spirituality

good music, good cause.

Carolina HopeFest
Carolina HopeFest is scheduled for Saturday, August 30th at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. HopeFest is a music festival that benefits Beacon of Hope, an organization outside of Nairobi, Kenya providing assistance to women and children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Performers this year include Colbie Caillat, Edwin McCain, Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, Thad Cockrell and David Spencer. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster, or at Bean Traders Coffee in Durham and Chapel Hill with no service charges. For more information, go to www.carolinahopefest.org . To volunteer, send an e-mail to Jenny Nicholson: jenny@emmausway.net.

i’ve been ruminating on this since our trip to haiti.
i was able to verbalize some of it during worship on sunday, but talking through it in more detail at our life group tonight helped me clarify it even more.

the last few years, God has really been teaching me about the Kingdom of God. this was jesus’ whole message.

throughout the entire scriptures there are beautiful pictures of what the kingdom will look like when it’s fully established:
everyone has what they need.
people will enjoy satisfying work and will reap the benefits of their work. (plant vineyards, and eat of the vineyards.)
the rich won’t get rich on the backs of the poor.
the poor won’t react in fear and aggression to the rich.
the wolf will lie down with the lamb.
many more pictures…

i think above all for me, our trip to haiti illustrated two things that are in contrast to one another and this contrast left me with a lasting struggle.

on one hand, i got to see the kingdom of god in action in the way that the kids at HCH have been rescued, redeemed, reclaimed. this invigorated my faith and trust in God’s promise to usher in his kingdom.

on the other hand, i got to see the struggle that characterizes the life of the average haitian. poverty at a level i haven’t experienced before first-hand.

it was a painful reminder of how far we have yet to go to see the kingdom fully realized. this pulled me in the direction of hopelessness or despair.

i now realize that i have the choice:
to give in to hopelessness and resign myself to complacency, thinking that i can invest my entire life and still never see the kingdom come,
or to choose to believe that God is presently and always on the move, bringing about his kingdom, his plan for redemption and repair.

really it’s the only hope. and i won’t see it fully realized in my lifetime, but i’m in a long line of people who are giving their lives for this vision, trusting that it WILL happen.

i want to be a part of it. i don’t want to waste my life.

these are madamme lucianne’s kids. she is a single mother struggling to survive and take care of her kids.

wow….so many thoughts. my heart is full of different emotions. i will process our trip to haiti and make several blog posts in the days to come. we took in so much in just a few days. high highs and low lows.

haiti is beautiful. some of god’s most spectacular work in creation is displayed there. but life for the people of haiti is really hard. i’ve never seen poverty at this level first-hand before.

more to come, but for now, check out this picture of me jumping from the rocks at basin bleu. felt like it was 100 feet up. looks like it’s actually 25 or 30….

mwen remnen anpil ayiti!

c.c. and i are getting packed and ready to go to haiti tomorrow. meeting up at 4:30am, which is great for us…sarcasm alert…morning people.

this will be our first visit to our friends at the haitian children’s home. we’ve met danny, but are looking forward to meeting his lovely wife, leann, their daughter, riann, and the 22 kids who they’ve brought into their family.

we already love them just from stories, pictures and videos. but it will be awesome to finally meet them in person and play, sing, and dance with them. they really like to get down. i’ve been known to get jiggy-wid-it myself, in my own white man’s overbite sort of way.

(i just realized that’s two will smith videos on my blog in a matter of weeks. what’s wrong with me?)

anyway, my moms is here to take care of not only darby, but now our dog, utah, as he recovers from surgery. bonus!

i’ll be back online with some updates from the trip next week.

bonswa!

it’s no secret that i have a blogging crush on los. he’s destined for the blog hall of fame, assuming it’s ever created. he’ll probably create it, actually.

anyway, los has a great no-holds-barred discussion about worship going on over at his blog. check it out.

I hate it when my worship leader….

it’s amazing what can happen in a week.

i can’t speak publicly yet about one of the most major happenings, but i have been in the clouds and back down to earth several times in the previous 7 days.

sunday, we experienced this.

and then two days later, this happened.

sadness. compassion. grief. moments of anger. confusion. my hope has taken a hit.

but, hope will win the day.

death is not the end.

in the end, we celebrate and feast with our Father.

“made to worship” by chris tomlin (cd “see the morning”)
“i am free” by desperation band (cd “from the rooftops”)
—-connect—-
steve’s dad via iChat
father’s day slideshow “just the two of us” by will smith
—-message—-
—-haiti offering announcement—-
“all because of jesus” by steve fee (cd “burn for you”)
“all over the world” by matt redman (cd “passion 05: how great is our god”)

WOW!!! today will be remembered for a long time in our church community. the celebration at the end of the services was crazy, because we found out that we came together in just over a week to raise over $400,000 to buy 17 acres of land for orphans and abandoned kids in Haiti.

here’s jonathan’s response…

man, it’s hard to put into words. but one thing i know is that as a worship leader, i can absolutely sense the difference between “worship as usual” and this kind of celebration. truly, the kingdom of God, when actually experienced and participated in like this is the rocket fuel for worship. i don’t think our church will be the same.

i had an extremely intense emotional week….more on that later….but this morning after first service, i broke down backstage. just so grateful that God has chosen to invite us to be a part of His redemption project on this earth.

lots of happenings to report on during my forced blogging hiatus.
help me prioritize by telling me which you want more detail on….

