Many of you have no doubt already seen this video, but for those of you that haven’t, it’s pretty funny.  It’s a spoof of the cut-and-paste, packaged modern church.  Definitely makes you stop to think if you are in ministry!  But enough of my rambling because…Sunday’s Coming!

Yeah. That’s right. I said it.  I didn’t go to church on Sunday. We are on vacation and just didn’t go.  We are out in Anchorage, AK and I’m sure there are some great churches around here, but we didn’t attend one.  We didn’t even try.  Occasionally it’s nice to have some different God time (like the amazing scenery in Alaska for instance). Then I started thinking.

I wonder how often we as churchgoers or Christ followers, however you prefer to look at this, go to church just to go to church.  We aren’t going to serve someone.  We aren’t going to pray.  And we really aren’t going to meet with God.  We just go because it’s church and that’s what we are supposed to do.  Maybe you grew up in church so you have just always known that on Sundays you get up and go to church.  Maybe you go just to see your friends and instead of with a godly heart.  Maybe you feel like you need to be there because it makes up for the other bad things you did last week.

Don’t get me wrong.  Church is a great thing.  The messages and community that is hopefully found in your church is a HUGE blessing.  But for me as a follower of Christ, I wanna go to church because I am hoping and waiting to hear from God there and not just because that’s what we did when I was growing up.  I wanna be there to serve others and not just talk to my friends.

What about you?  Why do you show up on Sundays?  Is it just because or is it because He is there?

If there is one thing I love it is animated movies.  Disney is one of the best.  My parents raised me well and prepared me for a life with kids.  Robin Hood.  Aladdin.  101 Dalmatians.  Jungle Book.  The Little Mermaid.  Beauty And The Beast.  The Lion King. And that’s just a few of my absolute favorites!  But there is one thing that they all have in common (outside of Disney, animation, stolen stories, etc.).  They all have exceptional music (probably why I was so disappointed with The Princess And The Frog).  Song after song. Movie after movie.  They all have amazing soundtracks.

In my preparation to become a father of enough kids to watch these movies for the rest of my life, I already have some of the songs on my iPhone.  Yesterday a song from Beauty And The Beast called Be Our Guest came on during my evening commute.  (Imagine with me if you will a guy in a Jeep Wrangler with the top down and doors off driving through Orange County listening to Be Our Guest at full blast.  Ha!)  I have heard the song a million times but a few of the lines hit me this time.

Life is so unnerving for a servant who’s not serving
He’s not whole without a soul to wait upon
Ah, those good old days when we were useful
Suddenly those good old days are gone
Ten years we’ve been rusting
Needing so much more than dusting
Needing exercise, a chance to use our skill

Obviously if you have seen the movie they are servants in a castle who are going to waste and not using their talents.  What hit me, though, is that so many of us (Christ followers) are just like that.  We have amazing gifts and message that we have been given.  We start out strong, but something happened a long the way, we got distracted and stopped being a servant.  We start viewing Christianity and the Church as something that is for us (consumers) and forget that following Christ is a call to serve!

When we became Christ followers we were given gifts of the Spirit and called to live our lives in service to those around us.  Jesus gave us the example to follow throughout His life.  Some followers understand that and are living it out, but many of us have forgotten that.  What about you?  Are you really serving those around you?  Are you really loving them as Christ loved us?  Find a way to serve.  Greet at church.  Mow a lawn.  Change a tire.  Hang out at a nursing home.  Love your neighbor.  Follow the example of Christ to serve.

It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.

Galatians 5:13-14

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard a pastor use the example of a family fighting on the way to church only to walk in the doors and act as if everything was sun shining, birds chirping, angels singing perfect, I would have a whole bunch of money!  It’s always the perfect example.  Most of you speakers out there are taking your shoes and socks off right now because your fingers weren’t enough to count the times you have.  It’s ok.  We still love you.  Now I’m gonna use it.

Recently I was watching a bonus feature on a DVD of one of my favorite shows.  It was a reading of the script for an episode with all the cast, crew and writers in one small room.  The clip was about 45 minutes long.  No fanciness.  No quality transitions.  No music.  No sound effects.  Just a bunch of people all reading the same stack of papers and speaking like their characters.  It wasn’t the most exciting thing in the world and I even realized toward the beginning that I had seen the episode so it wasn’t even keeping my interest because it was new.  But despite all the scaled back-ness I was drawn in.  As a matter of fact the longer I watched the more I liked it.  I started liking the writers, the characters, the narrators, and everyone there.  If possible, this behind the scenes view was causing me to like the show even more.

