pointe of worship

Cat's In The Cradle

It seems life is non-stop compromise. This morning I stopped by Verizon to look at a couple of their newest phones, the Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid. Both good phones, but neither had the "whole package". One had a strong operating system but was heavy and unattractively boxy, the other was slim and stylish but limited in technological flash. For me, the ultimate phone on the market is the iPhone. However, choosing the iPhone and its technological wonderland is not without compromise either! With Verizon I have great reception nearly anywhere I go along with excellent customer service, but to choose the iPhone means accepting the lackluster reception and less than satisfying customer service of AT&T.

A brief side-note: customer service is extremely important to me. Go to an Apple Store (the computers, not fruit) and before you reach the middle of the store you would have been greeted happily by no less than 2-3 employees. As a church, we must remember that visitors look at us like we are any other place of business. If we don't provide them with good customer service, they will likely not return. Remember that it is always easier to get someone in the door the first time than it is to convince them to return based on the promise that it will "get better", it's "good enough for church" or we just had an off-day.

Back to compromise...

Thankfully there is one thing in life that requires no compromise. If we stay mindful of God and choose to walk in his presence, we will never find ourselves in need. It is a broken world, per our choice, and bad things will happen... but the choice to have God's presence in our lives comes without having to weigh pro's and con's. God's spirit is more than enough to provide us the strength, comfort and resolve to find our way through anything. Let me say that again, anything. Unfortunately, we often choose to compromise our relationship with God. We say "I'll hang out with you on Sunday's and Wednesday nights, but the rest of the week is mine." God says "but I love you, and I want to be with you ALL the time!" "Sure, I love you too God... with all my heart. But I have things to do, and some of my friends aren't that hip on your way of life - why don't you hang out here in my room, watch some TV and I'll be back in a little while."  This is not always a conscious thought process, but it is ultimately what we are telling God. I'll admit, too often I have told him the same thing. As my Pastor, Jim, has said, to choose God is to enter in to a marriage. This marriage will not work if you constantly leave your spouse at home while you go out to play with your friends... it takes nurturing, conversation, adoration, comfort, consideration and attention. 

Do you remember the Harry Chapin song "Cat's in the Cradle"? Listen to the song (lyrics below) and imagine that you are the adult and God is the little boy. The relationship that is developed in this song could be similar to the relationship you are developing with God. For God, it is never too late for us to begin anew... but you and I only have so much time.

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A child arrived just the other day, he came to the world in the usual way. But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.  He learned to walk while I was away    And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew, he'd say,  I'm gonna be like you, dad.  You know I'm gonna be like you."    My son turned ten just the other day.  He said, "thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play. Can you teach me to throw?"  I said, "Not today, I got a lot to do."  He said, "That's ok." And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed,  said,  "I'm gonna be like him, yeah.  You know I'm gonna be like him."    And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,   Little boy blue and the man in the moon "When you coming home, dad?"  "I don't know when,   But we'll get together then, you know we'll have a good time then."     Well, he came from college just the other day. So much like a man I just had to say, "Son, I'm proud of you.  Can you sit for a while?" He shook his head, and he said with a smile, "What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys. See you later. Can I have them please?"    I've long since retired and my son's moved away. I called him up just the other day. I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind." He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time. You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,    But it's sure nice talking to you, dad. It's been sure nice talking to you." And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me, he'd grown up just like me. My boy was just like me.

I Will Bring Praise

Driving home last week I was listening to the new Hillsong United album "Tear Down the Walls."  As I listened, the chorus of "Desert Song" rang out with the words "I will bring praise..."  This hit me like a brick wall and I began to ponder how I bring praise to God on Sunday mornings.  My primary job is to assist in the creation and leading of a weekly worship service that will reach people through music, multimedia and word. I try to choose music that is relevant to the culture, exciting and uplifting. We use special lighting and develop multimedia presentations that enhance the worship setting to further excite and connect people to the message our pastor will present. Nearly everything within the worship service, from the moment the doors are opened to the time they are locked, is planned and refined to help those who attend experience something that will draw them closer to God and encourage them to return to our worship setting in the weeks to follow.  

 

All of that is good and it is what I am supposed to be doing, but let's get back to "I will bring praise." God has always has been the purpose in what I do, the underlying reason, but my efforts are focused first on creating an environment where people can draw closer to God... people are my first priority. I am not saying this is a bad thing as it is a form of servant ministry, but now, as the words "I will bring praise" replay over and over in my head, ponder if it is somewhat misguided. I begin to wonder what would happen if I turned my sole motivation and purpose to bringing praise to God. Instead of building song arrangements with the thought "this will really take the congregation somewhere," I should build song arrangements that are simply the best I have to offer God. No longer should I worry about how or if the congregation will be moved, but if God is pleased. My tasks do not change, only my motivation. No longer is my work for people (primarily), but for God... a small but significant change that has an immense affect on my relationship with Christ and how I perform my job. Does this mean I no longer care what people think about worship? Absolutely not! I care very deeply, and now if I can only get out of their way...