::darby reads to daddy
::13th wedding anniversary recap (subtitle: feeling old)
::new kitten who pooped in my pants
::latest song/band challenging my brain
::surprising song coming up this sunday in honor of father’s day
::back on the bike
::recent challenging reads
::mentoring fellow and upcoming worship leaders
::thoughts on the creative process (alternate title: win some, lose some)

los at ragamuffin soul, one of my favorite creative/worship/programming/etc. blogs, is doing a weekly creativity-share-type-thingy that he calls creative chaos.

here’s my first submission……my favorite of the “Great Moments in Cinematic Wisdom” videos that we did for our last series at crosspointe.

the series was about wisdom, called “you know. you want her.” each week, we took a popular movie (t.v. show in this case) and replaced the dialogue to introduce whatever particular aspect of wisdom that jonathan or steve have been speaking about.

this particular message was about the command to seek out wisdom. steve challenged us to remember that God completely saturates his world with his wisdom. some people think that the church has the corner on the wisdom market….

enjoy!

i give you great moments in cinematic wisdom, part 3 - for kids!

enjoy!

today in staff meeting, i had just finished asking for prayer for an upcoming road trip to see family. i was actually complaining about gas money, what to do with the dog, our cramped car, etc.

got interrupted by an iChat message from danny, the house dad at haitian children’s home. danny was asking for our staff to pray for the kids who were in the process of being rushed home from school in the midst of the growing rioting in haiti because of lack of food. they’ll likely be in lock-down status for the next few days.

i promptly withdrew my prayer request.

it’s amazing how wrapped up i can get in the little things, and forget to be mindful of how much i have and how little so many others have.

humbling.

great moments in cinematic wisdom, part 2

enjoy!

gravity…
…is working against me
…wants to bring me down
…has taken better men than me 

i’ll never know what makes a man
with all the love that his heart can stand
dream of ways to throw it all away

keep me where the light is
keep me where the light is

–john mayer, “gravity”

i suspect that these days God chooses whoever he wants to be his modern day prophet. and i suspect that a lot of times the prophet is unaware, and would probably be unwilling if he/she knew….

this past sunday morning was a rough time on the job for me. have you ever felt like you’re not up for the task? in general i feel as though my job lines up pretty dead on with my passions, gifts, and experience. but sunday morning, i was tempted to fake a heart attack rather than step out under the lights. i might be overstating this a little.

here’s the deal. i’m a fairly low key individual. several people at different times in my life, independent of each other, have given me the nickname “even stephen”.

the truth is that i’m a melancholy personality.

the upside is that i can provide balance in tense interpersonal situations. i can keep a calm exterior even if the interior is experiencing turbulence.

the downside is that i am prone to too much introspection. sometimes i speak hope, but stuff doubt. i’ve seen a therapist to explore whether i suffer from depression.

as it relates to my job - sometimes i want to be stephen the almost invisible anonymous worshipper, rather than stephen the public big church worship leader.

this past sunday i was feeling as though the particular worship set that i had planned - one song in particular - required a type of leadership and an energy level from me that doesn’t come naturally to me. i’m growing, but i have always felt more comfortable in a low key style of worship leading. this is not a debate about which style - chill or hype - is a better worship leading style. i think both have their place at different times.

the question for me was the tension between rising to the occasion, risking as a leader for the sake of serving people……versus……trying to be someone i’m not, or trying to fake something that i’m not feeling in the moment.

fortunately, i followed my gut (or was it God’s spirit) and fessed up to the worship band before the service. we prayed together for peace, confidence, and a resolve to serve faithfully.

it’s not the size or the amount of the gift that you bring, but that you are willing to give it all. holding nothing back.

i didn’t hold back. it was good. i didn’t feel fake. i felt faithful.

i was commenting in staff meeting today about how i’m growing in my understanding of the fallacy of a sacred/secular divide.

specifically in music, i find truth, beauty, and good in secular and sacred music. i also find a lack of those qualities in both secular and sacred music. sometimes in the same song.

just because something is labeled “christian music” doesn’t necessarily mean much…

anyway, i had an interesting thing happen this afternoon. after remembering a jackson browne song that was quoted in brian mclaren’s book, “everything must change,” i decided to download the song and check it out. challenging stuff. here’s an excerpt…

We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

after reading through the lyrics, i decided to check out some of jackson’s other music, since i’m not very familiar with his stuff.

i went to www.songmeanings.net and just started down the alphabetical listing of jackson browne songs. in each of the first three songs i looked at, i was struck by the spiritual overtones and the longing for transcendence. don’t know the music, but just reading the lyrics was an enriching spiritual experience for me.

here’s one song in particular that i think is lyrically beautiful….

I want to live in the world, not inside my head
I want to live in the world, I want to stand and be counted
With the hopeful and the willing
With the open and the strong
With the voices in the darkness
Fashioning daylight out of song
And the millions of lovers
Alive in the world

I want to live in the world, not behind some wall
I want to live in the world, where I will hear if another voice should call
To the prisoner inside me
To the captive of my doubt
Who among his fantasies harbors the dream of breaking out
And taking his chances
Alive in the world

To open my eyes and wake up alive in the world
To open my eyes and fully arrive in the world

With its beauty and its cruelty
With its heartbreak and its joy
With it constantly giving birth to life and to forces that destroy
And the infinite power of change
Alive in the world

To open my eyes and wake up alive in the world
To open my eyes and fully arrive in the world
To open my eyes and wake up alive in the world
To open my eyes and fully arrive in the world

Jackson Browne, “Alive In The World”

belief is a beautiful armor
but makes for the heaviest sword
like punching under water
you never can hit who you’re trying for

john mayer, “belief”

okay, this is a lesson that i need to learn…..

i’m still having trouble eating because of getting my wisdom teeth out last week. tonight, i just couldn’t take it anymore.

so after much deliberation as to what would be the perfect food to begin easing my way back to my former carnivorous state, i decided to take darby to taco bell. (c.c. - not so much a fan of the taco bell - had a party so she didn’t get a say in the matter). i had decided that a bean burrito was what the doctor ordered.

so, i ordered three bean burritos, one for me, one for darby, and another one just in case it wasn’t as difficult to eat as i was expecting.

it was a PAINFULLY slow process. i have to focus my chewing on my front teeth, which means really small bites. i noticed that darby was downing her burrito faster than me! the girl can chow down, no doubt, but that just shows you how slow i was.

but after a few minutes i just decided to go with the flow, slow down and enjoy the meal with my girl. we danced in our seats to the music. of course we practiced our drumming on the table. this has become a dinner ritual. we laughed at the funny chili pepper on the wall with a cowboy hat. “seeeeee” (silly).

so here’s the lesson: i’m an overeater.

out of habit for sure, but also just out of plain hurry.

now, i don’t want to be overdramatic, but this is big to me. besides the physical health aspect, i see a couple of implications of my discovery tonight:

* in our ongoing effort to be better financial stewards, c.c. and i have learned time and again that when we botch up our budget, it’s almost always because of going overboard on food. specifically, dining out. and by “dining,” i’m including mcdonald’s.

