Videos from Worship Jan. 4

Here’s some video from YouTube of worship this past weekend.. We introduced a new song (part 2)that seemed to be a hit, “I Will Boast” from Paul Baloche’s album A Greater Song.

Part 1

 

Part 2

Part 3

Poor Neglected Blog :(

So I realized today how badly I have neglected our little blog here. I suppose I could make some excuses about how crazy things got, what with the holidays and all that but I guess there really isnt much of an explaination, so heres the latest from the Barz clan in Arizona.

Christmas was a blast at home, even though it felt like we did nothing but run everywhere. We got to spend time with both families (Doby’s and Barz’s) see friends in a couple different parts of the state. We even got to see snow, which was a great improvement over last years 55 deg. and raining Christmas debacle. We did a day trip to go skiing with my family and Liz and I tried snowboarding for the first time (BIG mistake, especially since we had to spend the whole next day on a plane).

After returning, we spent the New Year relaxing/recouperating from our vacation and mentally preparing ourselves for school kids who had been away from the discipline of school for two weeks.

We celebrated Liz’s birthday 1/19 she turned the big 25!! We had a fun little get together with some friends after church for pizza and cake.

Exciting things have been happening at our church, we moved our Saturday night service that we attend from the main sanctuary to the youth building (the Bridge). The space has a real atmosphere that connects much better to the goals for the community than did the sanctuary but there is still a long way to go in terms of reshaping the culture of the service and the hearts of the people that attend.
With the move to a new building allowed for some great opportunities for me (eric) to lead part of our community. Along with one other worship leader, I am responsible for handling all of the worship for our community gatherings, that means that I am leading nearly every other week at the Bridge. This has been an awesome chance for me to grow and mature in my ability to lead others in worship and to take responsibility for the direction of the community for this season of change. Also, since the Bridge is a very new facility it has some very new (and very nice) sound equipment. This is great considering that our sound in the sanctuary has been a constant point of frustration for the worship team. The downside is that nobody really knows how to use any of the equipment, which is where I get tapped to lead the tech team for Saturday nights as well. Looking forward I see this being a great chance to teach and expand the knowledge of others in the community but for the time being it means that if I am not on stage leading, I am in the booth running sound and teaching.
God bless my lovely wife for her patience for this season of training volunteers for sound, as I have yet to actually sit and worship with her at a Saturday night service since the change in venue. (love you honey)

January also brought Liz’s dad, Paul, to visit us so that he could run the PF Chang’s Rock & Roll Marathon. Paul got to spend a few days hanging out with Liz and I and then ran the 1/2 marathon over the weekend. I think that he got the Arizona bug, being able to enjoy running outside in January, and the rumor is that he hasnt stopped talking about coming back since he landed back in Michigan.

One of the other major changes since our last update, is that we moved!! We decided to make a change in apartments so that we could be closer to our church community. As it was before, we were driving at least 90 miles a week to and from Joy which put a serious damper on our spirtits having to fight traffic to go to church. So at the beginning of February we packed up and moved to a new place that is MUCH closer to church and only 2-3 minutes more to work each day. So if you need our new address contact us and we will get it to you.

One last thing to update is some fun photography things. My first paying client (a co-worker) finished choosing her images and received her prints to rave reviews. She is expecting that some family will be looking for additional prints. Also, she returned from her destination wedding in Mexico with digital files from the resort photographer and has asked me to do some retouching and editing work on them to improve the quality. Also, Gareth Robinson, our worship pastor and friend of ours, just finished recording the bulk of his third album last month. On Monday, we went out got some great images for his CD packaging. Hopefully the record label likes them as much as I do. Part of the shoot was done in Sedona which is amazing nearly year round but we made a bit of a family day out of it and Liz came along as well as Gareth’s wife Lizzy and their three awesome kids. It was quite a fun adventure and I will post some images here soon.

Update

Well with just over 8 weeks gone in the school year, I figure it is about time to do an update. I had one of these started about 6 weeks ago but never got around to finishing it so if you are seeing this it means I actually followed through (yeah for me!!).

