Where's our form of worship heading?

The other day I was asked to write my thought's by a friend for a project he was doing on where worship music is heading. I knew this would be a very private page that not many people other than a professor would see, so I wrote it to that audience not expecting it to go any further. But now, I found it, and decided post it for all to see, mainly to stir the waters and get us talking about stuff we might be afraid to talk about. Yes that was a run-on sentence possibly, maybe, just maybe, but get off my back english majors.

If you disagree, sweet, tell me.

"Worship is heading to a simple place....again, but not for long. We're at a place in time that you could walk into many churches in a America, and predict that the worship leader will be backed by a high dynamic service, with every light, fog machine, special song, solos, and dancers available, and of course with the 'back in action' glockenspiel to make sure the hipsters(myself included) feel spoken to. This done in church used to be rebellious and ground-breakingly fresh, but now, its expected, atleast in Southern California. So, where is it heading? We can compare it in the way that different trends of clothing go back and forth. Culture changes with its desires. For example, everyone wants to be different and make their mark in a new distinct way. In the 60’s, the popular thing that everyone was wearing were suits. To be different and rebellious, you wore a t-shirt with jeans, and that made you stand out. As time goes on, we are now in a period where everyone is wearing jeans and t-shirts and the way to stand out is to wear something classy like JT of course. This is a great example of what is happening in worship. As the high dynamics of a worship service continues, the way to stand out now and for a while to come is to have simple worship, as it was before. Then, once the norm becomes simple worship again, the high dynamics will be desired and come back into play to stand out. This pattern I believe will go back and forth for quite some time, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is OK to change the format, as long as the content stays the same- that it is our act of Surrender to Jesus Christ. What I’m looking for is what is outside of all of this? Can it only be this back and forth pattern? Is there an era coming where we wont even be using music to worship in the church service? Time will tell."

If my thoughts pan out, I of course would then not be employed ever again, but I'm cool with that. I dig vans down by rivers, and am more than willing to live in one if it means the way we worship doesn't stay stagnant.

He makes us lie down in Hell

Nope....Green pastures. Psalm 23 reads, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want, He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me by still waters, He restores my soul." Oh for this to be what we let the Lord do. Because of the neglect of rest, we have created Hell on earth. You may be thinking that is an extreme word, but I chose it intentionally. How many times do we walk by the homeless because we are too busy running to Barnes and Noble to write our next blog on how busy we are? I just did it myself, sitting in Barnes and Noble now writing a blog about how busy we are. When I finish this, I'll go to a meeting planning for the next big thing that every church is doing, then I'll go to a rehearsal with a band and try to be the most relevant like every progressive church band is doing with the help of Mumford & Sons. then I'll wake up to start a day very similar to that, but not before I run into the woman working for Green peace on my way out of Barnes and Noble as she asks me if I want to help her save a whale but I inform her that I cant because I am too busy writing a blog about how busy I am!...Bleh. Disclosure overload.

But seriously, the busyness we have created is not part of bringing Heaven to Earth, but Hell. Some of us in ministry are in a competition to see who can be busiest so people can talk about how busy we are. And in return, we will not feel like a giant waste of cells, and most of the time successfully convince ourselves we are getting things done the right way. Then 15 years down the road we're burnt out, miserable, possibly divorced from neglecting our family, and in our own personal Hell created out of busyness.

I strongly believe that the lord doesn't call us to lead out of busyness, but to LEAD OUT OF REST. Notice that it says He makes a lie down, to take a second, a day, maybe even a week. Then it says He leads us by still waters. This is Him picking us up out of the pasture, out of the place of rest, and walking beside us in life, shifting us to be like the water he set before us- still, so that we can hear the whispers of His guidance. through that walk by the still water, he refines us. He restores our soul.

The best thing you can do to help someone, or your ministry, our your family, is take care of yourself....OH DANG. Did I just say that? how SELFISH. That might taste sour to some, but let me explain. When we take that time to lie in the pasture, to let the Lord bring us rest, he can pick us up and lead us through the chaos of life on the left by keeping us focused on the still water on the right. But....straight up, we don't want to lie in the pasture that would get us to that still water. we will feel un-busy, unproductive. We can't fight the urges of planning for Easter, to have a bigger bunny than last year. We want the Lord to catch up with us, and go along with what we are doing in our timing. so we will do things like pray in the car on our way to work and call that our "quiet time", or whatever other relevant phrase we have come up with to describe the time we spend with Jesus that we coined from one of our "staying relevant" meetings. We want Him to somehow plant that still water beside us in our convenience, as we go, as we run on empty. But here's the thing, we won't find that still water until we take ourselves out of the chaos and in to that pasture, to a place where our eyes will be opened to see where the still water is that the Lord can begin to lead us by.

