New Blog Address!

Aly and I are switching our blog address from a2zsimons.blogspot.com to a2zsimons.tumblr.com. This is mainly because that blog service is easier and faster to use. Any previous posts will still be available at this blog but anything from here on out will be at the new address. There will also be a link back to this old address incase you want to read something from the past year. But check there to read anything in the future. Although that page looks a little different, it will be the same a2z blog. Please book mark it and/or follow us and we hope you keep reading!

Work Horse

Vera Cruz reached 80,000 miles the other day. 50,000 miles in 2 years.
She's definitely a work horse.

Conversation with Chan, Driscoll, and Harris

This is an interesting conversion between Francis Chan, Mark Driscoll and Joshua Harris on why Francis Chan decided to step down as the lead pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA.

Highlights From Brazil - #2

I know it has been almost 2 weeks since the last post I made about Brazil. Since then, both Zach and I have started school. I am so thankful that I was able to go on the trip right before school started. It has helped me to see my job as a mission for sharing the gospel in Orlando.

This journal entry is about the favela we went to for VBS, the City of God. In the past two years this favela has seen amazing amounts of restoration. It was very exciting to hear about from the missionaries who have lived and worked there for so long.

"The kids were so excited to see us today. Several remembered our names: Annie, Vivian, and Estella. We focused on the story of the feeding of the 5,000 today during VBS. It is still so heart breaking to see these kids in bare feet and dirty clothes. There is so much garbage in the 'streets'. The homes are made of broken down shakes, several don't even have doors. There was a very little girl, probably no older than 2 and 1/2 who was coughing pretty badly. She wouldn't talk to me, so I just held her for a while. Her head was very hot so I talked to one of the missionaries about her. He said he would make sure that she got medicine tomorrow. Ana told me later that she had a very sad family history, but didn't elaborate any more than that. It was hard leaving her, not knowing what or whom she was going home to."

I unfortunately do not have any pictures of the favela we were working in yet. But here is a picture of one that was near where we were staying.

Happy Anniversary!

Last night I celebrated 2 wonderful years with my beautiful bride.  Finally got to eat at Fulton's Crab House + a night walk around the Disney Boardwalk = a dream come true. Happy 2nd Anniversary Aly (on the 23rd)!

Aly on Sunday

Here is a link to the audio for Sunday's teaching at CrossPointe.  Aly and my friend Joel were able to share about their experience during the service.  Its a great articulation of God's redemptive work in Brazil and in our own communities.

Link to teaching: "The Movement Continues"

Of All Time?

The following is a blog post by our new RTS President, Dr. Don Sweeting. I was thinking the same sort of thing when I saw Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." Dr. Sweeting just has the ability to articulate his thoughts better than me. I think he makes some great points here. Take a look.

Greatest Songs of All Time: Beyond Rolling Stone

By dwsweeting

It is quite a claim, is it not?  The “greatest songs of all time.”  So reads the July/August cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone.  It offers us “the ultimate play list,” chosen by a blue ribbon panel of writers, musicians and experts.  I was curious….greatest songs of ALL TIME.   Do they mean by “greatest,” their favorite songs, or the most influential songs, or the most important songs of all time?  They don’t say.

If they mean “most influential” songs, would the list include, say…songs of lasting historical consequence,  such as the Star Spangled Banner, The Socialist International, The Marseille, God Save The Queen, Land of Hope and Glory, Deutschland Uber Alles, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again,  or perhaps songs that epitomized Greece and Rome at their heights?  Would the list include Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, or Handel’sHallelujah Chorus?   For that matter, would it include Somewhere Over the Rainbow, or even Happy Birthday?  But no….none of those songs make the list.

