And before you tell me that you don’t need any of that to worship God let me just say – you’re right.  But the truth is we are creative beings created by a most awesome and creative God.  A God that didn’t create just one type of tree but thousands; who didn’t make the grass green but all different shades and textures; who made an incredibly vast amount and variety of animals of all shapes and sizes; who created a canvas of infinite colors for us to be marveled by and who created each and every one of us different, uniquely, a work of art.

So I say, how can we not want to celebrate that creativity by using the gifts that he has given us to reflect just a fraction of that creativity in a service on a Sunday morning or Saturday night that is focused on glorifying Him for who he is, what he has created and what he has done for us through the gift of his son, our Savior?

I had the opportunity to worship on Saturday night at Grace Church in Bath and was just so impressed by the way their tech team used their gifts to glorify God – not to draw attention to any cool tech or toy.  It so refreshing to see each and every one of them be passionate about what they are doing, whether it’s adjusting the volume of a guitar or vocal mic, deciding which background to use for a song or which color light to shine at a specific moment in a worship set.  All of it done to ensure that there are no distractions and only glory given to God.  Each member of a team – whether they are on the platform or behind a panel or set of sliders is a worship leader.  Using the creative gifts God has given them to worship him.  I can’t help but get excited when I see creativity begin used in that way.

I encourage you the next time you are in a worship service to notice all of these things, think about how that are being used to draw you closer to God, to focus on him.  And if you are moved by something you see – thank God for opening your eyes to another aspect of his creativity and maybe take a moment to thank the people behind the scenes for using the gifts and creativity that God has given them to serve his people.

As you may be able to tell this is a subject that is near and dear to my heart.  I’ve spent the last three or so hours reading about DMX cables, LED lights, SDI video technology, digital mixing boards, in-ear monitoring systems, and a host of other geeky\techie\really cool things that can be used in a service of worship.  My mind is swimming right now…and I love it.

This will probably be the first of a few posts I make around the subject of creativity in worship.  Some will be focused on the art, some the tech and some on whatever else God puts on my heart.  I hope you enjoy these and if nothing else I’m enjoying writing them.

I would love to hear about your experiences and how God’ has revealed his creativity to you in a worship service.  Leave me a comment.

Some people think I’m crazy but it’s true – It’s the little details like that which I absolutely love! It’s like an art form.  I’ve read books, articles, blog posts and sat in many workshop sessions at different conferences.  I’ve listened to the “flow master” Paul Baloche speak about it and observed a lot of different worship leaders do it – some beautifully and some very badly.

So – with all of that said,  as I sit here staring at a lot of lead sheets scattered all over my basement floor and contemplate this weekend’s set list I find myself asking, “what will make a great set”?

The answer is simple – get out of the way and let God do His thing!

No matter how much we may try and plan, orchestrate or manipulate things – the only thing that matters is God!  It’s true when planning out a worship set and it’s true when trying to plan out your life.

So – what are you trying to plan or control?  Let me remind you to – stop, pray and listen for God.

Where do YOU need to get out of the way today?

I’m hoping to start back up with regular blogging in the next few days.  I’m not sure if anyone that had stopped by is still around, but if so – Thanks!  I’ll be talking to you again soon.

If you’ve been reading my sporadic updates over the last few months you know that I have been going through a Bible study focusing on John 15.  One of the big aspects of this study has been an honest look at myself in terms of where I am spiritually, emotionally, physically and mentally.  It’s been interesting and enlightening as I can’t say I’ve really done that before.

Another thing I’ve started lately is reading a book by Dan Miller called “48 Days to the Work You Love:Preparing for the New Normal”.  This book challenges you to look at what you do from 8-5 Monday through Friday and asking really yourself how it aligns with what it is that God created you for. It is NOT a book about how to get a job in a church, doing missionary work in a foreign country or anything else that you may equate with “God’s Work”.  Rather, it is a book that challenges you to honestly look at your skills, your abilities, your personality, your passions and your dreams and figure out how to align them all so that what you do 40-50 hours a week isn’t a job but a calling from God – a vocation (which comes from that Latin word vocare, which means “to call”).

It has a schedule for the 48 days in the front of the book for you to follow.  Some days you read a chapter, some you answer questions at the end of the chapter and some involve processing  everything and a lot of honest searching.