The other day I lost my keys while visiting my parents house. I couldn't remember where they were. I didn't have time to remember where they were. so of course, my best alternative was to run around in a clown-like fashion, yelling at God to some how teleport my keys to a place I have already looked 100 times but am convinced hasn't been thoroughly checked yet. the closet? the back of the door? the couch? the depths of my V-neck? my shoes? you know you've checked your shoes. Then of course there's the mom who tells you to sit down and think about where they are....and it makes me PISSED. Are you for reals ma?! Sit down and think?! I'm too busy! I gotta be at church!!..sit down and think....are you CRAZY!! HUH Lorrie Busey, are you!? then without fail, she somehow convinced me to sit down, and to backtrack....I rested for a sec...my eyes were opened to something I couldn't see if I didn't stop....I remembered....and I found what I was looking for.

If we're gonna talk about Ma, we gotta bring pops into the mix.

I remember the time when I was young and my dad was on the other side of the monkey bars. He would tell me to breathe, go across, and to not look down, but to keep my eyes focused on HIM. What a beautiful picture this example paints of Psalm 23. when I would breathe before climbing, that was the pasture of rest. I would not look down at the chaos of life below, but kept my eyes focused on my dad, my still water. And because of this, I got across- a display of the restoration of my soul.

Listen. No one wants to hang out with the ornery dude, no one wants to learn from the burnt out minister, no one wants the impatient husband or wife, or the boss that needs a 6 month vacation. So, do what's best for everyone else and take care of yourself. Lie in the pasture, get some rest, then keep your eyes focused on that still water you have been led to on the right, as you feel the fire that the Lord is leading you through on the left.

PRESENCE

The word PRESENCE has been weighing down on me ever since Wayne Cadaro spoke truth in my life. He spoke that our prayers regularly seek the blessings of ourself, our church, our families, our friends, more so than our prayer for the presence of God. This past week a great friend of CCV's came to hang and share with us what he and his wife have been doing in South America as missionaries. Jake and his wife were in Chile when the awful earthquakes destroyed a lot of the country.

They were burdened by the fact that he, his wife, and their new baby were fine and that there were families pummeled by the earthquake. Jake got a few friends together, grabbed hammers, insolation materials, and got their trucks to head to the broken. They showed up to village on the coastline and met a few families living there. These people were freezing in their living areas because the earthquake had broken down walls, roofs, and doors. Jake and his team built them what they could, and insolated the living areas. Many hours into the rescue, they were asked by the locals what they were going to eat. Jake replied that he didn't know. They asked where he and his friends were going to stay. Jake replied again, "I don't know, we just came".

the locals fished for Jake and his friends to eat every single day. They gave them blankets to keep them warm at night after they worked all day. The locals told Jake that him and his team were the presence of God in their forsaken moment. They were so thankful for Jake, and so thankful for the people he brought with them.

Jake is a disciple of Christ. He dropped everything in his life and went where there was need. He had no idea where he would stay, what he would eat, how they would live. In their obedience to the call, God provided for them every step of the way.

This is a powerful story about the presence of God with us, and in us. Who are the friends that need you? who is the family member that feels they are without family? Who is the person you don't know very well that you just saw break down? YOU are the presence of God in their forsaken moment.

"Oh Sleeper, Awaken"- new song

I was in big bear last year on a retreat for a college group. I had the opportunity to go on a walk by myself. I'm not a sappy dude, but I looked around and got pretty emotional. I was captivated by creation and praying to God saw my jaw drop. I wrote this song that day. It will be on the new record and I can't wait to record it. Here are the lyrics.....

Oh Sleeper, Awaken

I see skies that you made

I see stars that you take

I see clouds that you break

for me, Revealing Lord

Waterfalls of mercy

Stir the soul within me

And break the heart so lovely

For me, Revealing Lord

I see oceans You part

Reconciled a new start

Your grace is never too far

for me Revealing lord

I see mountains you shake

All for mine and love’s sake

Plains of chances you make

for me Revealing Lord

Beautiful and free, we dwell in your creation

Your glory revealed through earth and sky

The roaring of your thunder, your lighting

Strikes the heart with light

Revealing Lord

Revealing Lord I’ll praise You in Your light

Revealing Lord I’ll praise You in the darkness of the night

Oh sleeper awaken

To the wonders of the earth

Your Father wants to show you

what’s matchless to your beauty and your worth

We had a little bit of light

You're gonna hear me talk about Zimbabwe quite often. It's a place that God revealed things to me that I am now responsible to share. My team and I went into the Marigumura village to help repair a school, love people, and share the gospel.

