Big Question Tuesday - August 19, 2008
Aug 19th, 2008 by markcarr
Big Question Tuesday - August 12, 2008
Aug 12th, 2008 by markcarr
Worship: Soundtrack for Life (Week 2: Mark Carr) Aug 10, 2008
Aug 11th, 2008 by markcarr
Worship: Soundtrack for Life (Week 2: Mark Carr) Aug 10, 2008
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waiting on a train
Aug 6th, 2008 by markcarr
I am sitting in the Amtak station in Charlotte waiting on Darcy to arrive. What a mixture of old and new sounds of culture. I am blogging on my iPhone on a wooden bench that was that has the classic look of the 1920’s.
Sacred music has the same feel. We gather each week in a facility called “Pump It Up” singing words that are often based on the vintage words of the psalms. What do we do?
Embrace all that you can. Love the historic works of music and discover new songs. After all, the of a train is to get you from Raleigh to Charlotte, and the goal of worship is to declare who God is.
Big Question Tuesday - August 5, 2006
Aug 6th, 2008 by markcarr
Worship: Soundtrack for Life (Week 1: Dave Wilson) Aug 3, 2008
Aug 4th, 2008 by markcarr
Worship: Soundtrack for Life (Week 1: Dave Wilson) Aug 3, 2008
The Sound of Charlotte
Aug 4th, 2008 by markcarr
I am in Charlotte this week coordinating a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for the National Fine Arts. I hope during this worship series, your get enthralled with the thought as “Worship is the soundtrack of life” as I am. I am in a mixing of music. On the one hand we have 10,000 students, parents, and youth pastors descending on Charlotte like a locust cloud of Christian Culture. It devours a normally financially centered, business driven culture of downtown Charlotte. Every where you go I can see teenagers in a corner of the posh Westin Hotel practicing Jesus dieing and coming back to life in a human video. (Human Video is an art form that I simply do not understand, but there are a lote of art forms I don’t understand).
On the other hand, there is also a mortgage convention meeting at this hotel with adults spending a weekend away from spouse and family. I was in the elevator briefly last night with a married gentleman flirting with two women (neither his wife) as they planned to go somwhere where the drinks aren’t $10 a shot.
The teenage locust sound like Carman’s “The Champion” (Listen to Gina Archer’s teaching on Missional life to get to know this song) to my ears, and the elevator sounds like a convention two-timing two step.
Life has music and lyrics. It has beat and melody. You and I have choice over what that sounds like.
“1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1)
Kicked out of my own house
Aug 1st, 2008 by markcarr
I got kicked out of my own house tonight, as my daughter is hosting her birthday party with 10 screaming girls celebrating Kylie’s birthday party. The boys and I tucked our tails between our legs and scurried like scared dogs to the pool. We will hide out for as long as possible before sneeking upstairs just before bedtime.
We are starting a new series this weekend entiled: “Worship: a soundtrack for life”. Here is the premise: Worship us the background music of a Christian’s life. Like a great movie soundtrack, worship sets the mood, the tone, the atmosphere for our lives.
As I sit at the pool, a mixture of country, blues, and rock is creating an atmosphere of family fun. Here is my introspective question during this series:
If my life was set to music, would the God of Heaven and Earth enjoy listening?
I want my life to be on God’s playlist. David the psalmist made it. The woman at the well made it. The thief on the cross made it.
God’s playlist is an ecclectic mix with some common melodies. We are going to take a look at these over the next few weeks.
Dave Wilson will be teaching this Sunday as we explore corporate worship. See you Sunday.
Back from Vacation
Jul 30th, 2008 by markcarr
I am back working in my mobile office, and ready to go after a great 5 day vacation that included the first Sunday I have taken off since Darcy and I started this church planting journey. According to a survey funded by Expedia.com, Americans are provided less vacation days than the rest of the world, and we don’t even take what we are given. The average American has 14 vacation takes, and takes only 11. That leaves 460 million vacation days unused every year in the US.
Vacation should be refreshing & re-energizing. I am thankful that being with my extended family is like that for me. I spent a really long weekend at my brother’s home. My mom flew in from Oklahoma on Saturday, and we spent most of the time around his pool (and yet I am still not tan). On Sunday I played golf at Sycamore Hills Country Club, which was named #92 in Golf Digest’s Golf Course list. ( This is only the second time I have played a top 100 course).
Today, I am digging back in to work and I feel ready to go. This fall will be an incredible season for TrueLife Church as we experience the road God has for us.
Big Question Tuesday - July 22, 2008
Jul 22nd, 2008 by markcarr