worshiper

adventures in missing the point

2010-07-08T00:33:00.001-05:00

I love my job. It's fun and I get to be creative. I love the people of this church. I love how they worship and I am grateful that I am a part of it for many reasons. I love how you don't have to be anyone to go to church at LVP. You know exactly what I mean. Larry Hess has articulated it well in Sunday's past. LVP is a place you can go to be encouraged and grow. It's safe.

I'm shopping at Sam's Club last week (you can find me there every Saturday) and I run into a couple from another church where they are active members. I haven't communicated with this couple in well over a decade so we are doing the typical small talk. He asks me what I'm up to and I tell him. He looks me over and asks "you don't lead worship looking like that do you?" I just so happen to be in my favorite, ripped-to-shreds jeans and an old faded white T. He went on to tell me exactly what he thought of the appearance of the worship leader at his church. *sigh ...

I know exactly who this worship leader is and what his style of attire is. What's great is that he dresses "better" than I do every Sunday and I know for a fact that he receives comments every week about his attire. This usually makes me giggle to myself and I roll it off. This particular day at Sam's Club I was rattled this guy's next question to me: "if you stop and think about it, you wouldn't want someone coming to your church dressed like that, would you?" I literally had to play back his question in my mind twice. What?!

It's like this: I happily sport a button down shirt, blue jeans and dress shoes every Sunday. It's what I'm comfortable worshiping in. (It seems to be okay with the loving people of LVP as well.) Everyone in church likes to use the Bible to back up their church/social preferences so I will try my best not to do that here ... It's church. We're not going to sit in front of a judge/jury. We're not going to prom. It's church ...

Let me articulate a bit ... the church is the one place where we should be accepting. So going back to the question that has been burning in my memory since it was asked: YES - I want people dressed like "that" coming to my church. I don't care about your clothes. I care about your soul. And I'm fairly certain, based on historical evidence from the culture surrounding the time period of Jesus, that people didn't have suit pants, dress shoes, button down shirts or pretty cross-hatch sweaters vests. The question I was asked just angers me. Why would clothing ever be a concern? This issue parallels my previous post about music. It's another adventure in missing the point.

hymnody

2010-07-03T22:31:00.004-05:00

disclaimer: this is a rant ...

Perhaps I am jaded by the style I choose for worship at LVP ... maybe I give too much credit to the general church ... or it could be that I am absorbed by myself and how good I am (joke) ...
But whatever the case, it really takes the wind out of my sails when someone asks me, usually in a scornful tone, "do you ever do any hymns?!"

...

OK - seriously? A hymn is a song of praise to God, a nation, deity, etc. In our case, a song of praise to our living Triune God. So ... the short answer is: yes - every Sunday.
The longer answer: Jesus answered a lot of questions with questions so here's one for anyone out there who has ever heard of the great "worship wars" of the general church: what is worship?

I've answered this question in previous posts. I won't get into that much detail here, but this passage say's it all. My point is this: the wind is taken out of my sails when I hear the question because the asker is missing the point: music does not equal worship. Also - if we are going to call our music an act of worship, it shouldn't be self-serving. Worship, however it is manifested, should glorify God.

songwriting

2010-06-02T14:26:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's been too long since I have posted ... Yes, this is a short post as well, but I wanted to share this article. Great words here from Paul Baloche. Enjoy!

"Getting Your Songs Heard"

passion

2010-04-20T12:42:00.003-05:00

stumbled upon this at target while waiting on my wife:

i giggled ... out loud.

worship worship

2010-04-14T22:58:00.001-05:00

I've spent a good deal of time explaining and defining worship recently. Being in situations where I had to articulate it helps me to understand it more. I am grateful for friends like Bill Green with whom I can share absolutely anything - worship or otherwise. We had a great discussion of what worship is and what worship is not yesterday.

