Rhythm

Mission: New Orleans – Day 4

Posted by craigtackett on May 28, 2010

Today we set off on another adventure, full of serving our Lord. We headed out today at 7:15 a.m. ready for the last day ahead of us and to give it all we had left. Looking at this week and the mindset I had before leaving the Noke I was a little unsure of how this trip would go, to be honest I thought this trip was going to be just like a vacation, a social event full of play and some work and not really a “God thing”. Well I was completely wrong; God’s presence on this trip was unbelievable, each day was unique and such a beautiful experience of meeting new people, serving others, good times full of good people, and bringing glory to God above everything else. When I look back at everything today and through out the week I get a huge smile on my face thinking about how amazing our God is and what a great opportunity He has given us. God provided, taught, and loved all of us this week. Our God is amazing, just sayin’.

Brooke

At the beginning I came in not knowing anyone. I really didn’t know what to expect because I never have done anything like this before. Through out the week I got to know a bunch of people and really felt like I belonged. The best moment that I had was when we all we singing on the dock by the Mississippi River and right then it really hit me that I was surrounded by loving and caring people and we were all there to praise God for this wonderful opportunity. I was never really close with my church back home and making this trip to New Orleans has opened my eyes and my relationship with God. This has definitely been the highlight of my summer and I will keep in touch with all the new friends I have met through Rhythm…

P.S. The last day we all had crawfish and they were in the words of Joe Hine “they were BOMBIN”

Meghan “Goose”
via Josh

This is my second time coming to New Orleans with Rhythm. I just want to tell you all that this is ultimately the best week I have had here. The people of New Orleans are so grateful that we are here to help rebuild their community. Its been a great week to get closer to God but also a great week to show Gods love. One of the nights we were down here we went downtown and worshiped on the dock and I noticed a guy who was on the bench not too far from us; and he started tapping his foot to the beat. After a couple of minutes he came closer and sat right beside us and I could tell he really enjoyed us being there. Its such a great feeling to see people smile when they have gone through so much. I cant wait to get back and share the awesome love of Jesus and share the wonderful stories I have experienced here in New Orleans!

Matt
via Charles

Click here to see pictures from today!

Mission: New Orleans – Day 3

Posted by craigtackett on May 27, 2010

Today was amazing. There was so much to do but everyone praised God and worked through the day and did what was needed to be done. Some worked inside installing doors, handles, and stoppers, and then cleaning up after that. Some were outside digging and then making mortar and and putting cinder blocks together. Some worked on the side of the houses to install the hurricane window protection. Though out the entire day no matter how hot it got God was praised and that’s all that matters.

Heather

Burn. Burnt. Burning. It just doesn’t seem to cool down in NOLA, ever. At 7:45 in the morning, the white caravan of rented vans is rolling to a stop in front of two vacant lots at the end of a shady dead-end road. Before us are the beginnings of a foundation for one build, and the outlines for another. We’re all excited, I am to a degree, but all I can think about is how there’s no shade at this site and my back is gonna be feeling in no time. I made the mistake of playing Mr. Bigshot on day one—wearing a cut-off muscle shirt—and ended up doing some roofing while simultaneously burning my meaty flanks underneath my shoulder blades. Now I’ve been paying for it all week and working through the unending heat and humidity . . . and pain. Today though, it’s a little more bearable, and the burning I had anticipated around 8 a.m. wasn’t the one that wore at me as I had expected. Rather, God decided to go to work with me today on an old nemesis of mine, pride, and not my own this time (well, to a small degree). Now, the day’s tasks included digging holes for pouring the foundation, one group was assigned the job of prepping windows in a few houses for hurricane protection measures, a few individuals did some touch up painting, and the remainder of us were put to work building the supports for one house out of cinderblocks and mortar. As far as the work goes, I enjoyed most of it, but I was so annoyed all day with a lack of effort by some in a few occasions, and one individual more so throughout the day. This one individual wasn’t doing anything to me specifically, but there was a twinge of arrogance that had me cringing at many of their words. And I realized it wasn’t really them that made me mad, it was the me in them—the old me—the me that God has helped erase with his spirit over the past few years. The whole day, shovel scoop after shovel scoop, cinderblock after cinderblock, despite the fact that I was enjoying the work, I was struggling. Thankfully, there was a lesson here, one that I asked God to teach me: Patience and Humility. As I tediously leveled each layer of mortar, and adjust each block, God reminded me of my own pride, and used this individual to show me how He sees me, excuse me, how He saw me. And in the late afternoon, as the first clouds we’ve had all week started to cover the sun for moments of glorious shade, God showed me how I was taking pride in humility. I wanted this person to examine themselves, to adjust, and in so doing, I was elevating myself because I was the measuring stick I was using. So, though the heat didn’t quite subside, my anger was forced to. It’s interesting, to say the least, how God surprises us with growth and lessons. Thank God for hot sticky days, covered in sand, and building a little character with shovels and cinderblocks.

