Vicky Beeching

Good times in Buffalo NY!

Hi friends,

Its the start of a brand new week! Hope your weekend rocked : )

I spent mine in Buffalo NY at the Christian Musicians Summit. It was organized by Bruce, Matt and Rick who are all dear friends of mine. So we all had a blast!

I led worship tonight, then got to catch up with my friend Paul Baloche and the Matt Maher band who were also playing here (photos above...)

We were hungry after the conference session ended, so I went out with the Matt Maher guys in a van, to search for and eat Buffalo Wings. It was one of my first ever Buffalo Wings experiences, as they dont exist in England! I was pleased to discover that (1) there is no buffalo meat in them despite the name (2) that Buffalo's do not have wings in America (3) that was I actually got served was just good ole' chicken. Ha : )

It was a great weekend! Thanks to all who came to my teaching seminar and to my slot in the worship concert. Flying back to Nashville in the morning...

God really touched my heart today with an even greater passion for our worship to be far more than songs. A new friend of mine Rick Thompson shared a powerful story with me about a homeless guy that he met recently, and how God had used Rick to reach out to the guy and help him. By offering simple things like a meal, a shower and a place to stay God poured His love through Rick into the homeless guy's life. It was a powerful reminder than worship needs to be lived out in very practical ways - that we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. If we won't, then no one will, as we are the Body of Christ on earth. I want to do the same and follow Rick's example of reaching out to those in need in simple, daily ways. Thats the kind of worship God desires from us!

Ok, on a lighter note, having just returned from my late night Wing Eating trip, heres a question for you....

"It's midnight and you are hungry... what's your late night snack of choice?? Are you a cereal addict, or a call-for-pizza dude, or a healthy "no I really shouldn't... " health legend?!"

Vicky

Embarrassing Video Footage!!

Hi there!

Hows your week gone? Hope you have a brilliant weekend ahead of you!

I'm typing this from my hotel room in Buffalo, NY. I flew in tonight ready for a conference in the morning where I'm speaking and singing. Yesterday I fixed my video camera - it had a technical bug problem with "Quicktime, Mac's Tiger and audio recognition" (all way over my head!!) but a tech specialist helped me and the camera now works great again and video is sucessfully uploading to my laptop! So here begins more frequent video blogging!

I'm sure with every blogger what we all want is to really, truly see inside their daily lives and find out the embarrassing things about that that no one really knows! So one of mine is this.. I have a horribly messy car! Old coffee cups, shoes, random items that I havent seen in months... they all live in my Jeep.. and its awful! So I thought I'd let you see!

YIKES!

On a deeper level, isn't it funny how our natural inclination in life is to hide so much of who we are from God and from each other? We so often present our "good side" and hide away our fears, pain and struggles... Like a messy car that looks clean and sparkly on the outside, we can present a life that looks amazing, yet God knows what's really going on - and most of us have stuff hidden in the trunk and footwells of our lives that He needs to clean out! We can even accidentally perptuate that in church culture, by telling everyone to walk in victory and success, so that no one feels able to speak up about their problems and issues.

I want to be someone who lives a life that is wide open, who shows both victory and weakesses... We all need to be trasnparents and real... As some of us do that, we give others permission. I think the community back in the days of the Book of Acts were very real and transparent. They shared life 24:7 so there would have been nowhere to hide! I think we need to get back to those kind of days, where we really let each other into the nitty gritty of daily joys and tears. Sunday church can be such an easy place to show up with a smile as most of modern day life goes on behind closed doors during the week.

Lets live wide open lives and be real...lets dare to tell people our failings and ask for prayer in the hope that we will spark them into the same level of transparency. Lets be a generation who knows they are frail and made of dust, and who in humility reach out to one another for help and accountability. Now that kind of community could change the world!

"What do you think?"

Love,
Vicky

New and Improved VickyBeeching.com Almost Done!

Watch this space for a cleaner, fresher looking, new and improved Blogsite, coming very soon! I'm moving from one  blogging program called Typepad to a better one called Wordpress. This will allow me to do much more in future - with audio players, better video stuff and even the ability for you to video-comment rather than just typing written comments... So it will be a fun adventure as I figure out all the new possibilities once it launches!

It's being built for me by a new friend who lives in China. His blog is http://www.biscuet.com  Check it out!

Thanks for all the fun comments about your England travels!

Let me turn the question around a bit...You are all so well travelled that these travel questions are fun!

"Where in the USA is your most favorite place?

If you are from another nation, have you visited the US and if so where?

If not, where would you love to see Stateside?"

