Worship and Suburbia

Our church staff has been in deep discussions for a while now about how to approach ministry within our context. We all have this love hate relationship with Suburbia. Everyone loves the perks of Suburbia, but everyone hates what Suburbia produces in us and the people we lead.

I’ve recently had a few conversations regarding worship in our context. For the purpose of this post, we’ll use the word worship to refer to our Sunday morning gatherings. Though I know that’s a mentality we’re trying to battle…that "worship is just what we do on Sunday mornings, " it will help for me not to have clarify every sentence I write here. ☺

Anywhere that I have led worship, my foremost thought after “What does God want to do here?” is “Who and Where am I leading?” This question helps me immediately put up a filter by which to make decisions about our worship gatherings.

I must say that this question permeates our thinking as a staff on a regular basis. We whole-heartedly seek God’s direction for where we’re going. Then we immediately consider our context. Do we claim to be experts on our culture…no, but we do think we have a pretty good tap on it.

So what do our worship gatherings look like in Suburbia? What is our aim on any given Sunday morning? Are we out to put on a “show,” or are we trying to lead people to God? Seems if you do anything that smells of production…you’re putting on a show. Try to create an environment that is creative and conducive to reflection…you’re manipulating people and not allowing God to show how He can work even in a sterile environment. Try to buy a building that will allow you a place to “ground” your ministry and people say, “can’t we just go worship in a field?”

The context of Suburbia must be considered when planning. Scripture confirms that (1 Cor 9:22). A balance must be found between letting it rule your thoughts and letting it be a factor that you consider in your planning. It’s easy to replace God with what we think is best for our culture. It’s easy to do what other churches do in Suburbia and miss how God wants you to reach Suburbia.

Church culture drives me crazy at times. What’s Fellowship, Lifechurch.Tv, MarsHill, Willowcreek, or Northpoint doing? “That must be where it’s at!”…Those are great churches and they are having an incredible impact reaching Suburbia in the way God is leading them . But honestly…I can’t sing U2. It would be rather humorous to listen to. But yet I’m called to a similar people as those in Grapevine, TX. I’ve been refreshed lately by watching some other churches and well respected leaders not cave to the system.

I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a heart for reaching my community…in Suburbia. In one of the safest cities in America. ☺

8 Weeks Away

Well, we're 8 weeks away from the due date...and the support is growing for Cash. Many people are already calling the baby by that name. Loving it. And pictures of baby clothes. This is really fun. :) Thanks Erin C.

Princess Waffle Night

Mommy is out at her MomTime group tonight. So it's me and the girls...and Princess Waffle Night! The girls are excited, Polar Express is on and the waffle iron is hot. Will let you know how it goes!

So, here are the pics from our Princess Waffle Night! What a blast...the girls were stoked about having breakfast at night time. Grandma Carolyn gave the girls this Waffle Maker that makes a picture of a princess and a prince on your waffle.

Big girl kept telling me... "Papi, be careful, don't cut the King!" As you can see below, she liked it so much she kept giving it kisses! Good times!

Christmas at the Barosh House

Christmas was a blast at our house this year. I loved every minute of it. My wife took the kiddos through some great Biblical stories using the Jesse Tree to help keep us focused on Jesus throughout the season. Christmas morning was really fun as the kids got three gifts, just like Jesus did. This year was the year of the bike. It was hilarious and still is. Here are a few pics of the girls.

Me and Ross King (Part 2)

So, I know it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. If you want to know the truth, the time that Mel and I usually blog has been consumed with watching season six of 24! Soon as the girls go down, we’re in bed and Jack Bauer is doing his thing. During the actual TV season, my wife and I don’t have the patience to wait for commercials, let alone an entire week between episodes. So, we watch 24 Marathon-style when it comes out on DVD. 2 more episodes tonight and we’re done. It’s bittersweet!


On New Years Day, my wife and I got a much needed night out! We actually went to a house concert that Ross King was doing here in the area. Just Ross and a percussion player. Though there was not one “worship” song in the evening, it was one of the more worshipful times I’ve experienced in a long time. Thanks to Pablo and Iris for the invite!

I got to chat with Ross a bit after the concert. The dude is about as real as they come and you can tell he walks with God. There are people that quote scripture when they talk – “Well you know…it says in Colossians 3 that…” Then there are people that scripture is just a part of their life. They can’t have a conversation without it somehow oozing into their vocabulary. There’s a humility in the way that they talk about scripture. This was my encounter with Ross.

We covered the entire spectrum from worship culture to multi-site churches. From our weaknesses as worship pastors to rock star worship leaders. It was good and honest conversation.

On a side note, I bought 15 of his newest CD “Perhaps I’ve Said to Much” because I want to give them away to some people. He’s addressing so many things that our church deals with and I want people to sit, listen, and think. I want the words to stir their hearts like they have mine. Like they did for Mel as I looked over in the middle of the concert and she’s in tears during the song Non-Religious Me.

Thanks Ross for a great night of worship through song and reflection.

Once

Some good friends of mine and Mel's came over to the house last night because they desperately wanted us to see this movie. I'm glad they came...it was incredible. Thanks Pablo, Iris, and Ernie! I immediately went to Itunes and downloaded everything I could and text my buddy Mike to share the musical wealth! :) The music is passionate and the lyrics are great. Here's a little montage from the movie Once...hope you like it.

Merry Christmas!

Note: If you do decide to rent the movie, be prepared that the first 10 minutes are littered with curse words. It gets much more palatable after that. :)

The Saga Continues...

I received this picture in an email from a friend...supporting my move to name our boy CASH. Though some of you may be surprised, I have had a good majority of women actually liking the name! This was a female friend of ours that sent the picture and she's totally for the name. I'll say this much...Mel is even growing more fond of it. Ha! This boy is going to be happy I went the distance for him on the name CASH. I still have till March and I'm not backing down!

How They Find My Blog

I'm amazed sometimes at what people type into google and stumble upon my blog. Now, a buddy of mine discussed this once on his blog and it began a chain of "googling" that was pretty hilarious. You can read it HERE. Anyhow, nothing as crazy on my blog, but I'm amazed at how many people google "Gotee Trimming" and end up here. I talked about it in a blog back in March of '06 called The Barber Shop Church.

Hope all you Gotee trimmers are finding all your gotee trimming needs fulfilled on on my site. If you have taken some gotee trimming cues from my site, please feel free to leave me a comment letting me know how I've impacted your life in such a way. In case you're wondering, my gotee trimming specs:

Length: No Guard
Gillette Mac 3 Razor and Small Scissors for detail work. Plan on carving my initials in there one day.

Or maybe Mel's initials?

Or T + M.

Or T+M=3 Kids.

Rough Week

Haven't had a chance to blog this week...it's been pretty rough around our house. Our little princess had a virus that had her temperature up around 104.5 for 2 days straight. Thankfully, everything has passed and the doctors says she's in the clear now.

She was such a trooper! In those two days, she went between the doctor's office and TCH in the Med Center a number of times. She had to endure 4 Shots (2 really big ones), blood drawn from her arm, a catheter, and xrays. It was tough to watch, but she came out like a champ.

Here's a picture of her on the xray table...with Rufus her favorite dog. :) Since Mel is pregnant, she can't go into the xray room, so I get to be the bad guy! She's looking at me the whole time like "Why would you do something like this to me?"



Now we're back to dressing up and wearing purses. Good times.

