Marriage Conference

I’m attending/leading worship with my wife at a Marriage Conference in Bend, this weekend. Should be a good time. Pastor Jeff Stewart, from Pomona Valley, CA, will be speaking, along with his Wife, Karen. They are an awesome couple who truly display what it is to have faith in spite of your circumstances. Jeff had a kidney transplant this year, due to a genetic kidney disease, and his wife Karen was diagnosed with lung cancer, and she’s never smoked a day in her life. All of this is going on and has been going on, and yet they desire to reach out and minister to people. Truly amazing.

Are You a Worship Leader?

You know, my desire with this website is not simply to write random thoughts I have about all things worship. I also want you to feel free to do the same! Please, go ahead and suggest a topic that you think we should cover, and we can begin discussing it!

Mac Pro Woes

So I have been involved in the on-going process of purchasing a computer from a private party. I am now discovering that this was probably a terrible decision. The party involved seems to be scamming me, and I am left with the regrettable decision to report it as fraud. At the point of my writing this, I am out about $1250.00.

But I have learned from this whole experience.

I’ve learned that as I’m making decisions, I need to listen better to the discerning voice of the Holy Spirit. I have been learning this lesson the hard way a lot lately. Usually I’ll sense something about a situation or a decision and something equivalent to a warning light will flash in my mind. It’s something more than a mere sense of fear about a situation; it’s almost like I hear a voice saying, “Don’t do that, Stewart. It’s not going to end well.” Looking back on my most recent situation, I should have known better. I had a few instances where I felt like the Lord might be telling me something, but I chalked it up to my own fearfulness to take a risk. Now I wish I had listened.

In our worship of Jesus, we are to have more than an experiential, sing-song, kind of worship. We are in a relationship wherein we submit ourselves to the loving will which the Father has for His children. When we go against this submission, we are going against the worship of the Father. Ultimately, I know that this is what I have done. Now I’m left praying for deliverance and redemption, like a child who has decided to touch the stove after being warned that it is hot.

Lord, I repent of my self-reliance.

Maiden Voyage of Smalltownworshipleader.com!

Welcome to Smalltownworshipleader.com! Yes, the blog is about exactly what it sounds like, a smalltown worship leader. My name is Stewart and I lead worship for a Calvary Chapel in Prineville, Oregon. It’s a town of about 10,000 people. We probably have about 200 people who would call our church, “Home”, but probably average between 150-180 people a service.

I will have lived in Prineville for three years this October. Prior to moving here, I lived in Arizona, and prior to that, I’d lived in Washington for 9 years. All that to say, God’s plans are certainly greater than mine! Before I moved up to Prineville, I’d pretty much set my heart on moving back to Washington, but decided I’d visit this church in Prineville, Oregon, called, “Calvary Chapel of Crook County”. Un until then I’d never even heard of Prineville, at least that I could remember. So I visited the church in the early Spring of 2005, and ended up realizing that it just seemed liked the place I was being called. A few months later I moved up, and the rest is HIStory.

It’s truly amazing how the Lord has been there to lead me along the way, even when I thought I was all alone.

I’ve started this website as a means to share my journey with others, and in hopes that others might be inspired to share as well. If you’d like to join my site, just shoot me a message and I’ll sign you up. I want this to be a place for discussion, encouragement, sharing, and just having an all around good time.

Be Blessed!

-Stew

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