When I, as a minister, say the word "Worship"- our minds trigger a vision of singing praises.  We know in our mind that worship is more than songs sung on Sunday. Many worship leaders, such as myself, even like to use the term "lifestyle worshipers". When asked to define this term- we say "it is when someone worships God with more than song, but with their life".

But what does this entail?  How does someone become a "lifestyle worshiper"?  What exactly is worship?

Matt Chandler says,

The root of Christian worship, then, is acknowledging, submittting to, and enjoying the supremecy of God's glory.  In all things.

 Worship is enjoying something at a high respect, at its essence.  We have a choice- we can worship really whatever we like.  From sports teams, to superheros, to celebrities, to "celebrities" that we aren't sure how they became celebrities, to technology, to social media, to food, to music and bands, to anything where enjoyment can be had.

And so, as Christians, we have an opportunity to worship, to enjoy and submit to, the glory of God.  This can be done in song, yes.  But in our daily life- how do we apply this?

By enjoying the life that God gave us.  And in that enjoyment- acknowledge the fact that this was not given to us so that we would fill a void in God's heart.  Acknowledge God's grace in every day occurances. Even to the seemingly mundane like the fact that color exists- give God glory!

When we take our worship beyond songs sung on Sunday morning, beyond a genre of music, we will truly begin to experience what it means to worship God.

I recently read a quote.

"God wants us to take art seriously and understand that everytime the Church creates something, it reflects on Him personally."       - Josh Loveless 

I have to say first off- that over the past  few years, I have seen a reformation in creativity in the Church.  Churches are taking creativity and making it their own, and I am so glad.  

But until then, and still in a majority of places- there isn't creativity as much as there is Copy and Paste.  See something, like something, copy something. Sometimes we give the "if it isn't broke- don't fix it" excuse.  And that works, if the copy matches standards with the original. More often than not it doesn't.  

Back when I was a youth pastor, I wanted lights in my youth room to create a "stage area".  I found a light set that was handbuilt in a closet, and set it up in a way that was meant to mimic what I had seen before.  If turned out horrible.  I put painted flood lights in them, and sat them right behind me on my guitar amp pointed directly into the eyes of students.  Looking back now, I am mortified!  But I saw something in culture that I lazily thought would be cool and "create an atmosphere", and did it poorly.  The even worse part was the the room we were in had so much potential for original creativity that I couldn't see because I was too focused on copying something else.

I'm sure you have heard a parody Christian song sometime in your life, you know- Top 40 hits with the lyrics changed to Christian themed.  I don't mean the next statement in a mean way- but when did the church become like a dad making lame jokes to his teenage kids?

Now, I also want to say- the Gospel will always be relevant.  The story of God is always relevant.  This challenge of relevancy is not on God's part- it is us.  It is the church that has slacked in staying relevant, following the wind as the speeding car of culture passes by.

We need to step it up.  Yes, notice I said WE, not the church, not you.  We are all in this together.


God wants our best.  He doesn't demand perfection from us.  He simply wants the best we can do.  So let's stop lazily stealing ideas and being even lazier in our execution of them.  We can do better than taking a poorly made lighting rig set up on a guitar amp.

Our God is the ultimate Creator.  He created everything.  Culture gets their inspiration from God.  Whether they admit it or not- it comes from God's creation.  So why are we, God's people, copying culture, taking secondhand ideas when we serve The Creator?

Let's create something new.  Let's take a risk on something original.  Let's make the ultimate Creator proud!

Yesterday was my birthday.  Many people have asked me what I did, what I got, that kind of stuff.  Well I had the joy and honor to lead worship for The Way- the high school ministry at LCC. I can't think of a better present than getting to hold the door for 50-75 students as they enter in and worship their God.

Too often we as church leaders forget about the teenagers.  I mean, we give them their own room and some furniture no one else wanted, and we let them have fun trips.  We even give them great discipleship.  But how often do we pour into them and teach them about worship?

Do you know what happens to teenagers that don't learn about worship?  Look at your average church building on a Sunday- the room is full of adults who never learned what worship is- and view it as a singalong time before the sermon.  As a time for someone on stage to pretend to be a rock star.  And they miss out on just how vital worship is to our spiritual lives.

This isn't calling out anyone saying that they have done a poor job at that- not at all.  This is just a way of me saying how blessed I was to be part of teaching these students a little bit.