Joe

Mission:New Orleans – Day 2

Posted by craigtackett on May 26, 2010

Today was our second full day down here in New Orleans and after a few dozen cell phone alarms and showers; me and the guys in my room were ready to head down for a quick breakfast. When we walked outside today I was so relieved that it wasn’t nearly as bright or as hot as it was yesterday. The first day on site progressively got hotter and hotter until around lunch. However, today there was a nice breeze and the sun felt just a little bit further away. We all arrived on site around 7:30 and got to work shortly after. The people that were doing siding on the right side of the house continued their work, the guys on the roof the first day, including me, changed it up a bit and helped with measuring, cutting, and some siding wherever it needed to be done or continued. There were a few people on the first day working inside the house had finished yesterday and they were the ones on the roof today.

I was on the left side of the house with Megan Goose, Jessica B., and Brooke Drew doing some siding. After I’d finished some trimming all around the house I jumped in with them and we got things down relatively sooner. I was up on the ladder for the most part while Goose would bring the wood. Brooke and Jessica and a couple other girls were finishing some siding on another wall close by. At about 11:30 we all left for lunch and split up between Mcdonald’s and Burger King. At Mcdonald’s I had an amazing Big Mac with Taylor Hurley as we joked and conversed in the nice air conditioning. When I first sat down there were some locals asking me why we were here and what we were doing. I told about what we were doing for Habitat for Humanity and how much we’d gotten down on the house so far and shared with them what kind of group Rhythm was and how awesome it was doing some work that needed to be done.

After lunch all work continued for about an hour or two. During those hours the right, left and back wall as well as the roofing had all gotten completed, and all that was left to do was finish walling and shaping up the front of the house. Unfortunately the front side took longer than we’d hoped. So, while I and 9 other people stayed to finish that up, Craig had sent the rest of the group on back to get freshened up.

Overall, it was an awesome and very successful day. We finished all the siding and we are officially done with our work on that house. Tomorrow we will be sent to a new sight to start on some cement block laying and digging and a bunch of new stuff.

Tonight we’re going downtown for the first time and I am so excited about it. We’re eating together tonight, but tomorrow we’ll most likely be splitting up and exploring downtown New Orleans in our own little groups. I have to say Craig, Shanna, Josh, Bobby, and all the other people that are taking the responsibility to handle close to 40 youthful adults, are doing such an incredible job and I can’t thank God more for them. They are great people to look up to and I’m glad God those them as leaders. We’re being excellently taken care of and I couldn’t be having a better time. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!

Click here to view pictures from today!

Matt

Mission New Orleans: Day 1

Posted by craigtackett on May 25, 2010

Greetings from New Orleans.
Each day upon returning to the hotel I hope to have a couple of thoughts, journals, or blogs from some of our entourage. A summation, if you will, of thoughts and feelings and emotions as we work alongside one another to make a bit of difference in the lives of people we do not know. Simply because that is what Jesus told us to do. Just to have the opportunity is amazing…to be carrying it out…even more so. Getting to do it with friends and family…priceless. Please check back often as we log our efforts for you.
P.S. There will be pictures too.