I'm preparing for a weekend of ministry in Buffalo where I'll be speaking and singing... Good times!

I'm also continuing to work on my book draft this week - pray for wisdom and inspiration!!

Love,
Vicky

London Rocks!

Happy new week, Blog friends!

I just got home from 3 great concerts with Rebecca St James, out in GA, MS and TX. I tried using one of my brand new songs Breath Of God and it got good feedback from the crowd, so thats encouraging! The events were part of the "SHE Tour" this Spring (www.sheevent.com) and were a blast to be part of!

In the signing line a little girl came up to me with a London teeshirt on - how cool is this?!

I told her I had a to snap a photo for my Blog, as it reminded me of my Homeland!

I know that many of you on here have visited England before, and some of you even live there now. So lets be touristy and share our England stories!!

- If you visited England, when did you go and what did you most enjoy seeing/doing?

- If you live there, where abouts and where are your favorite places in the UK?

- If you've never been, what would you like to see if you took a visit?

As we say in England "have a brilliant day, mate!"

Cheers,

Vicky

"Ex Nihilo"

Happy weekend, blog-friends!

Just got on the tour bus after the Gulfport MS "SHE Show" tonight. It was a great evening with a brilliant crowd! They sang at the top of their voices! Now we're on the bus watching a movie to relax, then we'll all wake up in the morning in Texas. The show tomorrow night is in Carollton TX so come along if you live near there!

On one of the walls of the church tonight I saw this piece of art - its really famous so I'm sure you've seen it before - but tonight it really struck me in a new way to see it and the words "in the beginning, God.." It reminded me of the latin phrase they taught us at Oxford in our Genesis class: "Ex Nihilo".

"Ex Nihilo" is latin for "Out Of Nothing". When God created the universe Genesis says that "in the beginning, God".. In the beginning there was just Him. He created all things out of nothing. He spoke and everything came into being.

For us thats really awesome and encouraging, because God is Someone who creates something out of nothing. He takes emptiness and creates wholeness, He takes darkness and speaks light. Because of this, we can come to God empty and weak knowing that He takes us and with His power makes something out of nothing. We dont have to bring strength, gifts or goodness to the table. He was able to take dust and breathe it into a human being. We are just dust without His living breath. So we are totally able to come to Him in weakness, knowing we are just dust, and ask Him to empower us and enable us to live the Kingdom Life.

That means none of us can ever say we are disqualified from serving God, or that we need to become better or holier before He can use us. He is the Creator and is the inventor of creating life, beauty and color "ex nihilo" - out of nothing!

Do you ever feel like you need to be better, holier, more 'sorted out' before God can really use you? Is that really just legalism? Are we trying to engage in 'self improvement', rather than asking for God's divine empowering to take the dust of who we are are and make us into something with His power?

If you often feel disqualified, pressuring yourself to be better and up your spiritual performance, its time to hear God's mercy speaking over you that He creates "ex nihilo" - He doesnt want our tick sheets and score cards. He just wants our surrender. Its HIS power and not ours that accomplishes the work of transformation in us! What a relief!

God is also the One who was there "in the beginning" (Genesis 1). He is the author of beginnings. If you are feeling in need of a new beginning in your life...a new day to dawn... a new season, He is the One who can bring that to be. After all, He began the original 'beginning' when time's first second ticked. Don't try and create that new day, that new season, that new beginning in your own power. Ask the God who began the Beginning, and did it "ex nihilo" to break in to your life and bring the breakthrough in your life and heart that you need!

"How does that speak to your heart today?"

Love,
Vicky

I Win The Prize For The Messiest Bunk!

Ok, so I've always been rather messy....since I was a kid. Sadly it continues to this day. This is my Tour Bus bunk after one only day.... agh! I need to get tidier!

Today was great. Just about to leave GA and the bus will roll onto MS through the night. I sang a new song "Breath Of God" tonight and really enjoyed singing it and playing my harmonica on that song. The harmonica is always fun : )

My 'to do' list before I fall asleep in to finish The Shack - the book I'm currently reading... I'm reading it as part of a book club so I have to finish it quick so I can write my report on it for the group. The next book is by Francis Shaeffer and I'm excited to get stuck into it...so got to finish the end of The Shack first!

Question for y'all!:  "Are you tidy or messy?"

Peace,

Vicky

A Weekend on the Tour Bus...

Greetings from the road!

Here's a photo of the bus and trailer all loaded up and ready to roll...

We left Nashville at 1am last night and this morning woke up in Columbus, GA. Tonight we have a "SHE" women's conference, where I'll be singing alongside my dear friend Rebecca St James, the band "Joel and Luke" and Rebecca's mentor Evie Karlson. Fun times!

