Allow me to present one of the best versions of this song that I’ve ever heard. Thanks to @alastairvancefor suggesting that I check out Future of Forestry for some Christmas music. They have a couple Christmas EPs, and their Christmas stuff is, in a word, awesome. Things get really good in this video around 4:20 or so.

Now, if somebody can tell me what the name “Future of Forestry” means, I’d appreciate it .

One of the hats I wear for River Oaks Community Church is graphic designer. Now, I’m NOT a graphic designer (nor do I pretend to be), so I’m infinitely thankful for people like LifeChurch.tv who create awesome stuff and give it away for free.

This is the graphic for our upcoming message “Vision 2011”. The words below the main title are our five purposes: Worship, Evangelism, Fellowship, Discipleship, and Service.

I created this from the “One Prayer 2009” stuff from LifeChurch, which you can download free for usage here.

As a worship leader, I have a lot of things to learn. I think I’ll always have a lot of things to learn, no matter how long I do this. There are things that I believe I do well, and there are things that I know I don’t do well – at all. I came across a very insightful article over at Shrink The Church titled “Worship Excellence vs Worship Ministry – Which One Are You?” (click the title to go to the article at Shrink The Church).

So which one am I? I think I lean to the “ministry” side. A few things from that side that I feel like describe me:

• Timing for me is pretty loose. This is all across the board – I’m not always punctual. I don’t always get things scheduled in Planning Center when I should. Practices are pretty loose as far as starting and ending time. If other people show up late, it doesn’t really bother me at all.
• I tend to choose songs that move me. When I’m picking songs, I go for the ones that I use to enter into worship a lot. This may or may not be what the rest of the band or congregation feels moved by.

I’m not 100% on the “ministry” side of the continuum, but I’m closer to that than the other. Here are a few things that I’m going to try to make a habit of – things that I believe will make me a better worship leader:

• Long-term planning/scheduling. I’m going to shoot to be at least a month ahead in terms of who’s playing and what we’re playing.
• More focussed/organized rehearsals.
• Practicing with a metronome. And practicing more often. I’ve been practicing with a metronome for a while now – but I don’t practice as much as I should. I’m going to shoot for some practice every day - preferably on the songs that I’ve got scheduled for that week.

Finally, there is a point made in the article that encourages a worship leader to show up early on Sunday morning and play through the entire set list, plugged in, before any other musicians arrive. I’m going to try to do this every week, and I think it will have numerous benefits, including:

• I’ll be able to properly warm up my voice. I hate singing in the morning – this will help me out.
• I’ll spend 30ish minutes in worship alone in the morning. How many times does the Bible talk about praising God in the morning? I believe this will allow my spirit to move into a more intimate place of worship when leading the congregation.
• I’ll be there on time. Early, in fact. This is a big one for me.
• I’ll be able to work on and anticipate any hiccups with the flow of worship from song-to-song, as well as polish any plans I have to speak between songs.

If you are a worship leader, and if you take the time to read the article, where to you stand? What would you change about how you lead, both during and between the services?

Colossians 1:13-14 states

For he [God the Father] has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. (NLT)

These two verses communicate the essence of the Gospel. We were in darkness. God, in His grace, rescued us from our sin. I really like the imagery of being transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of his Son.

So, I wrote a song about it, called “Your Grace Has Rescued Me”. It’s a very simple worship song, and it goes like this:

The Bible has some strange stuff going on sometimes. Here is a story that makes me scratch my head every time I’ve ever read it. I’m curious what kind of insight may be found in it. It’s found in Genesis (mostly chapter 19).

Lot is Abraham’s nephew, and he’s married with two daughters. They have a happy little place in Sodom. This is a most unfortunate place to live, especially during Genesis 19. Sodom is so wicked that God decides to destroy it along with Gomorrah. Before God reigns down his judgement in the form of fire from the sky, he sends two Angels into the town to rescue Lot and his family. This is quite a nice gesture. The events transpire like this (paraphrased):

I can be bought
Persuaded and sold
With fancy pictures and marketing you can steal my soul

Greed is my god
Jealousy my lord
There is always bigger, always better, always more

My society – lies to me – tells me things and I believe
My heart it longs – and all it wants – is something that will make me complete

Look at all my things
And count all my gold
Dig a hole you can’t fill and then ask for more

Sell me your dreams
Sell me your hopes
Just make sure you tell me that it’s nothing at all

You can’t buy me – I’m not for sale – I’m not for sale
You can’t buy me – I’m not for sale – I’m not for sale
You can’t buy me – I’m not for sale – I’m not for sale…
I’m already paid for

1st Chorinthians 6:19-20 has a curious line in it. It says, “You were bought with a price”. If I can be purchased, I suppose that means I’m for sale. There is a lot of imagery in the Bible that suggests (or, rather, proclaims) that we belong to God. We have been ransomed, purchased, reconciled, etc. I think if we belong to God, we could also belong to something else. If God has purchased us, that means we can be bought by someone or something else as well.

We live in a world that is trying desperately to buy us out. Through a system of greed and jealousy, we are always desiring, always acquiring, and never, ever satisfied. There is always a bigger house. A nicer car. A higher salary. Better lifestyle. The list goes on and on. If we allow ourselves to be sold to consumerism, we will never, ever be truly happy.

