For Worship Facilitators

When I don't know what to do

2009-10-07T05:38:00.001-07:00

One of the things that has been on my mind lately is the overwhelming feeling that I am completely at loss with what to do in my ministry and in personal situations for which I have no answers. Yesterday in prayer before our choir rehearsal, the words of this song that I've heard only a couple of times started to ring in my head and lifted my spirit. I hope that they are of encouragement to one of you.

One of the only things that I am sure of these days is that my job as a minister is to speak directly to people like me that have uncertainty looming in their lives. This is an especially important ministry in our city where everybody puts on the facade of having everything about their lives in order and nothing is wrong. The silent struggles with faith, finances, family, and the future are things that we as a society almost never admit to and so my hope is that this song will be of encouragement to you as it has been to me.

It is from Tommy Walker's "Breakthrough" album and here are the lyrics to it:

When I Don't Know What To Do

Verse 1

Lord I surrender all to Your strong and faithful hand

In everything I will give thanks to You

I'll just trust Your perfect plan

Chorus

When I don't know what to do

I'll lift my hands

When I don't know what to say

I'll speak Your praise

When I don't know where to go

I'll run to Your throne

When I don't know what to think

I'll stand on Your truth

When I don't know what to do

Verse 2

Lord I surrender all

Though I'll never understand

All the mysteries around me

I'll just trust your perfect plan

Bridge

As I bow my knee

Send Your perfect peace

Send Your perfect peace Lord

As I lift my hands

Let Your healing come

Let Your healing come to me

You can check out Drew Grounds' version on youtube below or listen to the original HERE

Justified

2009-09-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

Justified me

Glorified me

Paid my ransom and

I've been redeemed by his blood

Because of calvary

I've been made free

Despite my enemy

I thank God I'm justified

What happened to the prayer?

2009-09-28T09:31:00.001-07:00

Let me state the things that we can agree about concerning prayer

1. Prayer is an important cornerstone in the life of any Christian

2. Prayer is an important cornerstone in the life and health of any Church

3. An investment of prayer is necessary for an effective, spirit-filled and life changing ministry

4. It is important to have a personal prayer life

5. It is important to gather together in prayer because there is power in the unified prayer of the children of God as we see throughout scripture

So why is it difficult to get people to gather together to pray? Why must we beg, guilt, bribe and prod people into gathering together to spend time with the source of all life, strength and power?

Every time I have read the words to the post on this blog called "I have a dream", I am overwhelmed by the undeniable reality that it will remain a dream until the members of the worship ministry make prayer a priority...

Several years from now will we look at the month of September 2009 as an anomaly in which we had prayer gatherings every week or shall we look back on it as the birth of a prayer movement in the worship ministry that ushered a new season of God's transformational work in Woodvale?

I would like to say this to everyone of you that takes the time to read this blog:

Every picture of a preferred future for this church - Woodvale - that does not involve the collapse and total demise of the church is not achievable without prayer. Do you want to see more people come to Christ during our services and outreaches? Do you want to have a deeper and more meaningful sense of God's presence in our corporate gatherings? Do you want to see our congregation released in unrestrained worship? Do you want to see people hunger and thirst for more of God? Do you want to see Woodvale's impact on her community increase in leaps and bounds? Do you want to see your pastors take risks and challenge the church to leave their comfort zones? NONE OF THESE THINGS IS ACHIEVABLE WITHOUT PRAYER!!

So my question to you all is this: What is going to happen after September 2009? Are we going to get to some point in the not to distant future and ask the question,

"What happened to the prayer?"

Help Me Believe

2009-09-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

Verse 1

I wanna believe

But I'm having a hard time seeing past what I see right now, I see right now

I wanna be free

But when I try to fly I realize I don't know how, no one showed me how

Wish I could see

That this mess I'm in will really work out for my good, you said it would

So, if you can hear me,

Can you give me a sign cause I dont feel you like I should, please if you could

My faith is almost gone, I can't hold on much longer, take this cup from me

Chorus

Help me Believe

Can I believe

Let Me believe

I wanna believe

I'm no good on my own, please give me another chance

Its hard to believe in what I can't see

to give you my will cause you're whats better for me

you can look in my eyes and see I wanna believe, believe, believe, believe

Verse 2

I wanna believe

If I never hear Im sorry I can let it go, gotta let you go

Cause, its killing me.

Jesus you know how it feels cause you've been hurt before, dont wanna hurt no more

Im trying to hear you speak, but my heart is growing weaker, take this cup from me

Verse 3

I wanna believe

When I close my eyes on this side I'll wake up with you, more in love with you

And, and finally,

You will say my race it is over and my work is through, cause I believed in you

I know dark nights will come and some days there'll be no sunshine and you're too far to see

Never would have made it

2009-09-21T13:31:00.001-07:00

Uncommon sense - Where Life and Faith meet

2009-03-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

Last week, I spoke at my previous church and shared from a passage in Matthew 5 that is an account of some of Jesus' teaching that greatly challenges me. Here is the text from the message that I brought:

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Ever since I agreed to come and share this worship service with Greenbelt several weeks back, I have been filled with excitement over the opportunity. For those of you that do not know me, the funny accent that you hear is as a result of 20 years in Uganda and I find myself excited to be here for nearly the same reasons that I get excited about going to Uganda.

I first came to work at Greenbelt in late 2003 in a position that was 20 hours a week and even though most of you did not know it then, those months were a time of incredible healing for me. If you have never immigrated to another country, you do not know how incredibly difficult it can be to have all your experience - both professional and life experience - valued as zero... especially for somebody like myself who had taken great pride in the work that I had done to improve the lives of people in some of the world’s least developed countries. More than taking great pride in my work, I love to create moments where people can connect with God through music and yet until I came to greenbelt, the answer to my request to join the worship teams of the churches I had attended had been no.

Greenbelt is a church at which I have made some deep friendships and I am extremely thankful to God for the friends that I made here. Even though I had made some deep friends by the time I came to work here, their words of encouragement did little to lift me out of the funk I was in because of the constant rejection I received both in the workplace and in the communities of faith. By handing me the job of worship leader and coordinator which eventually came to be a full-time worship pastor position (something I was highly unqualified for and proved it over and over again), it was a powerful statement of acceptance of the gifts that God had placed in me that I so desperately wanted to use and of my ability to be a contributing member of this community. It took me some time to heal from it all and I made some HUGE mistakes in my relationships with people here, but God’s work of healing was evident through the unconditional acceptance of the members of this congregation and just like I said on my last sunday here, I will ALWAYS talk about Greenbelt Baptist in glowing terms not just because my close friends go here, but because of the healing and restoration that happened in my life during the time I was here.

When I started the numerous series of interviews for the position I now hold, there was continual amazement at the fact that a church - ANY church - had hired me as a worship pastor without the necessary education and credentials for the position. During those interviews, I must have said at least 100 times, “I have stopped trying to make sense of how God works”. It really makes no sense in a culture that places a premium on qualification that somebody who is unqualified by the agreed-upon standards would get placed in a position of authority - especially one that is of spiritual leadership... TWICE!

This is not just true for my life, but for the lives of many people that I know in Canada and all over the world. The more you peruse through the bible, the more you come to realize that God is constantly in the business of turning what is considered to be “common sense” on it’s head in order that his work may be done and it is all the more evident as you look at the characters in the bible that he chose to associate with and work through.

It therefore makes sense - by logical extension - that when God walked this earth, his teaching, illustrations and challenges about the interaction between our faith and our lives that SHOULD form the basis of our faith communities would not be filled with regular thinking - common sense. Rather, it would be filled with UNCOMMON sense... and Jesus does not disappoint!

Chapters 5 - 7 of the book of Matthew contain a compilation of teachings and sayings that Jesus made that have famously been dubbed “The sermon on the mount” and have come to epitomize his moral teaching - the intersection between faith and life. As many of you know, this portion of the book of Matthew is (and has historically been) widely regarded to contain the central tenets of Christian discipleship and has been made famous in contemporary society by the adherence of of many religious and moral thinkers such as Leo Tolstoy (a russian writer and philosopher), Mahatma Ghandi (an Indian political and spiritual leader), and Martin Luther King Jr.

Many of the teachings in this “Sermon on the Mount” are in fact UNCOMMON sense, but they are regularly distorted by many in our churches and in North America’s post-christian society so much that even though we may be familiar with the wording, we may not realize how still today, the teachings of Jesus back then are still UNCOMMON sense today even though we may not think they are.

I will focus the rest of my thoughts in the remaining time I have this morning on a few verses in Chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel and I invite you to turn to it in your bibles if you have them and if not, you can follow along with the text on the screen.

Matthew 5: 38 - 42

“You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

The first words of this section are a reminder of something that Jesus assumes his listeners already know,

"You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

This principle was the basis of much of near Eastern justice, and you can find references to it’s origin in Exodus 21: 23 & 24, Leviticus 24: 19 &20 and Deuteronomy 19: 21. Everything that I have read about this particular principle was that it was put in place to restrain unlimited blood vengeance so that the damages one could expect for wrongs done would be considered proportional, equal and fair.

As much as this dictum was instituted to ensure justice, more often than not it led to a tit-for-tat kind of thinking that permeated all relationships and even to this day with a supposedly improved justice system, this attitude is still pervasive. So the very thing that was supposed to ensure that violence did not escalate became a favorable environment for the perpetuation of revenge and so fulfilled what a great philosopher once said, “Built into the foundation of every great idea are the seeds of its demise”. This eye-for-an-eye thinking creates an inescapable cyclical, restrictive way to live that in the end fails to keep things “even” and robs us of our freedom making us bound to a perpetual cycle of action and reaction.

I am persuaded that this is the point that Jesus is trying to make by making reference to what was already established as law and rewriting it in a way that must not have made sense back then and to this day continues to be UNCOMMON sense. And so in this account of his teaching, he uses three illustrations of direct personal offense to illustrate how this new way of thinking should impact and transform the lives of those that follow him. These three illustrations that Jesus uses strike particularly close to home for me because when I experience any of these personally or when I see somebody going through them, I get MAAAAAAD and have been known to react in a, shall we say, less than civil manner.

The first one is:

“Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

When I first read the phrase “do not resist an evil person” I did not quite understand this until some digging helped me to see that it is set up in contrast to the previous line and so could mean that we are not to pay evil back with evil or that we are not to resist evil with evil means. The strike on the cheek was not just about physical violence, but in the culture was considered to be a great insult and so by extension, not only are we to resist paying evil back with evil, we are to take it one step further and refrain from trading personal insults or physical abuse. The reason I am extremely sensitive to personal insults is because the country I grew up in - Uganda - is split along ethnic sectarian lines. Everybody, and I do mean EVERYBODY had to deal with insults that were usually extremely personal, and people usually made fun of your language, skin color, accent, social status or even access to education - things that you could not even change! I love Canada and I am continually impressed at the lengths to which most of us go to make sure that we are not offensive and yet even in a country with a cornerstone value of tolerance, there are still rare pockets of antagonism across racial lines and I even though I know that I should not, more often than not I am unable to refrain from trading insults or getting physical when I am insulted or see somebody as the victim of racial abuse. Turn the other cheek? Not pay evil with evil? Resist trading personal insults? PUH-LEASE!!

As you can tell, this is an area in which I still need to grow.

Jesus goes on to say:

“And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”

In this context, I am led to believe that this lawsuit that Jesus is talking about is not based on truth, but on trumped up charges.

Some of you may know that my father retired a year and a half ago after over 35 years as a pastor. Somehow, on an extremely small salary, my parents managed to scrape together the money to purchase the land on which they now live and as they were making preparations to build their retirement home and the leadership training centre that shall be housed on the property, they got dragged to court by somebody that claimed that the land they were preparing for construction was in fact her inheritance and that it had been acquired through fraudulent methods. If you knew my parents, you would know that this was a ridiculous claim and I was especially incensed because they are not wealthy at all. This land purchase had taken EVERYTHING they had scraped together. During the time that we were walking through the court hearings and investigation, to add insult to injury, she went so far to build a house on the property which, thankfully, we were given permission to destroy once it was confirmed that her lawsuit was empty. I was so elated at the court’s decision that I wanted to pick up a sledge hammer on the way back home and personally destroy the house because this lady had kept our family in court or over 5 years! My parents intervened before I could go ahead with my plan and they told me that God had spoken to them to purchase another piece of property - equal in size to their own - for the lady that had dragged them to court for over 5 years. I was FLABBERGASTED! This made absolutely NO SENSE in my opinion and to this day I continue to shake my head at their offer. Supposedly, God confirmed his word to them by leading them to this very passage in Matthew 5. Jesus’ terms of justice and retribution are on a completely different playing field than the justice that I thought my parents deserved and they were willing to allow their faith to intersect with their lives and do the unthinkable in an eye-for-an-eye construct.

I honestly do not know that I could be as forgiving as my parents were and this is another area in which I definitely need to grow.

The third illustration that Jesus uses concerns another situation that makes my blood boil. He says:

“If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”

I initially did not understand the gravity of this until some digging helped me find out that a Roman soldier could legally make you carry something (usually all his military baggage) for him for one mile. Obviously this had to have been an unbelievable proposition to the people of Jesus’ time that lived in a state of perpetual enemy domination by the Romans. This therefore could mean that Jesus was basically speaking about the misuse of power and instructing those that listened to him to go beyond finding ways to retaliate against those that would abuse their power.

We live in a world in which those in power lord it over those without power and our governments and power structures are rife with corruption and injustice. Usually the people that suffer because of the misuse of power and positions of authority are the very people that those in power are supposed to be looking out for. In the country of my descent, the most recent scandal has been the misappropriation of an enormous grant that was to have been used for research and procurement of drugs for malaria and HIV. While people die by the thousands daily, the perpetrators of this crime are living in lavish estates free of any charges that could be leveled against them. Right here in North America the big news is that there are companies that are being bailed out by the taxpayers and yet the funds that are received are not even being used for the purposes for which they were given... and NOBODY is going to jail for that! The world over is rife with injustice and I get physically choked up every time I have to speak about it because I am unable to mete the same amount of distress to those that have power and misuse it.

I understand at a cerebral level that what Jesus is trying to help people like myself see through this UNCOMMON sense teaching is that by walking an extra mile, I am actually saying, "You may think that you are forcing me to do this, as if I have no choice. However, I choose to to show you that I am free from your tyranny and that I freely do this, because I serve an even higher Authority and I will go with you even further than you expect me to." I understand this at a cerebral level, but I struggle to make my head and my heart... my faith and my life intersect so that I may live it out as well.

Verse 42 of Chapter 5 says this:

“Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Jesus’ charge to his listeners to be generous is an extension of the contrasts that he has been trying to show in the previous phrases about slapping, coats and walking. Generosity is a strong statement of a person’s willingness to do more than just focus on themselves and their perceived injustices and look out to the world and counter injustice, evil and poverty with generosity. So not only should we refrain from paying evil back with evil in ones life, we should look to the lives and communities around us that may be suffering under the weight of injustice and evil and through the power of generosity, pay evil with good.

As a small side note, I’ve recently began to wonder whether this is in fact the ultimate test of our acceptance of Jesus’ UNCOMMON sense teaching. If you concern yourself with the eye-for-an-eye construct and get trapped by the cycle of revenge, you are not able to see the evil around you save for the one that you perceive is done to yourself. By turning this construct on it’s head, not only do you break free of the cycle of revenge, but you become a liberator in the lives of others not just by your example, but by the good you proactively do in their lives and I think that this is what Jesus was talking about when in another instance he says that we, his followers, shall be known by our fruit; by our ability to do good in the face of evil and injustice.

So if you were to leave this service this morning and reflect on everything that was shared, I would hope that it would sound something like this:

Jesus’ charge to us as his followers is that as our faith intersects with our life, we are not to repay evil with evil, but good with evil. Why? The greatest force for Justice in the face of evil is not the punishment that should be issued, but the good that we do in response that should overwhelm the evil and its intent.

During my time as a staff member at Greenbelt, I started to have a conversation with a lady who eventually became my wife about the overly prescriptive nature of the teaching common in evangelical circles. I had not noticed that I too had become a perpetuator of this prescriptive kind of teaching that sets up the teacher or pastor as the source of information and life lessons by which the congregation should then pattern their lives. I believe that this is the reason why congregations get severely devastated when their leaders fail because by constantly telling people how to live their lives, leaders create the unspoken extension that their lives and choices are the example by which the congregations should live. The folly of such a construct is revealed when the flawed, human nature of the leader causes them to falter in their judgement.

Eventually when I screwed up - and I did screw up a lot while I was here - the thing that was always thrown back in my face was that I had no right to stand before the congregation and prescribe how they should live their lives if I myself was not the greatest example. I was stripped of my moral authority to speak authoritatively into people’s lives and so I realized that I would have to change the tone of the messages I brought and move from an elevated position in which I possessed all the answers to the questions of life and faith and bring myself right down to the level of those that I addressed as a person that was just like them - investigating, growing and learning what it means to be a passionate follower of Jesus.

And so this morning I stand before you and all I can do is share with you the challenge that Jesus’ UNCOMMON teaching has been to me. I dare not tell you how to live it out or mention things that should challenge you because as I have admitted earlier and will admit again, everything that I have spoken about is something that I know at a cerebral level but I’m still working on at making what I know and how I live congruent.

If there is a challenge this morning, or a call to action, it would be to go back to this passage of scripture in Matthew 5 and individually see how Jesus’ teaching affects you personally and allow him to use you in extraordinary ways to be a force of good and justice in a world pervaded by evil and injustice. I’m certain that I do not know for sure how that plays out in anyone’s life this morning, but I am confident that as we wholeheartedly seek to allow Jesus’ unconventional teaching, which forms the basis of our faith, to intersect with our lives, God shall ignite in our hearts and minds what we need to do.

Faith...

2009-03-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago, we had a worship team retreat and I shared on the topic of faith as an encouragement and area of building us up in God. This is the text from my talk

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Is God good and can he be permanently trusted with our lives?

As people that call ourselves Christ-followers, we like to think and speak of ourselves as “people of faith” and yet more often than not, we do not necessarily count the cost of what it means to be people of faith. One of the things that I have had to struggle through and learn for myself is that there is in fact a risk that we take by being people of faith and placing the fate of our lives in the hands of somebody else other than ourselves. I think that part of the reason why Christianity is such a stumbling block to many is because of the charge to put one’s life in somebody else’s hands.

Society today is very self centered and the great deception of self centeredness is the notion that you can be self sufficient that you are therefore completely in charge of the events of your life. It is laughable to even think that there is a God up there silently behind the scenes orchestrating the events of the world. And so as Christ-followers we have to learn to buck the commonly held school of thought and hand the purpose and direction of our lives over to somebody other than ourselves.

This, I think, is part of what describes the so-called “leap of faith” - a paradigm shift in the understanding of who is in control of your life and for some people, that leap is too daunting.

If putting your faith and trust in God is a risk, therefore, then persons of faith take a huge risk. Not only do they take the risk of trusting in him, they take the risk of obeying him when he comes at them with outrageous requests and in the times that they call out to him, they take the risk of waiting for him in the hopes that he will do the right thing at the right time. Unfortunately, the more we become professional Christians, the less in tune we are to the risk of faith and the greater the tendency to take our lives back into our own hands.

The thoughts I shared earlier about the descent of a believer into a place of mistrust also have the propensity to wear away at our faith in the fact that God is in charge of our lives and his plan for us is good. The less convinced we are about our faith, the more we take back the control of our lives and instead of laying down our lives in risky faith - the kind that God calls us to - we start to do things the way we originally did and play things safe.

As believers in God, we have to bring ourselves to the point where we are certain that we can trust Jesus with our lives and with our futures even without the guarantee of success. In his word, he guarantees it, but our faith and trust in him has to grow to the point that we can say with confidence “Even if he slay me, yet will I still trust him”.

