Authority, Responsibility, & Resources

Our church, East Hills Alliance, is going through a lot of exciting changes these days, as we launch our second campus this fall. It has been such a welcomed growing experience for me especially as it is bringing changes to my role as a leader. The way we’ve set up the structure of our ministry is to be one church in two locations. Each ministry at the new campus has designated a volunteer as “campus leader” for that ministry. For example, in the worship ministry we have a “campus worship leader” and a “campus tech leader” and I work closely with both of them. The idea is that church staff will be in charge of the vision and casting that vision to the campus leaders. Then the campus leaders have the authority to carry out the vision.

I’m finding that I’m the type of person who likes to do things myself and this is not the best quality in a leader! However, I am also finding the joy that a leader discovers when they cast vision and give authority to others and see them succeed. As I’m in the process of learning these skills, I’ve been challenged to know where to draw the lines between vision casting and authority. What decisions to let others make and when to help make the decisions. When and how much to guide the process.

As I’ve been wrestling with this I was recently reminded of a leadership principle from Brad Lomenick. The principle says to have, “clear lines of authority distributed throughout the organization, and always directly connected to responsibility AND authority”. As I think about this I could really see how authority responsibility need to be linked. If a leader is given the responsibility to do a job but not the authority, the task will be cumbersome, and the leader will have a hard time being successful.

We can illustrate this with an imaginary scenario. Let’s say that a superior tasks a leader that works under her with planning a weekend retreat for volunteers. The superior gives the leader responsibility to plan the event, but undermines the leader’s authority. The leader decides that the event will run from 9am - 3pm on Saturday. But, because he doesn’t feel he has authority to set the times of the event, he checks with his boss. She decides that 9am is too early and changes the time to 10am - 4pm. When he tells her who he is planning to have cater the lunch, she tells him that she had already called a friend of hers and asked that she cater the lunch. In this situation, we can see how the micromanaging from the superior will cause him to feel frustrated and the superior ends up doing much of the work even though the responsibility for the event was given to the leader. The problem, that in this case manifested itself as micromanaging, is that the leader was not allowed to hold the authority along with the responsibility.

Similarly the opposite can be just as troublesome. If the leader is given the authority to carry out a task but not the responsibility the task may not even get done at all. This type of scenario may be less common since we generally tend to hand out jobs or tasks in terms of responsibility rather than in terms of authority. For instance, job descriptions usually say, “will be responsible for…” rather than, “will have authority to do…” However, it is not impossible to believe that giving out authority without responsibility can be a problem.

We can illustrate this with the same imaginary scenario as before: A superior wants to task a leader working under her with planning a weekend event for volunteers. The superior tells the leader, “The volunteers will look to you for times when they can get away and grow together as a group. You are the person who has the authority to plan and lead such events”. Such a statement gives the leader the authority to lead the event, but it does not communicate that it is the leader’s responsibility to do so. Unless the leader feels a sense of responsibility for such an event from within himself, the event will probably not happen. If the superior expects that the event will take place then responsibility for the event must be communicated along with the authority.

As I think about these things it is so clear to me that authority and responsibility go hand in hand. They are so linked that it is difficult to think about how to unlink them, and still succeed.  

However, I think there is one more thing that if it is missing from the authority and responsibility relationship will make a leader’s success difficult. That thing is “resources”. It does no good to give a leader authority and responsibility if they do not have the resources to carry it out. Some resources that we must be careful to give could include, money, training, time, equipment etc. To make use once again of the example we’ve used above, it does no good to expect that the leader would plan and host a weekend retreat complete with a catered lunch if there is no budgeted money made available to the leader’s use.

As leaders who lead other leaders, we must always link authority with the responsibility and ensure that the leader has the resources needed to be successful.

Some questions to think about: (or discuss in the comment section)

In the example we’ve used, we saw how micromanaging, or taking on responsibility that should have been given away, robbed the leader of authority. What other ways do we hamper our leaders from having the authority, they need in order to be successful?

Where does authority come from?

What if a leader doesn’t feel the sense of authority? How can we help them to own it?

An Audio Tool I Can't Go Without

Hey everyone! I thought I'd take a minute and talk about an audio tool that I have used for quite a while but have recently found I really can't go without!