CT

I’m not sure how I had tied construction with gumbo or singing on the Mississippi. I suppose New Orleans was the melody that tied those notes together and I know the latter is to come. I look forward to it. But today wasn’t like that. Hammering fingers almost as often as nails, sawdust sticking to sweat and sunscreen, measuring siding, roasting like sun dried tomatoes on the roof while hammering loose shingles are some things that better describe today. Even though a sixteen-hour road trip, humidity, hammering and sawing, climbing, pain killers and picking dirt from fingernails aren’t things that would typically be considered inherently joyful, somehow I was that: joyful.

I feel like service, especially the less glamorous it is, is what rings true to our spirits. There is nothing inherently good about hammering for Habitat for Humanity. But something about our hearts—even though not always overtly expressed—and how they are carried out through our works is so good. What good is our faith without works? I’m loving being an instrument in the Creator’s orchestra; one that is playing a song that sings restoration (in more than one sense of the word) and a traveling back to Genesis chapter one.

Keisha

As I sit here, completely drained and absolutely no energy left from the past few days, I somehow feel full. I learned so much from working on our assigned house and come out with a lot more than just being sore and dirty. When I woke up this morning, I was SO exhausted from yesterday’s travels… and I definitely didn’t feel ready to go work on houses! I had no idea what condition we were going to be working in and if our group would be split up. When we arrived at our worksite at 7:45am, there were several groups and many unfinished houses (some not even started). There were 6 different groups. Each one of them had to work with another except for ours! It feels so awesome to be apart of such a large group of young individuals who want to serve Christ! When we found out which house we were on, everyone immediately started looking for something to do. There were people on the roof putting up shingles, some were working on siding and others were inside taking care of boards and straps. I know that everyone was exhausted, but we pulled through and didn’t let it slow us down.

In the morning, I worked on siding. At first it seemed like there were too many people and not enough equipment. But I noticed that we were only working on two sides, so I started working on the third side. Not a whole minute had passed before people came over to help me, because I really had no idea what I was doing! We worked together and everyone had a job to do. I learned how to side a house, but I also learned patience, and kindness. You can’t do a job with other people and expect it to work unless you have those things. At one point, our group was irritated and started to fall apart, and that’s when I noticed that less work got done. I stepped away for prayer and came back totally rejuvenated! It’s tough working in the hot sun all day but it’s amazing what God can accomplish through us when we work together in His name. After having my blood sugar drop to just about nothing, getting sunscreen in my eyes and getting sunburned, I can say that I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow! God has put the joy in my heart and in the hearts of my fellow rhythmers! As I said in the beginning… I am totally wiped out, but extremely excited for what He is going to do through us the rest of this week!

Click here to view pictures from today!

Ariel

Our God is a God who saves!

Posted by craigtackett on May 22, 2010

What a truly amazing night at Rhythm!! For a few weeks now at Rhythm, worship has been building and building and last night worship was at such a height that words escape me! We had an amazing crowd of people and as I sat in the front row and heard all the voices raised worshiping God, my heart danced!! In last week’s blog post, Kevin challenged Rhythm to meet a goal of 200 people and we blew right past that to 229!! Keep it up and we will fill that whole auditorium, balcony and all!

Harris III was, of course, astounding! So many slight of hand tricks, glass bottles in paper bags, walking on glass, “mind reading”, and Metamorphosis tempered with some very important truths about how easily we allow ourselves to become deceived. So many times in our lives, we allow Satan to distract us with his left hand so that we do not see what he has done with his right hand, and thus we are deceived. We have the wool pulled over our eyes and we don’t even realize it! Take a moment and look at your life and ask God to show you what places in your life that Satan has been lying to you and you have been believing those lies, you might be surprised at the truths you discover about yourself and those around you.

Luke 11:9-10 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

A few upcoming things to remember:

1. We will not have Rhythm this coming week, May 27. Enjoy the break and come back the next week with people in tow, ready to worship, learn, laugh, and love!
2. May 24-29, thirty-eight Rhythmers will be serving in New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity. Prayer for this time, these people, and the lives we will touch while we’re there.
3. There is not a podcast for this week. Look up Harris III on YouTube, he’s got some amazing stuff on there (not to mention you can check out why throwing a deck of cards underhanded is always a good idea)!
4. You are loved and prayed for!