Since our last update, we have been doing a whole lot of the same and have settled in to a pretty good routine and toss in some spice here and there. Generally, we are diong the work, home, sleep, wake, work…. routine but the exciting bits are the best part.. I have been continuing to meet with a group of developing worship leaders at the church and attending practices on Thursday nights which has been such a blast getting to know such a talented group of people. Liz continues to meet her need for animal indulgence at the Arizona Humane Society at least 3x a month where she has moved up from dog walker to adoptions (quite a promotion). Together we continue to get to know our new church family and get to do fun stuff like cook out, have parties, and generally find any excuse to be with our new friends. Also, thanks to a new season in the life of our worship minstry I am getting the chance to lead worship for the Saturday night community and co-lead Sunday mornings along with our awesome worship leader/pastor Gareth (shameless flattery, but he may read this). This has been a neat experience and I feel privilaged to be a part of what is going on at Joy during this time.

The next few weeks should be pretty exciting. This Saturday, Liz’s aunt will be traveling from Michigan to stay with us for a few days. We will be hitting the Grand Canyon and Sedona as well as all of the local attractions while she is here. Also, while in Sedona we will be meeting up with Kevin & BethAnn Shoemaker, our pastor and his wife from Lansing. They are visiting for a conference in Flagstaff and will be meeting us on their drive up north from the Phoenix airport.

This coming weekend also kicks off Liz’s fall break so she will be out of school for 2 weeks. October 15 begins Eric’s lowly 1 week off but we already have another trip to Sedona planned with the Ozorios so it should be a great start to a relaxing week.

For those who want to know (you know who you are) Roxy is doing well, she is on a plan to get some of her summer weight off… Opposite process of Michigan winters.. the dog doesnt like walking in the heat so she put on some pounds over the summer instead of an inactive winter.

Worship Photo Fun

One of the highlights of any given week is my chance to go and play with the team that is leading worship each weekend. We have a rehearsal on Thursday nights that often times ends up being a band worship service : ) Anyone is welcome to come and join just for fun (and or practice) usually I attend to have some fellowship and to practice my guitar and singing but this week there were a ton of people there and so I decided to break out the camera and have some fun…

The lighting for practice is a bunch of fluorescent tubes about 30 ft over the stage so the light wasn’t great for taking pictures so I had to go with a more “artistic” interpretation of the images from practice… Here are a couple that survived my Photoshop manipulations… Enjoy!

Update

Wow — Nearly a month since the last real update.. I wish I could say that I have been super busy and haven’t had the time to do any writing but that just wouldn’t be the truth. Part of the delay relates to my ability to connect to blogger at work. For a few weeks now my way around the pesky Internet filters had been foiled but alas today it is restored!!

Since the last update we have had some exciting things going on.

Liz attended a weekend women’s retreat with a bunch of other women from our church and had a great time connecting with some of the other women from church. They had one of the woman leaders from church speak and she had some great teaching and insight that really challenged and encouraged Liz in her walk with the Lord. Even though she was apprehensive about attending some prodding from Eric and other women at church convinced her to go and she was so glad that she went in the end.

Our little doggy Roxy got spayed and had an uneventful recovery from her surgery but was spoiled rotten in the process. Because we had to make sure she wouldn’t lick or pull her stitches, she got to sleep on the bed with us instead of her kennel and I slept very lightly so that I would notice any movements that she made in the night. It most certainly must be akin to what new parents sleep like for their first child.. Oh the things to look forward to.

At around the same time, my sister, Katie visited us from Michigan and got to spend a beautiful 9-10 days with us in the sun and worked on her tan. She became Roxy’s new best friend and assisted us in spoiling her rotten during her recovery. We had a great time with Katie and found out that she is the greatest house guest ever. We felt bad leaving her at home all day while we still had to work but she made the most of it playing with Roxy, going to the pool, and walking to the nearby shopping centers. She also found time to almost always do our dishes and pick up our house while we worked.. How great is that. We also did a bunch of hiking all around the valley and went to Sedona for a day. We capped off her visit with dinner at one of our new favorite restaurants in Phoenix the Elephant Bar. You can see pictures from Katie’s visit at our Flickr page.