These days, I don't get too many chances to work behind the sound board for a live event, but when I do, I really enjoy it. Recently, I ran sound for a wedding. The tech requirements were pretty simple, there were no live instruments or vocalists, just the preacher, a handheld mic for the vows, a slideshow, and I was given a couple cd's with mp3's to be used during the wedding marches (wedding marches? is that what you call them in these modern times??). Anyway, it was all pretty much the usual requirements. 

Even though all these things were pretty simple, one thing I hate doing is trying to juggle fader levels and cd's in and out of a cd player. So I always load the songs into my computer. But even then, running songs in iTunes can be a little bit clunky because you are still managing a fader and then starting and stopping songs with the computer (I know.. I know... that's not that hard, get over it,  right?) Well, there has to be a better way. 

And there is!

This is where the audio tool I told you I'd talk about comes in: "Qlab". 

Qlab is great because you load in all your media. It can handle audio and video files, or even a live video feed. You then build into your project all the cues that you need. These cues can be things like; fade in or out, stops, starts, loops, wait "x" seconds and then start - you name it. Pretty much whatever you can imagine. Then once everything is programed in, you just have a big "GO" button. And each cue you have preset is fired from this one button. You can see this makes it great for weddings or live events where you need to start and stop media at very specific times with smooth transitions in between. And you can see how it can really take the pressure off! And, since it can trigger media to play on top of other media it is perfect for triggering sound effects for more complex shows such as a theatrical productions.

Furthermore, Qlab is so customisable. You can make any keyboard key you'd like become the key that commands the "GO" button. Because of this feature, I've often used it from the stage to trigger a click track or stems from my usb foot pedal. It isn't as nice as say, Ableton Live, for this sort of thing but it's simple and it works!

Best of all. Qlab is a free download. There is a full version that can be purchased but I've never needed anything but the free software. On the down side it is only for Mac...is that really a down side?  So with all that said, if you use a mac and run sound for live events, I believe you should be using Qlab. Check it out here:

Why UPS Is Better Than Santa Claus

I love when I see a UPS truck making deliveries (or fedex etc.). Even if I know it isn't coming to deliver something to me, I still get warm fuzzy feelings. I get these feelings because I know that somebody somewhere, most likely a lot of people, are having a good day. They are getting their dreams delivered to them. That's right, the UPS truck delivers people's dreams.

I got thinking, the UPS delivery driver is a lot like Santa Claus. They are similar in many ways: both deliver packages; both wear uniforms. I'm sure they both like hot cocoa. But, I think the UPS driver is better. Here are my top reasons why the UPS driver is better than Santa:

• The UPS driver doesn't eat your cookies
• The UPS driver doesn't sneak around inside your house at night
• For that matter, the UPS driver stays off your roof and out of your chimney
• The UPS driver delivers all year round
• The UPS driver brings you exactly what you want, every time.
• Lastly, please guard your children's ears... the UPS delivery driver is real

Lately, I was thinking about how good God is to us. How He has always taken care of me, even when things are hard. Even when He doesn't give me what I want (unlike the UPS driver). He always gives me what I need. Looking back I can see that His plan, giving me what I need over what I want, has been better.

Matthew 7:7-11 tells us to pray and to keep asking God for things. It goes on to say that God is like a good parent who doesn't give his child a stone if the child asks for bread. It is so true that God is like that. He seeks to give good gifts to His children. He is our provider and does care for us.

In troubled times it can be difficult to see this truth. In some situations we may never, in this life, understand His ways or why He allows some of the things he allows. It can feel this way because He does give us what is best, from His all-knowing perspective, and not just want we want or what we can see as best. In these times we can seek after Him, depending on His character, and practice placing trust in what we believe to be true. We trust in what God has revealed to us about Himself. He is good and perfect. He desires that we have abundant life, and He will take care of us. Just as a good father takes good care of his children - only more so. Abundantly more so.

"Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow." (James 1:17 NLT)

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NLT)

The Almost Awkward Bike Ride

My wife and I recently moved from Minnesota to the North West. We've been here for a little over two months now, and we like it a lot. One thing that I really love is driving through Portland. I've always really liked visiting big cities, mostly because of the architecture. Portland is really cool because of the massive bridges and the twisted mess of roads that are fun to explore, even though they can be difficult to navigate for someone like me, who grew up with the open highway of Montana (no plural on "highway" because we really only had one).