* i’m also on a personal quest to do battle with my overconsumption in general. i think i just realized a subtle way that i go with the flow in that arena. i think the process of keeping my eating/spending in check will help me stay aware of all the ways i’m tempted to consume more than i need.

even as my swelling goes down and i get back to my former eating “chops”, i’m going to really give it a good college try. to discipline myself to eat less, thereby spending less, and to slow down and enjoy my food and the sacred ritual of sharing of a meal with my family and friends.

(and if you’re keeping score, the third burrito was shared between the two of us. i’m telling you, the GIRL CAN EAT!!)

this is wrong.

there are times, like anyone else, that i feel sort of stagnant in my job.

but then there are moments like at worship band rehearsal last night, where i felt squarely in my sweet spot. gave some musical direction that helped take a song from a C- to a solid A.

this is in no way to toot my own horn. honestly, i felt as though God was working through me and reminding me that He has me where He wants me.

those are good days.

now that i think about it, i’m reminded of the quote from eric liddell in chariots of fire…

“i believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. and when i run i feel his pleasure.”

c.c. and i went on an honest-to-goodness date this past saturday night - dinner AND a movie. woo hoo! this doesn’t happen quite as often now that we’ve entered parenthood.

as we were sitting waiting for the previews to start, we ran through our favorite movies that we’ve seen at the theater in 2007.

here’s our list:

1. August Rush
2. wait….that’s the only one we saw this year…

anyway, “august rush” was a well made movie. the story was told in a very compelling way. the main characters developed well. they did a good job incorporating music into the story. and they also avoided a personal pet peeve of mine. they taught the actors how to fake it convincingly on their musical instruments - close enough that it wasn’t distracting.

c.c. and i both had a pretty emotional reaction to the film. it hit close to home with our daughter having been an abandoned child.

on one hand, it was a nice diamond in the rough story…the kid who beat all the odds. sadly, the reason that it’s such a fantastic story is that it’s so fantastic. it just doesn’t happen that way in the real world, and there are roughly 143 million kids in the world that can attest to that.

there was one line in particular in the film that still has me thinking….

august (the orphaned boy) finds his way to a catholic church where he spends some time at the shelter there and strikes up friendships with a young girl named hope and the reverend jay. when he goes missing again, hope is expressing her worry about august to reverend jay, who says to hope, “i prayed for him. did you?” she says that yes, she did pray.

then reverend jay says something to the effect of, “don’t you think that his Father (looking up) will do what’s best for him?”

wow. a double edged sword.

if yes, then what about all the other kids who don’t stumble upon an extraordinary musical gift that they can use to be reunited with their birthparents? seriously, throughout the entire movie i could not stop thinking about all the kids in the world that don’t have homes. everything went through that filter.

more personally….i believe that God planned for darby to be our daughter. we stumbled almost blindly into this plan. there’s no way we could ever take credit for it. but at the same time, it presents a problem for me. what about all the other kids that are not adopted? surely their Father will do what’s best for them as well.

it really boils down to the age-old question - if God is so good, then why all the evil in the world?

i don’t have rock solid, completely satisfactory answers, but i guess that’s what faith is all about. i do believe that God is working a plan of redemption in the world, but that it’s an ongoing project with gains and losses along the way. his project depends on people. we are waking up to this, but we’ve got a long way to go.

it pains me to know that there are kids who grow into adulthood without knowing what a family’s love is all about. i HAVE to believe that this not only is not part of God’s plan, but that it breaks his heart too.

here’s a video…

here’s the website…

a lot of the thoughts at this site have inspired our recent “the approach” and our “a different way in a manger” christmas series.

let me try to explain a tension that c.c. and i feel as international adoptive parents. in order for this to make sense at all, you have to know that our daughter was adopted from China.

okay, first i’ll put it simply and then you can decide if you want to read further…

the tension is between our heart to live out our faith tangibly by “looking after widows and orphans in their distress… ,” and our desire for our daughter never to feel as if she is a charity case.

let me take it farther….

on the one hand,

our hearts go out to every child in the world who has been orphaned. more and more, we find ourselves wanting to do whatever we can do to raise awareness and try to point people in the direction of supporting and reaching out to orphans everywhere. there are over 143 million of them worldwide, so it’s no small task!! my mind wanders off every day to dreams about what my specific role will be.

to give you an idea of the situation in china, which will from now on always have part of our heart - only a small percentage of the orphanages in the country are set up to adopt their children out internationally. this means that many, many, many children in the country have no real hope of ever being adopted. the conditions of the orphanages vary widely as well. the government, understandably, funnels more resources into the orphanages that are set up for international adoption - these are the kids that will “represent” china in the world. the other side of this coin is that the kids who have the least chance of having a family are also raised in tougher conditions. the reasons behind this situation are many and complicated. there’s lots of information available online. maybe i’ll write specifically about this in the future…

now, on the other hand,

we adopted our daughter, darby, because we wanted a daughter - plain and simple. the thought that she would ever feel like we were obligated to give her a home because of our religious beliefs, or out of a sense of guilt is unbearable.

in a way that only adoptive parents can fully understand, darby is our daughter, and we believe with everything in us that God planned all along for her to be our daughter. as i tell darby in her nightly bedtime “story” - a family is God’s idea. he decides which boys and girls go with which mommies and daddies to make a family. and sometimes he has to go all the way around the world to make a perfect match!

so there’s the tension. i hope that it’s in some way beneficial to someone. if you try to encourage an adoptive parent by admiring how they’ve done a noble thing and you sense a bit of defensiveness pop up in them, now you know a bit about why this may be the case.

and knowing is half the battle.

sorry, my inner G.I. Joe came out there.

peace!