Eric got the chance to start playing with the worship team at church a few times the last month and was asked to lead worship a couple of times for a small Wednesday night gathering of about 60-70 people. It has been a real joy to be able to return to being a part of a worship team particularly with some of the phenomenal musicians that are a part of the team at CCOJ.

Eric’s mild obsession with photography continues, the results of his photographic exploits can as always be found on the Barz family Flickr page. Liz continues to be a good sport and let Eric use her as a (sometimes) willing model for his experimentation with lighting and camera settings.

We have officially started the countdown to our return home and we are only about 3 1/2 weeks from making the 2000 mi. drive back to Michigan. We are looking forward to it and can’t wait to see everyone again. We also get to be home for both of our sisters graduation open houses which we weren’t sure would happen but thankfully schedules worked out great.

We also celebrated our 2nd Anniversary during Katie’s visit which was part of the occasion for going to the Elephant Bar. We continue to be so blessed in our married life by great family, friends and community. Thanks to all who continue to be a part of our still new life together as we figure out how to live life together and grow in to a more mature family.

Update

So I know it has been a while since a real post so wanted to do a quick update. Liz and I both have been on spring break this past week and Liz gets another whole week off upcoming. It has been a very busy couple of weeks.. In the last post we had just had the first day of the visit with my mom and her friend. She stayed for another 4 days and lived the spa lifestyle for a couple of days before returning to Michigan. She was super excited to be in the warm and sun for a few days and then returned just in time for a snowstorm!!

Happening at the same time as my mom’s visit, Liz’ friend Andrea came to visit from Michigan to have a mini vacation and a job search as well. We did a bunch of hiking, lots of hanging out and got some prospective leads for her to pursue a job as well.. Productive week overall but tiring.. As always photos from our exploits can be found here

Andrea left Tuesday of our spring break week so Liz and I spent the last few days relaxing and taking some time to do amazingly fun things like check on renewing our lease and cleaning our house…
Thursday nights have become a great night of the week for me, since starting to join Gareth and others for the worship team huddle and this week, participating in the rehearsal for the weekend which was a blast. Everyone is so talented and it really makes me realize how much more I can grow both as a musician and a leader in that respect..

Last night, we had some friends from church over, the Pfeiffers and the Newborgs. We grilled out at the pool and had dessert and coffee at our place.. It was a great time but I forgot to get the camera out

Sleeping in this morning which was glorious, followed by some tennis and shopping for some summer clothes capped off with church tonight..

Whew!!! Long post, hope you made it through..

Update

So this post is for those who would rather hear about life here in Arizona than my theological ramblings/struggles/questions. Just an update on everyday life. In the last few weeks we haven’t been doing anything super exciting just doing the usual life stuff. Liz and I are both enjoying work to varying degrees at varying times, definitely Liz is liking her job more consistently than I but my job has its good and bad moments. We celebrated Valentine’s Day in very low key fashion. Liz got flowers at school and then we went straight to dinner (which was her gift to me) at Black Angus Steakhouse. Dinner was very nice and it was good to have the reservations as the restaurant was packed. After dinner we went home and exchanged cards, curled up on the couch with Roxy, and watched American Idol as Liz went through the masses of gifts and cards from her students.

Liz is still volunteering at the Humane Society almost every Sunday and loves getting to play with the dogs there and help people find new pets. She has taken on a new role of finding pets for friends when she goes in on Sundays and has been recruited by a friend of a friend to locate a puppy for them.

I am still playing soccer for at least 2 more weeks, the last couple of games have been pretty rough without a number of players being available due to other commitments, two weeks ago we only had enough players to make a team and one of the players was injured. Last week we had 2 subs but I ended up playing the whole game except 10 min. at the start of the 2nd half, I was gassed at the end but had enough left to have a goal and an assist in the last 7 minutes of the game. Soccer has been fun but the weather will be warming up quickly so outdoor may not be available much longer.