The Worship Pastor Spoke

So I recently taught at our church on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Yeah, I know…save the 2nd lowest attended Sunday of the year for the worship pastor to speak! And the people that are there are still overdosed on turkey and pumpkin pie. Seriously though, it was a fun morning. I love our people and we had a great time together.

Anyhow, we spent most of the morning discussing worship, but not in a musical sense. One of my chief desires since we started Crossbridge over 5 years ago has been to help our people understand that worship so much more than the music we play or the songs we sing.

Since we live in a church culture that typically equates worship with music, it’s really hard sometimes to break through that mentality. I do it every Sunday morning as I say, “Why don’t you stand with us as we worship!” I feed the mentality that the music piece of the Sunday morning worship experience equals worship. So, I’m working on my vocabulary and I’m looking for other words to communicate similar meaning, but a broader view of worship.

We discussed our “working” definition of worship at Crossbridge that is sort of a hybrid of Harold Best, Tim Keller, and Louie Giglio all rolled up into one! This is what we stated…

Worship is our continuous outpouring response to God’s Self Revelation.

I could go into this definition a lot more, but it would probably be easier for you to either listen to the talk or pick up Harold Best’s book called Unceasing Worship.

One of the things that hit me the hardest as I was preparing for this sermon was that I never stop worshipping. Nor do I start worshipping with God. My worship merely gets transferred from a lesser god to the one True God. I worship. Every moment is worship. The Question is “What Am I Worshipping?”

So I’ve been faced with this question daily since I spoke…What Am I Worshipping? There is a war for my worship and someone is winning. I am giving all of my mind’s attention and heart’s affection to something or someone. Unceasingly. Outpouring.

What I’m finding is that these nonsense gods seem to get a lot of my attention…a lot of my worship. My worship to God (Jesus Christ) must be an act of my will. To willfully turn away, and turn to Christ. I still struggle.

What Would Jesus Buy

I love the "Gotta have the Christmas Spirit with my new rims!"

The Ripple Effect

I couldn't stop reading...then praying...then reading...click here -

The Ripple Effect

More John Piper

Oh man, this is good...the content of this video is incredible. My church is wrapping up our series called EPIC where we have been really caught up in the gospel story. My heart is far from the place that Piper talks about here, but man I want to be there.

Back To It...

Hey ya'll,

I'm back to blogging after a little hiatus while my family and I went on vacation. My mother-in-law gave us some free tickets to Disney World! Mel's sister lives right across the street from the park, so we had free lodging too! Not to mention, she's a manager at the Maggianos down there in Orlando, so we got free italian food two nights in a row!

Very long road trip...two toddlers and 22 hours to Orlando was crazy! But I must say, my girls did well. We had some little surprises along the way to keep them engaged for the long haul. I think next time we will look for an airline donor (say another grandparent) to hook us up with flights!

Maybe I'll have some pics a little later...

In other news...I'll most likely be moving in a slightly different direction with the blog. Since I am a worship pastor, I still plan on having posts about worship and other stuff along those lines. However, I have realized just how difficult it is to write about worship all the time...so you're likely to see some nonsense posts and more of my family journey here as well. If that sounds really boring to you, you’re welcome to unsubscribe to my blog. Though I don’t think anyone has subscribed to my blog.

I also thought the blog was looking a bit morbid...so I thought I'd brighten it up a bit. I'll be tweaking it along the way, but I like the brighter look.

Think that's all for now...

Oh one last thing...I got a call from a good friend of mine tonight. She got Mel and I tickets to a house show with Ross King. So, in a few weeks, I'll be sitting in a living room with Mr. King discussing the stories behind the songs I posted about a few weeks ago. Good times...

CASH

So Mel and I have come to the place where we have to begin deciding our "boy name." I have held on to the hope that this would be a no-brainer. However, that hope is fading as the name Cash is not even on Mel's radar. So, we decided to put this one out on the blogs for your feedback. A simple yes or no in the box below will suffice. However, if you would like to give your reasons why you think we should use this name, feel free to do so. :) All negative comments can be left at Mel's blog! You can vote in the right hand column.

My Lovely Inbox

Please save my inbox! I will continue to receive the following highlighted emails until you visit Mike Haskew's Blog.

What to do when you don't have time to blog...

You post a video.

I gave this to my wife as well, so you can catch it on her blog too. I think Driscoll handles Lakewood theology well without bashing Osteen himself. What are your thoughts?

BTW, interestingly enough, someone signed me up to be a partner of Joel Osteen Ministries today. I received my confirmation email this morning. I have my thoughts on who the culprits might be. All I have to say is that you should be expecting a rather large shipment of the Your Best Life Now board games. COD.

Ross King and Me

Well, there's no real relationship there...but I do have a couple short email conversations with him. Regardless, his new release "Perhaps I've Said to Much" is on high rotation on my IPOD. The lyrics are amazing...I love how he goes after some of the prevailing issues in the local church, yet he doesn't seem to exclude himself from the dilema either.

If you have $10, go to Itunes and download it. The songs I'm digging are Light of the World, Greatestneverever, Keeper of the Way, Happy (this song is slightly hilarious and convicting at the same time), Everybody Medicates, and Home (if you're adopting, have adopted, or thinking about it, this song has great perspective).

Wrecked this Weekend

I have had a weekend where God’s just been hammering on me…here’s how it looked.

- Friday – reading two books in the same vein “Don’t Waste Your Life” and “Irresistible Revolution” (thanks Aaron and Jamie). Check these books out; they’ll rock your world.
- Saturday – ran sound for a missions banquet in the Galleria area. The lone survivor of a terrorist attack on some US missionaries in Iraq a few years ago was speaking. Her name is Carrie McDonnall. All I have to say is that she had 22 bullet holes in her body and lived to tell about it. She lost her husband in the shooting though. All this and she’s my age…literally looked like somebody that would go to our church. I told my wife I just stood in awe for a moment after she spoke…about 5 feet from her, seeing the bullet holes in her arms, missing fingers, realizing that was the closest I had ever stood to someone who was nearly martyred for our faith. Holy moment for me. She’s the real deal.
- Sunday – My pastor Chuck gets up and ends his sermon with two challenges. One: get involved with the Convoy of Hope in November. Two: join the Advent Conspiracy. Check these two things out…incredible stuff.

Here’s a quote from Piper that sort of sums up my weekend.

Why don’t people ask us about our hope? The answer is probably that we look as if we hope in the same things they do. Our lives don’t look like they are on the Calvary road, stripped down for sacrificial love, serving others with the sweet assurance in heaven (Matthew 5:12)! “You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14). If we believed this more deeply, others might see the worth of God and find in him their gladness.

Worse

Only one thing in this world worse than Barney.

Christmas Barney in September.

Thank you grandparents.

What's On My IPOD?

Some may not care, but thought I’d share. These are the songs, artists, or albums that are in high rotation on my Ipod.

Robbie Seay Band – Give Yourself Away – by far the best recording from these guys. I’ve listened to the whole CD, but now I’m just stuck on #3 called A New Day. Maybe cause it makes me think of my wife, but wow…what a good tune. My pastor read the lyrics to Beautiful, Scandalous Night in our service 2 weeks ago…powerful stuff.

Jeff Johnson – Glorious Day – The title track on this CD is great. There are some other good tunes on there as well, especially if you’re a Rascal Flatts fan. :)

Billy and Cindy Foote – If I Say I Love You – Just a single track available on Itunes. I heard it at a conference they did a while back here in Sugar Land. The song just grows on you. Not a lot of worship songs hammer down on obedience like this one does.