This is obviously easier said than done and in truth, the journey to this place of certainty about God’s character and plan for our lives is not an easy one.

In chapter 11 of hebrews, the writer makes mention of a bunch of people of faith. What the writer does not mention, however, is their transformational journey to the place of complete faith in God. The character that I love investigating and thinking about the most is Abraham and I would like to read the remarks that the writer makes about the faith of Abraham in this chapter of the book.

Please follow along with me from verse 8 of Chapter 11.

By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

Listen also to what Paul writes about Abraham when he is speaking about his walk of faith to the Romans in chapter 4 of his letter.

The story of Abraham, his journey of faith and his interaction with God can be better seen in its context in Genesis and I would like to pick out just a few of those moments of interaction to give you a little bit of a snapshot into the life of this man of faith. So walk with me through Genesis and let’s start at chapter 12 of the book.

Genesis 12: 1 - 8

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

"I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [a] I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

This is the first account of God’s interaction with Abraham. They MUST have had other interactions in the past and the only way I am able to hypothesize this is from Abraham’s reaction to God’s word to him. He obeyed.

But then something happens. All of a sudden, this man of faith who just left his home and moved far away under the presupposition that God was going to take care of him and bless him was suddenly scared when he got to Egypt. We read about this from verse 10 of the same chapter

Genesis 12: 10 - 20

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."

When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

What happened to this magnificent faith that the New Testament writers were talking about?

Lets take a look at another interaction between Abraham and God

Genesis 17: 1 - 8, 15 - 17

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"

By this time, Abraham had been walking mostly in obedience to God and even though he had had a few slip ups, God ups the ante and makes a covenant with him which is the covenant that we look to as gentiles grafted into the family of God. God even takes it several ridiculous steps further and promises that he shall reverse the effect of aging in both 100 year old Abraham and his 90 year old wife to the point that they shall have a child of their own. It is so ridiculous that Abraham falls to the ground laughing.

If he were instant messaging God, he would have typed the acronym ROTFLMBO!

The writers of Romans and Hebrews make Abraham out to seem like he was a person of incredible faith, but even he struggled through moments of unbelief, disobedience, and dishonesty and yet somehow he was able to come out on the other side and really trust God to do the impossible in his life. By the pretentious standards of many in the church, his unbelief would have been intolerable and his seeming lack of answers would have been attributed to his dishonesty. However, I am persuaded that the fact that he was able to move from a place of a lack of total trust in God and move to a place where he could trust him to give him a son at over 100 years of age truly is a leap of faith and perhaps this is why his story still lives on.

You see, while your personal circumstances may seem to invalidate the promises of God, Abraham’s life tells another story. It is so easy to get people fired up with a message about God’s promises over one’s life, but the truth of the matter is that the excitement quickly wanes when the journey from promise to answer takes a little more than a few years and countless hours of prayer.

Talking in abstracts sometimes makes it seem like the lessons are not applicable, so I would like to share with you a story from my own life.

When I first moved to Ottawa, I was on FIRE for the Lord. I had been commissioned by my home church in Uganda to come to North America and be planted as a catalyst for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. I also moved to Canada to further my education in computer science, and for a little bit of adventure, but primarily because I had responded to the call that had been made from the pulpit of our church to be a part of bringing the Gospel back to the continents that brought it to Africa. However when I got here, I found that the church - in particular the church leaders - were not willing to even let this overly presumptive Ugandan man serve in any capacity on one of their teams. I will readily admit that I thought I had all the answers to all the problems besetting the church and I needed to go through a period of having the hot air removed from my balloon, but it was incredibly crushing to be told time and time again that I would not even be allowed to play the keyboard in the church that I belonged to.

When I look around me, I see congregations emptying, churches being decimated by pride and power grabbing and I can honestly say that what I see with my eyes is not encouraging. I pray weekly that we would have a service that is not a duplicate of services that we may have had in the past and even though the songs and sermon titles change, there seems to be a nagging sense of sameness that is, frankly, discouraging. All these things around be have the paralyzing effect of invalidating the promise of God to me that I would be a part of his work of transforming his church.

I have spoken about my transition to Canada quite frequently and so it is no secret that the adjustment that I had to make to my life by moving here and the dreams I had for what I wanted to do with my life had to take a back seat to what God is still taking me through. I do not say these things in order that I set myself up as the example that you should look to and pattern your lives after... I’m not the greatest role model for faith, but what I do know is that every time I have chosen to walk by faith, I have had to take the risk of placing my life, my plans and my future in God’s hands and sometimes, his plans differ greatly from mine. However, even if his plans drastically change my life, I do so because I choose to have faith in God and my faith - being sure of what I hope for and certain of what I cannot see - can only be anchored in God’s character as a good and trustworthy master.

The toughest lesson that I have had to learn and work through which is clearly mirrored in the life of Abraham is that I will never know what God can truly do until I come to the end of myself. For as long as I have the power to control the events in my life, there is always a sense in which I do not have complete hope and faith in God’s ability to work in me because I can always fall back on my own ability. I find, therefore, that God brings us periodically through situations in our life that are beyond our control to glorify himself through our lives. His glory is truly manifest when we trust him and he comes through in the stuff that only he could have done in us and our circumstances.

I’ll be the first to admit that this is a TOUGH lesson to learn because nobody wants to go to the place where total trust in God is no longer a cerebral concept, but a day-in and day-out final and only resort.

Without divulging too much detail, I will just let you know that even right now I am walking through a situation that is going to require a miracle to reach the other side of. I have tried everything that conventional wisdom says I should do and I have come up empty and so the real test of my faith is on - the test that I can be certain that God will pull me through even though I cannot see how in the world he is going to pull it off.

When I was thinking over what I should bring as a word of encouragement and refreshing to this incredible team of people, I felt increasingly that we should talk about the question of faith and seriously pose this to us this morning:

Have you settled the question that you can trust God with your business?

The reason for this question is this: the way you live your life, the choices that you make and your personal willingness to follow God, put your trust in him and cling to him even without the guarantee of success is a very telling starting point of an honest personal dialogue. More to that, in order that your faith may grow, it WILL be continually tested and therefore you have to settle the question within yourself. This testing is not because God is insecure about his place in our lives; rather it is that our faith will grow and that we shall become more firmly established in our relationship with almighty God. Listen to what James says about the trying of our faith:

James 1: 2 - 8

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Friends, God CAN be trusted with our lives and even though I started out this sharing by talking about our walk of faith as if it is risky business, the truth of the matter is that there is no risk when we choose to follow God wholeheartedly. We may not always understand what he is doing, how he plans to do it or how he is going to work things out, but we can always rest in the assurance that what he promises, he will do. Just like his promises to Abraham continued to be fulfilled even long after Abraham had passed on into glory, we who serve him can rest assured that he shall work in and through our lives whether we walk this earth or whether we pass on into our rest.

Following at a distance

2009-03-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

This is the text from the teaching I gave three weeks ago at the worship team retreat... for those of you that were not there, and for those that might want it as a recap.

Blessings!

---------------------------------

My family moved from St Catherine's Ontario back to Uganda in the 80’s and the country was plunged into civil war for most of the early to mid 80’s. Talk about a great time to move back home! One of the main insurgency groups - the National Resistance Movement - moved from being a rag-tag bunch of dissidents to a major military force that contained many people that defected from the army and government. Their leader was the former minister of Defense Yoweri (the Ugandan translation of the name Joel) Museveni who has been the president of Uganda since 1986 - first as a military dictator and then as an elected president.

1986 was the year when the National Resistance Movement finally overrun a major defense post about 70 km outside the capital city that then led to the quick fall of the government that had only come to power 18 months before through a military coup. During the days that followed, there was the sound of heavy shelling and gunfire throughout the city and all the schools and businesses were closed and we hunkered down in our small house and ate crackers and soup for weeks on end.

One morning, we were woken up suddenly by the sound of a huge explosion unusually close to our house and the crescendo of explosions that followed for the next 30 minutes kept building. One of my uncles who lived close to us burst into the house and yelled out, “They are going from house to house and bombing them!!”

My mother decided almost instantly that we were going to grab a few clothes and leave the house and my father, who had only recently recovered from major reconstructive surgery on his hip and leg decided that he was going to remain in his house. His exact words were, “If I die, I die!”

We were all too terrified to stay with my dad and so we left the house with my mother and found all our neighbors hastily leaving their homes - probably because of my uncle - and running to safety. I did not know where we were really going, but I assumed that it would be somewhere safe out of the range of the mortars and explosions that seemed like they were almost upon us at the time.

After about 15 minutes of running through people’s compounds and ducking under fences, trying to follow my siblings and my mother, I realized that I had been separated from them. So I tried running faster thinking that they were only a few meters ahead, but I could never seem to catch up to them and eventually realized that while I was still with a group of about 10 people, I had been separated from my family. I decided that I would stay with the people I found myself with and we ended up finding a well hidden spot in some bushes where we stayed in silence and hunger till late in the afternoon when the sound of gunfire and explosions reduced.

The people I was with did not really know my family and so were only partially helpful with me finding my way home, but I eventually did and got there at about 8.00 in the evening. Our house was still standing... in fact EVERYBODY’s house was still standing and my family was home terrified out of their minds wondering what could have happened to me. It turns out that unbeknownst to our community, the army had set up a storehouse for arms in our neighborhood that comprised mostly of families that worked for the church of Uganda, and the explosions we were hearing all day were from a stray bullet having found its way into the house and igniting the explosives. My uncle and his big mouth!

While I was relieved to learn that the situation was not more serious and that we still had a home, I was never able to get past the knowledge that I had been separated from my family and in my mind, I did not think that they had done enough to find me. Because I was not able at the time to see my separation from the family as an honest mistake, I began to see myself as an outsider - unwanted - and this continually fractured my relationship with my parents. I began to increasingly see everything that they did through the dark colored lenses of the betrayal I perceived and even though I was going along with my family, I was following at a great distance unable to bring myself back into a close relationship with them.

A few weeks ago I was studying scripture trying to put together the passion week series that we shall be having during the week leading up to Easter and as I was reading through Luke 22, I began to see part of the story in a different light. Perhaps it is because I had resurfaced the memory of my 1986 experience or something… but I felt that I saw something in the passage that I had not seen before. Let’s read through the verses that I am talking about and then I shall share some thoughts with you.

Luke 22: 47 – 62

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than a crowd showed up, Judas, the one from the Twelve, in the lead. He came right up to Jesus to kiss him. Jesus said, "Judas, you would betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

When those with him saw what was happening, they said, "Master, shall we fight?" One of them took a swing at the Chief Priest's servant and cut off his right ear.

Jesus said, "Let them be. Even in this." Then, touching the servant's ear, he healed him.

Jesus spoke to those who had come—high priests, Temple police, religion leaders: "What is this, jumping me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I've been with you in the Temple and you've not so much as lifted a hand against me. But do it your way—it's a dark night, a dark hour."

Arresting Jesus, they marched him off and took him into the house of the Chief Priest. Peter followed, but at a distance. In the middle of the courtyard some people had started a fire and were sitting around it, trying to keep warm. One of the serving maids sitting at the fire noticed him, then took a second look and said, "This man was with him!"

He denied it, "Woman, I don't even know him."

A short time later, someone else noticed him and said, "You're one of them."

But Peter denied it: "Man, I am not."

About an hour later, someone else spoke up, really adamant: "He's got to have been with him! He's got 'Galilean' written all over him."

Peter said, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about." At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips, a rooster crowed. Just then, the Master turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered what the Master had said to him: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." He went out and cried and cried and cried.

We all know who Peter was and from the accounts in scripture, he tends to be viewed as a passionate and borderline impulsive person. When he saw Jesus walking on water, he jumped out of the boat and gave it a try. When they ran to the tomb, even though John was faster and got there before him, John was too afraid to walk into the tomb, but Peter charged right in… and similarly in this account of the events surrounding Jesus’ arrest, Peter sprung to action and tried to defend his buddy and in the process chopped off the ear of the high priests servants.

Passionate people are often perceived as being unfeeling perhaps because they are relentless in the pursuit of their passion and yet many are actually very sensitive and so they are just as quick to get discouraged as they are to get fired up about anything especially if the object or focus of their passion shuts them down or ignores their work.

Instead of Jesus using Peter’s actions as a distraction and making a swift getaway, he instead rebukes Peter and heals one of the people that were there in the first place to arrest Jesus. If Peter was as passionate AND sensitive as we think he could have been, it makes sense that the rejection of his display of fearlessness in the face of obvious danger and arrest must have felt like humiliation.

As Jesus was led away Peter followed, but this time not in close proximity as he had been doing in the past – partly because of the guards that were taking Jesus away, but I also think because he could have been taken back by the perceived rejection from Jesus.

The more I read over this passage and thought about my own life and the betrayal I had conjured up in my mind, the more I began to see Peter’s denial of Jesus in a different light. Most commentaries I have heard about this particular part of scripture say that Peter’s denial of Jesus was rooted in his fear of being discovered. I can understand why this would be the consensus among the commentaries I have heard, but would I be wrong to hypothesize that perhaps his denial was rooted in the hurt that he felt because of how Jesus had treated him?

Put yourself in Peter’s shoes. Wouldn’t you have said, “Woman, I do not know him!” just like he did after innocently trying to defend somebody you had spent the last three years hanging out with only to be shut down? I know I would!

My experience with my family bears some resemblance to this series of events because the more I allowed the hurt that accumulated over the years to fester, the more disconnected I got from them to the point that I was ready to disown them and I ran away from home. While I never once said out loud “That is not my father, I do not know him!” I certainly thought it!

My experience with my family is no different from my experience in my Christian walk and just like Peter, there are things that have happened in my life that cause me to move from being a passionate follower of Jesus to being a distant follower disillusioned by the hurt that I may still hold over events in the past. It could be anything from the way people in the church have treated me to the petitions that I feel were ignored or even the fact that it seems like I am stuck in a situation that will not change and I am frustrated that God knows I am powerless to change anything and yet he still does not step in as I think he should. I have found myself sitting through many worship services and being both amused and annoyed at the same time at the display of affection for Jesus that is fleeting in my life because I have been following at a distance for so long. So I may continue to follow – but at an increasing distance till I finally reach the place where my previous persuasions are on such shaky ground that I am unwilling to be associated with the Savior that I may still love.

In my many journeys, I have come to discover that there are many more leaders in the church that are struggling with disillusionment than those that actually confess that it is real for them. The reason for this is because we have built our churches to revolve around personalities and so if the conviction of the leader wavers, it tends to have drastic effects on the people that are being led and so even though the leader may be struggling in their walk with God, they would be greatly loathe to admit that they in fact are no longer following closely but rather at a distance.

When I first changed career paths from Information Technologies to working as a music minister, I joined a small church that was struggling with the fact that one of their prominent and influential members was dying. Our pastor felt, at the time that we needed to have a 24-hour period dedicated to praying for him and so for 24 hours people went to his home or showed up at the church to pray for him. One week later, however, he died and everybody went into a spin… but none more than my pastor because this prayer-for-healing-thing in such a grandiose manner was not really done in the history of this conservative Baptist church. I was privy to the private struggle of a great pastor working through the discouragement and disappointment of the unanswered prayer and I know that what must have hurt the most for him is that he had felt led by God to pray for healing and then God did not heal the person we were praying for.

Just like Peter, I would not be surprised if he began to hang back and follow at a distance instead of continuing in a close and intimate relationship with Jesus.

What is your story this morning?

As ministers in Woodvale, there is an unspoken assumption that we are expected to be in a place of close intimacy with God and yet just as I am sure that there are people here in this room that are in a place of closeness, excitement and sensing God’s presence, there are those that have been hanging back for so long that the whole Christian walk is dry and meaningless. I do not know where you are in the spectrum, but this morning I felt that we should start by encouraging those who like myself have been hanging back.

I have been to enough worship team retreats to know that asking people to really admit where they are at in their walk with God is a tough thing to ask. Conventional thinking says that if you gather people together in the same place that share the same kind of experiences, they shall be more open to talking frankly about them... but instead what happens, is that there seems to be a competition to see who is the first among equals and there is little-to-no meaningful dialogue about anything. I have seen worship team retreats deteriorate in the same manner and so I want to caution against it during the times that we get to respond to the thoughts that I feel God would like us to share today. This is why I will be the first to say here in front of all of you that there are challenges in my life that I am struggling through - challenges that have caused me to follow Jesus at a distance and not as closely as I could. While I am still in this Christ walk, I openly admit that it has been a trudge and not a race as is described by Paul

So what encouragement is there for people like myself? How do we find our way back to a place of intimacy with Jesus in the face of great adversity and disappointment?

I’ll show you where I started to turn a corner and find encouragement. Turn with me to John 21 and lets read from verse 15

After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

"Yes, Master, you know I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

He then asked a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

"Yes, Master, you know I love you."

Jesus said, "Shepherd my sheep."

Then he said it a third time: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, "Do you love me?" so he answered, "Master, you know everything there is to know. You've got to know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I'm telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you'll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don't want to go." He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, "Follow me."

This is probably one of the most touching stories of Jesus’ interaction with his disciples because it shows how Jesus reached out and restored Peter. Not only had Peter’s relationship with Jesus suffered the blow of possible humiliation, but I think he was also eventually wracked with guilt from the memory of his denial of Jesus. I can identify with Peter when he says “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you” - you were there when I tried to defend you and even when you shut me down and I subsequently denied you, I am still here... conflicted, but still here because I love you. I may have followed at a distance, but I still followed because I love you... Yes, Lord, you KNOW that I love you!

Just like he did with Peter, I believe that Jesus calls out to us today: “my servants at woodvale, do you love me?” I do not believe that he asks this as a redundant question... rather that he may draw us to himself through our own acknowledgment of our love for him in spite of our disappointment over previous events. As we are drawn back to him, he affirms our restoration with the renewed charge to feed his sheep.

So I must ask again: What is your story this morning?

Cult Following - An Appropriate Response? (Part 3)

2009-01-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

My third and final submission to the discussion that ensued from the article I circulated a while back and the continual thinking I have done on the matter is going to be what I call “the wild card”

Too often our debate about our corporate worship experience between those who are for it and those who are against it happens within the context of a predominantly Canadian-thinking culture. I use “Canadian-thinking” with reference to 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and so on, generations of Canadians that are representative of the dominant social culture regardless (somewhat) of the individual ethnic heritage.

However as a person that identifies more with immigrants because I myself am one and has become very much aware of the changing demographics of society, I think that our debate has to take into account the fact that with the sustained and continued increase of immigrants in Canada, the debate about who we seek to influence as a church has to take on a completely different tone.

Pastor Mark will tell you that a significant portion of the growth of Woodvale has been through people that have recently immigrated to Canada. Woodvale is not just multi-generational; it is a truly multicultural church and even though we have had a historically homogeneous sound and worship experience, we have to, in humility, recognize that the various cultures and ethnic groups in our church have been gracious in their expression of appreciation for what we do to facilitate worship… but if you talk to them and get below the gracious expression of appreciation, you’ll find that for the most part they seek an even more passionate and exuberant worship experience than what we currently offer.

You’ll find that they seek a worship encounter that pays tribute to more than one cultural heritage… but most of all, you’ll be surprised to find that the ones that come through our doors that are not even Christian are not freaked out by our worship services as we might think they are. The dancing grandma at the front of the church does not bother them because many come from a culture where dance is part of worship. The babbling in strange languages does not bother them because there are many languages of this world that sound like unintelligible babbling and exposure to many languages makes you less prone to being freaked out when somebody starts doing it seated next to you. Most English speakers do not realize that English sounds absolutely strange (meaningless bable if you will) to somebody that does not speak or understand it. Because I have made it my business to seek this information out, I can say with growing certainty that you will find just as I have found that they are more open to debate, explanation and even a second visit.

