Bad News

The Worship Ministry at Woodburn Baptist Church presented our Easter musical (The Story) a couple of weeks ago. That's not what the blog post is about, but it is important to the context of what you'll read.

It was a big production. Maybe the largest scale event this church has ever done. We offered three time options, opening room for 1,000 people to attend. (We had nearly 400 at our Christmas musical, which was amazing.)

And it was my first Easter musical as the church's worship pastor.

Starting a few weeks before the big weekend, bad news started rolling in. Some of it was personal. Some was about the production. Some was about people who were hoping to be in the choir. It was a little more bad news than the usual weeks leading up to the 20+ Easter musical events I've led. But it wasn't terrible.

Until the week before. 

On Monday and Tuesday I received not 2, not 3, not even 4, but 5 or 6 major pieces of bad news. People that had key roles in both preparation and presentation of the musical weren't able to keep their commitments. I was reeling. I'd done better than ever in my career at crossing the "T"s and dotting the "I"s, but that didn't seem to matter. 

Bad news, then more bad news, then just a little more on top of that.

Sensing the gravity of my world just days before the event? 

And then it happened. The phone call with the good news. It was really, really good news. It was personal, not professional. And it changed everything.

Everything.

So my thoughts turned to my role as a worship pastor. You may already be connecting the dots in your mind, but if not... here goes.

Every time we rehearse a group of people, someone has probably received a few pieces of bad news in the days leading up to that practice.

Without a doubt, every time we lead a group of people in worship there are a few, or several, or many, or most of those in the room who have been bombarded with bad news.

That's why we have to be people of the Good News.

I don't mean "happy clappy" and fake smiles. I don't mean we should ignore anguish and race to rejoicing. I mean that in the midst of the deep struggles of those we lead it is essential that we remind them: God is not only holy, and powerful, and majestic, and real, and eternal, and relevant... but that He is good.

And His goodness is what He wants for us.

Let me say it another way, if the gospel doesn't sound like good news, it isn't the gospel.

And forgive me if this goes too far, but if your worship services don't sound like good news, you may not be leading Christ-centered worship.

So let's make sure we find sounds and lyrics and images and people that effervesce with joy.  Honest joy. Godly joy. Transforming joy.

Let's be people of the Good News.

A Covering that Rocked My World

In Gary Molander's book, Pursuing Christ. Creating Art. he includes a chapter that has affected me deeply. After just a couple of introductory thoughts, I'll share the entire chapter. (with his permission)

1) This came at a point in my career where I was beginning to see this shift in my approach to ministry. I might have more to say about this in the coming weeks. I'm convinced it is centrally important to invite people to do things in the worship ministry because it serves them, not because it serves me. "Covering" was a nudge further down that path.

2) I have moved steadily and continuously down a path toward valuing people more than production, relationship more than results, and well-being over wow-factor. I have a long way to go.

These words may or may not be what you are expecting, but they helped me so much...

Covering
Gary Molander

I hate the word authority. Honestly, I do.

But I like the idea of someone providing a covering for me. I need a covering or two in my life. I suppose we all do.

In the Scriptures, anyone who has authority over someone else has the charge of providing a covering for them. 

All authority exists - at some level - to cover people.

That's the way God designed authorities in our lives. They cover us from injustice, they protect us from evil people, and they lead us to the wellspring of life. They confront us when we're on a path that's destroying us. They help us become bigger people. They lead us. You know you're under the right covering when you feel safe, a little uncomfortable, and growing.

And the only way we know how important these authoritative coverings are in our lives are when they're removed.

After my parents both passed in the last half of 2010, I was trying to wrap my brain around what my heart was feeling. I missed having them around, but my heart was feeling something far greater than that. There's something extremely sad about picking up the phone to call your mom, then realizing there's no one at the end of that line anymore. But that sadness was a symptom of something more, something deeper.

I discovered that the overwhelming sensation happening in my heart was simple. For the first time in my forty-six years...

I was uncovered.

You know that blanket you used to pull over your head when you were a kid? The blanket that protected you from the evils that only came out at night? With the death of both of my parents, I felt like someone pulled that blanket off. And they did it without my foreknowledge or permission. 

It just happened so quickly.

My parents were no longer on this earth with me. And it took their passing to help me realize just how much they provided a covering for me.

A covering that protected.

A covering that provided me with warmth in the cold. 

A covering that allowed me to try new things, without fear of failure.

A covering that helped me experience the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible as both a father, and a mother. 

