Crazy day for worship teams.

Today's been a wild day. It started when our drummer didn't arrive for service; apparently he got injured but I didn't get the word until 10:40AM. Our main backup wasn't available, but another drummer came through in the pinch to help us out. That was a hue relief! We had a few rough moments during the morning service, but we made it through.

I was exhausted this afternoon, and found myself just sitting around the house vegging. Had some phone calls to return. Missed one from a local number that wasn't in my cell; I'll come back to it in a moment. Anyway, I took a call from a friend who said he needed a vocalist for his youth group's worship team tonight. At first, I wanted to say no because I was tired.

But then I realized. Someone came through to pinch-hit for me and our worship team this morning. It's only appropriate and right that I say yes to these friends. Actually, I kinda looked at it as a way to say "thanks" to God for meeting my need in the morning.

So, things went really well with this youth group tonight. It was great to see some good friends, catch up on things, and spend time together worshiping God. Definitely the right choice.

Well, back to that local call I didn't answer. Turns out it was a friend calling on a different line. He wanted to see if I was up for a game of racquetball. I probably would have said yes, if I had taken the call. But then I wouldn't have been available to help the other worship team tonight.

Funny how that all worked out, eh?

Pick the right clothes.

This is a note I sent off to our worship team tonight, and thought I'd share it here:

I remain amazed at God's ability to guide and lead and provide. This team has gone through some rocky times this year, but I sense such a strong heart for worship and a deep commitment to each other whenever we come together. Yes, we're all wired differently, and I know we have "moments" along the way when we don't always see eye-to-eye, or we bump into each other because of strong personalities. And ya know what? I'm fine with that! We're all human, and we're all works in progress. No one on the team is perfect, and that definitely includes me!

Take a moment to read this passage of scripture:

Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Colossians 3:12-15

One of our deepest desires should be "perfect harmony" with the people on our team. Musical harmony requires a complex interaction of notes that are all different but tied to the same melody, the same chord, the same root. When those different parts come together correctly, there is harmony. When they clash, you get dissonance and sounds that make you cringe! The same is true for us as a team, or a group of believers, or a church body, or a family -- we WILL offend each other! We WILL make mistakes! The apostle Paul makes it pretty clear this stuff will happen.

And when it happens, how do we respond? It's a choice. We must clothe ourselves with the right attitude and the right response. You're the one who decides what physical clothes to wear, and you're also the one who decides what spiritual clothes to wear!

So I encourage each of you this week to clothe yourselves with mercy and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience and -- most of all -- love.

Leading people into God's presence.

This was a thought I shared in an email earlier today to our worship team:

I spent some time the other day thinking and meditating on the principle of leading people into God's presence. That really is our most important role on Sunday mornings. We don't stand on the stage to entertain. We're up there because WE spend time regularly in God's presence each day, and our Sunday experience is simply an extension of our ongoing, intimate walk with God.

What we do on Sundays is just part of the leading, the going, the experiencing, the being in God's presence. Our job ISN'T to push or prod or cajole or manipulate people into His presence. If folks don't want to seek Him, we can't make them. Our role is to walk in each week eager to be in God's presence because we've been spending time with Him. That doesn't mean being perfect, but it means living a life that glorifies and honors Him.

Worship God in the middle of it all.

A thought shared with our worship team after a technically challenging Sunday!

I'm a big believer in doing everything with excellence because it's a reflection of our commitment to God. But I also know that life throws us curveballs, and we always have to be ready for those unexpected moments. I've learned, through trial and error, that it's always better to deal with problems and challenges head-on, instead of trying to ignore them or pretend they don't exist. When they microphones go dead in the middle of worship, what do we do? We pretend that the only instrument in the house is our voice! We sing acapella and lift up a joyful noise and declare that our God is great! We roll with it, and through our actions and responses, perhaps we encourage others to remember that worship isn't about slick performances or a picture-perfect life. Worship is honoring God and demonstrating our devotion IN SPITE of all the challenges.

I look up to the mountains- does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord , who made the heavens and the earth!
He will not let you stumble and fall; the one who watches over you will not sleep.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel never tires and never sleeps.
The Lord himself watches over you! The L ord stands beside you as your protective shade.
The sun will not hurt you by day, nor the moon at night.
The Lord keeps you from all evil and preserves your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.
Psalm 121

Change the worship forecast.

I shared this today with our worship team, as part of my new role working with that team and many of our adult ministries. I thought it was worth reposting here:

Supposedly it's August outside, but I'm sure enjoying this spring/fall type weather. Somehow it just makes things less tiring and makes the outdoors a little bit more appealing when our temps are in the 90s and even the 80s!

The weather forecasters say it's going to be a great Sunday, with highs in the upper 80s. Incredible! These forecasters use all kinds of maps and gauges and devices to predict the weather, but no matter what they say or do, they can't AFFECT or SHAPE the weather. It will be what it will be.

But did you realize that you and I can AFFECT and SHAPE the "weather" in our services each Sunday? Our hearts and attitudes and lives will affect the atmosphere in the Sanctuary at 11AM Sunday. If our hearts are filled with anger or bitterness or frustration or greed or lust or resentment -- any fruit that ISN'T the godly fruit of the spirit -- then we're bringing "down" the atmosphere. But when we walk in and our hearts are filled with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control, then we help to "raise" the atmosphere. Incredible isn't it!