Over lunch we discussed the church and our views of music in the church. In America, we are a bit spoiled when it comes to media. We are overstimulated by everything around us: TV, internet, music, advertising ... it's everywhere. As if HDTV weren't amazing enough - now we have 3D HDTV's! There's nothing wrong with HDTV - it just so happens that I am blogging on an HDTV right now! The problem Bill and I see is this: with all the stimuli/media that surrounds us, it is easy to lose focus of or be oblivious to authentic worship. Does a song have to be played well in order for people to worship? I think we sometimes get caught up in how a new song makes us feel and start to "worship worship." What I mean is it's the sound we are caught up in, instead of His Holy presence.

That's a pretty general statement so let me articulate a bit more because my thoughts are not as black and white as my description ... One writer defined worship this way: "worship at its very essence is relationship." I don't agree with this - perhaps due to its brevity, but the Word makes it clear; everyone is a slave to something. In the context of the scripture it is referring to being a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. I would offer this adaptation: whatever you spend your time doing is what you worship. This makes a huge correlation between slavery and worship. Worship isn't limited to what we do on Sunday morning, nor does worship start with Sunday morning worship service. Worship should start before we unlock the doors. Worship isn't just relationship - it's what we choose to be via what we spend our time and effort doing.

We shouldn't be sparked into worship from the stimuli of a cleverly crafted song. The song should help facilitate the worship rather than be the worship. The song is a means to an end.

job

2010-04-07T12:01:00.001-05:00

Everything problem pales in comparison to Job ...

we are the church

2010-03-30T01:23:00.003-05:00

we are the ~~world~~ church

The words to "We Are the World" keep playing back in my head ever since they debuted the new version at the start of the Olympics -- Cheesy video, with plenty of well known faces (my personal favorite: Jeff Bridges aka "The Dude"), but a worthy cause: to promote the awareness of and to raise money for the situation in Haiti.

I think it's great that these pop icons would come together and strike a common chord (couldn't resist the dorky music pun). This song and several conversations in the past month got me thinking about the Church and what exactly it means to be the Church.

I ran into an acquaintance the other day at one of my favorite dining establishments and we both had the luxury of time on this given day so we caught up each others lives. As we finished up the small talk we got a bit more detailed in our conversation. He started telling me about his church and expressing his frustration with some fellow church members' views of their pastor. He went on to tell me how this particular couple eventually left the church over a small detail and how that was hurtful to him. Then he said to me, "When there is something wrong with the church or something you don't like, you don't just get up and leave. If it bothers you enough, go talk to the pastor. Unless you disagree with most of what the pastor believes I think you should stay." He went on to say "Church is a community; a family. We make up the church."

Yep.

I agreed with him ... then we both expressed our views to each other and eventually went our separate ways, but for whatever reason, the conversation stuck with me a few days.

The phrase church-hopper comes to mind on this subject: people who jump from church to church searching for God knows what. I don't think LVP has ever had an issue with this, but there are some local churches that experience this on a weekly basis and I have a theory as to why people hop around: we are a product of our generation/culture. There are so many options and they are all at our fingertips - literally. We are a channel-clicking, iPod listening, fast food eating society that relishes in its instant gratification. Don't get me wrong, options are great. Technology today is amazing and gives us so much, but we are used to it now. We expect it. So - I can see how church-hopping is almost second nature to some.

In regards to those who hop around: I don't think the issue is finding the right church, but rather it is a matter of being the church. And please don't misunderstand me. I do not mean to say that anyone who visits a different church on occasion is guilty of not being the church, but I think it is easy to slip into the mindset of "what can church do for me" without even realizing it. Our society prides itself on perfection. If it's not perfect (or just the way we like it), we don't want it.

Toward the end my conversation with my Sam's Club acquaintance he said to me, "We have been at our church for over 20 years. We have been there in the high's and low's. We help people out when they need it and we have committed ourselves to this community. It's been very rewarding. In fact, we have life long relationships that are practically family." He finished with a touching story about his mother-in-law who needed 24/7 care. He told me how his church family stepped in, took turns and looked after her in her last year on earth and how it meant the world to him that his church picked up the slack and sacrificed their time/energy.

It was greatly encouraging to me to hear this man share his thoughts on what it means to be the church in today's world.

