newworship.com

Tech Beat Apple's design process - BusinessWeek

How much do I love this!
So many principles that are transferrable to ministry.

Link: Tech Beat Apple's design process - BusinessWeek.

Revealing Discipleship

Recently, I had an important experience. At the Leadership Summit, Willow unveiled a new book that contains some recent research they had done with theirs and 6 other congregations. The preliminary results are astounding. And, it concludes what many of us had intuitively felt but not articulated.

I won't try to unpack it for you here. But, the net results will revolutionize discipleship in the church as we know it if their findings continue to be affirmed.

I will say this. Have we as church leaders perpetuated an unhealthy dependence on the church for peoples maturing and dependence on Christ? Have we, for a very long time, led people to believe that their ultimate maturity is a result of the programs we offer in the local church? Are more mature Christians dissatisfaction with the offerings of local churches a result of a misguided mindset we have unintentionally encouraged?

This is a conversation that will polarize many. But one, I believe, that is vital to the future full Kingdom effectiveness of the Church.

What do you think? I highly encourage you to read this book and track with the conversation as it develops.

Reveal Now

Smart Things Andy Said

I spoke a little about how great the Drive conference was for me. On Tony Morgan's blog he sums up many of the bullet points form the main session talks. Kudo's to Tony for having the presence of mind to post this stuff! You can read it here at Smart Things Andy Said.

"Drive" This Last Week

Most of our leadership team from Westside went to Northpoint Community Churches conference. It was a really extraordinary time for all of us.. These guys are on the leading edge of leadership in the church in America.

Andy Stanley, their senior pastor, spoke at most of the main sessions with only his father Dr. Charles Stanley speaking in one. (He speaks with the kind of authority that makes you think he came off the mountain with the Ten Commandments. "Yes sir! Whatever you say sir. And what else should I do with my life?" No wonder Andy and Louie Giglio came up under his leadership!  The range of topics went from volunteerism in the church to systemic thinking to prayer in conflict.

I absolutely loved it. It's been a long time since I had such smart and practical input. I am planning to take my team next year so we can all share the experience.   

I would try and unpack some of the things we learned there, but you would do better to read about much of it in Andys book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Ministry.

I'm sure I will be reffering back to ot over the course of the next year as I begin to (attempt) to apply what I am learning.

Holy Spirit Sound Impairment

Ok, for all of you lead worshipers. Have you had this experience? You are all well prepared. It is a really good set of songs and creative elements. You are looking forward to facilitating people's encounter with God tonight.

And it happens. You start the first song and your monitors are different. You can't hear things right and you struggle with ignoring all the musical wierdness because for some unknown reason everyones mix is different on stage despite the sacred pact between the band and the soundman to never change ANYTHING that will mess with the mix in your ears!

All night long you feel like a garage band because you can't hear the groove properly and it all just comes out looser than loose. "Oh well" you say. "There were some OK moments and it seems like people were engaging in worship. We'll only know when we get to heaven," you think semi- optimistically.

Then your musician friend comes up to you afterwards. Mind you, he is a very solid young musician. And he tells you how great it sounded and how good the mix was. And someone else comes up and tells you what a sweet time they had with God.

Was I in some strange, humiliating parallel universe where bad music is somehow rewarded? Or, does God,once again, prove that he rewards those who show up and bring their best, however meager their offering may be?

Loaves and fishes, my friend. Loaves and fishes.

Another Embarassingly Bad Church Sign

This is not helping.

I just spoke at our emerging gen service on the topic of "pursuing the outcasts." It is so clear as you read scripture that the heart of Jesus is consistently turned towards the outcasts, the marginalized, those seperated from God. In Luke chaptert 15 Jesus tells three parables of things that were lost and were then found; 1 sheep out opf 99; 1 coin out of 10; and one of two sons. And upon the return of the lost, cherished one there is great celebration on Earth as well as in Heaven.

You see, Jesus was all about bringing the outsider in. He leveled the playing field of His time by proclaiming that everyone was in need and that only He could fulfill that need. His heart of compassion for those who were spiritually seperate is clearly seen in His actions as well as His parables.