That doesn't mean we walk in wearing a "happy Christian mask." That doesn't mean we hide the pain we've experienced over the last week. That doesn't mean we pretend we're perfect. But it means that we prepare our hearts LONG before 10:59AM on a Sunday. That means we're worshiping God all week, not just during our set of songs each weekend. It means our choices and lifestyles during the week honor God and set an example for the people around us. It means our attitudes and actions on Sunday draw people closer to God. It means that as we stand on the platform, lifting our hands, clapping our hands, singing out praises to God (or playing our instruments for His glory), we are setting the temperature and atmosphere for the rest of the congregation. We're leading people into God's presence through our attitudes and actions and heart condition. And that's just an awesome thought. The weather forecaster can't change the weather. But worshipers can change the atmosphere of worship.

The challenge of fasting.

Just read a blog post from Josh Griffin (actually a reposting of someone else's thoughts) on the idea of students "fasting" from text messages. Interesting thoughts. Earlier this year, I did a four-day music fast while up in the mountains. I had my iPod and my car stereo, but I didn't listen to any music on them for those four days.

Fasting is an interesting notion. It's biblical, it's beneficial and it's incredibly difficult. Maybe I'm not supposed to admit that as a pastor, but it's true. Fasting is tough. I have my daily and weekly routines. I like my food. I like my music. I like my media. I like my -- well, all kinds of things!

I like this thought captured in that post about text message fasts: "I told them that if they could not then that cell phone had too high of a priority in their life." Ouch! Anything I'm not willing to sacrifice for a day, or two days, or a week -- that thing probably holds too high of a place in my life.

That's what worship is all about, isn't it? Setting aside our needs, our agendas, our priorities and focusing our thoughts on the creator, lover and redeemer of the world. Fasting helps us grow spiritually because it can recalibrate our priorities and reorient us toward God...who was, and is, and is to come.

Some worship pics.

These are some photos that one of our parents, Rawge Jones, took during last week's youth worship service. We're still doin' the band in the back!

Our worship experiment: An update.

This is week 4 in our continuing "worship experiment" in our midweek youth services. Back on April 18, we decided to move the band behind the crowd. In other words, when students look forward, all they see is the wall where we project the words. No vocalists. No musicians. No amps. No drums. Just words about loving God, serving God, worshiping God.

Initially, we caught flack from a few teens who aren't used to this notion. They felt uncomfortable because they couldn't watch the guitarist or drummer play. They felt weird closing their eyes or lifting up their hands during this segment of the service.

Well, tonight we took our experiment one step further and did a full "worship night" event. We did two extended sets of musical worship, but we added some extra elements. Isabelle is the student who usually prays for our offering; this week she also read some scripture from 2 Corinthians 9. Other students and leaders came up to read portions of scripture, some focused directly on worship, others talking about how awesome God is or how He meets our needs.

We anticipated ending around 8:10, with some food and fellowship time at the end. But we ended up going until almost 8:30, so our homemade brownies were consumed while we did end-of-service teardown in our modular.

Is our experiment working? I think so. Our band has been freer over the last 4 weeks than it has been in a long, long time. They're more confident and focused. Our crowd has more participation, and more students seem comfortable doing things beyond just clapping or singing. More are closing their eyes, lifting up their hands. Really cool stuff.

Sing, sing a song.

For the second straight week, I've filled in for one of the other pastors at our church. Last week, my senior pastor was gone, so I got to preach in our second service (another pastor spoke in the first service). Today, our worship pastor was gone, so I led worship in the second service.

I enjoy singing, and I enjoy leading a team and congregation in worship. But I find greater satisfaction and fulfillment in preaching. Guess it's just more in tune with the way I'm wired.

Our worship experiment.

We did something in our youth service this week that I've heard discussed many times but never seen implemented. I've even talked about it in the past but finally felt it was time for us to attempt it. It's a pretty crazy experiment.

We turned the crowd away from the band. Or we put the band behind the crowd. However you want to say it.

And the world didn't stop spinning. Remarkable.

Our youth recently moved into a "new" facility. It's new for us; it's either the 10th or 11th "home" we've had on our church campus. Or maybe the number is much higher. I keep losing count.

Last month, on my mini-sabattical/personal spiritual retreat, this was one of the ideas I had as a way of helping our students focus more on what worship is all about. There really were two reasons for moving the band behind the crowd.

1. It's good for the band. It's too easy for student musicians to get involved simply because they get the attention and the eyeballs and the focus. That's not the purpose of worshiping God through music. Our goal is to lead young people into God's presence. Moving the band helps the band members remember what their role IS and what their role ISN'T in the service.

2. It's good for the crowd. One student asked me, "Well, what will we look at if the band isn't up front?" Well, the words on the wall -- if you don't know the lyrics to the songs. And if you do know the lyrics, you could close your eyes. Lift up your hands. Clap your hands. Kneel in prayer. Focus more of your energy on WHOM you're worshiping.

So, just as we entered that segment of the service, we explained to the crowd why we had modified the room. We asked them to not turn around and watch the musicians. We asked them to focus on the words they were singing and the reason we sing.

And then we led. And worship went better than it has in a long, long time. Our musicians felt freer. I felt free vocally. I didn't feel the need to "push" or "drag" people into worship. The students didn't turn around. Many of them lifted up their hands. Many of them really seemed to get what we were doing.

Only drawback? With no one up front, many people struggled to clap on the correct beat. You know what? If kids are more focused on the real reason for worship, I can live with that drawback.

It's a one-week experiment that worked well for us. We'll see how things go next week. Would I recommend it to others? Well, I'm not gonna write a book or build a whole theology around "band in the back." It's meeting a need in our group. A month from now, six months from now, a year from now -- at some point we'll likely switch back. When we're ready.