We Are the Church ... Let us be the Church.

everlasting God - song story

2010-03-15T14:33:00.002-05:00

As a worship pastor I am always searching for new songs we can use in worship. In the past 14 months I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 songs as part of our worship at LVP. In the age we live in there is no shortage of great worship songs floating around on the KLOVE's of the world. Since I have started writing songs I have found a new respect for the songwriters. The art of writing a song is interesting to me. Besides films, music is the only form of art that is moving. It uses the 4th dimension: time. Unlike a picture, it changes constantly always taking you on a journey. It's fascinating and I thank God for the gift! But I digress and I promised a song story...

Since I have started writing some of my own music I have become curious what other songwriters are thinking or where they found their inspiration for their songs. A lot of the great hymns have absolutely jaw-dropping stories. One story goes like this: a wealthy business man lost everything he worked for in the Chicago fire. He later sent his family ahead to England for a much needed vacation and the ship wrecked where he lost all four of his daughters. He then penned one of the greatest hymns the Church has ever known: "It Is Well With My Soul." There is more to the story than I can share here, but can you imagine? At the point where a man lost almost everything he held dear, he worshiped! The song story that is on my mind today is a recent one, however.

Brenton Brown (singer/songwriter), wrote a song that we are all fond of: "Everlasting God." We have sang this song many times over the past two years and we will be singing it this Sunday as well. The lyrics are simple, biblical and they make such a powerful statement to the awesome God we serve. I was told the story behind this song by Vicky Beeching at the NWLClast year. It's a heart wrenching story and I hope you will take the time to read it. This is an article republished on CCLI's site from Worship Leader Magazine ... In the midst of Brenton's debilitating physical ailments, he worships.

Everlasting God - a song story

pooh worship

2010-03-10T23:40:00.003-06:00

I have a good friend/mentor named Bill who is a 35+ year veteran in the worship ministry. Bill and I have grown close through many, many lunches at Java Joint, Quizno's and Swadley's from discussing, laughing, crying and struggling through countless issues of life, ministry and God. I am privileged to be able to have such a great friend. Bill and I never have a shortage of topics to talk through when we share a meal together.

A few weeks ago we were discussing worship styles and philosophies (at Swadley's of course). I always appreciate Bill's thoughts in regards to the subject. Since he is quite a bit older than me I almost always have different views than he does, but it's great to be able to share those differences. I find it helps gain a better understanding. As we were talking he made the point "you have to leave room for the Spirit to move." What he meant was while you must plan worship and structure it if you don't leave room for the spontaneous, then you may be squelching the Spirit.

This is an intriguing thought to me ... one that keeps being stirred to the forefront of my mind. I won't give my thoughts in this post, but I came across this article while doing some reading yesterday that immediately brought back this conversation with Bill. In fact, I emailed Bill this article as soon as I finished reading it. If you have a few minutes, read this article. Kraueter
makes an interesting parallel between Pooh and worship along the commentary of Bill's statement.

Tom Kraueter - "Winnie the Pooh on Corporate Worship"

goodbye grandpa

2010-02-22T17:27:00.003-06:00

One of the last things Don Finley, my grandfather, expressed to the family before he died was that he didn't want the funeral to be about him, but rather he wanted the service to glorify God. He expressed to me several times the hymns he wished to have sang. Angie and I had the great privilege of leading the worship at Don's service on Saturday as all his friends and family celebrated his life and glorified God.

I find great solace in the fact that Don lived a life of faith. He had a heart for ministry and sought the will of God in everything he did. I can't remember a conversation with the man that didn't involve Christ. Even though that thrills my soul I would be lying if I said I wasn't physically and emotionally weary. We all know the feelings, because we've all lost someone. It is difficult to describe (or impossible) in words, but you understand what I mean when I say it.

It is a bit satirical trying express the angst in my mind knowing everything that Don went through before he passed away on that hospital bed, struggling to breathe, but my point is simple: Don lived Romans 12:1. He honored and glorified God and left a lasting impression to all those who knew him. I thank God for the man grandpa was. It is my hope to leave a lasting impression like he did - to leave a footprint of Christ's love behind.

