The Power of a Song

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is the music. I love putting on the 5 CD's of Christmas-mix music that my brother created for me. There is something about hearing Bing Crosby's White Christmas followed by Run DMC's Christmas in Hollis that perfectly suits my personality :)

But there's more...there always seems to be an overflow of musical specials on this time of year and I'm a sucker for them all! Carrie Underwood does a Christmas program and sings her heart out...Josh Groban's rendition of O Holy Night gave me chills...the incredible Celtic Women (what can they NOT do?)...this year I was introduced to what is sure to be a new holiday favorite by Straight No Chaser!

A few nights ago I was watching the Kennedy Center Honors (to keep my musical fix going) and experienced one of the most stirring versions of The Rising by Bruce Springsteen, performed by Sting as a tribute to The Boss. I watched Mel Brooks sing along with every score performed in his tribute...with utter joy on his face. I watched jazz pianist Dave Brubeck marvel as his own sons carried on the passion and tradition of this legend.

As I experienced each and every one of these moments, I was moved. I saw their passion. It stirred something in me. And then I quickly remembered another moment that grabbed my spirit in an even deeper way.

The circumstances weren't happy ones...I was at a funeral. I was at a church with beautiful stained glass and pews. There was a choir and choir music. And then it happened...the choir started to sing "How Great Thou Art" as only a choir that has been singing with a church choir their whole life can. There she was. Second row, third person in. She must have been 70+ years old...and she was singing her heart out. Not just singing the words mind you. While everyone else properly held their choir folders in their hands and looked at the director, this woman closed her eyes, tilted her head upward and belted out the words to her Lord with a smile that stretched across her face. She didn't care who was in the room...it was just her and Jesus...and I felt it. I couldn't stop watching her. I couldn't stop taking it in. I felt like she took me to the feet of our Savior and I was blessed.

See friends, songs can have power because of their range and musical dynamics. We can marvel at the talent and skill of the artists. Sometimes the song isn't even that great but we love the singer or the writer, so we just give it admiration anyway. But nothing, NOTHING is as moving as authenticity. And when you experience that - then you know the power of a song.

Why I love Christmas Eve @ Meck...

Families serving together, even the youngest of kids - opening doors, setting/breaking down a stage, passing out candles, scrapping wax off a floor, collecting an offering, directing traffic, etc. why? because it matters and what's even cooler...it's 'normal' for them and they wouldn't even consider being anywhere else this Christmas Eve...

Chicks rockin' the trash cans...need I say more?!

These people and the people in the booth and behind the cameras - who remind me what it means to be a servant of our great and glorious King. Humbled...truly humbled...

Silent Night, Holy Night...an image and a feeling that won't be easy to forget any time soon

A team member who comes up to me after a service to say how grateful they are to be part of the team at Meck. How grateful they are for the mission.

A volunteer - who doesn't go to our church but was recruited to help - sits through 3 Christmas Eve services and then turns to me to hand me HIS pledge card for Unhindered! Later finding out this guy is in a tough financial situation but was so moved by the service and experience he wanted to be a part of it. Awesome.

A service director who turns to me in the booth and says, 'I'd be fine with doing a 7p and 8p service'...and he totally meant it. (For the record Big Al: I could have done a few more too!)

A Senior Pastor who raced to the booth to watch as much of every service as possible and marveled at how incredible it all was...how grateful he was for the hard work and dedication of the team. And guess what folks? That was normal too!

Riding home with my daughter after the service, hearing the traditional version of "Joy to the World" on the radio and hearing the following coming from the backseat: "Mommy - what is this? Who does this version!? They need to do the RIGHT version like we do at church!" At that very moment I was reminded how grateful I am that Meck is the ONLY church my children know.

The electricity in the air - the anticipation of what God is going to do next through Unhindered.

The boxes under the tree with the Unhindered offerings from our children in Meckidz. How cool was that?!

The message of a God who came as a babe to save a lost and dying world...

For He is alone is worthy...

Let's give Him all the glory...