I found myself today getting frustrated with things at my job and the execution of a service. Specifically, I was pissed at my guitar not working for a part of the service. My worry-some self tells me if my guitar doesn't work, I can't lead. If I cant lead, no one will follow the songs. If we don't sing then Jesus won't show up, if Jesus isn't here, not as many hands are raised. If not as many hands are raised, then I suck at my job.

I realized it all kinda boiled down to me, myself, and Jeremiah. What isn't the main focus went from peripheral to dead center. It became all about the success of a service and the lights going on when they are supposed to. It became about smooth transitions between songs. It became about how many hands were raised, how well I sang, and what people thought about it.

Looking over some pictures today I found a picture of me in Zimbabwe at the village speaking to the African men, women, and children about the book of Daniel. My interpreter Lamick was by my side, my team with kids on their laps were sitting on the ground and benches, the Marigumura choir was behind me, and Jesus was all around us. All we had was a little bit of light, and God moved mountains. We prayed for fathers struggling to take care of their families, for mothers sick with AIDs, and for children that want to know more about Jesus. ALL WE HAD WAS A LITTLE BIT OF LIGHT. We didn't need guitars, sound systems, smooth transitions, offering baskets, communion trays, announcement slides, bulletins, volunteer sign-up booths, or even a coffee shop. Jesus doesn't need these things or even me for that matter in order for Him to show up. Not that these things are bad at all. As i referenced in my last post, things like this are great tools to be used in the church for His glory, but they are NEVER to be held in higher need than the gospel.

I came to realize more importantly that I'm not that important. I'm not fishing for attention here, I mean what I say. I looked at church and said, "Today will only be successful at church if I am awesome and everything goes right to the service that I created". Thats a lot of pride to carry. that's also a lot reliance on effort. Romans 9 is when Paul talks about not relying on our efforts because they will amount to nothing, so we must count on God's grace and mercy. boy do I suck at that. Those 2 things were exactly what I lost sight of. They are things I have to force focus my eyes to see on a daily basis through all the visual noise and chaos of what I have made church to be.

I felt so much shame today seeing this picture. I have once again made church into exactly what it isn't. I have made worship into a small calculated box for God to maneuver in. anyone else done the same? along with shame though, I was quick to be joyful for the Lord reminding me what to rejoice in. I was overwhelmed with peace and God spoke. Not audibly but a still small voice I can somehow sense. A voice telling me to not forget what I showed you in Africa and what I showed you to rejoice in. To rejoice in the lost sheep coming home, to rejoice in the presence of the holy spirit regardless of where you are. To rejoice in being broken with family and friends in the middle of the plains of Africa with the word of the gospel, and only a little bit of light....

Together my beard and his hair make a full red-head

This past Sunday I opened up for Aaron Gillespie. He is a man after God's heart and is using his credibility with the youth to lead them to the cross. I respect him incredibly and he has impacted my life greatly since I was in highschool. We had the opportunity to sit one on one and talk about the beautiful and ugly things about the church today for over an hour. After funny stories of him surfing with Joel Houston and what worship songs are working well at revealing things about the Lord to the congregation, we talked about the hard stuff. He shared with me that the main thing the church is lacking as a whole is integrity and transparency, then how we need to go about fixing it.

He is a worship leader at his church and is actually pursuing worship this coming March with his new album on BEC records. He shared that we as worship leaders need to stop teaching obedience and do it ourselves. His goal in life is to see the common man worship Jesus and that is a beautiful way to put it. But we cannot lead others into worship if we are not first living it. He urged the importance of being honest with your congregation. To not complain, but to be honest with them when you don't feel like worshiping, to tell leaders in your band when you mess up, to not come to them from a fake place, but a transparent heart.

he couldn't urge enough that there is not success in numbers or in hands raised but in THAT 1 lost sheep coming to the Lord. These are the things we need to be rejoicing in. We need to set the bar as the leadership of the church so that that church goer can follow. I questioned myself plenty. Am i honest with my congregation? Am I transparent with my struggles? Am I basing success off numbers? To be honest, I'm guilty as ever. Just the questions alone gave me enough responsibility to change and I hope to do so.

I learned much more from him and these things I learned from Aaron I will take with me for a long time to constantly check myself. We continued to talk about personal struggles and what the Lord is doing in our lives before he had to run. This is what the church needs to be. Not just sermons, not just music, not just buildings with administration, not that this stuff is bad, in fact it is very much needed, but we are called to more. We need to be people loving each other and talking, sharing, praying, being transparent, and holding each other accountable.

I could go on for days but I'll let us chew on this for a while. A lot of the time we were talking he was in a pink and green 80's jumpsuit leaning on a trailer. thought you should know. But don't judge, it was Halloween ;)

PROOF

For those questioning me about the last post :)