Matthew and Lizi – The Meaning of it All - Great project from a buddy of mine down here in Houston. He and his wife Lizy make a great team. The title track on this one is really nice…if you like Watermark, I think you’ll like Matt and Lizy.

Spur 58 – Sleepwalkers – These guys are great. This is another album where I get stuck on a particular song…I really dig Ready to Love. I just loop it sometimes when I’m exercising. Great jogging song.

Bon Jovi – Lost Highway – Laugh if you must, but it’s like a corridor to the past. My favorite 80’s band with all new tunes.

Kellly Clarkson – My December – The girl can sing…she’s pretty angry on this album, but the song Sober is incredible.

Sandra McCracken – The Builder and the Architect – If you like Caedmon’s, she most likely wrote one of your favorite songs. Great rootsy type album, especially like I Boast No More and Rock of Ages.

Marc Brousard – Home – Friend of mine got me hooked on this guy. The title track and Lonely Night in Georgia are the highlights of this album.

Half Past Forever – Take a Chance on Something Beautiful – I’m a big Chris Sligh fan. He has some great tunes on this one. My favorites are Know, Cry Tonight, In a Moment, and Tunnel Vision.

Guess that’s all for now…let me know if you have some new tunes I should add to my playlist!

I Found an Old Post

So, I was sorting through my blogs, realizing I had never posted this one. So I thought I would. The only thing not true here is that I did not go to San Antonio a couple weeks ago. :)

The title of the post was to be "The Church is Smaller Than We Think"

Two weeks ago I ventured off to San Antonio for a little personal retreat. I try to go a couple times a year to meet with another worship pastor there that I really admire. While I’m there, I try to spend a great deal of time in silence while I listen for what God has to say. The next couple posts will be from an overflow of things God spoke to me during that time.

One area that I spent a great deal of time exploring was the topic of conversion. It started in my staff meeting the day before as we discussed a book called The Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Though at times this book has seemed pretty dry to me, the chapter on true Biblical conversion really rocked my world.

The main thought: We all know there is some contingency of people in our churches that are not converts. However, we are becoming increasingly numb to the fact that there are many more people in our congregations who think that they are converts, but are not. Therefore raising the total number of unregenerate people in our midst!

Why does this rock my world? Because when the worship team leaves the stage on any given Sunday that the crowd participation is sub par, the common phrase used to describe that situation is this: “Man, what was up with them today…they were dead!” Oh how true that statement is…within in our crowd on any given Sunday, is a great number of DEAD people…no pulse, no breath…merely corpses!

So why are we surprised at a lack of response from our people? Can we expect anything more out of a lifeless being? We cannot cause them to come to life…and creating puppets that clap when we tell them too is fruitless. We have to open our mouths and let the gospel go forth! We have to pray diligently! But the actual act of breathing life into dead people…only Christ can do that!

So, I’m not going to be depressed because everyone didn’t raise their hands when we sang the song Unchanging and it tells us to “raise up holy hands.” I’m going to open my mouth, let the gospel go forth, pray for God to do what only He can, then sit back and wait on God.

Thunder

I love what the Message says in John 1:23…in more conservative versions you hear John the Baptist say “I am the voice of one calling in the desert…make straight the way of the Lord.” Then you have the glorious Message version: “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’" I love that…THUNDER. Clear. Concise. No ambiguity.

It makes me think of our roles as worship leaders in the church…are we thunder in the desert? Or are we merely a voice, drowned out by all the other voices of our culture? Our people walk in each week and a battle is raging for their worship. A thunderous approach may be the very avenue needed to break open the haze of mediocre worship that their lives are prone to be characterized by. You can’t mistake thunder…especially a loud clap of thunder. There are times when thunder hits that it actually shakes my entire house, causes my dog to bark, and moves my kids to tears.

As worship leaders, do we come each Sunday wanting to thunder about the greatness of King Jesus or are we more concerned about “being heard?” There’s a difference. Our lives should thunder about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That’s what we shout about…that’s what we sing about…When we stand on Sundays to lead people, it will be clear who we serve, and our proclamation can be a voice or a thunder. I want to live a life that thunders about the one whose sandals I’m not worthy to untie.

A Lesson From My 3 Year Old

So my wife is pregnant with our 3rd little baby! We already have two little girls and they're rocking my world. I never dreamed I would do so many pony tails...even the little "bam bam" ones on my 15 month old! Anyhow, my wife was battling some morning sickness this evening, so I thought I'd try to put both the girls down by myself.

Well, I got their teeth brushed, their milk ready and their dolls in hand. I started with the youngest and asked my 3 year old to stay out in the living room with mommy. She laid on the couch with mommy and I was off to the nursery with the little one. The kiddos sleep in different rooms, but we keep all the clothes in the nursery.

So I finished with little girl and came to get big girl from mommy. I started to put her pajamas on and quickly realized that the pajama bottoms were left in the nursery. Well, if you have little ones, you pretty much know the shrieking that you are in for if you return the room before they have fallen asleep. But I had a plan...

I left her top on and remembered there was a pair of green bottoms in the laundry room. So, I grabbed them, got her dressed, said our prayers, and then put her down for the night...fast forward 10 minutes.

I hear crying from her room along with my name thrown in a few times. Not a usual happenstance, so I thought I should check on her. I walk in and she's standing up, right in front of the door looking up at me. I say, "what's the deal?" She looks down in great disappointment and then looks back at me and says... "Papi, my pajamas don't match." She was heartbroken...

This is not uncommon for my daughter...she is a creature of habit and there are certain things that must be in place for her to go to bed. They are small things, but oh so necessary. So it got me thinking...

How do we respond when things aren't ideal...when our pajamas don't match? Do we stand there crying and whining because our world has been interrupted? Are we immobilized until things return to "normal?" Am I really any different than my 3 year old?

Is God Better Than Sex?

Love to know your thoughts on this video. Piper knocks it out of the ballpark and pretty much nails our culture. If there's any question that he may be missing the mark a little bit, just go look at all the comments under the video on YouTube.

Chew on This...

Wow! This is a terribly convicting quote, but one that really resonates with me right now. Seems that even Scotland in the 1800’s struggled with some of the same issues we face here in wonderful Suburbia of 2007. Pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne says:

I am concerned for the poor, but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day…I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians, because they don not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudging at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity.

Ouch…

In the same breath…I received a poster from John Piper this week to promote his book Don’t Waste Your Life. All it said in big bold letters was “GOD SAVE US FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM.”

Thoughts on all this?

Howl at the Moon!

So recently I went to San Antonio for vacation with my family. My wife and I cruised up to stay a night there, not realizing that you should probably have a hotel reservation if you’re driving up there on a Saturday. We did end up finding a place to stay…in Austin.

Anyhow, we ate on the Riverwalk…as everyone should when visiting. Afterwards, we began our quest for a place we could sit and relax for the rest of the night. After spending an incredible night at Pat O’Brien’s in New Orleans 6 years ago, we have longed to see another great dueling piano show.

So we swung by Pat O’Briens on the Riverwalk to see if they had the show. They did…but oh, so not New Orleans. Then Mel saw an ad for a place called Howl at the Moon. We went to the tourist center (across from the Alamo) to find out more about this other dueling piano show. They ended up telling us where it was and gave us free tickets if we went before 10 p.m.