Merry Christmas and God bless friends,

KG

Sense-less

Ugh.

I cannot breathe. It's day three of life without breathing through my nose. Question: how do you sleep and breathe through your mouth instead of your nose? I have not figured this great mystery out so I'm not only unable to breathe, I'm also irritable and sleep deprived. But that's not the worst part! The most awful part of all of this is that I cannot smell!

What a horrible time of year to be without your sense of smell. I love the smells of Christmas - I love smelling the fresh tree scent when I walk into my house - there's something about that smell that just makes me relax. I love the smell of the sugar cookie candle burning on my kitchen counter (that's as close as my kitchen gets to smelling like fresh baked cookies!) I love the smell of hickory wood crackling in the fireplace. I love the smell of my peppermint hand soap! I love the smell of my kid's hair after a bath and Kyle's skin when he's snuggling me at night. I love the smell of our favorite mexican restaurant.

All of which I was SUPPOSED to experience today but didn't because my sense of smell is currently being thwarted by a cold!

But something kind of amazing has happened while I've been sense-less these past few days...

While I was bumming over not being able to smell the fresh cut tree in the living room, I caught myself marveling at the way the branches fell so perfectly, so beautifully...and what a rich green the needles are. I don't know that I ever noticed how simply beautiful this tree was before.

I noticed how when I sit in my favorite chair that warmth of the fire reaches my feet first.

When I walked through my kitchen I noticed how that little flickering candle light made it 'look' warmer in there.

I noticed if you keep rubbing your hands together the peppermint soap gets more and more bubbles and they'll run up your arm if you aren't careful.

I noticed the colors at our favorite restaurant and artifacts that actually dated back generations, belonging to the owners and heard some amazing family stories.

And when Kyle snuggled me tonight, I could have sworn his skin was made of pure silk.

I'm sure I've noticed these things before...or have I? They (I don't know who 'they' is, but you get what I mean) say that when you lose the use of one of your senses, one or all of the others intensify to compensate for it. Is that what I experienced today? Since I couldn't smell my other senses were heightened? I'm not sure. But what I do know is when I wasn't busy doing all the things I 'normally' do without even thinking, I experienced the world around me in a new way...and it was pretty awesome. I learned some new and wonderful things.

I wonder if we could stop and experience all the ways God is grasping for us...reaching out to make Himself known to us...to touch us in a fresh way...to speak to our hearts...

if we weren't so busy 'doing what we always do', if we wouldn't miss Him either?

Worship can be like that. I can get caught up in the songs that I love, or lamenting the ones I don't love, and completely miss the miracle of Christ on a cross that is echoed in ALL of them.

My morning devotion and reading scripture can be like that...I can find myself reading and doing what I 'know', what I think is the 'right way to do it', instead of looking to be amazing by God, expecting to be amazed.

Serving can become routine and I can miss the sense of being a part of something bigger and eternal.

I can ignore the promptings because I'm too busy and miss the chance to bring God glory through a listening ear or a timely conversation or a gentle smile.

So, while I'll be happy to live in the land of 5 senses again soon, I'm grateful for my stuffy nose and what it taught me today.

Where could you slow down today and see the world, see God, with new eyes...or smell with a new nose :)

A thought before serving...

During my quiet time this morning I read this short devotion in preparation for the weekend and wanted to share...

"1 Timothy 1:12: I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.

Isaiah 6:8: Here am I; send me.

It is a signal instance of grace on the part of the Lord that I am allowed to be a volunteer. The Lord has a right, a clearly purchased right, to deal with me very differently. He might issue a peremptory command. He might utter his stern voice of authority, and at once, order me. But he knows what is in man better than to treat thus the broken and relenting heart of whom he has smitten by the brightness of his glorious holiness to the ground, and healed by the touch of his ever-living sacrifice of blood.

He is considerate. He is generous. His servant is not coerced or constrained, as with a bit and bridle. He has the unspeakable privilege and happiness of giving himself voluntarily...to the Lord, who willingly gave himself for him."