…of the amazing volunteers (and staff!) who pulled together to make the approach such a great event this weekend!

this was our best-attended approach yet. well over 300 crosspointers and friends came out. i know of at least one group from out of state!

these events are a lot of work, and WOULD NOT happen without an ever-expanding volunteer team. if any of you are reading this - please know how much i appreciate your creativity, your tireless service throughout setup, 12 hours of the actual event, and then a massive tear-down effort. (shaun w. rocks!) i wish i had that part on video…

i want to write more about this later, including some thoughts on evaluating “the approach” and some ideas for future approach events.

for now, if you experienced the approach this time, i would LOVE to hear from you about your experience. we want to continue to improve on the quality of these events. use the comments section here to give us your thoughts!

crosspointe is hosting “the approach” this friday night (6pm-12am) and saturday (9am-3pm). “the approach” is our next-level worship experience that we create several times per year. the format is always different, we want to keep it creative and fresh.

this time we’re repackaging the traditional advent celebration for our church community. several interactive stations will help to teach the meaning behind the four weeks of advent: hope, peace, love and joy. our aim is to equip families to create their own celebration throughout the month of december.

here’s an overview of the stations:

Holiday Pace
In our culture, Christmas has become anything but a peaceful season. Is there a different way to celebrate Christmas?

Advent Logs
Throughout the experience, you’ll assemble an advent log for your family. While this may seem vague as you’re doing it, by the end of the experience you will have built the central tool you need to continue the celebration of Advent at home with your family or life group.

Hope
Throughout the generations, God’s people, Israel, have waited for a promised Messiah - one who would rescue them from oppression and usher in a new age where God reigns. This station will help us identify with what it’s like to wait in hope.

Peace
Jesus brings us real peace. He came to earth as the Prince of Peace, and He calls us, too, to bring peace into our world. In this station, we will focus mainly on how Jesus uses us to bring peace to the world. The four centers at this station explore different ways to bring peace into your life, your family, your community, and the world.

Love
We’ve heard it said that Christmas is about giving. So, we empty our pockets and wrack up the credit card bills. After all, the more we spend, the more love we show, right? And each year we try to give bigger and better than we did last year. What if this year we gave something that can’t be wrapped?

Joy
The good news of the birth of Jesus was not first declared to high society, but to the working class - a band of ragtag shepherds, working the night shift. They did not have riches, but they received the riches of heaven with the greatest of joy. And with the same zeal, they shared this joy with their community. Here we will discover that joy is found not by those who seek it for themselves, but by those who share it with other people.

Christ
The good news of Christmas is that Jesus gave Himself for the whole world. He could have clung to his status and rights as royalty – the King of all Kings. But instead He emptied Himself and entered into our world in humility. Do we truly grasp the weight of this gift? At this station we’ll examine our hearts when it comes to our “rights.”

this event will also launch us into our christmas series the next few sundays. we’re calling it “a different way in a manger.” contrasting the two kingdoms of Herod and Jesus. one marked by power, coercion and manipulation. the other marked by humility, service and love.

a fun time should be had by all (who come out).

…work. here’s how it goes.

“thanksgiving is next week….perfect timing. i’m really looking forward to a long weekend, just relaxing (yeah right), and hanging out with my girls. it will be nice to take a break from work.”

end of thanksgiving day: “ahhhh, this was awesome. good food, great laughs, etc….“

day after thankgiving: “awesome, another day to just hang out and not think about work (yeah, right).”

today, saturday: “i can’t believe i’ve let two days go by without working at all!! (okay, a little bit. does email count?)”

we scheduled a large-scale worship event for next weekend. although perfect timing for the purpose of the event - to repackage advent for our church context and launch us into the christmas celebration together - horrible timing in terms of the prep work involved to pull it off. there are many people sacrificing to make this thing great. a huge thanks to any of you if you’re reading this!!

all of this being said, i’m struck today by how blessed i am to have meaningful and challenging work that pretty darn well matches up with my gifts, passions, etc. no doubt that the fall brought a curse on the nature of work, but there’s still something beautiful and right about engaging your brain, your energy, your hands in moving this human project forward. a friend of mine wondered aloud the other day if there would still be problems to figure out in heaven.

okay, i just got a subtle reminder from my wife that today is saturday after thanksgiving. time to be a husband and dad.

cc posted a blog on our family site with a video of darby running through all of her words. this is a fun time, watching her learn how to speak. she has such a cute voice, and the way she calls our dog “Uhhta” instead of “Utah” is priceless to me!

i love darby’s developing voice.

what i most looked forward to during our three-full-term-pregnacy-long wait for darby, was finding out what her voice would be like. sure - the tone, the inflections, the physical voice. but beyond that, her voice.

how will her voice develop?

what will capture her heart as she matures into a thinking person? what will be so important to her that she can’t help but speak it out in whatever sphere of influence she is given? what passions and values will be shaped in her?

it’s AWESOME to hear darby’s little voice as she works to master her first words. how much more gratifying will it be to hear her voice as it develops.

