This song has been buzzing through my mind today so I thought I would share. It’s like my heart cry lately. EVERYTHING!! Take all of me Father!!

You broke the night like the sun
And healed my heart with Your great love
Any trouble I couldn’t bear
You lifted me upon Your shoulders

Love that’s stronger
Love that covers sin
And takes the weight of the world

I love You
All of my hope is in You
Jesus Christ take my life
Take all of me

You stand on mountain tops with me
With You i walk through the valleys
You gave Your only Son for me
Your grace is all I rely on

I love You so, and I give up my heart to say
I need You so, my everything

A friend of mine from Australia posted this video on his Twitter. I love their technique and their effects. (please get past the first 40 seconds … the video gets good after the first 40 seconds.)

Wow! I love it. Don’t really care for the song but man … to have a dance team that could dance like that would be awesome.

Over the last two or three months I have had the opportunity to review a “newer” Bible out on the “Christian market” called “The Voice”.

The Voice Bible is unique in the fact that it is written as a screen play which makes it easy to understand who is speaking when. (Something that can sometimes be difficult in the KJV Bible). This is also an awesome resource if you are a children/youth minister and want to reenact a story from the Word.

Now, would I suggest anyone to make “The Voice” their main scripture source? No. I personally am a KJV nut. Sorry, it’s just the way I am however I do have a LARGE selection of different translations of the Word of God including the Message (2nd fav) and the Amplified (3rd fav). Really, The Voice will be resource for me when preparing lessons and studying scripture.

One really awesome thing about The Voice translation is the people who translated it. The translaters included traditional academic scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and other artists. The collaborator list includes heavyweights such as Brian McLaren, Sean Palmer, Todd Littleton and Leonard Sweet.

So, the translation is well written but how true is the translation to the original scripture? This is the most important part of this review.

Check this out
1 Timothy 4:12 (King James Version)
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12 (The Voice Version)
Don’t let anyone belittle you because you are young. Instead, show the faithful, young and old, an example of how to live: set the standard for how to talk, act, love, and be faithful and pure.

Acts 2:38-39 (King James Version)
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.

Acts 2:38-39 (The Voice Version)
Reconsider your lives; change your direction. Participate in the ceremonial washing in the name of Jesus, the Liberating King. Then your sins will be forgiven, and the gift of the Holy Spirit will be yours. For this promise of the Spirit is for you, for your children, for all people – even those considered outsiders and outcasts – the Lord our God invites everyone to come to Him.

As you can see in the examples above it’s literally just a different way of saying the same thing. I cross-referenced a good portion of the “The Voice” and found nothing that was out of context. I personally believe that the translation team did an awesome job of translating the hard Greek and Hebrew into modern day English.

If you would like, you can download the Book of John by clicking here so that you can review it for yourself.

Once again, this is a great translation and I think it has the potential to not only be a great resource for those in the children/youth ministry but could also be the translation needed for many people who really want to read the Word but get confused or bored reading the KJV.

This translation should be available at your local christian bookstore or can be purchased on Amazon.com by clicking here!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Thomas Nelson Publishing provided a copy of this Bible for my review. They have asked me to post a review about the book with my honest opinion whether positive or negative. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

The “Lead Vertically” book giveaway was a huge success. The winner of the book was Arnold Cifax Jr from Milwaukee, WI. He recently posted the following on Twitter:

There is a new giveaway in the works … sooooo …. keep your eyes open!!

As you may or may not have noticed there is now a “Facebook Like” button on the bottom of every post! If you like the post, simply click the “Like” button and it will immediately share it with your friends on Facebook.

It’s an awesome new plugin I found that is rocking my world. Plus, if you click “Like” it will post your Facebook pic below the post as well!!

It’s a way for you not only to share things with your friends but also to leave your mark on my blog!! LOL

Let me know your thoughts!!

I thought these were AMUSING to say the least. LOL

I have the awesome opportunity and honor of telling you about a new book that was just released last week and is a book that if read with an open heart will not just change your life but will also change the lives of those you come in contact with.

The book is called “Lead Vertically” and is written by Pastor Craig Johnson. Pastor Craig is the Senior Director of Family Ministries at Lakewood Church in Houston which is one of the largest and fasting growing churches in America.

In Lead Vertically, Pastor Craig shares with us his thoughts on how to build an awesome leadership team that is not only successful but is fulfilled. Through powerful scripture references, personal experiences, and life stories submitted by his own staff; Pastor Craig show leaders the importance of building a team that is reaching not only the ministries (or companies) goals but also the staff’s dreams. Letting them know that the best days are yet to come and that they need to keeping looking up because they never know when God is going to drop something awesome in their lap.

Pastor Craig has so many insightful quotes and statements in this book. Here are just a few a few of my favorite:

“ Vertical leaders help others soar where eagles fly, not where the chickens grovel.”

“You can’t receive the harvest until you accept the seed.”

“A vertical leader is inclusive and builds up whoever is willing to follow.”

“To lead another life, one must be willing to give up a part of his or her own.”

“Leadership is about knowing how you are without being defensive about who you are not.”

I encourage you all to go out and get a copy of this book. It’s available just about everywhere online and I am sure in the stores as well. Don’t just buy one though … buy some for your staff. Sow into them … it will be worth it BIG TIME.

As you all know, I said I would be giving away a copy of Lead Vertically today. To enter into the contest all you have to do is subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here. Once you are fully subscribed you will be entered into the contest.

All current subscribers of my mailing list will automatically be entered into the drawing. Drawing will conclude at 10pm CST on May 4th, 2010. I will announce the winner of the book tomorrow evening (May 5th, 2010).