The Production Assistant

Working at church the other day, I noticed a copy machine of sorts printing off bulletin inserts at break neck speeds. I began to recognize how much the average American church invests in it's Sunday services. A majority of the church operates much like a theatre or show place. (The point of a church is not just the service, but a lot of effort does go into it)

Every week there is another service, come rain or shine. Each week is spent in preparation. Sermons are written. Songs are rehearsed. Bulletins printed. PowerPoints created. Coffee and cookies are baked.

This happens every week because God strengthens the church body, but also because He has created the church volunteer. Here's the thing about volunteers, they rarely get recognized for what they do.

Sure the church has paid staff to do much of the organizing and planning, but let's be honest....the church RUNS on volunteers (and the volunteers run the church....)In the church-body analogy so often used in Scripture, the volunteers could be considered the blood. Moving throughout the body and supporting everybody else.

But seriously, they make everything happen, and usually without us noticing. That's the mark of a great volunteer. They are sneaky and do things without being asked (or without looking for recognition) and often go unnoticed. They are like the perfect Production Assistant....

Ministry wouldn't happen without their support. They central to every evangelical effort and discipleship growth. Crucial to the work of the Kingdom.

So here's to all of the church volunteers. Thank you SO MUCH for all you do. Making Sundays happen in sanctuaries, gyms, libraries, kitchens, and hallways week after week. Overcoming all obstacles with a positive attitude screaming, "The show must go on!"

(Again, church is NOT about the Sunday service, nor should worship be viewed as a production or show...this was merely a comparison used for creatively describing the role of volunteers)

Driver's Ed

It's been a while since I last blogged, so what better way to return than with an analogy. This one comparing our Christian faith to driving....

For sake of simplicity, I'm just going to list off the ideas and thoughts surrounding this comparison.

The rules of the road (the Law) are set up....but we all ignore them. Some more than others, but we are all deserving of citations regardless of the extent of our speeding.

Similar to grace, not many people receive the punishment they deserve for disobeying the rules of the road.

Everybody is a perfect driver in their own mind. Seriously. How many times have you had somebody criticize your driving? How many times do you criticize the driving of others? Remove the plank guys....remove the plank.

Driving doesn't work well when you are focused on doing other things at the same time (texting, food, makeup, etc.) Neither does Faith.

Finally, there's the police. When we do our sneaky little U-turns, rolling stops, and yellow light daredevils, we always check for the police to see if they're watching. When we do see a cop, we slow way down, use our indicators, and drive like we're back in the student car. How would you live your faith differently if you knew God was watching you at ALL times? Oh wait....He is.

So for some of you self proclaimed driving experts, seasoned drivers, or sweet sixteen-ers....maybe you should re-examine your driving habits. Maybe it's time to check into Driver's Ed....

God's Staff....

Lately I have been really excited for what God has planned for my life, but I've also been very honored and amazed at what God has me doing already. It occurred to me yesterday that God has called me to lead His people in worship. God wants me, of all people, in His band.

What an honor!

How amazing is God's grace that despite my flaws and sinfulness, He still wants me to lead His people. It's amazing to be used by God. He also reminded me yesterday that He wants me to disciple His young adults.

Again...what an honor!

So here is a list I have recently come up with to help put some of this in focus. Picture God as a father (shouldn't be too hard to imagine) and all of us as His children (almost like this is a Biblical analogy). Try to recognize how much a parent cares for their children and they want nothing less than the best for them.

Pastors: God trusts you to mentor, grow, and provide for His children
Teachers: God trusts you with His children's education
Nurses/Doctors: God trusts you with His children's health
Politicians: God trusts you to run His household
Businessmen: God trusts you to financially care for His children
Military/Police/Firemen: God trusts you to protect His children

This list can go on and on...but the point is, that God trusts each of us with His favorite and most valued part of creation. How awesome is that?!?

HOWEVER...along with that honor comes responsibility. We are all called to be good stewards and give God nothing less than our best. Thankfully, we don't (and shouldn't) rely on ourselves because God is working in us and giving us the strength to do what He needs us to do.

What's your staff position?

He Bled....

One of the most important aspects of Christ's life was His blood. It was through His blood that we were made clean, that we were forgiven, that we are even able to have faith. He bled on the cross so that we can live.

But that's not the blood I want to focus on here.

