My Worship Revolution

Every week, Randy Elrod hosts ‘Water Cooler Wednesday.’  A blog carnival of sorts for posting about culture and arts.  Check it out here.

I hadn’t jumped in yet, but then last Thursday I saw this segment on the Today show about SEE: Sweat Equity Enterprises.  An organization that teaches youth how to design for big name firms.  Check it out:

How cool is that?!  At Recreate we talked a lot this year about what it looks like to create the culture that people live in.  I thought this was an amazing picture of how one guy has taken all these teens and helped them take their talents and literally create a huge part of the culture.

One of the things that came to mind as I watched this was how we as a church need to be doing this.  And by that I don’t mean just identifying people’s gifts and helping them develop them to use for our church programs.  Rather, what would it look like if we affirmed the God given talents in people and sent them into the secular world to be extraordinary at waht they do, to influence the people around them, and ultimately to create the culture we are aiming to reach?

Yesterday I blogged about a situation very close to my heart that is happening at Revolution Church, a huge part of my spiritual family.  Today, it is all over the blogoshere.  Some people close to the situation and some not.  People sharing the news.  People expressing pain and disappointment.

Obviously I don’t have an issue with sharing the situation with you all as my community.  I don’t have a problem with the other bloggers either.  However, as I processed all this with some people, it brought up an interesting topic for discussion here.

What is the difference between news and gossip?

Where is the line where sharing information goes from one to the other?
Does it have to do with individual?
Can news for one person be gossip for another, and vice versa?

We watch the 6 o’clock news and here about the missing person, the robbery down the street, the retirement of a sports figure, and the kid who’s doing something significant in his highschool for the feel good story.
We see it all and view it as news.
We pick up a magazine that shares about the lives of stars, who’s dating who, and what their next project is.
We tend to refer to this information as gossip.

So where is the line that something goes from being news to being gossip?
An interesting and important question I think with the nature of the blogoshpere and a new and growing medium for the sharing of news and feelings.

Discuss.
Play nice.

Wow.  Long day today.  Led worship in the morning.  Also gave the message.  Jumped in my car and drove to SoCal (in 5.5 hours…impressive) to be with one friend in particular, but several as well walking through some horrible stuff.  Spent lots of time with people praying in homes tonight like I haven’t prayed in a long time.  It’s now almost 3 am, and I’m finally about to sleep.

I’m assuming this is blogable as it was announced at Revolution Church.  If I’m mistaken, I’m sure I’ll be told and you won’t see this post for long.
Some of you have joined me on this blog in the past year, while a number of you started reading when I was at Revolution Church.  This is a faith community I was a part of for over 2 1/2 years, coming onboard 9 months into it’s existence.  I still am intimately connected with many people there.  It is a family I love dearly, and while I know I am where God has called me, I have also had days of missing them intensely.  I love them a lot.

And now their world has been turned upside down in so many ways.  This week it was announced that the pastor, a former friend of mine, has left his wife to be with another married woman from the congregation.  I caught wind of the situation early on Friday, and in many ways it has consumed my thoughts and my energy this weekend.  As the title of this post suggests, the three major emotions to hit right off the bat were anger, hurt, and oddly enough, hope.

Angry that two people could be so selfish.
Angry that the body of Christ gets another black eye.
Angry that a ministry that so many people, myself included, have poured so much of their heart and soul into is being severely damaged by the choices of a few.
Lots of anger for an unrepentant, uncaring "friend" who seems to have lost his mind.
Anger that there are Christians young in their walk closely involved whose faith will be challenged in huge ways.

Hurting for the multiple kids from both families who are losing their parents.
Hurting for a husband and a wife who really are, in this case, two of the most amazing people you’ll ever meet.
Hurting for extended family involved who I am very close to.
Hurting for a faith community that is going to have to walk through a very dark season.
Feeling personally hurt in some weird way that a man I trusted and called a friend and a partner in ministry would be capable of the things he’s doing.