A couple of weeks ago I had to pick my wife up from the Portland airport. I had some extra time, so I decided to go down early and explore downtown Portland on my bike. Bike riding has become a hobby of mine and I hear Portland is super bike friendly, so I was excited.

I circled waterfront park a couple of times in my car, found a good parking spot, and headed out on my adventure. I wasn't out of my car 10 minutes before I was invited to participate in the next "naked bike ride". "It's what we do here", the portland native assured me.

This caught me well off guard but,

I managed to mumble something about how I wouldn't be interested, and that "I'm not even from here". I had a short nervous ride after that.

Apparently, the naked bike ride had taken place the night before. Which caused me to wonder,  what if I had come up a day earlier for my bike ride? I could have been riding my bike, minding my own business, turn a corner, and find myself engulfed in a herd of naked people on bikes. And there I would be in the middle of all that; red faced, confused, and fully clothed. Or, what would have happened if I was biking at a leisurely pace and they all road up behind me? (I would imagine naked people bike fast) This is a scenario that I'm sure could happen all too easily if one chooses the wrong day to go on a bike ride in Portland, Oregon.  

Well, all this is to say that the people of Portland intimidate me. And, I suppose one should check the local community calendar before visiting.

Looking back, I wish I would have said that I'd love to participate in the event, but I can't, because I wouldn't know what to wear.

People sure do some crazy things in order to throw off all restraint and "be free". I've been noticing lately how the old nature of my own heart often resists being controlled or submitting to authority. A mentor of mine told me once that we all have something inside of us that wants to scream, "I will not be controlled". However, true freedom comes with restraint.

Driving would be a mess without traffic laws. If people could drive on whatever side of the road they wished or pull out into intersections whenever they wanted, it would be difficult for anyone to get anywhere (especially in cities like Portland). But, with rules and order to govern the roads we are free to go anywhere our cars will take us.

Similarly, when we surrender to Jesus and follow him with undivided obedience, we are truly free. We are free to join in what God is doing and we suddenly become very useful to Him. What a blessing it is to be able to participate in the work God is doing. As our Lead Pastor at East Hills Alliance Church said in his message last weekend, "the person most surrendered to God's complete control is the most free".

Take a listen to that message by clicking here, if you'd like:

(Un)divided: The Free Heart 6/30/13

Learning about Leadership

Lately I’ve been on this leadership kick. It’s been a lot of fun learning more about this topic and trying to apply it. God has really been teaching me much and he’s been doing it through some great resources. I’ve been so excited about these resources and things I’m learning that I thought I better share it with someone! So here it is, if you are a leader (and all of us are at some level) then I encourage you to check these out:

Andy Stanley’s Leadership Podcast: He only posts one a month but as a friend of mine described them, they are “pure gold”.

Follow Tony Morgan on twitter: @tonymorganlive or his wesite: http://tonymorganlive.com 

Tony posts a lot of really short articles and blogs with great leadership advice. Often his main ideas are short and concise bullet points. They are easy to understand and solid. He has a short book called “The Leisure Suit” that I highly recommend.

Catalyst Podcast – Sometimes I fast forward to the interviews, but I’ve really enjoyed listening to great leaders and forward thinkers talk about what they have done. Not all of the things they do will work for you, but let their though process and strategic poise rub off.

Ravi Zacharias Podcasts: Let My People Think and Just Thinking Not leadership podcasts but great stuff on apologetics and I’ve found that his solid logic and reasoning skills are actually really important for leaders, so let the way he thinks rub off on you.

Well that’s pretty much it for now. What resources have you found helpful in the things you are learning?

Doorstep Conversations

     Today a couple of missionaries from the Watchtower Society stopped by my house. We talked for a bit on my doorstep, but mostly, I found myself in a similar situation as past doorstep conversations. I felt unprepared to talk with them about my faith in relation to theirs. I wished that I could remember some of the details of past research, and articulate my biggest concerns. However, I know that even if I had remembered all kinds of documented quotations and logical arguments, we probably would have just gone back and forth with me explaining my perspective on Scripture and they theirs. Also, if neither of us are Greek scholars (I certainly am not) our conversation about John 1:1 or correct translations of Scriptures would basically boil down to, “the scholars I know of say this” and, “the scholars I know of say this”.

