First Worship Album Release: Nov. 7

I'm excited about our first worship album being released next month. It's kind of surreal for me in that I don't feel what I thought I would feel. Someone asked me if I felt like I've just had a baby. Well, not knowing at all what that kind of trauma must feel like, I'm not sure. But, I do feel a great sense of relief knowing that we as a team accomplished what we set out to do, and using only members of our team to produce it, from the recording and mixing to the photography and mastering. I feel very proud of our team to get this far, and I also feel such an urgency that we haven't even come close to reaching our potential in terms of the talent set of this team and the vision by which God captures and recaptures us every week in worship. To sum it up, I'm thankful to have come this far with people I love, cherish, and thank God for, but I am humbled by the task that I still see in front of me.

The 5 Functions of a Team

How good and pleasant it is when brothers (and sisters) dwell in unity...For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Psalm 133 is a scripture I stumble on often, perhaps because the Lord is clearly speaking to me. It's a reminder to us to always stay in unity with one another inthe body of Christ. It takes effort and constant maintenance. Unity is how a team functions at its highest level: each member of the team unit doing its part and completely trusting others to do theirs and vice versa.

I'll be speaking to our worship team the next several weeks on the 5 functions of a team. They are actually taken from Lencioni's book, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team." But, I'm using the gift of optimism to turn it around a bit. The 5 functions are: trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. I think we'll spread it out and cover each one seperately. Dwelling in unity is something every close to my heart. Looking forward to diving in!

Ramping Things Up

Things are ramping up on the worship arts team. We're getting ready for our annual banquet on Friday, August 20. I'm going through ideas for the missions event in September and Christmas. And, I have the final cut for our first album. That will be sent to press this week. Pastor H has been encouraging us as a ministry team to seek God in our personal lives more intensely. There are big events coming in our near future and big decisions to be made, but before we do anything we must be sure we are in a position to hear the voice of God. This goes for any part of our lives. We can't be sure-footed and know that we're moving in God's will unless we're close enough to God to hear what He's saying. (yes, I said "sure-footed" :| ) Proverbs 16:9 declares, "the heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." The heart by nature is prone to sin and is deceitful. But, our Father can and will order our steps if we allow.

Taking Initiative

What does it mean to take initiative? My parents used to tell me this a whole lot. It means to take the first step. It's so easy in our homes or careers to notice a problem and be the first to blame or the first to talk about the problem. You would be surprised (or maybe not) to find how many issues in the church get that kind of treatment instead of someone taking initiative. This generation has churches that are staffed with multiple pastors and support staff, but in spite of all that, we don't have our shortage of issues. As long as the sun continues to rise every morning there will be issues in every organization, especially an organization like the church that is focused on people. There'll never be enough staff to cover all the bases, never enough equipment to manage everything, and never enough volunteers to fill every spot. But, for sure, we'll never get closer to our goals if we spend more time noticing issues and looking to someone else for answers. The church desperately needs people that are willing to take the first step in solving an issue, somone willing to take initiative.

In the Book of Acts, Paul shows us what taking initiative looks like. In Acts 27:6-10, Paul is about to be ferried to Rome under guard, but before they set sail, Paul speaks up and says, "I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives." Paul was willing to take action when no one else was, and probably looked a little dumb for doing it. We should take Paul's example and be willing to take the first step, to speak up first, to take initiative when any issue arises.

Operating In Your Strengths

We all have God-given talents and strengths that make us effective in our daily productivity. Our brains are wired to work in diifferent ways. Some of us are right-brain-oriented (creative, instinctual, experiential), others are left-brain-oriented (logical, analytical), and still others may volley between the two very well. Regardless of where we are, what we do, or how or brains are wired, I believe we should operate from a position of strength. Our society pushes us to improve our weaknesses to make ourselves better. But, how many of us work daily to try to make ourselves better in an area and always end up starting over at zero? I certainly have! Think about where your strengths are, and push yourself a majority of the time to operate in that zone.

What are strengths? There are strengths/talents and there are skills. Skills are things we learn how to do. I have a skill for playing the piano, directing musicians, reading, writing, etc. I have the following strengths: learning, using intellect, ideation, thinking contextually, teaching, perceiving, etc. Skills make up our production (what we do), but strengths make up our conception (who we are). We learn new skills or make or existing skills better almost everyday. We stretch ourselves - we grow. The challenge for us is to continue to operate in our strength zone. Coming back to our strength zone keeps us energized, and keeps us from burning out. I'm currently reevaluating my strength zone using a couple of recommended tools metioned below. Where's your strength zone? Are you operating everyday from strength?

Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath

www.initforlife.com

www.assess-yourself.org

Careful Exploration

"Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that." Galatians 6:4 (MSG) I getting in some devotional time after returning from Virginia Beach with Sarah. We had a great time and whirlwind of a week. God has been speaking to me for a period of time in scriptures like these. It's essential for us as believers to place enough value on our own life (the life the Christ paid a heavy price for), not to waste it moment by moment, living impulsively, but to examine and reexamine ourselves and the work that God has given us all to do, assessing our life now and mirroring it with God's perfect will for our life. Tom Raff, author of Strengths Finder, identifies 5 areas of human well-being. I've slightly modified them for my own use, allowing for faith in Christ to play a stronger role. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Social well-being - your capacity to love and be loved by others
2. Career well-being - your productivity in your work
3. Financial well-being - your stewardship of earthly resources
4. Physical well-being - your management of your body
5. Spiritual well-being - your relationship with God

We each have responsibility in these areas of our life. The next verse in the passage above says, "each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life." Galatians 6:5 (MSG) Our stewardship of the responsibilities we are blessed with, I believe is a measure of our maturity in Christ.