....the unspeakable privilege and happiness of giving myself voluntarily to the Lord who willingly gave himself for me...

What an incredible truth to wrestle with...and I think I'll do just that. Moreover, I think I'll try my best to 'live' those words today. How about you?

KG

Spiritual Preparation

Ministry is the product of my relationship with Christ.

Read that again:

Ministry is the product of my relationship with Christ.

We need to make sure we get this one straight in our hearts and our heads.

Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Did you notice that ministry in the arts came after being filled with God's word? We are missing something huge if we think all we have to do to have an effective ministry for God is to be great at our art. While artistic preparation is key, it's meaningless without the spiritual preparation we'll discuss here. The correlation between knowing God and bearing fruit in undeniable throughout scripture.

So how do you prepare so that your ministry can indeed be a product of your relationship with Christ?

Spend time with God. That's it. That's the answer to every question regarding how to prepare your spirit for ministry...for the day...for your life. Colossians 1:10 tells us to "live a life worthy of the Lord...and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God." When we walk closely with God, we will bear fruit in every part of our lives, not just the artistic part.

Nurture your relationship with Christ. Set aside regular Bible reading time. Engage with God on a regular basis so that you can put yourself in the position to hear something personal from Him - something meant just for you!

Our highest priority should not be our art. It should be our relationship with Jesus. The psalmist writes, "as for me, it is good to be near God" (ps. 73:28) It is good to be near God. But let's face it, life - the routine, the demands, the chaos, the responsibilities - can make our regular time with God seem 'optional' when we get busy. The truth is that's when we need God's guidance most. Martin Luther once said, "I'm too busy not to pray." I think there's something to that.

I want to share a story I read that has stuck with me. I think it captures the significance of spiritual preparation, especially as it pertains to the incredible opportunity God has given each of us to use our gifts through the church...

George Frideric Handel was a deeply spiritual man who walked with Christ. As he wrote the glorious "Hallelujah Chorus," he broke down in tears and cried out,

"I did think I did see all of Heaven before me, and the great God Himself."

But today, except in few cases when the "Hallelujah Chorus" is performed, we focus on the singers, the soloists, the orchestra, the conductor, the instruments, the recording, the acoustics - everything but God Himself. It's become religious music without God. Nancy Beach writes, "My urgent warning is that we Christian artists can fall into the same trap: doing religious music without God, or doing Christian art without being intimately connected with Christ."

Let's make great art friends but let's not miss our GREAT God who is birthing it and moving through it…through us.

Artistic Preparation

I started to write a marathon blog about preparation and decided it was best to make it two blog entries instead of one...for your sake!

There are two main types of preparation we need to focus on as artists: spiritual and artistic

In the last few weeks I've had several conversations with team members about ways to take their craft to the next level. Now these conversations weren't based on someone needing to 'step up' because they were being slack. Nope, just the opposite. To a person, every one of these conversations was with a fellow artist who wanted to push themselves and not just for 'arts sake.' They wanted to push themselves because they were keenly aware they had been given a gift and it was their responsibility to God to nurture it. To hear someone say, "What can I do to take my ministry to the next level so I can be more effective for Christ?" is one of the most glorious things. As an artist it reminds me that I haven't 'arrived' and need to continually be a student of the arts/my art to be effective. Since this conversation has come up a few times, it's time to share this information with everyone.

Artistic Preparation

1 Timothy 4:14 says, "Do not neglect your gift."

In other words, Practice.

Practice.

Don't give up on your art.

Don't neglect your talent.

Don't worry about whether you're talented enough. That's not the point.

Whether your gift attracts large crowds or not, it is not to be neglected.

As a person who has been gifted with artistic gifts - you are an artist full-time, not just when you're called to serve.

So...how are you doing with your gift? Ready to get intrusive?

Are you practicing? Nope, I'm not talking about on Tuesday nights and Saturday afternoons for the band, or the weekly dance team gathering, when you're scheduled/required to be there practicing. Are you practicing in between? Are you preparing yourself so that when God calls, you're ready to answer, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8)

Are you honing your skills to stay in 'artistic shape'?