In the introduction, Jay-Z says that a great song is one which “transcends time” (p. 6).   So which songs, according to Rolling Stone,transcend time and make the top ten?  They include, in order:  Like a Rolling Stone, by Bob Dylan (1965),  I Can’t Get No Satisfaction, by the Rolling Stones (1965), Imagine, by John Lennon (1971),  What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye (1971), Respect by Aretha Franklin (1971),  Good Vibrations, by the Beach Boys (1966), Johnny B. Goode, by Chuck Berry (1958),  Hey Jude, by the Beatles, (1968), Smells Like Teen Spiritby Nirvana (1991), and What’d I Say, by Ray Charles (1959).

Interestingly, Rolling Stone’s myopic vision is evidenced by a list that is almost entirely composed of North American and British artists.  Their 500 list has only one song that is not in English.  It has only two songs from the 1940s, all the rest are more recent.  Most are from the 60’s and 70’s.  Of the groups, the Beatles are the most represented with 23 songs, followed by the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, U2 and the Beach Boys.

Curious about this whole—“greatest songs of all time” matter, my wife Christina and I had a breakfast conversation about the subject.  We will never be appointed to any music “blue ribbon panels,” but our list would look very different.  It’s not that it would exclude everything that Rolling Stone put forward.  I am sure my list of top 500 songs (though not hers) would actually include songs by the Beatles, U2, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Nickel Creek, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, as well as various Bluegrass, Jazz and Celtic artists.   

People sometimes ask me what kind of music I like.  “All kinds,” I answer. My tastes vary wildly.  I am an eclectic mess.  But at the top of our list, we would most definitely expand Rolling Stone’s horizons.  Our list would include:

• The Song of Creation, as referenced by Job 38.7 when “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy,” and noted in literature by C.S. Lewis in The Magician’s Nephew when Aslan sang creation into being.
• The Song of Moses and Miriam, of Exodus 15 which praises God for his redeeming deliverance—“the Lord is my strength and my song; and he has become my salvation.”
• The Songs of David—the psalms.  The longest book in the Bible is composed of songs of praise, lament, thanksgiving, ascent and mourning
• The Magnificat by Mary at the birth of Jesus, (Luke 1.46ff).
• What about the songs the disciples sang after the Passover meal, (Mark 26.29)? Or the song of celebration when the loving father celebrates the return of his wayward son in Luke 15.  The father celebrated with music and dancing.  Or how about the song of Paul and Silas singing in jail at midnight, referred to in Acts 16.25
• What about the songs of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion?
• Not just Handel’s wonderful Hallelujah Chorus, but also I Know My Redeemer Liveth, Worthy is the Lamb, He Shall Feed His Flock, If God is For Us, Who Can Be Against Us?
• Malotte’s The Lord’s Prayer
• What of some of the greatest hymns of the church—St. Patrick’s Breastplate, Luther’s A Mighty Fortress—(the most powerful hymn ever written. The hymn the devil hates), Newton’s Amazing Grace, Bach’sJesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, Watts’ When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and hymns like Great is Thy Faithfulness, Joy to the World and Holy Holy, Holy.
• Surely Jesus Loves Me ought to make the list
• As should Take Me Out to the Ball Game J              I better stop
• But what about the song of the trumpet when the dead are raised in 1 Corinthians 15.51 and death is swallowed up in victory?
• And what about the songs of the future in Revelation 5.7-13, 14.3 and 15.3 where multitudes sing a new song—many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand.  They encircle the throne of God and sing in a loud voice  “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,  to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength  and honor and glory and praise!” “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

I appreciate the challenge that Rolling Stone has given to us of identifying the great songs of all time.  It’s just that they suffer from a kind of weightlessness and tunnel vision.  Jay-Z was on to something when he said that great songs transcend time; it’s just that his andRolling Stone’s bandwidth is too narrow!    

Aly's Testimony Video

This morning was a great time of sharing for Aly and the team from Brazil. Aly and my friend Joel were both able to share a bit of what God was doing in Rio de Janeiro and in their hearts over the past 10 days or so. I will post a link to the audio from this morning's service later on, but for now, this video was shown the congregation to give them an idea of what life was like for the team as they stayed with the Brazilians. Aly speaks for quite a while in this video and it is definitely worth watching, just to get a recap from her perspective. Jamie did a great job of editing it and it really helps give us a better idea of what it was like.