Grandpa - you are loved and you will be missed.

To God be all the glory.

what is worship? what are NoW stations? | part 3

2010-02-09T13:19:00.000-06:00

"Worship is supposed to be the heart's cry to its maker" -- Paul Baloche

The heart's cry, the overflow, the exploding feelings of God's majesty that we all get. How do we express it? I go back to wikipedia here. Just read the examples the article gives of how worship is expressed. The building of temples, dancing, singing ... in a word: creativity. Here's another word I have chosen: art.

Worship Arts.

Yes, it's the current buzz word for us worship pastors, but not without its purpose/vision. I choose Worship Arts to be the title for LVP for a specific reason. To promote and worship God through art. Art can be anything from singing, a guitar riff, beautiful worship backgrounds, murals, kids finger paintings, dancing, praying, etc. If our heart's overflow is to worship God, then He deserves our everything - all our creativity.

A guy by the name of Paul puts it this way:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual/reasonable act of worship."

Reasonable?

Our reasonable act of worship is to offer up our everything. This is an interesting passage as Paul goes on to give examples of how our talents can be used by Him, for Him.

So my point is this: this three part blog was spawned by our discussion in staff meeting. There was some concern that some of our congregation was uncertain of what to do with the different worship stations set up during our Night of Worship. The goal or intent of these stations and of the NoW as a whole is this: we want to encourage worship in any medium that our congregation feels comfortable and furthermore is willing to use to glorify God.

what is worship? what are NoW stations? | part 2

2010-02-02T19:50:00.001-06:00

Just to see what the world thinks, I googled the word: worship.

And apparently, you can only worship when you are enjoying mother nature or attending a concert with your arms stretched to the sky. It's no wonder we are confused about the concept. We are being told, like it or not, through societal norms and assumptions just how we are to worship.

I think I've stated this before, but I find it helpful to turn to the dictionary and give words definition or new insight to help me think: worship. Not the most compelling definition of the word, but isn't it interesting how half the uses of the word are defined as a verb?

Moving on to wikipedia. Now keep in mind that this definition is generic and not specific to any one religion, but look at the third paragraph:

"Expressions of worship vary between faiths but typically include one or more of the following..."

Whoa ... prayer is the first thing listed?? Others include sacrifice, sacraments, singing, sermons and the list goes on. And again - this isn't specific to Christianity. Whoever wrote this wikipedia article nailed it. I doubt that placing prayer at the front of the list was an accident and here's the truth:

worship starts on our knees.

I love the way Harlan Moore stated it: "worship is communication. It's a two-way street where we can talk to God and He with us."

prayer.

Simplistic, yet prayer is where it all starts. I don't think it's any accident that Jim has been repeatedly asking LVP to pray and develop ourselves from "Romans 7" Christians to "Romans 8" Christians. How can we worship without prayer?

(more thoughts coming in part 3 ...)

what is worship? what are NoW stations? | part 1

2010-01-27T18:37:00.002-06:00

(this is a 3 part blog, so bear with me!)

In staff meeting we discussed NoW. The staff had educational and encouraging things to say, but what I gleaned was that there is some uncertainty in what we are to do during NoW. (More specifically, what do we do with these NoW stations??) The goal behind this blog is to engender the discussion and the decipherment of worship.

So ... what is worship? I must admit, it took me a long time (longer than it should have) to understand the concept and practices of the word and here's why:

When I was growing up I went to church. all. the. time. This is not a unique characteristic to me. Most everyone I know in the church has a scarily similar background. The point I am getting at is simple. I went for so many years and grew quickly accustomed to the Nazarene way of doing things: welcome, worship, prayer, offering, message, benediction (we'll discuss more about this momentarily). The order never changed (see previous entry). Actually, to say I grew accustomed isn't accurate: it's all I knew! And I always referred to this as the "service;" not the "worship service" or "Sunday morning worship," just the "service." Analyze that word. Decipher what it really means ... Is service the word we want to use to describe our Sunday morning ritual? Is ritual a word that describes what we do? I digress ...