Are you seeking out the counsel/coaching of other team members who are further along than you are and could teach you something?

Are you offering your skills/knowledge to others?

Are you challenging yourself with new and different styles of music/dance/singing/editing/writing/filming/etc, to stretch your ability? To be open to a new and great work that God might produce through YOU?

Have you been to see a performer/performance that has inspired you lately?

Do you need to fall back in love with art again?

I haven't even mentioned prayer and a regular time with God but that's a given, a huge part of your artistic preparation (and the subject of our next blog!)

Jeremiah 1:9 says, "I have put my words in your mouth."

Read that again fellow artists:

"I have put MY words in your mouth."

I hope you don't take that lightly. I hope it never gets too easy to do Christian music, art, media, dance or theatre. I hope the weight of that responsibility - the responsibility of communicating God Himself - is sobering to all of us.

Friends, the moment we stop learning, the moment we stop being students of the craft that God has so generously blessed us with - is the moment we lose our effectiveness...it's also the moment we stop honoring God with the great blessing He has given us for His purposes.

"Do not neglect your gift." 1 Timothy 4:4

Now this has never happened before...

Yep...it's been 16 years and it's never happened before, but now it has: I was invited to Meck!

I was standing in line at Target with my kids, in not exactly what I would classify as a 'great mood'. I was hoping to get in and out without bumping into anyone I knew or that knew me...I just wanted to get my stuff and get out of there. And then it happened...

Riley leans over and says to me, "That lady is talking about OUR church."

What? I start eavesdropping (is it really eavesdropping if you're standing right there and don't even really have to 'try' to hear the conversation?)...and she was right. The cashier was telling the woman in front of us about her weekend, how she found this new church and she loves it. She talked about the music, the warm environment, the kids 'play area'...she was gushing.

Then it was my turn.

I walked to the register and just waited, but I didn't have to wait for long. The cashier greeted all of us and asked what we had planned for the weekend. After giving her a vague answer she said to me, "Well if you don't have anything special going on I could give you an idea and your kids would love it too."

"Really?"

"Yes Ma'am. I've been going to this church for a few weeks and it's awesome. My whole family loves it and we aren't church people...but that's what's cool about it, it doesn't feel like it's for church-people, it feels like it's for real people. (a little shocked at herself) Oh my...you aren't offended by that are you? Do you go to church?"

But before I could answer, she was off again...

"Really...I'd be shocked if you didn't love it. Believe me, I'm the last person that ever imagined I'd be going to church much less being excited by it, but now I am, so you know it must be good stuff."

She handed me a receipt, said goodbye and off I went a little in shock over what just happened. But there's more...

Standing at the ICEE counter I hear the man that was behind me in line ask the cashier what church she was talking about because he wasn't 'church people' either and he might want to try it out.

The tears started flowing and wouldn't stop.

I was blown away by the impact of the church playing out before my eyes...how 'gossip' was spreading about Jesus and this woman couldn't contain it. She was sharing something so meaningful to her so effortlessly with complete strangers. She was sure she had stumbled on to something and wanted to make sure everyone she came in contact with knew about it...because maybe they needed to stumble over it too.

I know one man for sure who needed to hear it...the man who was standing behind me in Target, the one who wasn't 'church people'. And how do I know that?

He was sitting in the back row this past weekend.

Sometimes gossip can be a great thing.

God - please help us to spread lots of gossip about you tomorrow. Amen.

Being a Lens

I talked to the weekend team about this post as part of our devotion. It seemed fitting as we were getting ready to serve together and by way of the Holy Spirit, lead others into the presence of God. But this isn't just a blog for those who are considered 'worship leaders' though the metaphor speaks specifically to that role. This blog is for every Christ follower so I hope you'll soak it in and consider how it applies to your life.

I read something in a weekly email I receive that I thought was a pretty awesome metaphor. Author and Worship Leader (among many other titles), Andy Crouch, wrote that great worship leaders are like a lens and "lenses aren't meant to be look at; they're meant to be looked through."

