New town.

New school.

New faith community.

New perspective.

Oh, and a new blog: http://tof-lee.com.

Life is full but good. Kristi and I both have areas we want to work on…mine is in the area of time management which includes making sure I get enough sleep, eat at normal times and make it home to be with family after work each day.

With Alethia already being 2 and Judah 3 months, quality time is fleeting. I only get them for so long.

Choosing things that matter…
- time in the Word
- constructive playtime with Alethia
- dinner time around the table as a family
- coffee dates with my wife
- equipping the church for ministry…EPHESIANS 4:12!!!!
- remaining “in Christ”…John 15!

And then all of a sudden it’s Sunday.  We pull ourselves out of bed, into the shower, raid the cupboards for the last Nutri-grain bar before shuffling the family in the car and arriving 4 and a half minutes late for church.  Even though we’ve all got issues we realize that they won’t get “fixed” in an hour and 15 minute service, so we hang on until it’s time to take a much-needed Sunday afternoon nap.  We’ve been so busy worrying about getting from A to B that our brain has gone on autopilot and our sense of living life to the fullest has been lulled into a numb stupor.

Recently, I’ve been asking myself “what is the spirit of worship at my church?”  Is it Christian karaoke?  Are we really here to celebrate all that God has done and will do through the people of this church?

If you find yourself wondering what has happened to the spirit of worship in our church, I have one recommendation: holy anticipation.   I love what Richard Foster describes in his book Celebration of Discipline when describing the discipline of worship:

A striking feature of worship in the Bible is that people gathered in what we could only call a “holy expectancy.”  They believed they would actually hear the Kol Yahweh, the voice of God…it was not surprising to [the early church] that the building in which they met shook with the power of God.  It had happened before…they were coming into the awful, glorious, gracious Presence of the living God.  They gathered with anticipation, knowing that Christ was present among them and would teach them and touch them with His living power… When more than one or two come into public worship with a holy expectancy it can change the atmosphere of a room.

I believe that true worship starts with aligning oneself with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead not only on Sundays but every day of the week.  I write this not because I am a prayer guru or that you should pay homage to my greatness.  I am a pastor but I am just like you.  I write this because you and I are both human and need to become desperately teachable.  I write this as an encouragement not only for you but for myself–so that each one of us can be carefully listening for God’s voice throughout everyday.  (I’m told it gets easier the more you do it.)

But there’s a catch.  It starts with you.  And me.  Each of us listening closely to God’s voice.  Our times in worship can be filled with the power of God, lives can be touched, hearts can be healed–but only if we join as one to seek God’s face–together.  Are you in?

Ouch.  That’s a cut to the pride.  At the same time, it was so reassuring to know that the success of a service doesn’t rest solely on the confidence (or lack there of) of the worship team.    Woosh!   We felt this collective release of nervous energy and got up, had fun and worshiped the God who isn’t bogged down a bad monitor mix, random radio frequencies coming through the PA or missed cues.  God is way bigger than the box we want to put Him in on a Sunday morning.  I know I needed that reminder.

Our set list included:

Pre-Service Groove (Instrumental with an A and B section over 5 min countdown as people walk in)

You’re Worthy of My Praise (Gathering Song)

Famous One

Praise To The Lord The Almighty (Christy Nockels version)

Jesus Messiah

Shout To The Lord (Lincoln Brewster Version)

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Offering Song)

The 1st trick in this set was to go from Famous One to Praise To The Lord (faster 6/8 to slower 6/8 and 9/8 feel).  I transitioned by keeping them both in the key of E having the band let the last chord of Famous One ring out as I sang the first line of Praise To The Lord, thus setting a new, slower tempo.  It felt smooth getting into but the band tended to want to rush as we got to the chorus section.

The second trick was with Jesus Messiah and Shout To The Lord.  I wanted my drummer to play slightly ahead of the beat so that we could match tempos with Jesus Messiah and Shout To The Lord.  That way the energy level of both songs remains fairly consistent.  Jesus Messiah wanted to drag and Shout To The Lord wanted to drag.  This rests solely on the drummer.  Luckily, my drummer “Duffy” is a very musical drummer and really understands the dynamics of both songs.  We did Jesus Messiah in the key of E and Shout To The Lord in the key of A.  Being that the end of Jesus Messiah tags the last line of the chorus and ends with an A chord we were able to play 2 bars of the A chord at the end of Jesus Messiah and plow right into Shout To The Lord without any hesitation.  1st service, this transition didn’t go so smoothly.  1 person in the band was about a half measure off from the rest of the band.  In the 2nd service we nailed it.

What does all this have to with actually leading people in worship you ask?  Truth is not much in the grand scheme of things.  But its in the details that great worship leaders rise and fall.  A great worship leader is often a great arranger.  Your people will have a sense of completeness when a song is done well.  Sometimes it’ll be an instrumental section that really makes room for them to hear from God.  Without some careful planning, we leave those important details up to chance.  On the flip side, sometimes God says, “Scrap the details!  Focus on me!”   And that’s good too.  Just make sure there’s a good balance between the artistry and the purpose of worship.