We are both still in the process of getting involved in our church further, we are participating in a major event on Saturday called Serve Day. A number of churches across the valley are teaming up to go into the community to do acts of service. Liz and I are working on a Habitat for Humanity home which should be fun. After soccer season ends, I am looking at becoming involved with the worship ministry and have started meeting with Gareth (worship pastor) and getting involved there. We are also still active in our small group and trying to continue the community building in the Saturday night service that we attend and hope to see more growth in that area.

Weather is starting to really get nice, evenings are still a bit chilly (40′s) but daytime temps have been mid 70′s for the last week or so and are starting to flirt with 80′s more often. We have had a string of rain storms the last week or so, including Monday when we were planning to go hiking

I have been marveling over a friend’s photography collection and was looking forward to shooting some great stuff while hiking but had to settle for a snapshot on the way to a soccer game but still a pretty neat photo.

Hoping to start shooting some more cool stuff as weather and my understanding of my new camera improve… Keep your eyes peeled.

Security & Fear

Saturday we heard a message from Mark 7 24-30 and Eric spoke on hearing God’s truth & grace. One of his points was that often we like to receive the grace and don’t appreciate or accept the truth. Speaking honestly, I didn’t connect with the teaching but during the time after the message I did ask God to reveal truth and grace and make me open to receive both. One of the things I realized is that I had been feeling very insecure about my place in life and thereby becoming defensive towards a lot of people and situations but after some searching I felt that the root of it was fear. This was quite a shock to my system because I don’t consider myself a fearful person. Mostly, it came down to realizing that I hadn’t fully accepted my identity in Christ. Theoretically, I knew my identity but I didn’t “own” it, the reality of who I am in Christ hadn’t made an impression on my own self-perception. This was the root of my fear, that I somehow don’t measure up to where I should. The interesting thing was my hope was found in the fact that I DON’T measure up to God’s standards but the standards of people aren’t that important and God still thinks of me as a son and an heir. I was very encouraged by the words of Psalm 40

1 For the choir director: A psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. 3 He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be astounded. They will put their trust in the LORD.
17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord is thinking about me right now. You are my helper and my savior. Do not delay, O my God

Those words fit my place well, I realized that I am in need of God and that even as I continue to fail, His thoughts are upon me and will rescue me from myself as much as from the peril of this world.

I wish I could say there was a neat and tidy resolution and that I was freed from fear in the moments I was on my knees but I think it will be a more ongoing progress of discovery and healing but an important milestone is the realization that there is some “junk” to deal with and hopefully, the revelation of truth in to my life will continue to be accompanied by grace.

Reflections on the Weekend

Not one of the greatest weekends ever, but produced some very interesting mind fodder. Friday, someone hit us while we were driving to work. Nothing major just some body damage, and even then not so serious. The problems were many, 1) I have expired MI tags on my car, 2) Other driver is not licenced Because of these situations the officer graciously let us both off without citing us for our transgressions. I felt quite dumb because I have been putting off getting my car registered and had just been challenged to do so because it honors God when we submit to the authority over us (even if they charge too much for registration.) So now I am in a predicament because there was no police report so no fault was determined and AZ is not a no-fault state when it comes to insurance. So now I have to duke it out w/ the claims dept. of State Farm if I decide to get repairs done.