Blessings!!!
Shanna

Let’s step up!

Posted by craigtackett on May 14, 2010

This is officially my first blog entry as ‘the new guy.’ So I’m hoping to bring a fresh
perspective on what Rhythm looks like from the outside as well as having been apart
now for 4 months. So here it goes…

Rhythm last night was the second highest night since February! We’ve been down in numbers
for about 2 months straight and last night we reached 170 again and it just felt right! The energy is so much better and more powerful the more we fill that room up! Worship was right on last night!  As well as getting a killer challenge from Craig after looking at the story of Elijah looking up to God and asking for fire from the heavens! Where is our faith today? Who is our God today? Do we turn to our own desires and faith in what we know that WE can do? Or do we really believe our God is as powerful as the scriptures prove him to be? Hmmm, so do we chose God and have faith that He will come through? Good challenge!

So being the new guy this is my challenge to Rhythm. I know that since Rhythm moved to Lakeside that the goal has been to fill the entire first floor of seats with young adults. I believe everything is being done to make that possible by the teams and leaders, but as participants we are not really doing much to make that happen, whether it’s lack of faith? laziness? not sure…
But I do confess that in the 4 months I have been here, I have invited a whole 1 person from the outside to Rhythm! That is lame! And I think most of you join me in that! There’s not a fire within US to get people there to encounter God! There is a great thing set up for us to make His power famous in Roanoke, and its as simple as us stepping out of our comfort zone and dragging people in our lives out to it! What happened to 300 night? Let’s step up as  and make this summer a time of growth as much as we can!

We’ve got Harris III coming next week to do illusions for us! I saw this guy in January, he’s sick! There’s not a better week for us to begin this challenge than this Thursday! This is going to appeal to all crowds! So get your butt out to Rhythm and don’t show up without a friend or two! Let’s see 200 again, we’ll rock out with some worship and then see this guy go to work!

Word.

Kevin

Thanks Eli

Posted by craigtackett on

A standalone sermon preached on 05-13-10 by Craig Tackett at Rhythm. Rhythm is the collegiate/young adult worship experience in the Roanoke Valley.

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Hello Rhythmites!

Posted by craigtackett on May 7, 2010

We’ve decided to take turns updating the Rhythm blog to get different perspectives each week (to mix things up) and to provide a little more consistency in our updates.

This week’s message [entitled “Thank You Max”] reminded us that inviting Jesus into our hearts and lives doesn’t make life any easier. We all still make huge mistakes – life and sin and death are still prevalent; the difference is Who we’re standing with. In Jesus, we can experience a peace, joy and unexplainable presence, regardless of our situation.

Jesus voluntarily became one of us so that when we struggle, we can know He knows how we feel. Jesus understands the confines of our bodies – the laughter, the grief, the loneliness, the hurt, the love – He gets it. When we forget to think of Jesus in His human nature, we are missing the whole point! He knows, better than we can ever imagine, exactly what we’re going through. Jesus proved himself when He came to live as we do. All we have to do is reach, ask and yearn for Him. He’s already with us – it’s just a matter of us calling on Him and allowing Him to heal our hurts.

Things to keep in mind:

1. Final payments for the New Orleans mission trip are due. There will be a meeting after Rhythm next week to discuss details.

2. Master illusionist Harris III will be with us in two weeks (May 20). This is going to be an awesome show you won’t want to miss!

3. There are some amazing churches in the valley that would love to have you and love on you and let you serve as God created you to do. Check out some of the options on the “Churches” page.

4. There will be no Rhythm on May 27^th. We love you, but even God took a day to rest. =)

Have a wonderful week!

PJ

Thanks Max

Posted by craigtackett on

A standalone sermon preached on 05-06-10 by Craig Tackett at Rhythm. Rhythm is the collegiate/young adult worship experience in the Roanoke Valley.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.