We have been bought with a price. It may seem odd to think about – maybe we never wanted to sell ourselves.  Maybe I don’t want to be owned, but I know I do want to be fulfilled. Complete. And I know that selling myself to whatever thing I want at the moment has never completed me. Only God can do that.

I realized this debate has gone on forever and will go on forever, and I also want to say that I’m not going to attempt to solve it or shed brand new light on the subject. I just want to give my perspective.

Let me start this post off by stating a few things about myself:

• First of all, I’m a Christian. I believe the Bible. I believe it is the infallible word of God, and I believe that what is written in it is truth.
• Second, I’m a scientist. I majored in Chemistry and Biology in college, and I’ve worked for several years as a research technician in a biomedical research lab.

If you were expecting two conflicting viewpoints about this issue, sorry – I guess I tricked you. One of the reasons I’m writing this is because I’m tired of people arguing one versus the other – creation vs evolution, and science vs religion. I don’t really think anything good comes from that argument, and ultimately, I think that argument is flawed. I think science and religion – creation and evolution – go hand in hand.

I’ve been in a writing mode lately.  Songwriting, anyway.  It’s really been years since I’ve focused on songwriting, and it feels really good to try and formulate thoughts, emotions, and passions into lyric phrases.

One song I’m currently working on is called “When You Stand”.  Here are the lyrics, as they stand now.

I can’t wait until this is over
I don’t think I’ll ride this out
If I can’t talk to anybody
I’ll never get my feet on the ground

So won’t you be my crying shoulder
Help pick these thorns out of my crown
Will you be there when it’s over
And pick me up off of the ground

Cause we all fall down
Yet we all know how
To point and stare and ignore what’s there
We all fall down
And we wander around
We will find our way  when we stand

So I will be your crying shoulder
I will be there till the end
I will be there when its over
You will see me when you stand

The message of the song two-fold.  First, we all go through hard times in our lives.  We all mess up, we all feel guilty, and we need each other.  Yet it is human nature for us to point the finger at somebody else when they are down and totally ignore what is going on in our own lives.

In Matthew 7, Jesus addresses this when he says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” (Matt 7:3-4).

The second part of the song deals with how I want to respond to people around me in need.  Rather than point out a spec, I want to be an encourager.  I use the imagry of being down on the ground as opposed to standing.  I want to be the person that lifts up rather than pushes down.  The last line states, “You will see me when you stand”.  It’s saying that if you are a person in need, I want to be there for you – to go through the battle with you, and to stand up with you.  When it’s all over, and you are back on your feet, I want to be one of the people that is standing with you.

I’m almost finished with the song, and hopefully I’ll get it recorded soon.

I am disgusted with what I call “American Christianity”. I was at a youth camp last week, and our speaker brought to our attention a recent poll of non-Christians in America.  The poll revealed 3 of the top feelings toward Christians in America. They are:

• Christians are judgemental
• Christians are gay-haters
• Christians are close-minded and intolerant

In other words – we’re no more than hypocrites.

There really is no argument against data like that. This is how we as a Christian community are viewed.  In my opinion, we’ve earned this reputation.  Other statistics show that the general lifestyle of a professing Christian in America does not at all differ from a non-Christian. Things like divorce rates and such are identical. The word “Christian” means “little Christ” – or to be Christ-like. In my opinion, we as Christians are way off the mark when it comes to actually doing what we are supposed to do – to be like Christ.

I recently had a conversation with a fellow youth pastor. It was one of those talks where you kind of come to an epiphany during the conversation. I’d never verbalized it in my life before, but at the end of our talk, I told him, “My greatest fear is that I’ll become like the Pharisees. That I’ll become like the religious leaders that Jesus hated”. Jesus called them “Sons of hell”.  He literally pointed to a group of pastors/church leaders and said, “You are sons of hell”.  Powerful.  It was because they cared more about how they appeared to those around them than what was inside their hearts.  They had empty faith.  The reason I said I was afraid of becoming like the Pharisees is because, while I truly and genuinely try to live like Christ, many times I don’t. I’ll say that I forgive, but I’ll hold a grudge. I’ll say I care for the poor, but I live in a nice house in the suburbs and hardly ever think about people who have less than I do. I’ll say I want to help the oppressed – the helpless, but I sometimes I feel like I don’t really do anything about social justice or equality.  There is a struggle inside of me.  There really is a struggle inside of all of us.  We are born with a sin nature.  Yet, we are also created in God’s image – in the image of a perfect, loving, and merciful God.  And we are called to live a life like Christ.

Last week, at camp in Colorado, I wrote a song called “Empty Faith”.  This song is many things.  It’s a confession – an admission of guilt.  It’s a portrayal of the struggle between sin and love that lives inside me.  It’s a prayer – a petition to God to change my heart and make me more like Him.

Here are the lyrics:

We hold our Bibles high
And we say we’re right
We’ll give you the perfect lines then run and hide

Can’t we see we’ve lost the way
Can’t we see that it’s all just fake
As long as they’re watching everything’s fine

Where are you in all of this
We use your name but destroy your image

I say I’m different but I just look the same
So I am over all this empty faith
I’ve been changed by a love I can’t explain
So I am over all this empty faith

We’ll white-wash the outside
We’ll do everything right
As long as they’re watching everything’s fine

You ask for more
You search the heart of me
Change the heart of me

May we all have a desire to truly and honestly live like “little Christs”.  I encourage you to really examine your own heart, and then ask God to make it more like His.

View the video on YouTube