Today's students are going to be adults very soon.  And to see students begin to understand the idea of worship at this age, is incredible.  I can't think of a better birthday present.

The past six months have been rough.  Not going to lie.  Rough.  The last 12 months, in actuality- but the past 6 in a different way.

I have written about it in some sense-here, and here- and there are hints of it here.  Writing about how God is there in the midst of pain, in the midst of struggle.  I have talked a lot about the pain, struggles, darkness.

I have overlooked, in my writing at least, about the blessings.

I am incredibly blessed- pain and all.  And much of it is because of the struggles.
God has led me to a place where I can volunteer and plug in to a church that is pouring back into me, to learn things that I wouldn't have had the chance to learn if I hadn't gone through what I did.

I have learned things that simply can't be learned through books, or classes, or through other people's stories.  I have learned by going through the fires.

I have learned that I can truly believe the promises that God is there through it all.  I have also learned that I don't have to wait until the situation arises to look for God's promise about it- but that I can prepare myself through His word.

I have been blessed with a wife who stands by me in thick and thin, a family who supports and believes in me, friends who love me like family, and a God who is refining me in the pain, who is shaping me to be more than I was, to see where I need Him more.

And that is truly blessed.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31, 32 ESV)

Remind yourself of this daily. You will be wronged in your life. But how will you handle it? Will you forgive- like Christ forgave us as we took His grace and spat upon it? Or will you hold onto the pain, reopening your wounds to create scars that you will carry you whole life?

Let's be like Christ. Let us love when it is easier to hurt.

I just finished listening to Louie Giglio's session from the Lift conference.  A couple things hit home like a missile locked on.

God will find you where you are..... God will raise you when He wants.  As far as He wants. As fast as He wants. -Louie Giglio

For those who don't know- I am looking for a new position.  I am volunteering at a nearby church, working under an amazing leader and learning a ton.  And these words are what I needed to hear at this very moment.

I am an ordained minister (yes- technically my name is Reverend Josh Williams... I don't think I have ever typed that out...), and I am called by God to lead others in worship, I am a creative.  And I was brought to this earth to do these things.  In time.

Everything that has happened in my life so far has been in God's perfect plan.  Despite any heartache, turmoil, joy, or unexpectedness- it was all for a purpose. God's purpose.  And God's plan doesn't just end with me in the midst of a huge forest.  I have been chosen by God, and He has a perfect plan.

I have to stop worrying that I need to be sending my resume to more people, make more contacts, that I need to network more.  Yes- networking gets you jobs.  But you see, when we try to take the pen from the Storyteller- when we try to write our own story- we worry that we will miss the opportunity.
God is the Storyteller.  And He isn't going to let us miss something that is part of our plan.

From time to time, I will think of "career moves".  You know what I mean- the "should I be a volunteer here at blank church, or a leader over here at blank church" thoughts.  "Which one will take me farther?"  These are the WRONG questions.  I don't capitalize much, so take this to heart- GOD WILL FIND YOU.
God will find me.  It doesn't matter where I am at- if God wants to move me He will.

What He requires of me is that I give every ounce of my being to wherever it is that I am.  Whether a volunteer- the leader- a person in the congregation- God wants my all.

God has a plan for me.  And in time,  He will bring me the next step.  But for now, and I say this will all sincerity- there is nowhere else I would rather be.


I write this for myself.  But I also write this for any one who is going through something similar.  Take heart- you won't be in a slump forever.

I just finished watching the American adaptation of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".  A certain scene took me in deep thought.  So before I continue: [SPOILERS]


There is the scene where Mikael finds himself facing his own death, chained by the neck by Martin, who  Mikael discovered moments before is a killer.  Mikael was running away, but when he was found, Martin invited him inside for a drink, and Mikael followed him in, not wanting to let Martin know anything, and not wanting to be rude.


Martin, upon tying him up, tells him an intriquing story- that Mikael was more afraid of being rude and declining a drink with a murderer than the consequences that would follow going inside for said drink.  

Martin says, "The fear of offending is stronger than the fear of pain."

Wow.  I sat up off the couch and paused the movie right there.  How many times have I been guilty of this- letting sin go "unnoticed", not calling it out, because I was scared of losing a friend.  Even worse- how many times have I fallen into temptation because I didn't want to be rude and go against the flow?


