Billy Chia

Man, sometimes everything just goes right.

I’ve got my awesome family with me again.

I had an eye-opening voice lesson today and feel about 1000% more confident with my vocals.

I had a great lesson today with one of my guitar students - he’s working hard and almost has “One” by Metallica nailed.

We had the flippin’ sweetest band practice since I’ve been here. I’m way excited for Sunday.

I worship the best God around.

I just doesn’t get any better than this.

This weekend I moved my family down to Alabama. It rocks.

The move was relatively painless. We had many people helping us out. Even the weather seemed to cooporate. Torrential amounts of rain mysteriously seemed to stop at just the right time when we needed to load or unload the truck.

The fun part happened when we showed up to the apartment and signed our lease. We got our keys and went out to meet the small army gathered near the Uhaul that had shown up to help us move in.  We put the key in the lock, turned it, and nothing happened. We had like 20 people standing around and no access to the apartment. My resourceful buddy Tim broke in through an unlatched window and the rest of the unloading went off with out a hitch We got a new working key the next day.

I love having my family down with me. Man, I missed those girls like crazy.

Last night I played Guitar Hero III on Hard.

The other 2 times I played I couldn’t move past medium.

Thanks for the coaching Jake.

I’ve been to plead guilty to number 3 on Perry’s list. It been a long time since I’ve actually taken a day off.

I wrote this yesterday and set it to post today.

Right now I’m drinking coffee somewhere reading my Bible.

Why?

Well I’m a Dad and I’m pretty cool. My wife is the best mother on the planet. I love doing parenting with her. (I know “best” usually only means “one” but it’s ok if you think your wife is the best mother on the planet too.)

My parents are awesome. They just celebrated 38 years of marriage. I am a Worship Pastor today because they have always encouraged my musical and spiritual journey.

But when I talk about rockin’ parents I’m really thinking about Sarah’s mom and dad. Because of the rigmarole involved with selling our house we are in a crazy time crunch to get moved down to Huntsville. My parents-in-law are really bending over backwards to get us packed up, moved out of Evansville and moved down to Huntsville. (Tom and Margie thank you!!)

The cool news is that because of this I’ll get to move my family down next Thursday!

I’m stoked.

My neighbor passed away on Easter and I went the funeral today. Even though I’d only met Ken a few times I felt a special connection to him because he spent his life as a church musician. I have to say I feel pretty sad as I’m mourning this loss. My heart also hurts for the family of such a great guy.

I celebrated Easter at my Children’s Pastor’s house (as my family’s not in town.) We ate an Italian feast and played Guitar Hero until we were silly. I drove home pretty late. When I pulled into the parking lot I saw a bunch of cars and knew something was wrong.

I knocked on the door. Mike, Ken’s son, broke the news and invited me in. We all talked for about an hour. Ken’s wife shared with me that she felt like Easter was such a great day to die. The day we celebrate the eternal life that comes through the resurrection of our Lord is the day that Ken entered into eternal life. I can’t even explain the enormous comfort I felt in that moment knowing where Ken’s eternal destiny lie.

The funeral was very close to how I’d like my funeral to be. There was a lot of singing and laugher over stories shared.

Today is sadness and happiness altogether.

Yes, praise the sweet Lord Alimighty!!

This afternoon we finally closed on our house. After having our closing postponed three times the papers are finally signed and the deal it done.

My goal is to move the girls down to Huntsville the first week in April.

This is a great Friday!

I’ve been having tons of back pain with that feeling like my ribs are out of place. It’s really hard to get a full breath and so it’s difficult to sing.

I went to the chiropractor today because the pain was just getting ridiculous. He took some x-rays and told me I have whiplash from the auto accident I was in. My neck, which is supposed to have a curve in it is pretty kinked and twisted. As a result my back is out of whack because it’s trying to align with a crooked neck. It’s going to take a few weeks of treatment to get me back to normal.

I’m a little bummed as I was hoping to be on my game for Easter.

But, Christ’s power is made perfect in our weakness right?

In his letter to the Romans Paul talks about Abraham. He says:

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed

(NIV Rom 4:18)

With Jesus there is always hope.

Today I hung out with the local high school choir director to get some vocal coaching. It was an awesome time. He actually has a background in church music and worship leading. When he talked about the goal we’d be shooting for in terms of getting a clear tone that people can follow on Sunday it was exactly what I was looking for. He gave me some goofy stuff to try out and we’re getting together next week. I’m excited. I feel like my voice is decent, but that God deserves the best I can offer.

Right now I’m living in a temporary apartment until my house sells and I can move my family down. If all goes on plan we’ll close on the house March 14th. I’m looking at apartments for my family tomorrow.

So in the apartment I’m in now I have these elderly neighbors. They are awesome. I haven’t had much chance to talk to them but today they invited me in today for some coffee and I actually got to hang out a bit. I found out that the husband used to play organ and direct music in a baptist church.

When I got to the office everyone was talking about where you get the best coffee in town and which one’s are the worst. We talked about everything from Starbucks to McD’s to the indie places in Huntsville. This place has some tremendous coffee.

I think the best cup of coffee I’ve had in a long time was the one I shared with my neighbors.

This is what’s kinda been in my head as of late…

When everything starts gong wrong you start asking lots of questions.

Did I mess up and God is punishing me?

Is Satan attacking me because I’m following God passionately?

