(boulevard)

There is a chapter in Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love, called “Serving Leftovers to God.” As I read it, each word really cut deep at some of the ways I see a lack of love for God and others displayed in my own life. As I discussed this chapter with a friend, she said, “Isn’t it great how God allows us to feel conviction without shame?”

Wow. Conviction without shame. A beautiful thing. The difference is love. The conviction that comes from God’s Holy Spirit is a knowing that while we are still loved, there is a higher level of relationship we can be functioning in if we just allow God to change certain areas of our lives. There is no love in shame. God does not shame. God is love.

1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter. Verses 6 and 7 say, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Here is the challenge Francis Chan gives: Replace the word “love” with your own name.

_____ is patient and kind; _____ does not envy or boast; _____ is not arrogant or rude. _____ does not insist on his/her own way; _____ is not irritable or resentful; _____ does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. _____ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Does it feel like a lie? Probably. We are not perfect. But it sure puts it into perspective that there is an incredible amount of growth to look forward to. God is love. If you replace the word “love” with “God,” the statements lose no potency or truth. With God, nothing is impossible. With God, we can all be better at showing this thing called love.

1 Corinthians 13:13, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

This weekend, I had the privilege of being reminded why friendship is such a beautiful thing. If you’re anything like me, you may have spent some time marveling over how different each of your friends is. Every person that I am able to call “friend” adds a little something different to my life that wouldn’t be there without them.

Some friends listen. Some talk.

Some friends laugh. Some cry.

Some friends wear me out. Some energize me.

Some friends preach. Some pray. Some pry.

Some friends miss me. Some friends, I miss.

Some friends sing. Some dance. Some read. Some blog. Some play. Some win. Some lose.

Most friends are not limited to one of the aforementioned traits.

All my friends are a significant part of me.

I hope you take the time to appreciate each of your friends for their uniqueness. God created every person to live a unique life, and I count it a privilege to be surrounded by His living creation. There is so much to learn in and from relationships. In Genesis, God recognized Adam’s solitary condition and noted that “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). God is a relational God. He made people in his likeness. Therefore people are relational beings. Value others! Be intentional about getting to know people. Make sure you tell the people you love just what they mean to you. That is how we are meant to function.

So, to my friends, past, present and future: I love you! I am so thankful for you.

A year ago this month, I was sitting in a friend’s apartment laughing and having a great time when I got a very unexpected phone call. It was my parents. My dad had received word that his position at work had been eliminated effective the following April. Let me give you a little background. I grew up in Peoria, IL which is (oddly enough) the world headquarters for the Caterpillar corporation. My dad had taken an engineering job there right out of college over 30 years ago. I knew the economy had seen a major downturn, but I have to admit, I never fathomed it would effect a man who had been working at the same major corporation for 30+ years. The phone call was a teary one, but my incredible parents were full of faith that God had a plan.

I hung up the phone and cried with my friend for a while before heading back to my own apartment where I took out my journal and wrote the lyrics to what became the title track on the EP I recorded last spring:

You give and take away
But still a faith remains
That proves itself worth more
Than wealth this world will claim

And so my song to You
Asks not what You can do
But here my faith resolves
To worship You in truth

In every circumstance, our God is God.

Like most people in a time of material loss, I thought of Job. In chapter one verse twenty-one, Job’s response to losing all his earthly wealth and family was, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” So I had two choices: I could stay angry, sad and bitter or I could acknowledge that everything I have is the Lord’s and it is within his sovereignty to give and take away. The next scripture the Lord reminded me of was I Peter 1:7, “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”

My family was blessed by an enormous amount of encouragement poured out by those around us, and within a month, my dad’s bosses had found a similar position for him within the same company. God provided and proved himself faithful once again.

I am so thankful for the Word of God and its living power to affect us. It is incredible to have words written thousands of years ago that speak directly to our situations today. Ecclesiastes makes it clear that there is nothing new under the sun, and I suppose circumstances like these are a good reminder of that. God cares for his creation, He knows what we feel, and He desires that our faith be proved strong.

