The man in the mirror

Friday morning, as I was driving into work, I was stopped at a red light waiting for the light to turn green so I could get into the office and start my day. As I shivered in the cold and looked in my side mirror, I noticed a man sitting in some sort of work truck behind me.  As I looked into his eyes through the mirror, I was able for a brief moment, to feel the burdens of this man's heart. His eyes appeared empty, as if he were just floating through the motions of his normal day to day routine. He looked to be weathered, aged beyond is years, and my heart broke for him.

Now I'll probably never see that man again, but God used that brief, unexpected moment to speak to me.  He softened my heart and whispered to me, "this is why you are here." Near tears, I knew that God has me here for a purpose, a purpose to reach out to lost people, to bring hope to the hopeless, and to share His love with the unloved.

Having The Guts to Follow God

I've often heard of people claiming that faith & religion was created to numb people's minds from the realities of the world, that it is a cheap way out of facing the difficulties of life, or that it is something for the weak.

I tend to disagree.

Here is a story of a man by the name of Tom Wheeler.  Tom had it made from a worldly perspective, but it wasn't good enough for him.  Check out this video.

I say faith like that is far from a cheap way out, a numbing to reality, or decision made by a weak person. Following God is hard work, requires sacrifice, and often leaves us with unanswerable questions, but I know this, that the rewards to God offers us for living our lives for Him exceed in abundance all the rewards this world has to offer.

So what about you... do you have the guts to follow God?  I triple-dog-dare you to try.

check out what's going on over @ Hoskins Park Ministries.

Do You Hear?

Do You Hear? Trailer from Geoff Schultz on Vimeo.

Do You Hear? is Elevation's 2008 Christmas series all about hearing from God. This past sunday was the second week of the 3 week series which will conclude with Elevation's first Christmas Eve services, which will be held at Belk Theatre in Uptown Charlotte at 3, 5, & 7 p.m.

It is going to something you won't want to miss - if you're in Charlotte for Christmas Eve, you should be there!  You can listen to the first two weeks of the series here (week 1) & here (week 2) or go to www.elevationchurch.org to watch the video online.

Here is another piece that was used during the worship set this past week.  People really responded well to this unique element.  It is awesome to see God reach people in a way they didn't expect when they walked in the doors that morning.

Silent Worship from Geoff Schultz on Vimeo.

When We Can't, He Can

So, this morning on my way into work, I was thinking about my previous day at the office and how I really left at the end of te day feeling flustered. We did a shoot for a trailer for an upcoming series which I knew was coming up, but found out that morning that is was schedule for 2 o'clock that afternoon. Naturally, I felt a little stress because of it coming up all the sudden, but nothing that I couldn't deal with. Then, I was a bit late meeting up with Larry when our videographer showed up because of another project I was helping with. THEN, when I thought that I was going to have a little staff support during the shoot, something came up where Larry and Wes couldn't be there during the shoot. I was just me, our camera guy, and our actor.

"Great" I thought to myself. I don't really have any experience directing a shoot, and I instantly thought to myself, "I can't do this, I'm an animator, I animate, I don't know how to direct a shoot." And so the shoot didn't go as smooth as I had hope, I left late to our staff workout, and I just felt flustered as I rushed out of the office not really knowing if I had accomplished what I need to for the day.

As I said, I was thinking about all of these things on my way into work and God just really called me out. Of course I can't do it all. If I could, why would I need God in my life. If I could do it all, where are the challenges? Where's the growth? The truth of the matter is we can't do it all, but He can. God really showed me through that little experience yesterday that when I feel like I can't, to call on Him and ask Him to step in and take over, and through our weaknesses, there lies His strength. When we can't, He can.

Little Superstar

I love dancing. I'm not the best, but I feel that I can hold my own on the dance floor...but compared to this little guy, I ain't got nuttin' - an oldie, but a goodie.