Consider also, that the student enrolment (in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions) has an ever-increasing population of immigrants or children of immigrants living in a largely immigrant community in the city. Or that the recent explosion of growth in the suburbs is driven partly by the demand for houses by recently immigrated families.

Last summer, I got to visit a church called “The Meeting House” that is a growing church in the GTA and recently planted a location in Ottawa. Instead of having their usual speaker Bruxy give the message, they had an interview with a gentleman called Jay Smith who lives and works in London UK and has a specific ministry to Muslims. During the question and answer session, somebody asked him why he chose to have such an aggressive approach (He basically stands on a soap box at the speakers corner and challenges anybody within earshot to a debate… he’s been assaulted several times while doing this, by the way) when reaching out to the Muslim people in his area and his answer was an unbelievable eye opener for me.

He said that many Muslims have lost their respect for Christianity because of the pussy-footed approach that Christians have when dealing with culture and other religions. They say that Islam is for MEN and Christianity is for women… meaning that Islam is powerful and Christianity is gutless.

He said that many – especially the growing number of radicals – are unresponsive to us because they cannot respect a spineless religion. He said that in trying to reach out to these new immigrant cultures, the church was forgetting that you do not reach out to them the way you would do for a post-Christian European. The tactics would have to dramatically change if you were to even get them to listen to you.

He basically picked the words out of my mouth when he said that the church has to be less Canadian and be more Christian. The church should not find its identity first in its ethnic heritage, but rather in Christ so that like Paul, you can become all things to all men – speak with relevant authority to a multiplicity of cultures – so that some may be saved.

This spoke deeply to me because one of the fundamental questions I have had lingering in my mind for the modern church in North America is what they are doing to reach out to the growing population of immigrants in their neighborhoods. Most of these people are not afraid to have discussions about spiritual issues because many of them come from cultures that are deeply religious. Most of them are not threatened by passionate expressions of worship because they come from cultures that are comfortable with passion and expression. Most of them do not need the bible to be overly explained because their native languages share a lot in common with the symbolism with which much of scripture was written. This, therefore, means that the ways you would craft your services or gatherings to meet the needs of a primarily Canadian-thinking (defined above) group of people would have to be altered if you said you really cared about making your worship moments accessible to more than just one culture.

It is a tough cookie to swallow, but the truth of the matter is that for many churches like ours that are situated in communities like the one we are in, there is a significant number of songs, worship tools and methods of communication that have to be abandoned in the pursuit of an increasingly multicultural church. These changes have to be systemic and not just a re-dressing of a community that remains at heart fundamentally homogeneous because a culture clash is inevitable and the leaders and facilitators of worship have to be prepared to navigate these treacherous waters. This is the wildcard in the discussion that has come out of the article that I shared because Mr. Holock represents a post-modern, post-Christian Canadian. However both of these are terms that are irrelevant when you try to speak about sociological, cultural and spiritual shifts in countries/continents that are not Europe or North America (US and Canada specifically) and therefore represented by the growing immigrant populations in our churches and communities.

I once sat under the teaching of a gentleman I consider to be a great visionary and a deep thinker about matters concerning the church. He said that Canada is rapidly approaching a tipping point where demographically, we shall have moved from the concept of being a mosaic to actually living it out and this is going to affect politics (because of the immigrant representation and voting power), suburban culture (because of the increasing wealth and growing population of recent immigrants in the suburbs), and cultural and financial trends (because of the shift in dominant representation from a largely Caucasian representation to a multi ethnic first and second generation of Canadians not familiar with previous trends). His charge to us was that we had to stop being a reactionary church and recognize that this tipping point is imminent and therefore make changes within our corporate worship encounters and general church business with this in mind. From the kind of examples he was giving, it was clear that there would have to be a re-writing of pretty much every program in the church (children, youth, young adults, adult and seniors ministries… in evangelism, discipleship, worship and fellowship). But not just the programs, but the DNA (NOT doctrine!!) of the churches.

Most churches are forced to change their modus operandi when it is undeniable that contemporary culture has moved on and that their current tools are useless in connecting to it because they were afraid to rock the boat when change SHOULD have been made. Many churches sadly do not survive this (either because they refuse to change or because they change too late) and the shrinking of the evangelical church in Canada is a testament to this unfortunate truth.

I am therefore convinced that the discussion about improvements or alterations to our worship service/corporate worship moments cannot happen within the bubble of a culture that is ethnically homogeneous because that bubble is not truly representative of the multiplicity of cultures in which we exist. One culture might be reserved, while another is expressive. One might have deep spiritual roots, while another may have forgotten its spiritual heritage. One culture may embrace moral relativism more freely than another and one culture may have a totally opposite take on social justice than another. In one culture, women may be the heads of society while in another, men dominate the women.

Try as we might, the truth of the matter is that we all interact with Christianity, matters of faith, and general spirituality through the paradigm of the culture that we represent. As facilitators of worship at Woodvale, therefore, we have to be wise in our pursuit to create moments that more than just one cultural or ethnic group can feel comfortable in. Part of the reason I am increasingly selective about the advice that I receive about how things should be done at Woodvale is because I have started to see that most times, the so-called “advice” I am receiving is based on a preference that might alienate a significant section of our congregation or visitors. As such, I have started to ask these advice givers about how they think their suggestions might affect the worship experience of more than one cultural group in an attempt to show them that the family to which we belong is no longer homogeneous.

So I would like to invite more discussion about how things could improve here, but I would like all responses from this point on to take into account the real and present multicultural situation we find ourselves in – not just as a congregation that represents over 60 nations, but as a church existing in a community that is increasingly representative of the nations of the world. You have to ask yourself whether the things you think should be altered, discarded, improved, or changed shall be relevant in a multicultural Woodvale or not. One last thing… I am looking for discussion that goes beyond tokenism and novelty.

Let’s talk!

Cult Following - An Appropriate Response? (Part 2)

2009-01-28T08:12:00.000-08:00

Part of the reason that this article has proved to be a hot-button issue is because of the spiritually-seeking people that many have claimed to be concerned about. There are 2 main schools of thought that I have heard on this issue

We should not change who we are because spiritually seeking people need to know what we are like. This sometimes does not take into account the fact that the methods of communication and the general corporate worship experience may or may not be relevant (need improvement, etc…) in contemporary culture
We should change, remove, mask or hide everything that would make a spiritually seeking person uncomfortable in our corporate worship gathering and in the event that we are not able do remove everything (like singing a bunch of songs, praying or giving an offering), we shall apologize profusely for it in the hope that our apology will be accepted and that the seeker shall overlook these shortcomings

This second entry is going to be about a couple of things that I have been forced to increasingly wrestle with over the past few years as I have sought to find ways to relate to the culture in which I now live.

The expression that I have heard – an expression that I think accurately describes the cultural state of affairs with relation to Christianity in our country – is that Canada is a post-modern, post-Christian society. If post-modernism and post-Christianity mean nothing to you, please google both terms and you’ll find a plethora of information on both topics.

While the church may have had a large part to play in the formation of contemporary society, the truth is that over the years Canadians have turned their back on the church and in large part become suspicious of it. This is obviously not without the help of the church, the misuse of its (the church) power and influence and the growing disconnect with contemporary culture because of a refusal to recognize the times and adapt to them. Obviously there is more to it than this and I have read literally HUNDREDS of articles and books on this movement of culture into a post-modern, post-Christian state. You should too!

My personal experience has shown me three predominant groups of people that belong to the mission field that we seek to reach out to and that we hope would walk through our doors.

The indifferent and disinterested group (with or without prior experience with the church)
The cynical, hostile and suspicious group (with or without prior experience with the church)
The group that are on a search for an authentic spiritual experience (with or without prior experience with the church)

I am sure that we could add to these groups a host of other groups, but these are the ones I will choose to speak about from this point on.

Groups 1 and 2 mentioned above will most likely not darken the doorpost of a church unless they are dragged or somehow forcefully coerced. Heh! We all know this, don’t we? It is even more unlikely that they will walk into a worship space like ours because of the pre-conceived negative connotations that the word “Pentecostal” has.

Because these groups (1 and 2) of people are highly unlikely to come to our worship services, even when they do they view everything through the tainted lens of cynicism. This means that just about every experience in the church is going to look staged or reek with a lack of authenticity. The corporate singing is going to look like mindless chanting and the message and ministry times are going to look like hypnotic suggestion more than an authentic take on spiritual and contemporary issues. I believe that this is the category to which Mr. Holock who wrote the article that I circulated belongs. If we try to make changes to our corporate worship gatherings with these 2 groups of people in mind, we are wasting our time.

My personal belief is that these 2 groups of people can only change their attitude about the church when they become convinced that our walk matches our talk. Our worship services are a mockery to them because our high-flying rhetoric about being the change in the world we want to see and other such stuff is just that… empty words. Our songs are meaningless and repetitive because we are singing about being salt and light and yet in the world today, the salt and light are severely lacking.

Outside of a personal miraculous intervention from God, such people will only change their mind about the church and about Christianity in general when they see a sustained, different approach by the church to issues OUTSIDE of the four walls of the church. Not one that seeks to forcefully influence contemporary culture and speaks down to it from a higher moral vantage point, but one that becomes a true advocate for justice and mercy down in the trenches in a world that severely lacks it. As I said earlier, there is nothing that our corporate worship gathering can change to influence these 2 groups because who we are inside the church is not who they see outside it and so everything that happens inside – from the greeters, to the guy with dreads, to the oh-so-enthusiastic pastor Mark looks extremely ridiculous.

The third group of people, who are on a journey seeking an authentic spiritual experience and connection with God (regardless of the definition they might have of who that God is at the time) are the ones who may wander into our doors uninvited, or accept our invitation to church. These are the ones that I have found are more willing to come again even after a less-than-perfect first encounter with the corporate worship experience because they may sense and even experience something more than just a staged weekly gathering.

We are therefore faced with a dilemma when they walk in. Do we hide who we really are so that they are not put off by the strangeness WE THINK they may have a problem with when they first encounter us? Do we hide the things we ourselves are personally wrestling over assuming that these spiritually seeking people shall experience the same battle? However, if we adjust our corporate gathering so that it is less “scary” what authentic, passionate, transcendent experience are we left with? We have to assume that we are going to be one of many stops (both denominational and religious) in this person’s quest to find a meaningful encounter with God (ambiguous definition at this point of course). How will we make the experience memorable and not bland then? We also must ask whether what we are currently doing actually DOES NOT harm us in the eyes of a true seeker… because we who are on the worship team are not really seekers in that sense.

This, I think, is where the real debate lies because there are 3 key things all going on at the same time in our worship services

Communion with God – which has to take first priority in our service and so everything, from a worship facilitator’s standpoint, has to be done with this as priority number 1 and so we cannot strip away the things, the moments, the churchisms that facilitate this.
Communion with each other – because the second most important purpose of the corporate worship gathering as we have defined it in this community is actually NOT evangelism – even though it can serve that purpose – but rather fellowship as we find extensively through the psalms and a poignant piece of scripture in Hebrews 10: 25. Our thinking is that evangelism should actually happen OUTSIDE the corporate worship gathering… the act of bringing people into the family does not happen AT the family gatherings, but rather outside the family gatherings. This therefore is priority number 2 of worship facilitators and so we have to walk the tight rope between keeping the things that enhance this “communion with each other” and ensuring that we are not making relics out of things that were useful in the past, but not relevant to the growing fellowship with ever-changing generations and ethnicities
Connection with the previously churched/un-churched spiritually seeking person.

What, therefore, is the way forward?

In order to have any meaningful dialogue about this, we have to step out of the kind of thinking that makes our viewpoint right and all other opposing or differing opinions wrong. I would like to hear your thoughts about adjustments, changes, improvements to the corporate worship experience… not just things that PASTOR PAULO AND PASTOR MARK SHOULD DO, but also things that affect more than just the paid staff.

While this conversation should include comments about stylistic elements – vintage VS contemporary, old VS new, exuberance VS quiet meditation, one form of communication VS another, etc – I would like to hear some thoughts that are more than just re-dressing, because no matter how many times you change my clothes, I am still fundamentally the same person… the same goes for our corporate worship gatherings. Our continued discussion about improvements/adjustments to the worship gatherings has to go deeper than the dressing of the gathering. It has to be more than what the pastors should do and include what we who are part of the worship facilitation team can all do together.

Lets talk!

Cult following - An Appropriate Response? (Part 1)

2009-01-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

It is four in the morning and all I can think about at this moment is the article that Mr. Holock wrote about Woodvale. The reason I have devoted a ton of thought to it recently is because I have been trying to find in my mind what an appropriate response to this article would be moving forward because the memory of it is going to undoubtedly shape the forward momentum of this worship ministry either overtly or covertly.

I am going to cover my thoughts on this topic in three or four separate blog entries and I hope that you are able to read them through to journey with me and hear my thoughts as the lead facilitator of worship at Woodvale.

This first entry on the matter is going to be about the responses that I have heard concerning the article.

Most of the responses I have heard (and I identify CLEARLY with all of these responses) fall into one of the following categories

Some of us thought it was a hilarious article, clearly embellished and just a casual read. When I first read the article, this is exactly how I felt about it and thought nothing of it for a while. My sister, on the other hand, thought that it was not very good and slightly reminiscent of the “Exposés” that have been done on many of the large churches in the US.
Some of us felt offended by the article because of the sarcastic tone and the ignorance with which he wrote about our worship experience. My guess is that those of us in this group (I am one of you) were offended, not just because we are personally responsible for the success or failure of the corporate worship experience, but because anything derogatory was not just aimed at us but at everybody with whom we share these corporate worship experiences.
Some of us felt like it was a long-overdue license to talk about the things that we have issues with concerning our corporate worship experience at Woodvale. Some of our comments were masked behind our concern (real or so-so) for “Spiritually seeking people”, but if you are like me, you know that the real issue is not so much concern for those that are not yet at part of our fellowship; instead, it is things that we (I) have found wrong with the current establishment… things that we (I) may feel powerless to change.
Some of us, by nature, choose the middle-of-the-road approach. On one hand sympathetic to the church because we just happen to be members of it even though we position ourselves as objective outsiders; on the other hand understanding of the issues that Mr Holock had with our service either through personal experience, or just because we see ourselves as being in position to bring balance to the conversation.

Each one of us undoubtedly found ourselves in one, two or all of these categories and I have something to say to all of you… well, those who thought it was hilarious, I have nothing to say.

However…

If you felt offended by the article, I want you to know that I understand how you feel. I believe that the Woodvale family is a group to be proud of and that through our fellowship we accomplish a lot of good. Not only that, but through our attempts to remain truly authentic (even though our attempts may seem staged to those that are cynical), people are inspired to make real life-changing decisions. More to that, people receive hope, healing, restoration and most of all a clear sense that God is in control of their lives. Mr Holock’s article need not offend us; rather, it should show us that there is still room for improvement and that there are ways that we can execute our corporate worship gatherings better so that while he (or any other visitor) may remain skeptical, the authenticity of each moment and the manifest power and presence of God is undeniable.

If you felt like it was a license to finally vent about the things you had issues with, I want you to know that I understand how you feel too. It is natural that our personal and spiritual journey makes us crave different things that what we may find at our corporate worship gatherings. The discussion to always improve things must continue, but we (the people in this category) have to guard against constantly focusing on all the little things that we have gripes with or else we become cynical about the worship gatherings and start to think of them as being disingenuous when in fact we have stopped seeing things objectively, but rather through the dark colored glasses of discontent. I have five questions for such people

Have you spent so much time focusing on the things you think should change that you have lost the ability to see God at work in our corporate gatherings?
Some people in this category have gone as far as stating that they too think that there is too much stuff about our services that is or seems staged and lacking in authenticity – fake if you will. If you are one of these, then you REALLY have to ask yourself whether you are right about this or not. This is not a defensive question on my part because I know that I have sat through services and started to smirk at everything that happens. However, I had to realize that I was passing judgment on a worship experience without really knowing whether it was truly deeply authentic and life transforming for its participants.
You may think of yourself as a voice for people that are not Christian, but you have to separate what you think you WANT in a corporate worship gathering from what would be useful in bringing somebody that was truly seeking along into a relationship with Jesus. It would be wrong of you to think that what you want as a churchgoer is what an un-churched person on an authentic spiritual search wants from a corporate worship service. You have to ask yourself this question: Have I substituted what I want in a corporate worship gathering for what I think a person that is far from God is really looking for in such a gathering?
You have to ask yourself why you continue to be a part of the group that is responsible for perpetrating the very thing that you find disingenuous. I believe you also have a choice to make – to be a part of bringing about real solutions to the things you think need change, or remove yourself from the team that perpetrates falsehood.
You also have to ask yourself what king of solutions there are to the problems that you see – real solutions and not band-aid solutions

For the objective, aloof observer, I would like to say that your voice is much needed in the passionate discussion that is going to continue over this topic. However, just like the group of people addressed above, you need to realize that you are part of the process and not a separate observer. If you are somehow able to see and appreciate both sides with clarity, then you should become more involved in the discussion about ways to improve our corporate worship gatherings so that they are meaningful to both groups of people – those that have been at this Christian walk for sometime and those that may be checking us out.

I am going to end this entry with something that sounds completely unrelated, but I think that it is actually related to this discussion.

When I invite people to visit my family – both my Ottawa family and my Uganda family – I always give them the inside scoop about it. I let them know that there will be times when they will not even understand the language that is being spoken; I let them know about the quirks of my family and the family members that they should not be too worried about or those that they should watch out for; and I let them know that there will be times when we shall have inside jokes to which my visiting friends shall not be privy. However, when it gets down to it, I am PROUD of my family, I love my family, and in spite of all the weirdness of the first encounter, the reason I am bringing my friend along is that I know that in time he or she will start to love them as I do and may even become a grafted member.

I find that this is a useful parallel to Woodvale because this church is my family. The first time you meet this family, you run into the crazy people, the ones who have a weird smile plastered to their face, the ones that treat you like trash… but eventually, you start to see that pretty much EVERYBODY is an awesome person. You start to see that being a part of the fellowship is better than sitting on the sidelines pointing fingers and making fun and most importantly, you come to LOVE the family. I am not ashamed of my church family. I know that we can be weird sometimes and that there is DEFINITELY room for improvement in our corporate worship experience, but I have learnt to not be bothered by those that would seek to make fun of us because the good in this family far outweighs the superficial quirks that you encounter when you first meet us. There is substance, authenticity, love and friendship… sometimes hard to see because of the old woman shampooing the spirit through her hair, but it IS THERE! We could do better to illuminate it, though, couldn’t we?

Simply Put

2009-01-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

Verse 1
I don't really need
To tell someone their future
I don't really have to see the things
That can't be seen
I don't need another
Hyped up church encounter
Or another clever new Years theme
I'm not looking for another goose bump sermon
Or a word that leaves me passed out on the floor
My basic needs are really very simple
To know You love me
You like me
And I am Yours
I am Yours

Bridge
My learning could go on throughout the ages
But I just need the plain and simple of what's real
I could memorize and quote a million pages
But I'd rather just express the way I feel

Verse 2
I've tried so hard to know
The deepest revelation
So I could stand and tell the nations
What it means
But I found the greatest gift
Wrapped in Your salvation
It's really much more simple than it seems
So I relinquish all my witty observations
Leave my so called sacred knowledge at the door
When You died You answered every single question
You said You love me
You like me
And I am Yours
I am Yours

- Fred Hammond

I'd like to hear what you think about this...

2009-01-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

I recently read an article that Pastor Dorothy gave me from a small community magazine that circulates in Ottawa. It was written by a gentleman called Martin Holock who attended one of our services last year (some time in late summer or fall, I believe) and I would like to share excerpts of it with you and hear what you think and have to say about it. You can read the article in it's entirety HERE and I believe the article is on page 14.

