Thoughts from Thorn Tour 2018

Last night we ran the show twice – first was a rough dress rehearsal, second was to be a smoother dress rehearsal.

Even in the rough rehearsal I was moved by the story. Goose bumps up and down my arms. I never want God’s story of love to get old for me. God is always in the telling of His Story! 

To think that a loving God who made us to have relationship with Him. In His creation design He gave us Free Will to choose if we want to move forward with that relationship or to walk away. No matter the choice, He still loves us.  He loves us to the point of sending His only Son to take on the sins of the world – to be beaten and bruised – suffering death on a cross for our sins, for my sins. Seeing the actor playing Jesus die on the cross night after night makes me think, my sins did that! Because of my sinful nature I nailed Jesus to the cross – and while that is true, it is God’s Love for us, that put Jesus on the cross, because of my sins, because of your sins, we needed a savior. And because God loves us so much He was willing to sacrifice His only son for us. Jesus laid down his life for us, out of the Love God has for us.  This blows me away, night after night.  And that Love did not stop there. Jesus dying on the cross was for the forgiveness of our sins. The ultimate sacrifice to atone for the forgiveness of sins was done through the blood of Jesus.  But the story does not end there…God raised Jesus for the grave, defeating death, the separation we experience from a loving God because of our sins. Jesus bridged that gap and we have HOPE!

Hope - a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, a feeling of trust! God fulfilled His promise to send a savior, to give us hope of a renewed relationship with Him. The hope of eternity in heaven with Him one day!  Jesus Christ – the Hope of Glory!

Just my thoughts - I hope you find a nugget in there somewhere!

One Prayer Can Change EVERYTHING!

In March of 2015, while on tour with Thorn Productions, John Bolin Executive Producer for the Thorn, challenged the team to pray the dangerous prayer that Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane; "Not my will but your will be done." He warned us not to pray the prayer unless we truly meant it. There was a stirring within my spirit and I felt compelled to pray the prayer.  When I had finished praying there was just something within me that felt like God was saying; "Get Ready!"

After that first week of the tour was over and I was boarding the plane for my flight home I was talking with God. I asked what His will for me was. I heard God say; "Tell My Story!" To which I replied; "I'm a Children's Pastor, I tell your story every week!" God said; "No, you manage people! I want you to tell my story." So I asked how to do that? Then God went silent. The whole time on my flight home I kept asking God; What do you mean? but I heard nothing.

After returning to work I was continuing to try and figure out what God was saying to me, what did he mean by telling his story? How was I to do that? Did I really hear that from God? I had so many questions. There was a prayer meeting one night at the church and so I decided to go, reluctantly. As I sat listening to beautiful music and reading scriptures in my heart I kept asking God to send someone to me to tell me that I really heard from God, that I was to tell His Story and how that was to happen.  All night I sat there and as folks approached me there was a little excitement inside of me thinking they were the one, they would tell me what I wanted to hear. And although everyone who prayed over me had great things to say, and most of them on target for what I was going through and dealing with in life, no one told me what I wanted to hear.
 
At the end of the night, as I was about to leave the building, one lady grab ahold of my arm and asked me if I was ready to get serious with God? I just knew she was the one who was going to confirm what I had heard from God, she was the one God was going to use to tell me what it means to tell his story! We walked away from the crowd and she shared a vision with me (something to be shared at another time, in another post) then she said to me something that chilled me to the bone. She said; "All night you have been asking God to send man to tell you what you want to hear but He wants to tell you himself  but you are too busy to listen. God loves you Scott and he is jealous for you. He is jealous for your time, are you willing to spend time with him?"

Wow! Talk about getting hit in the head between the eyes with a Holy 2x4! I was guilty of not spending the time with God I needed to. I did morning devotions, I listen to Christian music, I felt I was constantly in prayer - but I wasn't really spending time WITH God! So I cleared off my schedule and made it happen. (and if truth be told, I probably need to do it more often!)

My time with God was amazing, as it always is when I spend time with just him! And a string of events started to happen that day. Although I never really understood what He meant by tell his story, I did relearn a lot of things about God and myself that day.

So fast forward to August 2016 - so much has changed. But one thing that hasn't changed is God! Again I have felt this stirring in my heart about "Tell My Story!" So again I spent time with God asking about what he means, and I think I might have heard from him. Around the same time I prayed Thy will be done, God gave me the idea of opening a Christian Arts Center - a place where Christian artist can come and perform, give lessons, sell their art work... It is a vision I feel has come from God. He gave me a scripture that I always felt told what the Thorn was all about - but as I read it again recently I felt like it was the verse for the Christian Arts Center - what I feel like I want to call "Tell My Story!" and dedicate to the memory of my talented friend Dan Chritton.

In my mind the arts center would have a large lobby with a gift shop (to sell local artists art) and cafe, along with a grand piano in the middle for folks to come and play and sing.  In the center of the building would be an auditorium, somewhere between the size of the Performing Arts Center and a small high school auditorium. This Auditorium would be used for concerts, shows, recitals...the possibilities are endless. Around the outside of the auditorium would be classrooms for vocal, instrumental, dance, painting, ceramics lessons - all would be available to rent to hold classes at a minimal cost. I feel like one of the best ways to Tell God's Story is through the arts - so why not offer a place for people to be able to do that - for people to use their gifts and talents to tell the story of God's Love, of God's Redemption!