Saturday evening was church per usual but again a challenge for me to chew on. Pastor Eric spoke about the Lord’s power and how many people live in knowledge of the Lord and His power but never come to experience it in their lives.. In many ways, and many times I have found myself as the poster child for this message. Part of this is my natural love of learning about things and once I get interested I find out all I can about something. I think with the exception of my sometimes addiction like intensity this isn’t inherently bad. I feel like the Lord desires that we should be excited about knowledge and gathering knowledge for the sake of wisdom. Where I have felt this impact me negatively is when I forsake my experience for knowledge. When I find myself like Will from “Good Will Hunting” having extensive knowledge and never being exposed to the things of life. One of the things that I felt specifically was that my knowledge of the things of the Lord were not knowledge of God Himself. It is as if the information I have gathered is the wall that keeps me separated from the experience of God and His powerful Spirit on a regular basis. On occasion, the wall comes down and the experience slips through but sure enough it fades.
In the last 2-3 years the experience of God has become more frequent but not to the place where I am satisfied with my level of connection with God. On the upside I feel that some of the issues that I am continuing to work through and have some experience with here in AZ and with the folks at CCOJ has been stretching me and prompting me to rely on less knowledge and really seek the Lord.
One other thing that was a blessing from church Saturday night was the phrase from the Lords Prayer “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, here, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” I have heard many messages preached on the prayer but for some reason lately that phrase has carried weighted meaning. You see when we pray that line, we literally ask God to make the earth like the heavens. We should be expecting that the Kingdom of Light will invade the specific darkness that is being prayed for. The thing that was the newest to me that night was that this is not a “someday Lord, make this like heaven” prayer. This is a “right here and now Lord, bring Heaven to this situation” because God isn’t just concerned with what happens to us when we die and he isn’t only in the business of redeeming human souls. God is in the process of setting the whole world right and redeeming his entire creation. [To really get a feel for the idea of heaving breaking through would take more space and time than I have for now but Kingdom Theology is some awesome stuff(once again Dallas Willard's "Divine Conspiracy"). ]

Sunday was the Super Bowl among other things. Liz and I “watched” the game (I use watch loosely here) while working around the house and on some other things. We got some unfortunate news throughout the day that I found prompting me to come before God on others’ behalf. During the afternoon, our friends Greg and Alicia called from the airport and informed us they were flying back to Illinois to be with Alicia’s dad. Her father has been battling a relapse of cancer after 4 years of being in remission and had been fighting off infection during his treatment. Friday night he was in the ICU w/ pneumonia and by Saturday night was not showing much improvement. There was a prayer session for him after church Saturday and the news Sunday was that either he was going to make a turn for the better or a serious turn for the worst and the family should be there in case of the latter. Greg and Alicia have been our closest new friends and this news was disheartening to say the least. Reports today have been about the same as earlier.
Also Sunday our neighbor and friend Jason went to the ER w/ breathing difficulty and dizziness but returned home late Sunday night w/ a clean bill of health. The only information we had is from text msgs. so not much in the way of details.

And some good news on the medical front, Liz had been battling some laryngitis since Thursday and most of the weekend was w/out a voice. During prayer at church on Sat. we prayed that God’s will be done in her voice as it is in heaven and by this morning there was almost a full recovery that started right after prayer!! Praise God for being interested in the small things of our lives.

Soccer and "Doing Life"

So a number of guys have from Joy have joined a soccer league hosted by CCV, one of the mega-churches in the Valley. We have played a couple of games so far, tying the first and losing the second. While many of the players are from Joy some are from CCV and others are just a part of the league for fun and were assigned to our team. Greg, one of the guys from Joy, has been blogging on the season at his site here. If you are really that interested in our progress you can follow along.

Playing on this team has been a blast so far and has given me a chance to hang out with some people from church outside of the traditional church setting. At times in the past that has been a real challenge for me and has put some social pressure on my usually introverted self but I have really felt called to be about “doing life” with people at Joy and not falling in to the trap of “doing church” instead. Two Sundays ago the teaching at church was about the people who come to church are the church. Not because we occupy a space called a church on a weekend but because the Spirit in me recognizes the Spirit in the others around me that gather for the purpose of being the church as opposed to “doing church.” I feel like this is going to be a bit of a hard sell for some of the older folks at Joy and has already been a challenge that I have to actively overcome in my life.

On a completely random note, I have really been getting in to Dallas Willard lately. Particularly Divine Conspiracy and Hearing God which I am reading at the moment. If you have never read any of his work or haven’t heard much on Kingdom Theology, I highly recommend his work to challenge you to grow up in your faith and understanding of Christianity.