The title was huge and catchy: CULT FOLLOWING

Subtitle: Born Again at Woodvale Pentecostal Church

This month’s excursion is to the west-end home of evangelical christians, Woodvale Pentecostal Church. You know the frightening version of Jesus Camp believers you’ve heard about who are into speaking in tongues and performing exorcisms? Those are Pentecostals and they are super popular.

....

Pentecostals love a big crowd, so they’ve had to build massive buildings to hold them. A lot of these mega-churches across the US and in Toronto are Pentecostal, and they see a huge regular attendance. While many other denominations are experiencing a drop in Sunday crowds, places like Woodvale, where I have to park blocks away in a lot guided by ushers, are thriving.

When I finally walk in, still 10 minutes early, I’m greeted with a handshake at every door along the way and there are already hundreds of folks singing the words projected on a slide above. I grab a pew at the back to take in as much of the action as I can.

The music’s pretty cheesy, but I mouth along anyway. I’m putting on the best Christ-loving mask I can muster. A black guy with dreadlocks is singing at the grand piano, and 4 other neatly dressed young singers wave their hands and pour out their hearts accompanied by a full electric band. People of all shades and ages keep arriving and, pretty soon, folks are dancing.

It’s a show - it really is. The music, the audience, the vibe. The closest comparison in my experience is a folk music festival. The quality of the music is mediocre, but the people who are into it are deeply, heavily feeling it. Only here it’s not stoned hippie moms and acoustic Dylan covers; it’s three or four songs repeated soulfully until you don’t even need the video prompts anymore.

Early on, the congregation is proud to present some of its friends to be baptized. The first talks as unironically as possible about “coming out of the closet” as a Christian and sharing his faith with the world. There’s another guy who’s loved Jesus since he was six. The last is a 20-something redheaded woman who talks evasively about the craziness she got up to as a teen and how Jesus helped her through. It’s probably wrong to say I’m looking forward to seeing her get dunked, live on the screens they’re now using to show the action on stage, but whatever. She’s pretty hot.

The children are then dismissed, and straggling spectators find their seats and get into position. The band is playing again. A few bouncer-looking types stroll up and down the aisles, monitoring us. Cal me suspicious, but I swear they’re identifying newcomers like me, for God only knows what purpose.

All I know is that a minute later, a single middle-aged woman is standing next to me, singing enthusiastically and chanting, “Thank you Jesus, thank you. Praise Jesus.” over and over. Seconds later, and throughout the service, this secret spy chick is whispering in tongues. “S h a k a l a s h a k a t a t a t a a a. M i s h a k a s h a k a l a s h a a... Praise Jesus. Thank you Jesus.”

Just act natural... Oh yeah, seen this *expletive* a thousand times... Yep, just some everyday tongue-talkin’... A real front-row shaker, dive-into-it type like this would usually be by the stage with the graying grandma who’s scooping up the spirit from the air in front of her, washing it all over her like she’s shampooing with it. The bouncers have fingered me and sent this shakalak woman here, I’m sure of it. There’s another single guy ahead of me, and lonely ladies all over. Why didn’t she go to one of them?

Another feature of Pentecostal Churches is the God and Country routine. The service this week is about putting the Extra into Ordinary, and being filled with the Spirit like the saints in the book of Acts, but there are other, more political suggestions. Many times the phrase, “God keep our land glorious and free” is repeated. The oh-so-energetic and inspired Pastor Mark Scarr even declares at one point, as be bounces across the stage, “It’s not up to the world to influence the Church. It’s up to the church to influence the world!!”

......

Ironically, it’s a big,enthralled crowd that gives them that personal feeling. And here at Woodvale, there’s definitely a crowd. We’re talking two floors of packed pews, probably around a thousand people, maybe more. And every single one of them is singing along. At least, unlike Catholics and Anglicans where the only passion of Christ is the bleeding Jesus pictures on the walls, here it’s pouring off the stage and dripping down the aisles.

This is no special Sunday. These thousand people, of all walks and colors, are here every week. Christmas, Easter and Pentecost (50 days after Easter), are even more ridiculously packed with donating disciples. Woodvale has had to relocate or renovate many times in it’s 50 year existence, and they’re still regularly at capacity. And with a fanbase like this, and spreading worldwide popularity (huge among Africans, Latin Americans and Pacific-rim Asians, especially Koreans), these guys aren’t going away anytime soon, so you’d better find a way to live with them.

I believe in God - By Matt Patterson

2008-12-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

I believe in God,

Three in one

Father, Son, Spirit

Paradox

Mystery

Elemental

I believe in a God of Justice

Compassion, mercy, hope

And first, a God of love

Love personified, incarnated

I believe in God

the mother of creation

God, the father of humanity

God, the lover of us all

I believe we are called:

To activity out of passivity and apathy

By the son of God, through his actions

Calling down through history

Borne on the wings of the spirit

I believe we are called:

To community, with each other

Through Christ the thread

Weaving us all together

I believe that God plays no favorites

Pulls no punches

Leaves no stone unturned

I believe that life is hard

I believe that life is beautiful

So, I believe, does God

Praise him through the night

2008-12-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

Praise him through the night

by Fred Hammond and Tommy Walker

The day has passed and darkness comes to settle in,
Confusion rolls in like a fog, and I can't see my way.
Now doubt believes, it can make my faith seem paper thin,
The peace and joy that I have known,has been replaced.

This time with tears and sadness,

The midnight for the day,
Sorrow instead gladness,
But with all that is in me, I'll still say...

That I will praise Him through the night,
And I will worship in the fight.
I'll Praise Him forever, because I know that He's worthy.
Praise Him over the adversary, we'll overcome.

The wicked one, whose fury runs with anger deep,
Destruction is his only goal against our side.
With hatred strong, he demands we declare defeat
He says he's won, but we all know that he's a lie.

When fear moves our foundation,
know that God has not forsaken.
He'll bring a brighter day,
So let me hear the people of God say...

When the battle gets too much for me to take,
When I can't see through the wind and rain,
In my darkest hour, we're gonna praise Him still.
When it's weary, dark and lifeless,
When hope seems like its almost gone,
In my darkest hour, we're gonna praise Him still.

labels

2008-12-01T11:30:00.001-08:00

All my life people have been trying to label me.

First by my tribe, then by the economic status into which I was born and by the color of my skin.

Labels have been put on me based on the country in which I grew up, the schools I went to, the jobs I have had, the things I have achieved and by my monumental failures.

Mukiga, poor, black, Ugandan, educated, full of potential, programmer, advocate, director, immigrant, visible minority, lacking in canadian experience, brash, loud, insensitive, driven, relentless, ambitious, worship leader, pastor, musician

On one hand the labels I have received have allowed me to see myself in a positive light through the eyes of those that would assign the label and yet on the other hand, I become very aware of the limitations that are placed on me by those who would seek to label me.

I am also very aware of the fact that I have imposed labels on myself.

Even though we may parrot the fact that we are not defined by the labels that are assigned to us, the truth of the matter is that many of us, like myself, have allowed our identity and character to be shaped by the labels that we receive from other people, or the ones that we create ourselves.

It is incredible to see how one person can assign a derogatory label to the same individual that another person has assigned an affirming label. And even though we may try to ignore the labels that bring us down, their negative influence on our life can be extremely hard to shake.

And so the more we allow our identities to be defined by external labels, the more the labels become powerful, self-fulfilling prophecies - the cycle of which we may sometimes feel powerless to break out of.

When Jesus came and poured out his life in an undeniable demonstration of love, he proved that God saw us differently than we could ever see ourselves.

God sees enormous potential in people that society has discarded and labeled as useless.

God saw incredible worth in each one of us that he spared no expense to save us

God’s word of affirmation to each one of us is a clear picture of how he sees us and how we should identify ourselves - not as people bound by the constraints, ideas and labels that the world places on us, but as a people for whom nothing is impossible through Christ who strengthens us.

This morning, therefore, as we stand before the Lord in worship, let us trade any label that we may have... any label that has been assigned to us, by others or by ourselves, that is not from God. Any characterization that we have intertwined with our identity that causes us to see ourselves as less than the truly precious person that God sees.

Let us turn a corner in our worship this morning and allow the truth of our identity in Christ to become our primary identity and not a secondary identity that would be nice to have, but we really cannot accept.

Let us make this time more than just a song, but an acceptance of the righteousness, sanctification, and salvation that is made possible only through Jesus

Let us approach God’s throne boldly - as his precious children grafted into his family and standing in our identity as joint heirs in His kingdom.

You Cannot Generate Worship!

2008-11-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

Back in the late 80’s and Early 90’s, our small university church was one of a handful that found themselves on the cutting edge of the contemporary worship music scene. There was a group of brave university students that agreed to partner with my father to create a worship service that was meaningful and filled with authentic worship, liturgy and prayer.

The leader of this group who actually stayed on till I joined university in ‘97 used to say something to us all the time when we were on retreats building our spiritual muscle... he used to say, “You cannot generate worship!”

What he was really trying to tell us is that you cannot transform yourself into an authentic worship facilitator on the platform in front of an audience when you are not an authentic worshipper in the privacy of your personal life. He taught me that while you may think that you are doing a good job trying to channel something that you are not familiar with, the audience that you seek to inspire in worship can see through you - either consciously or subconsciously.

He was the first person that helped me see that I could in fact tell when I was being led in prayer by somebody that did not have a well visited prayer closet. He helped me see the times that I was being led in liturgical worship by a person for whom the liturgy held no meaning and it was through his example that I came to realize the importance of congruence between my personal worship time (if any) and the moments where I facilitated worship during the weekly services or fellowships.

It is no secret that I place a high premium on authenticity as I seek to facilitate worship at woodvale and my prayer and hope has been that this would become a cornerstone value of all the worship facilitators at woodvale. My charge to the worship team members that have been at recent practices is to re-discover on their own their passion for worship and a desire to meet with God. This is not so that Pastor Paulo is pleased with us and what we have done, but that the worship experience that we seek to engage the congregation in is something that flows easily from within us and not an act that we put on when we find ourselves on woodvale’s massive stage.

About a month ago, I was having a chat with the choir and one of the guys in the choir spoke up and said that it is not right for us to be two different people; one week an expressive exuberant group when we are standing on the choir risers and another week a disinterested and sedate group when we are sitting in the pews. His charge to us that evening was a stark reminder of my team leader’s words to us back then:

YOU CANNOT GENERATE WORSHIP!

All of this comes into sharp perspective when you realize that God cannot be mocked by our lack of authenticity. Our worship falls flat and it is reduced to flattery, meaningless repetition and babbling because of the disconnect between the people we are pretending to be and the people we really are.

Let us therefore be exhorted by the words of John 4: 21 - 24.

Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

blogus interruptus ...

2008-11-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

... the medical sounding term that my sister who is a wordsmith coined for the dry spell that bloggers go through in which they are unmotivated to update their blogs or unable to come up with any posts that articulate anything of sense...

Blogus Interruptus!

The gathering 2008 - Citywide worship and prayer

2008-10-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

I'm a firm believer in doing everything to promote the unity of the body of Christ in the National Capital Region of Canada. I have become convinced that through the local churches and congregations, God intends to do a great work in our city - Ottawa - but before we see any progress in the "natural", there must be movement in the "spiritual". This week, we get to gather with people from all around ottawa for one purpose - to worship with passion, pray with conviction and unite with purpose.

For more information, click the banner below

Straining forward... there must be more

2008-10-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Philippians 3: 1 - 16

This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. There are lots of reasons why I love it, but what strikes me in particular about this passage of scripture is the honesty that Paul writes it with.

He starts out in verses 1 – 3 by pointing us all to the fact that our walk as Christians is something that we cannot do successfully on our own. Human effort, human rules and regulations just do not cut it. His reference to circumcision shows that perhaps there were those that had fallen into the trap of thinking that the Jewish laws and customs were a prerequisite to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

In verses 4 – 6, he presses this point further by making statements like, “If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!”

From what we know about Paul, it is safe to assume that Paul was a highly educated man and had achieved a lot not only in terms of his education and scholarliness as shown through the complexity of some of the letters that he writes, but also in his zeal to follow the Jewish law to the letter. He was widely traveled and had been highly successful with planting and building churches all throughout the Roman Empire and yet he looked at all his achievements and still considered them nothing.

Verses 7 – 11 give us a little insight into his thoughts. He says that once he thought of all of these things as important and he worked hard to get them all, but when compared to what Christ had done for him, they paled in comparison.

I could spend time talking about other people and how this should challenge them, but let me make it a little more personal. I think that I’ve done a lot with my life, and one of the things I promised myself is that I would try to spare no expense to experience new things, learn new concepts, and give my time, energy and resources to my faith and profession both in my former life as an IT specialist and in my current role as a paid facilitator of worship.

As I have continued to use whatever gifts God has given me, I have seen doors open and I have seen lives be changed. I have led worship and played music for a handful of people, and I have played before thousands. I’ve been able to use my gifts on more than 2 continents and for the past 3 years I led the really large worship and prayer gathering at the scotiabank place. I have every reason to be confident in these things and boast about them…

However, Paul says something that cuts me down to shape. Compared to the priceless gain of just KNOWING Jesus, everything I can do, have done, or will ever do is nothing! Why? Because I have not yet achieved as much as he had back then; I probably never will! He counts his achievements as garbage and therefore, I MUST count mine as garbage too when compared to knowing and experiencing the fullness of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul resolves that the only way his life shall really count for something is through really knowing Christ, and EXPERIENCING the power that raised him from the dead.

The next couple of verses, 12 – 14, are equally challenging for me. These verses paint a picture of a man in a race. Not a sprint and definitely not a stroll. A marathon! They show a man who has determined that he will continually strive, and focus all his energies on being ALL that Christ Jesus saved him to be. They show a man who realizes that it will not be a short and sweet process, but a long and sometimes painful process. They show a man who is not content to bask in today’s victories and achievements until they become the stagnation and rot of past glory; they show a man who is hungry for more… a man that constantly says to himself:

“There must be more to Christianity than this and I will not stop straining forward to know and experience it! There must be more to Christianity than this and I will not stop straining forward to know and experience it!”

Thinking...

2008-10-06T05:42:00.000-07:00

Romans 7

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Recently during a moment of private worship and reflection, I was reminded of the above-mentioned scripture. I’ve found that the more I spend time in the presence of God, and have a “no holds barred” approach to him, the more I become aware of my shortcomings, but also of his grace and forgiveness extended to me.

I’m convinced that when a person meets with God, their lives are radically transformed and as they allow the encounter with him to affect and empower their lives, they become a force to contend with. I say this pretty much every week of my life these days. The thing that I realize I have neglected to elaborate is that the encounter with God has to be one in which everything is laid bare before him. Not just because we ALLOW him to, but because God’s presence and the presence of sin in our lives are mutually exclusive. Nothing is hidden from God and when his presence manifests itself in our personal or corporate worship times, everything is laid bare before him whether we think we can hide it or not.

Perhaps this realization inspired Paul to pen the words in Romans 7 mentioned above.

Because I work at Woodvale, my thoughts concerning worship and experiencing the presence of God always come back to the congregation that I am privileged to serve. In light of this realization, can I truly say that people are convicted of sin during the services in which I am a facilitator? Am I convinced that when conviction falls, people are made aware of the forgiveness and mercy extended to them?

The freedom from transgression made possible both by faith, and a sense of God’s grace and mercy is (in my humble opinion) the ignition point of a radical life transformation in any individual.

We are constantly working, praying and believing to see God move in an unprecedented way over our congregation at woodvale... at least I think that we are all on the same page about this. Our hope for the congregation we serve is not only that we shall experience God’s power during our services, but that the experience of his presence shall start a fire that cannot be contained in our church building walls. This experience would subsequently explode us out of our apathy and make us a living, breathing and potent representation of the kingdom of God in Ottawa.

My hope and prayer has recently transformed into a supplication that God would deal with our individual and corporate sinful nature that we may be set on fire for him in light of his grace, mercy and forgiveness.

To God be the glory!

noise

2008-09-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

Noise

noise is an unwanted sound
which is why your parents call (called) the music you like noise

but noise isn’t just about sound
it’s about information
noise is whatever drowns out or interferes with or
conceals meaningful information
sound engineers, radio engineers speak of two things, signal and noise
the signal is the message, the meaningful part of transmission
the noise is all the unwanted stuff that interferes with your
ability to hear or decipher the signal
our lives are full of noise
too many messages that don’t add up to any coherent whole
all competing for our attention we can’t find the signal or make
any sense of our lives

and so we go into the desert to escape the noise

but then we can hear our internal noise
some of which is very gross especially during silent
Prayer and some of which is subtle but more deeply
Disturbing like tinnitus which is nerve damage to the
inner ear resulting in a permanent whistling
or hissing noise inside your head
that you can never escape
and that’s just the physical noise inside us
but our heads are full of mental noise
the thoughts that won’t stop chattering that stupid song that
you can’t get out of your head that nagging worry about
something you said or didn’t say
that hurt and anger that you can’t let go of, churning inside you
when you’re supposed to be concentrating on work that dumb
joke that keeps making you giggle on the bus so that people
look at you strangely…
and when you’re alone you can’t pretend any more that any of
these were necessary
so you try and put them aside to pray
and now you become aware of spiritual noise

all those things that compete with God
distracting your attention towards selfish or worldly concerns
drowning out your attempts to hear God’s voice distorting the
message or making you lose bits like a mobile phone passing
under a bridge
sin is a kind of spiritual tinnitus
the closer we get to God’s silence the more we are aware of
the unceasing whine inside ourselves
of want and need and hurt and self
trouble is we’ve lost the volume knob and anyway we’re scared of silence because without all the activity and distractions
we’ll have to face ourselves and God and we are frightened of
what we might find
but God longs to heal us
to still the oscilloscopes of our souls
turn the noise off
and give us peace
because only then
will we be able to hear
the music of heaven

- Steve Collins

Woodvale's first ever master class

2008-09-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

The first ever instrument and vocal master class of Woodvale's Worship Ministry

Date: October 11, 2008
Time: 10 am - 12 pm
Location: Woodvale Pentecostal Church - 205 Greenbank Road Ottawa, ON

I have a dream...

2008-09-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

I have a dream of a church in which the presence, power and work of the Holy Spirit abounds

I carry within myself a vision of a congregation that strips itself of anything that detracts from a full and meaningful encounter with the transcendent and all-powerful God that we serve

I dream of a people that make the most of every corporate worship encounter – running to God as a response to the hunger for him that he has placed inside each one of us.

The time has come, and is upon us even at this moment, where personal preference is stripped away in the face of a desire to reach an emerging and increasingly skeptical post-modern generation, hungry for spirituality, but put off by the disunity and subsequent hypocrisy of a church divided over triviality.

I have a dream of a church that recognizes the difference between being Canadian and being Christian; a church that recognizes that although we are IN the world, we ARE NOT of the world; a people that are determined to make our corporate worship experience more than a gathering of apathetic Canadians, but rather an explosive encounter with radical Christ followers

I carry within my heart a vision of a congregation that distinguishes itself in its desire for the work and power of Jesus, so much that the churches of this city, region, nation and even of the world come to us to be inspired by what we do

I dream of a time when the most important concern of the church is whether people have met with God and not anything else of lesser importance; a time when we can truly say that we are comfortable with the implications of existing in a multigenerational, multiethnic congregation and the inevitable varying expressions of worship and corporate gathering.

I have a dream… a dream… of Woodvale pervaded by the presence of Almighty God.

Therefore…

We must always strive to have a worship encounter that pays tribute to our heritage while at the same time refusing to create sacred cows out of expressions of worship that have run their course and are no longer useful or meaningful in worship except for nostalgic reasons

We can never settle for the lack of excellence and preparation that leads to a sacrifice of worship that does anything but honor God

We must never be satisfied to attend weekly services and ministry meetings that are devoid of the work, power and pervading presence of the Holy Spirit

We can never be satisfied with an apathetic approach to experiencing God and his power

We have to continue the relentless pursuit of God’s picture for our preferred future and always remember that each one of us holds within us a piece of what it looks like and is vital to the completion of his vision for Woodvale.

