Worship vs. Jesus

Musicians will play anything. It's true. After leading worship for the past 15+ years I've discovered that most musicians love to play/sing and will jump at any opportunity to do so. I hear it all the time

"I love (Style)  but I am in a band that plays (Style). "

or

"I really wish I could be playing (genre) but I've been with this (genre) band for the past several years"

You can see it in examples like this:
Katy Perry- Former Worship Leader
Sheryl Crow- Former back up singer for Michael Jackson
Run DMC and Aerosmith... need I say more?

It might sound strange to the non-musician but to those of us who love music its all too familiar. The true musician loves to play and most will give up almost anything to play on a consistent basis...  Including Sunday mornings. I find that one of the biggest struggles for Worship leaders and Musicians alike is the constant tension of their love for music and their love for Christ.

While we could spend hours writing and discussing why this is I think there are some simple ways to make sure this is not the case for you or your worship team.

1. Identify the truth.
Ask yourself: "If God were to take away my ability to sing, play, mix would I still be content in serving Him?" Your answer to this question will be the ultimate test of your heart for serving God and serving His church.  Christ teaches us in Matthew 6 that where our treasure is there are heart will be also. Is your heart on serving Christ or playing music?

2. Do something other than music
Worship in its purest form is described in Romans 12:1 as offering "your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God". Did you notice there is not one word about music in that description? Sacrificing ourselves for the kingdom of God is our ultimate goal in worship and for the musician the best way to give up ourselves is to give up our music. Before I get tons of angry e-mails from angry Worship Leaders because their worship team has quit, I do not advocate you quit using your God given gift to do something like park cars or hand out bulletins. You've been given a gift of music and giving that gift back to God is important in your relationship with Him but it is Him we serve and a good dose of giving yourself to him in other ways is a great reminder of why we worship.

3. Personal Worship Time
The most powerful worship times you have in your life should be off the stage. Do you solely rely on your participation in the worship team to connect with God? This can be a big indicator in a musicians motives for playing on a worship team. The Bible tells us that Christ "often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" (Luke 5:16) because of His desire for time with God. This is an easy change, get in the Word and on your knees. Your personal time with God will be the biggest influence on your ability to lead worship with your team. Don't underestimate the impact God will have on your ability to focus on Him first and your gift of music second.

4. Do the Hard Work
I often tell my worship team that playing on Sunday mornings is the blessing and our worship is given in the rehearsals or extra time we put in to making sure we bring our best to God on Sunday. It can be very easy for us to rely on our talents and just show up to play on Sundays. God is not looking for another good musician, He wants the very best of you. The time and effort we give up in order to give God our best is a direct reflection of how important God is to us.

Ultimately when we lead worship, whether consciously or subconsciously, we are telling people from the stage this is how you worship. Your church wants you to lead them, not play for them or sing to them. If God is not more important to you than your music, He wont be to the people you lead.

A Little Creativity

I don't usually like receiving those cute little stories that jam up our in-boxes on an hourly bases but I read this one and I am glad I did... (this doesnt give you permission to clog up my inbox with cute little stories by the way) Enjoy!

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.  He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help."  There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by.  He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat.  He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words.  He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up.  A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.  That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were.  The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning?  What did you write?"
The man said, "I only wrote the truth.  I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."
Both signs told people that the boy was blind.  But the first sign simply said the boy was blind.  The second sign told people that they were so blessed that they were not blind.  Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

We have the greatest message that could ever be told to any and all who are willing to hear. How we tell that story can and will impact those who hear it for a lifetime. It is an incredible responsibility we have to tell the story but what's even more incredible is that God trusts us to share that story.  Don't  take for granted that your method can impact your message. A little creativity can go a long way...

Breaking the Tension

Hello

It's way past 11:30

My mind will not shut down

I am awake when I should be sleeping

Reviewing the goals I wrote for my ministry teams five days ago

Actually since I changed every one of them I cant claim I set them last week

I love visioneering and creating and setting goals for huge accomplishments

But I am a dreamer and narrowing my focus is all but impossible

I will do my best to narrow big dreams

In to short concise statements

Then sleep until 5:30

Goodnight

Thanksgiving?