Well, it was good we got there before 10 because we were able to actually get a chair! That placed filled up in no time and the show was on. From Jesse’s Girl (for my wife) to Piano Man (for me), we spent the night singing some of our favorite tunes along with about 200 other patrons. These musicians were pretty stinking amazing!

Upon leaving, we realized just how popular this place was. When we arrived, we walked right in and to our seat…as we exited, there was a line of about 100 people that wrapped around the block. Wow.

So, this little story serves to preface my point…we saw all kinds of worship that night! Now most of the worship was directed to inappropriate places, but it was worship indeed.

The people worshiped the boos that made their pain go away. They worshiped the song. There was worship directed towards the various military branches of our armed forces (not that I don’t value what they do…please don’t misunderstand me here). Some worshiped sports teams and colleges. Others worshiped half dressed women who could “shake it.”

Everyone was captivated by something…myself included. I was captivated by the sheer musicianship of these people onstage, wondering why they don’t use it for the kingdom.

Why do we settle? Why are we so prone to worship things that have no eternal value and end up leaving us wanting more? Why are we more captivated by people than we are by the person of Jesus Christ?

CS Lewis says it with even more eloquence and conviction:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Randomness...

My wife recently did this on her blog and she has lovingly tagged me to make an entry on mine. I’m sure these statements will revolutionize your thinking and will most likely cause you to visit my blog regularly for more of this good stuff!

10 Random Things About Me

1. If something falls on the floor in my house (i.e. kids toy), I am very prone to pick it up with my feet rather than waste all that energy on bending over to pick it up with my hands.
2. If no one was watching, I would drink a whole can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk in one sitting.
3. When I watch Seinfeld episodes, I don’t laugh. Really…I don’t know why. It’s just not funny to me.
4. When I watch Friends episodes for the 100th time, I laugh just as hard as I did the first time.
5. I sometimes still think that a check for a very large amount will just show up in my mailbox. I sort through it expectantly, but have yet to receive one.
6. When I was a kid, I used to watch MTV religiously waiting for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video to come on. I would get really ticked off when they would instead play Weird Al’s “Eat It.”
7. Since 9/11, I check the news about 20 times a day. CNN is my homepage.
8. Since 9/11, I think twice before I go somewhere without my cell phone.
9. I think JC Penny’s and Target sell some of the coolest clothes for guys.
10. I think Chick-Fil-A has trumped every other fast food chain on milkshakes…and the word “handspun” just makes it taste better for some reason.

Worship and Hardwood Floors

“If we only trust Christ to give us gifts and not himself as the all-satisfying gift, then we do not trust him in a way that honors him as our treasure. We simply honor the gifts. They are what we really want, not him. So biblical faith in Jesus must mean that we trust him to give us what we need most—namely, himself. That means that faith itself must include at its essence a treasuring of Christ above all things.” –John Piper, from the book Don’t Waste Your Life

There are many facets of this quote that cause great conviction in my heart.

One, if I believe this quote to be true (I do), then any sinful sense of material entitlement that I think I have is shattered to pieces.

Two, I hate to think that I honor the gifts he gives me…I would never “literally” bow down and worship my hardwood floors he graced us with in our house. (If you have small children, you know what a blessing these are!) However, when I see those words “honor the gifts,” my heart cringes! When I hold tight to those things instead of clinging to Christ, I am in essence bowing down and worshipping a lesser God…regardless of whether my physical demonstration of that worship is evident or not.

Three, the line between want and need is so blurry in our culture.

Four, would I still worship and follow Christ from here on out if I never received one more physical “blessing” or gift?

This book “Don’t Waste Your Life” is rocking my world. I highly encourage you to pick it up. You can even read it online for free by clicking HERE.

I look at the years of my life leading up to this point and see how many I wasted on trivial things. I don’t want to meet Christ face to face and say that I spent more of the resources he gave me on things of this world than I did on things of his kingdom. That would be a waste of my worship. It would be a waste of this life that is simply “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

The Worship Industry

Hmmm...good stuff here. I know McLaren has some strong critics for the stances he has taken recently, but this is a great video that The Work of the People put together with his thoughts on the Worship Industry.

Only Doug Heffernan...

There are few things that can move me to such a spiritual experience like Doug Heffernan on the keys...

God Spoke Through a Spinach Salad

I was recently at one of my favorite lunch time establishments enjoying what could possibly be termed the world’s best salad. Up until about a month ago, I really thought that a salad of this caliber only existed at one place called Café Express. However, that salad has now been trumped and is at a distant second in comparison to this one. I could go into great detail here, but let’s just say this is a man’s salad…complete with meat and potatoes!

Anyhow, I was sitting down with a book and my salad and enjoying each minute. I remember nearing the end of the plate and setting aside what was surely going to be the premier bite of salad…saving it for that last delectable mouthful. (If you like food as much as I do, this is a normal practice.) You want whatever the last bite is to just linger there for a while, not to be washed down by any sorry drink of water.

So there it was…the final bite, full of all kinds of goodies. I thought, I’ll read one more paragraph and then sit back and enjoy that small piece of heaven on a fork. Then it happened…while I was reading my book, the waitress dropped my check off and proceeded to pick up my plate and tell me that she was glad I enjoyed the meal. My heart, stomach and taste buds all sank at the same time!

I couldn’t stop her, cause then I would look like the fat guy that just can’t stop eating. Yet, I’m sure the utter disappointment showed all over my face… “I can’t believe she’s going to really take that plate…the last bite…the one I was cherishing…waiting for!”

And so it was…GONE! I left that restaurant very disgruntled. What was shaping up to be an incredible lunch in a great atmosphere turned tragic. Not to mention that the 2nd to last bite had only a green bean and a piece of lettuce without any dressing on it. Therefore, what was to be the 2nd to last bite became the last bite. So that’s the flavor that was left in my mouth…a green bean. How depressing.

Then it hit me on my drive back to the office…how often do I savor the word of God as I savored that spinach salad? (not very often.) Do I get as angry when something disrupts my time with God? (not usually.) Do I long for His Word to linger in my heart the way I wanted that salad to linger on my taste buds? (not really.)

We’re all so prone to finding greater joy in God’s creations than in the Creator Himself. I love that He thought of Spinach Salads with Meat and Potatoes…just for guys like me. However, my heart needs to find its satisfaction in His all surpassing greatness! I’m on a journey in that direction…I just have to watch out for the last bites of Spinach Salad that are destined to steal my heart’s affection.

The Good Soldier

Below is a video that is causing a major stir in cyberspace. It's from one of my favorite pastors Mark Driscoll. After watching, I'd love to know your comments. I may comment after everyone else as to not skew people's thoughts.

Love Bites

Oh yeah…the old Def Leppard tune. I was huge into Def Leppard when I was a kid…especially during "fast skate" at the roller rink! (Not to mention a few other hair bands that we’ll save for a later discussion)

However, the title jumped in my head when I was thinking through the past 5 years of our church. I think it would be a fair assumption to say that we as a church staff love our people! However, over the past few years, I think collectively, we have hurt more people than I can stand to count.

It seems like every time I turn around, we’ve hurt somebody. Sometimes it’s people we deeply care for and have been journeying with for quite some time. Do I think we ever intentionally set out to hurt people? No. I would wager to say an emphatic “NO.” I know these guys pretty well and I don’t think anyone around here sits in there office thinking about how they can really “stick it to” somebody…especially someone they love.