Revelation 5: 11 - 13

11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"

respectfully ripped...

2008-08-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

... from Reverendfun.com

Hilarious!

So... what level are you at?

self examination

2008-08-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

I’ve been thinking about Jesus’ triumphal-looking entry to Jerusalem as recorded in the gospels when people who had heard about Lazarus’ resurrection from the dead went nuts about his entry to their city.

The things that people said and sang about Jesus were actually true, but the perspective that they had about him in that day was most definitely different than we have come to understand it as a church that has been grafted in by his death and resurrection. This was because at this point in the history of the Israelites, there was an oppressive imperial power, which had bred seeds of rebellion and dissention in the region in Palestine. The history of the region shortly after Jesus’ death, and resurrection shows an active rebellion against the imperial powers of that day confirming the fact that Israel was brewing an active rebellion against Rome and looking for somebody to spearhead it.

I’m inclined to believe that the reason why the crowds then got so mad with him and called for his crucifixion was because he did not live up to their expectations and proceeded to rub salt into a sore spot with his teachings about giving to Caesar what belongs to him and tearing down the temple which was not only a worship venue, but a relic from a time when Israel was the dominant military and imperial force in the region.

Jesus was trying to help them understand that his kingdom was not of this world… and though a few eventually understood what he was talking about, he must have dashed the hopes of hundreds of people that were probably looking to rally behind him in an active revolt.

I’ve been through a period of self-examination and thinking about my role as a facilitator of an encounter with Jesus and have had to come to the realization that sometimes I create an impression about Jesus that is not entirely accurate. All too often I have stressed the fact that he is all powerful and all knowing – which he is and make no mistake about it – but I have neglected to put that message hand in hand with his own thoughts and teachings about taking up my cross and following him or being yoked with him… It may be an EASY yoke and a LIGHT burden, but it still is a yoke AND a burden. Following Jesus and living for him as an individual and as a community is no simple task!

It would be like describing one dear friend (lets call him Sam) that I would like another (who we shall call Russ) to meet and talking a lot about Sam all the while forgetting to mention his ethnicity or some other distinguishing characteristic. The most obvious outcome of the meeting that I would have tried to facilitate would be that Russ would absolutely not recognize Sam. Or perhaps Russ would be put off that I would forget to mention something about Sam especially if the characteristic could be construed as offensive. Or as a less drastic outcome of the meeting, it would be an awkward encounter in which Russ would be trying to verify whether Sam was who I really said he was.

In retrospect (and I may be wrong), I think that sometimes I have been trying to facilitate a meeting between people and Jesus and it is completely botched because I misrepresent him - Jesus. I’ve had to return to re-examining the things I say in order to build the expectation of the congregation as we gather on a weekly basis so that I am painting an accurate picture of the savior that rebukes, chastises, but also revives, loves and restores me. Jesus that challenges me to live in the world, but not controlled by the worlds systems, desires and inclinations. Jesus who DEMANDS my soul, my life, my all and who rejects the notion that I should come to him as a miracle and gift-giving dispensing machine.

My prayer is that moving forward, God would help me (and us) to paint a more accurate picture of who he is so that his people will recognize him, long for him and run to him.

-----------------------------
Psalm 97

1 The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.

4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.

7 All who worship images are put to shame,
those who boast in idols—
worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion hears and rejoices
and the villages of Judah are glad
because of your judgments, O LORD.

9 For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil,
for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is shed upon the righteous
and joy on the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous,
and praise his holy name.

Prayer life...

2008-06-20T05:03:00.000-07:00

I do not know about you, but I have struggled with my prayer life frequently. It goes without saying, though, that through prayer we build our relationship with God and our expectation of what he can do through us and in us.

How is your prayer life?

Be blessed!

Back again...

2008-06-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

I felt that as I attempt to restart the weekly blogs, I would go back to the vision that I believe God has for the worship ministry at woodvale. For some of you this might be new information, but I am sure that I have shared it either in totality or in bits and pieces with most of you.

I am convinced that God is calling the worship ministry at woodvale to have a rather large vision. I condensed my thoughts into the phrase "connecting people with God", but this is birthed out of my conviction that as we connect people to God at woodvale and as he pours out his blessing and presence in an unprecedented way, what will happen at Woodvale shall become so potent that we shall not be able to contain it inside our four walls (or hexagon-shaped worship center).

I am convinced that God has placed in us and in our hands resources that he intends to use at the local congregation level, but also at a city, regional, national and international level/stage. However I have come to learn that before we see things happen at a large scale - the kind of scale I am persuaded that we have been called to - we have to be faithfully diligent to be excellent stewards of what he has placed in our hands.

I believe that God is calling us to demonstrate that our first and only agenda as a ministry is facilitating a weekly encounter with God and the people that he draws to our services.

Jesus says that to whom much is given, much is also expected. Because I have worked and served in quite a few churches, my perspective is that Woodvale has been blessed with an enormous amount of talent and resources. It may not seem like we have been given much because we are constantly occupied in our small world of woodvale PC, but if we took the time to look around at other fellowships, we would come to understand that God has made an incredible investment in us.

This week, I would like you to ask yourself this question:
If God has called us to be faithful with little before he can entrust us with a lot, what implication does that have for you as an individual serving on the worship team at woodvale?

The most important function of the worship team at woodvale is to connect people with God.

A person that comes in contact with the God that we serve and worship - a person that allows his presence and power to touch his or her life - can become an unstoppable force to reckon with.

We have the privilege of facilitating encounters with God... let us not take our responsibility lightly at all.

Have a great week!

Luke 12: 35 - 48

Luke 16: 1 - 12

Acts 24: 24

Understanding Worship as Spiritual Warfare (4)

2008-04-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

As a final installation to this discussion about worship and it’s spiritual significance, allow me to ask this question:

What does singing a bunch of songs have to do with winning a war?

If you ask a guy called Jehoshaphat, he would tell you that he came to learn that it had EVERYTHING to do with winning a war. A simple act of obedience and worship won a war for him that he and his people did not have the natural capacity to win.

2 Chronicles 20: 1 – 20

If you ask a guy called Joshua, he will tell you the most incredible story about how singing a bunch of songs and marching round a huge fortified city laid the foundation for a resounding victory.

Joshua 6

Throughout the past few blogs, I am sure that it is abundantly clear to you that my persuasion is that we live and move in a world in which there is no demilitarized zone. There is a real and present enemy out to destroy all of God’s creation and we that engage in the process of connecting people with God put ourselves on the frontline of this war, but also put ourselves in position to see the great victories that God does among his people.

Imagine the stories that the worship leaders told after the great victories mentioned above. Imagine how much more impassioned and meaningful their worship services became after being a witness to the power of God. Wow!

Singing in and of itself has no power to do anything except for evoke an emotional response. However if the singing becomes more than just execution of notes, but grows into an outpouring of worship to God, something more potent is unleashed. Why? The bible is clear that God inhabits – he sets up camp and dwells in the midst of – the praises of his people.

- Because our Lord is a mighty warrior, his arrival spells the exit of the enemy and his work to destroy us

- Because our Lord is a deliverer, his arrival spells the deliverance from bondage and spiritual oppression of his people

- Because our Lord is a strong tower, his arrival means that the righteous can run to him and they are safe

- Because the Lord is our defender, his arrival means that our defense against the physical and spiritual attack of the enemy is iron clad and impenetrable

- Because the Lord is our healer, his arrival means that freedom from mental and physical disease is ours for the taking

- Because the Lord is our banner, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord lifts up a standard against him

- Because the Lord is our protector, his arrival means that those that seek to attack us shall be confounded and dispersed.

- Because the Lord is a creator, his arrival means that life and breath can appear in situations that we thought were as impossible as the dirt from which we were all formed.

- Because the Lord is a way-maker, his arrival means that we can stand in the assurance that he will make a way where there seems to be no way.

- Because the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever, his arrival means that what we have heard and read about his work is ours to experience because he has no favorites and we all have access to him through the grace and power of the cross.

Last week’s message by Pastor Mark was an incredible confirmation to what I had said earlier in the week through this blog. We need to take up the charge to worship before the storm comes, during the storm, and even after the storm. Our victory is constantly, firmly seated in our praise – not in whining, complaining, or anything else, BUT in our praise.

I think that letting the understanding that your victory lies in your worship penetrate your understanding and become a part of your worldview is key to graduating to the next level of worship. Then worship does not become confined to the Sunday morning service, but it becomes a “lifestyle” because victory over the enemy and circumstances in our lives is not only needed on Sunday morning, but on every day of the week. Deliverance is not just to be had on Sunday morning, but on every day of the week. Breakthrough is not just for Sunday morning, but for every hour of our lives.

I believe that God is calling all of us into a season of fearless, heartfelt worship and praise. Understand that if we take up this charge, we are going to become a huge blip on the enemy’s radar, but thanks be to God that the battle is not ours but his and all we have to do is usher in his presence and watch the enemy scatter right before our eyes.

I hope that you are encouraged by this as I am!

Understanding Worship as Spiritual Warfare (3)

2008-04-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

My limited knowledge of church history points to the fact that throughout its history, the church has split along lines of doctrine primarily. More recently, the understanding of worship coupled with issues with doctrine and leadership has played a larger role in some church splits.

The argument over which genre of music to use in church – “worship wars” as we have come to call them – has been and continues to be a sticking point in the birth, life and death of many churches. The reason for this is that music through which congregations choose to worship has been reduced to the style that best evokes an emotional response and many of us that engage in this argument fail to see it as a tool for worship.

Technically, technically, any genre of music can be a tool for worship of worth is given to the Lordship of Jesus through the execution of that genre of music. I am pretty sure that in ancient times, the genre of music through which people worshipped God sounded NOTHING like the plethora of genre’s available to us.

What the enemy does, though, is cause us to adopt a myopic view of worship in an attempt to drive a wedge between people that should be in the same fellowship. Remembering that his agenda is to destroy that which God has set up is key to seeing through the fog of arguments over which genre of music is better to employ in our worship services.

(A side note: Because we live in an exceedingly self-centered society, we need to realize that self-centeredness is NOT a fruit of the spirit, but a fruit of the enemy. Why? Because self-centeredness and selfishness breed the cancer that causes ruin in families, societies and fellowships. If through ego and pride your preference becomes elevated to the point that you are intolerant or disdainful of other people’s preferences, you allow yourself to become a tool in the hand of the enemy wreaking havoc as you mock, slash and tear down preferences and opinions that you do not share. REAL tolerance is the tree that grows from the seed of patience and understanding which IS a fruit of the spirit. Intolerance that leads to divisiveness and dissent is the tree that sprouts from the seed of selfishness and narcissism)

The reason I make mention of this is that one day the songs and style that we use right now is going to be obsolete. It is evident in the fact that in the last 20 years, we have seen so much change and movement happen in the genre’s and expression of worship. The notion that the pop-rock-urban sound that we primarily use right now shall be trendy/useful in the next 10 years is laughable.

We must guard against being agents of change in one era and agents of destruction and dissent in another. We must guard against creating a monument of what we have become comfortable with and realize that God is not bound by genre or time.

When I first moved to Canada, I found that I was really unimpressed with the worship that I heard at most multicultural churches. I had come from a church where we took just about every song we heard on CD and “Africanized” it. Our style was very rhythmic and it blended African rhythms with soca, reggae, and a slight spice of urban gospel so you can imagine my shock at sitting through a service that had little-to-nothing in common with my Ugandan church experience except for the words sang. Our style had the strong presence of a beat and drumming – which (here we go!) would explain the increased prominence of drumming at Woodvale… heh! Heh!

Because I can be a vocal and outwardly opinionated person, I made it quite clear that I was unimpressed with the style of worship being used at the church I was attending then. However, the more I spoke, the more God started to reveal to me that I was allowing myself to be an agent of divisiveness and I was allowing the enemy to use my biting criticism to demoralize the worship teams. I also came to realize that I was no different than the people I was quick to criticize who were more comfortable with a genre of music that utilized pipe organs or those that were more at home with a 70-s southern gospel flavor of music. I realized that the hurt feelings and sideways energy that was wasted in trying to work such situations through was exactly what the enemy had planned for the church and he was succeeding in fracturing the fellowship to the point that we could no longer see eye to eye.

The fact of the matter is that God’s church is multicultural and multi-generational and it should make sense that when we are all together we make quite the casserole! The trick of the enemy is to break our unity by making us focus on ourselves and blind to the fact that there are those that we are in fellowship with that might have deferring opinions from ours but are not making the same amount of noise.

Ultimately, because worship is an act of spiritual warfare, it makes sense that the enemy will do everything he can to turn what should be a powerful potent moment of connection with God into a wedge that bitterly divides God’s people. So the church of God has to be alert and on guard even as the times, seasons and genres change.

Even right now, we are in a season of change because your African grown and bred worship pastor is becoming more comfortable with his job. Previously, you had very Canadian worship pastors and leaders. It is not a bad thing and do not misquote me on this one. However, it therefore makes sense that my influences are going to make their way into the song selection and execution and our corporate worship sound is going to go through a metamorphosis. My temperament and aggressiveness (or lack thereof) is obviously different from what we have had in the past and as I become more comfortable as your leader, it makes sense that this will make it’s way into the flavor of what we do.

My love for Indian music has been quietly growing and for the past several years I have been on a salsa and samba trip…

What then?

Shall we embrace it or fight it?

Shall we pull out our hammers and wedges to drive things apart or pour on the lubricant of patience and mutual understanding in order that we may fit together and continue to move forward without grating on each other?

When we recognize the work of the enemy in driving us apart, we are able to better understand that tearing each other up is “wrestling against flesh and blood”. Anybody’s struggle with the change in genre has nothing to do with God’s move among his people and what better way for the enemy to sneak in through the back door than through my discomfort with the way things are changing. Recognizing this disarms the enemy’s disguise and helps us to realize that our war is not against each other (even though we sometimes make it that), but against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6: 12

AMEN!

Understanding worship as Spiritual Warfare (2)

2008-04-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

Every time I read the story about Paul and Silas in jail, I am impressed by the manifestation of a physical occurrence as a result of a spiritual act. If you are not familiar with the story I am referencing, please read through Acts 16: 16 – the end of the chapter.

The story bears no mention of the fact that Paul and Silas were asking God to bail them out of jail. I’m actually more inclined to think that they were “giving thanks in every circumstance” in keeping with Paul’s stance on worshipping no matter what the situation.

I cannot imagine that their worship was particularly melodious. I think it sounded more like an out-of-tune, halting noise by 2 guys. Considering they had just been beaten and thrown in jail for saving a girl from demonic torment, my guess is that they must have been battling the desire to be negative and outraged at the injustice. I know for sure that if it had been Paulo Mugarura in that situation, the atmosphere in the jail cell would have been far more toxic than a bunch of men singing hymns.

The fact of the matter is that on the face of it, there were no ingredients leading up to the massive move of God an evangelistic worship service.

Grumpy beat up men… check!

Jail cell… check!

Injustice … check!

Hymns of praise… what?

I say this A LOT – it is easy to come to a worship service and approach it as a same-old, same-old gathering of lukewarm believers… a gathering that is devoid of passion, energy and above all, the work of the hand of God. The experience of Paul and Silas in their jail cell should be a constant reminder about the fact that no matter how small and insignificant our act of worship may seem, it is a platform for an awesome move of God.

As facilitators of worship, we are in charge of overseeing times that have the potential to be incredible encounters with God. It makes sense that we should approach the times that we have the privilege to facilitate worship with great expectation that a simple act of singing a bunch of songs in the natural can have a tremendous impact on the lives of those that bear witness and even on the physical facility in which we worship. If you think about it, as the worship team, through our worship we could have saved the church a lot of money through the demolition of our old facility! Heh!

I think that the fact that their chains were loosed was a natural manifestation of a greater spiritual loosening:

- The injustice that had been served
- The jailer’s family coming to know God
- The prisoners that were touched – possibly transformed – by the experience
- The slave girl getting freed from demonic oppression
- Possibly other things that are not recorded in this story

2 weeks ago I made mention of David in my first entry on this topic of spiritual warfare. Early on in his life, there is evidence that he too experienced first hand the fact that worship had tremendous power in the spirit real that would then manifest itself in the physical. All he had to do was simply playing his harp and his king - Saul was able to experience release from spiritual oppression.

Looking at illustrations like this throughout scripture convince me more and more that what we do is more than simply providing a good stepping stone/atmosphere for the messages that are preached. Many worship leaders and pastors fall into the trap of making worship just that. It is much more than making church relevant and attractive to people that are on a spiritually seeking journey. Many more people – leaders and facilitators alike – also have this misconception. It is SO MUCH MORE than performing a bunch of well-executed songs. I confess that I have been guilty of this a lot. What we engage in on a week-by-week basis has implications far bigger and greater than we can ever imagine and reach well beyond the natural into the spiritual to loose bonds and bring about a change in people’s hearts and lives.

I do not know whether you know this, but in practically every culture and religion in the world, in order to invoke spiritual power, people engage in worship – specifically music – of the being that they are invoking. It is interesting that even on the other side of the field – the enemy’s side – the same rules apply. Worship allows them too to tap into the spiritual in an attempt to affect what happens in the natural.

Whether you acknowledge it or not is another thing, but the fact of the matter is that we live in a world that starts and ends in the spiritual and what happens on the spiritual playing field has direct influence and implications on what happens in the natural. (Genesis 1: 26, 3:22, Exodus 17, 1 Samuel 16, Revelation 5: 8, etc…) Prayer, praise and worship allow us to reach into, and operate in more than a natural/physical playing field and this is why we talk about “approaching the throne of God” because it is not just a figure of speech, but an actual occurrence. I think that this is the reason why the times of prayer at the end of the service have historically been accompanied by worship and praise because in and of itself, it has the power to break bonds, loose chains and bring about divine intervention in a physical/natural circumstance.

My hope is that it becomes more clear and plain to all of us that what we do has implications far beyond anything that we could even begin to fathom with our puny minds. Praise and worship is an essential and powerful weapon whose use we have the privilege of facilitating. Understanding this even more allows us to operate at a level that we may not have known before because it allows us to come to grips with the fact that we have not even scratched the surface of what is possible when we praise.

Understanding worship as Spiritual Warfare (1)

2008-04-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

During last evening’s service, pastor Dorothy was given an opportunity to give a report about the alpha weekend that some of the alpha participants had been on. She made mention of the fact that leading up to the weekend a rather large number of the group faced various challenges – mostly physical.

It got me thinking about the numerous times I had been a table leader at the alpha course and how we always seemed to face such things leading up to the alpha weekend. For those of you that might be reading this blog and not be familiar with the “Alpha weekend”, it is a pivotal point in the course where the facilitators lead the participants deeper in their journey of knowing who God is and coming in touch with the Holy Spirit and the power that he has to touch and transform a life.

Most intriguing about this weekend was the fact that every time we returned from the retreat filled with joy and wonder at how God had touched his people, I found myself right in the middle of a firestorm. Something would always be wrong at work; random ugly fights would flare up between the people I lived with, worked with, served with and myself. There always seemed to be a tremendous amount of opposition to just about everything that I did or put my hand to as soon as I came back from the weekend.

The reason I was able to see a trend was because I was an alpha facilitator – table leader and eventual teacher – for six years and over those six years, I went to almost 18 alpha weekends because we ran the course all year round.

Three years ago I agreed to volunteer as one of the facilitators of worship at citywide worship and prayer and eventually had the privilege of serving on the servant leadership team. It was only last year when I realized that a similar trend – similar to the one I mentioned above - was happening around the weekends that I was scheduled to lead worship and prayer. It seemed that I would walk through a battle zone during the days leading up to the event and the days leading out of the event.