That's it...that's the metaphor that grabbed me. Maybe it's because I've tried to look through a foggy lens and found it very frustrating. Every time I wiped the lens clean, it fogged back up or got streaks and just looked ugly.

I tried to wear glasses to look cool (or maybe smarter) in high school but there was a problem - I have great eye sight so wearing glasses actually made it nearly impossible for me to see. Lenses that were intended to correct sight, resulted in the opposite.

I've had broken lenses - sunglasses that I just didn't want to throw away because I loved the style or the way they fit my face, I just couldn't get rid of them. I would find myself trying to balance them just right so they wouldn't fall apart...or tape the lens into place and try to see out of just one eye (driving was dangerous ;)

So, what have I learned? Not all lenses are created equal. But friends when you do find the right lens - the lens that allows you to see with clarity - the world comes alive quite literally before your eyes. The colors are brighter, the world seems warmer and safer and everything is just...clear.

At some point in your journey with God, he became clear to you. Did you have people who served as lenses along the way? Right now you probably have people who model Christ to you - who live in a way that you are seeing Christ 'through' them. I am grateful for those people in my life. They remind me to polish my own lens because, Lord willing, I'll have an opportunity to be a God-lens for someone else.

Isn't it amazing how God uses scratched and broken lives/lenses to make Himself ever so clear?

Now that's awesome...

Had an incredible experience this week...I had the opportunity to interview two people from Meck. Now interviewing folks and shooting videos isn't new to me - I do that pretty regularly with all that's happening in this place...but this one reminded me what it's all about.

Here's the recap - Meghan grew up with a void in her life that she knew was spiritual. She came to Meck while church shopping and found herself longing to fill that void even more. She did. She's a follower of Christ now and got baptized here a few years ago. Meghan knew giving her life to Christ didn't make her a 'follower', it just made her 'saved'...and she couldn't imagine not sharing what she discovered with her friends.

Enter Sara. Sara taught across the hall from Meghan at a local school. They became fast friends. Meghan was challenged at a service @ Meck to just 'walk across the room', she had heard it a bunch of times before...but this time she decided she would 'walk across the hall' to Sara's class and gave her a 'present': a packet of info about Meck.

Sara rolls her eyes but BECAUSE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP doesn't blow it off. She takes the packet home and starts to read, A Search for the Spiritual. By the third page (and she can tell you exactly what sentence) she realizes the God she's reading about is one that she does not know . She finishes the book. She starts logging in to the internet campus and can't stop...she's there every week. And then she shows up at Meck - Meghan can't believe it (and Sara still remembers the look on Meghan's face when she finally showed up). Sara sits in the back row. She hears week after week about a God she didn't know existed and on the final week of the "Parent Child Turning Points" series, a single woman with no kids, commits her life to Christ after hearing the story of the prodigal son (she can also point to the exact seat she was sitting in...on the back row).

Sara got baptized last May...and Meghan was right there beside her.

Sara says that she was glad Meghan cared enough to tell her about Meck and that she didn't give up on her and all her questions (and sometimes sarcastic comments).

Sara's life is changed forever and she has no idea how she will ever repay Meghan.

Meghan can't imagine being a part of anything more significant than watching someone you love give their life to Christ. In her words, "this is the coolest thing ever".

So...who is waiting across the hall for you?

Faith and Worship

I read this article and thought it was worth passing on...

"Faith is the indispensible element of every individual’s worship. It is the foundation of every gathering of believers and the essential truth of every song and prayer.

You see, I do not come to worship based on my flimsy feelings or my radical experiences, but rather by the firm faith and deep conviction of my relationship with God. I believe in a holy, loving Creator-God and I have an abiding conviction concerning his worth. I trust in the love the Father through his dear Son, Jesus Christ. I come to him with confidence and boldness because of the blood of Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in me. I do not require goose-bumps or mountain tops to engage in worship. In fact, some of my most profound worship experiences have come through great sorrow in deep emotional valleys.