Highlights From Brazil - #1

After a 24 hour airport/flight experience, we are thankfully safely back in the United States. I myself (Aly) have never written on this blog before, but I have so much to share about the experience I just had. There is no way that I could share everything that I learned and experienced in just one blog post, but I would at least like to give a highlight of the trip.

To better summarize and articulate what I learned and experienced in Brazil, I am going to post some of my journal entries throughout the week. We mainly focused on doing a VBS in a favela (slum) called The City of God. Two years ago, it was controlled by drug lords and was too dangerous to work in. Now, however, there is a church plant that is growing and missionaries who are living with the people, sharing the gospel. We also went to a church in another favela (Rios das Pedras), an orphanage, a day care, and did some outreach with the homeless.

The following journal entry is from Aug. 7th, 2010 when our team went to do a mini VBS in an orphanage. This was what I was most looking forward to doing on the trip. I have always had a desire to work with orphans, so this was very close to my heart:

"I woke up this morning still tired, but so thankful for a bed. After breakfast, we drove a long ways to an orphanage. Still, my heart is feeling kind of detached, but this orphanage is what I was most looking forward to. The orphanage was a smaller area with 1 larger building where the kids lived and an outdoors shelter. We set up in the shelter. The woman who runs the orphanage, Ana Maria, talked to us for a while about it. Lu translated. Ana Maria was so thankful that we were there and so gracious to God for all that He had provided for them. She takes in children from abusive families, drug traffickers, unwanted children, and some kids from off of the street. She told us about the first child she ever took in. He was 4 at the time, but his parents used him to deliver drugs to their clients. One day, he confused the addresses that he was delivering to and his parents abused him. A local pastor took him in and asked Ana Maria, who is a widow, to raise him. She she took him in. When he was 8, his parents decided to visit the orphanage. The parents became saved, gave up drug trafficking, took the boy back, and the father is now a pastor! That boy is 18 today and he came to meet us. Jay prayed for the woman and we laid hands on her. The kids walked into the shelter and seemed so apprehensive. Several of the young girls and boys clung to each other. A few of them were right up to us giving high fives and chattering away in Portuguese. We attempted to sing several songs with them and set up different stations. I helped them make necklaces and they loved it. Kids were crawling on us, sitting on us, and had the best time working on the necklaces. It was so much to take in and to process. The kids were very well behaved and quiet. You could tell that Ana Maria loved each child very much. It made me want to somehow open my home to orphans, maybe by adopting. I could go back there every day. How sad to leave that place. But praise God that the kids normally are adopted very quickly!"

Thank you for your prayers and support for this trip. Because of it, you are part of what God is doing in Rio. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what it was like.

Saturday's Birthday Gift

My lame birthday is tomorrow. When you start getting old, birthdays become less and less fun. Especially when you are in class all day and your wife is off saving Brazil. She has a heart of gold, but I wish she were here to be with me - even if it were just for tomorrow. Luckily she sent this adorable birthday message via Jamie's sweet new iPhone.

Internet connection is pretty poor where they are staying so I have only talked with her for a total of maybe 6 or 7 min since she left. Sounds like she is doing well, but pretty tired. We won't be able to talk tomorrow because of their location, so I will have to wait until Saturday for the only birthday present I really care about. For her to come home.

Aly in Brazil - blog

Many of you know that Aly is on her way to Brazil right now with a team of people from our church for a missions trip. I just got a call from her at the airport in Myrtle Beach. Apparently they were supposed to land in Charlotte, but strong storms rerouted them for a while. Not sure what that means about their their connecting flight to Brazil, but God will get them there somehow. It will be difficult for me to talk to her this week, but one good way for me (and you) to keep updated with how the trip is going is to check out the Restore Brazil missions trip blog that Pastor Jamie is writing. He will update it each day with info about the team's schedule and cool things that happen along their trip. Take a look HERE and keep updated with all that they will be doing over the next 9 days or so. Remember to pray for them and for those that they will be working with as well. Miss you Aly, can't wait to hear all about it!