It wasn't until college that I began to understand what worship was all about because I was blinded by ...

tradition.

Yes, back to my previous entry again. I couldn't see the why because of what we did every Sunday and it either wasn't explained to me or I didn't listen (most likely the latter). Why is it that we sing every Sunday ... which leads me back to the order of service:

welcome, worship, prayer, offering, message, benediction.

I thought singing was the act of worship. It never occurred to me that the entire service was the act of worship ... oops.

Let me say this more clearly: not only did I think that worship = singing.

I thought that singing was the only way we could worship ... double oops.

Okay so ... WHAT IS WORSHIP?

Ponder this.

Study it.

why?

2010-01-18T23:52:00.000-06:00

I have always been one to question the way things are. Call it boyish curiosity, but it's who I am. While curiosity is natural and healthy, it has been known to get me into trouble. That said, I am always questioning the ways of the church. More specifically, I question the why's of the church.

I vividly remember this conversation: I was on a road trip to a Kempke convention in Dallas with Harlan Moore when he posed the question: "Why do we do what we do?" Since then I have used this question to analyze LVP and the Nazarene church as a whole. More acutely, I employ the question to my ministry almost daily.

Let me give you an example: the doxology. This came up in recent conversation. It was said the doxology should only be used for a PM or "dinner" setting. Either I didn't pay attention to these kinds of details growing up in the Nazarene church or I completely missed something. In this conversation I kept listening for some bit of info that would explain why. No such luck.

Here's another: service times & days. Why does the Nazarene church cling to Sunday and Wednesday?

Why do we do anything the way we do??

tradition.

I have found when I am most confused about the why, it boils down to tradition. For as long as I can remember, church has been on Sunday and Wednesday. In my youth I remember my mother saying "we will be in church every time the doors are opened." Sound familiar? Why every Sunday/Wednesday? What is so special about those two days? That's just how it's been done for decades. What's wrong with the doxology for Sunday morning worship?

tradition -- I don't have a problem with tradition. I love the Nazarene church and the traditions we keep. There is nothing wrong with tradition, but it has made me question if we are missing something in our traditions.

Putting these examples aside and generalizing: the things we do - are we doing them to build the Kingdom or are we doing them just because that's how it has been done for the past 3 decades? Could ____ be done a different way to further the Kingdom more effectively? I firmly believe one of the things we are meant to do as followers of Christ is to critically think. I don't think it is a coincidence the importance that the Word puts on our ability to use our brain.

So - I put this question to any reader: Why do we do what we do? I am not proposing that we criticize our church or our faith, but rather I am asking that we try to answer the question to the best of our ability and perhaps we can, as a church, sharpen each other to further the Kingdom. I don't know what this will look like. Perhaps it means a Friday night worship session or an online forum where our members can offer support to one another, but I challenge you to ponder this question over the next week, month or year. See how it impacts you.

resolute

2010-01-14T00:01:00.004-06:00

So ... it's midnight; January 14, 2010 and I am ashamed to see I let more than a month go by without blogging. I also realize it that January is half way over and it's a little late to be bringing up resolutions, but it's better to be late to the party than not show up at all.

I am working on goals and resolutions for both myself and the church for the year. I have never been as excited about this ministry as I am now. I am blessed to be a part of people's lives at LVP. Jim has not yet asked the staff about goals for this church year, but I find I am terribly efficient at completing them once I have goals in place.

I will be posting my goals for our worship ministry as soon as I can make sense of the scribble on my yellow note pad of ideas!

P.S. - one of my goals is to blog ... weekly.

Christmas Prayer

2009-12-08T11:30:00.003-06:00

As we have been thinking and preparing for this year's Christmas worship, the worship team has been meditating over this prayer. Use this prayer this week especially to pray over this ministry:

Jesus:

As we come into Your presence today, we sing to remember - we sing to worship. We don't sing these hymns of old for nostalgia sake. We want to be reminded of Your story and have our hearts stirred by Your presence today. How awesome it would have been to experience the first Christmas. People (nations) were waiting for You ... for the glory of Your Majesty.