I love Christmas... I really do. It is one of my favorite times of the year. It always has been. There are so many blessings that come with Christmas, blessings that go way beyond the presents. Family, friends, traditions and memories collectively accumulate in to an annual celebration of blessing until one of two things occurs:
1. Our hearts become overwhelmed by the blessing and we in turn offer grattitude in humble and sometimes uncomfortable ways.
2. We become so accustomed to the blessing that we assume the blessing as if we somehow deserve to be blessed and in turn discard our gratitude.

These two scenarios play out in Luke 17 as Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem. Luke tells the story of ten men with Leprosy meeting Jesus as he entered a village between Samaria and Galilee. He says they stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice for Jesus to have pity on them. Jesus, of course, did take pity on them and then instructed them to go show themselves to the priest. While the men were on their way to see the priest they were cleansed of their sickness. One of the ten, noticing he had been healed made his way back to Christ. The bible tells us that he "He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him." Jesus was obviously perplexed that out of the ten men only one came back to thank him and asked the one, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?"

I don't know, nor will I try to understand, the hearts of the nine men who did not come back to see Jesus. They may have been so overcome with joy that they were quick to run and tell their friends and family about their new and improved lives or maybe they were filled with such emotion, they got caught up in the moment and lost track of where the blessing came from. I do know this, they accepted the blessing and discarded the one who blessed them.

In our world, where anything we want is only as far away as we are willing to go, it is easy to assume the blessing and discard the gratitude. We see it play out every year about this time; Thanksgiving becomes a speed bump on the road to Christmas. People almost treat it as though the four day weekend was conceived to make time in our busy schedules for hanging lights and setting up the tree. As much as I love Christmas and all the joy the season brings I think it is very important that we do not forget the gratitude that goes along with the Thanksgiving holiday.

This Thanksgiving holiday, don't skip the gratitude and go straight for the blessing. Before the tree goes up, before the lights turn on take time to thank God for what He has done. Go back to God, realizing that He has given you so much and thank Him for the blessings that make your life possible. Even when the rest of the world forgets, you be the one to go back and fall at the feet of Christ Jesus, then you can go on living the blessing he so graciously gives to all of us.

21 Random Thoughts

1. I love the holidays! They remind me that tradition means something and that new traditions are essential for creating new memories.

2. Basketball provides lots of life lessons for me.

3. I may be addicted to social media. Determining boundaries has proven to be difficult.

4. Emotion can be your worst enemy or your best friend and sometimes it's one disguised as the other.

5. Learning and Mentoring go hand in hand. Keeping what you learn to yourself is arrogant and self serving.

6. I haven't written a song in 15+ years. Disappointing

7. "If you build it, they will come" is not a biblical concept, neither is "God helps those who help themselves". Both are quotes, one from a movie the other from a founding father.

8.The Matrix was a revolutionary Movie... to bad the sequels were not. A lesson we could all learn from.

9. The experiences God used to change our lives will not be the same experiences He uses to change the lives of those around us. We are not called to recreate for others what God created for us.

10. My life is a musical.

11. Only God can change your life. No church, religion, government or person can change your existence, no matter what they promise. No they can't.

12. I have many pet peeves... most of which are things I hate about myself.

13. Exaggeration is just a rationalization for lying.

14. I need Jesus as much as anyone.

15. To ignore any one part of the Gospel is to ignore the whole.

16. You cannot claim to follow Christ and reject His body. Quit pretending that you can. If you are not a part of a church body find one or finally admit you just hate the fact that Christ died for all the people you can't stand.

17. When we are in the worst economic crises since the great depression, discourage your wife from wearing the dress made with real sterling silver.

18. When God invests in you, make sure you provide a good return on His investment.

19. I love my job but it can be very hard at times.

20. Love God more than you love your spouse, love your spouse more than you love your kids and love your kids more than you love anything left in life. Not the other way around.

21. Creativity is.

The Church Office

We had a blast with our 2009 Annual Thanksgiving Banquet at FCC. For those of you that were not able to attend I am posting this video so you can share in the experience. Enjoy!