Christ bled before the cross. Before His torture. Even before His arrest. He sweat blood.

In Luke it says that Christ sweat drops of blood as He prayed; "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Your will be done."

Christ always served as an example, and here He shows us how to deal with the struggle of following the Almighty. Christ knew what God wanted Him to do, but He couldn't do it. At least not on His own.

Christ prayed for God to find another way, but Christ also prayed for God to give Him strength to do His will. Essentially, Christ had to rely on God to be obedient.

Often God asks us to do things we don't want to do. It's alright to be scared. It's alright to not want to. Christ was scared. He didn't want to. So don't feel bad when God asks you to do something and you're not jumping up and down for joy.

Deal with it like Christ did. Pray for strength. Pray for obedience. If Christ needed God's help to be obedient, don't feel bad if you do too.

Some Worship Thoughts....

Over the past 36 hours or so, I have had a few ponderings regarding the practice of worship....these are my thoughts....(again, in random order)

To start, I am super thankful that God has chosen me to lead His people in worship. To make music to the King is truly an honor and I am thankful that God's grace covers my insufficiencies to the point where I can do that. I'm extremely humbled every time I remember that my feeble attempts at music are for the Almighty.

Raising of hands in worship...I think it is a really cool thing...but is it overdone? Why do we raise our hands for only certain types of worship? Shouldn't it be a consistent thing?

Tonight, I tried to worship without singing, but rather listening. It was cool to hear the Christian body and imagine what the music in heaven would sound like. It was also cool to hear the Spirit moving. What wasn't cool, however, was that I noticed I didn't get the same feeling as when I am singing. Said a different way....perhaps I enjoy the sing-along part of worship more than the praising part. Make sense? I mean, it's easy to feel the "joy" when we are singing our favorite songs...so maybe that "joy" we thought was heavenly based turns out to be karaoke based....I dunno....

Finally, the worship grading system. Yeah, I critique worship sets. The musicians. The song selection. And typically I show no mercy. It's a really good thing God is merciful in accepting my worship, because if He were as harsh a critic as me then nothing short of Hillsong or Crowderband would be good enough....

The moral of the story (or blog) is that worship is something that both puzzles and amazes me. I am so grateful to be able to praise my LORD, I'm just not sure about a lot of aspects....

Thoughts?...

Some Thoughts....

The following is a list of random thoughts I had throughout the day that I thought I'd share with the blogging world (or at least those who read this). My head has been quite full recently, so I decided to let a bit out.

If the LORD came down and gave you the answers to any three questions, what would they be? What do your questions reveal about yourself?

Remember breakfast? Eggs, bacon, sausage. Yeah, we should bring that back.

Writing music...it's a love hate relationship.

Ever ask God how His day went? Ever get a response?

Infatuation vs. Love...which is stronger?

Shoe tying = pain in the butt....Let's make velcro acceptable again

Taco Bell...it's a love hate relationship

Being a fish would be the pits, you're stuck with one facial expression your entire life.

Hair

This be the result of my shaving endeavors this morning. I decided to compare faith to hair while not-so-neatly trimming up. This isn't really a useful analogy, rather just a set of my random ponderings.

Everybody has hair of sort (some more than others). What's more, everybody's hair is different. The reason for this difference is because (like faith) there are two contributing factors to hair styles.

You are born with certain hair characteristics (much like people are born into certain traditions). People then choose what to do with the hair they are given (much like some people leave or embrace those traditions)

Nobody keeps the same hairstyle for their entire life. They go through a trial and error process until they find one that they like best. Those hairstyles are form of expression, and they say a lot about person. Your hairstyle is a lifelong process that really never stops. We care enough about it to constantly make it work. How many of us are satisfied with our faith and have stopped adjusting?

Here are the two parts that I really do like:

1) Hair requires maintenance....It's not something you can just leave alone, you have to continuously pour into it. Our faith requires constant attention as well. How many times a day do you look at your hair in the mirror or adjust it. How many times do you examine your faith?

2) Hair is constantly growing. Economic recession, stress at work, relationships, and successfulness can't help or hinder that growth. Hair grows consistently through all things. Does your faith?

Sorry to any hair sensitive readers...Especially bald ones. I promise your ticket to heaven doesn't depend on your hair cut....

Other thoughts on the hair-faith analogy?