Message: a Conversation with Bono

Worship set:
“Love the Lord” by Lincoln Brewster (All To You….Live)
“Our Love Is Loud” by David Crowder Band (Can You Hear Us?)
“Friend of God” by Michael Gungor and Israel Houghton (various arrangements)

today was awesome. we showed the video interview that bill hybels did with bono for the leadership summit ‘06. i was so glad that our people got to hear the simple, pure, christian faith of bono and the motivation behind all of his tireless work for justice around the world.

i have to admit, i too, in the past, have been guilty of chalking bono’s faith up to some pseudo-christian, hodge-podge spirituality. if that’s your impression, you’ve got to check out this DVD. but he’s the real deal. he came across as very genuine. very challenging interview.

makes me proud of what our church is doing through our DRIVE journey. bringing the tangible good news of the resurrection of jesus to people at home and around the world, and helping to usher in the kingdom of god in a big way in small places. things like this.

one more thing about the service today…..the turningpointe students (high schoolers) were freshly back from a week of camp at CIY. They were en masse taking up a good portion of the center section seats. obviously pumped up and ready to worship. they lead worship today as much as me and the band did, no doubt! their enthusiasm was contagious!

….in short, was great fun. i was glad to see so many people participating in the various creative outlets that were offered. painting, sculpture, a bean mosaic, graffiti wall, poetry, and of course music. i suspect that god stretched some people out of familiar patterns and methods of worshipping him. and that was the goal - connecting the created with the Creator….

speaking of music, nathan fancher and band did a great job leading worship. i always enjoy playing with those guys. inspiring. chris and the turningpointe students did a great job as well.

this was a first experiment in this type of environment for crosspointe. i hope we’ll do it again.

i hope to post some pictures and maybe even video soon.

crosspointe church is in our first year of a 3 year financial and spiritual journey called DRIVE. among other initiatives, we are partnering with the haitian children’s home in jacmel. we are providing monthly support for the 20 kids that live there.

this week, our lead pastor, jonathan, and associate pastor, steve and his wife kristi, are visiting the home. they are building relationships, and dreaming about more specific ways for crosspointe to partner with them.

a very cool story….the guys ended up having to stay at a nearby hotel instead of at the home as they had originally planned. they worked it out with the staff at the hotel to close down the pool for a morning and allow the 20 kids from the orphanage to experience their first EVER pool party. such a small thing that we take for granted here, but an amazing gift and joy for the kids. you can see some pictures here.

again, i love our church.

not really, but i did have an interesting thought today while scrubbing my choppers.

i had already brushed my teeth once so as to avoid knocking darby out when i picked her up out of her crib. about an hour later, as i was getting ready to leave to meet my friend chris, i decided to brush again because i noticed some nasty crap on my teeth.

the thought occured to me that i have made it a habit to brush my teeth regularly because i’ve decided that it’s important to my health. i like my teeth and i want to have them stay in my head for as long as possible. i’ve tried several different methods of teeth brushing over the years - both to keep it fresh, but also to find the method that is most effective for me at removing any unwanted colors from my teeth. colors are great, but when it comes to teeth, i’ll choose white every time.

were i ever to get into a philisophical debate about the importance of teeth brushing i would defend it vehemently.

hang with me….

brushing my teeth has become routine, which isn’t all bad. we make many important things part of a routine.

the problem comes when it becomes so routine that i do it mindlessly, forgetting the compelling reason that i made it become habit in the first place. before long, i have no intensity in my brushing. i’m thinking about something else while mindlessly whipping the brush around my mouth aimlessly. no thought of whether or not i’m getting that nasty plaque out of there.

i guess all i’m trying to say is that every once in awhile you need to get back in touch with the purpose of brushing your teeth. to be reminded of its importance to your overall health.

“when you have tomsitis, every time you see a child you want to give them a pair of shoes.” –Blake Mycoskie, founder of Tom’s Shoes

what a ridiculously simple idea….for every pair of shoes bought, a pair is given to a child in need.

check out the 2 minute promo video.

awesome. my wife, c.c., has already picked out a pair for her and a pair for darby. i’m wondering if i can pull off the striped ones.

we need more creativity and initiative like this in the kingdom. bravo, blake!

(ht: jon mcclarnon)

wow…this is one of the saddest and most beautiful things i’ve seen in awhile…..

this is the young@heart chorus. the soloist is Fred Knittle, who suffers from congestive heart failure. this song was intended to be a duet between Fred and another chorus member, Bob Salvini. sadly, Bob died of a heart attack and it was left to Fred to carry the song on his own.

first of all, the song itself touched something emotionally in me the very first time i heard it. even though i don’t know coldplay’s intended specific meaning of the song, it expresses pain, regret, longing and hope in a powerful and beautiful way.

but then adding in the story of fred and bob and watching this chorus of elderly people putting their heart into the song just caps it off.

enjoy…..

Watch the video here.

Generous Artist

…according to the personal dna test. i have to say it was a very interesting test. some of the questions are similar to other personality tests i’ve taken in the past. but the format was cool - sliders, plotting a point on two axis-es (axi?), etc.

read more about my profile here

take the test!

(HT: anne jackson)

at crosspointe, we’re realizing more and more the value of performing current mainstream music in our services. we’ve found that it lends us credibility with our guests who are drawn to god but not yet to the church, or are returning to church for one more shot years after they left because it was irrelevant to their lives.

we’re extremely careful to pick the right song for the right moment, and to support it with media that helps to clarify the meaning of the song. the rest of the service, including the message sometimes gives a new context for the song.

sometimes it causes people to listen to a song again for the first time. “i’ve never listened to that song that way” is a common reaction that we get.

anyway, recently i’ve found a site called www.songmeanings.net. people post song lyrics (just about any artist and song you can think of). the really interesting part is that it’s kind of a blog format, so people then comment on the lyrics, giving their particular take on what the song means to them. people tend to guess what the songwriter is trying to say. it makes for some very interesting debates sometimes. good reading.

here’s where it ties into worship ministry. i’ve found it extremely helpful to get a sense for what the public thinks about a particular song that we’re considering for use in our services. what does the song already convey to the average person?

this then helps us think through what visuals to attach with the song to frame it, or sometimes reframe it.

i’ve been intrigued lately by The Fermi Project, “… a broad collective of innovators, social entrepreneurs, entertainers, artists, futurists, scientists, historians, environmentalists and church leaders experimenting with ways to positively contribute to culture.” (from website)

In April, they organized a gathering called Q, where 31 presenters had 18 minutes each (now that’s good for us A.D.D. guys) to share their big ideas about culture, the future, the church and the gospel.