     To make a long story short, I dug up some information I had filed away, and came up with 3 questions I feel would need to be answered in order to have a meaningful discussion with people of the Watchtower Society. I’m hoping to have this handy in the future and invite any Jehovah’s Witnesses to engage in a discussion on these topics. The answers to these questions will probably require some research and so I plan to include my email address and trade my "hand-out" for theirs, inviting them to contact me with the answers. Maybe then, we could meet and have discussion about them.

     Below are my 3 questions. Maybe they will be helpful for you too, when you have these doorstep conversations. Feel free to comment and let me know what other information has been helpful for you in answering for your faith. If you are a member of the Watchtower Society, these questions I have are real. Although, I suspect to know what the answers may be, I do not have the resources to answer all of them credibly for myself, and would like to know your thoughts:

     One last thing before I post my questions. In order to be fair I figured I should know the answers to the questions if they were asked of me. Therefore, the answer to question number 2 can be found here & here concerning the ESV Bible, which is what I have been reading lately.

Below are three big concerns I have about the Watchtower Organization. They are listed in what I feel are order of importance (if #1 is not reconciled I will have more trouble with # 2 and so on.)

1. I feel that the Watchtower organization is untrustworthy because I’ve heard of some sketchy prophesies it has made (see post script). Is it true that the Watchtower organization has said these things?

2. Because of differences in the NWT and the Bible translations I read and have been taught from, I have a hard time putting trust in the NWT. Who are the people that have worked on the NWT? Are they credible? What are their credentials?

           

3. I have trouble understanding how the Watchtower’s view of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are consistent with how God is revealed in Scripture. For example: assuming the correct translation of John 1:1 says that Jesus is “a god” how does that reconcile with Scriptures such as Isaiah 44:6? Even though it is a hard doctrine and a paradox, I believe that in the whole of Scripture God has revealed Himself to be one God existing in three persons (i.e. One God: Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiahh 44:6 - Jesus is God: John 1:1, Philippians 2:6, I John 5:20 - the Holy Spirit is God: Acts 5:3-4, Hebrews 3:7-11)

Post Script:

1897 "Our Lord, the appointed King, is now present, since October 1874," Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 4, page 621.

1899 "...the ‘battle of the great day of God Almighty' (Revelation 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced." The Time Is at Hand, page 101 (1908 edition).

1916 "The Bible chronology herein presented shows that the six great 1000 year days beginning with Adam are ended, and that the great 7th Day, the 1000 years of Christ's Reign, began in 1873." The Time Is at Hand, page ii, (forward).

1918 "Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews 11, to the condition of human perfection." Millions Now Living Will Never Die, page 89.

1968 "True, there have been those in times past who predicted an ‘end to the world', even announcing a specific date. Yet nothing happened. The ‘end' did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing?.. Missing from such people were God's truths and evidence that he was using and guiding them." Awake, 10/8/68.

Seasons

Psalm 1 says the following about a person who is blessed by God:

“He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

One of the most meaningful things to me, from this verse, is that the tree goes through fruitless seasons. As I read this I can remember many times when I have felt absolutely useless. I remember one time in particular, when I really felt like I had no visible way to accomplish the dreams that I felt God had put into me. It was truly a very miserable time. This verse was something that I clung to. It helped me to hang on and trust that God was working. It helped me to embrace the season of waiting, even as miserable as it was. Not that I came to enjoy it or anything or anything like that, but I came to endure, and eventually God did bring new seasons. 

Even since this particular season that I’ve described, I have continued to go through others like it. I anticipate that there will be many more to come. But, the good news is that seasons are okay! We don’t have to add to our misery by getting down on ourselves for not bearing fruit in a time like this. It’s the way things go for trees, and when we trust God we too will go through them. Another interesting thing about this verse is that is says, “In all that he does, he prospers.” Wait, what about the season when he doesn’t bear fruit? How does he prosper then? Apparently, there is a way.

When I graduated from college one of my professors let each of his students pick one of his paintings as a gift. I chose one called, “The Pruned Vine”. And as you may have guessed it depicts a vine that has been pruned. It looks dead, cold, twisted, and dead. I like this painting because it reminds me that there are season to life. Just like the vine we go through fruitless times in order to make us more fruitful when the time for harvest comes. 

