You Know I Love Technology

It's a love hate thing. Mostly love.

Recently we have embarked on an endeavour into the world of techno greatness. I know what you're thinking. It must be nice.. and it mostly is. Some of you are hoping somebody will step up and replace that sound system you've had since the 80's. Let me to encourage you. If your vision supports the technical upgrade of your dreams and you chase after God's direction with everything you have.. it will happen for you. I've seen it over and over and it blows me away every time.
This past weekend our fantastic new sound system had some hick ups. Most of the problem was in our monitor system and not so much our house sound so most folks probably didn't even pick up on it. (until reading this). On stage it was another story. It shook us all from the get go. We were so focused on our lack of audio that it visibly effected our performance. Initially I was mad at the sound system. How ridiculous is that! Then I realized what was really going on.
God doesn't need a fancy sound system to complete his work. He does not require moving lights or a perfect density of haze hanging in the air. As fantastic as those things are, they are only tools. God prefers a passionate heart for Him over an HD picture any day. Our lead pastor picked up on it right away. He instinctively put more energy into his message to compensate for the lack of audio greatness we were feeling on stage and by the time our second worship experience began, so did I. That's great leadership. I'm so thankful for these little attention getters, much more than the technology.
Today I was thinking about prayer. I have become very casual over the years in my prayer life. Consistency is not the issue for me. As I have grown in my relationship with him I have indeed become more open in my prayer life and I believe that's what He wants but today I am reminded who He is. What he looks like. Scripture does not give us much to go on in terms of a visual image of God. I read that no man has ever seen Him and that He has shown himself only a couple times to some privileged individuals who could not bear to look at His face. I know that in Heaven we'll see him as He is but here on earth we can only imagine the greatness of His beauty. If this is the God I speak to, a God who is so magnificent that no man can even look into His eyes, the creator of the universe, it aught to have a profound impact on how I approach Him. I challenge you to close your eyes and dream for a moment of who God really is and what He looks like. Now, what do you say to Him? It's all about perspective. I'm going to speak with Him now. Just blogging about Him makes me miss our intimate times together. I'm not going to talk about audio monitors with Him though.

Christmas Eve is Going To Be Amazing

So the "Smitty" thing worked out pretty good.
Actually I managed to speak with him about some cool stuff. I asked him to give me some words of worship wisdom. You know.. something deep I could take back to our crowd at Barefoot. He chuckled and said "Seriously... I've been doing this a long time and I have come to realize true worship is so much more than singing a few songs together on Sunday morning." He said "Steve, we can sing until we're all blue in the face but if we don't leave the church and feed the hungry and take care of the orphans and widows, then all we're doing is showing God that we don't believe what we're singing about." It was so simple and yet profound. So obviously true and exactly what I needed to hear coming into the most exciting series Barefoot has ever seen.
The Gift revolution launched Dec 1st with crazy energy and has exploded not just locally, but around the world. Again simple.. Give a gift, give a card then share your story at www.thegiftrevolution.com Check it out!
See for yourself how small gifts and random acts of kindness can touch people in a way that goes straight to the heart.
We're anticipating a great crowd of people on Christmas Eve this year. We believe the Revolution has rocked North Myrtle Beach and that people are acknowledging it's not about the gift giving so much as it's about making people feel special and significant. We're all suffering in some way and that puts us all in the same place.
Why not join us Christmas Eve for a celebration of the birth of the one who promises all of we are indeed significant.

A SEASON OF CHANGE

   Welcome! This is a new endeavor for me. I have battled the idea of this blog long enough. Today marks a season of change. I have decided to Blog. My hope is that it will help me grow. I'm hoping for a new level of spiritual accountability. I'm on a quest to discover if others in my field of ministry deal with the same struggles and victories I experience. I shall strive to be as open as I can be about daily life inside and outside the church walls from the my perspective. 

   There's another, perhaps more important reason for this blog, (this is where you come in) to develop relationships, to gain new perspectives, and to share creative ideas. Your response is encouraged and greatly

 appreciated. I see it this way, God has given me a great opportunity and responsibility to to lead people through a very personal and hopefully life changing experience... everyday. It's huge. It's a little beyond my scope of understanding. So I hope we can do it together.

   

   OK time to get real...      Today I'm feeling confident about our weekend. We are blessed with a gifted and creative team here. We're beginning a new series this week which requires a change of stage set and a fresh perspective of worship style as well as physical placement of the band and any use of visual props. I'm happy to say most of that has been completed an should come together nicely. 

Generally I work with vocalists on Thursday nights. Tonight is a little different. I have been invited to a meet and greet with Michael W. Smith this evening before his show in Myrtle Beach. I am honored. "Smitty" played a significant role in the early days of my spiritual walk. It's a great opportunity to meet him and pray with some other pastors before the show. Trouble is I have been working too many evenings and I feel like I am not spending much time with My wife and kids this week. So I plan to stay in touch with them throughout the day and make a decision on the "Smitty" thing a little later this afternoon. Today I will spend a significant amount of time on the following areas of my ministry. I have a meeting this morning to discuss goals for our worship ministry for the next 6 months in preparation for our fast approaching budget meetings. (I don't like meetings much.. I'm just saying) I will spend a good couple hours reviewing charts and music for this weekend's services. I will be confirming a set list for next weekend's worship experience. I'll be ordering a new Mac. (That's what I'm talking about!) If there is any time left I will be looking for some new Christmas material. We're doing something very different this year which is going to require a lot of creative thinking. I love creative thinking. More on that later. 

   Come back soon for an update. I'll let you know what's happens with the "Smitty" thing.