Does this really have nothing to do with spiritual warfare and sometimes lousy days just happen?

When will things get better?

When will something go right?

Do I really have it that bad?

Could things be worse?

Should I really feel so stressed out at my small stupid problems when other people go through more difficulty and with more class?

Should I really be comparing myself to others?

Should I really feel so guilty for not being as strong and I think I should be?

Should I stop shoulding on myself?

If I start feeling better is it because in some strive forward toward maturity I’ve gained an objective outlook or have I just given up and lost hope?

Can I be full of hope and absent of hope at the same time?

What would a mature Christian do in this situation?

How should I be responding?

If I bottle it up and pretend nothings wrong is that fake?

Will there be deeper consequences to pay down the road if I don’t deal with these emotions now?

If I spew hurt and “feel sorry for me” on to everyone else is that the right thing to do?

What’s the right, true and proper way to respond to hardship?

Is there such a thing?

Am I being spiritually mature and humble by admiting that I don’t have it all together and I still need Jesus?

Am I being spiritually immature and prideful because I’m letting the world get to me and I should really rely on Jesus?

Have I been asking too many questions?

Seriously. The sheer number of random terrible things that have happened makes it almost funny. I brought my family back down with me from Evansville so Sarah could go apartment shopping. She lost her wallet and people won’t let her look at the apartments without an ID.

To top it all off we got rear-ended last night while waiting at a red light. Everyone is safe. The van is not. We’re going to have to pack creatively for our trip back to Indiana.

Blah.

I’m headed out to Indiana this week! Man, I’m excited.

Man it’s been one of those days. Tons of stuff awesome about this morning. Tons of stuff I’m just pulling my hair out over. I don’t even feel like doing a confessional or taking the time to post a set list.

I know for a fact that the standards I have set for myself are to high. I am most likely trying to please people and not God and that is stressing me out.
A friend of mine told me a great story today about how he had patience and God worked everything out in the end.

That’s kinda what I’d like right now.

Permission for things to be messy. Permission to not have it all together. Permission to BE stressed out while I figure out how not to be. I know God is working things out. Permission to wait on God.

Last night around 4am the loudest, most annoying sound woke me up. Since I’ve been known to ignore severe weather warnings in the past I was hoping to simply go back to sleep. The incessant blast didn’t allow this.

I huddled near an interior wall listening to the radio station. It was nerve racking trying to figure out how close this thing was as I have no knowledge of Alabama geography. The the announcer mentioned that funnel clouds were spotted near Red Stone Arsenal and Jordan Lane. That’s about 2 blocks from my house.

It got kinda freaky and I thought maybe I should take this stuff more seriously. On Monday I hung out with Jeff, who’s church was torn apart by a tornado in the 90’s, and my pal Darren’s church had a tornado cut right through the sanctuary about 2 years ago.

Around 4:30 I heard the strom was heading northeast and thought I was in the clear. Then they mentioned the only other loction I’m familar with -Winchester Road, where my church is.

I was happy to show up this morning to find nothing had touched down in Huntsville and our building was in one piece. I’m praying for the families of those who lost life in the surrounding counties.

Last night I checked out The Turning at Shae’s Express. On Thursday nights a group of people meets there called Renown. After The Turning played a few songs Angus (how cool is that name?!) took the stage to lead a discussion on transparency and being real. It was good stuff, but I had to jet out early because I had a phone-date with my wife. (Free cell minutes after nine right.)

I was really impressed by The Turning. These guys are a professional band from Nashville and they rock. The last time I saw them play was at a festival in Indiana to a crowd of a couple thousand. It was awesome that they were willing to drive down to Huntsville to rock out a coffee shop for a crowd of less than 50.

Last night there was a tornado scare around here. I met up with some buddies at Beauregard’s for some hot wings.

We were the only ones in the restaurant.

They were amazing wings. Definitely worth the risk of being suck into the air by a funnel cloud.

Today rocked!

I walked into an emaculately cleaned office that I know some people had to scramble to put together. My awesome pastor traded offices with me (and took a smaller office) because mine is closer to the worship center (and far away from the main office so I can make more noise).

For lunch the staff hit up Jade Garden. Jean, my awesome children’s pastor, gave me a paper Birthday crown with my name on it. I figured 29 was still pretty young and I could pull of wearing the crown. Then I got her card which featured “Top 10 hymns for over-the-hill people” like “It is Well with My Soul - but my back aches a lot,” so I guess I’m old anyway.

A bunch of people showed up with cake and presents in the afternoon. It was super cool to be surprised like that I felt crazy welcomed and way loved on.

Today I’m driving the down to Huntsville to move in a studio apartment I’ll be renting until the house sells. The minivan is stuffed full like a fat guy at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Despite the massive size of the precarious load I’m hauling down I actually feel pretty good the amount of stuff we’ve gotten rid of as a family. Over the last few weeks each garbage day has seen a sizable increase in quantity. Our two meager trash cans, unable to contain the volume, stand as lone towers among a sprawling trashbag city that populates the curb each Monday.

All the good stuff went to Goodwill. In the time it took me to unload 7 other cars had pulled up, dropped thier donations, and departed.

So as pudgy as my van may be, it still feels slim to me.

The Chia family goal is to continue to live on less, hoard less, and live simply. Selling the house has just been a nice catalyst to propel us forward.