Maybe you’re going through a hard time right now, or maybe things are going great in your life. Either way, I want to encourage you to remember that our God is God… with a capital G.

Our God is God

What are the top ten songs played in your itunes right now? I’ve only had this computer a few months, so my results are a little different that they would have been on the computer I used for the previous 4 years. Here are my top ten!

1. “School Bell” (This is a sound effect we used for our Christmas production. Don’t ask me how it possibly achieved #1 play status in my itunes.)

2. “After The World Came Undone” (Shout out to my Into the Ocean friends! Look them up if you haven’t heard of them.)

3. “Nothing Is Impossible” (Planetshakers)

4. “Love is Waiting” (Brooke Fraser… if you don’t have her Albertine album, you really need to purchase it.)

5. “12 Days Of Christmas” (Another Christmas production element. The relient K version I definitely played this a million times in rehearsal!)

6. “Beautiful” (Gateway Worship)

7. “To Know Your Name” (Hillsong)

8. “Hear The Sound” (Planetshakers)

9. “Clinging To The Cross” (Tim Hughes feat. Brooke Fraser… gorgeous song)

10. “What Do I Know of Holy?” (Addison Road)

I love reading books by worship leaders for several reasons. First, its nice to hear their stories from when they weren’t well-known and blasted all over K-love. They are real people, too. They are real worshippers. Second, the fact that they are well-known now must mean they did something right. There are always nuggets of insight that make me say, “Why didn’t I think of that?!” or “I would never have thought of that!” And sometimes, they just provide a fresh perspective to old concepts. This is one such enlightenment:

Step one: get our your Bible and read Matthew 16:13-19

Step two: reread verse 17

The power of the Spirit of God in our lives is incredible. This portion of scripture clearly states that it is the Spirit who reveals Christ to us. “Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, . . .  because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.’” The Message paraphrases this sentence as “My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am.” In his book, The Way I Was Made, Chris Tomlin notes, “No individual–no matter how appealing or talented–can reveal the truth of God to another human soul. Only God can do that. That’s why we must depend on the Spirit to come into our worship times in fullness and power.”

So the issue becomes human persuasion versus divine power. I can’t force anyone to know God; I can’t force anyone to want to know God. Don’t get me wrong, this in no way negates the need to evangelize. As followers of Christ, it is our responsibility to lead a life worthy of that name. We must live in such a way that we can’t help but share our faith with those around us. But in doing so, it is important to remember that we are in submission to God’s Holy Spirit. It is His Spirit who transforms the hearts of people, including our own. We must create the opportunity for non-believers to see the Holy Spirit at work in our own lives, and we must ask God to lead us into situations where we can be used effectively by His Holy Spirit.

Maybe this struggle is seen more frequently in a worship leader. The fine line between providing an opportunity for people to worship God, and trying too hard to force people to worship God is a tricky one to walk. I pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to invade our worship experiences, so that others can know there is nothing greater than a life with Christ.

Yesterday was my six month anniversary of being on staff at Westover Hills. If you had told me one year ago that today I would be sitting in a church office in San Antonio, Texas, blogging about my first six months of youth ministry, I probably would have thought you were crazy. But, in this hypothetical scenario, you were not crazy! Here I am. Its been an unbelievable experience so far, and in these short months I’ve learned/lived/experienced/relearned more than I ever imagined I would. Here are a few of those things:

I love people.

Relationships are what make everyday life wonderful.

Patience is a virtue.

God loves to stretch His people.

God always knows what He is doing (and I usually don’t).

God has a sense of humor.

I love playing Settlers of Catan.

The San Antonio Riverwalk is the Venice of the American-Southwest.

I will never stop learning.

Leadership is a privilege and a challenge.

The Psalms are a hymnal to life.

There’s no place like home, and I have 3 homes (IL, MN, and TX).

Coffee… mmmm…

The team of people on which I serve probably don’t know how much of a blessing to me they really are.

Difficult circumstances from the past have shaped me and are now forming who I am as a leader.

Wonderful circumstances from the past have shaped me and are now forming who I am as a leader.