You have undoubtedly served a client, a leader or a pastor who has provided this kind of covering for you. But you've also served someone who, rather than covering you, abused you and left you unprotected. They were selfish and blinded. They needed you to get what they wanted, and they quoted the right scripture to get it. 

I think that's why Jesus was so harsh with the Pharisees and the Religious Leaders. They were placed in a position of authority, but they didn't cover. They invited people into their kingdoms, but never offered them an entry key. The people collapsed under the weight of their leaders' expectations, and the leaders continued expecting even more. Their people were not covered.

They were exposed.

I'm left a little out of breath at this point. Somewhere in between the gospels and my own experience of abusive authority figures, I find myself asking...

What kind of covering am I providing my wife, my children, and my workmates?

It's easy to point to abusive authority figures in our own lives, and harbor resentment or bitterness or anger or hostility. That comes naturally for most artists, and it takes an intentional act of forgiveness to get past that stuff.

But we also need to become courageous enough to turn the finger-pointing back around in our own lives.

Do the people we have authority over feel covered, protected, and loved by us? Or are we achieving our own dreams, all the while using them to get there?

I wish I could have told my parents how appreciative I am of the covering they consistently provided. But I honestly didn't realize any of this until it was too late. 

And I have a feeling they're fine with that.

Rehearse or Prepare?

I’ve been attending rehearsals, in one form or fashion, since I was 5 years old. That’s  like 430 years of Children’s choirs, Youth choirs, high school band and choir, college band and choir, Seminary choir, leading choir rehearsals in churches, leading worship band rehearsals. That’s a lot of rehearsing.

And the overwhelming majority of that time--probably 98%--is musical in nature. Maybe 99%.

Over the last 10 years I’ve been shifting that percentage. And for the last few years I’ve been changing what we call those rehearsals.

Now this may be a matter of semantics, but I’d prefer to think of it as a change in paradigms. Rehearsal has a very specific connotation--we rehearse through learning and repetition. We rehearse notes, rhythms, diction, phrasing, dynamics, etc. I love that stuff. When it is right and good, it is thrilling.

But there’s a layer of my weekly rehearsals that has grown. And with the growth of that layer there has been a corresponding growth in the spiritual potency of the music. The more time I spend pointing musicians (both vocalists and instrumentalists) to the text--and thereby to Jesus--the more we experience the Presence of Jesus in those sessions. There are frequently times that I’ll pray, or invite others to pray, spontaneously. There are often times that I will have to shout, hoop, or holler at the power of praise in the room. It isn’t unusual for me to see folks with tears in their eyes, with hands lifted high, or with faces aglow with the radiance of our God. (check out Psalm 84:2, 1 Timothy 2:8, and Psalm 34:5)

That’s why instead of referring to the time I meet with our weekly worship leading team as rehearsal or practice, I’ve begun calling it “preparation.”

On our church calendar it says “Worship Prep” on Thursdays from 6.15-8.00pm. And when the choir meets it says “Worship Choir” on Wednesdays from 7.15-8.45pm. Every three weeks or so, these groups combine. Those are my favorite. We have vocalists, instrumentalists, and choir members preparing to lead worship.

A.W. Tozer wrote,

“The whole Bible and all past history unite to teach that battles are always won before the armies take the field. The critical moment for any army is not the day it engages the foe in actual combat; it is the day before or the month before or the year before...”

“Preparation is vital. The rule is, prepare or fail. Luck and bluster will do for a while, but the law will catch up with us sooner or later, usually sooner...

“...it took David only a few minutes to dispose of Goliath; but he had beaten the giant long before in the person of the lion and the bear...

“Preparation is vital. Let this be noted by everyone. We can seek God today and get prepared to meet temptation tomorrow; but if we meet the enemy without first having met God, the outcome is not conjectural; the issue is already decided. We can only lose.”

How striking is that last sentence to you? It slays me. Few events in our week are as targeted by our enemy as the worship gathering. Every week, for someone in the room, eternity hangs in the balance. The spiritual battle is real. It is present. If we don’t prepare by meeting God in those times we set aside for rehearsal, “the issue is already decided. We can only lose.” 

I don’t know if this dynamic can be used to project backwards in our generation to explain decades of anemic worship experiences in churches or not. That’s not my call to make. But I do know that the more careful I am to lead weekly times of worship preparation that include meeting God, the more spiritually vibrant, potent, and dynamic our worship gatherings become.

So I wonder, what is coming to your mind? How can you transform from rehearsal to preparation? How will you continue to, start to, or increasingly lead your worship leading team to meet God?