As a matter of fact, He had the hardest most condemning things to say to those who called themselves children of God. But instead of sharing His heart they erected for themselves more barriers for the outsider and burdened men down with their own self-righteous additions to the law. They themselves became an obstacle to the outsider entering the Kingdom. And Jesus clearly showed His disdain for them in scripture.

If we are to call ourselves Christ followers we will share His heart and pursue the kind of people that He pursued with the same kind of passion and compassion that He showed. The inverse of that is true as well. If we don't pursue people with the love that pursued us and brought us into the Kingdom, we aren't following Jesus.

We were all the outsider at one time.

Signs like this make me just a little ashamed of my brothers and sisters who thought this was a good idea. And more than a little grieved for the lost one who will see this sign and further broaden the gap between themselves and the message of Jesus' love.

Link: obahsomah's Xanga Site.

A Visionary Prayer

Prayer of 16th century English explorer Sir Francis Drake:
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing the sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push in the future in strength, courage, hope, and love. AMEN

Conversations with a Young Worship Leader

I have the privilege of periodically being in the position to mentor and help encourage young lead worshipers. Here is a segment from a recent email dialogue we had.

"I'm sending this because I wanted to pick your brain about something. I
> wanted to know how you balance leading people into worship and being an
> artist? I'm struggling with that in the sense that I either want to grow in
> being a better lead worshipper, or just quit entirely and form a band to be
> able to express myself creatively. I'm just having trouble finding that
> balance.
> Thanks"

Here is my initial response -

"I don't think those things are mutually exclusive. I think you can be both an artist and be a worship leader.

First of all, I believe that being a lead worshiper is a calling. Personally, I would much rather see a group of people engage with God because I set the table than to sing them a song. It's not that performing can't be a valid expression of worship. It definitely is. It is just a different form and serves a different purpose.

When you write a song and/or lead a congregation in worship, you are trying to give them a voice to express themselves to God. In other words, you are trying to give them the song they wouldn't otherwise be able to write. It's a complete act of service. I'm not trying to express myself so much as I am trying to find that ground where they can authentically meet with God through the medium of music (or whatever art form you might be using). At the same time I want to model authentic worship as a servant leader. It can be something of a balancing act. I need to be able to worship with credibility.

When you are writing for more of a performance medium, you are generally trying to express yourself and your own particular point of view and experience. You are trying to find and express your own voice. It can go other directions than that, obviously, but most of the time it is meant to be a more passive experience on the part of the listener.

I have found it to be a really rewarding thing to be creative in the congregational environment. There are few sounds in this world, other than the sound of my family laughing, that I love to hear more than a group of people offering their praise to God. That is hugely rewarding for me. When I write, I am often trying to expand their "worship vocabulary" creatively. That usually means exploring musical or lyrical ground that isn't typically used in that context.

At the same time we can't get so personal or esoteric, musically or lyrically, that it alienates the worshiper. I'm not going to be writing my speed/jazz/electronic/metal/hip-hop worship song about how "delicious the rainbow of God's winter solstice" is. Joe Blow congregant is just going to scratch his head and stand there looking at me going "Can we sing Shout to the Lord again?"

So, there are a certain amount of limitations in the congregational context. And, if you really feel creatively unfulfilled in that space you might really need to do the side band thing. If I am all about hip-hop and I am ministering to happy baby-boomer white bread America, I will probably have to go somewhere else to scratch that itch. It doesn't invalidate it as a form of worship. It just means that the people I am called to serve need a different musical environment in order to effectively engage with God."

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear some push back on this.

Why Men Hate Going to Church

"[Murrow] concluded that today's church culture favors, even expects, participation in intimate, nurturing behavior such as singing, hand-holding, sitting in circles and sharing feelings. Many men feel uncomfortable in such an environment and choose not to go." (Washington Post)

Link: Church for Men – Calling the church back to men.

State of the Church 2005

According to Barna.org.

"More than nine out of ten American adults engage in some type of faith-related practice during a typical week."
For more info:
Link: Welcome to The Barna Group!.