Even in the times of waiting we can prosper. We can choose to endure well, lean into the Lord and let the roots of the lessons that he is teaching us, grow deep. The next season will come. When we find ourselves being unfruitful, it may be that the Lord is pruning us. Let’s embrace these seasons as such, and when the correct season comes we will bear fruit. 

New Life

In 2 Corinthians 5:22 we read that, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Our God is a God of redemption, and a God of new beginnings. He is always at his work and He is working in us! 

We just celebrated Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ, who came to earth as a man in order to reconcile us to God. He did this through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. The Bible tells us that just as Christ lives, we too can live in newness of life. 

Romans 6:4, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” 

If we have given our lives over to Christ and made him the Lord of our life, then our old selves along with all our sin and wickedness have been nailed to the cross with Christ and we have been made new. This new life is worked out in us as we grow more and more to be like Christ. 

As we look forward to this New Year, remember that if you are in Christ you are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. We look forward to the opportunities we will have to grow in Christ likeness and we thank God for every day that we have to follow him and come to know him more. 

What is God planning to do in you, and through you this year?

Heart Deep

2 Peter 1:3-4 tells us, that by God’s power, we have “all things that pertain to life and godliness” and through His promises, we can “become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire”. The chapter goes on to say that because of these things we are to, “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” Sometimes when I think about this passage of scripture and the way that God desires to produce His character in me, I get caught thinking that it simply means changing my outward behavior. While it is true that God does want to change us on the outside, he also wants to change us much deeper than that.  

Jesus certainly is interested in much deeper things that outward actions. In Matthew 5:21-22 He says, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” He says a similar thing about the sin of adultery, “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Our human minds often think only on the surface level. Anger isn’t murder, and lust isn’t adultery – or is it? We tend to draw the line of sin at the physical actions, but Jesus draws it in the heart. He sees all, and he draws the line there. I think it is very interesting how much Christ is interested in what is going on inside of us rather than only considering what is going on outside of us. 

I had a great conversation with my dad recently. He told me that he was concerned about a situation involving some young people that felt it was ok to go to parties where their would be under-age drinking, as long as they didn’t drink any alcohol. This decision got them into some trouble (traffic accident) but since they weren’t the one’s drinking alcohol, they felt that it was ok to be a part of this party atmosphere. My dad and I talked about how there may be a deeper problem than drunkenness. There may be a problem with the heart. We realized that if someone goes to such a party with the same rebellious attitude as the person who attends the party to get drunk, then maybe the two actions aren’t that different after all.

Well, we might find this whole thought to be distressing, because we know that we are utterly sinful from birth. Even when we try to do right things it is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Our hearts are so often full of sinful motivations. The Bible says that there is no one righteous, “no, not one” (Romans 3:10). However, we can praise God that not only does he call us to holiness on a deep, heart level, but he actually works in us to accomplish this. We can’t do it on our own; we need to allow God to work in us from the inside out. It’s not just a behavioral change that we need; it’s a change of heart. 

So, when we look back at the passage in 1st Peter and see the things that God wants to accomplish in us: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love; we know that it isn’t just the appearance of these things that he desires us to have. Rather He wants them to run deep. He works them in us so we not only act them out, but we think them too. We live them in public and in private, even down the privacy of our own hearts. Thanks be to God that he doesn’t let us stay in our wretched state, or allow us to be only skin deep!

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The Tools of Worship

Sometimes, we feel like that dentist when we worship. We all have different worship tools that we have been trained to use, find comfortable or prefer more than others. These tools could be a number of different things ranging from a certain song choice or musical style to specific postures in worship, or even the order of a worship service. We get to be very comfortable and very good at using certain tools and if we are given a different set of tools we can feel frustrated just like that dentist would. However, if the tools we are given really are biblical and really are effective responses of worship (unlike the screw drivers, a calculator and WD-40 would be for a teeth cleaning) then we can learn to use these tools and benefit from them. 

There are a handful of Hebrew and Greek words that have to do with worship. One such Greek word is, proskuneo, which means to prostrate one’s self, or kiss towards, in order to pay homage and reverence. Proskuneo is the word translated as “worship” in Revelation 4:10 which says, “the twenty-four elders will fall downbefore Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who livesforever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne…” Therefore, an example of this might be when we sing songs full of adoration. In this instance we could say that we are worshiping with an attitude of proskuneo and during these times it would be fitting to bow down in reverence. 