As Christians, we must be above reproach. Temptation will be hard, temptation will be just that- temptation.  Rarely do you ever hear of someone who hates tomatoes being tempted with a bowl of tomatoes. Temptation is going to be hard to fight.  But in Christ we can.  In Christ we must.  


Let's not go down without a fight, let's not weakly roll over and succumb.  Let's fight.  Let's rage war.  Let's offend people instead of falling to temptation.


Are you more afraid of offending someone rather than the fear of falling to temptation?

I am getting ordained this Sunday.  And a lot of people have asked me what exactly that means.  I figured I would take some time and explain what it means- to me at least.

Being ordained into the ministry is basically a church declaring that they support the ministry of a believer who is dedicating their life to ministry.  I used the word 'ministry' a lot, I know.

Think of it this way (it is how I like to look at it): Baptism.  The baptism doesn't save you- it is an outward expression of an inward decision.  Baptism tells the world "I a beginning a relationship with Christ, I have been washed clean."  Ordination is like that, but instead of telling the world I have been washed, it tells the world I am dedicating my life to ministry- in my case- worship ministry.

I know people who think of ordination as a "traditional" thing, so "contemporary" has no place for it, no need for it.  While I can see where they are coming from- its not some tie to a "old way".  It is simply confessing my dedication to the spreading of the Gospel.
 I have no real desire to marry people.  I have no desire to bury people.  Now, if someone I care about comes to me and asks me, I would be honored.  But I have no real desire to marry and bury.

Ordination is not the means that allows you to marry someone.  it is so much more than that. It is first and foremost a declaration to spread the Gospel.

I'm getting ordained on Sunday.
It doesn't change who I am as a person.
It doesn't mean I am any more or less relevant in a contemporary and modern world.
It doesn't mean I'm only going to sing the 1st, 2nd, and 4th verses of "Just As I Am".
It doesn't mean I'm going to walk around making people call me Reverend.
It doesn't mean I am going to start marrying and burying people.
It doesn't mean I am a Super Christian who knows everything about theology (FAR from it!)

It does mean that I am dedicating my life to spreading the good news of Christ.
It does mean that I want the support of my fellow believers, of my Tidal Creek family, and of Rocky Creek- the church I grew up in and who is ordaining me.

If you have any questions.  Just ask me. If I don't know, I can give you a long list of people smarter than me.  Well, its a book actually.

I got a speeding ticket in November.  I admit that I was speeding, but not maliciously.  That isn't relevant in the story except the fact that I was guilty.

I wrote down the court date in my calendar as January 9th.  I wouldn't be able to make it, so I was going to send my payment on Monday, January 8th.  Today, I looked on my ticket to see what form of payment was accepted, and saw in horror the date the officer had written for my court date: January 5th, 2012. Noon.

I had missed my court date by 28 hours.  Frantically, I searched the ticket for what penalty I had just brought on myself: a $300 penalty or 30 days.  I immediately head to the bank, take out the amount the officer had reduced it to- and went to Municipal Court.

When I got to the counter to pay and explained my mistake, the worker behind the counter said that I now owed the original amount, not the reduced amount.  Not a huge deal, but not fun.  And they were adding on 2 more points to the ticket, so it would add 4 points to my license.  My heart sank.  I went back to the bank and got some more cash.

When I returned to the counter, the clerk commented that the computer was slow, and I joked that it was having mercy on me.  The computer finally fired up, and he took my ticket to put in my information.

"Josh Williams?  1753FS?"
"Josh Williams? That's me.  Do you need my license?"
"It says here that you paid yesterday.  You are free to go."

I stood there for a second, and then asked, "What do you mean?"
He repeated himself, "The debt has been paid.  You don't owe us anything."

This happened 20 minutes ago, and I am still blown away.  To whoever paid this for me: thank you.  You went above and beyond any relationship we have, and I owe you so much.

But on my way home, I started thinking- this is the Gospel.  We all have a debt that we planned on paying ourselves.  We planned on taking care of it, eventually.  Christ paid our penalty, so that we would be free men and women.
And when we come before Him to receive Him as our Savior, our Lord, we realize the debt he paid, and the penalty we would have received.

This is the Gospel- that our debt that we sinful humans could not pay, was paid for by a sinless God, that we might live and abide in Him.

What do you do when that last note is struck?  When the sounds of your musical worship reverberate their final sound?
Is that the end of your worship?

Worship is not music.  Music is worship, but worship is so much more.  And I feel like that is something we know in the back of our minds.  But our hearts remain ignorant to the fact many times.