From the Blessed Ax to Jupiter

The news came a few weeks ago. The Blessed Ax was out of surgery and the surgeon called to deliver the news. "She's alive, but there were complications. She couldn't be completely repaired. She is stable, and in playable condition, but she may never perform again. I think its time you considered retirement." Up until this point, retirement was not being considered a viable option. Weeks of recovery - yes, even months if need be. But retirement? I picked her up and for weeks I tuned and played, hoping that she would sound as she once had. Clear and perfect, no hint of damage or wear. But the truth began to sink in. The Blessed Ax was no longer the guitar it had once been. She seemed to be asking for a simpler life, without the practices or the heat of a car ride in the sun. Without the Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, weddings, funerals, and ceaseless traveling. She was asking for a life at home where she would be played and cared for. But she was no longer a work horse. It was time to pass the baton. I needed a new guitar.

Naturally, my period of mourning was blended with and eventually cut short by the excitement of what it would mean to meet and connect with a new guitar. What style would it be? What would it look like? What wood would it be made of, what would it's smell be, it's sound, it's tone? Thankfully, I wouldn't have to wait too long. A friend of mine recently allowed us to stay at their beachside home in Jupiter, FL for a weekend getaway. As beautiful and peaceful of a place as it was, my mind was focused on the large and highly recommended guitar shop down the road. Last Friday evening, my questions would be answered as I was introduced to "Jupiter," my new Breedlove C25/SMe. Its now day 4 since we have met and I couldn't be happier with her. She will be a perfect work horse guitar and sounds amazing in my office and on stage through the system. However, as much as I am enjoying playing this wonderful guitar, I will always have a soft spot for the Blessed Ax. As my friend has said, "She will live on in our hearts, if not in our ears." Well said friend and may it be so. Happy retirement the Blessed Ax. And welcome to the family Jupiter.

Summer in the North

There are few things I miss as much as summer days in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  The only exceptions may be our families, and autumn days in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Last week Aly and got a much needed escape from the Florida heat to visit our families at home. To be honest, it was probably our most anticipated trip all year. Here are a few reasons why:

Tubing on the Root River:

Tractor Parade in Lanesboro:

Hiking with the family:

Morning in the backyard:

The Decision

"Its not about sharing. It's about everyone getting they own spotlight." This is Steve Carell enjoying his spotlight.

Future of Worship

If you have read this blog very much or have known me for very long, you know that I am influenced by a guy named Bob Kauflin when it comes to leading worship.  His phenomenal book Worship Matters largely shaped the way that I view the worship ministry.  In this video clip from last year's Worship God Conference, he explains the hope of future generations of worshipers. It cannot be in us, our infallible ways or musical preferences, or even in our musical and technological capabilities - but in God alone.

Why the Counseling Degree?

"Life in Christ is by nature communal." - J. Knox Chamblin



Community is rooted in the Trinity--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--in eternal union and communion with one another. Because we are made in God's image, we cannot begin to understand ourselves, let alone God, apart from one another. While the Fall damaged human union with each other and with God, the work of Christ enacted a community-restoration project that continues in and through His redeemed sons and daughters.

Throughout my short stint in church ministry, I have been consistently blindsided with an unexpected emphasis on relationship. One might say that to be a Christian is, by definition, to be one that is labeled by a restored relationship with their creator - God. This restoration comes through a relationship with God's Son - Jesus. It even spills over into our relationships with one another through the power of the Holy Spirit. But what good is it to know about these relationships, and yet neglect to cultivate them and watch the gospel work within them. What good would it be to fill my head with the knowledge of God, with the knowledge of his steadfast love, and his will that we love others as Christ has loved us, but never experience the transforming power of that knowledge and love in my own relationship with God and with others?