One of My Very FAVORITE Ideas Ever!

When I was invited to be the interim worship pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, KY I knew there were more people involved than anywhere I'd been. I also knew there was no way I could quickly learn their names. (The choir had more people in it than the whole church I served before that!)

Since I was working with musicians, I wanted to use musical lingo to create a relational dynamic. So as I was pondering and praying, I think God graced me with an idea I called:

From Trios to Quartets

Here's what that looks like. As soon as three folks from the worship ministry signed up for a time together (a trio) I would join them for a conversation (forming a quartet). 

In those conversations I ask three questions:

1) What was it like growing up as you? (What did your parents do? Do you have siblings? Do you have children?)

2) If you could have one thing happen in the worship ministry that you are convinced would please God, what would that be? (Not a song, not a style, not a preference, but what would bring a smile to God's face?)

3) How can I pray for you? (Not for your family member or your coworker or friend at school, but for you--personally.)

What happened over breakfast meetings, lunch gatherings, or time in my office--both at Immanuel and at Woodburn--is nothing short of astounding. The four of us get to know each other in ways that would usually take years. In those 60-90 minutes sessions there is very often a sweet mixture of tears and belly-laughter.

Inevitably people who have known each other for years or decades get to know each other in new ways. Such a treasure!

And since one of my deep desires in ministry is to value people and let them know they're valued, this gives me insight into who they are and a chance to pray for them.

It really is one of my favorite ideas ever. 

I'm not sure you HAVE to be in a new context for this to work, but if you are ever in a new place of ministry, I invite you to steal this idea and claim it as your own!

Survival Kit

Several months ago I asked my Facebook friends what they might be interested in reading about on this blog. Within a few weeks I'd answered all of those requests but one. My friend Mike hit on a subject that I felt (and feel) neither equipped nor faithful enough to answer well.

That said, over the last couple of weeks I have repeatedly encountered ideas, scriptures, stories, and even a daily devotional that seem to speak to his request. Before I answer it, I'll quote him directly: 

"What I think might be an interesting subject is something we touched on in a conversation in Frankfort. Let's call it, 'How God's Servants are Tossed from Pillar to Post by Churches and Still Survive through His Grace.' I've been there and so have you. Is there a book there? Because of your continue positive, optimistic attitude you are a true survivor. You can still find upbeat themes on which to dwell and meditate." - Mike

Let's start with something those closest to me would say is obvious: my "continued positive, optimistic attitude". While it is certainly not an act, it sure had some gaps in it over these last 4 years. And those closest would also agree that being a survivor often looked like a small boat on a very big lake--trying to figure out which way to go while trying not to capsize.

You see, nearly 4 years ago I met with the Personnel Team at the church I'd been serving for 7 years. They told me that they were thrilled with the work I was doing--grateful for it--but that there was simply no money to pay me any more. So they asked for my resignation.

Then I was part of a struggling church plant, which eventually closed her doors, for about 18 months. It was one of the hardest things I've done, serving there. I have some amazing friends from those months, and am very grateful for the time. But it was hard.

Then I was interim worship guy for one of Kentucky's flagship Baptist churches. It was supposed to be 4-6 months, but I was blessed to be there for 13 months. My family and I thought maybe, just maybe, we'd spend the rest of my career there. (Or at least a long time.) That didn't happen. That was hard.

So I launched Worship Coach, a consulting business designed to help churches make worship great--connecting hearts. I had a flurry of activity, saw God do some amazing things with the churches I visited, and then the activity slowed way down. I was writing, but not enough to generate income for my family. I started substitute teaching, but that was hit-and-miss. I started a temp job with my wife's company. I was happy to be part of a business like CLS but it clearly was not what God designed me to do. I was doing interim worship-leading and that kept my heart "in the game" of ministry.

Yep. A little boat in a big lake trying to figure out which way to go and not capsize.

Some of the things that didn't make the quick narrative include serious consideration of planting a church (as pastor or partnered with some folks). Going to school to get my doctorate. Becoming a full-time author. And, of course, just giving up.

If you're wondering if I'll ever answer Mike's request, the answer is yes. But before the answer could make sense, I figured knowing the problem might help.

So here's what I think made a pretty big difference for me:

"I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

"I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."

Did you catch the "one thing"? Forgetting the past--hard as that has been--and looking forward to what lies ahead--as hard as that has been to discern--I pressed on toward the end of the race.

A. W. Tozer wrote: "It is a simple axiom of the traveler that if he would arrive at the desired destination he must take the right road. How far a man may have traveled is not important; what matters is whether or not he is going the right way, whether the path he is following will bring him out at the right place at last."