I come to worship every week because of confidence. I try to bring my best every week, every day and even every moment because I have faith that God is for me, with me and in me. I honor Him with my songs, my prayers and my loving acts towards others because I believe he is holy, loving and worthy of all my worship..."

Faith and Worship. How cool that we not only have our own private opportunities to practice both, but we have a chance as a church to join together this weekend and lift our voices, our hearts, together to the only one worthy of our complete confidence! He is indeed holy, loving and worthy of all our worship.

Mondays

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

- Matthew 11:28 - 30

I like Mondays,

but for most people it is the beginning of a work week: back to the ol’ drudge and tedium of office life. Back to Blackberrys, iPhones, WiFi hotspots, meetings, deadlines, and more meetings, and revised plans that required revised deadlines. You get the point.

I like Mondays,

but for some people, it is the crash back into a reality that was momentarily forgotten over the weekend. However, truth be told, the weekend - and the memory of it - is not always what it could have been. Expectations go unmet. Saturday and Sunday prove to be a little underwhelming once the parking garage is firmly placed in the rear view mirror on Friday afternoon.

I like Mondays,

especially this one, because at baptism last night, I had a friend who got wet in order to give evidence that his relationship with God was a done deal.

... because my friends Nils and Jamie became husband and wife.

... because my friends Nichole and David brought home a baby girl.

... because the weekend team was on it - from sound and lights to band and singers - and it showed!

I like Mondays,

because it gives me a chance to take Jesus at His word. My weariness, my burdens, my strained emotions, my breaking spirit - I can give to Him. And in return, I can receive His rest. I can learn from Him how to live my life. I can learn His gentleness, His humbleness. I can trade my yoke for His - one that is easy, made to fit me, and not one that I take from somewhere or someone else. One that binds, rubs, bruises, and scars.

Sometimes, I don’t wait for Monday. Sometimes, I have to do it with every breath, every step, every word I speak and thought I have. Because sometimes, Mondays don’t come soon enough. Or there's not enough of them.

R

A core value...Excellence

Excellence isn't perfection.

Excellence is giving God YOUR personal best because He deserves NOTHING LESS.

Read this brief description of what excellence in the church should look like - from praying to planning to presenting. I don't know what it will do for you, but I was challenged and inspired to strive for greater levels of excellence in all I do - at home, in my private life and in ministry.

"Excellence can be obtained if you:

- care more than others think is wise;

- risk more than others think is safe;

- dream more than others think is practical;

- expect more than others think is possible"

So what does that mean for you? Will you strive for excellence today? Where will you 'care' more this week? be 'unsafe'? be 'impractical'? and do the 'impossible'?

Last day to go...

This is the last day to go to the church auditorium and experience the quiet prayer time coinciding with our Power Praying series. If you haven't done it - try to get there sometime between 11:30-1:30 today.

As you might have noticed, I didn't post a single thing since the last posting (no, I'm not slacking :). I didn't post anything new because I truly wanted those words and that image to be what lingered in your mind. So, will you get there today and take it in? It will be so worth it.

The Power of Prayer

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God...he hears us" 1 John 5:14

Not sure what else to post here...this image left me speechless this morning. If you were with us this weekend you'll recognize these cards as the prayers you submitted at the end of the service, the prayers you really want to see God answer with power.

How do I even begin to describe this experience today? Standing in front of hundreds and hundreds of prayers with the realization that God 'hears' each one...sitting in the quiet and darkness of the auditorium...hearing the music and watching the images on the screen...I could tell you about how powerful it was to read and pray over these 'prayer walls' while candles flickered and created a kind of sacred atmosphere...and even as I paint the picture of what it 'looked' like, I cannot even begin to explain how it 'felt' to be a part of it. I hope you can come and experience it for yourself this month. I promise you, it's worth it.

A verse to share?

If you don't know what the title of this blog is referring to, read the post right before this.

We're keeping this one up another week and hoping to get more of you to respond with scripture that inspires, challenges, encourages, maybe even exposes our need for Christ. I've all ready written the current two on post it notes and have them hanging in different places in my house...it's amazing how that small act has caught me in the midst of daily activity and prompted me to reflect on the things of Christ and my own life. Try it...you'll see what I'm talking about.

