My Worship Revolution

A few weeks ago I was in the living room putting together a set to lead worship at Rancho Vista Church.
Caleb was on the computer in our bedroom playing games.
As I was singing, he walked over and closed the door.  Apparently I was disturbing him.
A few minutes later I was singing his favorite worship song.

The door opens and Caleb has a big smirk on his face.
As I get to the chorus, he starts belting out, “Glory to God, Forever!” and dancing.
Micah is standing by the table and starts bouncing up and down doing his own dancing as well.
Before long, I stand up from the lazy boy, and I’m standing in front of the TV leading my 2 boys in worship.
One singing out the words and spinning around.  The other a huge smile on his face bouncing up and down.
And I was going for it.

I’ve led worship in front of hundreds of people at a time.
Never reached the thousands of people at one time level.
But I don’t think either could possibly compare to the joy of leading those two in worship in the living room of my house.

Until it all came to a screeching halt of course when Calebs spinning ended with a giant collision in the middle of the room with his walking younger brother.
Blessed.

Oh, and here’s a quick video of Caleb rocking Glory to God at the dinner table the week before.
Good to know I have a fill in if I ever get sick.
He’s even got the fist pump.
Just wait.  He’ll be schooling me in worship leading before you know it (if he isn’t already).
You’ll understand the post title when you watch the video.

I’ve fallen behind a little on the blogging.
Been traveling, leading worship, and raising support.
All good times…for the most part.

But today is St. Patrick’s Day.
Just to remind us who St. Patrick even is, I invite you to check out this post from last year.
And when you pinch someone cause they aren’t wearing green, remember it’s all because of the missionary endeavors of Patrick in Ireland. Natural connection, of course.

Speaking of, the other totally understandable way to celebrate the evangelization of an entire country is drinking beer.
So join me at The Catalyst tonight to listen to The Wild Rovers in the Atrium. 9pm. No cover.
And I’ve been told I have to try an Irish Car Bomb since they’re 6 bucks tonight and I’ve never had one.
Hope to see you there!

I read this tonight.
It’s the Shakertown Pledge.
Written in 1973.

Recognizing that Earth and the fullness thereof is a gift from our gracious God, and that we are called to cherish, nurture, and provide loving stewardship for Earth’s resources, and recognizing that life itself is a gift, and a call to responsibility, joy, and celebration, I make the following declarations:

1. I declare myself a world citizen
2. I commit myself to lead an ecologically sound life.
3. I commit myself to lead a life of creative simplicity and to share my personal wealth with the world’s poor.
4. I commit myself to join with others in the reshaping of institutions in order to bring about a more just global society in which all people have full access to the needed resources for their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth.
5. I commit myself to occupational accountability, and so doing I will seek to avoid the creation of products which cause harm to others.
6. I affirm the gift of my body and commit myself to its proper nourishment and physical wellbeing.
7. I commit myself to examine continually my relations with others and to attempt to relate honestly, morally, and lovingly to those around me.
8. I commit myself to personal renewal through prayer, meditation, and study.
9. I commit myself to responsible participation in a community of faith.

Wow.  What could the Kingdom impact look like if we all actually committed ourselves to such things?
Which commitment stands out to you the most?
Where do you need to begin?

Yup.  It’s been almost a year since my last Worship Confessional.
My very first week at CLC I started doing Worship Confessionals.
Do I thought it fitting to do one for my last week on staff as well.
That, and several people insisted I record the ‘Bromance Mash Up.’

The Set
Hosanna
You’re Alive

Bromance Mash Up

You Gave Your Life Away
Restless
Glory To God

I was told by some that we have the worst clapping church in history.  So we played this instructional video before worship to start off with a bit of fun.
Restless was awesome to introduce.  Unfortunately I capoed the wrong fret and I’m ticked at myself cause it would have been a bit better up a step.
Singing Guy Love with Chris was awesome and actually went over better than I expected it to I think.
It was a lot of fun to roch out with a full band for my last week after 3 years of worshipping hard with our CLC family.

