this is what I’m learning lately

so I haven’t blogged in forever. in a weak attempt to get back into it, I will simply post something that someone else wrote.

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

the most awesome kind of frustration

so every time I make an effort at writing a worship song, I hear something amazing from a hundred or so years ago and get depressed. people back then just had a way with words. here’s the one that did it this time:

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea,
A great high Priest whose Name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart,
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

dangit.

check check it out

the new toy. let me know whatcha think.

worship leader or worship song singer?

so the trend lately is to use your blog to help other people in your field out with ideas and advice. knowing that, and seeing as how I am so very trendy, I wanted to devote a post to an important issue within the worship leading realm: calling.

calling is an interesting thing. I think way too often, we define calling as being something we enjoy doing, that just so happens to have to do with God. now, if that’s all YOU think calling is, I don’t wanna be rude here, but I’m afraid you’re just plain wrong. there are a gazillion different types of calling. some people are called to be pastors, some people are called to be plumbers. some people are called to be over-seas missionaries, some people are called to be accountants.

so here’s my big idea: just because you like standing up in front of people and singing worship music, does not mean your calling is worship leading.

so after thinking about how to say this for a while, I figured the best way would be to make a list of good questions to ask yourself if you think you are called into worship leading. first though, understand that I am in no way claiming to be an expert in this. but just through numerous conversations with people who are and aren’t called, I have discovered a few things that tend to be tell-tale signs.

• Is it about you and the congregation, or is it about the congregation and God? This is a hard one. To a certain degree, you DO need to make a connection with the people in the congregation. But you have to keep in mind, that connection should ultimately only be serving to lead them into the presence of God. Not to make them think you are funny, confident, or sexy.
• Is it about teaching them a new song every week, or allowing them to experience and re-experience the awesome truths in songs they already know? New music is important. You want to show creativity when leading and planning worship. But doing a new song every week (or sometimes even every other week) is usually not helping the congregation connect. Which leads me to…
• Is it about the songs you like or the songs people connect with the most? This one is also difficult. I’ve seen lots of worship leaders who have their “list” of favorite songs. These are the songs that they continue to play every other week, whether people seem to open up to them or not. Here’s an example. When I got the new Fee CD, We Shine, I honestly did not like a big chunk of the songs. I put the CD in my case and didn’t listen to it for probably three or four months. Then, I was at a conference and saw one of the songs, Glorious One led for a congregation, so I pulled the CD back out. Pretty soon, Freedom added the song to the worship line up, and you could literally see people in the congregation getting it. And this was the first time a lot of them had ever heard it. Immediately, this became one of my go-to songs in a worship set. Not because I loved the song myself. I still hardly ever ride around in my car jamming to it. But the congregation got it. They connected with it. They worshiped to it.
• Is it about your voice through a mic, or about leading the congregation, and then joining them? I think this is the most important. Far too many worship leaders choose to lead only because they enjoy singing and hearing their own voice. They take off into a song, and leave the congregation behind. On the other hand, 2 Chronicles 5:13 paints a much different picture of worship: “The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD.” Do you see the difference? If you are leading worship, and you have no desire to become as one voice with the congregation, rather than simply making sure your voice sounds pretty, you are probably in it for the wrong reasons.

I think this post is getting a little long, so there will be a part two soon. Feel free to leave comments, even if you think I’m wrong. I’m wrong often.

the great debate

things I learned from watching the debate last night:

• Obama is a Democrat.
• McCain is a Republican.
• They agree on things more than they think they do.
• Both of them are a lot better at answering the questions they wanted to be asked than they are at answering the questions that the moderator asks them.
• I am glad people are praying for both of them.
• I am glad my hope is in Christ.
• They are most definitely both human.
• There is a difference between a strategy and a tactic (okay, maybe that was just a funny moment I wanted to mention.)

confusion

so about a week ago now, I took my acoustic to a local Columbia shop (that I usually have great experiences with) and tell their guitar tech about an intonation issue I’m having with my guitar. he responds, telling me that the action probably needs to be lowered in order to fix the problem. I say “great” and leave him the guitar.

three days pass, they call me to tell me my guitar is ready. I go get the guitar, pay them $35.44, then play the guitar, discovering that the intonation problem is still very much present, and I now have a massive buzz in my acoustic that annoys the crap out of me and everyone who hears every time I play the guitar.

now, I’m trying very hard to be open-minded here, so here are my questions for you guys:

a) what was the $35.44 for?

b) what did HE think he fixed?

beauty

so apparently God speaks to me through the band augustana. these probably aren’t the real words, but here’s what I heard:

hey, I’m the blood in your veigns

I’m a colding rain

love you hard when it reigns

time, no it ain’t on your side

I’m the truth to your lies

love your tears when you cry

lesson of the day: we throw the ’secular’ label on music way too fast.

the great southern gospel disconnect

one thing about living in the south that really gets me frustrated sometimes is that everyone you meet (more or less) thinks they are a christian. I think if 75% of the people in the south were to be completely honest with themselves, their definition of a christian would sound something like this:

I don’t really ever get drunk (at least not falling down drunk), I only say cusswords when I’m mad, I raise my kids to be nice, I go to church on most Sundays, and sometimes I actually like it. at some point in my life, I ‘asked Jesus into my heart’ and had some form of water touch me soon afterward.

now some people reading this might say: so what’s wrong with that? to which I would reply: Jesus’ definition of a christian. let’s just look at one for now:

Luke 9:23: If anyone should come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

do you see the difference? there’s a lot of “sometimes, occasionally, and most” in the first definition, but Jesus says it’s an every day thing. I think the disconnect comes when we think that following Him is a decision and occasional thoughts afterward, rather than a daily decision and conviction. you don’t see very many Christians in the bible whose made a decision to follow Christ and didn’t have the decision infiltrate every part of their lives. look at Paul.

the message isn’t “God is nice, and wants you to be nice too.” the message is “Jesus died, and wants you to die to yourself DAILY and follow him.”

prayer is awesome

so I’m a little hyped up right now. I just got done praying with some people in a group called the furnace. it’s basically some of the leadership from the USC House of Prayer, that get together every Wednesday or so to pray and intercede for the city of Columbia and Carolina’s Campus(es).

it’s funny, because having grown up in the church, I feel the prayer meeting is often the weakest of the meetings that go on within the body. everybody loves having deacon meetings, pastoral meetings, and business meetings. but you’re usually hard-pressed to find people chomping at the bits to come to a prayer meeting, and if you do, a lot of times it’s very dry and formal feeling (not very Spirit-led). this is one of the things we thought about when casting vision for the Furnace.

so we’ve now met twice as the Furnace. both times we planned on two hours max. last time, we went 3 hrs. 15 min. this time, 3 hrs. 30 min. I don’t think time is always a clear indicator of the power of a prayer meeting, but we wouldn’t have stayed for an hour and a half too long if we didn’t think the Spirit was moving.

also, tonight, while we were worshiping afterwards, God straight up laid a melody on my lips. it had something to do with Him being the reason we sing, but I’m sitting here now trying to remember it and it’s not happening. when this happens, I feel like it’s God’s way of saying “quit worrying so much about writing/playing worship songs, and just worship.” I love that. I think the way to stay focused and humble as a worship leader is to constantly let Him remind you that your responsibilities as a leader or not more important than the worship itself. but that’s a whole nother post. I’m going to bed.

hope

this is hope if I’ve ever heard it:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His very image from one degree of glory to another. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. ( 2 Cor. 3:18 )

beautiful. I think I can start my day now.