At the end of the day, there is nothing that we could write for you on this blog or that you could read that is more life changing than the scriptures penned by God himself.

Ephesians 2:8-10: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Were you challenged too?

Jim's message this past weekend was a very challenging one. But not in that beat-you-up-for-all-you-aren't kind of way. No, his message was challenging because it did something that is very seldom done in our culture these days - it required us to take personal responsibility - to stop making excuses and playing the blame game with our spiritual growth and to step up and OWN our growth in Christ. If you were hoping to pursue a 'comfortable' life with Christ - you were severely disappointed after hearing the message!

I heard a few things this weekend that I've really been chewing on. Here's one of them:

"The goal of growing spiritually is to have head knowledge that leads to heart trust which will produce order and shape our world."

Got me thinking - if I too applied even a fraction of what I all ready 'know' to my life...if I really allowed it to penetrate my heart...how might God use that 'knowledge' to shape my world in ways He's just waiting for me to allow? Hmmm...

Have you been able to prayerfully reflect on scripture and how it applies to your life this week as Jim challenged us to do? Do you have a verse that's been challenging you? encouraging you? inspiring you? How about posting it in the comments section - just the verse - so we can all meditate on it and see how God might speak to our lives through His word.

Here's mine...

Jeremiah 32:17 (New International Version)

¹⁷ "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you."

an ugly picture

At this year’s Leadership Summit, founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, Bill Hybels, wrapped up one of the sessions by saying these words:

“If we lead without Christ, oh what an ugly picture.”

I immediately drew an analogy to our team.

If we lead without Christ from the stage,

oh what an ugly picture.

If we sing without Christ, oh what an ugly picture.

If we play our instruments without Christ,

oh what an ugly picture.

If we mix front of house and internet services

without Christ, oh what an ugly picture.

If we video without Christ, oh what an ugly picture.

If we present dramatic elements without Christ,

oh what an ugly picture.

If we address lighting and stage design elements

without Christ, oh what an ugly picture.

If we busy doing all we do without Christ in our lives, oh what an ugly picture.

If we have cut ourselves off from the Holy Spirit, His indwelling, His counsel, oh what an ugly picture.

What is the “ugly picture”?

It is the picture of withered, brown grass blown across an unswept sidewalk. It is the picture of cut, discarded limbs from a pruned bush. It is the picture of dried, cracked ground where once grew flowers.

It is the picture of a child of God spinning like a child’s toy, trying to serve without an inflowing Source from which to draw life, creativity, love, compassion, a servant’s heart, insight, courage, stamina, and determination.

It is a picture of uselessness.

And I don’t want to be useless. I do not want to be marginal. I want to be alive. To be transformed. To be a sharpened tool. To be energized by being at the center of all that God is doing so that I might have joy taking part in it.

Philippians 2:13 says this: It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please Him. (God’s Word translation)

It is our proximity that allows us to experience God’s work in our lives, learning what pleases Him, hearing His promptings, bearing His message.

Stay close.

R

Are we brave enough?

"What do you have?  Give it to me."

That's what Jesus said to the disciples before he fed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.  He didn't tell the disciples to give him what was NEEDED to accomplish this inconceivable task, but instead Jesus asked the disciples for what they HAD and to trust him to do the miracle.  In essence Jesus said, 'Give it over, get out of my way and let me be God!'

This illustration was used by Gary Haugen in his message this past weekend and it got me thinking - What am I 'giving' God?  Am I holding anything back?  Waiting to get better?  Am I being selective with what I give?  Am I being selfish with what I'm willing to release back to God?  Am I assuming what I have isn't enough?

Jesus is asking for me to give him what I have...right now, at this minute, as incomplete and broken as it and I might be.  Give myself to Jesus and let him do the miracle.

Seems so simple doesn't it?  Then what's holding us back?

