Wednesday, February 25, 2009 | 01:57
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 | 00:54
Christmas and easter… the two sundays that evangelical christians make a huge fuss about. the two times that most all “Christians” go to church. the two sundays that even those who might never regularly attend a church… go to church. the two sundays that you can get all your volunteers to help out and go to church. but why?
why not every other sunday? shouldn’t the celebration of Jesus’ birth be celebrated every sunday? shouldn’t the death and resurrection be something we take to heart when we serve every sunday? why is it that when a lot of us give our time it is centered and focused on a sunday in late march or early april or in late december when every retail outlet in america is excited about Christmas too?
what if you treated next weekend, which is neither Christmas, nor easter, with the same fervency, planning, dedication to excellence as you did your last “Christmas service” or “easter service”? you are reading this, so certainly you had a free moment this week to perhaps put in a little extra planning. what if you treated every guest at your church like you did the ones that showed up on Christmas Eve or easter sunday? i would argue that those that show up on a random weekend in july might appreciate that too. i would argue that it would be more beneficial to your church to focus on all those other sundays when you might actually notice someone new sitting alone instead of noticing the 100 people you last saw an easter ago are back.
i have, of course, made a gross generalization. flame suit on. but what if you showed up at church this sunday and put in the same effort you would on a “special” sunday? what if you made every worship service a “special” one? what if you realized that the God you worship died and rose again not just for sunday, but today, and everyday?… and with that… any given sunday…
Monday, February 16, 2009 | 02:33
not the google kind. the meaning kind.
for over a decade I have served in the music ministries of various churches. and for a decade I have battled with finding a way to “worship” as we go through the motions of singing songs and playing music. I have come to the realization that for me, the best way to do so is rock out and let go.
i’ll be honest. i wasn’t feeling it tonight. i didn’t know I wasn’t feeling it until it was all said and done. i thought to myself, “did i just lead tonight? well that was thoroughly unimpressive.” turns out having a 100 people singing back at you doesn’t do all that much for encouragement. the incredible thing is that there is the slight possibility that while you weren’t feeling it in the least bit, someone else totally could have been.
i am searching for some way to feel as if what i do on Sundays is actually honoring to God and not just going through the motions. i’m searching for a way to know if the words that people are supposedly confessing with their lips are more than words on a screen and cookie cutter chord progressions.
i want to know that church is more than just a social gathering of people that are largely cut from the same cloth. whether it be the color of skin and hair or socioeconomically, why do birds of a feather always seem to flock together? i want to know that we’re bringing something more to the table than just some Joel Osteen-esque health and wealth mentality. we might think that guy sounds like a looney when he preaches, but how many of us live our lives the way he talks about, believing we should get anything we want and never have to suffer a day in our lives, without even thinking about it or without someone telling us?
i am on a search for something deeper.
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