on Steve Fee's Blog. Awesome!

If only church members could understand..

Tired

Yesterday was a great day at Pinnacle Church. We had a huge amount of guests, and had some rockin' worship! Lot's of fun...

I got so much going on right now.. I mean, do you ever just feel tired? If you are a computer programmer, do you ever get tired of programming? What if you're a sales rep.... Ever get tired of selling? Well, I am a Creative Arts Pastor. Let me tell you... I'm just a little tired of being creative! :) It's not the job, or the people, I'm just tired. And not just that, I'm just tired in General. I can't really say I'm just tired of being creative. I'm tired of editing videos, playing music, sticking to a schedule, playing racquetball, keeping my room clean..... Anything... I am just worn out!!! Now, I know that feeling will pass soon. Just need some rest, and a little rejuvenation. I think a vacation isn't too far around the corner. I'm not sure I'm gonna go very far. Maybe I'll take up golf. One of my good buddies told me last week that he used to think that golf was just the biggest waste of time. "Now that I play golf," he says, "it's still a waste of time, only now I love it!" So maybe that's what I'll do!

That's all for now...

Josh

Don't rail me!

Okay, I know it's been forever since I have blogged. I can tell you that I have been VERY busy lately. Now, I know that statement is the Cliche' statement of the century, but I am serious! I have been slammed. Now here's the other thing. I know that there are some hardcore bloggers who have mentioned to me that I can't call myself a blogger unless I get serious about blogging. So, I am going to try and make it a point to blog three times a day, everyday. Just kidding, but I will try to do it more! 

So I am pretty exited about April the 6th. That is the day that I am going to be in concert at Pinnacle. I have some really great guys who I don't usually get to play with who are going to be helping me out. First, my buddy Stephen Cope who is at Mud Creek Baptist Church in Hendersonville, NC. He is quite the guitar player, not to mention a very good worship Leader. (He usually leads worship at Saturday Night Church at Mud Creek. You should check it out. mudcreekchurch.org) With him is his young sidekick Luke. I can't remember his last name, but he is a great guy as well. This is the same day that my new 4 song EP, Broken will release. You can check out a preview of it at www.myspace.com

So, it's been real, and it's been fun, but I gotta run.

Peace, Josh

Big Announcement

Well, according to some of your comments, I guess I successfully created a good feeling of suspense, right? OK, so here's the deal.

I am very tired right now. It is 6:31 A.M, and I came in my office early this morning for two reasons. Number one, I have a good/bad habit of making sure all my loose ends are tied up for This morning's worship service, and I like to come in and just chill for a bit before everything gets going. But I am very tired. Tired because I arrived in late last night from Columbus, Ohio. Now why was I in Columbus, you ask? I was recording 2 of the tracks from my upcoming EP that will release April 6th, 2008. Yes, thats right! My first ever CD!! Now, there is a lot of other stuff that goes along with that, that I will be talking about later. Look for a preview at www.myspace.com/joshuafowler sometime around mid march.

Oh, and sorry I haven't been blogging as much recently. I have repented.

Love, Josh

This is Über Crazy!!

This is crazy. I mean crazy. I mean really really really really REALLY crazy! I have some exiting news that I am going to be announcing here in the next week!

To dispell any myth's/ ideas on what it could be.

1.) Susan and I are not having a baby.
2.) I haven't found the key to world peace.
3.) Dryer lint traps are still not going to work right.
4.) Hot dog buns still come in packages of eight, and hot dogs still come in packages of ten.
5.) I am not leaving Pinnacle Church.
6.) Heath hasn't had enough of my A.D.D yet to kill/fire me.
7.) Baskin Robins still has 31 flavors.

Any guesses? Stay tuned...

Don't have a lot of time to blog today. Just pray that all goes as planned.

Blessings, Josh

Another day at the office?

I hear that phrase all to often... Another day at the office. Sounds depressing, huh? It's crazy, but I love my job! I don't mean I really like working here, I mean I LOVE MY JOB! Sure there are days when I wake up, and I sigh at the challenges ahead of me, but as a general statement, I LOVE my job.

looking back, it wasn't always like that. I have done everything from working at Macdonald's, to selling luggage, land, furniture... I have even owned my own business. Trust me, I haven't always LOVED my job. I remember waking up and thinking to myself: "if I don't work today, we can't eat!" Along with so many other things to fill in the blank spot of "we can't (insert verb here) today!" Yeah, I must say that it was those times that I would be doing my job while simultaneously thinking to myself, "This sucks!"