Twitter

For the past several weeks I have been using a new (to me) social connectivity tool called Twitter. Twitter asks one simple question "What are you doing?" and gives you 140 "characters" to answer. This simple phrase has sparked a movement on the internet that is quickly redefining how we communicate over the internet.



Tuesday's Question of the week: What are you doing?

Breakfast and Mad Props Friday

BREAKFAST! It's meaning is deeper than just the first meal in the morning. It actually signifies the end of a prolonged period without eating or fasting. It literally means to break your fast. Since fasting can be abstaining from more than just food I decided early this month to fast from blogging. Today is my blog breakfast! Twisted logic I know but you get the meaning I am sure.

Mad props this week goes out to my boy Wes Schaefer.

Since high school Wes has dealt with one addiction after another. Each new addiction would eventually leave him wanting more than the drugs had to offer. After searching for a "high" bigger and better than the last one, Wes eventually found himself addicted to Meth and ultimately close to destroying his own life. With the help of his family, friends and church, Wes entered a drug rehabilitation facility and one year later stood before those same people and proclaimed God's victory in his life. You can see him in this video holding up a sign that says "Addicted to Meth" and then "Clean And Sober! & Forgiven".



His sign was ginormous and rightfully so. God had done a major work in his life. Afterwards Wes sent me a text thanking me for asking him to participate in the event and wrote "That was a better high than any drug had ever given me". Wes had experienced the life changing power of the Gospel and it was powerful to witness.

For most people this would be enough. Enough because their lives were changed by God and they were now free to go about living their lives, building their careers, raising families and going to church. This has not been the case for Wes. Wes recognizes the power of God to change his life. He understood the power of addiction that he was under was significant but that God's power was greater and as a result, he wants everyone to experience that same saving power in their own lives. Now Wes is actively sharing the power of God with others. He recently hosted an event at the church building to help raise awareness about the destructive nature of Meth addiction and is constantly on the lookout for ways to share the Gospel with people who are far from God.

So Mad Prop's to Wes. He is exhibiting the true nature of the Christ. He knows first hand the power of the Gospel and desires to share its life changing power with others. He is an inspiration to me and many others around him. I can't wait to see what God does with him next...

Everyone join me in giving Mad Prop's to Wes.

Happy New Year!

2009 is all about discipline for me personally. I am not much on the traditional new year's resolutions but I am big on setting goals. If you break a resolution you essentially let yourself (and those to whom you made your resolution) down. A goal however recognizes that its going to take some effort to achieve. I am a flawed man. The best I can do as an individual, a husband, a father and a minister is to set goals that will ultimately help me be the man God wants me to be.

Here are my goals for 2009

1. Spend more time with my Family and Friends.
This seems pretty generic but the truth is, I am a workaholic. It is not unusual for me to spend 60-70 hours per week working on worship services, rehearsals, learning music, editing video, creating graphics, designing sets, managing ministries and meeting with all of the people involved in the aforementioned list. One of my major personal goals is to cut back on the amount of hours I spend doing "church work" and increase the number of hours I spend with my family and friends. This one goal is going to require the most discipline.

2. Read through the Bible.
I haven't read through the whole Bible in a while. I am actually participating in a daily reading that will take me through the entire Bible in one year and the New Testament twice. Another needed discipline.

3. Take a big risk.
I am not sure what this means right now but I have a few ideas. God is working on me in several areas that will require huge steps of faith. When I look back at 2008 I don't see many places where I took any kind of risk. The hard part for me is that I am a risk taker. So much of my past has been about taking risks (it drives my boss and my wife crazy) and yet somewhere I stopped and began playing it safe. This year there will be some risks and they will be big.

4. Take two family vacations.
This is going to be the toughest. First of all, vacations cost money and not that we are poor but we don't make the kind of money that will allow us to take a vacation for five very often. This will require financial discipline. Secondly, we are pushing it every year to get in one family vacation. In 2008 we didn't even take one. This year I am committing to take two vacations. They may be to a hotel in OKC to visit the Zoo for three days but we will figure out a way to make it happen. See goal #1... needed discipline.