I’m going to miss my girls like crazy.

Torn emotions doesn’t begin to describe it.

In regards to starting at Chase Valley I’m crazy excited. Tomorrow, my first day in the office (by my choice) is also my birthday. For a guy who’s been tent-making for too long I couldn’t think of a better present than to be officially back in a church office.

As for missing my girls I can’t even blog about it and I’m thankful that 5 hours is a drivable distance.

This past Sunday I was announced as the new Worship Arts Pastor at Chase Valley Church in Huntsville, AL!

I’m beyond excited about this new position. Months ago when Sarah when I first started praying over what Church we’d go to to lead worship our biggest concern was not simply finding another place to work but truly finding a community that God was calling us to serve in. Chase Valley is a place where my unique talents, gifts and experiences can really be used for God’s glory.

After countless interviews over the past few months I hadn’t felt a real sense of calling. I drove down to Huntsville for the interview with a great deal of trepidation and not much hopefulness for anything different. Man, was I completely surprised and blown out of the water. Everything I experienced said, “Billy this is where you and your family belong.” I also had this amazing sense that those on the interview team were Godly people committed to prayer. I drove home with an great deal of peace knowing that whoever they chose for the role would be right knowing that they had sought God in fervent prayer. When they offered me the job, Sarah and I likewise received an immediate affirmation. It was still difficult as we had to turn down some amazing opportunities to get to this place. I simply believe this is exactly where God wants me.

We visited Huntsville for the last 4 days. I have loved everything about Chase so far. My Pastors rock and the people are amazing. I have already met tons of people who have deep faith and passion for God’s kingdom. The love that’s been lavished on me and my family has been unreal. I was blessed enough to be able to get on stage to play guitar yesterday. It was an absolute privilege. If everything falls into place my goal is to lead my first worship service on the 13th.

Of course like any church there’s tons of baggage. (CVC doesn’t really have any more baggage than your average church, simply a different kind. If you want to be in church without the baggage your probably in the wrong line of work.) For me it wasn’t an issue of finding a church with no problems (such a place does not exist) but rather finding one who’s problems I could specifically deal with. (Perhaps like finding a spouse?)

At CVC right now there’s been a lot of hurt and a lot of transition. Their Senior pastor of 16 years took a call to another church in the last year and then of course the old Worship Pastor is currently in the process of planting a church. Both of these are super exciting things that God is doing in these people’s lives. Unfortunately it’s left some turmoil within the community. (Imagine if your Senior Pastor and Worship Pastor left your church within 6 months of each other.)

For me this is great news.

One, because Fred and Dorothy Ann, the new Senior Pastors are amazing. They are veterans in ministry with a grounded faith and ridiculously enormous hearts. The know how to love people the way I can only hope to. I’ve already felt a deep sense of team and I can’t wait to start working with them more.

And two, becuase God is moving as Chase Valley Church in a powerful way. Everyone’s reaction to me coming on staff has been humbling. When I was introduced on Sunday several people actually stood as they clapped. I believe they are as excited to have me as come on board as I am. I believe what God is doing right now within the community at CVC, including bring me on staff, is just the beginning. As I talked to different key leaders with in the community I felt a deep sense of hunger for God’s spirit and expectancy. There was a widespread earnestness and passion that I’ve not seen in any church I’ve ever been a part of. I can’t wait to move down to Huntsville and be with these people more.

Thank you to everyone who’s been praying that I find the right church. I have.

Now please pray for our house to sell and a smooth transition to Huntsville.

Look for some new worship confessionals coming soon.

Tonight Evansville was wet. As we drove home from worship rain gushed from the sky and streamed down our windows like a never ending car wash. While driving past the neighborhood where Sarah grew up, the wavy distorted flicker of a house lit up for Christmas caught her eye through the windshield and water.

“Let’s drive through and look at Christmas lights,” Sarah says. The worst possible night for such a venture.

Our windshield wipers groaned under the strain of the relentless shower. Then, for just a moment, the rain let up and we saw the dazzle of beautiful shrubbery strung with artful lighting as well as the haphazard kitsch of inflatable snowmen and loosely strung chords shaking violently in the storm.

Each one in the family pointed out their favorites.

Mine wasn’t a decoration at all. It was the inconvenience of the moment and the beauty of sacrifice creating togetherness.

Yesterday I was reminded of why I love Church work.

As part of everything that was happening on Sunday morning some conflict arose and some people I care about were hurt. I left church with a heavy heart. Often these types of situations can be frustrating and cause us to question the call to ministry.

For  me it was actually an affirmation that I belong working in the church.

Our choir did a song that calls, “Let the Church rise from the ashes.” The implication is that once we were on fire and now that fire has gone out. I love seeing the Church shine. I love when people get saved, grow in their faith and turn back around to serve in their communities. But it’s not always like this. Church work is full of a lot of heartache and criticism. After all the church is a broken place full of broken people just like everywhere else.

I had to ask myself the question, “Do I only want to work in the church when it is burning brightly or do I want to get down into the ashes and love people through their struggles, doubts and frustrations?”

The answer for me is that I want to get dirty in the messiness of the Gospel.

A startling amount of buzz and controversy has surrounded the upcoming release of New Line Cinema’s The Golden Compass starring Nicole Kidman. Blog posts galore and email chain letters have succeeded in spreading the word along with a very slick flash website and movie blog.