Among the notable presenters: Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, Jon Foreman (Switchfoot), Donald Miller, Rick Warren. Here’s the full list of Q presenters.

For $59.00/yr you can subscribe to a monthly online “newsletter” called Fermi Words. Each issue includes two video talks from Q and a short essay. The first issue is called “The Good”. “Christians in our culture are sometimes known by what they are against instead of what they are for. What if this could change? What if we were known as connoisseurs of the good, finding it and celebrating it throughout culture. If we could see everything through this lens, the perceptions of Christians throughout society could be reversed. ”

Very thought provoking stuff so far….

everyone knows that you can better connect with God in worship if you close your eyes, right? well…. for the sake of argument, for now we’ll say yes. as a leader (and even just as a musician) i often feel more natural and comfortable with my eyes shut. i mean, if i’m singing to God why would i be staring 300 people in the eyes?

conversely, if you’re goal is to communicate something to people through music, then it would make sense to make eye contact with them. how many conversations have you been in where the other person won’t look you in the eye? disconcerting, isn’t it? at best, that person is not comfortable with the subject matter. at worse, they’re lying through their teeth.

well recently God’s been showing me something as a worship leader. i once heard one of my mentors-from-afar, Tommy Walker, say that as a worship leader you have to worship with one eye closed and one eye open. in other words, you have to strike a balance between focusing your attention on God and giving enough attention to the people you’re supposed to be leading to know that at least some of them are still following.

another tip from Tommy is to learn to let God bless you. i never gave this much thought until recently when i started to learn what tommy must have been talking about. a few weeks ago i was in the middle of the song “you never let go” by Matt Redman. i was definitely caught up personally in the truth of the lyrics, especially, “if my God is with me, whom then shall i fear?”. normally, i would have my eyes shut tight just belting it out, as if it was just me and God in the room. but instead i opened my eyes and made a point to look at some of the faces of the people whom i was leading. and what i found there was surprisingly emotional. i think God allowed me to get a glimpse of how the truth of the song was hitting home to some of the people worshipping that day. there were some people with bright smiles in full celebration. others were choking back tears. still others were openly weeping. in that moment i was keenly aware that there was communion happening between God and His kids. the moment was so much bigger than i could take any credit for as a leader.

“learn to let god bless you.” i think i’m starting to figure out what that means. i’ve definitely been “blessed” by God in worship with my eyes shut. but i think i’ve often overlooked the possibility that God might want to bless me by looking into the eyes of my fellow worshippers. after all, no one else in the room gets to see the corporate worship experience from that perspective.

so, what are your thoughts on eyes closed verses eyes open while leading? i’d like to hear from other leaders for sure, but even if you don’t lead worship - have you ever noticed whether your worship leader(s) more often close their eyes or keep them open? have you ever found one or the other distracting or more engaging?

the spirit is truly an amazing person. frustrating because he can’t be nailed down. there’s no formula to figure him out. one experience with him cannot be duplicated no matter how you try to duplicate the environment, circumstances, etc. that preceded the experience. mysteriously, he lives within and yet can’t be manipulated or controlled.

i’ve been graced with several recent experiences with the spirit which have renewed a sense of awe and wonder. he’s succeeded in pointing me to see god as bigger and more awesome than i imagined. i’ve watched as god has worked through me, through the spirit in me, to accomplish things i have no ability to accomplish in my own strength. i’ve truly been made strong in my weakness. and i’ve been able to see the spirit at work through the lives of several others in my church community as well.

there’s something going on that’s bigger than us, and it’s exciting to watch. it’s humbling. it causes me to truly worship. i don’t have words for it. tears are the only way to express it.

“p.s. if you can show from scripture that I am wrong (not unaided human reason), I will change my position. But it is clear that I have provided you with the Bible’s unassailable logic and unless you can clearly show how my interpretation is wrong from Scripture and not just because you don’t like it, then I suggest you consider that you may very well be wrong about your understanding.”

I found this on a doctrinal website. It’s the postscript from a letter published by the website’s author in response to a man who wrote in with an opposing viewpoint on a particular doctrine. In the letter, the author attempts to further explain and defend his original position, as well as “illuminate” the concerned reader. the details of the argument aren’t important. i decided not even to post a link because i don’t think it would be beneficial for anyone to read it.

as i read the letter, i started boiling on the inside.

Does this attitude bother anyone else?

Let me re-order these phrases for a different look at it: “I suggest YOU consider that you may very well be wrong.” “It’s CLEAR that I’ve provided you with the Bible’s unassailable logic.”

My interpretation (unaided human reason, no doubt): I want you to be humble and open to a different interpretation, but I clearly don’t need to be humble and open because I hold the key to the Bible’s unassailable logic. Now I’ve graciously provided that to you, so that should clear this issue up for you. If not, prove me wrong. No. Prove the Bible wrong. Oh….and you’re welcome.

no wonder i’m sometimes ashamed to call myself a christian. it has nothing to do with being ashamed of christ and everything to do with being ashamed of christians.

sorry for the rant. kind of. okay, so i got a little arrogant in my rant against arrogance. but it’s righteous anger, just like jesus.

disagree?

prove me wrong.

do you ever have a song that you feel like carries an important message, meant for you, that’s deeper than the lyrics appear on a surface level? for example, the first time i heard “fix you” by coldplay i had an immediate emotional reaction that i still haven’t quite nailed down after who knows how many spins. it’s visceral. spiritual.

the lyrics and the musical arrangement, when combined with certain of your own life experiences, current circumstances or surroundings, take on more meaning.

i realize that in some circles it’s considered silly to try to give meaning to a song that may or may not be intended by the songwriter. and many songwriters enjoy being just vague enough. not so literal or specific that the song loses a universal appeal, but lyrically detailed enough that you want to know the real story. Then you can find out if your particular connection to the song is warranted.