So why is it that so many have been hurt in the short existence of our little church? I would say mainly because our love is not perfect. We may have every intention of communicating love to our people, but we miss the mark quite a few times. I believe all my fellow staffers are great at owning their mistakes and trying to move on from that point. Again, not perfect, but I do see intentionality in that area.

Another reason I think so many have been hurt is because we are prone to misunderstand the definition of love. “Romantic Love” like we see on TV and in the movies pretty much distorts our reality. All we see is this myth that love is a warm embrace, a long kiss, and beautifully crafted words strung together.

Back to reality…those words and warm embrace don’t do anything for me when I’m getting ready to walk in front of a speeding Mack Truck. “Biblical Love” steps in and says…dude, there’s a large Mack Truck coming your way…you should consider your next step.

Finally, I think that one of our worst relational enemies is what I’ve heard some term as the “ladder of inference.” Somebody does or says something that doesn’t quite sit well with us…and then we begin this subtle ascent up the “ladder of inference.” We begin to “infer” what may not really be there. Step 1 – I can’t believe she said that… Step 2 – I would never say anything like that… Step 3 – She really doesn’t like me… Step 4 – Why should I even try at this relationship? Step 5 – I’m out of here…

I try not to make my blogs too long because it can be sort of daunting to see a lot of text…so I know there is much more we can say about this. However, I know this…in order to be in real community with each other, we have to realize that sometimes love does bite. (Sometimes with intentional truth and other times with unintentional neglect) Regardless, we have to extend grace if we want our relationships to have any sort of depth or longevity.

Why?

A buddy of mine blogged a while back with just a list of "why" questions. It's probably a short cut for blogging, but it actually is stuff that runs through my mind on a regular basis. Some of it might be spiritual in nature...other stuff is quite possibly just complete nonsense. Some of these...probably most of these, I don't have answers for.

1. Why am I fascinated by watching bowling on TV?
2. Why am I even more fascinated by watching fishing on TV?
3. Why did I not try out for American Idol?
4. Why are some worship guys weird? Really...
5. Why does there have to be conflict?
6. Why do I like food the way I do?
7. Why isn't Jack Bauer actually a real person?
8. Why does my Pastor keep putting books on my desk to read?
9. Why don't I start putting CD's on my pastor's desk?
10. Why don't I like to read like my Pastor likes to read?
11. Why are there worship conferences?
12. Why do I wish I lived somewhere else, but year after year I stay in Houston?
13. Why do I have a problem sitting still enough to hear God?
14. Why do we judge other churches and their approach to reaching people?
15. Why do we call the time before the pastor speaks "worship."
16. Why don't I try to teach our people that worship is more than the 15 minutes before the pastor speaks?
17. Why does lighting make such a big difference in my ability to connect with God?
18. Why don't some people like coffee?
19. Why do people like tea?
20. Why do I laugh really hard at Cingular, Geico, and Budweiser commercials?
21. Why am I not as perceptive as my wife?
22. Why didn't I buy stock in Starbucks like 10 years ago?
23. Why do people still "yahoo?"
24. Why am I certain that Google and Starbucks will one day merge?
25. Why don't I know enough about "code" to make my blog look the way I want it to?

Figure that's enough for now...I could go on for quite a while, so I might do this every once in a while...you know, fills the gap when you haven't blogged in a month...if you call posting a video "blogging."

Sex Ed Video

This is hilarious...LifeChurch.Tv is doing these promos for their new series. Since our church is currently in a series called Sexual Revolution, this video really peaked my interest. Check it out...

Do You Tip Your Hat?

I was totally blown away by a passage I read today by one of my favorite preachers. I am a Charles Spurgeon fanatic, so I love to chew on his writings quite frequently when I sit down to read.

Today he expounded a bit on Psalm 34:2

“My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad.”

Spurgeon says that boasting in God should be a “holy glorifying and extolling the Most High with words sought out with care that might magnify His blessed name.” I love the line “sought out with care.” How often do we speak flippantly with words of rote and repetition about an awe inspiring God? How “boastful” is that? It’s more a tip of the hat…a lack of boasting…quite possibly boasting in ourselves because we’re glorifying our apathetic attitude towards a Holy God.

Instead, could we come to God with “words sought out with care” because we have sat and soaked up the presence of this infinite God we serve? When God comes and shows various facets of His character to us, it should increase our boasting in Him and the words we choose to articulate that. Our “worship vocabulary” should be growing in proportion to our relationship with Him.

The effects of boasting in the Lord are seen here in the scripture above… “the humble (down trodden, weak, struggling, hurting, poor, wavering…etc.) hear it and are glad!” Our boasting in the Lord has an effect on people…our worship to God helps move others to worship. But how many people are moved by a mere regurgitation of religious banter? Let’s allow our spoken worship to God to be influenced by fresh encounters that come from “tasting and seeing that the Lord is good!”

Winds of Change

So the worship team at Crossbridge is definitely in the midst of a new season. Something I began to realize nearly 6 years ago is that my worship team will constantly be in flux. For so many years I wanted to have my select few musicians that led I worship with and that was it. Basically we were a band...but God began to show me that within the context of the local church, that might not be the best approach. For one reason, it often lends itself towards exclusivity, all the while there are many talented musicians and worshipers in the church whose strengths aren't utilized cause we "already have our 5 people to make up our band." I also began to watch people go through their various seasons of life...marriage, babies, job transfers and etc. This typically led to someone leaving our team/band.

So, for the past 5 years, we've instituted rotations and have increased the size of our team from about 7 to nearly 25. I do often miss how musically "tight" a band can be...but I wouldn't trade what God has done in our midst through all these various people!

So here we are again...for some reason God is moving people out of our worship ministry. I am always amazed to see what He brings our way when there are departures! I hate to see people leave, but when the winds of change begin to blow, I now become more excited than scared. God is up to something...don't know what it is, but I'm in for the ride.

What is our response when winds of change blow? Often times these seasons can bring some of our deepest moments of worship. As I stated in a previous blog...no matter what, our proper response is always worship!

Evergreen Monty King!

So we've totally ripped off a video idea from the guys at amturian.com. They've created a fictional character named Larry Linguist that is basically "the guy that starts services." We contacted them about possibly making some personalized videos for Crossbridge, but we heard no response. So...we took matters into our own hands and created Hugh Durlam...the guy that starts Crossbridge Services. Here is our second installment.

Worship for Men

So my pastor Chuck Land sent me this link while I was on vacation. It really threw me for a loop and had me thinking all weekend about worship as it relates to the men in our church. The article was from a website called Church for Men and you can read it by clicking HERE. This will be the premise for the rest of my post today.

I agree with about 95% of David Murrow's article on worship leading in a way that draws the men of the church into the experience. I believe flamboyance and feminine guys leading worship have been a major turn-off to men as this new wave of "contemporary/progressive" worship movement has taken off. I think if we wanted to see Elton John we'd go to his concert and see the real thing...he's the best at flamboyance and musical excellence. Don't really find a place for it in worship leading though.

However, couple things I disagree with Mr. Murrow on...

• If you’re looking to hire a worship pastor, consider a non-musician. Hire a person with a gift for creative communication. Let him gather musicians. I know this sounds crazy, but I believe that the definition of worship will be greatly expanded in the coming century as the church recovers more of what it means to give glory to the King.