The Golden Compass is the first is book in a trilogy written by author Phillip Pullman. These books were inspired by The Chronicles of Narina, which Pullman hates because their Christian allegory. In his Children’s fantasy trilogy Pullman is seeking to promote atheism and attack organized religion.

Naturally many Christians are upset by this.

I am too, but I’m also asking:

How can we as followers of Jesus have a humble attitude about this? (Phil 2:5 -8)

How can we exploit this movie and use it for good? (Rom 12:21)

The Controlling, Domineering, Murdering Church

Pullman very overtly rejects religion because it has “involved persecution, massacre, slaughter on an industrial scale.” New Line Cinema has sought to water down the overtly anti-Christian themes in the novels. They don’t want to make a movie that offends but instead are seeking to spread a general “critique of all dogmatic organizations.”

Can’t we be humble and learn from this? Can’t we just admit, “Yes, it’s true, the Church has a record of being domineering, controlling and overly dogmatic. Many have murdered in Jesus’ name. We as Christians are sorry for our own actions, that actions of of Christian brothers and the lack of action we have taken to correct it.”

Admitting that we as people are broken doesn’t say that God is broken. On the contrary it affirms our need for God. God is perfect. We are not.

Boycott Religious Dialogue

The Catholic League has called for an official boycott of the movie.

Let me see if I understand this: There is a heavily promoted, high-budget major motion picture being released in December. It contains many references to religion and will most likely spark conversation and national debate on the topics of God, religion and the Church. People who seldom think about God and talk about him even less will now be engaged in a full fledged conversation.

And this is a bad thing?

Anyone who knows me knows I talk about Jesus all the time. I’ve experienced many people actually leave the room simply because I mention his name. These people hate to talk about religion and it has been very difficult to engage them in spiritual conversation. But when I have talked to them about The DaVinci Code we’ve been able to have a very engaging conversation about God and faith. This doesn’t make The DaVinci Code good. It means its a horribly researched, flagrant lie that I exploited to get to know some of my friends better.

Can’t we do the same thing with The Golden Compass?

Killing God

In the novels the characters finally find God and then they kill him.

The problem is they were just a bit late with this one.

Others have already killed God.

He rose from the dead.

I love shopping online. Who doesn’t these days? You can compare prices and products with ease all while wearing your PJ’s.

Many companies tote the notion that their online store is seamlessly integrated with their brick and mortar locales. You can order online and pick-up in store. Sounds like a convenient, consumer-friendly business idea to me. The only problem is it’s not true.

Freezing cold water.

Our water heater broke a few days ago and it has not been fun. (Yes, I know there are starving children in 3rd world countries with no water at all. Just let me dwell in my American consumerism for a few moments.) You all thought I was taking navy showers for the environment. Now the truth comes out.

So like any web-savvy gent in our generation I hopped online to find a good price on a new water heater. I ended up at Sears.com where I found a good product at a good price. I called the 800 number on the website. Within minutes I was connected with Denise, a polite and well-mannered sales representative. She placed my order quickly and easily. Their adept computer system was even able to show the inventory of my local brick and mortar Sears store. Denise assured me my product was in stock and that I would have hot water again very soon.

10am - I receive a phone call from Terry, a local Sears sales rep informing me that my product was in fact not in stock. “Yeah, those website people just read our inventory off of a computer and we don’t keep it up to date.”

After some banter I asked, “What can you do right now to remedy the situation?”

His best effort would be to sell me a more expensive model, and since he values my business so much, he’ll even refuse to take my debit card number over the phone and will require me to drive down to the Sears store to present my card in person. This is despite the fact that I ordered on the phone in the first place. Apparently I placed my order with sears.com witch is not connected in anyway with Sears, the brick and mortar store.

2 sales reps, a manager and one hour later the issue was still not resolved.

I called Sears.com back (not to be confused with Sears) and they were able to switch my order in 5 minutes. The plumbers are scheduled to install the heater tomorrow.

I kinda feel bad for Terry. He feeds his family on commission and he lost a commission today to the website. Perhaps if Sears Corporate implemented some policies to better care for their employees Terry would have simply had me call the website back instead of trying to sell me on coming into the store and wasting an hour of my time.

I’m pretty disgruntled with the whole process. At least installing a new water heater will make the house easier to sell when I get a new job.

I had a wisdom tooth pulled today.

To start everything out Dr. Charles Kendall, my dentist, gave me a numbing agent. While we were waiting for it to kick it he wrote me a prescription for Loritab (hydrocodone) saying, “You may or may not need this, you can play it by ear depending on how much it hurts.”

As he began the procedure he informed me that some teeth are easier to extract than others depending on the curvature of the root. Apparently my roots are as twisted as my sense of humor. When he busted out the drill I knew I was giving him a hard time.

He worked diligently and with precision. After removing the final piece a look of accomplishment came over his face like he’d just triumphed over an extreme challenge.

He then frowned sympathetically and advised me, “You’ll definitely want to pick up that pain medication.”

My dentist is a super awesome guy who goes to my church. Knowing my current job situation he gave me a deal. My pastor teaches us to pray, “Thank you God for [some hardship in our lives] because it means [some other blessing].”

Today my prayer is, “Thank you God for this excruciating pain becuase it means I was privileged to be able to go to such a professional like Dr. Kendall.”

For blog action day I’ll be talking about how to take a shower.