That’s all for now.  What say you?

I think those surreal moments come in life when the future is uncertain.  When you graduate, get married, attend a funeral of someone you loved dearly you experience this blur of activity as if you aren’t totally present.  The time that it takes to pause, reflect and can’t always be within minutes, but sometimes its days, weeks or much longer.

Without surreal moments we live in a safe cocoon.  Without surreal moments we move through life in a static state of blah.  I don’t want blah.  I want to feel the excitement.  I want gratitude.  The anxiety.  Curiosity.  In surreal moments, no matter how bright or bleak the present moment seems, we are forced to take in the moment.  It’s like when your leg falls asleep.  Your mind bounces from one thought to another and then you have to face reality.  Your leg is asleep.  And soon you get that tingling feeling.  It’s not pain.  And it not pleasure.  It’s feeling.  Straight up feeling.  As the feeling returns to your leg, all you can think about is the intensity of that moment.  It focuses your attention.  It makes you remember what’s really important.  (Not your leg.  All the other important stuff.)  Trying to remember to pause.

I now have a son.  There’s a certain amount of anticipation.  I want him to learn from my mistakes.  To not be held back by the fears I held on to.  There is a sense that his life will be a continuation of mine, and my fathers and my father’s father.  Like he has a destiny.  Maybe it’s a father’s optimistic outlook.  I know he’ll make mistakes.  But hopefully it’ll just be enough to keep him humble.

Part of it, I believe, is my tunnel-vision.  My wife will tell you when I’m in the middle of a project, it doesn’t matter if a nuclear bomb went off outside, I will bring that project to completion before I can think of resting.

And at the same time, I’m easily distracted.  I’m one of those scatter-brained people who has a running list of things in my head.  When I think of that new task to complete, I immediately forget about the thing that I’m doing and start working towards that new goal.  For some funny insight into people like me, check out Peter Mayer’s song “Scatterbrain”: http://www.petermayer.net/music/play.m3u?t=53

I guess I just need to find something outside of work that fuels my creative spark.  Any suggestions?  Anyone?

Here are the take aways:
- Great time to hang as a staff.
- Hybel’s was awesome…oh so wise…and biblical.
- Got to hear Rick’s heart to reach people for Christ.
- Clarified mission over lunch as a staff.

Off to a late night cousin extravaganza with ice cream cake! Holla!

As a staff, we’ve been emailing back and forth, discussing at length and refining what it looks like for someone to integrate this process of disciple-making into their own life.  Well today I had an opportunity to do some seriously awesome Connecting with God.

I escaped to a secluded area in an undisclosed MN State Park with a great view overlooking the Mississippi River.   I was a little paranoid of being attacked by snakes or what not but nonetheless I was there to really make a go of making a connection.  I have made it my goal set aside time in my calendar to get away by myself, without distractions to pray, read my bible, roam around in nature, and see what God would say to me.

I decided to read through the book of Philippians.  I had my journal open so that any passages that seemed to pop off the page I could jot down and later commit to memory.  After slowly digesting the book of Philippians I found a whopping 17 passages that I wanted to memorize.  Some I had memorized in the past but needed a refresher.  Others passages that I wanted to meditate on to gain insight.  Here are a few of those passages:

Phil. 1:6  “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Phil 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ to die is gain.”

Phil 1:27 “Whatever happens conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

Phil 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

Phil 2:5-11 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.  But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross.  Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Needless to say, having just memorized those 5 passages my mind is pulsing with God’s word, thus increasing my connection with Him and what he says about how I live my life. 

Can I encourage you as He did me?  Hide God’s Word in your heart.  Don’t count on Sunday morning worship celebrations to be your only spiritual food throughout the week.  It’s meant to be a springboard into a deeper, abundant life in Christ.  Let God’s word dwell in you and He’ll blow open the door to Greater Things.

<Back to reality>

While Kristi laid on the bed and I held her hand, we saw (very clearly) that we’re having a baby boy!  I let out a glottal grunt/yelp for joy.  I don’t know how but instinctually I knew it was going to be a boy.  I guess I had a 50/50 shot. 

When Alethia was in the womb we nicknamed her Shaniqua Trixiefaye Lee.  Within minutes of leaving the hospital we nicknamed our boy Thor Bartholomew Cosmopolis Lee.   And thus he shall be called hence forth until he is born and we announce his real name.  : D

I love the song God of this City. We started singing it in January. Every time we sing it we have an opportunity to see God’s heart to transform our city. We sang it again yesterday after we watched an awesome video testimony. Everyone seemed to feel this momentum and urgency to share Christ and invite people to begin a relationship with God by coming to church on Easter.

I think this is a fresh wind that God is sending our way. And we’re gaining momentum! The anticipation is building! God has greater things in store at Pleasant Valley.