Tomorrow we drive on to play in MS then TX. On Sunday I play in Chattanooga twice, so it's a busy weekend ahead!

Right now I"m at a cool internet cafe, drinking an iced Snapple and soaking in the sunshine! I"ll keep this short and sweet as we have rehearsal soon...

"What are you doing this weekend?"

Love,
Vicky

Worship Leader Addicted To Drugs....

Greetings!

I'm sitting writing this during the LifeWork2.0 Blogging conference I"m attending here in Franklin TN today. I love multi-tasking so I'm (as usual) doing two things at once and listening to the seminar and writing a blog simultaneously!!

Lots of talk has gone on about "Twitter" at this conference today. Have you checked it out? I thought I'd focus todays blog on Twitter in case you haven't got into it yet! If you are wondering what the crazy title of this Blog is all about, it's simply that I am now a worship leader addicted to the (good) drugs of....technology!! I'm totally hooked on both Blogging and Twitter! "WHY???" you may ask!

Well, it's because we can create community that reaches across miles, nations, cultures and ages, via the internet. This is the first era when people from all across the globe can be in touch via laptops and cell phones, inspiring each other to follow Jesus and to support each other in prayer.

Some of these Social Networking tools may seem a bit gimmicky, but for us as Christians we can use these to build strong community around us and share life and faith with people around the world. I love that through Twitter.com I can shoot out a text saying "about to go on stage to play. Please pray for me!" and that message shows up as a message or text on my subscribers laptops or cell phones. Amazing!

My Twitter messages show up in the right hand column of this Blogsite, but if you want them to come to your cell phone, or if you want to be able to send Twitter Messages to me, go to my Twitter page http://twitter.com/vickybeeching . First sign up for your own Twitter account (free) then visit my page and click "follow".

This is what it looks like!

See you on Twitter! Sign up to follow me, then you can send texts to my cell phone!

Two questions for ya...

"Are you twittering?"

"What do you think of all the rising technology of social networking sites like Blogs, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter. There's a lot of trash on them - does the bad outweigh the good, or do we need to be light in the darkness?"

Love,

Vicky

Mind Control!

Hi there!

Just saw this book cover in a store in Nashville. It really got me thinking....

So much of how we live really is controlled by the way we think. Some people take that in a God-less way and talk about thinking powerful thoughts and ruling your world, e.g. repeating mantras like "I am awesome, I am beautiful, I am in control!" every morning as you climb out of bed! This is not what I'm advising!

But it is Biblically true that what goes on in our minds does have a huge impact on the way we live and who we become. Joyce Myers "Battlefield of The Mind" explores this kind of theme. Paul puts it most concisely when he says in Romans 12:

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will"

Now thats real transformation! But its true - its does all start with our minds, our thoughts...So how can we live this out - how can we have our thoughts renewed and train our minds to think God's way?

The more He changes our thinking, the more He can change the world in and through us!

Love,
Vicky

Video From My Sunday At Buckhead!

Hello friends!

I was randomly surfing Youtube.com just now and found that someone had taken video footage during last Sunday's worship set at Buckhead. So here is "Above All Else" live from ATL last week!

(And I was totally kidding about my Dad saying music isnt a real job. He's been a huge supporter of me pursuing music and worship, driving me to endless youth worship events in my teens and buying me guitars and amps!! Just a dry, British humor joke!... )

Hearing the lyrics to the song playing on this video, it challenged me again to make sure that I am LIVING the things I SING. Do you ever stop and think about some of the worship lyrics we all sing in church? They are often big statements, huge promises... I want to really put these words into action 24:7, 365. Lord help me.

Often the busyness of life sneaks in and crowds out my view of Jesus. Sometimes even serving Him can get us distracted from spending time with Him. I'm reminded again today of that sobering verse where Jesus' followers come to Him and say "Lord, Lord we did signs and wonders in your Name!" Yet Jesus says, with a broken heart, "step away - i never KNEW you". I've blogged on this Scripture verse before as its one of my most loved and feared in the whole Bible.

Jesus I pray for myself and my readers here, that we would truly lay down everything that challenges Your rightful place as King in our lives and hearts. Be above all else. Be number one. Be the center. Amen.

Lets share honestly here in the Comments section... When did each of us last take stock to re-evaluate whether Jesus truly is above all else in our lives? Lets pause and do it now.... How can we keep Him above every dream, goal and relationship, in our every day lives?

You guys rock.

Love,
Vicky