This isn't a post to tell you that you are bad at worship, or that worship is more than music, because like I said- most of us know that already.  It would be redundant to say, as is this sentence (just for effect).
But this post is about reaction to the matter, not the matter itself.

Let's say you just finished a great worship service at your church- you walk outside.  Part of worship is just enjoying God's creation.  But the hope- my hope as a worship leader- is that the worship you experience inside the doors our your worship center carry out into the world. 
So you walk outside, after singing a song like "We Unite", by Elevation Worship (if you don't know the song- click the link).  You just sang a prayer of unity among believers.  So live it.  Take what you experienced in worship and let is leak out of your core.

Say you sang, "Never Once" by Matt Redman.  You walk through the streets knowing that you aren't alone.  Knowing in your heart.  What I mean is this: live with boldness in Christ.  Troubles will come your way, but through faith know that God is here for you.  So as you live your day to day life- let that pour out.  Continue to worship God for that.

When the music fades- what do you do? Do you let it remain what it was? Or do you take that experience, grow it, nurture it, and live a life driven to the worship of our God.

Setlist:

• All Because of Jesus
• Beauty of the Cross
• No One Higher/ The Stand
• O Come O Come Emmanuel
• God of this City

Today was the end of our Core Value's series.  We talked about being missional minded.  That MISSIONAL is just a fancy word for SENT.  

Christ came to us.  Everything we are is because of Jesus.  Because of the hope He gave us, because of His mission, we can find beauty in the once-ugly cross.  The cross that was a symbol of death, destruction, sadness- is now a cross of beauty, hope, love, and sacrifice.

We are called to go.  Christ came to the world.  We, as receivers of this grace, are called to pass it along to those who have not received it yet.  We need to be more like Mother Theresa.

During the Holidays (Thanksgiving to Christmas)- the world feels much more giving than normal.  We raise money for food for families, we shower them in gifts and grace, are arms open up as wide as we say they are.  Why can't we do this all year?  I understand why non-believers do- they get caught up in the moment.  That special feeling one gets at Christmastime, like there is something special present with us.  But we, as Christians, who have that special presence with us at all times (Immanuel- God with us)- why can't we be this charitable all year long?

David gave us 5 things for us to remember where to go.

• We go where our daily lives take us.
• We go where we see God at work.
• We go where God calls us.
• We go to places that are broken…places that are in need of healing.
• We even allow those God sends to enter into our brokenness.

I want to close with this post with this song.  It is called "Unlock my Roar" by Daniel Bashta-  I love the bridge of this song:
I am Jesus to this city
I am Jesus to this city
I am Jesus to this nation

I am Jesus to the world.



Be Jesus to your city. Be Jesus to your nation.  Be Jesus to your world.

I was recently told that I have been doing a very small collection of songs at Tidal Creek.

I promise it will not be such a small collection for long.  I choose from a small batch of songs currently because I want to make sure that you (the congregation) knows them.  It does no good to sing songs no one knows- because it isn't about me singing and playing, it is about worshipping God.  Familiar songs allow that because you don't have to try to think about how the song is sung, what word comes next, what to do if the screen doesn't change quickly enough.

I want to invite you into my head for how I choose the songs we sing.  I look at several things:

• Theology- Repertoire is theology.  The songs we sing need to align with the values we hold to here at Tidal Creek.  And just because someone slaps a Christian title on it, or is signed to a Christian label, means that it is a theologically sound song.
• Singability-  Obviously, if I can't sing the song, I am not going to lead it.  But this also [should] extend to you, the congregation.  The singers on the stage probably have a big more range than the average person in the room, and can hit more notes.  But if you can't sing the song, then you probably aren't going to sing.  I can get around this by lowering or raising the keys of the songs, but some songs feature both extremely high and low notes, making them hard to sing.  So I try to keep the keys of the songs to a pre-selected range of keys.
• Relevance- This is a two part- I want to stay relevant in culture, and to the sermon.  I want to stay relevant in culture because the Gospel will always be relevant.  Jesus will always be relevant.  But the way that we share His name sometimes isn't.  I am not going to bust out a pipe organ every Sunday and lead "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" every week, because that style just isn't relevant here.  The same way I will not rap on stage (well, I guess part of that goes to my ability and sing ability).  It just isn't relevant to you guys.  It wouldn't work.
• Rhythm-  I try to choose songs based on their rhythm as well.  Not too many slow songs, not too many fast songs.  This song needs to blend well into that song, etcetera, etcetera.  I want to create a flow.
• How Well You Know The Song- This is where the small collection comes from.  Not that you don't know many songs- but I don't know what you know.  And so I start from a small collection, and slowly add to them.  When I introduce a song, I will do it for about 4 weeks before I introduce a new one.  This way you know the song.  The songs I have taught so far, "Your Love Never Fails",  "We Unite", and "Beauty of the Cross", would not have worked well if I did all three in the same service.  You would be frustrated because you didn't know the songs, and not have been able to worship like you would if you did know them.