As we continue to worship You, we ask to be reminded of that first Christmas - speak to us in a new way. We want to be filled with a renewed realization of the glory of Your Majesty, "who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Amen.

non-profile, corporate worship

2009-11-23T00:16:00.006-06:00

If you're reading this blog and have never been to lvp, let me explain ...
We have limited platform space and a Yamaha C7 that takes a good portion of that limited area. In classic Liszt form (pardon the music geek pun), it sits profile on the platform. Because I lead from the piano it is often difficult to discern how the congregation is reacting in worship.

I had the unique opportunity to worship with the corporate body face to face tonight at our all church Thanksgiving dinner. As a worship leader, it can be discouraging at times, because you never know if you're doing a "good job." I'm constantly thinking (every Sunday), did I facilitate worship in a way that engendered open communication with our God? Did I successfully bring the majority of our congregation into a time of prayer?

I purposely kept my nose out of my song book tonight so that I could view and evaluate our congregation. It was great to be able to see our church get excited about and be drawn into worship together. During the short worship set, my eyes were drawn to two individuals more than any others. I was encouraged by their willingness to worship. It was obvious that it wasn't a show or routine. It was worship - worship with abandon. They didn't care who saw them or what others thought. Both were worshiping in different, separate ways.

It may not stir your heart like it stirs mine, but it is incredibly satisfying to watch God's children run to him with "arms high and heart abandoned."

Jesus calms the storm

2009-11-08T22:24:00.004-06:00

Tonight in small groups Sean referenced Matthew 8:23-27 during his devotional. Sean led us through a devotional about the peace and confidence that Jesus promises in the Word. The devo was great, but this scripture made me stop and question.

We all know the story: Jesus calms the storm.
What's interesting is the disciples say "Lord, save us!" and Jesus responds, "You of little faith ..." and Jesus commands the storm to cease. The disciples did not turn to each other and say "save us." They turned to Jesus; called Him 'Lord' and cried out for help. It's interesting because of His response: "You of little faith" ... wait - didn't the disciples just affirm the divinity of Christ with their cry? Their admission of faith is stated. They didn't say "Lord, can You save us? ... Is it even in Your power to rescue us?" No - they knew He could save them.

I compared several translations. "The Message" has an interesting take on Jesus' response: "Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?" This has a completely different connotation than the more traditional versions: NIV, KJV, NAS, NLT, etc.

What did Jesus mean to say? Did the writer of Matthew leave anything out? Does anyone else question passages like this?? And how can anyone sleep on a rocking boat while getting splashed??

I question the Word hoping to gain a better understanding of it. Please discuss ...

Christmas Celebration

2009-11-02T15:38:00.001-06:00

I have been asking myself this question for a couple of weeks ... I welcome input:

Why is it important to have a "program" for Christmas? Let me elaborate:
It seems that it is a given that there must be a program or some sort of special service/event that goes above and beyond "normal worship." I'm curious why we put more emphasis on the birth and death of Christ than we do say ... on the Triune God.

The words "Christmas Celebration" came up today in staff meeting. Sure - Christmas IS something to celebrate about (and I don't mean this lightly), but shouldn't every day be celebrated. Do one or two days of the year demand more importance in regards to our most holy God?

preparing for our NoW

2009-10-31T11:43:00.002-05:00

As you know, I believe it is important to prepare for worship. I have had a few scriptures rattling around in my head while preparing for this Sunday morning's worship and especially our "NoW" (Night of Worship).

If it would help to follow my mindset for how worship was planned, please reference the following:

AM Worship
Romans 12:1(-8)
Exodus 33:19-22
Exodus 3:14

NoW
Revelation 4:8
Isaiah 6:3
Romans 12:1-8 (again)
2 Samuel 6

qp

2009-10-29T15:33:00.003-05:00

God, You are so indescribable. Our words are feeble attempts to comprehend Your glory.
You are holy.