Below is a recap of the whole morning with clips.
And below that I embedded Guy Love in it’s entirety for your viewing pleasure.

And there you have it.
That was yesterday.
And today marks the beginning of a new chapter for us.
CLC – thanks again for going to the throne with us every week, for investing in us and in the lives of our kids, and for loving us during this season of ministry.  We are praying that God will bless CLC greatly and do amazing things there in 2010.

I’m in the process of rapidly getting website and other info rolling for the new church.
Our name at this point, which will most likely stick, is Missio Dei Community.
Why?  Well, that’s another post that I’ll share soon.
The quick and easy info…it’s latin and means “mission of God.”

SO – I thought you could help me to pick the best URL for the website.
Poll should be embedded below.
And please feel free to leave any comments here as well.

Thanks for helping!

Today I drive to Tracy for a meeting with the church multiplication team for Converge, the denomination that we are partnering with in our church planting adventure (formerly Baptist General Conference).  This is where things will be officially finalized and kicked into high gear.

Rachel and I have known for a number of years now that God has called us to a ministry of church planting and multiplication.  But we always knew we didn’t want to just go at it alone.  Even in a context where we are simplifying our ideas of what ‘church’ is and using an atypical approach and model to church planting, we recognize that there is great wisdom in 2000 years of church history.  There is great value in being coached by those who have done it before and being connected to those who are in the trenches as well.  So why Converge you may ask.

Over the past year we looked at several organizations and talked with multiple people.  On one hand I give two reasons that I was drawn to Converge…primarily.  One – they major on the majors.  Two – they aren’t tied to one model of church planting (at least not in our district anyway).
But in addition to that, they are a movement with a history and passion for starting and multiplying churches.

Ed Stetzer is the author of several books and a very well known and reputable name when it comes to church planting and leadership.  A few months back he spoke at a Converge event, and this is what he had to say about the denomination:

I have written before that I believe that Converge Worldwide is the leading mid-size church planting denomination in America today. Just a few months ago, I was in California training their church planters. Today, it seemed like most of the attendees at the meeting had planted the churches they pastored. They ooze church planting– and it has changed their denomination for the better.

In denominational life, as in so many areas of life, what you celebrate, you become. Meetings in some denominations are “celebrating” everything BUT church planting. But, by celebrating church planting, the folks at Converge Worldwide have created a momentum that has transformed their movement.

Check out the rest of Ed’s blog post here.
Just one of the many reasons I’m excited about working with the crew at Converge.

Allow me to briefly share with you the highlight of my week at Recreate.
Soon after I’ll fill you in on more of the week.

Today is the release date for an album called Beautiful Things from a band called Gungor.
Formerly Michael Gungor Band.

Truth is, I wasn’t really looking all that forward to Gungor.
No good reason.  Only I knew he had helped write Friend Of God, and I shared a few weeks ago about my love for that song.
Didn’t really know much else about him.
OH MY GOODNESS.
Now I know that he is possibly the best musician in Christian music out there right now.
(I know some would say that doesn’t mean much, but he’s better than most secular artists too, if that helps.)

The concert would be better referred to as an experience.
There was media that went with it, a 10 piece band including a cello, violins, a xylophone, and a freaking keytar of all things!
It was written in 2 movements – dust and breath.
I was quickly immersed in this spiritual musical experience that absolutely blew me, and everyone else in the room, away.
At one point, they were playing and I remember feeling so raptured by the beauty of the music and emotion and I looked around to see hands in the air and tears on faces around me.
Mind you this was during a long stretch of purely instrumental music – no words.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen music in and of itself effect people in such a way in the culture we live in.
Chris Vacher wrote a great post about the experience over here.

Real quick, let me invite you to check out 2 videos.
The first one below is them sharing about their new album and the experience.
Right below that is a little video I put together from Recreate.  The first 6 minutes or so are the start of their performance.  Then, there is a clip from Kim who was sitting next to me of the last minute.
You gotta love all the heads bobbing in unison at 7:05.

The video doesn’t even begin to do it justice.
But at least it gives you a small sense of how we responded that afternoon.