But most importantly- I choose songs based on what God lays on my heart.  I let the Spirit move.  Because it isn't "my show".  It isn't about me.  Shockingly enough, it isn't about any of us.  We are there for Him.  To glorify Him.

Anyway- this is how I choose songs.  I gladly take requests for songs, but please don't be upset or offended if we don't play them, or if we don't play them for six months.  I promise you I look at them, and evaluate how well they would fit into these 5 categories.

I was reading today in Acts 2, the story of the Holy Spirit coming to man on the day of Pentecost.  If you don't know the story, the Holy Spirit fills each believer and they begin to speak God's word.  The cool thing is those who were listening heard it in whatever was their native language.

This opened up an opportunity for Peter to preach and teach those around that Jesus was the Christ.   What I want to talk about is verse 41.

"So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls." (ESV)

Three thousand souls!  Wow.  In one day!  It doesn't say how many believers there were before this, but we know that there were twelve people (the twelve apostles) who were present (v.14).
Let's look at that math: 14 believers turns into 3,000 believers.

And today, in our culture, if we have a hundred salvations it is a huge deal.  Don't get me wrong- even one salvation is worth celebrating!  Even one soul coming from death to life is huge!

What I mean to say is this:  we have the same Holy Spirit that the apostles had.  We can change the world.


Yes, in the beginning of Christianity there were larger numbers of salvations because people hadn't heard it yet, and when they did they were convicted.  But there are still billions of people in the world who need Jesus.  Yep. Billions. 


I am a strong believer that if every Christian let themselves be used by God to lead one person to God we would see a radical, extreme movement.  It would change everything.

So don't read this as a "we are doing a terrible job" post- read it as encouragement!  The apostles were ordinary men.  Acts 2:4 says that "they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."  Which means this:  God poured out His Spirit into them, using them as vessels.  The Holy Spirit did the work.

The same Holy Spirit that filled these men fills us. The same Holy Spirit who worked then is working now.

We can change the world.
Are you ready?

Matt Redman's song "Never Once" has become an anthem of mine.  It talks about how God doesn't leave us alone, ever.  Good times, and bad.  It talks about how God fights our battles for us, but it doesn't make them easy.

I want to talk about the prechorus/ chorus of the song:

Scars and struggles on the way/ But with joy our hearts proclaim// Never once did we ever walk alone/ Never once did You leave us on our own/ You are faithful, God You are faithful// 

This weekend while leading at the ethos retreat, we sang this quite a bit- and I started looking at this line- scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts proclaim.  Joy.  Not 'bittersweet tears'. Joy.
When we sing this we are proclaiming that we know that it is going to be a hard road.  We are going to get stuck in storms.  It is going to seem like they go on forever.  That line is depressing.  But the line that follows it- that line holds everything.

We have joy in the fact that God doesn't leave us alone.  He doesn't stick with us in the good times and leave us alone in the bad.  It feels like he is far away, but He is always there, ready to catch us, ready to fight for us.

You are not alone.

You have not deserted.

You are not unloved.

You are a prized possession of the King.

You are worth fighting for.

We are starting a new series this Sunday at Tidal Creek.  We are talking about our core values.  

Its incredibly important for every person apart of our church to know the core values of Tidal Creek.  Because, let's face it: a bad core ruins the entire fruit.  The core of an apple holds the seeds- holds the life of future apples.  I believe the same exists in churches: bad core, bad values, bad theology, ruins it all.  And a good core should hold life for future churches and generations.


This Sunday, the core value we are talking about is 'Story Telling'.   If we are in Christ we have experienced lifechange.  The Gospel Story meshes with our story and becomes a story that we need to tell the world. 