Yet in the midst of all that, I also feel hopeful.
I have hope because I know Christ is still on the throne.
Hope because God is in control, even when things seem like things are spinning out of control.
Hope as I watch that church family rally around the innocent family members to care for them.  To watch their kids.  To pray for them.  To love on them.
Hope that as this church goes through these trials they will come out the other end far healthier and stronger than they ever were before.
Hope because I see a leadership team already in place that loves Jesus and is going to lead incredibly through this crisis.
Hope that what Satan means for evil, God will use for good.

Revolution family, stay strong.  You are an amazing community where God is still at work.  Revolution was never a movement about following one man, it was always about following one God.  And He’s still God.  Trust in Jesus.  I truly believe he will use this in mighty ways.

And the rest of ya, please say a prayer for that community.  That God would bring about restoration and healing in the lives of that church and the families involved.  Thanks a ton.  I know the leadership appreciates it.

Was trying to get a hold of Sacred Pathways today to get some thoughts for tomorrows message I’m teaching.  Got it referred by Rich.

Unfortunately, NOBODY in the the area had it for sale.  But I did find a test online to find out my Sacred Pathways.  The idea is that we all have different ways to connect with and worship God.  Here’s what it looked like for me and the meaning of the terms:

Summary of spiritual temperaments:

Intellectual – Loving God with the Mind:
These Christians live in the world of concepts. They may feel closest to God when they first understand something new about Him.

Contemplative – Loving God through Adoration:
These Christians seek to love God with the purest, deepest, and brightest love imaginable. They want nothing more than some privacy and quiet to gaze upon the face of their heavenly Lover and give all of themselves to God.

Enthusiast – Loving God with Mystery & Celebration:
Excitement and mystery in worship is the spiritual lifeblood of enthusiasts. They are inspired by joyful celebration; cheerleaders for God and the Christian life. They don’t want to just know concepts, but to experience them, to feel them, and to be moved by them. They like to let go and experience God on the precipice of excitement and awe.

Caregiver – Loving God by Loving Others:
Caregivers serve God by serving others. They often claim to see Christ in the poor and needy, and their faith is built up by interacting with other people. Caring for others recharges a caregiver’s batteries.

Activist – Loving God Through Confrontation:
These Christians define worship as standing against evil and calling sinners to repentance. They are energized more by interaction with others, even in conflict, than by being alone or in small groups. Activists are spiritually nourished through the battle.

Ascetic – Loving God in Solitude and Simplicity:
Ascetics want nothing more than to be left alone in prayer. Let there be nothing to distract them–no pictures, no loud music–and leave them alone to pray in silence and simplicity.

Traditionalist – Loving God Through Ritual and Symbol:
Traditionalists are fed by what are often termed the historic dimensions of faith: rituals, symbols, sacraments, and sacrifice. They tend to have a disciplined life of faith and have a need for ritual and structure.

Sensate – Loving God with the Senses:
Sensate Christians want to be lost in the awe, beauty, and splendor of God. They are drawn particularly to the liturgical, the majestic, the grand. They want to be filled with sights, sounds, and smells that overwhelm them. The five senses are God’s most effective inroad to their hearts.

Naturalist – Loving God Out of Doors:
The naturalist seeks to leave the formal architecture and the padded pews to enter an entirely new "cathedral", a place that God himself has built: the out-of-doors.

Take the test yourself here.

This post is just my quick irritated rant.  Feel free to skip.  Or better yet, if you are a Blackberry owner, tell me if I am alone.  Especially if you’re a Blackberry owner with a Mac.

I could write for days, so I’ll give the way readers digest version.