Steps to Proper Showering Technique

Step 1. Turn on the water.

Step 2. Get in the shower, and get wet.

Step 3. Turn off the water.

Step 4. Shampoo hair.

Step 5. Make your shampoo’d hair into a fauxhawk.

Step 6. Soap up.

Step 7. Turn on water. (again)

Step 8. Rinse off.

The procedure described above is also called a navy Shower, (maybe Chris can tell you more about showering in the navy) but I call it “The only way to shower.” This type of showering has become my passion lately.

It has so many benefits:

Get more Free Time. I used take long showers. It took me a forever to get ready for events and my morning routine was ridiculous. Now I can be in and out of the shower in less than 15 minutes, substantially increasing the amount of time I have to do other things.

Spend less money. Seriously, since I started taking navy showers our water bill dropped by $10 a month!

Help the environment. God has called us to take care of the earth, not exploit it. As Christians we should be leading the discussion in caring for our environment. Navy showers are a one way to be a good steward of the resources God has given us.

Warnings

• Use less shampoo. With out the the water constantly running to wash the suds out of your eyes you will need to use less shampoo. (Which is also a bonus becuase your shampoo will last longer.)
• Take care when washing feet. Again an excess of suds on the feet can make the shower floor slippery. Exercise caution.
• You may become a green phreak. Taking navy showers just might make you feel so good about being a good steward of water you may start using good stewardship principles in other areas of your life.

Are you ready to turn the water off?

So I’m emerging after a week of no blogging with some shiny new features to tote:

No more Inept as Icing

Yep, I ditched the fancy blog name in favor of plain vanilla “Billy Chia.” I’ve been wrestling with doing this for a while. I think “Inept as Icing” has a catchy ring but I just wasn’t a fan.

I thought about doing like a “Billy Chia’s Blog” or “The Zany Adventures of Billy Chia in Blogland.” In the end simple and streamlined wins again. Although I am open to suggestions.

New Resume

I updated my resume page and put together a brand new resume. After much prayer and talking to some wise people in my church and on the web (Thanks Jon and Fred) I’ve overhauled my resume to more accurately reflect what I’m looking for and what I have to offer. I’m hoping to see some fresh results in the coming weeks and am hoping to be sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned.

New About and Top Posts pages

I tweaked a few things on my about page and redid my top posts page. Some fresh posts made it into the top ten.

I tell you guys what, God is speaking to me in a powerful way recently.

I need to fast and pray about it.

One of the things I need to fast is blogging.

I’ll be back when I figure it out.

I just sang a D two octaves below Middle C.

My normal low note is G which is an improvement of 5 half steps! (I’m just a little geeked)

It was a clear tone without all the “gravel.” I didn’t have to dip my chin and it didn’t hurt.

Man I love Speech Level Singing.

How I Pray

I find myself praying all the time for different people, especially when they ask for prayer. When I commit to pray for someone I start praying right there at that very second. That way I don’t forget about it but also it puts the prayer in my head and my heart. The next time something reminds me of that person I find I remember to pray for them again because I already did.

Often I find myself praying,

God help this situation… or is that already taken care of?

Many people ask for prayer, but few seem to get back with you and tell you how God has answered that prayer. I love when people keep me informed with news like,

God said, ‘yes’ here’s what happen…

God said, ‘no’ here’s how I’m dealing…

God is saying, ‘wait’ right now keep praying…

Some Answers

This past week I received several answers from friends that were extremely encouraging. Some were simple “the situation went well” emails but it was so nice to be in the loop instead of still wondering.

I have been praying for one friend who has a very serious medical condition for several weeks. I received multiple email updates as the situation changed and even when it didn’t change. Then yesterday I got an email sharing that amazing recovery had occurred. The doctors described it as “atypical.” One doctor said,

Keep having your congregation and your friends pray, because those prayers are working. [my friend's] response is unbelievable, and even though I prescribed some medicine, there’s something bigger at work here, and I know that.

In this case the answer was “miraculous healing” which is cool. Although that’s not always the case. I believe all the answers to prayer, even “no” and “wait” are in fact miracles even if they don’t seem that way to us. I love to hear back from people either way.

For those who have been praying over my job search

• Praise God my voice is improving every day. Pray for healing, my throat is sore from doing some vocal exercises wrong. I think I have it figured out now.
• Praise God there’s been some exciting developments in my search. Although I’m still in talks and haven’t received a definite “this is the the right place” just yet. I’m still sending out resumes.
• Thank God for all the awesome people who have been helping me out by pointing churches to my website.

How about you?

Do you like hearing answers to prayer?

Right now I’m at the library working on updating my resume and writing some blog posts.

Getting things done from home was becoming difficult. I kept distracting Sarah and Evie from school and they kept distracting me from my tasks. (What can I say? My girls are simply beautiful and I love spending time with them.) So today I hit up the library for some quiet time and to give the girls some space.

As I walked out the door felt this amazing sensation that comes from not needing to take anything with me. I keep everything online:

• Calendar: Google Calendar
• To Do: Vitalist (ht: Jordan)
• Documents: Google docs

It was so freeing not to lug around a ton of junk. I used to be anchored to my laptop, but now I can work from any computer. I am almost completely severed from using a Palm or Microsoft Word. I keep a small notebook in my pocket and keep everything else online.