I say you have to be very careful about this one. If you take culture into consideration, the music scene is one of the most scrutinized areas...and alongside movies and sports events, it can hold it's own when it comes to crowd appeal. And when an artist goes live now...everyone wants to see if he or she is as good as they sound on the CD (very few are...couple exceptions - Dave Matthews, Amos Lee, Norah Jones, the Corrs, and India Arie to name some.) When everything we do in church now is put up against the standard of what people hear on the radio or see in concert...the bar is pretty high. At least in suburbia where I minister, many people will first determine whether or not they listen to the message based on the package it's delivered in. Does that mean we let culture define us? No, we take culture into consideration...culture doesn't put out shoddy music. Putting a non-musician in leadership over worship in our culture could lead to a completely irrelevant worship ministry. It might work in some parts of the country, but I don't think you can use it as a general rule of thumb when hiring a worship pastor. I would modify Murrow's statement to say that you should hire a well rounded musician that can gather quality musicians and still bring a solid biblical approach to worship. This well rounded musician could actually surround him/herself with more "left-brained" guys to help bring some of these other elements out that Murrow discusses.

• And finally, the big one: Keep songs short and non-repetitive. I know this goes against everything they say at Hillsong and the Passion Movement, but the men will love you for it.

This is totally a subjective comment...no merit. All it says is "the men will love you for it." I'm not an advocate for beating a song to death until people respond the way you want them to either. However, man or woman, repetition allows someone to own a song. I do prefer to repeat a song over a couple weeks to allow people to get it as opposed to doing it 16 times in one service. Usually by the third week, the people know it and can "own the lyrics" as they sing them. There may be a fundamental difference between mine and Murrow's worship philosophy that causes a break down here. I'm ok with that...you just can't drop a line like that with nothing to back it up. Repetition is necessary for people to learn songs...and it seems that in Revelation there is quite a bit of repetition...something about "Holy, Holy, Holy..."

Sweet Vacation and Blue Christmas!

Well, vacation time is here! I'm not one of those guys that takes his 2 weeks vacation all together. I like to split it up into two "one week" vacations. The longer I am in full time ministry, the more I realize that I can run hard for about 5-6 months, then I need a break. So I typically do a vacation in July around my wife's birthday and another in November around our anniversary. I think if I ever took both weeks together, I'd probably start working midway through vacation. I just start getting the itch to get back to it after a week of so. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to spending the week investing in my family, getting some extra sleep, and hopefully seeking after God! I'm so prone to take a vacation from God when I go on a work vacation...I need much more discipline in that area!

I'm really excited about the Christmas season this year at Crossbridge. In December, we are starting a series called Blue Christmas. Our pastor Chuck Land will be looking at how anxiety, depression, and anger typically show up during this time of year. But more than that, we'll be looking at what the Scriptures say about dealing with those emotions. Bringing it back to the worship side...it will be interesting to see how God works through worship this season. My prayer is that we will be pointing our people and those visiting to the God of hope that is Jesus Christ! In a season where depression and suicide rates are at a peak, my desire is that we paint the biggest picture of our God that we can! I don't think that can be done by singing Christmas Carols...White Christmas just doesn't do the trick. I'll save that for my other blog on how I struggle to put Christmas songs in the service during Christmas time. (I'm not the Grinch...I just have some strong convictions about worship and Christmas songs...we'll discuss it later!)

So, I hope to do some blogging over my vacation...but if I don't, I'll talk to all three of you that read this blog when I return!

Competition…is there a place for it on my team?

Oh yes…competition. I love the topic and I love to see people squirm when we talk about it in the context of ministry. So squirm away friends, we’re going to dance inside the fire a little bit here.

My current worship team has been nearly 2 deep on every instrument/vox for the past 2 years. Same as with our sound and media teams. Since we have moved to this system, it has been interesting to watch the dynamics that have played out among our very artsy (sometimes emotional) worship team constituents. As with any team, you have some very strong players and some that are still developing…both are necessary and each plays a significant role on our team. Naturally, some of these “differences” will begin to be noticeable…mainly from the perspective that I will use my strongest players to the tip top of their capabilities. I won’t back down from that…it’s the only way our ministry is going to grow. Not to mention, when you lead a volunteer based music program, you start realizing that quality musicians attract other quality musicians. A great musician will play for free if they find it to be an enjoyable and excellent atmosphere. I am also convinced that no one is going to be on my team forever, so I have to keep a system in place that feeds itself…constantly raising up new people.

Now then…since there are times when some musicians serve functions on our team that others don’t, that usually leads to a little competition. No one likes to call it that, but it’s blaringly obvious to me. What I am noticing is that our team is better for the competition. The strong players get stronger and the weaker ones rise up as well. Obviously, each team member has to constantly keep their motives in check, but I really believe everyone on the team comes to Sunday morning with a heart to see people encounter God. They know that that is the end goal…however, when it comes to bettering themselves as musicians, there is a mixed bag of motives that is inevitable.

I don’t think there is any scriptural reference on competition…though I know there’s plenty on coveting. My hope is that our team members will avoid coveting, but hopefully be spurred on by the dedication shown by other team members. Coveting someone’s gifting will only lead to dark places, but recognizing that they have spent time crafting their gift can encourage us to craft our gifting. There is work involved in that…even incredibly gifted people have to work to better themselves.

In the end, hopefully each person is becoming more skillful at their role…that will in turn take the level of the organization up a notch…and hopefully leading to great places of worship on a regular basis!

I think I could go on for a part 2 of this discussion, but we’ll stop there for now…

A Fresh Approach to Old Songs

One of the hardest parts about leading worship is how to keep things fresh even though we rotate some of the same songs a hundred times! A goal for worship leaders is to allow our people to be moved by songs that moved us long ago. Below is an exerpt from Kathryn Scott's (Writer of Hungry) blog. I think she has some great thoughts here that we should keep in mind as we work with our teams. Enjoy

LEADING WORSHIP: Putting an Arrangement Together

It's been a while since I wrote about leading worship - so I thought this might be helpful.

I think that arranging a song is one of the most exciting things about leading worship (apart from actually getting to see people express their hearts to God!) The reason is, that you can take a song that people have heard a hundred times before, and breath new life into it, just by the way you play it. It's also one of the most daunting things too - because where do you begin?

Here are some thoughts that might help you get started on the road of creativity again....

When I choose a song, I play it over a few times by myself. I'm trying to find hooky rifs that I can play on the piano that might freshen it up a little, and I'm looking for a 'feel' or 'vibe' that might suit it. Then I take it to the band and say very roughly what I'm looking for - sometimes, I just don't know until we start to play it together.

As a band, we play it through a couple of times, and each time through, I'll be telling the guys individually what I'm liking (maybe the bass player has hit on a great line, or I love what the drummer is doing in a certain place), and we build from there. Once we've got the general idea, we start thinking about 'shape' - in other words, the layout of the song as we are going to play it - where we are putting the verses, where we'll sing choruses, and how many etc... and we write down a rough guide, or 'road map' down the side of the chord sheet so that we don't forget. It also means that we can start thinking through 'light and shade', the dynamics of how we are going to play, and then write it in on our road map too... (it's amazing how many things you forget unless you write them down :)

Some things to watch out for are, be careful not to overplay - it can sound pretty messy if everyone plays everything from the beginning to the end of a song. Maybe you could come in at different parts of the song (the bass coming in on the pre chorus for example, with the hi-hat during the chorus, and then full drums in verse 2) - or, if it's a really big song, everyone coming in at the beginning, and then cutting right back for the first verse. There are so many ways to do things. My advice is to listen to songs you really love, and try and think about how they have been recorded - where do instruments play, how do they play, when do they drop out... The other thing - especially in leading worship - is to remember that the arrangement must serve the song - if it's too creative, the congregation might just miss the reason why you've put all the work in - they might get totally distracted by the band, and forget that it's all about reconnection with God.