Here in Your Presence

Is it just me, or did Faith Assembly have an incredible service yesterday? Watching the presence of the Lord working in people is a beautiful thing. One moment in His presence can be more beneficial than a thousand sermons, a thousand songs, or a thousand books. We sang a new worship song yesterday that pretty much summed what we experienced.

Here in Your presence, we are undone

Here in Your presence, Heaven and Earth become one

Here in Your presence, all things are new

Here in Your presence, everything bows before You

We took more time than usual to seek God in prayer. Man, there were so many needs. It was humbling to see the altar filled with so many people needing God's presence in their lives. And it was awesome to see someone give their heart to the Lord and confess it before everyone.There's no way you can manufacture God's anointing. We can't choose the time or place for God to show himself and change lives. In reality, he speaks to us and works on us every single day. But, it means something for us to be able to experience him corporately like we did yesterday. I'm in a spirit of thanksgiving. I sincerely thank Him for being an awesome God that actively works in our lives, and I look forward to searching Him out again today.

He is wonderful, beautiful, glorious, and matchless in everyway!

The one and only Yamaha M7CL

I like tools. I love great tools. Tools make life so much easier. I like screwdrivers, but socketwrenches are what's up. I like cars, but 4x4 Jeeps are where it's at. Computers are okay, but Mac products take it to another level. Who needs a concordance when you've got BibleGateway.com. You get the point! Sound boards can do some amazing stuff, but the Yamaha M7CL found out what mixing sound was all about. Faith Assembly just met one of Yamaha's best digital mixing consoles last week.

It's amazing what this baby can do. Number one favorite thing: everything is instantly recallable. The faders are motorized and slide to their positions at the punch of a button. Not to mention several parametric EQs, more effects than you'll ever know what to do with, and touchscreen interface. I have to say, the sound team is kicking butt and taking names with this great new ministry tool, not wasting any time. But, when we get to the point, it's just a tool to help us do our jobs better - sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 10 asks, "How are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?...Faith comes by hearing...the Word of Christ." Okay, this might be a stretch, but there is a definite connection between our Faith and our hearing (or at least our comprehension). This new tool helps us to communicate with more clarity. I pray that God would receive even greater glory because people are hearing His Message clearer than ever before at Faith Assembly.

Character in a Hectic Time

Have you ever wondered what God was up to? Why is my life unfolding like this? What connects the dots? I've been going through one of those times, and it's been tough going. Sometimes it seems like Murphy's Law is actually true to life: "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." Do we take those times as a lesson to be learned; do we examine ourselves for sin or guilt; do we blame God? To be sure, we can expect stormy moments in life; it's part of existing in a world tainted with sin. But how we respond in those times reveals our character and also further develops character. It's through those times that we can examine who we really are under all the talent.

I'm pretending that I know how to conquer tough times, but I am taking the opportunity to examine myself. What's truly important? How healthy is my spiritual core? How is my life prioritized? John Maxwell is big on the "rule of 5": having 5 things that you do "everyday" that ultimately helps you accomplish what you're called to do. (For the record, callings come from God, but they certainly are not limited to church-related work, as we often make the mistake of thinking. Your calling is the purpose for which God created you. Everyone is called!) So I took time yesterday to formulate my calling into words, and subsequently wrote down by "everyday list of 5". Everyone should have a top 5, or at least a top 3, list of things you do everyday that will make you accomplish what you've set out to do, whatever that is. I'm sharing mine with you:

I am called to develop a maturing team of skilled musicians and artists to lead people to magnify God as a response to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

1. Read and Pray - God Time
2. Respond to God in a musically creative way - play, sing, write
3. Develop my musical skill - listen, practice
4. Plan ahead
5. Disciple my team or someone on my team

Can God and Calamity Mix?

I and a fellow staff member at Faith Assembly had a good discussion on the topic of God and natural disasters. I wanted to put some of it in writing to enlighten people of our theological musings, hoping that it might bring better understanding of how God interacts with His creation.

In the wake of the earthquake that devastated Haiti, it was said by some and probably thought by more than a few that it was the result of God's judgement on a people that had sold themselves to the devil. I assume that most people agree it is probably unwise to make such statements in public (including unbelievers), but is this theology a good one in the first place? Does God cause calamity to install judgement? Does He cause calamity to redeem? Does He allow calamity because of judgement or redemption? Does He allow calamity because of human free will (calamity being caused by human sin)? And, is He powerless to calamity because of free will? These are very important questions regarging how a holy and loving God interacts with a sinful world. These questions also have very striking distinctions, and while each and every calamity could be possibly explained by each of the answers to these questions, at the end of the day, Christians have to be prepared to submit to God's holy and just purpose and to submit to the reality that we cannot totally comprehend that purpose.

The Book of Isaiah speaks directly to this issue. Isaiah 45:7 says, "I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things."

The word "calamity" does not speak of moral evil; however, it speaks of natural phenomenon, possibly including human sickness along with earthquakes, storms, and the like. I believe the purpose of this scripture is to ensure us that God is always in control. Sometimes we assume that good things are blessings from God and bad things are Satan's attack. Others assume that good and bad things happen naturally without any divine intervention. But, maybe both of these are wrong assumptions. What if we just submit to God in everything we go through, good or bad? What if we understood that we have no right to judge others in their circumstances? Isn't that what the forbidden fruit was all about? We wanted to be "like gods." We wanted the right to play judge. But, Jesus healed all of that on the cross. He alone has the right to judge, and he will.