Now back to the fun and totally not overused example of the arguing family going to church.  What if there was a camera around filming your behind the scenes?  If the average person that you are selling your appearance, attitude, lifestyle, beliefs, etc. saw the behind the scenes bonus feature of your life would they still buy?  What about your job?  Would people still want to use your company if they saw what it was like when the customer isn’t around?  What about your perfect-at-church family?  Your marriage?  What about your church?

Most of us have learned the ability to hide the behind the scenes.  We have deleted it as an option from the DVD of our lives.  But what we don’t realize is that many times the behind the scenes view is actually there.  Maybe not in a feature but it’s there.  We show little signs of what it is like behind the scenes without intending to or even knowing it.  Fortunately as the words to a Shaun Groves song called Welcome Home so accurately describe, our loving God wants to be a part of all of our lives and not just the face of it all.  He is there to help repair, clean and provide that TLC that many of our behind the scenes features need.

How’s your behind the scenes?  Does it draw people in or make them run for cover?

Community is a big thing.  It’s sexy.  Churches love to push community.  Small group community.  Serving community.  2nd graders community.  And it is important to have.  Living your life or calling with a group of people is great.  But there is another community that is also important and often overlooked.

Many times we neglect the community of people in the same position as us.  They do the same thing we do so they are the competition and therefore the enemy and heaven forbid we share information that might help them!  Sometimes we have the illusion of this community.  We know about the others.  We go to a conference.  We learn from other big namers.  But we don’t actually build or foster the community of those around us.

But great things can happen when we put time and effort into these relationships.  Doctors learn about medicines, procedures, sicknesses.  Mothers learn parenting strategies and tips.  Pastors get ideas, inspiration, review.  When we learn to learn from those around us that have already been there or are going through it, we grow stronger.

Over the last week or so I have had the opportunity to connect with several different people that I would consider in this community for me.  Some are through Twitter and blogs.  Others face to face.  Others I have never even physically met!  But getting to hear their thoughts, ideas, experiences has been huge!  When we join together through common ground and positions we have a chance to learn from each other.

Do you have this community already built?  Do you need to forget the competition side of things and put some effort into yours?  What does this community look like for you?

You know that one song that you just love?  The one that when you hear it makes you feel like you are just so close to God?  Sometimes it’s just so easy to worship Him!  But what about that one song that you just can’t stand.  Yeah, it’s about God and Jesus and stuff, the words are real spiritual, but you just can’t worship to it.  Sometimes it’s just difficult.  The feelings aren’t there and it would just be forced, right?

So many times we spend our days just living our lives.  We just go about our normal lives and wait until Sunday provides (or doesn’t provide) that perfect opportunity for us to be able to worship God.  I know, I hear you.  The chorus after the bridge of that song is so powerful that you can’t help but worship!  That’s good but we are still leaving out a major chunk of our lives.  Paul tries to make us understand in Romans.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.

Romans 12:1

We are told to live our everyday lives for God.  That is worship.  Not just our sing church songs-pass the offering plate-listen to a sermon-everyweek Sunday.  Worship is far more than just the time that your bulletin has listed under the “Worship” category.  Well, maybe that’s all it is for you, but it should be our lives.  We have to make the choice to worship God in all we do.  When we only worship because it feels right, we are aren’t following the Biblical instruction we are given in Romans.

Worshipping is an attitude.  It’s not based on feelings.  If our feelings were the key ingredient then there would be nothing wrong with not worshipping God when we don’t feel like it.  But according to Romans, even when we don’t feel like it we should be worshipping.  We shouldn’t worship just to our favorite song.  It’s great if a song makes you feel closer to God or gets your emotions going because of who He is or what He has done, but if that’s all our worship is, then it is shallow and not truly honoring Him.

This week I’m gonna try to worship God with my whole life and not just the convenient, mountain top, camp high or planned “worship” times.  When Sunday rolls around and your church plays that song that just aren’t feeling, remember that worship is more than a feeling.  It is a choice.  Choose to worship God for who He is and not for how you feel.

In the midst of a crazy week that is full of so much work related jobs, tasks and opportunities, I am fighting a battle that I have lost before.  One of the ways that I have struggled in our marriage so far is by working too much.  While working for a church it is very easy to get into the mindset that the work is for God and that it is more important.  Of course I would never agree that my job is more important than my family, but as they say, actions speak louder than words.