Now if only I could fit my camera in my pocket…

Are you part of a Church looking for a worship/creative arts staff member?

Here are the Top 5 Reasons I should be on your team:

1. I am a worshiper.

I often tell worship teams I lead, “The most compelling credential you have that allows you on stage is your relationship with the Father.” I hold the same standard for myself. Everything else is secondary to living worshipfully. Any “leading” I do in a corporate setting is really just a side effect of the fact that God is intricately involved in my life everyday.

2. God has called me to worship ministry.

No amount of skill, talent, money or resources is going to make me effective without God’s call. God has placed a powerful call to worship/creative arts ministry on my life.

3. My wife is loved.

I know how to love the Church because I know how to love my wife. I’ll let Sarah speak on this one. See some posts on her blog: Awake, Just One More, Love Song for Billy, HOT!

4. My daughter is obedient.

For 5 years Sarah did amazing job of raising Eve-Marie as a single mom. Over the last two years I’ve had the joy of parenting together with her. I love my girls like crazy and I manage my family well in accordance with 1 Timothy 3:4-5. You can take a look at what fatherhood means to me.

5. I am a learner.

Because “disciple”means learner, I equate following Jesus with life change. God is working on me in a radical way. Because of God’s love I’m not the same as I was yesterday. Apart from the Bible, prayer, fasting, fellowship, and personal and corporate worship, God tends to use books, blogs, magazines and experiences to change me.

If these are qualities you are seeking in a staff member please visit my resume page for more information.

How do I know if I am living in God’s will?

I have asked myself this question often. As a Christian I have a deep desire to live God’s purpose for my life and yet at times I can be confused as to what I should do to honor Him. Learning to live in God’s will can be difficult and challenging. Practices such as being in the word, prayer, fasting, and fellowship are certainly tools for healthy faith. But at times I have found a need for a more specific approach. The following three questions have been a great help in bringing clarity to the discernment of God’s call on my life. Maybe my story here can help you too.

1. What am I Gifted at?

Giftedness is a part of being called. Essentially if I am good at something I believe there’s a high probability God wants me to use that talent to glorify him. Giftedness is not comprised of natural talent only but also involves the skills I’ve acquired over time because of practice and experience.

For example I have a natural talent for music. Music has always been easy for me and simply made sense. I’m very right brained and creative by nature. On the flip side, like most right-brained people, I don’t have a natural talent for being organized. Does this mean I’m disorganized? Not really (Note the simple, organized design of this blog or my desktop.) For me organization has become a learned skill. It’s something I’ve worked hard at to attain a level of proficiency.

So am I called to be musical and organized? Yeah. I find God saying to me, “Billy, because you are gifted at music and organization you are called to use these talents in your life.

2. What am I Passionate about?

The next element of calling is passion. Like giftedness, I find that if I have passion for something there is a high likelihood that God is calling me to it. I look for God’s calling in my passion even if have no experience in it. I try not to let lack of giftedness stop me from following God’s will. I believe in an enormous God who has the power to use passion to raise up the necessary skills.

The axiom reads, “God doesn’t always call the equipped but God always equips the called.”

For example I have a heartfelt passion for loving lost people without an agenda. I’m not very gifted at this as I’ve spent most of my life experience living in a Christian bubble. I’m very experienced at loving other Christians and short on experience loving non-Christians. However, I’ve found this fact to be of little consequence. It doesn’t matter that I have very little experience doing it, God has called me to it through the passion in my heart. In the last year of my life I’ve spent more time with non-Christians than all of the last 10 years combined. In that time I’ve gained skills that I didn’t have before. God has opened this door by saying, “Billy, you are called to love and serve unbelievers because you are passionate about the lost.”

3. Where is the need?

Finally, the need in my community and in the world helps to determine my calling. Even if I don’t like doing something and even if I’m no good at it I still find that God can call me when there is a deep need.

For example a few Sundays ago I was dropping my daughter off at her children’s church class when I noticed the teacher was nervously alone in a ever growing room full of children. The stress in her voice made it evident that she needed help. Now I’m not very gifted with small children. I’m great with my own daughter and I have talent with teenagers but little kids kinda freak me out. Also, I wasn’t particularly passionate about missing the adult worship service in order to hang out with the kiddos but I stuck around anyway. The need dictated my call. (Ya know what? I ended up having fun!)

The Sweet Spot

These questions work well individually as indicators of God’s call in my life but they work even better collectively.

I am gifted at way too many things to pursue them all. I have some mad coffee drinking skills but I’m not sure I’m necessarily “called” to drink coffee.

I have passion in way too many areas to use it all. I have a lot of passion for video games, but honestly I haven’t played one in over 8 months.

There is definitely no lack of need in the world. The task of trying to meet every need in the world is just a bit large for me to accomplish by myself. I only get stressed out when I try to meet more needs that God is calling me to.

The trick to discerning God’s will is to be focused.

“What am I most gifted at?”

“What am I most passionate about?”

“Where is the greatest need?”

“Where do all three of these intersect?”

My personal sweet spot is being a worship leader. With my musical talent and outgoing personality I have a natural propensity toward leading worship. I’ve been leading worship for 10 years of my life in various capacities. The sum total of my skills and experiences equates to giftedness in worship leading. I also have an enormous passion for worship. I’m a worshiper first and a worship leader second. Corporate worship is what revs my engine and I love it. There also exists a deep need for gifted, passionate worship leaders. For all of these reasons together I am pursuing a worship/creative arts job in a local church.