I am not one to read into spiritual things all the time because I have been in too many situations where there is an unhealthy fascination with the work and power of evil spirits…

More to that, many of you know that my personal experiences with people claiming to be “under the influence of the spirit” have been negative and so my tendency is to be skeptical about such things unless the evidence is undeniable.

So even though I noticed a trend in the events that were happening in my life, my first response was not to think about the happenings in a spiritual-physical sense, but in a rational, spirit-less sense. However, the more I thought about it, the more I began to face the truth of the fact that because I was putting myself in positions that made me a facilitator of people meeting with God, I was walking into territory that the enemy – the devil – fights the hardest.

The enemy’s agenda is really simple and we all know it from John 10: 10 – it is to steal, kill and destroy.

If you put yourself in a position to lead people to the will of Christ for their lives – that they might have life more abundantly – you put yourself up in direct opposition to the destroyer of all that God has created and called good – the enemy. This makes you a target and I think that this is why Pastor Mark’s first point to us during yesterday’s morning service sermon was that if you are walking under the anointing, you should naturally expect opposition because as much as God wants the best for you, there is an enemy that prowls like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour… and he wants to destroy you.

I have come to understand even more that there is a special vendetta against people like myself who make connecting people with God their highest priority. The enemy works doubly hard to put us under fire because we are right on the front line reclaiming what he has stolen from the kingdom of God. I believe that every worship leader and worship facilitator has to come to this realization and operate with this knowledge. You may think that you are just standing on stage singing a bunch of songs, or tweaking knobs in the sound booth area, but we all need to realize that because what you do leads people to connect with God, you are standing in dead center in a very volatile part of a spiritual battle between the advancement of the kingdom of God and the agenda of the devil. Whether you acknowledge it or not, by being on a worship team whose goal is to connect people with God, you put yourself in a war zone with no demilitarized area.

The battle is not heated and dangerous from the plush cushions of the church pews. It is hottest among the areas of service that bring people into a deeper relationship with Jesus and the knowledge of his transforming power.

The books of Samuel, Chronicles and Kings record the ascent to power of a shepherd boy who became both an incredible warrior and one of the most prolific poetry and songwriters of all history. Who says you cannot be an uber-macho jock and be into poetry and song writing at the same time? Heh!

The story of David is one of the best examples that I know of that helps us see the picture of an incredible worship leader under tremendous attack. His master, the king, tried to kill him… his sons tried to steal his kingdom… his family was majorly MESSED UP… and he had moral failure. David’s transparency with God is evident through his psalms and his psalms were definitely anointed; all you need to do is search through scripture and find all the times psalm 134 is sang and God shows up in battle, or in worship. But even in the face of all that transparency, and closeness with God, the agenda of the enemy to destroy him is always present in his story.

I am no theologian or spiritual guru, so I may be way off course here, but my take on his story is that after the enemy failed to destroy him through his moral failure, he decided to attack him through his family. If you track his story, you shall find that some pretty messed up stuff happened in his family.

If you have been on worship teams for a long time, you know that there is no end to tensions and dissention. There seems to be no end to backbiting and backstabbing and people on worship teams say some of the most hurtful things that I have ever heard in church to one another. I think it speaks to the fact that the enemy’s plans for the worship team are to destroy it and make it ineffective… make the worship team members focus on killing each other than on the more important task of facilitating an encounter between God and his people.

This is the reason why I said that I would not (and for future reference WILL NOT) tolerate negative politicking on any of my teams. I think that it is the single most widespread cancer in churches and communities of faith that follow Jesus. It causes us to be ineffective and useless – wasting sideways energy trying to kill each other or put out fires when we should be focused on the more important task of bringing people to God. Soldiers fighting in the same army – the army of God – cannot be caught striking at each other… that sort of thing is reserved for the armies that are against God (2 Chronicles 20, Judges 7, etc…).

What encourages me in my journey as a worship leader and facilitator is that this is not a battle I should be afraid of being a part of because I am on the winning side. The battle has already been won and all we need to do is claim that victory for ourselves and walk in the knowledge and conviction of this fact. Does this mean that the enemy is not going to try to get at us? No it does not, but we stand in the power and authority that Jesus gives to us through his triumph over sin, satan and death.

When I used to play rugby, I was on the same team as two of the most muscular men I have ever known – my buddy Michael and his brother Andrew. A few years back we were playing against a team that we were beating quite severely and one of the guys in frustration yelled out at me

“If you touch me again, I’ll kill you!”

Michael yelled back,

“If you touch him, I’ll kill you!”

And that was the end of that! I have never felt so powerful in my life! Heh! Michael’s presence on the field ensured that even though I received threats and sometimes hidden jabs, nothing could really happen to destroy me because I had a full-time protector.

Michael’s presence on the field is a fitting illustration to God’s presence and power at work in our lives. Even though we are standing in a battlefield, we can rest in the confidence that the battle has been won.

We must, though, always remember that we are not frolicking in a field of flowers, but we are down in the trenches of the Lord’s army reclaiming the territory that the enemy had previously claimed as his sovereign territory – the hearts and minds of people.

My friends, leading worship is serious spiritual warfare and grabbing a hold of this concept and incorporating it in our understanding of what we do is key to getting to places that we have not experienced before. We must be wise, therefore, and do all we can to prepare for battle through prayer, meditation on God’s word and sharpening one another through meaningful and healthy fellowship.

We shall continue with this theme of worship as warfare next week.

Not anything too profound...

2008-03-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

Several of you have written personally or on this blog stating your sympathies for me during this difficult time which I shared about in last week's blog. I thank you for your kind words.

There are also some in our team that are currently walking through the difficult time of losing somebody that they deeply care about and I would challenge us all to rise to support, and encourage them as well. I know that we are very good at doing this, but I would still like to encourage us to not grow weary in doing good to each other and supporting each other through tough times.

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I love the Holy Week and Easter part of the church calendar much more than the Christmas part of the church calendar. I especially like it because we do not have the empty festivities, and misplaced attention that is so obviously present around the Christmas/Holiday season. Easter is a church celebration that has not yet completely lost it's meaning and even though it is threatened by the presence of the eggs and the bunny, it is relatively easier to find meaning in this season without the fluff, pomp and commercialization of Christmas.

Jesus' life, death and resurrection are the reason for the existence of Christianity and it is through him that we gain access to our almighty father. Writing this to the worship team at woodvale is pretty much stating the obvious.

Because I have been asking all of us on the team to place much emphasis on the role that we have to play - to connect people with God - I am particularly happy to be walking through this season with you all. It is a time in which we throw light on the immense sacrifice, the satisfaction of Justice against sin and the mercy and relationship that is extended to us by Jesus on the cross. It is a time through which we can better illuminate Jesus' victory over death and the grave by his resurrection and most encouraging of all, it is a time for us to focus on the hope that he shall return again JUST AS HE SAID HE WOULD!

The role that we are called to fulfill as facilitators of worship on a week-by-week basis is to take people on a journey that leads them from ALIENATION from God to INTIMACY with him. This is the journey that we have simply called "Connecting People With God"

Those of you that know me a little better than most know that I have a weekly date with my wife that we try extremely hard to never miss. Normally we are busy getting by from day to day with our busy jobs, and numerous commitments that pull us in every direction and so our dates are a way for us to create uninterrupted time where our focus is us and not anything else. Our dates usually start with the two of us passing the time with small talk about work and the people that we are mad with, etc.. Our body language is very telling at this point in the date because we are sort of leaning away from each other and focused more on the menu than on eye contact and intimacy. However as we become more relaxed and less stressed about what we needed to vent about, the conversation moves to more intimate conversation. If there was a difficult situation in our relationship that we had to discuss at the beginning of the date, by the end of our date (after we have fought about it), it is quite remarkable how I am able to cease to see her as my adversary through the fog of my annoyance and in forgiveness, restoration of intimacy, and humility start to see the beautiful, lovely, sexy woman that I married. By the end of our date evening we really do resemble a pair of giddy, giggly teenagers who (PG moment coming up!) cannot keep their hands off each other.

It is at times like these (the easter season we are in) that I think of God's letter to the church in Ephesus found at the beginning of the second chapter of the book of Revelation of John. God's charge against the church is that they have forsaken their first love. His instructions to the church are really simple: in order to return to their first love, they need to resume the things that brought about intimacy between God and his church. Just like my weekly routine that I have candidly shared that helps to restore intimacy between my wife and myself, I think that we are at one such significant moment in the church calendar where we need to realize our need to constantly restore our intimacy with Jesus.

How I pray that this Easter season shall be a chance for each one of us to fall in love again with Jesus who spared no expense to show us how much he loves us. How I pray that our worship shall be energized even more this weekend as we stand in his presence and thank him for the numerous times he has stepped in between us and certain danger and kept us safe. I sincerely pray that our recognition of God as our sustainer, provider, healer, redeemer and savior shall lead us back to the place of our first fearless and expressive love for him. My prayer is that in realizing again what an awesome Lord we serve, we shall be part of a journey (participating and facilitating) from alienation to a place of intimacy with God that we never experienced prior to this week.

A man after God's heart

2008-03-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

I apologize in advance for the weight of this week’s entry.

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know that I talk about personal circumstances and this week’s entry is no different.

Last week my cousin who incidentally was also my first boss after I completed my undergraduate studies passed away. He had been living in Johannesburg, South Africa for the past couple of years and had been battling leukemia. Because he was more than just a blood relation and a workmate, I have been really deeply affected by his passing.

I remember that early on in my journey as his assistant, a missions group in a secondary city in Uganda took a chance on us and asked us to help them set up an Internet Service Provider to help them raise a sustainable source of income for their missions. Because neither of us wanted to live in that city, we decided that we would commute to and from the city and this would take anywhere from an hour to several hours depending on the traffic. It was during those times sitting in our little company car that he challenged me about my understanding of how God works, how he communicates with his people, the charge he has for his people to advance the kingdom of God on this earth… but mostly about my intimacy with God.

These talks in the car about intimacy with God really spurred me into a time of accelerated growth in my relationship with Jesus because prior to our talks, I had not realized that I had made myself so busy ministering, evangelizing and serving that I had substituted my relationship with God with the things that I did in his service.

Since moving to Canada a few years ago, I did not have the chance to visit him at all or talk with him as much as I would have liked, but he always held a special place in my heart and mind as a mentor and good friend that had come alongside me and helped me to grow immensely in my walk with the Lord.

Even though I have been deeply saddened by the news of his death, I know that he is where he truly wanted to be – at the feet of Jesus. More to that, I am once again challenged about my intimacy with God…

I know that it is slightly morbid to speak like this in our sheltered society, but I’ll say it anyway: I would like that when my time comes, it shall be said about me as I say about Andrew that he was a man after God’s heart. I would like my story to be that I passionately pursued an intimate relationship with God and held absolutely nothing back from him. I can say confidently that my cousin, Andrew, was a man that worshipped not just through a bunch of songs on Sunday morning, but through the life that he led day-to-day… I hope that I can live up to his standard.

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I feel I should digress a little bit right here and say this:

I know that some of us in the choir have recently lost loved ones or there are people (family and friends) that we deeply care about who are going through difficult health situations. I would like you to know that my heart and prayers go out to you during these times and that I feel WITH you because I myself have walked through such difficulty several times. My prayer is that peace and joy that can only be explained by an intimate relationship with Jesus shall guard your heart and mind in these times and that the strength of the Lord shall carry you.
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My constant prayer lately is that what we do in service for the kingdom of God on this earth in these days that we live shall be more than just routine. My prayer is that we shall transcend the limits and boundaries of what we have ever thought or imagined in our walk with God – as individuals and as a congregation – as we obey him and put our lives in his hand. My desire is that people will look back at us one day and know without a shadow of doubt that we were a people that hungered and thirsted for God and refused to let anything stand in the way of us and the experience of his glory, power and work among us.

Week 12 - a life yielded

2008-02-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

12 weeks since I started this blog. Who knew I had so much to say? Heh!

I thought that I should include a word of encouragement to the team this week... this is it:

I am pleased with the progress that we are making as a unit. So much has improved since I first started working here - the attitude to worship (perhaps because we've reduced the load on the teams), the preparation, the execution, and the expectancy about what God is doing and can do through us when we put our lives in his hand and allow him to use us as a conduit.

I especially want to thank the choir that have scheduled weekly practices and have done an exceptional job every single time since coming back in the fall of 2007

Encouragement like the one above is not meant to signal that the push to make things better is about to cease... the task of becoming a hotbed of worship and the experience of God's presence and power is still a work in progress - both in myself and in us as a team. The kind of worship that is so contagious that it spills outside the walls/confines of our local congregation into the streets and churches of ottawa is still a vision and not yet a reality. God has brought each one of us to this team for such a time as this to be a part of his plan and work at woodvale and so along with the encouragement is a charge to keep being faithful with the gifts, time, talent, and resources that God has given us in order that we may achieve greater levels of worship and communion with God and that through us, he may be glorified and worshipped like woodvale has never seen or experienced before.

There IS more than this!

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In the fall of 2004, I was visiting a small baptist church that I eventually worked at and I was quite struck by the sermon that sunday morning and it served as one of the pivotal moments in my life and walk with Jesus. My buddy Rick Eby spent some time talking about the life of Stephen - the first recorded Christian Martyr in Acts chapter 6 and 7.

Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith, filled with God's grace and walking in the power and authority of his relationship with Jesus. The bible says that through him, there were unmistakable signs that God was among them and yet in spite of every incredible thing that happened in his life and the obvious evidence of God's hand on him, he was martyred. However, if you track the story of the early church, Stephen's martyrdom started the era of the persecution of Christians and their scattering from Jerusalem, but their scattering was a good thing because it meant that they took the Gospel out of Jerusalem and even out of Israel and eventually to the ends of the earth as Jesus had originally charged them. God used Stephen powerfully in life and even more powerfully through his death because Stephen was a man full of faith that was yielded completely to Him.

*I have become convinced that the reason the influence, control, and evidence of the work of the spirit varies from person to person among those that follow Jesus is because we have varying levels of "yieldedness" to Him.

*I have also come to learn more and more that for many Christians, it is not that we do not know or even believe at some level, it is just that we don't live in the reality of our knowledge and belief or act like we believe what we say we believe.

The gist of Rick's message was boiled down to one tough question:
Are you willing to yield your life to God for whatever purpose he chooses... even if it means losing your life?

The obvious threat of physical martyrdom does not exist in Ottawa, but definitely social martyrdom exists in our post-christian society. Social martyrdom is not as terrifying as physical martyrdom... but it can be just as paralyzing because we all struggle with feeling like would rather be dead than admit we know Jesus... much less, have a relationship with him.

So I guess the re-phrased Ottawa version of the question becomes:
Are you willing to yield your life to God for whatever purpose he chooses... even if it means social martyrdom?

As a worship team, it is easy for us to walk around saying that we have yielded our life to God's purposes because we operate most of our ministry within the sterilized, christian friendly environment of our churches and Christian subculture, but things take on a whole different perspective when we are challenged to establish congruence between the people we are outside of our churchy-church communities and the people that we morph into in a hostile post-christian society.

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I do everything I do here at woodvale with the strong belief and conviction that one day in the not too distant future, the work that God has already started in this church will reach boiling point... and it will start to overflow and affect the communities and churches in this city. But before God entrusts us with that great responsibility of being a part of the revival of his people and his church, our yieldedness will be tested.

I do not presume to speak the mind of God, but I have come to understand in increasing measure that God is not interested using me when I insist on being in the drivers seat of my life and that leads to numerous Jonah-type situations. If you do not know what I am talking about, read the book of Jonah (in the bible... heh!) and you'll get the analogy. Yielding my life to him means allowing him to take control of my life, take me where he wants me to go (even to COOOOOOLD canada disregarding my deep dislike for cold and snow... :) ) and allowing him to SPEND my life as he sees fit.

A life yielded to God

A life spent as God sees fit

A life poured out in service to God

Isn't that the heart of worship?

Vibrant worship - Vibrant Church (Part 3)

2008-02-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

At the heart of a vibrant church is a people characterized by vibrant worship

If you have not been walking this journey of discussing some of the aspects to the path of becoming a vibrant worshipper that is part of the heart of a vibrant church, perhaps it might be useful to you to look at the two previous posts and subsequent discussion comments on this blog-sermon-teaching thing so that you come on the page with where I am at today.

My whole journey recently as a worshipper has been driven in part by a question that sits at the back of my mind constantly: "Is there more than this?"

Part of discovering whether there is more is looking back at scripture and at the testimony of those gone before us to determine whether their experiences show a deeper level of connection with God and the acceptance of his work in their lives... which we have done over the past several weeks. The other is to look at obstacles and barriers that we have knowingly or unknowingly placed in between God and us.

Here are some of the barriers that I have found in my life as I journey in discovering a deeper place of worship... maybe you might relate to some or all of them.

Dishonesty
In speaking about worship being a lifestyle, I mentioned the fact that if we stand before God and offer up to him a sacrifice of worship and praise and yet our lives do not embody that sacrifice, our "worship" is reduced to flattery and mocks us. Your life has to line up with your words and the only way that happens is by keeping short records with God through repentance, through your relationship with him, and through your fellowship with believers like yourself who challenge you and spur you on in growth with Jesus. Please do not catch yourself in worship one day singing "you're all I want" and yet your life says anything but... 1 Samuel 16: 17.

We have settled for so little
Some of you know that for a long time I struggled with the prayer for people that led to a "slaying in the spirit" which manifests as falling backwards as somebody lays their hands on you. Partly because I was once forcefully pushed to the ground, but also as I grew up in Christianity, it seemed like a very uni-dimensional expression of the power of the holy Spirit. All around me, it seemed that all the intercessors and ministers were interested in was making sure that you hit the floor... I do not know what it was like for you, but it certainly felt like that for me. My skepticism was further exacerbated by the TV evangelists that made their way into my living room via my TV screen.

The same argument could be made about the worship services that I have attended over the years. The worship leaders, facilitators, and pastors had settled either for NOTHING happening in their services lest the boat is rocked too much, or a specific response (or list of responses) to worship. Worship had not happened until A, B, C, and D had been physically seen. Some people had gone so far as to arrogantly reduce worship to a genre of music that they loved without which worship had not happened... didn't you know that the only way to connect with God is through a power ballad?

We’ve come up with rules and regulations, which are fittingly called by many of us, a box, and not realized that God far supercedes our limited vision and tradition-prone nature. We actually live in a culture full of expression, art, poetry, and music that reflect the incredible creativity of the God of the universe. The ways in which God touches his people and reveals himself to them in worship cannot be reduced to a preset list of things that we have become comfortable with in our denomination and to approach worship individually or corporately with this attitude is to rob ourselves of the vast expanse of the riches of what God can do. Any wonder that our worship becomes programmed, stagnant and non-vibrant?

Authentic relationship
Is it possible that some of us did not have an authentic relationship with God in the first place? Perhaps it is one that we simply inherited by being brought into this earth in a christian home... but not really one that we have found for ourselves...

Could it be that we've been sucked into the culture of christianity so long that we've began to confuse religiosity, christian subculture, and christianese with an authentic relationship with Jesus?

Fear
Those of us that have walked with God and perhaps walked away from him may be very much aware about how being in his presence exposes all in us. Not that he cannot see it right now because nothing is hidden from him... but just like Isaiah in the 6th chapter of his book, we may find ourselves really aware of our uncleanness. Obviously if your relationship with him is anything but healthy, feeling exposed before him - the estranged lover of your soul - ignites fear and this may cause us to hold back from pressing in to his presence or leading those that we have been charged to lead.

It is possible that some of us do not know what will happen if we were to allow ourselves to completely, unashamedly worship and enter into God's presence. It is a very human response to the unknown... and truth be told, there are not too many good reports of what might happen... it always seems to dissolve into chaos and cacophony. Not a very popular thing in our reserved canadian culture, eh?