This dream/vision is bigger than anything I could think up myself! It is going to take a God size miracle to make it happen and it is going to take people with more knowledge about the business world, people with time and resources much greater than I could do on my own. I really feel this is from God because I can't do it on my own, I'm relying on Him to make it happen. And I'm asking those of you reading this blog to commit to praying for me and the vision. I'm asking you to pray and ask God to provide the resources needed to make it happen. I'm asking for you to pray about how you might be involved or effected by such a place. I'm asking you to pray that I will stay the course on this vision because I can get very overwhelmed and give up easily. I believe in the power of prayer! If the "Tell My Story!" Christian Arts Center is going to ever get off the ground it is going to be because people like yourself committed it to prayer! If you have any suggestions or ideas please feel free to email me at scottdkinney@gmail.com - One prayer started this dream, but it will take the prayers of many and so much more to see it through! Thanks in advance for the prayers, love and support as we move forward on this dream!

What A Difference A Year Makes!

On April 24^th  it will have been one year since I left my position as Children’s Pastor at Seacoast Church and what a year it has been. The emotional roller coaster has been more than I thought it would be.  I never would have made it through this past year if it wasn’t for the support of my loving wife who encouraged me when I was down, kicked me in the pants and got me motivated when I didn’t feel like getting out of bed. And loved me when I was unlovable! I am so thankful that God shared her with me and that she is in my life!

I’m thankful for my friend and brother in Christ, Greg Jones who was not only a huge support but ended up walking through a very similar situation in life. He was a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear and a prayer partner. It’s always good to have someone who understands your feelings even when you don’t know how to put them into words.

For Pastor Ernest Smith of Front Range Church who was a great support. He introduced me to the beauty of Colorado and just loved on my family and me when we needed it the most. Who gave me hope that one day I would be working in full-time ministry once again. And was just a great friend through and through.

For Life Park Church and Pastor Chad Moore who allowed us to sit in on services and be fed and not pressure us into joining or serving in the church but to just be cared for during this time.

And for the many others who I could never name all of them because I would miss someone – thank you for all the cards, messages and hugs over this past year. Your kind words and support for my family and me has been a huge blessing.

I miss my work at Seacoast. I miss the wonderful staff I had the pleasure of serving next to each and every day for the past 15 years. And I really miss the kids and the families. I always thought I would retire from Children’s Ministry when I was old and ready for the grave, but God had other plans for me.  I love seeing the Facebook posts of my kids (yes I still refer to the kids I had in ministry as my kids) and watching them grow up and living their lives. I love seeing them get married, have children of there own, go off to college, graduate and get jobs. I like knowing I played a little part in their lives and them in mine!

I do hope that one day God will return me to ministry, not sure it will be Children’s Ministry and not sure it will be in a church setting, but I do hope and pray for that opportunity again. For now I’m happy for the ministry he has me in at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and I am so thankful for the new friends I have made at the ReStore. Every day they become more and more like family to me. (No matter how dysfunctional they might be!)

I’m not going to lie, this past year was rough, but I am glad I went through it – it drew me closer to God, deepened my faith in Him and taught me to Trust Him like never before.  I’m really looking forward to what God has in store in this next year and for my family.

Thank you for the prayers and support and I ask that you would continue to keep me in your prayers.

Was It a Morning Like This?

Great way to start the morning! Christ has Risen, the grave could not hold the King of all Kings! Celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior!

Holy Week Song - Four

The Via Dolorosa is believed to be the path that Jesus walked on Good Friday on the way to Golgotha, the place of the skulls where he would be nailed to a cross and give up his life for us. I picked this song because I think it is a great way to see and hear what God did for us through his son Jesus.

So thankful for the sacrifice Jesus made for me so that I could spend eternity with him in heaven one day.

1Peter 2:24 - "He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."

Holy Week -Song Three

As we remember the events of the last days of Christ's life we have to start with remembering his last meal with his disciples. As I said before, this is my most favorite time of year. I like to sit and think about all that Christ did for me, to put myself in the events that took place in that last week of his life. This song I feel captures what God did for us! How Beautiful! How Beautiful! The love God had for us is so far beyond anything we could ever imagine. To know what Jesus was going to go through, the betrayal, the trials, the beatings and the suffering on the cross - and yet God did this for us! Why? Because he loves us. Think about that for a minute. God allowed all this to happen to His Son, because he loved us. Maybe you can't understand that kind of love because you never really felt love from anyone. Or maybe you've been hurt by love. That my friend is human love - it is limited. But God's Love is Agape Love - it has no limits, it is perfect love! I look forward to the day when I get to be in heaven with God the Father and Jesus the Son and all those who have gone before me. To talk with Peter and the disciples and hear how it truly was to be there in the last week of Jesus' life.

And to thank Jesus face to face for all he has done for me.  How Beautiful that will be!

Listen to the words and imagine how much God loves you - no matter how much you can imagine I promise it is even more!

Today is Maundy Thursday in the church - a day to remember what Christ did for us. The taking of the last supper - the bread, remembering his body that was beaten and nailed to a cross for your sins - and the cup, the blood that was shed for the forgiveness of sins - not just my sins, all sins! I still mess up and walk in my flesh, I still say and do things that are not Christ-like. That is why I must remember what God has done and once again ask for forgiveness. How Beautiful!

Let me leave you with this line from the song -

And as he laid down his life we offer this sacrifice,

 that we will live, just as he died willing to pay the price! 

Holy Week Song 3

This is another song that I just love! I love how it tells the story of what Christ did for us on the cross. It tells how Christ defeated death and rose again. My favorite line for this song is;

No Power of Hell, No Scheme of Man

Could ever pluck me from His Hand.

Till He Returns or Calls me Home

Here In the Power of Christ I'll Stand!

For it is in Christ Alone and not by anything we have done that we can boast of our salvation.  Take a minute to listen to this song and may the words of this song be your prayer today and every day!