Worship Fueled by Obedience

Have you ever felt like your daily worship is completely void of any transcendent connection to God? You walk day in and day out without any sort of divine revelation or spiritual nudge concerning small or large matters. Often times I find that these days leave me clouded and poised to make both common and critical decisions without any thought to what might be pleasing to God.

That leads me to the topic of discussion today…obedience. What role if any, does our obedience play in our acts of worship to God? If one merely sees worship as an emotional experience that happens when the music and lighting are just right on a Sunday morning, then our lack of Godward obedience could possibly never impede our worship. However, if we look at worship through the Romans 12 lens, then we would see that every act of obedience is in turn an act of worship to God. In addition, if we see our corporate worship gatherings as a place to outwardly express our worship to God from the overflow of an obedient life of worship, then how deep and how rich will that worship experience be!

Sometimes I’m able to use my Sunday morning worship experience as a sort of “obedience barometer” for my life. It is often very apparent to me when my lack of obedience is hindering my worship to God. There is a disconnect…short circuit…a real spiritual heaviness. It is almost as if I am not released to worship. Why? Because I am bound up by thoughts and problems that disturb my posture of worship. It says in Ecclesiastes 7:29, “God made man simple; man’s complex problems are of his own devising.” When there is a definitive dark cloud over my worship to God, most likely there is an obedience issue on my part that is of my “own devising.”

So where do we go from here? Search it out…come to grips with reality. I find that most often, I am well aware of where the disobedience lies. I just prefer to live in denial. Sometimes there is fear when I think about obeying...fear of the unknown or fear of losing control. Andy Stanley says this about our fear…

“You’re afraid. So what? Everybody’s afraid. Fear is the common ground of humanity. The question you must wrestle to the ground is, “Will I allow my fear to bind me to mediocrity?”

I recently saw an incredible picture of a person whose worship was fueled by obedience. Because I knew this person’s story, watching her worship on Sunday morning blew me away. Walking through the murky waters that lead to obedience, she finally relinquished control and obeyed what God was calling her to. That very weekend in our morning services, I saw her stand; arms open wide in complete worship to God. She was the only one standing…uncaring of her surroundings and unbridled in her worship. Why…because she was free! She stepped out and obeyed…and from the overflow of an obedient lifestyle came a worship experience like none other!

A Proper Response

The staff at my church is currently going through a book entitled “The Bible in 90 Days.” A bit daunting I might say! I had to catch my breath when Chuck laid it on the table in front of me and said, “We’ll be doing this over the next few months.” At the stage of life I’m in right now (2 year old girl and 2 month old girl), it was a bit overwhelming. Needless to say…I have since invented the “Bible in 180ish days” reading plan. And I’m right on track…

So, I’m plowing through Genesis and come across a rather insignificant character in the story. So insignificant was he that scripture doesn’t even tell his name. However, his role was huge…He was the senior servant under Abraham. After Sarah had passed away, Abraham was trying to find a wife for his son Isaac. He sent this “senior servant” with specific orders about finding a wife for his son.

Upon arriving to his destination, the servant immediately began to pray. “God, I need you to be really clear about this one. This is something I don’t want to mess up” …he then begins to outline a very detailed series of events that this girl would do/say in order that he would know that she’s the one God is providing. The scriptures say in Genesis 24 that he had barely finished getting the words out of his mouth and there the girl was. Her name was Rebekah and she fulfilled all the “conditions” this servant had asked God for.

Now, here’s where the story really began to grab me…I noticed that twice in the story, God came through for this servant in a big way. First, He immediately showed Rebekah to the servant as soon as he finished praying. Then he put it in the hearts of her and her parents to let her go with him to be with Isaac. When both of these events were finished, there is a line in the passage that I love. It says “At this, the man bowed down in worship before God.”

It was then that I began to feel this overwhelming sense that I have been missing God in worship. So many times I see God move in my midst and I refuse to respond. This “senior servant” couldn’t help but respond…so much so that he bowed and worshiped. It’s kind of hard for me to put my arms around that thought that he would just drop to his knees right there before Rebekah’s parents because they said yes. But that was his response, and outward expression of an inward reality.

So why is it that we are so prone to pitiful responses to the work of God? Have we become so dull and calloused that when he does something in our midst we’re hardly moved? Is it that we live life with a sense of entitlement? As if He owes us something? “Well it’s about time God…don’t understand what took you so long.” I want deeply to be in a place where I see God moving all around me. Not only Him moving, but my heart moving in response to Him. My physical posture should be affected by an inward reality that my life is in the hands of Almighty God. My family should see a dad and a husband that notices the work of God and then responds appropriately. My church should have confidence that Sunday morning worship times are a response to a magnificent God and not just a mere musical tip of the hat.

Turn it all off...

I find myself in this place on a regular basis…how do I train myself to be in a place to “hear” God? I want to be the kind of man that knows the sound of His voice. What I have been learning lately is that the more I am familiar with His voice in times of silence and solitude, the more I am able to recognize his voice when things in the world are screaming all around me. When both of my girls that are in diapers are crying…I can still hear his voice. When I’m in the midst of an argument with my wife and I’m fighting to get my way…I can hear His voice reminding me that our relationship is an illustration and that I am to love her as Christ loves the church. On the church worship side of things…the more I can hear Him speak in the midst of a worship set, telling me “say this…sing this…encourage them to worship me…don’t say anything…let them sit still for a second and soak Me in…

As I read one of Mark Driscoll’s articles on addictions to noise , I was reminded of just how important it is to find time to be in silence. Being a worship pastor, I am always listening to music…from secular to Christian and Broadway to Jazz…I love it all. Ok…I’m really not a fan of rap, but I do like the Fresh Prince of Bellaire. (Should have kept that one to myself!)

I am so prone to turn music on for the sake of “learning” what could be incorporated into the Sunday morning experience. But over the past few months, I have found my soul is thirsty for the chance to turn it all off. When I get in the car…it’s my little escape from all the noise and my chance to tune into God.

What more could we as Pastors have to offer our people than an intimate relationship with Christ? My pastor Chuck says he likes to come each Sunday with “fresh bread.” If I can’t hear God, I’ll have no fresh bread to offer our people…it will be stale worship that is based on past experiences watered down with time. But when I shut it all off…His voice becomes clearer and clearer. However, it is an act of the will for me to be obedient and put myself in environments where I can be quiet before the Lord. It won’t just happen.

The Barber Shop Church

Saturday I went to the barber shop for my monthly trim…since my hair is so short, it doesn’t take long for me to start looking a little shaggy…my wife is always quick to point out my need to visit the barber.