“all kinds of time” by fountains of wayne is another song that has been working on me for a couple of years. in my gut i know that it’s about more than football, but i can’t quite grasp the larger meaning that i should be getting.  before i go sputtering through my working personal application, i wonder if anyone would care to offer some ideas.  depending on the interest, i may post again about my own thoughts on it.

(warning - this is one of those songs that loses some of its guts when you’re just reading the lyrics. i suggest paying the .99 cents and downloading it from iTunes to get the full effect.)

all kinds of time
by fountains of wayne
from cd, welcome interstate managers

The clock’s running down
The team’s losing ground
To the opposing defense
The young quarterback
Waits for the snap
When suddenly it all starts to make sense

He’s got all kinds of time
He’s got all kinds of time
All kinds of time
He’s got all kinds of time
All kinds of time

He takes a step back
He’s under attack
But he knows that no one can touch him now
He seems so at ease
A strange inner peace
Is all that he’s feeling somehow

He’s got all kinds of time
He’s got all kinds of time
All kinds of time
He’s got all kinds of time
All kinds of time
He thinks of his mother
He thinks of his bride-to-be
He thinks of his father
His two younger brothers
Gathered around the widescreen TV

He looks to the left
He looks to the right
And there in a golden ray of light
Is his open man
Just as he planned
The whole world is his tonight

Maybe it’s early onset midlife crisis, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about making sure that I make my one life count for something beyond myself. And I’m passionately pursuing specifically what that means for me. I’m trying to find the balance between pushing God to lay out the plan for me, and just stepping forward day by day, embracing whatever interruptions and opportunities are placed in my path, trusting that God is moving me purposefully. I’m learning to trust my desires as I delight in Him.

And I’m not alone either. I have a friend, Jon, who is stepping out from the security of a good job at a good church and stepping into a risky dream of starting a new church community. He describes it as something he must do. To Jon, the pain of looking back 10, 20, 30 years from now and wondering “What if I had pursued that dream?” is worse than the pain of potential failure.

Along those same lines, fellow voxer Lon Wong writes a very insightful and inspiring blog post about his own risky dream. Here’s a great quote from that post:

“I know plenty of people who have things they want to do in life, but the reality is, they’re just wish lists. Real dreams must be attempted.”

So true.

confession time….try as i might, i cannot live up to my best self. i have good days and bad days, but even the best days leave me with a nagging feeling in my gut as i put my head on the pillow at night. i was made for more. as hard as i try to kick myself in the butt to try harder, reach for more, etc. it can feel like a pointless pursuit.

here’s the cool, simple truth though. i believe it. it has that to-good-to-be-true-ness to it, but it still resonates in me as true and good. the truth is this: even though i have my ups and downs as far as how i feel about myself, god never does. he loves me - steady and strong. my performance doesn’t even enter into the equation. it’s given to me as a gift, made possible by the life, death and resurrection of christ.

chew on this….

“gifted response”
by matt redman

this is a gifted response
father, we cannot come to you by our own merit
we will come in the name of your son
as he glorifies you
and in the power of your spirit

we have come to something so mysterious
too deep for minds to comprehend
through the open door where the angels sing
and the host of heaven are antheming

and we’ll sing the glory of your name
celebrate the glories of your grace
we will worship you
we will worship you

and we’ll make your praise so glorious
singing songs of everlasting praise
we will worship you
we will worship you

Fellow voxer, GaryM, passes on a great quote…..

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather the wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.�

�Antoine de Saint Exupery

I think it applies to all levels of leadership, but definitely to large group leadership. Not that you don’t need organization and structure, but they will never replace clear communication of a compelling vision.

 It reminds me of something I heard Erwin McManus say one time - that it’s more important to change what people care about than what they believe.

 Anyone care to share some favorite leadership-type quotes?

Today in the midst of my surfing (is that still a valid term?) I saw “a good life” defined very simply by Linford of OtR. I agree very much. You can add all kinds of qualifiers to it depending on what it is that you “believe”, but it holds true….

A good life: Believe in what you do, and do it.

What do you think?

“The Lord is all that, I need for nothing. He allows me to chill. He keeps me from being heated and allows me to breathe easy. He guides my life so that I can represent and give shouts out in His Name.

And even though I walk through the ‘hood of death, I don’t back down for you have my back. The fact that He has me covered allows me to chill. He provides me with back-up in front of my player-haters and I know that I am a baller and life will be phat.

I fall back in the Lord’s crib for the rest of my life.”

—————————-

This is a rephrasing of the 23rd Psalm from the “HipHopEMass”. Trinity Episcopal Church in Bronx, NY has translated the liturgy into hip-hop vernacular for weekly HipHopEMass Celebrations.

Very interesting…..

See my friend Dale’s blog for his comments after attending a local event sponsored by his church.

I’ve always been a proponent of “translating” the truth into language that speaks to the culture here and now, but I have to admit, I laughed out loud when I read this because my first thought was “this is ridiculous!” That made me start wondering what was behind my contempt. Am I becoming the person who cries foul when the drum set slides its way onto the platform? The one who is okay with guitar in worship as long as it’s an acoustic guitar and not - God forbid - an ELECTRIC guitar. I wondered where you draw the line. Then I wondered, should there be a line? When does a translation no longer say what was intended? How would we know when that happened?

I’m going to stop or else my head’s going to explode. Okay, your turn. What do you think?

I wonder if anyone would like to share some ideas for some creative ways to teach about worship? Starting May 14, we are going to spend several weeks teaching on worship at our church.

