My name is Jeremy MacDonald and I am currently on my School of Worship outreach with YWAM in Spain and Hungary. My heart is to serve the people of these countries by providing opportunities where they can be exposed to the life-giving power of the gospel. Through worship and prayer, our teams desire is to 'Declare His praise' as well as serve the church by teaching on the subject of Worship. Join me on my journey and follow what God is revealing to me along the way...

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Hey everybody,
My first few days of life in Montana have been very refreshing. Upon arriving here and meeting with staff and students I have really felt like I am in the right place. Our group (including staff) is made up of 16 students coming from 10 different countries in the world! I have another Canadian brother here from Saskatchewan so thats pretty awesome. I feel so privileged to be able to take time and attend this school with such a diverse group.
Today we had our first lecture from a man named Bob Fitts. You may have heard of him as he has written a lot of 'mainstream' Christian worship songs. It was a privilege to hear him share his journey from becoming a passionate musician to a sold-out worship leader whose influence has become world-wide. He encouraged us in our dreams and reminded us that God is the one who places the dreams we have in our hearts and that he is faithful even when we are faithless. This was a comforting reminder to me who is constantly bombarded by own expectations. I think we need to do our part in obeying what God has called us to do but ultimately it is Him who orchestrates the opportunities, talents and people he chooses to put in our path. I'm looking forward to hearing more from him the rest of the week.
I have my first one-on-one vocal lesson tomorrow so I'm pretty pumped! Montana is so beautiful I will try and take more pictures.
Thanks for your prayers and support, this will be a rich season.

"he who has called you is faithful and he will surely do it" (fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you)

learning to worship!
-Jer





Sunday, September 13, 2009

Thank you Lakeside



Hey everybody
Just taking a few minutes to reflect on these past few months before I head into a new chapter of my life in Montana.

Thanks. In the last few years of going out and returning from the missions field, Lakeside Community Church has been a home base for me.
The congregation has welcomed me back on several occasions and has given me opportunities where I can serve Christ with them. Upon my most recent return from bible school in Taiwan I was entrusted with the privilege to lead worship for our church. This, being my passion, has stretched and challenged me in making worship something real; to help create an atmosphere of gratitude and broken desperation for Jesus to be increased in our lives. The times we as a band shared on wednesday night practices were a spiritually rich time for me. I think we collectively learnt that worship is beyond the music aspect but goes right to our heart motivation. We can so easily sing a song on Sunday morning but never allow the message of the song to characterize our lives. I feel I, as well as the band, have really benefitted from open discussion and authentically engaging in each others lives. This open and broken atmosphere is, what I feel, makes an effective, God honouring group. Pride has a way of puffing ourselves up in our own estimation and really restricts us from seeing the brokenness of our human condition. It has been when I've really come to terms with my own bankruptcy and desperate need for God that I've found myself crying out to him with a pure heart. Paul teaches in that 'when I am weak, he is strong' and that 'his power is made perfect in weakness' yet this goes against the mentality of our culture. It's survival of the fittest! One of the greatest comforts to us is that God is not looking for perfect people who have it all together. In fact he is looking for someone WEAK enough to use so that what he DOES use us we will know for certain that this was not a product of our own smarts or ingenuity but HIS grace and power.

Thanks again. To the church who has been faithfully invested in my spiritual growth and financial support thus far in missions. I am looking forward to further partnership and expecting that God will reveal more to us as we follow his call to 'seek and save the lost'.
I hope you'll be able to follow along with me in missions as I do my best to update you on what God is teaching me.
I would also love to hear from you guys so please shoot me an email sometime!
I will try and shoot another blog out once i'm settled in to the base and show you some pictures of where I'll be living.

"Dwell in me, and I will dwell in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much fruit. However, apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5

Because of Christ
-Jer