This is the sweet spot where my gifts and passion come together to meet a need.

What is God calling you to?

This afternoon Sarah and I stopped into the Briar & Bean. After buying a small Decaf French Vanilla and a medium Daily Dark Roast we parked ourselves on the couch. We were pretty engrossed in conversation when two girls walked in carrying a Telecaster and some sound gear. We asked them, “Are you doing some live music tonight?”

Ellen, the one with the guitar, informed us that she was playing at 6pm with her friend Kara.

We drove back later in the evening to find a small crowd of college kids enjoying Ellen signing a simple, heartfelt rendition of Ani Difranco’s “32 Flavors.” We manned the couch again and listened to the girls go on to play some of their own original music. They fumbled through the songs a bit and didn’t have a predetermined set list, but I always think coffeehouse shows are a little more laid back. Both girls had beautiful voices that made the trip back to the Briar & Bean worth it.

Recently Sarah has been hinting that she’d like to play some shows with me. I’ve kinda put this on the back burner, but watching this duo ignited something that made me want to play live again.

During intermission we introduced ourselves to the girls. I told them that we enjoyed the show and that I’d be writing this blog post about them. Ellen jotted down Kara’s myspace address on some notebook paper so I could check out more of her music. She also told me they play every Friday night at the Briar & Bean.

If you live in town and find yourself in the mood for some bluesy folk rock, go check these girls out.

The show was free so on the way out Sarah dropped a couple dollars in an over-sized coffee cup marked “tips.” When we got home we started to figure out the harmonies for So Long Sweet Summer.

Thanks for the inspiration, girls.

Maybe you’ll find us playing a gig soon as well.

Fred sent me an email today and asked if I’d like to talk on IM. It was tons of fun talking online and I thought, “I should do this more often.”

My new AIM/iChat screenname is: IneptAsIcing

Drop me a comment or email (billy [at] billychia [dot] com) with your screen name and we’ll talk about life, worship leading and how to exploit your friends and family for good blog content. I might even send you a link to the cool videos Fred showed me.

Mars Hill Seattle is a church that knows how to utilize an RSS feed. In fact they have over 20 feeds that you can subscribe to on their website. I personally rock the everything audio feed in my iTunes. I went back a few weeks tonight to look at some older stuff and what I found gave me this gleaming ray of hope. I’ll tell you why.

The Set Up

Yes, as of recent I’ve been 7 shades of dejected. The story’s the same: I’m talking to a ton of amazing churches who are looking for worship pastors, but no one’s hired me yet. It’s not that I have a problem with waiting, it’s that I’m so hungry to serve Jesus. Essentially, I’ve lessened the amount of time I spent serving in order to conduct a full-time worship pastor job search and it’s starting to get to me. With each pastor I talk to I get fired up about what I could be doing in a church. Then I hang up the phone and I have to go back to job hunting instead of worship leading. It’s maddening.

The Rub

To throw some salt in the wound there’s the issue of my voice. Now it’s uncanny how quickly you can improve in any given skill set when you want to. I feel like the progress I’m making is massive on a daily basis. I keep looking at the audio examples I have of my voice and I think, “I don’t sound like that, I’m much better now.” I know, I need to quit my whining and record some new stuff. The fact still remains that my strongest skill set lies outside of my vocal ability. A handicap that no doubt provides a challenge to finding a worship leader job.

The Joy

Enter the Mars Hill Podcast. In August they posted an amazing version of All Creatures of our God and King performed by Red Letter. It’s a raucous blast of indie-driven mayhem. I’m not suggesting you play this one for the old folks, but these guys are definitely pushing the envelope of ancient-future worship. I’ve listened the track about 30 times tonight it rocks so hard.

And the best part?

Joel Brown, the lead singer, has a voice that is well… less than great. At parts he’s way off pitch. So here’s this guy whose an amazing innovator and whose strongest skill set lies outside his vocal ability. (The word around town is that he is not only an imaginative songwriter but also teaches others.)

Of course my thought is, “If Joel can sing vocals at Mars Hill, then there definitely has to be a church out there for me.”

To be fair, Joel does have other days when he’s been more on. (Much like me.) But isn’t it so true that we get inspired by seeing God use imperfect people powerfully?

Man we totally missed Rosh Hashana this year and I’m bummed.

Rosh Hashana (”head of the year”) is Jewish New Year.

We used to very regularly celebrate holydays using an awesome book that taught how to celebrate Jewish Holydays with a Christian spin, but recently we’ve been slacking.
For Rosh Hashana last year we at apples and honey and this amazing bread that Sarah made. We sent cards to our family. My parents were awesome and sent us a “happy new years” card this year. (Thank you mom and dad, it was really meaningful.)

Last year around this time I was a youth pastor. For fun I took my wife’s trombone (I didn’t have a shofar) to youth worship and I did my rendition of American Pie. We then talked about Rosh Hashana and 1 Thess. 4 where the end will come “with a loud trumpet blast.”

Maybe we’ll hit up Yom Kippur next week.

My favorite wedding gift was an espresso machine from my little brother. Having worked as a barista I’m a master frother and very particular about how I like my latte. I’d always wanted one and it rocked being able to freshly grind the beans and pull my own espresso.

