In the days after my dad died, there were several moments when the pain was so heavy and suffocating, I had no expression to capture the loneliness I was feeling. I can remember having to pull off the road to cry. I can remember sitting in my drive way not wanting to go through the front door because I didn’t want my kids to see me hurting. I can remember sitting in my office early one Sunday morning struggling to get my composure and not having an ounce of energy in my body, thinking, “There is no way I can stand up in front of people today and preach!” I am a pastor who preaches and not a preacher who pastors. So the condition of my heart is so critical in any message I feel led to share. And when my heart is broken…well…everything breaks…

Music ministers to me more effectively than anything. And being an introvert, if you give me music and quiet space and time, something “other worldly” happens in my heart. I’ve attached a video of a David Crowder concert in a House of Blues in San Diego…so please ignore the lack of auditory and cinematography excellence and the young woman who suddenly screams out in the second verse! It’s the lyrics and the music that God used to pick me up and breathe new life and joy back into my hollow heart.

And after you watch/listen/experience this, read John 10:27-29 from the Message.