If it is true that life in Christ is communal (and I believe it is) then this unexpected emphasis on relationship should not have been unexpected at all.  My view of the Body of Christ and of shepherding his people has been changing all year.  The video above gives one of the many reasons that I thought it beneficial to work at completing a Masters in Counseling as well as in Biblical Studies.  Simply put, I believe this education and training will better equip me to serve the Body of Christ, whether that is as a worship leader, a pastor, or simply a leader in the church.

New expected end date: May 2012

Fellowship in the Body

"The society into which the Christian is called at baptism is not a collective but a Body. It is in fact that Body of which the family is an image on the natural level. If anyone came to it with the misconception that membership of the Church was membership in a debased modern sense - a massing together of persons as if they were pennies or counters - he would be corrected at the threshold by the discovery that the head of this Body is so unlike the inferior members that they share no predicate with Him save by analogy. We are summoned from the outset to combine as creatures with our Creator, as mortals with immortal, as redeemed sinners with sinless Redeemer. His presence, the interaction between Him and us, must always be the overwhelmingly dominant factor in the life we are to lead within the Body, and any conception of Christian fellowship which does not mean primarily fellowship with Him is out of court."

- C.S. Lewis

Youthful Passions

"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."  - 2 Timothy 2:22

Whether one would consider it fortunate or unfortunate - I am a youth.  With being young comes a host of possibilities, opportunities, energy and excitement, as well as hard lessons, future trials, fierce battles and growing pains.  One thing a young man should always have is someone to look up to - a mentor of some sort.  The apostle Paul was this type of mentor for Timothy.  Paul was probably about 30 years older than Timothy who was already in his thirties when this letter was written to him.  Yet Paul warns him to flee (literally to run from, as a fugitive would) from youthful passions.  Initially most people take this to mean lust or something along those lines.  While that is included, it is not all that Paul means.  These passions can include pride, craving for wealth and power, inordinate ambition, jealousy, envy, an argumentative and self-assertive spirit, etc.  Paul seems to focus on the last one in the following verses (23-26).  If I am honest, I admit that Paul is right to focus his following statements on the argumentative and hot-headed spirit of a young man.  I read a prayer today in "Valley of Vision" that dealt with this.  It was simply called "Passion." Here it is:

Holy Lord,
How little repentance there is in the world,
and how many sins I have to repent of!
I am troubled for my sin of passion,
for the shame and horror of it as an evil;
I purpose to give way to it no more,
and come to you for strength to that end.
Most men give vent to anger frequently and are overcome by it,
bring many excuses and attentuation for it,
as that it occurs suddenly,
that they not delight in it,
that they are sorry afterwards,
that godly men commit it. 
So they seek peace after outbursts of passion
by entire forgetfulness of it,
or, by skimming over their wound, they hope for healing
without peace in Christ's blood.
Lord God, I know that my sudden anger arises
when things cross me,
and I desire to please only myself, not Christ;
There is in all wrongs and crosses a double cross - 
that which crosses me,
and that which crosses you;
In all good things there is somewhat that pleases me,
somewhat that pleases you;
My sin is that my heart is pleased or troubled
as things please or trouble me,
without my having a regard to Christ;
So, I am like Eli,
the subject of punishment for not rebuking sin;
whereas I should humbly confess my sin
and fly to the blood of Christ for pardon and peace.
Give me, then, repentance, true brokenness, lasting contrition,
for these things you will not despise in spite of my sin. 


This last sentence is similar to that of one David prays in Psalm 51: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."  Admittedly, 'youthful passions' have been a hinderance to me and are a hinderance to every young man, even in (I'm tempted to say "especially in") ministry.  It is crucial that we not allow our hearts to be pleased or troubled without regard to Christ - who has taken away our heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh.  Youthful passions seek to please only ourselves, and not Christ.  While I and others struggle against this pull, I desire to pray like this - for brokenness, repentance and the pursuit of righteousness, faith, love and peace. To flee from sin and anger and to run to God.