The problem with home espresso is that it’s messy. Little grains of coffee bean get everywhere not to mention wiping down the machine when your done. It’s a lot of work for one cup of coffee and when life was busy it was tough to find time to enjoy this luxury.

After laying dormant for over a year I got a craving for some homestyle lattes and brought my machine out of retirement.

Of course it didn’t work.

The steamer wand was kickin’ out power but the brewing mechanism had a block. It made lots of noise and still I was staring at an empty cup.

So what do men do when faced with situations like this?

We start taking stuff apart [audible grunt]:

The Result

You put it back together and the dark rich syrup does flow:

So tasty. Starbucks doesn’t even come close.

Sometimes I love it when challenges hold an extra level of difficulty because it feels all the much more fabulous when you finally figure it out. I’m so geeked right now it’s ridiculous. I just finished editing my new worship highlights video and I’ll be posting is as soon as it finishes uploading to YouTube.

When Sarah saw the finished product she was like, “I’m so proud of you!” Eve-Marie gave me 10,000 hugs and kisses and told me it was great. Even Ashlyn seems happier today. The video’s not stellar by any means, but it’s way better than what I had. It definitely feels stellar becuase I had to work to get it. Working hard to earn something makes life feel right.

Can I getta “Praise the sweet Lord Jesus“?

Last night Sarah and I caught Shane & Shane, Bebo Norman and Monk & Neagle on the Pages Tour at Camp Kramers in Evansville. Here’s a rundown of the night:

Shane and Shane -

Prior to last night I’d only heard two songs by these guys: “The Answer” and “It is well.” I love both of these tunes, but unfortunately they didn’t play either of them, opting instead to pull the majority of their set from the new album. I was not a fan of the new stuff. It was all really cliche and lyrically simplistic. There was also something strangely androgynous about a guy singing lyrics like:

“I beg for you to move.”
“All my cute little words about how I am saved.”
“I want to yearn for You”
“deep blue china”
“oh, I miss You so”

What kinda guy sings about china? They just seemed really girly to me. I probably could’ve appreciated the words more if they were coming from a woman speaking about how much she loves her husband. I can usually take one or two “Jesus is my boyfriend” songs, but when every song in the set is like this it’s a bit much for me.

On the positive side, Shane & Shane’s drummer is a groove master and adept at capturing loops with his Abelton-type software. If rated on drumming alone I’d give Shane & Shane 10 stars.

Monk and Neagle -

Check out my Interview with Monk and Neagle.

These guys rocked it out! Sarah and I have been fans for a while and it was very awesome to see that they’d joined the tour in place of Shawn McDonald. This is the type of group you see live and say, “The CD doesn’t do them justice.”

I am greatly impressed by these guys becuase they are “Christian” musicians but they don’t cave into the pressure to make every song about Jesus. “Stars Would Fall (I’m Crazy)” is a song they wrote to their wives. It was one of my favorites of the night and now I have to learn to play it for Sarah.

Bebo Norman -

Bebo Norman was phenomenal; definitely the highlight of night. Bebo brings an authenticity and lyrical depth that doesn’t disappoint. I was having such a bad day yesterday that we almost didn’t go to the show. I needed to hear and sing along with some words like,

“I will life my eyes to maker of the mountains I can’t climb”
“Let the ocean rise to meet me, I need you to bring me to life.”
“I’m half a man here, so come make me whole”
“Take these hands and lift them up, for I have not the strength to praise you near enough.”

Bebo calls himself a “Clumsy Christian,” who stubbles often. I can relate.

At the end of his set he put his lyrics up on the screen and invited everyone to worship with him. The song “Nothing Without You” is stellar and you need to be doing this one in your church.

Final Rundown

Overall it was great night. I’m a huge fan of bass thumping in my chest and the fact that the show was outdoors at a camp gave the entire night a familiar down-homey vibe. We were even able to meet up with several friends including Lee, Kara and Nicole. If the Pages Tours comes to your town I highly recommend checking it out.

Here’s a post for all of you who’ve been following along and praying with me.

I’ve reached a bit of a roadblock on my path to becoming a full-time worship leader. I have received feedback from multiple churches that they are not fans of my worship leading videos.  Currently I’m toting my wedding videos as “examples” of my worship leading. These videos are great as a memento the most amazing day of my life.

They are not so hot at showcasing my talent because:

• They are low res/highly compressed
• They were shot from far away on an analog camera
• My performance wasn’t stellar that day and it’s not accurate to my current skill level

So what can I do?

Well, I have a better video. It was shot a few weeks ago when Sarah and I lead worship at an Aldersgate youth event. (You can watch our confessional from that night at Alex’s site.)

The problem is I can’t edit it.

To spare you the details I’ll just say that my laptop died a few months ago and the computer I have now is not the appropriate tool for the job. Imagine trying to build a deck with a handsaw as opposed to a powered circular saw. You may eventually get the job done but it’ll take a more time and look a little less professional.

You may have noticed my lessened blogging frequency over the last 6 days as I’ve tried unsuccessfully to convert this video into a format that my compy can handle. Right now I’m taking a break to let the frustration subside before I tackle this task yet again. Don’t worry. I’ve got at least two more good posts coming today.

Does anybody have a Mac I can borrow?

A lot of you guys have posted about how much it rocks to meet bloggers in real life. (Victor, Alex, Los,