I highly recommend that you go buy that album now.
Enjoy.

Being in a room where I get to be way out of my league.

After high school I moved to Orange County to join The Young Americans.
I had spent 6 years in choirs at my school and doing theater.
In some ways, I had become one of the “big fish” in the pond.
When I started rehearsing with Young Americans, I found that I was among the best of the best from all over the country.
Most of the people in the room could blow me out of the water in at least one discipline, if not several.
Sure it was intimidating at times.
But even more than that, it was inspiring.
It was challenging.
It made me better.
I was able to learn from the people around me.
Just being with them pushed me to be better at everything.  There was no other choice.

That’s kinda how Recreate is for me in the ministry world.
Tonight I had dinner between Leeland, an incredible recording artist and even more incredible worship leader, and JVo, a pastor and one of the most creative people I’ve ever met in my life.
Today I had a one-on-one discussion with Ian Morgan Cron, author of Chasing Francis, about how I can better live out contemplative spirituality in my daily life.
I get to learn from Randy Elrod, another incredibly creative dreamer and entrepreneur who has been a mentor to some of the biggest names in the Christian music world.
I get to pick the brain of my friend Bobby Triplett who planted a church a year and a half ago in a very similar fashion to how we are, and he is doing it well.
I could go on for a while like this.

The point is, being around these people inspires me.
Most of them are light years beyond me, and rather than be intimidated by that, I choose to learn from them and be challenged to better myself.
That’s just one of the many reasons this has become such a valuable week in my life every year I am able to make it out here.

How about you?
Who are you surrounding yourself with that is better than you?
How are you being challenged to better yourself?

Typically I end my day from Recreate with a recap of the day and the speakers with some pictures and videos to bring you along for the ride.
Screw that.
Don’t worry.
I’ll catch you up at some point.
But tonight, instead of the details of the facts, let me quickly update you on another storyline of the conference.
A more intangible storyline.
A more hidden reality.

Often times, when I have those weekends, weeks, whatever, of getting away with God, a theme starts to arise.
It’s what God is doing in the midst of it all to transform and mold my heart.
Regardless of all the great concerts and provocative speakers, that is the part that really matters.

You may have picked up on that theme in my last post.
The title alone starts to hint at it.
It’s the line that grabbed me by the throat in that prayer this morning.

Tonight we had a concert with artists from Word record label.
Meredith Andrews, Patrick Ryan Clark, and Matt Boswell played several song in turn that they wrote.
Then Pocket Full of Rocks rocked the house for a while.
I enjoyed the music, but wasn’t truly engaged.
It’s at times that we least expect it that God breaks in and disrupts our state of mundane complacency.
Pocket Full invited the other three singers up to end in a final worship song and pray over us.
They had us close our eyes, pray, and then started singing.
The chorus of the song they sang…

How marvelous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

Next thing I know I was on my feet, eyes closed, tears streaming down my face.
As I pondered what God was doing, it occured to me one of the things God is getting to me about.
How wonderful my Savior’s love for me…
I believe that.  I really, really do.
But I think deep down, I still feel at times like I have to earn it.
I know I don’t.
But in action, I don’t know how to just be.
Will God really approve of me if our church planting efforts fall flat?
Will he really love me if I don’t please him by caring for the least of these?
There’s something to be said for these things.  Yes, they matter to God.
But he loves me, he delights in me, because I’m his.
Period.

I think this is why for the past year the idea and concept of contemplative spirituality and the mystic side of our Christian faith has been drawing me in.
I need it.
I need to learn how to be.
Then I can go and do out of my being.
It’s not always easy, but it’s a great journey to be on.

I’ve had this poem up on a tab on my internet for the past month or so.
I was waiting to post it in the next couple of weeks when I start posting more about our church planting journey.
I read it and it hit me right between the eyes because it expressed so well how I am feeling heading into this season of life.
Then, during worship this morning at Recreate, Ian Morgan Cron used it for a Lectio Divina exercise.
Wow.
It already had some pretty deep meaning for me.
This morning gave it a while new meaning.
That’s God.
Enjoy.