Sound systems are complicated and have many wires and cables and adapters and plug-ins.

Yo olvide mucho espanol.

Most importantly, I’ve learned that I am so grateful to be right where I am. The possibilities are limitless and the dreams are big, because I serve a God who is the God of the impossible, and the ultimate dream-giver.

I came across these sentences in Crazy Love by Francis Chan: “______ people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Daily life is mostly focused on today’s to-do list, this week’s schedule, and next month’s vacation.”

So, what goes in the blank? “Stressed out”? “Non-Christian”? “Busy”? “Unhappy”?

Lukewarm.

Ouch. When I read that sentence, I realized I had to take a hard look at my own life. All three of those earthly concerns go through my mind on a consistent basis. My gmail even recognizes “This week’s schedule” as a subject entry when I’m composing an email.

Anyone who has spent time in church while growing up has heard the verse in Revelation, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

Now, I’m not (and I don’t think Francis Chan is) saying that schedules and to-do lists are inherently evil. What this little phrase made me realize is that in the small daily tasks, I need to consider the greater impact on the kingdom of God. Why am I living by this schedule? Is accomplishing this to-do list inviting people into the kingdom of God? Or have I become stressed out with the details of this earthly life which ultimately have no heavenly value that I’ve lost sight of my one true purpose for being on this earth? This is what it means to be a worshipper who offers their bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1): To live each day, making every choice, word, and action count.

Francis Chan goes on to quote CS Lewis,

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”

My prayer for all of us is that we never lose site of the “next world,” of the awesome privilege of spending an eternity with God. And that bringing other people to an understanding and awareness of that very same thing is what motivates us to live this life on earth… not as lukewarm people, but as people to whom God can say, “Well done” as He welcomes us to an eternity with Him.

Something you hear a lot about in the church is this word “calling.” I think there are two types of responses this word prompts from those who hear it. The first is,

“Me! Me! That is me! God has called me to be ___________.” Fill in the blank. For some, God has undoubtedly placed a specific “calling” on their lives to achieve certain goals and accomplishes specific purposes for Him.

Others may respond more like,

“Well, I’m not good at anything. I don’t have a talent. I’m not sure what a “calling” really is, and when I hear others get excited about it, I just get confused and frustrated.”

If you are part of the first group, awesome. But that is just the beginning of the journey. Keep pursuing God with a passion, and follow Him where he leads, always putting Him first. As for the second group of people, I want to call your attention to the verse that we as a church at Westover Hills AG have been studying this month: Jeremiah 29:11, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” (The Message).

I assure you, that for YOU, this verse is as true as it is for any Christian who seems to know exactly where they are headed in life (and believe me, they probably don’t. A life with Christ is full of surprises… that’s faith!). Maybe it is time to stop asking “What should I do?” And start asking “Who should I be?” God does have a plan and purpose for your life, and the most beautiful part about discovering that purpose is the journey it takes to get there. His plan for you is that you be a person who lives for God with every fiber of your being. A person whose love for God motivates your every word and action. A person who worships God with your life. A person who learns to trust God and believe Him when He says, “I have plans for you.”

His plans. The only plans that matter.

“Ultimately, only God knows what He’s accomplishing in our time. I just know I want to be a part of it, and I urge you to be too. I believe that as we lift up our sovereign God together to His rightful place in our lives and celebrate His greatness in our worship, all the lesser things fall away. And we stand before Him in wonder, ready — maybe for the first time — to live out our true created purpose for His glory.”

~ Chris Tomlin, The Way I Was Made

2010. A new year. A new decade for that matter. A chance to embrace new things and embark on new journeys.

Here we go!

This blog is designed to be a place where we can explore worship concepts together. I will use it as a way to facilitate conversations with you and recommend reading, music and other resources to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. I hope that you use this blog as a way to express what it is God is doing in your life, specifically in regards to worship.

We serve an incredible God who loves us more than we can possibly know or imagine. It is my prayer that (boulevard) as a whole moves forward in 2010, becoming a culture of worshippers deeply rooted in the love of Jesus Christ.

Amy