Gary challenged us to consider what it could mean for our lives if we believed it when we heard God say,

'Follow me beyond what you can control, beyond where your own strength and ability will take you, beyond what is affirmed by the crowd and you will experience me, and my power and my love in a way that you cannot possibly imagine.'    

Guess what?  Those words aren't just a 'nice idea' - those words are a promise. 

Are we brave enough to believe them?

Convenience or Excellence? by KG

Sorry I didn't post on Monday - I was out of town and didn't have the computer with me or access until now.  But I must admit - I've been feasting off Rick's last post and could do so for another month!

But here's how it happened - I was in an email dialogue with two other staff members over something that most people would find very minor.  We were emailing back and forth about details pertaining to layout and all that exciting stuff :)  The final correspondence from the staff member who would be responsible for making all these changes struck me.  

The staff person acknowledged that they were trying to avoid a certain layout because of some technical frustrations but, and here's the kicker, that person sent a final email with the following declaration:  "I don't want to sacrifice excellence for convenience."  Thus, the additional work was done and the changes were made.

I was inspired and challenged by that statement.  Inspired by a heart that wouldn't settle for anything less than the 'best lamb' for God...even when no one was looking.  And challenged to examine my own heart and ask, 'where am I making decisions based on convenience vs. excellence?'

Excellence = giving God your personal best, whatever that looks like in each situation

Convenience = giving God what's left and often easiest

If we're going to make an impact in the world, if we're going to reflect Christ to our friends/family/neighbors, it starts with a heart that operates from a perspective of 'excellence' and refuses to live under the reign of 'convenience'.

The Christ life is not always going to be the easy way..it's not always going to be convenient...but it will always be worth it.

So...what will we choose tomorrow?  Convenience?  Excellence?  Maybe a combination of both?  We'll have lots of opportunities to make the choice...so what will you do?

Jesus received bad news about his friend. Lazarus was not just sick: he was going to die. And yet to the amazement of his disciples, there was no urgency in Jesus at all. He stayed where he was for two extra days before leaving to go to Judea.

This was especially not good news to the disciples: Jesus had nearly been stoned there only a few days previous. They weren’t looking for an encore.

Jesus was determined, however, to continue. He had set his course. He was not to be deterred. But his mission was not clearly understood by his disciples. Why bother to go? Jesus had already said that Lazarus was dead. What more could be done?

So in response to Jesus’ urging, the Twelve set out to Judea - to Bethany, near Jerusalem - where Lazarus had lived with his sisters, Mary and Martha.

None of them knew quite what to think about the potential danger ahead - only that they trusted Jesus. It is then that Thomas made a rather profound statement: “Let’s go so that we may die with him.” If Jesus was going to his death, then they would all go as well.

It was, and always will be, an issue of trust.

Do I love Jesus enough to trust him with my life? My job? My spouse? My children?

Do I trust him with my next step, my next meal, my next breath, my next heartbeat?

Do I trust him when the direction he is heading seems unbearable?

Do I trust him with my gifts and talents, that he could use even me?

Do I trust him to accomplish his mission, even when it makes no sense to me at all, when I would do it a lot differently?

Jesus allowed Lazarus to die to reveal an even more glorious truth: that Jesus was Lord over death itself. If Lazarus had lived - healed by the hand of Jesus - it would have been a miracle for sure, but not like the one that ended with Lazarus stumbling out of the tomb where he had been lying dead for three days!

Do I trust Jesus enough to say as Thomas did: Wherever Jesus is going, let me go there too, even if it means... death?

Sometimes I don’t trust him enough to walk across the room and say hello.

Look through the eleventh chapter of John. Read it through the eyes of the disciples, who had just seen their Lord nearly stoned in Jerusalem, and was now returning there. Read it and see the real fear in their eyes as they near Bethany, not knowing what was to happen. Certainly not knowing that they were about to have front row seats for one of the greatest miracles Jesus ever did.

And then look around. What adventure is he taking you on? What will be your mission the next time you are on the weekend stage? What area in your life will you need to trust him with?

And then watch for signs of life in places you never expected.

R