This has been a really interesting (and tough) read for me.  As I read some of this I go from excited agreement with some ideas to a sad agreement with other things.  It has me really looking at how I’ve gotten to where I am and wondering how I get to where it is God wants me – and what that may look like (or if I’m already there).  It’s not always easy – but I can say it’s definitely been good for me and has already shown me some interesting things.

Here are just a few take-aways from the reading so far:

• St. Augustine is quoted as saying, “To work is to pray.”  Dan Miller then asks, “Is that how you feel about your work – that it’s a prayer offering to God?”
• Everyone has a vocation or calling.  We fulfill our calling by being excellent at whatever God created us to be.  Your job will ideally be one part of that.
• We must have goals in life and a plan to achieve them.  “If you don’t have a written plan for your life, it may feel like your driving a car without having your hands on the wheel.”
• “Why would God have created us to think imaginatively and to have vivid dreams only to then squelch those dreams for practicality.”

Finally there was this in today’s reading, “Any skill God has given you can be used for ministry.  Jesus was a stone mason/carpenter.  Paul worked with leather goods, and the disciples were fishermen.  Never separate your work from your worship…Remember, if you’re not in full-time service doing what God has called you to do, for whom are you working?”  I wish I could say that I see my work as worship but if I’m being honest I’m not sure I can.

So that’s what I’m doing now – looking at the skills, abilities, passions and dreams that God has given me and trying to figure out what that means for me.  More importantly, how can I use these things that God has given me and find a vocation that turns a job into a vocation.  I’m not sure where it will land but it’s an interesting ride so far (and I’ve got a long way to go…I’m only on day 10 & Chapter 5).

I would LOVE to hear from you if you feel as if you are fulfilling God’s call on your life in your daily “work”.  Please leave me a comment or drop me an e-mail as I would love to talk with you about how you got there and what that means for you.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

- John 14:16-17 (NIV)

This was such a good reminder to me that as someone that has accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior that God, the Holy Spirit, is living in me RIGHT NOW.

How reassuring it is to know that!

But then I thought about how I’ve been living my life lately – the way I’ve treated a few people lately, sins that I’ve struggled with and this same thought frightens me to no end!

Thankfully, I know that it is because Christ paid for MY sins with his sacrifice that the Spirit is here and lives in me and that I am forgiven.

For that fact I am eternally grateful and ultimately reassured.

How about you?  Which side do you fall on?

Last night she took a bunch of the pictures and put together the following video set to Stephen Curtis Chapman’s song, “Be Still and Know”.

Spend a few minutes enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.

Enjoy.

So, with that being said let me just share one thing that I’ve got “rattling around”.  I’ve mentioned my Thursday morning group before.  When I agreed to this group I really didn’t know what I was getting into (and to be honest, I’m still not 100% sure what I signed up for).  One thing we’re doing right now though is to take a “self-assessment” of where we are Physically, Spiritually, Mentally & Emotionally.  One of the purposes (I think) is to look at our lives and try and figure out if we are spending our energy in the right places.

The problem is I’m having a heck of a time doing this.  You see, we have to grade ourselves on a scale of 1-10 in each area and then dive into each area in more detail and for some reason I just don’t know where to begin.  Maybe I’m afraid of what I’ll find.  Maybe I’ll be too hard on myself?  Too easy?  Maybe I just don’t like homework and am looking for an excuse to do something else so I can avoid doing it (like writing this blog).

Perhaps I should just take heart in Paul’s comment to the church in Corinth:

Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. 1 Cor 3:18 (NIV)

I’m thinking I’ve got the fool part down pretty well, so bring on the wisdom!

I grew up as a teenager in the 80′s.  This was at the infancy of the pay-per-view event.  I can remember going to friends houses and watching Mike Tyson’s championship fights (all 30+ seconds of most of them).  I wasn’t a big boxing fan but it was still a good time.

I also remember another big pay-per-view event that I watched with a lot more anticipation.  There was a group of us that got together at a friend’s house from the  youth group on March 29th, 1987  to watch two titans go at each other.  No, I’m not talking about Tyson or Holyfield or Lewis.