A Hebrew word, yadah, is translated as the English word “praise” in Psalm 67:3 which says, “Let the peoples praise You, OGod; Let all the peoples praise You”. This same word is translated as “give thanks” in such places as Psalm 9:1 which says, “I will givethanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.” The definition of yadah has to do with throwing or casting, thanksgiving, laud and praise. Worshiping in an attitude of yadahmight be conducive to praising God with loud instruments and boisterous singing.

One last Hebrew word we will look at is abad. It is translated into the English word “worship” in such places as, Exodus 3:12 where God says to Moses, “when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain." The definition of abad has to do with working and laboring as servants. Our whole lives are to be service to God and we are to honor him with our work. This means that even church workdays are an act of worship. In fact, some people seem to be wired in such a way that they experience worshipful moments more often during a church workday than they might during a candlelight service!

Biblical worship has room for many different expressions. Each generation and culture seems to find its own unique expressions ofproskuneo, yadah, and abad. No matter what style of expression, let’s understand that biblical worship is deeper than music and broader than style. It is an everyday lifestyle! Though awkward at first, we can learn to appreciate each other’s preferences and worship together in love and unity. The body of Christ is so diverse, and that is a beautiful thing. 

Let’s make room in our toolboxes for more tools!

Why We Sing

I often find it a little bit odd that we get together and sing at the beginning of our worship services. Besides church, there aren’t a lot of other situations where people gather to sing, especially to sing to God. I mean, if an unbeliever comes to church, do they feel awkward that we are having a sing-a-long to express ourselves to someone we can’t see? Even though we know that our God is real and present among us, do we sometimes feel this awkwardness? We all know that singing in worship is a very Biblical idea. There is even an entire book of the Bible full of songs that were sung for worship. But, I still wonder: why do we sing?

I remember leading worship for a youth group once. I could tell that the students weren’t really joining in, so I stopped and asked them to think about why we sing. One girl spoke up and said, “because, it’s a cooler way to pray”. I think she might be on to something. 

What is singing anyway? Well, singing is just putting words in rhythm, and adding pitch. We put words in rhythm by elongating the vowels. Elongated vowels are often used in everyday language when we want to emphasize a point. A mother might call her son in an uneventful way, “Johnny it’s time for dinner”. But if Johnny is late and his mother is irritated she emphasizes it: “Joooohneeeee!” Elongated vowels were used. We use this tool whenever we are emphasizing a point. 

When we add pitch it becomes music. The melody that pitches create help to express emotions. For example, it could be triumphant, eerie or sweet. We don’t really use pitch in our everyday language very much (our lives aren’t a musical). But we do realize it’s importance, and we use it to mark special occasions or to express feelings that are beyond words. This is where music can be somewhat mysterious. Often, we listen to certain music when we feel a certain way, because it accompanies our emotions. Sometimes music can even cause us to feel a certain emotion. Furthermore, music can be used to help us remember things because pitches tend to stick in our heads. On top of all this, music is just pleasant to listen to.

No doubt, there are many more reasons to use music in worship; but I think the girl in that youth group had a good point. Singing is a wonderful way to communicate with God. We serve such an awesome God and his praises are certainly worthy of elongating vowels for emphasis, and adding pitch for beauty and emotion. When we sing prayers our words are being emphasized and our emotions accompanied by music. When we sing truth about God the same thing happens, and the truths we sing stick in our heads. As we gather to communicate with God as a congregation, it is fitting that we use music and singing to help us express our emotion and emphasize truth. I’m glad that we have this tool called singing to express our worship to God. I’m looking forward to singing with all of you this coming Sunday!