 

During a worship service my goal has always been to worship first and lead second. However, because my primary motivation is to lead others to Christ, concern for how they are feeling or reacting often finds its way to the forefront of my mind and affects my own ability to worship. How I worship becomes dependant upon how the congregation is worshiping.  However, if I alter my motivation fully towards God, the development of a worship service becomes an "if you build it they will come" mindset. If I bring everything I have to worship to God, where He is my primary motivation and inspiration, then leading the congregation becomes the Holy Spirit's work through me rather than of me. Worship is about bringing our selves to God, not about how we are lifted up. What we receive in worship (spiritual and emotional uplifting) is a byproduct of what we give. Such as it is with leading worship... if I focus solely on bringing an offering to God that suits His purpose, the byproduct is an environment where others are led by the Spirit to worship. I am no longer a worship leader, but simply a lead worshiper.

This is so simple, it is almost embarrassing to admit I haven't fully considered the nature of leading worship in this light yet. But as I look at worship services and Christian concerts around the world (via video), I realize what has bothered me for years about the worship industry... it is often built to satisfy people first with the glory of God second. The task is worthy, but the motivation is misguided. I don't think this is intentional in most cases, but it happens all the time. 

an artistic tapestry

Following the waves of thunderstorms that ran through the southeast last week, I started thinking about a moment from my childhood. It had begun as a typical summer day, spending several hours sitting on the bank of a local farmer's pond fishing. Sometime late in the afternoon I noticed a line of large clouds rolling in. Then, something began to happen that I had never seen before - for at least 30 minutes I watched as the thunderheads moved forward, then back, forward and back over and over again as they built themselves up like a bull dragging his hooves in the ground before the charge. With each cycle the clouds rose higher and intensified their ever-darkening tone. Suddenly, it became VERY apparent I needed to get home... fast. Walking quickly at first and then running, I barely made it home before one of the more severe thunderstorms of my childhood memory hit. 

Thunderstorms are just one act of nature that reminds me of the awesome power that surrounds us. The uniqueness of our world is so amazing we don't even have to leave our yards to see the untouchable artistic tapestry of God's creation. For example, did you know that we could not survive without the moon, and the fact that our planet has a single moon is extraordinarily rare? The moon stabilizes our planets rotation, keeping our poles in place and allowing for predictable seasons in which we can grow crops and countless climate-specific animal species can survive.

So I'm curious, where do you see God's work in your life and in the world that surrounds you? I'll give you a hint - it's everywhere.

iWant

I'm starting to believe that the folks at Apple are pretty smart. If you haven't noticed, and I'm sure you have, the products they market are as eye appealing as they are technologically brilliant. The iMac, iPod, iPhone, iTouch... my eyes literally burn when I watch the ads. Recently, as I prepared to purchase a new cell phone, I spent months researching (yearning, craving, coveting) the iPhone. In the end I needed a phone with better call quality, couldn't justify the extra $30/month required data plan, and Verizon sweet-talked me with a hefty discount. My heart still aches. I'm still quite happy with the phone I chose (the Dare), but cannot shake a growing desire to purchase the iTouch (the iPhone without the phone). Of course, my obsession doesn't stop with Apple. Yesterday I found myself reading about the new Kindle2, a small, portable, wireless electronic book-reader thingy. Even though 95% of the books I read are for seminary, I began wondering... how much does this cost? ($350... ouch!) Could we afford this? ("absolutely not" says my wife's subconscious brain transponder).  And what does it matter? I don't read so many books that I need a small, portable, wireless electronic book-reader thingy. But, and the guys will back me up here, it's a new form of technology (really, it is quite impressive) and we (men) must acquire all things of this nature. If we do not, we are not real men and have failed at achieving what is written in our genetic code. 

I'm starting to wonder if marketing strategies are built around the sin of envy. When I think about it, how many of the things I want are simply a desire of having what someone else has?  Envy...iWant.  

p.s. - this was written on an iMac.

my idol

Well, I finally did it... I bought a new cell phone.  This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it's huge for me.  You see, I have commitment issues when it comes to technology.  We are talking about a 2 year attachment to the same cell phone - and with technology moving faster than the speed of light, whatever I bought would be trumped in a matter of months with something more impressive! So for the last 3-5 months (I lost count) I have been reading consumer reports, cnet, pc magazine, online cell phone reviews and forums... all to find the absolute best quality, coolest, high-tech tool ("toy") I could get my hands on ("afford"). Most of that time I thought I'd end up with an iPhone, but alas I landed with the Dare.  Two days into my purchase I couldn't be happier. She is smaller and thinner than the iPhone, rated highest in consumer reports and cnet, all touch-screen, great call quality, mp3 player, gps navigator, 3g internet, 3.2mp camera and video recorder, voice activated everything, and blue-tooth tire pressure readout (ok, not the last one, but wouldn't that be cool?! I'm guessing it's not far off). 

           

I'm actually relieved to have made this purchase because I had begun to obsess over the issue (but it's a 2 year commitment to a product that will be outdated in 6 months!!). I devoted so much time and effort into this process that I now know as much about cell phones and service providers as I do nearly anything else. But here's the deal... what if I had simply put as much time into prayer as I did cell phone research each day?  This cell phone has been my idol (not good).