If we are completely honest, many of us are also very afraid of what the person in our house listening to us worship or the person in the pew sitting next to us, or looking at us on stage might think. What happens is that we then project this fear of what people might think on to the people that we lead in worship and we choke whatever God might have in store for us because everybody spends more time focusing on outward appearances than on connecting with God. I have come to realize more and more that the enemy has used this fear or apprehension to maximum effect in many of our lives and we need to break free of it in Jesus name.

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Removing the restraints that cause us to be dispassionate worshippers reluctant to experience the presence of God individually and corporately is key in transforming us into the vibrant worshippers that lie at the heart of a vibrant church.

So I say it again for the millionth time: At the heart of a vibrant church is a people characterized by vibrant worship. A person that truly comes in contact with Jesus has no option but to be radically transformed – the bible is FULL of examples of this – and realizing this has made me even more convinced that “Connecting people with Jesus” has to become the mission of the worship facilitation teams - the choir, the singers, the band, and the production team.

As we we journey forward together and as we look to God for vision and direction, lets all come before him with a slate that is wiped clean and allow him to take us on a wonderful journey of experiencing his presence and power. I have a strong sense that Woodvale is supposed to grow into a church or a community that is a wonderful representation of what unrestrained, uncontained worship is to be and I hope that for many of us, this journey starts today.

Vibrant worship - Vibrant Church (Part 2)

2008-02-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

At the heart of a vibrant church is a people characterized by vibrant worship

Today, we talk about the second answer that I came to when trying to figure out why there was a marked disparity between the services I led and the accounts of worship in scripture.

As I was thinking about this week's posting, I felt that I should mention this week that all my thoughts and ideas are exactly that. I speak out of my personal experience and what I have found to be true in my journey as a worship leader and facilitator... Wrestle (if that is what you do) with what I have to say, think about it, discuss it, but also arrive at your God-guided and inspired truth for your journey as a worshipper. My hope is that as we all seek for God's best for Woodvale, we shall arrive at the same place because we serve a God that wants to reveal his will to us for our lives and for our church.

Ok...

So my discussions with lots of people and my own reading led me to another revelation as to why it seemed like scripture offered one thing and yet our experiences seemed to tell a different story. It can be simply encapsulated by the phrase "Worship is a lifestyle". If you have been a Christian as long as I have or even longer, I am sure that you have heard this phrase tossed quite a bit. "Worship is a lifestyle", "worship is a lifestyle", "worship is...

The problem with overly used and recycled christianese catch phrases is that the truth that they so succinctly encapsulated at one point is lost and all that is left is the phrase minus the truth that we set out to find.

Now that the rant is over, let me further unpack what worship as a lifestyle means to me.

It starts with realizing that all creation - that includes you - exists for God's pleasure and that your whole purpose on this earth is to bring him glory. Just as an amazing painting brings glory to the painter, if our lives are patterned after what God wants and we allow his transforming power to refine us into what he wants, our lives become wonderful masterpieces that bring glory to God. This means that our worship breaks beyond the constraints of the Sunday worship services and reaches far beyond into our jobs, homes, and every other aspect of our lives.

I am a firm believer that God cannot be mocked and so if our lives do not "worship", our corporate act of worship is shallow and empty because our lives contradict the words that we sing or speak.

Romans 1: 20
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made

Sometimes finding worship within yourself is a next-to-impossible task and so it helps to look at God's creation around us (people, animals, plants, etc...) as a source of inspiration for your worship. Sometimes worship can flow out of us (perhaps it should do so more often) out of our recognition of God's hand at work in his creation...

I used to go to an annual christian camp in Uganda at the most beautiful and picturesque place that I have ever been to. Every morning as the sun rose over the calm waters of Lake Victoria, without a doubt, there would be one or several people so amazed by the sight that they would burst into a discordant version of "great is thy faithfulness". Every year, every morning, every camp without fail! I always laughed at it when it happened, but I think that it was one of those situations where worship ceases to be about navel gazing and becomes about creation inspiring us to worship God.

Another small story...

My Dad used to occasionally drag us to one of the most boring (it's boring in my memory because I was turned away from God) fellowships ever. Most times, instead of having a preacher or teacher, the greatest chunk of time was spent giving testimonies about what God had done in peoples lives. I particularly remember one fellowship where a moving testimony was given and almost after every account of God's hand at work, the whole group (with the exception of skeptical me) burst into a song of praise. I've often looked back at that point in time and wished that the church would find inspiration to worship corporately based on the account of what God is doing in somebody's life in spite of the personal circumstances that one may be going through.

This worship as a lifestyle - a life that brings glory to God, and worship that is birthed out of God's work in creation then becomes a weekly, monthly, or annual journey that has it's peaks when we gather together to worship corporately. Last week's reference to the psalms of ascent is a beautiful illustration of this journey. David's worship was not confined to the temple, but was a part of his daily journey. It comes as no surprise therefore, that lifestyle of worship birthed some of the most meaningful songs of worship that the world has ever seen.

I do not know whether I have shared this with you guys before... forgive the repetition if I have. I think of every service as a part of the journey of worship that people are on (whether they realize it or not) before they get into the service and after they have left. However, I cannot take people on a journey into the presence of God if I have not walked that journey on my own.

A people characterized by vibrant worship are not a people for whom worship is confined to the church building walls and restricted to a 20-minute time slot on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. Vibrant worshippers are better described as people that are living a life that first and foremost brings glory to God, and secondly embark on a journey of worship that is inspired by what God is doing in their personal lives and in creation around them.

A people that walk the journey of an authentic and growing relationship with God that brings him glory learn to grow in their expectation of what God can do and this energizes the times of corporate worship. Therefore for us as facilitators and leaders of worship, before we even stand before the congregation and attempt to engage them in a journey into the presence of God, we must first ask whether worship is a central part of our lifestyle before anything else. If it is not, we are wasting time trying to take people on a journey that we ourselves have never been on and do not have the roadmap for.

I am glad to be a part of what God is doing here at woodvale... even more pumped about the fact that all around me I see people that have a passion to connect people with God. Let us therefore spur each other on further in our understanding of worship as a lifestyle and go deeper than we have ever been before as individuals and as a church in our journey of worship.

Have a great week!

Vibrant worship - Vibrant church (Part 1)

2008-02-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

At the heart of a vibrant church is a people characterized by vibrant worship.

I have found that almost every single mention of worship in scripture is coupled with an incredibly spectacular encounter with God. I challenge you to walk through scripture… you will come to the same observation. All sorts of people in all sorts of places worshipped, saw the hand of God move and had encounters with his power and presence that to the church in this day and age could very well seem like complete mythology.

The more I read these stories and heard about God’s move in communities all around the world today, the more I found that I was forced to ask the following questions:

Why was it that our worship services were so devoid of the evidence and corporate experience of God’s presence?

What did they know that we do not know or that we know only in part?

Through discussions with friends and through reading of scripture, I came across some interesting answers

The first one is that a relationship with God builds your love for him – your passion for him as we talked about last week - and your expectancy in worship. This great expectancy at what he is going to do germinates vibrancy in our individual and corporate worship.

I hope that for all of you reading this, it is obvious that experiencing God through worship has to be prefaced by a relationship with him and we have access to the father through his son Jesus – John 14. No one comes to the father except through me… Jesus says

Talking about vibrant worship and passion for Jesus before talking about a relationship with him is like putting the cart before the horse, because love blossoms through the growth of relationship.

Therefore, the better you know somebody, the more you know what to expect from him or her. I have found this to be true through reading scripture and through my own personal walk with God… and because our God is a wonderfully creative, adventurous and all powerful father, it only makes sense that spending time in his presence is something of great wonder and mystery. Encountering this wonder and mystery enables us to approach his presence with expectation and takes a dull and uninformed expression of worship to a place of passion, expectancy and vibrancy.

I find an interesting example of this expectation and passion for God in some of the psalms of ascent that David wrote in particular Psalm 120 – 122. David starts with a cry of distress in psalm 120, but his distress is transformed to a song of anticipation in psalm 121, and then the full expression of the expectation comes out in psalm 122. Why is the psalmist glad so soon after expressing his distress? I believe that the reason for this is that his relationship with God was at such a place of intimacy that there was more than just casual anticipation, but a real eagerness to meet with God because he understood that God was in control of every situation whether he was in distress or not. This fueled his worship and praise. Is it any wonder that scripture later speaks about David as a man after his own heart?

In trying to get myself to be more psyched up about worship, I felt like I was being disingenuous if I was not finding my passion for God from what he had done in my life. I have come to discover that if I am lacking in the relationship department with Jesus, I have one of 2 options when I come to lead the congregation at Woodvale in corporate worship. Either I can pretend that all is well and ignore any conviction or condemnation, or more often than not, I fall into the dispassionate category because I know that standing before God and pretending that all is well is a mockery of him.

Hebrews 4: 12 - 13

The reason I believe that vibrant worship is at the heart of a vibrant church is because vibrant worship is something that cannot be faked. Passionate, unrestrained, uncontained worship is not something that you arrive at in ignorance over what the transforming power of God can do. You see, anybody that has come in contact with God and is walking in a growing relationship with him is a force to be reckoned with. The bible is FILLED with examples of this.

I am further persuaded that the expression of vibrant worship has to start with the people that God has gifted and positioned to be participants in leading his people in worship. This means that EVERYBODY on the worship team – production, singers, instrumentalists – have to be walking in this before we can expect that the church will experience it as we do. In my first few postings on this blog, I mentioned to you all that the picture of worship at Woodvale is a giant mirror to the picture of worship on the worship team. If our desire is to see a vibrant church, we must become a people of vibrant worship… and this has to be spearheaded by the team that facilitates worship on a week-by-week basis.

This week, I invite you all to a season of examining the area of vibrant worship and the foundation of it all – your relationship with Jesus. If you are in a place of stagnation and therefore unable to find your passion for Jesus, please be honest with somebody in your small group or on the team and pray about it. I believe that victory in this area starts with being honest about your walk with God and sharing it with somebody that can stand with you and pray you back into a healthy relationship with your savior and creator.

Next week we shall talk about another answer that I came to when examining the disparity between examples of worship in scripture and what we see in our contemporary setting.

Passionately following Jesus

2008-01-23T07:48:00.000-08:00

When I started writing this entry on passionately following Jesus, I did not know that Denis Ignatius was going to speak so well about the subject of passion over this past week's sunday night service before I wrote down my thoughts. It was just something that I was thinking about on my own and decided to share with the people that read this blog. If you are able to, please request through the church office a copy of last sunday night's message because he spoke really well about the subject of passionately following Jesus.

He stole my thunder (heh!) but for those of you that were not there, perhaps this blog shall give you an interesting starting point to think about the whole issue of passionately following Jesus...

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Anybody that moves to Ottawa soon begins to realize that because we are a city that is supposed to embody the culture of tolerance and inclusiveness (great values that in my opinion are now being distorted), it is extremely difficult to get anybody fired up about anything.

As a pastor and facilitator of worship, I have found that it is near impossible to get people fired up and passionate about something as polarizing as Christianity because you quickly get categorized as intolerant, fanatical or fundamentalist. It is sad, but it is true that in the church - that is supposed to be a living, breathing representation of the kingdom of God on this earth - it is unbelievably difficult to get people fired up about the person that they theoretically credit for every blessing in their lives.

Some church leaders were having a discussion one day that I happened to be a part of and one of them asked me what I thought about the word "passion" and the notion that the church is supposed to lead people to Jesus and to create passionate followers of him. I think that my answer took them by surprise...

My answer was that the church has forgotten what passion looks like. In my opinion, in the 21st century passion is best displayed by the group of men that crashed planes into the world trade center and the pentagon. Obviously what they did was a horrible, HORRIBLE act, but their dedication to their cause and their passion about it is undeniable.

As Christians, Jesus does not call us to crash planes into buildings... thankfully... but his call to his disciples and all that he spoke to when he walked this earth was not a call to a wishy-washy faith, but to a radically different lifestyle and set of beliefs that the world has continually rejected since he walked this planet as a man.

Our passion for him comes out of our relationship with him. As we grow in our relationship with Jesus and see him at work in our lives, we are inspired to share what he is doing in our lives with those around us. I think that this goes hand-in-hand with what I blogged about last week.

I have a bit of an unusual response to my weekly dose of telemarketing. Instead of hanging up on the telemarketer, I usually spend some time trying to determine whether they truly believe in what they are selling or not. I'm not very successful in getting an answer most of the time, but once, there was a guy who candidly let me know that the tone of his voice was the telling factor. If he was selling something he was passionate about, he would sound more animated than his monotonous, pre-rehearsed speech. He went on to tell me that in his office, many of them were selling products that they are not eligible for, or that they do not believe will transform your life the way they claimed they will.

As facilitators of worship we have to guard against being Jesus' dispassionate marketers because the congregation or people that we try to connect with him can see through our lack of passion and belief, and believe me, it is all downhill from there.

And now for some new age-ish quotes to end this week's blog.

“The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.”
- Earl Nightingale

"Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion"
- Hebbel

“Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.”
- Unknown

overflow of the Holy Spirit VS Abundance of experience

2008-01-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine once challenged me about 2 things that at that time made for interesting spiritual and intellectual ruminating.

- He said that we should be careful that as worshippers we were engaging in ministry out of an overflow of God pouring into us and our deep relationship with him rather than from an abundance of experience.

- He also said that we should learn to tell the difference between a service that had a high because of musical excellence and a service that had a high point because of God's presence and power at work in his people.

At the time that he made these comments, we were on a worship team that somehow (please do not ask how) led worship at 3 morning services and one evening service. Because we played together a lot and because we were fairly good musicians, we were able to achieve really good sound (in our estimation) and over the 6 years that we did this, rack up sunday service experience that most people on worship teams elsewhere in the country and in the world would take years to accumulate.

I think that his challenge to us came out of an accurate observation about the fact that we had unknowingly (or even knowingly) come up with a formula for what worked at our church and with our congregation and all we had to do was hit the right buttons to see the "result" we were looking for.

The more I thought about his challenge, the more I came to realize that it was addressing an issue that christians who are involved in ministry over long periods of time have the tendency to take for granted. This is the issue/area of a growing relationship with Jesus. I know that I have spoken about various aspects of it over the previous entries, but as people that find ourselves at the frontline in spiritual matters because we choose to engage in ministry, we have to be sure that our walk with God is right and that our ministry and warfare is not resting on the shaky foundation of experience, but on the solid rock of our relationship with Jesus.

I also found that in my life I had began to treat my time in service and ministry as a substitute for the time that I should have spent in personal relationship-building time with God. This is especially true for churches like the one to which we belong that maintain a very high number of activities and demand lots of time and commitment from their volunteers.

Time spent in ministry is not a substitute for time spent in your prayer closet or in your personal bible study...

God is also more concerned about your spiritual growth and relationship with him than he is about whether you are involved in ministry or not.

As the leader of the worship ministry at woodvale, I am working hard to promote excellence as a cornerstone value. However, even for myself, I have to remember that excellence without the infusion of the work of the Holy Spirit yields no lasting result. The result may be a great-sounding worship set, but because our mandate is to CONNECT PEOPLE WITH GOD, we fall way short of our primary objective. Obviously excellence is needed in what we do because God is not honored by the lack thereof, but it is not an end in itself and so I extend the challenge to us all about this.

Do you bring your gift of worship leading before the congregation and God himself based on your experience or on your music ability... or do you allow Jesus to inspire the gifts that he has given you to connect the people that you lead in worship to a God that wants to touch and transform his people?

A matter of importance.

2008-01-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Far be it from me to speak from a high horse about the issue of accountability. I find that my tendency to be introverted and go about my own way causes me to be the kind of person that resists being in situations that require constant accountability. Canada is an excellent country for people like me to live in because I can live as an island for weeks on end without needing too much human contact. And yet I am reminded of Proverbs 27 verse 17 which talks about one man sharpening another just as iron sharpens iron. Accountability structures keep us on our toes and they help to keep us focused on what is important. Accountability with other people keeps us from navel gazing and shrinking our world so that all that is important is our narcissistic view of life, Christianity and ministry.

I'm so glad that I live in a country where time is valued and everybody tries to make it a point to let me know if they are not going to be able to honor the commitment of time that they made when they volunteered to join the worship ministry. Having lived and worked in a country where time and volunteer commitments were not treated with respect, I am thankful to be working in Canada and at Woodvale where everybody is so conscious of that aspect of things.

Over and above being accountable for our time, though, it is of increasing importance to me that each one of us is in a group that allows us to grow and develop relationships of spiritual accountability. At Woodvale we call these groups "Small groups" and the importance of the members of the worship ministry belonging to one cannot be overstated. A small group that works well is one where true spiritual growth happens; spiritual and physical care happens, and people take a genuine interest in one another.

Because you are all members of a rather large worship ministry group, the place to form deep authentic relationships is not at our jam-packed worship rehearsals or even at our large celebration services. The place to debate spiritual issues and to spur each other on to deeper levels of knowing Jesus is not at the 3 hours of volunteer-intensive time that we spend at the church. While the celebration service is a great place to receive encouragement and teaching (if you are not distracted by the noises all around you), the best place to receive prayer, ministry, healing, restoration, deliverance, etc... is with a group of people that you can be more open and intimate (I can hear the guys groan at the mention of the word "intimate") with.

This posting is not about some profound spiritual revelation, but more about my deep seated desire to see all of us connect to the church at a level that is more than our volunteer commitment of time and/or talent. This is not just a suggestion, but a matter of great importance both personally and to the worship ministry at Woodvale. We need to make sure that we are not trying to pour out of our ministry from a well that has long ran dry, but are continually refilling our tanks through the times that we spend in personal and group spiritual development.

Think about it... and ACT ON IT!

logical continuation...

2007-12-19T12:01:00.001-08:00

All of the “Pauline Epistles” (fancy term for letters in the New Testament written by Paul the Apostle) bear similar resemblance in the way arguments are developed… and looking at a text that we have been examining in the letter to the Romans, you can see this pattern of writing – systematic, linear argument and thought process – show itself again.

The way he wrote allows us to examine what he said in such a way that we are always conscious of what he talked about previously, what he is saying presently, and provides a foundation for the things he shall say in future passages. And so we can naturally move from talking about 3-fold foundational principles (my unique take on Romans 12 and its application to a worship ministry) on which to build an authentic and God-centered ministry through self-sacrifice, the transformation of the Holy Spirit and humility.

From somewhere in the book of Romans:

… Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we who are many form one body…

People who have grown up in evangelical-leaning churches would testify to the fact that this is possibly one of the most examined, quoted and over-used passages of scripture. However, in all my years of being in the church, I have only heard it talked about within its context perhaps once or twice. These words are extracted from a thought process that Paul is building upon in the book of Romans and if you look at the “foundational principles” that we talked about, it becomes easy to see the context in which this text lies.

People that are not willing living sacrifices… people that are not allowing the work of the Holy Spirit to transform them… people that are not overcoming pride through humility have a difficult time with the principle of one body with many members – each member being equally important. Ministries that have not emphasized the above-mentioned principles first may SAY that they agree with the Paul’s passage on “the body”, but will struggle to make it a reality because it is only lip service and not an actual ministry-defining value.

Churches that are torn apart because people and ministries cannot work together as the body of Christ go through trying times because the people and the ministries are too “jacked up” on themselves to see with transformed eyes of humility, and self-sacrifice.

City-wide church movements struggle to gain traction because churches across denominations inwardly refuse to acknowledge each other as equally important members of the body of Christ even though their leadership may pay lip service to it.

It’s curious that while individuals, ministries and churches may say that they buy into the principle of one body with many parts performing different functions, the reality of the church today is that we are a broken and fragmented bunch that have little-to-no real impact in society… at least that’s what the people outside of the church think.

As worship facilitators at Woodvale, our ministry to this church is just as important as other ministries to this same church. As individuals, there is no single person that is more important than another… and if you do not believe me, go ahead and excuse yourself from the ministry for a while and watch in amazement as the gap you left is instantaneously filled.