I’m talking about the big one – Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at the Pontiac Silverdome at Wrestlemania III.

I was a wrestling fan.  I loved watching it Sunday mornings and Saturday nights. My brother and I would pretend to be our favorite wrestlers and go at it in the family room.   My personal favorite was (and still is) Randy “The Macho Man” Savage and the lovely Miss Elizabeth.  My cousin was a huge Hogan fan and could a spot on impression of his famous, “Whatcha gonna do” quote.  I remember seeing it live at the Richfield Coliseum where we had floor seats.  There were so many other great characters including Rowdy Roddy Piper, The Ultimate Warrior, The Bushwackers, Hacksaw Jim Dugan (and his 2×4), Brett “The Hitman” Heart, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and one of my personal favorites – George “The Animal” Steele.

As I went to college and grew older I watched less and less wrestling.  However, if I’m being honest – if I’m just flipping through the channels and it’s on I probably will stop and watch (at least until Beth comes down and asks me why in the world I’m watching it).

I was familiar with some of the bigger names like HHH, Stone Cold Steve Austin and of course, The Rock.  What I wasn’t a fan of is how it’s turned into a much less kid friendly entertainment.  When I grew up watching it you had the matches, the screaming interviews with Mean Gene Okerlund and that was about it.

I became a fan of “The Rock”, aka Dwayne Johnson when I saw the movie “The Rundown”.  I still enjoy his fight in the jungle with the local.  My kids enjoy his movies and probably know nothing about his career before them.

So when I saw the below video trending on YouTube announcing “The Rock” as the host and a wrestler at the next Wrestlemania I just had to click it.  Two things I thought of after watching it (and you can find the full version on YouTube but it does contain some language so I won’t link it here)

1)  The WWE definitely knows how to create excitement and make an entrance and
2)  I wonder if I can get the old youth group gang back together.

We are currently working through John 15 one verse at a time.  Now, I’ve done Bible studies before but never to this depth – spending this much focused time on a single verse at a time.  This week we are looking at verse 2:

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

- John 15:2 (NIV)

As we do this study we are reading Andrew Murray’s book, “The True Vine” that helps us to dig into this.  My reading today was looking just at the word “fruit”.  Here’s what Murray writes with regards to the purpose of the existence of a vine  is to bear fruit for it’s owner:

It is because Christians do not understand or accept this truth that they so fail in their efforts and prayers to live the branch life.  They often desire it earnestly; they read and meditate and pray, and yet they fail, and the wonder why.  The reason is very simple:  They do not know that fruitbearing is the one thing they have been saved for. (emphasis Murray)

I just keep re-reading this section.  As I read that I look at my own life and I keep asking myself, “Am I truly living the branch life”?

As if that weren’t enough to chew on he then goes on to say this:

The one object God had in making you a branch is the Christ may through you bring life to men.  Your personal salvation, your business and care for your family, are entirely subordinate to this. (emphasis Murray)

Wow.  Put those two together and I keep asking myself how much time to I spend trying to care for myself as the branch and not worry or even think about the fruit.

How about you?  Does this hit anyone else hard?

It truly saddens me that the Methodist church is producing this video.  What I hear when I watch this is the church saying that if you can entertain people, be a great speaker (“an engaging experience”) and give people a hug then they’ll come back and your church will grow.  The title of the video is “Rasmus’ Church Growth Tips”!  Is this really how a church should be grown?  A country club or social club maybe, but a church?

What about creating an environment where someone can feel like they met God, where they feel like they have spent time in the presence of the Almighty?  What about fostering a community where it’s not about what happens inside the walls – but outside (and yes I know, some of these things are highlighted in this video which I am grateful for and I hope that is the REAL reason for the growth).  What about developing small groups ministries that encourage accountability, Biblical discipleship and growth?  What about ensuring that the Gospel is preached and people are people are making  Jesus Christ the Lord of their life?  It just seems to me like the focus is in the wrong place.

Please understand that this is not meant as a knock on just this church or the Methodist denomination as a whole because I believe that it is a problem shared by MANY churches these days.  It just saddens me that it this is being promoted like this by that denomination (I first saw this posted on the East Ohio Conference Facebook page which links to the denomination’s official page).

This just saddens my heart.  What do you think?