Thank you for giving us another day to praise You.

my rant

2009-10-11T22:44:00.001-05:00

I am troubled by this week's conversations. Three times I found myself listening to judgmental rants that were drenched in the legalism of my grandparents generation. All three times I had to stop and ask myself, "okay ... where did THAT come from?? ... what series of thoughts led to this conclusion?"

I am fearful when judgmental thoughts enter my mind. Fearful of being judged with the same harshness that I employee. Perhaps this is why I am so shaken when I hear these diatribes ...

An example: "this singer used to care about the gospel - now all he cares about is his fashion."
This was said in regards to a very popular gospel vocalist (whom neither of us engaged in this conversation have ever met).

Is our faith so weak that a man dressed different from our liking causes us NOT to worship?

Is our concept of God so small that we cannot appreciate simple beauties of culture (or OTHER cultures)?

We are missing the point: God is bigger than this - so big that I cannot begin to comprehend Him - this is the same God described in Exodus 33:18-23 who's glory cannot even been seen by man!
THIS is the God - the God who asks us to be living sacrifices as our "'reasonable' act of worship."

I'm thankful we worship a God who cares infinitely more about what's in our heart's than what's covering our bodies.

www

2009-10-05T19:45:00.004-05:00

I have always been fascinated by our world-shrinking technology we call the internet. It is a wonderful tool we can utilize to reach those that may not have otherwise been reachable. Now that we are streaming our services online, you don't have to live in Oklahoma to hear the word from LVP. (Obviously, there are questions and concerns about this medium concerning the church, but we will save that for another discussion.)

I play this game online (that is a complete waste of time but so much fun). This game is all about teamwork, knowledge and communication, which follows naturally under this pretense (game). Through months of play, I have had dozens if not hundreds of conversations with people sitting on the other side of the screen. Through playing this game I have developed relationships and in some cases friendships with people across the country and world. Several have asked, in general small talk, what I do and I have had the privilege to share Christ with several of them. Today, I had a deep discussion with a same-spirited individual about the concept of worship: what it means, how do you define it, how does it take shape in his church, our church, and THE church.

My point is this: I may never actually meet these people face to face. I may not have made much of a difference in their lives, but I was able to share my faith with them and spread God's Word and hopefully God's love to someone else ... all via the internet.

how great Thou art

2009-10-02T16:07:00.005-05:00

No matter how many times I fail and disappoint, He is always there to love me. His grace is indescribable. God - You are great, beyond any and all measure.

"Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
how great Thou art, how great Thou art!"

My God - how great Thou art! -- Make it a point to worship Him in private this weekend before we worship Him in public Sunday. Let us prepare our hearts for our "Night of Worship" this Sunday night. Implore Him and come expecting great things.

worship | part II

2009-09-24T08:00:00.004-05:00

Hallelujah: from the hebrew (حلال) "Halah," which not only means praise, but also means "to be clamorously foolish"

David had it all. He had power, wealth, and the respect of the world. He had all this, yet still he was faithful. Above all this - David was a worshiper (just thumb through the book of Psalm's).

2 Samuel 6 is a stunning example of how David worshiped God. Imagine the Ark being brought into the City of David and the fantastic celebration that took place by the Israelites. It is fascinating to think about. David is described (v.16) as leaping and dancing before the Lord. Can you imagine the king of Israel dancing with everything he's got ... naked?! After Michal expressed her disdain for David's actions he responds (v.21,22):

"I will celebrate before the Lord.
I will become even more undignified than this,
and I will be humiliated in my own eyes."

David was so absorbed in worshiping God that he literally lost himself in the moment. The heart of David was overflowing and its outlet was dancing naked before God, "undignified." David made his "halah" known. This was true worship. We have so much to be thankful for; to worship Him for. I think we are overdue for some "halah" in our worship. I am excited about the direction LVP is heading. As we continue to fast and pray and God reveals Himself to us through our faithfulness we can expect to experience some undignified worship of our own.

"Our heavenly Father loves us with an extravagant abandon.
Passionate, undignified worship is our only reasonable response." - Matt Redman