As you prepare for Sunday, read John 9: the story of Jesus restoring sight to a blind man.  The Pharisees ask the man about Jesus, trying to get him to denounce Jesus, and the man says, ""Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." (v25)
The Pharisees are not satisfied, and ask details of what Jesus did.  This is what I love about this story- he starts arguing with them about if Jesus is of God, and that this miracle should not be a big deal because the Pharisees thought Jesus was a sinner.  The man replied:

"Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." (John 9:30-33)

This man went through a lifechange, and he couldn't help but tell everyone.  By telling the Pharisees, he was at risk of being thrown out of the synagogue, and he didn't care! He stuck to his convictions, and told the story of his lifechange!

What is your story?  


If you would like to download the sermon graphics set, you can download the .jpgs here for free, to use for your church services.

In John 1, two of John's disciples begin to follow Jesus.  Jesus turned and asked them a question we need to continually ask ourselves.  He asked "What are you seeking?" (John 1:38)
One of the disciples was Andrew, who went to his brother Simon (who becomes Peter), and said "We have found the Messiah" (1 John 1:41)

What are you seeking? What are you wanting out of this journey with Christ?
Salvation from Hell? Education? A good life? A good feeling? For us in the ministry- fame or money?

Or do you simply want Christ.  Oswald Chambers wrote "The Redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which he has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith upon it."


Are we seeking experiences?  Or are we seeking Christ by following Christ.  Seeking light. Seeking life.  Not seeking salvation from death, but life.  True life. Abundant life.
And that is found in a continual and lifelong journey of seeking Jesus.

If you wanted 'fire insurance'- call State Farm.  Not Jesus.
If you want a transformed life- dry bones into a life dedicated to the glory of God- then call upon the name of Jesus.

What are you seeking? Why are you following Christ?  What are you wanting out of this journey?

Saw this post from Jon Acuff on Relevant Magazine's site.  We as Christians need to remember that our call to show Christ's love goes beyond what we physically see and touch, and [should] flow from our fingers, to the keyboards, and out across the entire world.

Here are some of Jon's way's to not be a jerk online:

1. Don’t publicly announce you’re unfollowing someone on Twitter.This is the middle finger of Twitter. The person who you are unfollowing gets punched in the face and you look far more spiteful than you really intend.
2. Don’t argue with someone anonymously.I once heard a pastor say that “hate mail that’s signed by nobody is worth nothing.” He’s right. If you’ve got a strong opinion about something someone else did or said or wrote online, don’t be a coward.
3. Don’t be someone else online.We’ll tweet things we’d never say to someone’s face. We’ll comment on Facebook statuses in ways we’d never do in “real life.” We’ll push buttons and pick fights on comment threads and message boards. We’ll gossip and tear down people as if maybe “Love your neighbor” actually says, “Love your neighbor, except if you’re online.”
4. Don’t Jesus JukeWhat’s that? A Jesus Juke is an idea I came up with to describe the moment when you’re having a normal conversation and someone jukes in some Jesus out of nowhere. For example, I once tweeted that I was at the Conan O’Brien live tour and it was sold out. Someone responded, “If we held a concert for Jesus and gave away free tickets, no one would come.” Sad trumpet, whaaa, waaaa. A Jesus Juke is the Christian version of the Debbie Downer moment.
5. Don’t mock people.You know what no one has ever said in the history of mankind? “Remember that time you viciously mocked and made fun of other Christians? That helped me start a lifelong relationship with Christ. Thank you for using the spiritual gift of mockery in the service of the Kingdom.”

It is easy for anger to escalade out of control when you are sitting alone at your computer starting at words that someone wrote that makes your blood bubble.  And there's nothing you can do about it....  Or is there?  Nope.  Not if you want to show Jesus.  Not unless you are able to calmly, and lovingly, address the situation.  But don't do it by commenting on the status you disapprove of.  If you can't meet with the person face to face, and can't call- use a private message as your last option.  But just like with texts or emails- you can't read or put emotion into a private message because they are just words to be taken however the reader desires.

Do you suffer from online-rage?

I saw this video on Gospel Coalition today, and felt the need to share it.  A healthy marriage goes beyond emotions, feelings, and definitely convenience. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage sustains your love."  



Emotions and feelings change almost day to day, but the promise made before (and to, and with) God and man remains true.

I think, in my limited opinion, that every married couple, and anyone who plans to ever be married, to watch this.

God moves.  We can all affirm this.  We can also agree that we cannot predict, plan around, and imagine when or how He will act.