5. Complete Twelve Hours towards my degree.
I am still working towards that ever elusive college degree. I often joke that my goal is to graduate before my twelve year old son does. Little by little I am chipping away at my goal of graduating someday. This year I need twelve hours to feel good about my progress. You guessed it... discipline.

There they are. Now that it is out there, you are all invited to hold me accountable to these five goals. Of course there are other things I want to do this year but these are the priorities.

Have a great New Year!!

Three Weeks, Two Prospectives and A Question of the Week

Hello! It has been over three weeks since we last met and we have so much to catch up on! I don't have a lot of time so let me try to catch you up on the last twenty seven days of my life as quickly as possible.

• Avalon was incredible! Made some new friends through the process ( Cathy Freeman and Chris Kelly with Spirit 102.3, Greg Long with Avalon) and watched our church do a tremendous job in helping with the event.
• Mad Prop's to Cathy Killion for all her hard work on the Avalon show! She was my hostess and really went out of her way to take care of the group.
  
• Christmas services FREAKING ROCKED! Jana Gorham had almost thirty people in the orchestra this year and as usual they were incredible, the Choir was bigger and better than ever, Brittany Bolt sang her guts out and rocked our faces off and as always the band was awesome. This had to be the best Christmas service EVER in our church.
  
• Christmas Eve services were great as well. We did some things a little different but somehow throwing acoustic worship, Charlie Brown, a live nativity, the Christmas story read by grandpa Tom, communion and candle lighting in to one service worked!
  
• Mad Props to my boy Mitch who managed to focus his attention to leading worship on one of the hardest days in his life.
• Christmas at the Tibbles was awesome! I will always love Christmas morning with my kids more than any other day of the year! This year was awesome... there were nice lessons learned by my youngest. More on this later...
• In-laws came to our place for Christmas #2. It was nice...
• Spent more time with my grandparents in two days than all of 2008 combined. I love them so much. They are great examples to us in all aspects of their lives.
• Had a great Christmas with my small group. I am so appreciative of them and their love for us and each other. Its great to be a part of a group where we are "Tim and April".
• I somehow ended up catching a cold that turned into a fever and sore throat... I hate being sick. Then again, who doesn't?
• Our Church Basketball League starts up soon... I am uber excited about this. I'm not a great player but I love basketball to a fault.

So that's my life over the past three and a half weeks. Sorry we were not able to connect. What's that you ask? What are my feelings on Rick Warren praying for the inauguration? Funny you should ask! What amazes me is the two opposing views of this prayer.
1. The "Liberal Left" is ticked at Obama for inviting a "gay hating", "anti-abortion", "narrow-minded conservative" to be a part of his inauguration. It's funny to me because Obama is doing what he said he would do. Did these people think that he would unite only the Americans who agreed with them?
2. The "Conservative Right" is ticked at Warren because he has accepted the invitation to participate in Obama's inauguration. This is funny to me because Warren is doing exactly what he is supposed to do as a Christian. Does this group think that Warren should stand up and call Obama a "hypocritical", "gay loving", "baby-killing" heathen like a lot of other so called Christian leaders? Isn't Warren doing exactly what the rest of us should be doing... praying for Obama?

It was great to see you again! Lets meet up tomorrow. I would like to share my 2009 New Year's Resolutions. Before you go let me give you my question of the week:

What is your top resolution for 2009?

See you tomorrow!

Christmas With Avalon

When it comes to Avalon, the premier vocal group in Christian music, there is much
to know:
• Five successful studio projects, a remix album, two RIAA-certified gold records
• 19 No. 1 radio hits, 14 of which were featured on a single album, Testify to Love:
The Very Best of Avalon, a feat only an elite few artists have accomplished
• 20 Dove nominations; three Dove Awards
• Two Grammy nominations
• A 2002 American Music Award for Contemporary Inspirational Music

The "Christmas with Avalon" tour is coming to First Christian Church of Owasso on December 18th and 19th at 7:00 PM. You can get your tickets now at www.itickets.com or by calling the church office at 918.272.9551.



