CONNECTED WORSHIP

I love the Robert Frost poem “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening”:

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

I had to memorize it in 5th grade. I have since lapsed in my ability to recite it by heart, but I thought of it today when I was driving to work. I live in Pittsburgh and we got nearly 20″ of snow over the weekend. Today, the roads were quiet and deserted. In the poem, the driver stops without a shelter nearby and wonders if his horse thinks he’s crazy. It seems like our normal routine goes out the window when rare events occur. It’s ok to arrive late to work, stop signs are optional, and the lines on the road mean nothing when there is only room for a car and a half to scoot through two piles of snow on either side of the road.

There is a wonderful feeling of freedom when we mess with our routine and add a little grace to our daily grind. If you got caught in the snow this week, I hope you mixed up your routine and loved it, if not…try it sometime.

I have a question I want to ask. This weekend I am blessed to be teaching at a men’s retreat my church is having. Let me quickly tell you about the retreat before I ask my question. The retreat is designed to help men “clean out the garage” of unwanted stuff that builds up over time that can hinder a relationship with God. Our church also does it for women on a separate weekend. We call it the Victory and Freedom Weekend. It truly is a great time of getting away from everything and focusing on God. The scriptural focus is the prodigal son story. We look at the character of God through that story and reconnect with God our Father.

Let me set up my question…I have heard from different sources that we view our relationship with our heavenly father similarly to our relationship with our biological father. For instance, if your father was loving and tender, you are more likely to see God as a loving and tender father. If your father abandoned your family or abused you, you may have a hard time believing God will never leave or forsake you.

QUESTION: Do you believe this? If so, how do you think the relationship you’ve had with your biological father (or lack thereof) currently affects your views of your heavenly father. I am very curious to know how you relate to God. I want to understand it more in my own life but also in the lives of others. I hope you will share.

This week was a special Sunday morning in worship at Word and Worship Church – North Braddock. As the worship leader, I knew I wanted to start off with an engaging and unique opening. I wanted something that would stop people in their conversations and draw them to come to their seats and be ready to participate in our corporate worship time. I wanted to do this without a lengthy verbal introduction. So:

We started the worship set off with a 5 minute video countdown. Just to give everybody a good idea of when we will begin.

After the countdown finished, the lights went completely out and the room was dark. After a quick, empty moment, a video began to play on the screen. It was an inspirational video with great music and pointed quotes about worship (http://www.sermonspice.com/product/28419/worship-inspiration). Something happened, not at first, though. People began to slowly pay attention and abandon their conversations. They moved to their seats and began readying themselves for worship. By halfway through the video, where the music picks up, everybody was engaged. It was exciting. We were ready.

After the video, we clicked off and rocked out “Everyone” by Glenn Packiam.

Next, the acoustic guitarist (electric guitarist was sick) immediately rattled off the intro to “Because of Your Love” – Paul Baloche, and we were off.

We brought it down a little with “Open Up The Sky” – Jonathan Stockstill and then really moved into worship with “Nothing But The Blood” – Matt Redman.

From there we had a a short time of worshipful prayer. Many people came down to the alter to receive prayer and really give it all to God. We moved in deeper with Kathryn Scott’s “Hungry” and finished with an impromptu chorus of “O, The Blood Of Jesus” – Fred Bock.

Our Pastor brought us a great message from Malachi 1 concerning Resolving to follow God and give him our very best, not our leftovers. (Listen Online)

I know God was moving and used that time to touch people. Our team was amazing and the worship techs made everything flow smoothly.

I hope you all have an awesome week and I am excited to do it again this coming Sunday.

This post is part of the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival hosted at TheWorshipCommunity.Com.

Have you ever heard of “Extreme Sheep LED Art”?

I always thought Jesus was the great shepherd. But take a look at this video and see if these guys aren’t giving him a run for his money.

In case you can’t see the video:
http://video.telegraph.co.uk/services/player/bcpid1137883380?bctid=17075685001

Today, I found out that I am  277,391,305th on the global rich list. At first glance, it may seem like I am extremely low on the list, but I am actually in the top 4.62% of the entire planet. I think it’s very funny how I (and I think many others out there) regularly look at what I don’t have. I think I need more money to be happy or a bigger salary to do what I really want. Especially after Christmas, I may not have gotten all I wanted or spent too much and am dreading the credit card bills next month.

But, I am truly blessed despite my modest salary. I could say some cheesy stuff about love and family and being rich in friends…all that is true, but I believe that we can be rich in giving. How much do we give?  And I mean giving from the heart, not just to make ourselves look or feel good. I want to be someone who gives like a rich man, despite what my income looks like. I believe that is what God looks at, not how much green we take home at the end of the day, but how much we give out to those in need.

Check out this website, www.globalrichlist.com, and see how rich you are. Let me know where you stand on the rich list. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.