So now, a different story. At 23 years old, I have my dream job. I play music, lead a band, and join with hundreds a week singing to an audience of one. Additionally, I get paid to make cool videos, creatively think about and give input on services, events, sermons, and a host of other things. I get to travel, and share my music with others. I work with the greatest, most talented staff on the planet. A group of visionaries and pioneers (in this area anyways) who refuse to take no for an answer. We fight like brothers, (and sisters) and sometimes, it even gets personal. Crazy huh? Does it sound like somewhere you would like to be? Chances are not. If your reading this right now, and haven't tuned out yet, you may be thinking to yourself: "his job doesn't sound that great!" But it is. It's what I am wired for. I love intensity. I love being told when I can do better. I love trying to do things with the highest of excellence, even when I have so much to learn. I was inspired one time when I listen to a message from Louie Giglio entitled "Passion, purpose, and designer jeans." It was amazing. What he said was brilliant. His main point was that whatever you do; sell things, make jeans, make music, whatever... Do it ALL for the glory of God. In fact here is exactly where he got that from in the Bible. Colossians 3:17- "everything that you say or do should be done to obey Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the father through Jesus." (NCV)

That's pretty powerful. So Here's the deal. I said a lot to say this one thing: Be passionate about what you do. Don't half way do it. The people around you might want to injure you very badly if you constantly have a halfway attitude. I love my job. Do you? If not, what's stopping you from doing the thing that God has called you to do?

Peace,

Josh

Content or Complacent?

Ok, so I will be the first to admit that I am not the greatest writer. In fact, my wife will probably read this, print it off, butcher it with red pen, and then hand it to me dutifully, with a cute mischievous smile on her face as if she did me some favor. (Sprinkle some sarcasm on that too!) No, I am only kidding. (Sort of)

I think that a lot of people use their blog in a negative way. Some people have very poor communication skills, and like myself, struggle in the area of positive confrontation. Consequently, their blog is used as a way to rail people around them for whatever reason that they can come up with, and then justify it in their "boldness." I think that is crazy, and I never want this blog to be one to voice my problems that I can't deal with. That being said, everyone needs to vent every now and then, so I may put up issues that are frustrating to me, or that excite me. I would love to hear your comments. I hope that through this, I am able to connect with a lot of new people on a daily basis. So if you stop by, and you like what you see, or even if you don't, leave me a comment. I would love to hear what you have to say.

So hear is what I am thinking right now:

A good buddy a while back gave me some encouragement after I told him that I struggle with having a daily quiet time. I told him that no matter how hard I tried, I could never get that 5,10, 15 minute, or how ever long it's supposed to be "time with God" everyday. It felt like something always interfered. When I did have that time, it was always filled with very distracting thoughts. I found myself to be caught up in a religious habit of doing something that really no longer had any meaning in my life. Now before I go any further, let me say that I think that it is important to daily commune with God through prayer, reading the word, and by just being still and knowing he is God. But that was not at all what I was doing. I was just being religious, staring at pages with lots of black words, daydreaming, and not really growing in my relationship with my creator. What I have learned is that when I grow in my relationship with my heavenly father the most, it is when I thirst for him. Having a quiet time with God from the heart of dreadful obligation is like force feeding yourself bottled water when your not thirsty. And sometimes, honestly, I wasn't thirsty. I hate to say that but it's true. The thing is, I am only thirsty when I am running the race. I am NOT usually thirsty when I am NOT exercising spiritually. I find that when I don't share my faith, when I don't give my best, when I don't live my life as an act of worship, and when I don't want God anywhere around, I find that I really don't need to be replenished. I am not running the race. I have become complacent. What a vicious cycle.

So my question is, are you content in your relationship with your heavenly father, or complacent? What about in your job? Your family? Your relationships? I feel like God has wired us, and inspired to want to put our best foot forward. But why don't we? I know I need LOTS of work in all those areas. My most fresh point of inspiration in this area is in James 1. I won't quote it, you go read it. Persevere. It builds faith. Are you content, or complacent?

Josh