For me it isn’t staying out too late or being gone on work trips.  It was much more subtle to me.  I didn’t realize it.  Some of it I wasn’t even seeing as work.  It was just answering emails or playing with graphics or listening to a song on repeat on my iPod.  Yes, occasionally I would bring some more major work home, but it was when that became a regular occurrence.  It was when I would try to perfect something I was working on instead of spending time with my family.  I didn’t realize it, but I was only giving them my emotional, mental and physical scraps.  I was spending so much time thinking and worrying about my work tasks that my brain was consumed with these thoughts and my focus was lacking in the areas it needed to be focused on.

So changes had to be made.  I had to become more efficient with my time in the office so I didn’t have much to bring home.  I had to learn to prioritize my tasks and be ok with not being able to complete everything by the end of that week.  I had to learn to say no to things so that I could say yes to the more important things.  Yes, there are times that we have to get things done and my amazing wife has been great in supporting me when those times come up.

This week is another battle for me.  Fortunately losing the battle doesn’t always mean that the war is lost!  We lose the war when we choose not to fight anymore.  Fight for your family today.  Let your actions be the words that they need to hear.  Tell them you love them and are fighting for them and they will always be more important than work!

As a Jeep family there are certain things that we understand that non-Jeep people don’t.  I can imagine that there are a few other types of vehicles that this happens with as well, but one of the coolest things about owning a Jeep is being a part of the Jeep family.  When I am driving down the road and pass another Jeep there is a mutual acknowledgement or wave or nod.  It happens all the time.  It’s really cool.

If you have ever broken down on the side of the road (and don’t live in Oklahoma where everyone is nice) you know that you can stand there and watch car after car after car go by before anyone stops to help…if anyone does at all!  But this isn’t the case when you drive a Jeep.  The normal cars keep on going, but Jeeps stop to help.  It’s great.  They stop even if they don’t know how to fix it.  Just to check on you!

Many Christ followers already live like this, but what if we all did?  What if we took care of those that needed it instead of hoping that someone else better fitted for the job comes alone?  We are called to love our neighbor as we do ourselves (and I’m pretty sure we would all stop to help ourselves broken down on the side of the road) and not just hope that someone else will.  It’s not just the job of the church or the pastor or the crazy old greeter, but each and everyone of us.

Let’s follow Christ’s lead and take care of those around us in need even when we don’t want to.  After all, I bet He would drive a Jeep!

As a part of a band, a staff member and a pastor, I know that a ton of work goes into a Sunday morning church experience.  Despite the sometimes popular opinion that pastors only work on the weekends, there really is quite a bit of planning, studying, learning, practicing, etc. for every week.

BUT before you go thinking that this post is about appreciating your pastors, stop your fingers from typing!

There is so much more to what goes on than just the main people that you see all the time.  There are people that clean, setup, play instruments, take care of kids, fill communion cups, type out and stuff the bulletins, run sound, fix things, and so much more!  I could try list them all, but I would miss something and it would be a really long list.  Without these people the way church is done wouldn’t happen!  The lead pastor, worship pastor, youth pastor and kids pastor could all get there early in the morning, but church wouldn’t be the same.  Coffee may be brewed and on the verge of getting cold, but the donuts wouldn’t have made it, the lights wouldn’t work, no one would be there to watch your kids and the grammar in the bulletins and onscreen lyrics would be horrendous!

So what then?  Am I trying to convince you to become a volunteer?  No.  We would love to have you but that’s not the point.  The point is, that there are so many people that deserve a thank you or butt slap or man hug or whatever beyond the normal church staff.  This week as you go to church look around.  Notice all the other people that are there making things happen.  They are why you enjoy going to church where you do.  God has given them gifts that they want to use to love on you and your family!  Find those people and tell them thank you.  Tell them you appreciate what they do.  Tell them how much it means to you to have a church like you have.  They deserve it!

To all my volunteers over the past decade of church work as if I could say it enough times, thank you.  I know this in no way does it justice, but I just want you to know how much I love you and appreciate you!

Hope everyone is having a great week!  We are suffering terribly through June Gloom, but it will be over soon.  And it’s Sunday!  So here’s our list for Kingsfield this week!

Everlasting God – Lincoln Brewster – Let The Praises Ring – The Best Of Lincoln Brewster
Healer – Hillsong – This Is Our God
Closer – Charlie Hall – Flying Into Daybreak
Glory To God Forever – Fee – Hope Rising