Get T-mobile service with Blackberry 8100.
Experience excitement because Ive always wanted a Blackberry to try and organize my life.
Within 8 months or so, I start to have issues with the phone.
1 happens when MyFaves on phone don’t match system.  Not necessarily a Blackberry fault yet, but throw it in because T-Mobile customer service sucked, spoke to several rude agents, and was forced to drive 40 minutes to nearest authorized dealer to fix it.
Sorry, back to Blackberry issue.
Blackberry starts turning itself off at random times and in middle of conversations.
They have me reinstall new software.
Still has jacked buttons so they replace it.
New phone comes.
Now the real fun begins.
Get all my numbers and info in it.
Within weeks it gives me a JVM error and erases everything.
So I start over.
Less than a week later we go to Tahoe with staff.
On the way there…yup – JVM error.  But this time the phone won’t even turn on.
I call T-Mobile.
Once again reinstall new software.
Seems to be working now.
That was somewhere in the vicinity of a month or so ago.
A few days ago – JVM error.  But it only wipes out my call logs. So I keep using it.
Today – you guessed it – JVM error.
All my numbers, pictures, calendar, etc – gone.
Call T-Mobile.  Call goes something like this:

Agent: It was a JVM error?
Bobby: Yes.
A:  Then it’s a software issue.  you need to reinstall the software again.
B:  The first phone never did this.  This one’s done it multiple times in 2 months.  But you’re telling me it has nothing to do with the phone?
A:  It’s not a hardware issue.  It’s software.  It happens.  You may have downloaded something corrupted, like a game.
B:  I don’t download anything.
A:  It could even be a corrupted text message.  That’s why Blackberry’s are so good, they give you the software so you can replace it.
B:  They would be better if it didn’t happen in the first place.
A:  I’ve had 3 Blackberry’s and I’ve had to reinstall software within weeks because of JVM errors before as well.
B:  On all of them?
A:  On 2 out of the 3.
B:  So what you’re telling me is Blackberry just isn’t a stable device in general.
A:  No, if that were the case I wouldn’t keep using Blackberry’s.  The good thing is you can reinstall the software.
B:  So how many times do I have to have it crash and lose my info before you guys will do something about it like replace my phone?
A:  There is no number.  It’s not a hardware issue.  All you can do is install new software.
B:  Your product sucks.  I’ll just wait till it does it again and I’ll be calling you again.
A:  OK.  Go ahead and do that.

I’m done with Blackberry.
I’m really done with T-Mobile.
Has anyone else with a Blackberry had these JVM issues?
Or am I just special?

OK.  So yeah, since joining the bandwagon, I’ve had a few posts on Twitter.  However, as I’ve talked with some friends, they still don’t see the value.  I’m sure the reason for this isn’t that there is no value, but I must not have explained very well how to use it.

So, today I came across a great video explanation at Nate’s blog.  Twitter in plain english.  I was once Carla.  I was the skeptic.  Now the believer.  Watch and understand:

There ya have it.  Even if you don’t sign up, at least you get it.
Do you Twitter, yet?

Oh and for those of you who missed this in the past, or still don’t understand the whole RSS thang, be sure to check out this video, a reposting from the past.  I would have to rank this as way more important than Twitter when it all comes down to it.  Enjoy:

I was having coffee this morning with an amazing couple from our church.  God has birthed in them a growing passion to reach out to the builder generation and the retiring boomers to help them see their continuing value in the body of Christ and his work.

We got to talking about music styles and he said something that I found interesting.  Loose paraphrase to follow:

I think one of the reasons that lots of older people desire to see more hymns in the church isn’t just because of their preferences.  These are songs that have been passed down in the church from hundreds of years through the church.  Now, if this generation chooses to throw them away, they feel that they are responsible as the generation that was not able to successfully hand down this heritage.  The line is broken with them.

I thought that was a pretty interesting perspective.  One I haven’t heard or considered before.

Your thoughts?

That’s right.  just a quick check in today to celebrate.  Three years ago on March 1st this blog was born.  And lots about it has changed in that time.  Maybe some more thoughts on that next week if I feel so inclined.