Tickets are only $12.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door. We have kept the ticket prices low becuase we are asking all who attend to bring a new or gently used coat to donate to Gyles Coates for Kids. Make your plans now to be a part of this incredible night and help bring warmth to someone in need this Christmas season. I hope to see you there!

Face of Jesus Manifests on Washburn Guitar

Oriinally Posted by Scott Thorn | MLive.com December 02, 2008 10:45AM

Okay, I've seen the face of Jesus appear on toast, crepes, window panes...but now a guitar?

Ludington music store employee Jeff Hoyer noticed it after others commented on it

November 28, 2008: Ludington Daily News: "The reason that I didn't discover it when I was setting the guitar up, is when you look at it from this angle (from the neck down) the face disappears, which is proof that it cannot have been faked, that it is actually in the grain, because if it were airbrushed in there, or somehow faked, no matter what angle you looked at it, it would still be there," Hoyer said.

Hoyer then explained the process of making such a guitar.

The guitar has spalta maple front, sides and back and was made was through a process called bookmatching, Hoyer said.

Bookmatching means a piece of wood was and cut down the middle and opened up like a book, so that the patterns in the wood grain are mirror images.

"So basically what happens is half of that face was in this half and when they open it up like a book it's a mirror image of the other side of the face," he said.

When asked if he had ever come across anything quite as mystical as this Jesus guitar in his life, Hoyer had this to say.

December 2, 2008: MusicRadar: "I've been here for 27 years and I've never seen anything close to that... the face is so clear," shop employee Jeff Hoyer told the Ludington News. It reminded me, and a couple of other people, of the Shroud of Turin and we know who that was."

"It also reminds me of my brother, he's a biker."

Tuesday Question of the Week on Wednesday

I came across this cartoon on ragamuffinsoul.com.


It pretty much sums up how I feel about a lot of Christians and churches that I grew up around. One of the most important things we can do as Christians is to show Christ's love to others. You don't see Christ beating God's love into the people in the Bible. However, it is just as important that we defend our faith and stand up for what is right in the eyes of God even if it means disrupting society, just as Jesus did when He overturned the tables in the temple courts. This is why I get so conflicted over issues such as the one happening in California right now. I believe God intended marriage to be a union of one man and one woman for life. It is a sacred covenant and one that should be defended and respected. So here is my question of the week... brought to us by Carlos Whittaker at ragamuffinsoul.com

"How do we stand for what we belive in without standing in what we dont?

Make A Difference Monday: Thankful for my shoes

It's "Make a Difference Monday" and as usual I am always on the lookout for people who are trying to show the love of Christ to others in tangible ways. Here is an organization that started with a guy who just wanted to help after the Asian tsunami in 2004.



Right now Soles4Souls is trying to raise 50,000 shoes in 50 days. A one time donation of 5 dollars will purchase two pairs of shoes for kids in need. Please consider taking a moment like I did and help a child receive a gift that most of us take for granted. Just click the link below to participate.

Discipline

God has been working me over lately. One of the big lessons He has taught me over the past several weeks is that "discipline" is not just a form of punishment.

This idea was a new revelation to me. After all, "discipline" is a corrective action you take against a person who has done something wrong, or so I thought. I have always understood the premise of discipline as a habit in my mind but somewhere in the recesses of my brain the connection was never made between my mind and my character.

Discipline, I have discovered, is a habit of action that adds value to our character. Many of us lack discipline both spiritual and physical and the result tends to be disastrous. I have so much more to learn in this area, so much more to understand. I don't know how long it will take or what is yet to be learned but I do know that by the grace of God, He has surrounded me with people who are helping me little by little become more disciplined in both my personal and professional life. I thank God for the people God has placed in my life that constantly pour into my soul the value of discipline.

I also know God has both saved me and redeemed me and that through Him all things are possible. I am a new creation and everyday God blesses me with a new day to become better than I was the day before. Each day brings a new challenge and a new opportunity to add value to my character by becoming more disciplined. I hope one day I can become a person of substantial discipline and deeper character though I fear I it will be one of those things I struggle with for a while. Its hard to break 33 years of habit... but that's where discipline comes in.