Here are some themes that we’re considering….

1. Revelation and Response - God reveals Himself, worship is our response to that revelation…not just about singing, but about our lifestyle….we worship what we value the most

2. Sacred Pathways - based on Gary Thomas’s book….the different ways we tend to most readily relate to God (i.e. Nature, Senses, Activism, Celebration, Intellectually, etc.)

3. Postures - biblical foundations for worship postures (lifting hands, clapping, shouting, kneeling, etc.)…it’s not about ritual, but helps express what’s in the heart

So, what are your ideas - visuals, sounds, experiential, etc - to help engage people with these concepts? What have you seen? What have you always wanted to try?

had a great conversation with my wife, c.c., yesterday….. let me pause here and tell you how much i love my wife. god created something good when he thought up marriage…….

anyway….we talked about our insecurities. basically, for her they show up most often in her interpersonal relationships - the basic question is “do i matter?”. my insecurities show up most in my work - the basic question is “do i have what it takes?”.

i wonder if this goes all the way back to genesis 3 and the curse. for the woman, the curse meant trouble in relationships. “your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” for the man, the curse meant trouble at work. “cursed is the ground because of you….painful toil…….sweat of your brow……”

Thoughts?

I’ve been more in reading mode than writing mode lately. here’s a very interesting and thought-provoking piece by Brian McLaren. It’s called “An Open Letter to Worship Songwriters”.

What do you think?

Sorry for the blatant self-promotion, but I’m excited that my church worship band’s CD, “Becoming Stones”, has been featured in the current issue of Willow Magazine, a publication of the Willow Creek Association. They included our music in a sampling of new material coming out of WCA churches.

I haven’t seen the print version yet, but here’s a link to the online magazine where they’ve also posted samples of some songs: Willow Magazine Online. They were also kind enough to publish a link to our cdbaby.com site where the CD can be purchased.

My mom’s going to be so proud.

Okay, here’s a confession that’s perhaps easier to make in the blogosphere than in real life…I rarely get excited about reading the bible. There are plenty of times that I’m drawn to this or that new spiritual book because I might gain some new bit of insight or be moved or compelled in some way. Why don’t I have the same anticipation about reading the scriptures? What am I missing?

Does anyone else have this problem? If so, what are some ways to cultivate a bigger appetite for the bible?

I wonder if there are any voxtropolis voices that do not subscribe to the Christian faith. I personally hope that this becomes a community that is welcoming of and attractive to people of all faiths (or no faith, for that matter).

What are some of your ideas for creating that kind of community here?

Also, for anyone involved in the administration of voxtropolis - I understand that we’re currently in beta-test mode here. I assume we’ll go public with it at some point. What plans are there to get the word out?

This post is especially for my friend Bill, but also anyone interested in cafes, coffeehouses, restaurants, etc. as a new location and strategy for advancing the Kingdom. An alternative to church that bypasses the barriers and stigmas attached to churches. (Although not all of them, we’ve earned those stigmas for the most part. That’s another discussion, though…)

Anyway, I realized yesterday that I’d forgotten really how I’d made it voxtropolis in the first place except that it was through at some point signing up on an email list maintainted by Alex McManus. I decided to spend some time reviewing Alex’s blog, called “Into the Mystic”, in order to remind myself what I’m now a part of. The “Search for the Mystic” thread is facinating and extremely exciting to me. I have a feeling I’m starting on a journey that will have large implications for my future as well as for my family’s future. Highly recommended reading there…

Now, back to Bill….one post in particular I think will be intriguing to you as a cafe owner, Bill. You can follow the link here. It’s called “Voxtropolis Cafe”, and it sort of bullet-points Alex’s strategy of establishing connection points for a face-to-face component of the voxtropolis community.

Keep me in the loop on what you think about it….

“There is nothing keeping you from putting your life in the hands of God today. That’s pretty freeing. ‘Cause a lot of you got issues that you can’t control, don’t you? Some of you are hoping that this conference lasts 6 or 8 more months so you won’t have to go back to work. Because there are people there that are controlling you. Your future destiny - on a human level - is in their hands. And they can make decisions, right or wrong about you, and you have very little recourse. That’s crazy isn’t it? Some of your family situations are pressing in on you. Some of your circumstances are pressing in on you, and they’re forcing you into certain kinds of responses.

But here’s the thing: Nothing on the planet can stop you or stop me from saying to God today, “Here’s all of me. My whole life. Everything I am and I’m about. I want to put that in Your hands.” Nobody can stop you. No pastor. No church staff. No circumstance. No illness. No sickness. No hardship. No difficulty. No death. No darkness. No tunnel. No hole. No depression. No kids. No wife. No husband. No one can stop you at the end of the day. Now, at the end of the day, we can say, “Well, I would have put my life in Your hands God, except for whatever, whatever whatever…” But at the end of the day there’s nothing that can stop us from saying, “I have control over this decision. I’m in Your hands God. You just do with me whatever you want.”

And this is the greatest part. When you put your life in God’s hands, there is nothing that can stop God from using You in His plans. Nothing. Not even death can stop God from using you in His plans if your life is in His hands. As a footnote: see the Son of God, Jesus Christ.”

 —Louie Giglio, excerpt taken from his message “Simply Worship”

(this was originally posted on my xanga blog on May 29, 2005)

…I had one of those awesome private worship experiences this past weekend. On Friday, I was sitting at the piano at my house running through the worship set for Sunday morning. One of the songs in the set is “Whole World in His Hands” by Tim Hughes. The words to the chorus:

He’s got the whole world in His hands
He’s got the whole world in His hands
I’ll fear no evil for You are with me
Strong to deliver, mighty to save
He’s got the whole world in His hands

After singing through the song, I felt like just vamping through the chorus progression and talking to God. As a result, He kind of prompted me to read Psalm 91. I started to incorporate some of the phrases from the Psa