A couple real fast and easy stats.  In the past three years there has been 568 posts…this would be 569.
Y’all have left 1,206 comments.
According to sire meter (bottom left) there’s been 30,550 visits here.

Anyways, point is, thanks to all of you for stopping by and reading my random ramblings.
And happy blogiversay, blog birthday or however you wanna say it!

Here’s a final installment to share the impact Life Group has had on peoples lives.  Unfortunately, it’s kinda hard to share this one without some of you knowing who they are, so hopefully they don’t mind.   

This is from a great couple that used to go to our church that was a military family and have since been restationed in another state.  Here’s what she had to share about their time involved in Life Group before leaving:

The life group [we attended] really helped us even though we were only able to attend 3 or 4 times before we left. I always felt that I was being upheld in prayer during the week and [we] really felt like it was great for our marriage and family.

Not only was it good for our family, but our friend hadn’t been to church since she was a little girl. Her brother had passed away last year and she was really having trouble understanding and dealing with it. But she later told us that the life group she attended with us was a great support system and she felt so at home there. She is now regularly attending church here on base and often says how much she misses the life group.

Wow…I love that!  Yay God!  To see not only a member of our church family blessed, but another person reconnecting with God as a result of relationships…that’s the kind of thing that keeps me going!

So, whether you go to CLC or are a part of another faith community, it’s you turn to respond.  Are you a part of a Life Group/Small Group/Care Group/Cell Group or whatever you feel like calling it where you are?  If so, have those relationships changed your life in some way?  If you’re not a part of one, why not?
Share with us.

Alright friends, so here’s the deal.

Several weeks ago, for the last day of Re:create, I got to participate in a bonus session at EMI records with some songwriters and publishers.  As part of that workshop, we were all invited to bring an original song of our own that the group, us and one of their producers, would critique.

I have felt a desire to write for years now, but I have had a lot of trouble getting past the whole artist insecurity thing.  The idea of actually sharing something I wrote freaks me out.  A while back I collaborated with a few others to write a song while on a retreat.  Outside of that, nothing much…until recently.  I mentioned it in a Worship Confessional here.

So here’s the deal.  I got some good feedback to improve the song at that workshop.  But I also wanted to go ahead, open myself up, and share it with you, my blogging community,  as well.  Several of you are worship leaders and songwriters and the rest of you are just flat out opinionated.  So I want your critique now.  before I work on the stuff they mentioned, what do you think of it?  How could it be improved?  And don’t worry about hurting my feelings.  Trust me…I’m my own worst critic.  So bring it!  Here’s the story of how the song came about, and embedded below that is the audio file with the lyrics.  Check it out:

We used this past Christmas to do a series on worship as we shared the Christmas story.  We spoke one week about Luke chapter 1 and Mary’s magnificat, her song that she offers up to God in response to his message to her.  We talked about the importance in worship of bringing ourselves and our own talents to God.  As response after the message, during the worship, we invited people to write their own "songs" to God.  To write out their own words and thoughts from their lives.  After a few songs, we brought it down and invited people to share with our community what they had written to God.  It was amazing!

Well I figured that if we were asking people to step out of their comfort zone and share their responses to God, I needed to do the same and write a song for our body (although, I of course didn’t mention I had written it).  So this is the song we sang immediately after sharing with each other what we had written to God.  The verse was kind of inspired by that passage in Luke 1 from The Message.  It’s real simple: a verse and a chorus, with a quick recording in my office.  Here ya go:

HEAR OUR SONGS

Verse
Our souls are bursting with the news of Your good works
Our feet they dance the song of our savior
Your mercy flows in waves and washes over us
The things that you have done, they will not be forgotten

Pre-Chorus
And so we respond to You
We offer You these songs

Chorus
Hear our songs to You God
Receive these offerings from our hearts
We worship You
Hear our songs to You Jesus
This is our offering, oh God

Alright people…
fire away!!