Funky Fresh Sr. Choir

It's early Sunday morning and I am doing my usual routine of looking over the service orders, reading, watching the sunrise through my office window and spending some time with God. Not much was different about this morning, until I checked my email...



Is your Sr. Adult Choir this Funky Fresh?

Family Hang Out Night

A few weeks ago AP and I realized that our Thursday nights were out of control. Homework, basketball, football, dance, grocery shopping and about a half dozen other things all seemed to find their way in to our Thursday night schedule. We were running everywhere, trying to get everyone where they were supposed to be in a coordinated sequence of events that resembled a city wide game of musical chairs. We had become more fragmented as a family on Thursday nights than any other day of the week and for a family in full time ministry that means something.

We needed a way to rally Team Tibbles, so AP and I came up with the idea of a base camp. The concept was pretty simple, have a central location that we could set up and hang out while each of us accomplished our various activities and responsibilities. Usually, our shedules are so staggerd that I could run one of the kids to whatever thier commitment is for the evening while AP stays back at base camp. Then when I return AP is free to take the next child prodigy to the next event on our schedule. This process goes on until we run all of errands for the evening and all family members are back to base camp.

Not only has it worked out way better than expected, Thursdays have become one of my favorite nights of the week. For the past several weeks we have chosen Panera as our base camp. The kids get hot chocolate and I get wifi. We all look forward to it. Our night is still hectic but I get to spend quality time with each member of the fam.

Tonight I had a personal realization, there are a dozen places I am supposed to be and there are a million things I could be doing but there is only one place I want to be on Thursday nights...

Do you blame me?

My Glorious

I (like everyone at this point) am ready for the campaign rhetoric to stop. I didn't realize it until my wife told me that my 12 year old son was actually scared of Obama winning this election. I panicked! I did not realize until that moment, I got sucked in like everyone else. I was so consumed in election coverage of campagin rhetoric and electoral maps that I had somehow allowed my son to be convinced that a president could have such a dramatic impact on his life. That the fate of his future relied on the cumulaitve descision of the voters in our country. Honestly, I almost cried for my son.

The truth is that as Christians we should never be convinced either by others or by our own emotions that anyone can care for us the way God does. We should never find ourselves relying more on a president's promise than on God's faithfulness. God is ultimately in control (Romans 13) of our lives and by His word and power we are saved, not by a presidential candidate. No government program has ever saved our souls and no government program will bring us closer to the one who saved us. God is much bigger than any president or election (Colossians 1:6) regardless of the media hype or the promises of those running for office.

One of my all-time favorite worship tunes is My Glorious by Martin Smith.

God is bigger than the air I breathe
The world we'll leave
God will save the day
And all will say
My Glorious

The Chorus really sums up exactly how I feel about this presidential election.

Make A Difference Monday: "IT" Matters

I remember, several weeks ago, sitting in our weekly Creative Planning meeting and going over our upcoming services about community. One of our team members mentioned how tough it was for some people to feel comfortable committing to a small group. He began to describe it like a personal tug-of-war, constantly pulling against the demands of life in order to grow spiritually as a christian. Suddenly an idea was born. The team came up with a drama about a guy pulling on a rope that continually refused help because of his own pride.

The idea was great but there was a big problem, we do not have a drama team at FCC. That may have seemed like a deal breaker for most but we have an axiom we use a lot in our planning meetings, "Don't let logistics get in the way of a good idea." The team began to jot down names of people who might be able to pull this off and began the process of convincing them that they were the right people to make this happen. Here is the result.




I know there are a lot of Worship Leaders and Creative Arts people that read this so I want to take this opportunity to tell you, no matter what the obstacles you face, "IT" matters.
The time you spend in creative and planning meetings matter.
The evenings you give up to rehearse with your band matters.
The mornings you drive into the office before the sun even comes up matters.
The countless hours you spend investing into the lives of your volunteers matter.
The tech meetings matter.
Your hard work matters.
The lives you touch matter.
"IT" Matters... to God
God is so incredible. He has a way of taking the little things we do and turning them into major life changing moments. Thanks Mike for your amazing testimony!

Perspective

"Can you believe gas is $1.95"
This phrase has a completely opposite meaning than it did twelve months ago.