I have found a little treasure here in Sugar Land/Richmond…Oscar’s Barber Shop. If you’re a man, you may be able to relate to me here. If you’re a man that is “folically challenged” or one that shaves your head not just because it’s in style…I hope you hear me when I say...I’m glad I still get to go to the barber. Now, back to my point…the disappearance of real barber shops is becoming quite alarming. No longer can a man just drop a $10 bill and walk out with a positive haircut experience. Instead, we’re flooded with all the mainstream wannabe barber shops like TGF and Sports Clips. If we don’t choose these…we’re left with the not so masculine privately owned “salons.” This is very disheartening for a guy who grew up going to the classic barber shop on a regular basis. After years of searching…I have found Oscar’s on Hwy 90 at 99. Incredible…you walk in and there’s lots of wood…already feeling very masculine. Wooden frame mirrors…big oak counters like you would see at a Bass Pro Shop or something like that. And Nolan Ryan memorabilia everywhere....what guy doesn’t like Nolan Ryan? Remember that time he got in a fight when Robin Ventura charged the mound. Nolan landed six “seasoned” punches on that poser. What a beautiful day in baseball history!

Anyway, there’s lots of dudes here too…not dudes that make you feel uncomfortable when they run their hands through your hair…but dudes that might kick your butt if you looked at them wrong. Then there’s Oscar…sort of the Granddad of all barbers. He’s not in the first chair when you walk in…but instead the very last one. The first one would insinuate that easy access to him is permissible. Oh no…if you want your hair cut by Oscar, you either make an appointment, wait until Oscar is ready, or get the luck of the draw while waiting in line. Now let me tell you…a haircut by any of these guys is a quality experience in grooming…they go the distance. You can guarantee that they’ll bust out the warm shaving cream and straight razor at the end to really give that clean cut. Then out comes the chrome plated hand massager, cheap aftershave, and good ole’ white barber shop powder…don’t even know what that stuff is, but it has a smell all its own. This whole experience usually takes about 45 minutes…

A haircut with Oscar on the other hand…well, let’s just say on Saturday, some guy was getting his hair cut with Oscar…two men got their haircut before Oscar was ever finished with this guy. So I watched the master at work…he was definitely not in a hurry. And the client had plenty of hair to cut…he had a full head of hair and a big audacious gotee. So I look over and there’s Oscar trimming up his gotee with great precision. I’m thinking, well this is almost over…then I look and the guy is fully reclined in his chair and Oscar is giving him a full shave with a straight razor and warm shaving cream. After that, a hot towel over his face for 5 minutes…45 minutest later the guy is still there…this time Oscar looks down and notices chest hair coming out the collar of his shirt. “Would you like that trimmed?” he asked… “Of course” …the guy doesn’t want to look like a wolf…needless to say; I think Oscar got a pretty huge tip after this haircut.

How does this all parallel with the church…God set up an order for the church to operate under, much like the barber shop. If the church was a one man show…the lead pastor would be tending to every person that walks through the door. There’s no possible way he could do that…so he hires a couple guys to help out...they end up tending to as many as they can…but there’s no way they could handle every person in the church. So they begin to raise up other leaders as well…and this process continues to replicate.

When it comes to the Pastoral Care of the church…there are certain people that require the attention of the lead pastor…much like the very hairy guy at the barber shop required the craft of a skilled barber. But obviously, everyone can’t meet, have lunch with, or counsel with the lead pastor. If he were to meet with everyone…he couldn’t possibly lead the church effectively. Likewise, this trickles down to his other staff members…they too can only handle so many personal appointments. Eventually we have to be raising up other leaders to care for the body. Thus, we have the priesthood of the believer. Pastoral care of the church is put in the hands of many lay people that the church leadership has empowered. This frees the pastors/elders to operate in their biblical capacities while the body operates as it is supposed to. Are the lay people as equipped to handle major pastoral issues…sometimes…but at other times it does need to be referred to leadership. It’s so common in the local church for us to think that the lead pastors need to be our best friend and always there when we need to talk. The reality is that that is impossible. Just like I can’t walk into Oscar’s and demand that I be next in line for a hair cut with the head hair cutter.

This by all means is not an exhaustive commentary on the matter above, but just a quick glimpse…we could definitely go down some major trails of discussion here.

Have I ever had my haircut by Oscar…yes, I got lucky my second time to visit his shop. He was the only one working. We had a good talk about 25 years of haircutting, the Astros and lawn cutting. What a great way to spend an hour of my life!

Stepping back to 1720

Today I am sitting in the chapel of Mission San Jose in San Antonio Tx. A quiet little chapel in a mission that was built in 1720. I've sung in this particular chapel twice when I was in high school…brings back some memories. Everything in this building except the pew I’m sitting on is made of rock, slate, or some other petrified element. As old as everything in here looks…like the rusty chandelier that is above my head, I am confident that God is here with me now. Why am I reminded that He’s here now? There are pieces of antiquity all around, representing the faith of those who have come before me…then I look up at the “stage” area of this chapel, and there, bolted to the wall, is a column of Bose speakers! (as if they’re needed here, I cleared my throat and the sound went on for about 15 seconds) Slightly out of place these speakers…but just a reminder that God shows himself to every generation…He awaits our response to His revealed glory. People are filing past me as I type…some with zero reverence for such a cool place…and others you would think were waiting for the pope himself. Regardless, it serves as a great place for me to meet with God.

I just finished a long lunch with a friend and fellow worship pastor here in San Antonio. I like spending time with him because he has walked this road of being a worship pastor for much longer than I have. He’s one of those guys you’d like to have around at any given leadership crisis, put a quarter in the slot and wait for his answer. At the same time, doing something like that would totally repulse him, so he probably wouldn’t let that relationship exist. Regardless…I find that our occasional meetings are incredibly insightful and fruitful for me.

Today we talked about some of the ins and outs of worship ministry. Seems like he brings Zeph. 3 up quite a bit…probably be a good passage for me to become familiar with. As I look at it…heck if you look at the whole book…God is up to something. He’s putting to ruin those who despise him and leaving behind a remnant of faithful servants. Towards the end of Ch. 3 in the Message, he says this…

“In the end, I’ll turn things around for the people. I’ll give them a language undistorted, unpolluted, words to address God in worship and, united, to serve me “shoulder to shoulder” (NIV substitution). They’ll come from beyond the Ethiopian rivers, they’ll come praying – all my scattered, exiled people will come home with offerings for worship. You’ll no longer have to be ashamed of all those acts of rebellion. I’ll have gotten rid of your arrogant leaders. No more pious strutting on my holy hill! I’ll leave a core of people among you who are poor in spirit – what’s left of Israel that’s really Israel. They’ll make their home in God. This core holy people will not do wrong. They won’t lie, won’t use words to flatter or seduce. Content with who they are and where they are, unanxious, they’ll live at peace.”

Sometimes I think we get caught up thinking God doesn’t work this way anymore…but why wouldn’t He. He still cares about His fame and His renown. As ministries grow and His kingdom goes forward, He will continue to rid those who are going to distract from His vision. What’s left will be a core of people that are unswervingly devoted to the call of God, people who will lay their lives on the line for the gospel of Christ. Going to a worship team level…these are people who don’t get upset because you ask them to change the way they do/play/sing something. They don’t glare because you don’t put them up in the mix every week. They aren’t the ones that try to sing or play every time we stop rehearsing so you can “overhear” how good they sound and want to use them for a specific part. They aren’t the ones that come to rehearsal unprepared and looking for ways to hide the fact that they haven’t even listened to the music. Instead, what will be left are those who could care less about their own name or their own agenda, but rather, take on the “Kingdom” agenda. When we look at ministry with a Kingdom perspective; our personal preferences, perceptions, and expectations all fall to the ground. We take up the mighty vision of the Lion of Judah! He is incredibly strong and has utmost vigor for His own fame…ours is sure to take a back seat!