For example: yesterday I bought a new guitar.  I had looked online for a few weeks, just to see what was out there, had gone to a few places.  But yesterday I went to a store in Charleston.   The owner helped me, gave me a guitar to try (that turned out being what I purchased!), and we made little smalltalk about guitars and whatnot.  I mentioned I was a worship leader, and we moved on.

The owner gets a phone call and excuses himself to take it, where he starts talking about this bad news he and his wife had received.   When he comes back, my mouth said "Did you get some bad news this week?" (I am not a person who asks blunt questions like this to a stranger...)  He looks down, and says yes, and explains that earlier that week his wife found out she had breast cancer.  That is was operable, but was still terrifying facing this terrible disease.  I didn't know what to say- I did the Christian thing and said I'd pray for her- but God wanted more.  Before I knew it, I'm talking about things that I have learned this summer- with Brian's death, the accident, and the death of one of my mom's best friends- we can't see it and probably won't for a long time- but Romans 8:28 is true. God has a plan for everything and everything happens for a reason. I kept thinking- this is not what you tell someone who's wife just found out she has cancer!  But God kept working on me- I explained that even though he will always want to take the cancer away- he and his wife will look back on this as the time where they were closer than ever before, when they treasured each moment together.  

I didn't talk long- I listened more than anything.  We talked about faith, a stranger and myself while I hold his rather pricey guitar.  We bore souls.  And while I don't know the man's heart- I know that God moved.  I wasn't expecting Him to.  I went into the store to buy a guitar, not to minister.  But that is why the Christian doesn't have a special hat for his faith, like jack-of-all-trades have their 'plumber hat', their 'electrician hat', etc.  God moves at any time.  And it is one of those things that you don't attribute to yourself- I'm not a 'better person' because I spoke to the guy about this.  It wasn't me doing that- if you know me at all you know I'm an introvert.  But God grabs you and before you realize what is happening, your ministering to a brother in need.

I write this example to say this: don't try to plan your life around sharing the Gospel.  You can't.  You must integrate your life into the Gospel- so that when to moment comes- your ready.   God will give you the words- but you still need to be prepared.  Police go on patrol not just to waste gas, but so that when a situation arises, they already have someone nearby, in a car, ready to go.

Prepare for the unexpected.

I have been thinking the last few days on the music we use to worship, and what its purpose is.  Surely we don't believe music should simply be some pleasant melodies we sing along to but no further than the occasional hand raise or closed eye. Do we?

The music we use to worship should do several things.
1) First of all,  it should focus on God.  I don't mean we shouldn't sing songs like "How He Loves" or songs that revolve around mankind's redemption, but each song should ultimately point towards God.  This one is pretty obvious; I don't know too many worship leaders who will kick off worship time with an acoustic version of 'Gangsta's Paradise'.

2) It should teach.  Well, let me rephrase that.  They all teach- but they should teach good theology.  The songs should be centered around the teachings of Scripture, not some catchy line that everyone will like.
And the musical side of worship is a great way to help emphasize the teaching side of the worship service/ Gathering of believers.  It creates a flow- the people hear it through Scripture and teaching, they sing about it/ proclaim it themselves, and then they can take it to the streets.
 Sometimes it can be a theme throughout all the songs.  Sometimes it is just one song that the congregation sings, sometimes it is just a song that you sing over or to the people while they reflect and pray.

3) It should leave us humbled. This goes along with point number 1.  The song 'Above All' really irks me on this.  It is a beautiful song, but the problem is the main message of the song is that "when Christ died on the cross- he though of me!"  I can honestly say- I have no idea what Christ was thinking when he was dying. And while yes, He laid down the ultimate sacrifice for me- I don't want to focus on the 'me' part.  The 'me' who we sing as a wretched sinner in Amazing Grace.  And maybe I'm focusing on the wrong parts of the songs, that's why I didn't say that song was a horrible worship song, it just... irks me.  I'm sure there are worship leaders who can really lead that song effectively.  I am just not one of them. [End of rant]
But the music should leave us humbled.

There are many more things that worship should do.  But these are the ones that really have stuck on me all day.  Because the music time in worship is not about the leaders being rock stars, or 'chilled out acoustic guys', or great piano/ organ players.  It is about Christ.  And the moment we forget that, the moment we use worship time for anything other than giving praise and glory to Christ is the moment we missed it.