Good Advice is Good Advice is Good Advice

So little know fact, about to become larger known fact, is that i grew up at a large church called willow creek. This place taught me about my faith, it taught me about loving people, and it gave me excellent examples of how to do ministry well. So, since then i have worked at a small church (300) and then now again at a little bit larger church(2000) i feel i can say i have been around the block and seen what there is to see (so to speak, although i don't believe i have seen "all" there is to see, thank God for that).
The reason why i bring this up is because I have been getting relatively sick of hearing people bash mega churches, if you are one of those people.. shame on you, inspect the people, the heart instead of always complaining about another persons method. This is turning into more of a rant than it needs to be and to call people out actually wasn't ever my intention. But i was turned onto a site by my new boss Ryan Guard and found one article to be rather interesting as well as encouraging.
Here is just a blurb from it, of you want to read the entire thing check out
megaworship_vs_gymworship

but anyways here is the blurb, and i would love to hear what you think about this whole article as well as my post!


What the Church in a Gym Can Learn from the Megachurch

1. Small does not equal suck. Your people come to your church because they are in love with how Jesus Christ is shaping their lives through your ministry. Don't go half way. Strive for excellence in every facet of what you do, from band rehearsals to Sunday programming. Even a small shift in attention to detail can create a much better worship experience.

2. Bono has nothing on Mrs. Smith. Your volunteers are rock stars. Treat them that way. Shower them with praise and even go the extra mile by creating a space for them on Sundays to unwind and relax. A green room of sorts. It may be one more thing that you have to set up but they will feel the love when they get a room with Green M&Ms and a Wii while everyone else waits in a twenty-minute line for bad coffee.

3. Sally the bongo player. Look. Just because they can does not mean they should. I am a believer in doing a few things excellently rather than lots of things poorly. If you have a great worship leader and a bad drummer, have acoustic Sundays until you get a better drummer. Don't be scared to strip things down until you can pull things off excellently. Your people will thank you for it.

So there you go. I love the nine years I spent in a gym. I love the building God has given my community to worship in now. Both environments should celebrate where God has them while looking to each other for a shove in the right direction.

Carlos Whittaker

Oswald Chambers

I have been reading Oswald Chambers book: Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. Its been pretty good. I started taking notes on it and just writting down the quotes i felt were worth keeping. And now i have just finished over half of the small book (100 pages) and have about four pages worth of quotes. They are all short and inspirational, i probably will end up using some to help inspire worship and praise as well.



On thing i feel that is especially note worthy is the fact that while i am reading this, Chambers never once gives off the idea that these ideas are his interpretation of Scripture, but that he has just been in a sense translating and giving greater insight and allowing the reader to really feel what Christ was saying when he gave the sermon on the mount. this is a good book.

Worship understanding.

So i have recently been struggling with the idea of worship in a service. I feel that worship music is absolutely the most expressive thing that i have encountered. There are possibilities for joy, heartbreak, love, jealously, and so many different emotions which can come out when we sing to God. I know for me personally that i loose myself so often in the words and the music that i forget there are a few hundred kids depending on that next chord and word to loose themselves too.

When i was driving home last night i was listening to a Hillsong song, i forget which one now, but i remember thinking about expression and how when i hear something, a word of truth, i close my eyes and just rest in it. Its not something that i consciously do, which is why it excited me so much to finally realize that i do it, because i find it so appropriate. When i thought about it, even on stage i do it, i sing a line, or i know what i am about to say and I close my eyes and just rest in the truth of who God is. That is why last week when i was reading out a tozer book, Man : the Dwelling Place of God, I realized the importance of understanding what we are doing. The best way I can put what i am getting at is: The energy and dynamic of the music should not and can not dictate the response. We need to be careful as worship leaders that we hear truth and speak truth and that is what dictates the response. I don't mean this to say that the way in which the music is played is not important. Anyone who comes to a worship service in which i lead knows that the music and the dynamics and the energy in the song and all of the details of playing the music are aspects which i take into high consideration and use to help develop a stronger atmosphere in which true Uninhibited, All Abandoned Worship can take place. BUT to be clear, i do not think that these things are essential for real worship like this to take place.

The place we need to try and take people is a place where the energy and dynamics do not matter, if the congregation is not yet at this place then our jobs as worship leaders is to encourage and demonstrate. This then allows us all (the entire congregation) then to sing out with joy in either loud excited songs as well as soft quiet (yet joyful) songs as well as the loud laments along with the quiet ones. I feel that this conclusion i have now is another piece to a greater understanding in this area rather than "THE" piece. I'm curious to know what some of you pastors and worship leaders think about this? as i grow in my understanding it would be awesome to know how you have grow in yours.

So, This Is How It Is!

Today I am once again sitting in the library, this last week though has been one of a kind, and it would be sweet if i never had to live through another like it. But its so interesting to me to even see how God has been showing me whats going on in the midst of me being completely confused. I have no freakin' idea what the future holds and my answer when people ask is usually a shrug of the shoulders and some random noise. Last week, well... last week was no different, but i am beginning to see why its so important that i trust God. Not to say that i just realized the importance of Trusting God, but more that I re-realized the sever consequences of not trusting Him. During this time, where i know "absolutely nothing about anything" i know that if i hadn't been trusting that God knows what He is doing there would be no way I would have been Ok. I don't need to know whats going on all the time, its impossible to be all knowing, but trusting all the time that someone who is all knowing does know, thats comforting and makes things alright for me.

Well, I've been at work at Biola for about... well, a long time (I'm really tired and i cant remember how long I've been here). But now, i feel more awake, and don't really remember if I have been asleep here, or if i was actually awake.. thats not good right! So if you ever come into the Biola Library and see me asleep at reference, then do me a favor and wake me up nicely.

To Bless His Name?

I'm just kinda curious i guess, what people think that "blessing the name of the Lord" means. I was reading psalm 103 and it ends with a call for all creation to bless His name. What do you think it means?