a word on a run about a river. 

a few months ago, in the middle of a run, I was directed to a verse about a river. the story was in the book of Joshua. Joshua, the successor to Moses, was charged with getting the people of God into the promised land - completing their 40 year journey since their exodus from Egypt. as I slowed the pace of my run enough to read the verse on my phone the gravity of the story hit me. 

Joshua had gotten the Israelites to the edge of the Jordan. across that river was a destination 40 years in the making. the destination represented everything to the people. God's promises, restored heritage, the lost homeland, you name it. everything the Israelites were called to be was just across that river; that flood-stage level, raging river. 

they had to cross.  

how do you get an entire nation of people across a flooded river? children? the elderly? even abled bodied people? estimates say there could have been as many as 2 million Israelites there on the banks of the Jordan that day. just waiting. 

the presence provides a way to the promise. 

the story tells us that priests from each of the 12 tribes carried the ark of the covenant -the physical representation of the presence of God - to the edge of the river. once they reach the edge the water stops. just "piles up" up stream.

so, once the presence of God was needed to move forward,

and the presence of God was brought before the people,

and the presence of God was expected to move in a new way,

the water stopped.    

“And there they stood; those priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant stood firmly planted on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground. Finally the whole nation was across the Jordan, and not one wet foot.” (Joshua 3:17 MSG)

this leaves me with a few questions for us as leaders... 

• are we, as worship leaders, expecting people to cross a flood-stage river on their own?
• are we, as worship leaders, regularly practicing the presence of God in our own lives?
• are we, as worship leaders, leading people into the promises of God by carrying the presence of God?

"There's no point speaking a word that nobody can understand."

- N.T. Wright (in the preface to his new translation of the New Testament)

every movement has niches.

every niche has leaders. 

and every leader is a voice in the conversation that shapes the movement. 

one of the newest voices on the scene in the modern/creative church is blaine hogan. a classically trained actor (he had a role in the hit tv series 'prison break'), turned seminarian, turned creative director, blaine now serves at the venerable willow creek community church in chicago illinois. 

blaine is one of those voices not simply because his work stands head and shoulders above the field. no, he earns the title of a voice because in his book Untitled, he proves he has something to say. (and what he says is worth hearing).

part personal history, part creative insight, part ministry ideology, Untitled gives us a tour of the mind of a passionate creative who’s process and product have moments that border on genius. 

Untitled’s value goes well beyond it’s 72 pages and paltry $5 price tag (digital download). this is a must-have for ministry creatives as well as industry professionals. 

Untitled gives me the sense that we will be hearing from blaine again. i only hope we’re not waiting too long. 

i've been leading worship for 15 odd years now.

15 years of trying different things, new songs, new tones, tunings, pedals and the like.

15 years of prepping and executing, prepping and executing… repeat.

15 years of conference attending, blog reading, cd buying and coffee chatting.

after 15 years of doing all the stuff it takes to grow as a worship leader one thing rises to the top: it's all about the drive home.

if you're like me, the drive home is like instant replay on the service - what i said, how i sang, what other people said, how engaged people were, how the band did, how the mix sounded, what that weird look he or she gave me was about. it's the 'monday morning quarterback' time for and of myself.

early on as a worship leader i started feeling a prompting every time i had finished leading, packed up and was headed home. the prompting was to skip all of the instant replay stuff and ask one simple yet terrifying question.

"God, were you pleased?"

terrifying, isn't it? it's an unnerving question because it's personal, intimate. my immediate temptation is to flip it into an abstract, impersonal and safer question like "was God pleased?" or "was God glorified?" but that wasn't the question, was it? 

God, the God that i as a real human being have a relationship with, are You pleased with that time of worship and my role in it?

now that you've asked God a question you'd better listen for an answer, right?

when i ask this question and listen for the answer i begin to hear the whispers of the Spirit. from week to week these whispers can direct my attention to anything from spiritual dynamics in the room to things rolling around in my own heart. over the years this weekly time of asking and listening and searching has become one of the biggest single factors in my growth as a worship leader.

try taking time over the next few weeks to create space for God to give you some feedback. you may be surprised at what He says. i don't know where the Spirit will lead you, but i do know you won't want to miss what He has to say. 

"we welcome you with praise, almighty God of love be welcomed in the place."

@matt_redman

yes, that may not be a great sentence or even make that much sense for that matter... but this prayer is helping me pray. over the past week or two i've been reading everything belongs by richard rohr. i'm sure the book itself will be the subject of future posts here so i wont go into detail but on page 62 rohr describes this simple prayer exercise as something he often suggests to students learning the art of prayer. as you might deduce, prayer is something that i've been thinking about quite a bit lately. in the video below ian cron mentions the "monkey mind" that is always going and gets in the way of our conversation or communion with God. for me, having 2 small kids, working at a large church, a screaming twitter feed and an iphone that wont quit, not to mention all of the other things happening in my life - creating the mental space to find the presence of God is no small feat. however, i know from experience that the busyness of life makes communing with the presence of God that much more necessary and urgent. i'm finding that deliberately breathing my way through this simple prayer helps tone down my "monkey mind" as i try to enter his presence in prayer. for that reason i thought it worth sharing - hope it does the same for you!

a few months ago i had the honor of attending a small gathering of worship leaders from around the country on the coast in southern california. collectively, we had the honor of having ian morgan cron as our spiritual director. since the gathering you could say i've become a pretty big fan of ian's work. whether you've heard of him or not you will do well to soak in all 4 minutes and 44 seconds of his thoughts on prayer.

every summer since i met my wife we have spent a few weeks vacationing in northern michigan. each summer trip is filled with strawberries from local farms, time on the beach, amazing local food and reconnecting with friends. this year on our drive into beautiful traverse city i realized every time i return i feel more grounded, more rooted than the last. over the years a sense of history, a connection with season and place and people has emerged. as we have moved from city to city across the county, changed jobs more times than i can count, encountered stress, adversity and downright epic battles in our life one of the few constants has been our return to this place. as i sit, yet again, on my in-law's back porch and dwell on how God has worked inside of this rhythm in my life i wonder if you're aware of the rhythms in your own life? i wonder if, with any regularity, you create space for God to put your broken pieces back together? i can't encourage you enough to find something that works for you and more importantly, that God can work through. 

we've all heard the preverbal retort to a stupid question "is the pope catholic?" well looks like today we can ask "is the pope tweeting?" while i appreciate the pope's (and the roman catholic church for that matter) desire to connect with people by using relevant technology, i'm more intrigued by the imagery this video provides. the juxtaposition of old and new, actually the juxtaposition of the very old and the very new. the roman catholic church holds that it began at the 'confession of peter' as recorded in the books of matthew mark and luke while twitter was started in 2006 by a smart guy from st louis missouri.  

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

- Saint Francis of Assisi