“Music induces an attitude of worship. It elicits from deep within a person the sense of awe and mystery that accompanies a meeting with God.” – Robert Webber, Worship Old & New

Monday, January 31, 2011

WHY WE SING

2009 Summer Shows

Lewistown

Well the concert in Lewistown was a great time; I can’t explain how good it was to be back in the church that feels so much like home. It was great to see everybody again. In many ways I feel like I never left, and just have been so blessed by this church! As far as the concert I think we had a good time laughing and worshiping, not to mention the ice cream afterwards. We especially had a good time laughing as I started into the first song, which has a track playing behind it, and I accidentally had left my mic and guitar channel muted on the soundboard. Therefore the track was playing through just fine but no one could hear my guitar or voice. So I was singing the song “I Love You” and some of the words say, “if I sing I sing only for you” and the people had to have been reading the words on the screen and thinking, “he really does only sing for God, cause we can’t hear him!” Well I realized it part way through the song and fixed it, and we had a good laugh about it. I hoped to have some videos but the camera didn’t record past 7 minutes so no video this time. But here are a couple pictures:

Helena

I’m so glad I got to come to Helena, not only had I never been to the city that is our state's capitol but I loved getting to spend time with Kevin and Stephanie Shafer and meet their youth group. I knew Kevin back when I was in High School and he was an area youth pastor. It is great to see God blessing him in ministry. I had a great time, sharing my heart with the youth group and I pray that God be glorified and that everyone was encouraged by something that God wanted them to know. After the concert we went and had ice cream and slushies, which is always a good time. 

You know as I have been traveling last summer and this summer, I’ve been trying to learn more about life on the road and how to go about it as civilized as possible. Well I learned something today that I thought I’d share in this blog. First, I thought maybe I’d try having one shirt set aside to wear only during my concerts, that way I don’t have to pack a lot of shirts. Well today was only my second concert of the tour, but as I prepared for tonight’s concert I put on my designated concert shirt and it became very clear to me that I should not try to reuse that shirt. It did get a little hot at the Lewistown concert and that shirt had a sort of stench to it. Wearing that shirt again could really distract from being the aroma of Christ. So new rule: “wear a new shirt for each concert.”

Keep checking back because as soon as I get time I’d like to upload some video from the concert. 

Kalispell

Well the last real concert stop on my tour was last night in Kalispell MT, tomorrow I will head up to Dickie Lake Bible Camp and lead worship there for the weekend, and then head back home. I had a great time with the concert last night. It was great to see some old friends and meet some new friends. Tim Owen who is the Superintendent of the Rocky Mountain District  for the Christian and Missionary Alliance, was also there. He shared a great testimony about how when he was a senior in High School, God had healed him of Hodgkin’s disease. We truly serve the most amazing God and there is no one like Him. 

I also had a really interesting experience today. I went to Shopko and I attempted to steal a DVD. WAIT…. WAIT…. Let me explain. My friend Charles is in charge of Security at Shopko and he asked me to help him out with a group of kids that was coming in today. He was going to show them how they monitor everything in the store and how easy it is to catch a thief. So he had another shopko employee and me stick a couple of DVD’s in our pockets and head for the door. He and a shocked group of wide-eyed 7 and 8 year olds met us as we were leaving the store and my friend very sternly asked us to follow him to his office so we could “talk”. The entire group proceeded to decide that they should probably call the police and our parents to have us punished for our crimes. All in all I think the kids got the message and I got to feel what it would be like to get caught stealing. It’s not a good feeling and apparently had I stolen the DVD for real, I would have had to pay somewhere between $500-$1200. I’m not sure, though, if that means I would get to keep the DVD or not…

Anyway check back cause if I get time I’d like to have some video added from the concert in Kalispell. 

Dickie Lake 

Well I had a great time at Dickie Lake Bible Camp. I would say that if you are up in the Kalispell area and are looking to go to camp – go to Dickie Lake. The lake itself is amazing, and for me, a poor eastern Montana boy I couldn’t believe how clear the water is. Anyway, It was a great weekend of camp. I really enjoyed making some new friends and being part of the ministry there. 

Sorry no pictures or video from the camp

I’m back home now and I’d say I had a really great time. I love being on the road and doing music. I got to see a lot of old friends and make new friends, and got to see God work in the lives of people. Thanks to everyone who prayed, you certainly had a part in this ministry. 

Well I put over 2,000 miles on my Ford Escape, but I also learned a few things. Like not to try and wear the same shirt every night, that’s a bad idea (unless you’re a rock star, then you are supposed to smell). I also only lost three bottles of shampoo during my traveling this summer. So, I learned that I need to keep a good eye on my shampoo (I accidentally leave them in various showers). Well thanks again for the prayer, and God bless you guys!