For 10 years of my life, I was an aspiring athlete and I remember the times when I would tweak some obscure muscle in my belly, arm, or leg… all of a sudden, my body was not well because of the pain that one little and seemingly useless part of my body was hurting. People that have gone through physical health challenges can tell you countless stories about how some small part of their bodies that goes pretty much unnoticed caused them so much trouble when it started malfunctioning.

Therefore, larger than the issues surrounding self-importance, is the issue of pain and suffering. If one member of the body suffers, the WHOLE body suffers… and this has a direct impact on what we do as facilitators of worship. If we are functioning well as a ministry that operates in humility and looks out for one another, it goes without saying that the suffering of one member has the ability to affect a whole ministry and a whole church.

So what now?

I believe that there is a far more powerful positive effect that can be realized in interpersonal relationships, ministries, churches and even at the inter-church, interdenominational level if the principle of “the body” is turned on its head and used to empower the body of Christ instead of destroy it.

The fact that we are a “body” means that sickness can spread through our members and wreak untold destruction, but by the same token, it means that sickness can be reversed if the body parts perform their function…

A “whole”, healed person is useful in creating a “whole”, healed ministry and “whole”, healed ministries influence the formation of “whole”, healed churches.

You may have noticed by now that I keep talking (pretty much every blog entry) about the contrast between churches that are getting things right and those that are not quite on the ball. My reason for talking in this way is because I am convinced that my purpose here at Woodvale is to help all that I serve alongside understand that CONNECTING PEOPLE TO GOD IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. A church that is “on the ball” is excellent at this.

A wholesome ministry that functions well, helps the church achieve this objective… a broken and fragmented one does not.

I challenge you to be a part of establishing and building a ministry and a church whose foundation is rock-solid and who understands that we are all equal members of one body set loose on this earth to advance the kingdom of God. It is certainly not an overnight process, but as we start by becoming living sacrifices, God’s fire deals with real issues in our life bringing about a transformation through the renewing of our minds and we are then strengthened to walk the road of victory over pride through humility. These individual processes help us to become better at functioning in healthy God-birthed unity with one another.

Romans 12: 4 - 8

The pride of life

2007-12-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

I apologize in advance for the length of this post. I have a lot to say this week and my hope is that you’ll be able to break it down into bite-sized chunks in order that you will understand the thread of thinking throughout the post.

I also apologize that this blog is not more christmas-like... but with the over abundance of christmas messages, readings, carols, etc... I would like to think that it will not be sorely missed in this blog.

So....

The past 2 posts on his blog, in my opinion, represent 2 of three foundation stones for my structure of thinking about worship and approaching each gathering of Christians that I lead in worship.

The first foundational principle about offering oneself as a living sacrifice is the completion of the principle of a “Sacrifice of praise”. The second foundation of a non-conformist attitude and a transformation of the mind moves us closer to being in step with the kind of leader that God chooses to use in ways that nobody could have imagined before.

Most people, however (I am one of them), find the third foundational principle the most difficult to deal with and this is the principle of humility.

Following below are some thoughts I wrote down about “ the pride of life” some 2 years back and how we can overcome it through Humility.

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Think about life and humanity as we know it. If you are brutally honest with yourself and with those around you, you’ll agree with me in acknowledging that the easiest way to expose “the pride of life”; or the “ostentation of living” – ostentation is a big word to mean pretension, display, showiness or flamboyance – is to bring one’s reputation under scrutiny. Their reaction is VERY telling. Many of us have staked our reputation on temporal things in our lives or around us. For some of us, it is our intellect, while for others it is our numerous life skills. For others, it is our sports ability, while for others it may be our musical and artsy ability. Whatever it is, we have things for which we have been recognized publicly and we subconsciously and subtly start to place undue importance in these things. When these things are challenged we react negatively and it is a telling sign of the pride of life.

Many of the things that we have placed undue importance in and therefore allow pride to grow… many of these things do not need us to defend them. If really you have super sporting ability, the talent speaks for itself and does not need defense or flaunting. You do not need to walk around saying, “I’m the man!”

If you truly are an intellectual, your intellect will cause ripples among those with whom you interact on intellectual matters… it des not need your defense. If you are a truly gifted musician or artist, your music will become timeless and your gift will make such huge waves that you do not have to flaunt it. However, the temptation of pride is so subtle that it lures us into the trap of placing such high and yet undue importance in such things, only to be revealed when those things we have staked our reputation and self worth on are challenged.

You see, from the time you’re a child, there are numerous moments where you receive appreciation, affirmation and acknowledgement for things that you do; for who you are, or even for gifts, talents or special abilities that you have. There’s no problem with the praise that you receive because of these things, however, hardly anybody tells us that just because we have received praise for these things, it is not a license to place intrinsic importance in these things. We live in a society in which everybody flaunts their abilities, and so it is not any wonder that we find ourselves going along with the flow and being lured into the same kind of behavior: making a public show of who we are, and bringing unnecessary attention to our abilities, defending our gifts which should defend themselves, and defending the talent and position that should speak for itself. No matter who you are, you constantly face the tendency to be this way, and this is one of the ways that pride shows its face in our lives.

And then there are those of us that fall into the trap of being proud that we are so humble. And lots of energy and time is spent in creating opportunities for the display of our humility. Or we spend time wishing that the brash and obnoxious person we are in contact with could be as humble as we are… we are the perfect example of humility, modesty and meekness, and they really should learn from our example and be more like us!

However, there is an even uglier side of pride that I only discovered in my life recently. It’s the tendency to be overly self-effacing so that more and more praise is heaped; huge amounts of affirmation are dispensed. Because in being overtly brash, the amount of praise given would not satisfy the huge pit that my giant ego created. Somewhere in my mind, I had come to the primal understanding that I could get more praise and recognition about certain gifts by putting on a show of being humble or pretending to attach little value to a thing that was in fact so precious to me and a source of deep vanity and pride.

Something that I have increasingly come to understand is this: The sin of the pride of life takes root when we start to hinge our identity on temporal things – things that require us to call attention to them and is thus revealed in us when somebody challenges these temporary things.

On the surface, it seems inexplicable why we should somehow try to defend these temporal gifts, abilities, and positions. However, I believe that deep inside every single person, there is a basic understanding – a God-given understanding – that these things that lure us into pride are temporal. They are temporal because there will come a day when your gift cannot be used; there will come a day when you shall be removed from your position; there will come a day when your special abilities will fade. That is why it unconsciously becomes so important to us to flaunt it, and to defend it when challenged and even in the absence of challenge because it won’t be there one day.

Pride can only be overcome by humility

Humility is sometimes erroneously understood as putting oneself down; or as refusing to accept due praise and recognition. It has erroneously been made to seem – by some – that in order to be humble, you do not use your gifts and abilities with excellence for fear of bringing unnecessary attention to them. It has also been misconstrued by others to imply bringing as little attention to oneself as possible.

In the culture in which I grew, humble people did not look at elderly and respectable people in the eye it is considered brash and confrontational. Perhaps your version of humility requires you to dress as cheaply as possible or even to deny yourself any sort of comfort.

Does your version of humility require you to be overly self-effacing? Maybe it goes deeper than just a visual display… maybe your version of humility requires you to inwardly count all your abilities, gifts and position as worthless and therefore causes you to refrain from using them.

I believe that humility is so much more than just these things. Humility begins with identity realignment. The things in which you have placed personal importance – the things that you have hinged your identity and reputation on - are the things that have the ability to lure you into pride, or show you the path to humility.

I believe that for us, humility starts by becoming Christ-like and as I mentioned last week, by a renewing of the mind. By coming in contact with the person that walked this earth and perfectly embodied humility both in his heart and in his actions – this person is Jesus Christ. Outside of him, any other kind of humility is a façade.

Your identity in Christ is something that is received through faith, and is the only permanent thing on which you can hinge your whole identity. I am coming to understand more fully the importance of having an identity and a reputation that is firmly built on something that’s not temporary. If you understand that who you are and what you are able to do is because you are first and foremost a child of the most high God and he has called you his son or daughter, everything else in life gets realigned around this concept because you realize that it’s all worthless… everything else is temporary! You are able to see your gifts, talents and position with the perspective that God created them and gave them to you. And because they are powerless to lure you into pride, you are able to use them as God initially intended and in the process, instead of bringing all the attention to you, you are able to bring praise and honor to him through their use.

Your worth as a Child of God is tremendous – the price he paid to get you back shows it – and you do not need to defend it, and neither does God. Your worth comes from him and is completed by your faith in him. And so everything that you formerly used to bring definition and worth to who you are instead becomes a tool and an avenue to bring him glory.

Does that mean that there is no more recognition for the things you have done? No there isn’t, but it’s no longer important whether there is or there isn’t. You no longer need to call attention to your exploits.

So… what now?

Because we are a fallen people, each one of us is prone to succumbing to the sin of the pride of life – one of the most deceitful and hidden sins common to mankind. An even bigger problem with pride is that while all are prone to it, a significantly large percentage of us are not even willing to admit that we have allowed this cancer to consume us so much.

Unfortunately, for those of us for whom it is a struggle, the longer it takes to admit that we are being destroyed by this cancer, the bigger it grows within us and starts to choke the life out of us and those around us. Before you know it, the church leadership has to contend with unpleasant congregational members that are quick to see the wrong in everything in the church and yet are too proud to be open to correction or meaningful dialogue. Suddenly families are being ripped apart because the members in the family are too proud to sit down and have meaningful and level-headed discussion. Suddenly we find ourselves in a cut-throat world where it is the norm to have everybody living a life of selfish ambition, exploitation and greed because pride does not let them see the needs of those around them.

Do you know what’s absurd in all this? Almost every last one of the people caught in this web really and truly does not think that they are proud. This is the ultimate deceptiveness of the pride of life – its ability to remain concealed and fool the one it has trapped. It is regrettable, but it is the truth.

Only Jesus has the ability to cut through the lies and expose us for who we truly are. Only Jesus has the power to peel back the layers and help us see the damage that the cancer of the pride of life has caused in our lives and those around us. But he’s a gentle and caring doctor because the bible says that he understands, and is sympathetic to our situation because he was tempted in every way… even in the area of the pride of life.

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Matthew 4: 1 – 11
Philippians 2: 1 – 11
Romans 12: 3

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I believe that with every new level we achieve in our excellence in execution and presentation and seeing God’s hand of blessing, we experience a new and even more challenging test in the area of pride. I have seen the root of pride drive a wedge between people that were inseparable. I have also seen it completely destroy the foundation of ministries that seemed rock solid in the past. We need to make sure that we are constantly on our guard against the enemy’s subtle schemes to wreck our ministry together.

I got your back in this… do you have mine?

Radical Minimum Standard (title borrowed... not mine)

2007-12-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

I have a thought that I have shared with many congregations, groups and individuals when I have the chance to talk about the church and the fact that even though we are in the world, our new-found identity as members of the Body of Christ, grafted into his family requires us to not be OF this world.

I’m sure you have heard me say at least once that we need to become less Canadian and more Christian.

Because we live in a society in which the 10 commandments are regularly/generally followed with minor exceptions here and there, for many of us, there is not much distinction between our lives as Canadians before we knew Christ and our lives now that we are Christians.

I submit that because we call ourselves Christians, the state, country, kingdom to which we belong ceases to be our earthly state. As much as our physical bodies may exist and operate in a physical, earthly state, our citizenship changes and I think that this is what Paul talks about all throughout the book of Romans… helping the Roman Christians to understand the fundamental truth that their allegiance should be first and foremost to their newfound identity and should trump their original allegiances and patriotic tendencies.

Paul builds on a poignant charge to offer ourselves as “Living Sacrifices” holy and pleasing to God (which we looked at last week) with an even more demanding charge to refuse to conform any longer to the pattern of the world.

Because the pattern of the world in which we find ourselves – post-modern, post Christian Canada – bears some kind of resemblance to the pattern we should be following, my thought is that it is even more challenging for us as worshippers and Christians living in this society. The reason our “world” resembles Christianity so much is that we live in a society that was founded on Christian principles… and so just like children resemble their parents and share many traits, so our society right now resembles the Christian culture that founded it. The difference, however, is that the similarity only starts and ends in the resemblance, but does not continue to the motives, the values, and even the principles; and is evidenced by the fact that the patterns of the “world” in which we live cause as much harm (or even more) to society as the good they desperately try to do.

Therefore, this pattern, even though it bears resemblance, isn’t really a genuine pattern and therefore we must make sure that we are not conforming to a pattern that is counterfeit and extremely deceptive when it first sets in. I understand and will even concede that a lot of what Canadians (culture, patterns, tendencies) do is good, but if we are called to be non-conformist, it means that our minimum standard becomes more radical than the one in which we live in order that we are “set apart” as scripture calls us to be.

I believe that the church today needs to undergo what Paul calls a “transformation by the renewing of the mind” to capture the true essence of the radically different pattern of the kingdom of God on this earth. I also strongly believe that the “world” actually longs for this pattern of the kingdom of God because they are desperately trying to make this world a better place and exercise justice and mercy; albeit from their skewed point of view.

True justice and mercy can only be understood by somebody that has allowed the Spirit of God to reveal to them the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross – understanding that Jesus’ death was to satisfy Justice, and his victory over sin and the grave extended to us is an extravagant show of mercy. A worldview – a pattern - that acknowledges this is then able to exercise Justice and Mercy for more than humanitarian reasons.

What does this mean for us as worship ministers?

I think the answer comes from the last sentence of verse 2 in Romans 12, which says,

“ Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will”

A worship team that has chosen to live a life inspired by the Holy Spirit, that recognizes that their call is to be more than just conformists to the pattern of this world, is a worship team (I believe) that shall see in increasing measure God’s perfect will for their church and worship gatherings.

I therefore call all of us to a radically different minimal standard that requires us not only to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, but to live lives that may sometimes bear resemblance to the world, but are actually remarkably different. Obviously none of this is possible without yielding your life to the work of the Holy Spirit and the transforming power that he has… but we each have to make a cognitive decision to put ourselves under his will in order that this may be accomplished in our lives.

Romans 12: 2

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If you are a member of the choir, you’ll probably remember the first talk I gave when we resumed meetings for the fall in September ’07. One of the things I said back then is this: “You are on my side!”

If you were there for that meeting, you’ll probably remember that I said “Politics and political maneuvering has no place in the worship ministry at Woodvale”… and by politics, I was referring to using the processes of dissention and underhandedness to create a majority of dissenters and people working against the leadership – basically the bad side of politics.

I am happy to say that as a team, we are doing quite well in this area and I would like to urge us to keep this as a cornerstone value of our ministry. Because we are on the same side, we need not spend sideways energy fighting each other because there is a more important battle that we have to win – the battle for the souls of our congregation, family members, etc…

I think that this is directly tied in with the thoughts about being non-conformist with relation to the patterns of this world. May they see in us the ability to put differences aside to achieve the common goal of connecting people with God, and when we finally come before Jesus to give account for the ministry he placed in our hands, I pray that we will not be found wanting because we wasted time fighting each other and not the enemy.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers!

Starting out...

2007-12-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

My desire is to see the worship ministry at Woodvale Pentecostal Church become so undeniably potent that what happens during our services becomes so much more than a duplication of services gone by, but an encounter with a transcendent, all powerful God.

My desire is that what happens at Woodvale through our worship services and encounters with God shall spill out into the congregations in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and even to the rest of the world.

I believe that we have entered into a new season as a church and that as God moves through all the ministries here at Woodvale, we too should position our hearts, lives, and energies in such a way that we capture God's heart for worship at Woodvale Pentecostal Church.

This blog is going to contain my thoughts on scriptures, concepts and ideas about worship that I feel led to share with the members of the worship team at Woodvale Pentecostal Church.

There will be a new entry every week, so feel free to bookmark this page and check back weekly for my most current blog about worship and music.

Blessings!

P

Living Sacrifices?

2007-12-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

I do not know if you have ever heard this before...

Somebody once said that the trouble with "living Sacrifices" is that they have a habit of jumping off the alter when the fire is turned on.

Anybody that has been in the church for a while has gained an understanding of what a "sacrifice" is, and therefore knows that in the ancient Jewish tradition, from which Christianity was born, the sacrifices to God were burnt up at the altar.

The concept of "Living Sacrifices" is taken from Paul's letter to the Romans and he launches into this concept after talking about the fact that we should be deeply grateful for the salvation that we have received and come to understand as gentiles. Jesus was born among the Jews and he worked really hard to reveal himself to them; but while many of them rejected him then, and still do even to this day, he chose also to reveal himself to the gentiles because he is a savior for all humanity.

Paul launches into the "living sacrifices" concept as a reflection on his argument/thesis about Jesus being a savior to all mankind and asserts that our Spiritual (reasonable) act of worship in view of this is to allow ourselves to be sacrifices.

But it is MUCH MORE than merely ALLOWING yourself, because that may suggest coercion at some level. He takes it up a notch and asks you to willingly OFFER yourself as a living sacrifice... making no room for coercion and making it about a cognitive process in the mind of the gentile unbeliever. According to Paul, it SHOULD be our natural response if we truly understand what it means for us to be grafted into the family of God through Jesus. This privilege requires us to willingly place ourselves on the alter of God and allow his fire to consume us even when it starts to get searingly hot and uncomfortable.

Because we are a worship team that seeks to connect people with God and see him move in ways that we could not have even began to imagine, we have to familiarize ourselves FIRST with the concept of being Living Sacrifices. Understand that what God wants to do in our church is not all going to be fun and games...understand that there will be rebuking, breaking, shaping, re-making, molding... processes that will not be easy for all of us as a church to go through, but as he refines us and changes us into the church he wants us to be, the people who lead the charge - pastors, and volunteer leaders - have to allow these processes to start with them first.

So instead of being an unwilling, unsuspecting Living Sacrifice that jumps off the altar at any sign of discomfort, I call you to a mental, spiritual and physical posture of surrender and humility. I call out to you to realize that in view of God's mercy and forgiveness, our reasonable, spiritual response is to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God and allow him to refine and transform us.

Romans 12: 1

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Speaking of the process of refining and transformation, I would like to bring to us all a thought that I have shared with everybody on the worship team at least once.

Communication

Whether you realize it or not, when you stand (or sit, in my case) on stage, your body and facial expressions have a subconscious resting place and if we are brutally honest, for most of us, it is not one that facilitates worship.

I cannot count the number of times I have sat through worship services where the worship team look like they were dragged out of their beds and forced to stand on stage and sing. I cannot count the number of times when I have watched a cantata or other choir presentation and wished most of the choir had not showed up because of the sour expressions on their faces.

All the entertainers and good speakers that we either loathe or love understand one fundamental principle... you communicate so much with your body without EVER SAYING ANYTHING.

A worship leader that desires to connect with the congregation well enough to be able to subsequently connect them with God understands that he or she cannot allow him or herself to be standing on stage with a nonchalant expression. This person understands that you cannot stand like an expressionless tree and somehow expect that people will emotionally connect with a God that spared no expense to get them back to him. This person grows in the understanding that in order to be a witness of exuberant worship, it has to start with them, and flow out to the congregation... or else a congregation that desires to be exuberant will feel awkward because the leaders do not "endorse" it through their actions. I know some will start to counter this with the whole conversation about varying levels of exuberance... but understand that a stoic worship team trains and eventually produces a stoic congregation. Conversely, an expressive worship team trains and eventually produces an expressive congregation; albeit haltingly at first, but without restraint in the end.

What is the picture of worship that you want to see at woodvale? You have to become an image of that picture before we see it manifest at the congregation-wide level here.

I'd like to end by making sure that you understand that this entry is about spurring us forward... not patting us on the back. I value you all, I respect you all, and I am thankful to be on the platform, in Jesus' service, and on the battlefield with all of you.

For his glory and for his fame!