And now, while I'm not at the end of the race, I am in a place of deep joy and delight. As Worship Pastor at Woodburn Baptist Church (10 miles south of Bowling Green, KY), I am serving with an amazing pastor and team, I am leading worship in ways I've never ever had the privilege to do before. It is simply magnificent.

So my friends, whether the path you're walking now is like a glimpse of heaven on earth or hell on earth, press on in the right direction. Look to Jesus. Don't put your faith in your church, if your job, or in yourself. Only One is worthy of our faith. And with that in mind, reach toward the end of the race. Keep the destination in full view.

And what is that destination? Our heavenly prize--unhindered, unfettered, unimaginable eternity in the presence of Jesus Christ. Oh my. Oh. My. Press on!

Like a ton of bricks

Actually, it may have felt more like a burning-hot refining fire than a ton of bricks, but it sure rocked me in the deep parts of my soul.

Let me back up.

It was my first staff meeting at Woodburn. Pastor Tim Harris was leading the devotional thought, using 1 Corinthians 3. It's a passage you probably know something about. The part that was so familiar to me that I nearly went on auto-pilot says, "After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow."

But Tim kept reading. And when he got to this part I was nearly undone:

"Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss."

I've read the Bible through more than once. I've read 1 Corinthians many times. But I don't think I've ever really seen those verses.

I was so moved that I nearly cried right there in the first 15 minutes of my first staff meeting. Looking back over the last quarter-century of ministry, how much of what I have done would be burned up in the fire? How much would survive? Far more importantly, looking ahead--will I give my attention, my time, my energy to the things that will burn up or to those that will last? 

I don't think I'm naive. We all have to do some "wood, hay or straw" in day-to-day operations. But what am I devoting myself to? 

I have a renewed commitment to make much of Jesus in worship, not just toys or tools. I have a deeper desire to develop deep relationships, not just chatter about the weather forcast. I yearn to build what endures far more than what will pass away.

I'm curious as I can be--does this connect with you? Leaders out there, does this rock your world? Or am I coming to this passage much later than you did?

Week 1 Reflections

It has been a pretty full first few days. Now that I'm the full-time Worship Pastor at Woodburn Baptist Church, the rhythm of my days is familiar again. Sort of. Here are some brief thoughts...

I have prayed for the folks in my area of ministry. I already wish I'd done more of this, but I am grateful that I've had the honor of praying for the men and women that I'll be serving. Really grateful.

I have spent lots of time with people. This is one of the few things I've done that I know, without a doubt, is great use of my time. I'm learning about those who are serving the worship ministry, the rest of the pastoral team, and other folks who are passionate about the church. I've probably met with more than 20 people already.

I posted a question on Facebook & Twitter asking for suggestions from people about places to eat in the  area. Later I asked about other things to do. Part of that is because I really want to know those things. But the other result is simply getting to hear from people. That's always a win.

I have spent lots of time getting things in order. I don't know about you, but when I need a piece of music or a book or any other resource, I like to know where it is. So I  have organized most of my office. And have had help organizing the choir room and music library. There won't be much time to do these things after rehearsals are in full swing.

I have driven around Bowling Green and Woodburn, simply getting familiar with the major roads and the places to eat, shop, and hang out around town. It has really helped me acclimate to the culture. I was given a beautiful gem of wisdom from one of my mentors--to enter the town as an immigrant, not a tourist nor a conqueror. I'm working at this daily.

I have met deadlines. I want to be credible, a worker with integrity. Last minute planning and enlisting of musicians makes people feel pressure. I yearn for them to feel freedom instead. So I have done pretty well at getting music chosen, musicians lined up, and making the music available to those musicians. (and audio/video folks)

I have gone as deep in conversations as seemed appropriate in my initial encounters. I want to know people, not just names. I want to hear the hearts of those I serve. I want to know their dreams for this city, this church, and their own journey.

I haven't done very well at taking time off. I need to make a firmer start next week to take a Sabbath. I need to do better at turning off the technology and thinking about "work" after I'm home for the evening, even though home is (for now) a hotel room by myself. I know that good rest makes for good work. I just need to do what I know.

I also need to finish a few more tasks that are incomplete. I've made lots of progress, but need to put some things to bed so I can move on to new tasks.

And I need to constantly remind myself to listen more than I talk. This is one of my greatest challenges.

More praying. More listening. More resting.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my first week. And I'm enormously excited about the coming weeks, months and years. More about that next time.