Rebooting Worship Blog

Some big changes are beginning for me. This week, I start a new job. I'm excited, nervous, and eager to see what the future holds. While I've been transitioning out of the old job and getting ready for the new one, my brain has been all over, and my writing time and energy have been waning.

For the next month or so, I will be “down-sizing” my posts to once a week. I will post each Monday. It may be original content from my overworked brain, or it may be articles I find interesting that I want to share. It may be old blog posts that I re-share because I just have no energy to post anything new.

I'm continuing to process through some things regarding worship and Christianity, and I hope to continue to share those thoughts. I appreciate those of you who have stuck with me and continue to read. You all are awesome.

I'm trying to see all of my life as a way to worship. As a musician, I still long to use music as a way to worship God. But I want it to be more than when I might be on stage.

I picked up my guitar this week and began to practice again, something I haven't done enough of lately. I did some finger and picking exercises, practiced some chord changes, and even played a couple scales. These are all the things I hate doing and would rather skip. But it's all part of the process.

I think God finds that part pleasing. Sure, it's not always pretty or melodical or even that skilled. My fingers slip off the frets and cramp up. My strings are sometimes muted and I often let out a grunt of frustration. But I am working to make my music, my instrument, more skillful. I am working to be the best I can be. I believe God loves that.

Like a parent who will sit and happily listen to Mary Had a Little Lamb for the 217th time, all because their child is making progress, I believe God likes to hear my scales and chord changes.

Last week I was on vacation, and sadly, this was not my view.

For the past two years, Drew and I have spent a week in north Georgia, in a beautiful, secluded mountaintop cabin. I spent all week lounging on the huge back porch, staring out at this view.

The cabin went up for sale, and the new owners must not be renting the cabin. Our beautiful mountain getaway was no longer available.

We could have found another cabin. There's hundreds of them up there. Instead, we decided to be cheap, and stay home. We have tons of home projects that never seem to get done, so we did the staycation.

It was a great week. It was nice not to have to be anywhere or get up at a certain time. But I confess, I longed for my mountain view. I waited all year to relax on that balcony.

I made the most of it, enjoying the front porch in my quiet neighborhood, watching the birds. And it was great. I realized that I don't need to wait for a special location to stop, take a deep breath, and refresh. There is beauty everywhere, even in my humble front yard.

In the same way, I don't need to wait until Sunday morning to worship. I shouldn't. I need to carve out time throughout the week, finding those quiet little moments that will refresh my soul and bring me closer to God. I confess that I'm not very good at that. Come Sunday, I expect to be magically filled and get offended when I'm not.

My goal is to find time and places in my everyday life to tell God how much I love Him.

Happy Memorial Day.

I pray we all remember this is more than just barbeque day and the “official” start to summer. My thanks to all those that have served our country, giving their lives so that we can eat barbeque.

Contemporary services are great. No stuffy churches and organ music that sounds like it's from four centuries ago. A place where everyone feels welcome and can come as they are, with no pressure to dress a certain way. But sometimes I wonder if we've grown too comfortable in these “come as you are” services.

Jesus made God accessible, and I get the feeling He's the type of guy you could be yourself around, maybe have a beer with. If He were in the room, I think I could be comfortable around Him. Laugh and tell fun stories.

And yet, part of our God is still the holy, terrifying God of the Old Testament. Part of our faith lies in the fact that we are completely unworthy of the grace we've been offered. That God could strike us down in one second, and probably should.

Sometimes I long for a stuffy church and a beautiful Bach prelude played on that centuries old organ. I want to be in a place that “feels” holy, where people are quiet and reverent. A place I can be completely repentant in as I lay my sins at His feet. A place where people are fearful because of the mighty God watching them.

When I walk through the doors of a contemporary service, I don't always feel that I can do that there. I feel the pressure to be celebratory and excited. There's a feeling that I can waltz right into the Holy of Holies, with no repercussions.

I confess that I need to spend more of my own time confessing and laying prostrate before Him. I spend my life way too comfortable around God. I know I can chat with Him like a friend, but I would do well to remember who He is.