The difference between You and They

They say I need to find myself,
You tell me to lose myself.

They encourage me to 'Be myself'
You say I should imitate You.

They are afraid of identity theft,
You require that I assume yours.

They tell me to believe only in myself,
You say I must only in believe You.

I think You and They should meet!

What Is In God's House?

As a worship leader, pastor and musician I often encounter intersting view points on what worship is, how it should look (or sound) and what each person is comfortable doing or expressing as worship. Over the past week I have had a couple of people make the following statement to me, 'worship isn't just singing!', and it got me thinking.

My first thought was, 'where does this comment come from?'. I suppose this statement is common today because so many of our worship leaders are saying things like "worship is more than singing, it's your whole life!" (which I agree with whole heartedly!). In fact I have a friend who just wrote a book about worship as a lifestyle. But I think it is more than our worship leaders who are selling that message, I believe it is also because we live in an age of relative truth and extreme personal freedom. A world were the 'nobody can tell me what to do' attitude reigns supreme. I could even go as far as saying that it is a subversive ploy by the enemy to keep us from encountering the transcendent! But the truth is I don't know all the reasons behind the question, but I do understand one important thing - singing is a divinely ordained activity that can not go untouched!

I want to ask a simple question. What's in your house?

I believe you can tell a lot about a person by what's in their house (or apartment), or better yet, what's in your room? Generally speaking people surround themselves with things that they love. It may be dictated by the size of your home, or the amount of disposable income you have. But we all find ways of surrounding ourselves with the things that make us happy/comfortable. And so our home environment says a lot about what things give us pleasure!

The musician will have her piano or stereo.
The naturalist will have flowers (and probably lots of windows)
The thinker will have a library full of books.
The outdoorsman will have his bear skin rug and deer head

We all surround ourselves with things that inspire us, fill us and provide the most passion and joy.

So I have to ask myself the question, what has God surrounded himself with? After all, God created everything and can therefore surround himself with ANYTHING he could possibly want. What did he choose? What did God fill heaven with?

Well we don't know all the details of heaven, but one thing we do know is that there is lots of singing! In the book of Revelation we have an account of the four living creatures singing a new song (Rev 5:9), every living creature singing together (Rev 5:13), the 144,000 singing another new song (14:3), the seven angels sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (15:3).

(Interestingly enough, wee also know that God the Father rejoices over us with singing (Zeph 3:17) and that King David was a song writer/singer and God describes him as a 'man after my own heart'.)

Singing must be one of God's favourite things! Why else would he sing over us! Why else would he have all of creation sing to Him in heaven!! Unless you hold to a 'God punishes himself to get pleasure' theology, it would seem quite clear that God loves singing!

So why is it good when we sing together? Because it reflects our destiny. Because we are made in God's likeness and therefore are designed to love and do the things he loves. Because singing carries a divine characteristic of God that nothing else expresses (much like sex!). In singing we find a mysterious encounter with God's heart. We also find a vehicle in which every living thing can join in unity of heart, mind, soul and strength. Singing is one of the greatest universal languages and expressions of joy, passion and sorrow. Is there any wonder why stations with a musical format dominate our radios, MTV dominates our TV, and MP3 players and iTunes define our modern culture! We were made to sing!

How many of us have gone to a funeral and sang the deceased persons favourite song? I know I have and it is incredibly moving! (Try that with a bear skin rug or a vase of flowers!). We all have 'our songs', songs that say the things we wish we could say. Kids sing when they are happy. We love to sing in the shower, our cars and often in the foolishness of first love. It is the essence of joy expressed. It is freedom. It is passion. It is beauty. It is divine!

Are there other ways to express worship? Yes! But when it comes to touching the heart of God in corporate worship the sing along reigns supreme. Why? Becuase that's the way God designed it. The earthly is designed to reflect the heavenly.

So the next time you are on the verge of checking out of a worship service because you aren't the "singing type", ask yourself this question "What is in God's house?"

Happy singing!

My Name is Jon, and I'm Not a Butterfly

I've never been to a 12-step program but I've lived long enough to know that they love you to begin your sharing by saying "Hi, I'm (insert name) and I'm an (insert struggle)". Why do they do this? I can only assume it is because they've learned that the best place to start is by confessing the truth - and usually the truth is that we are weak, broken people.

I know I'm broken. I know my wife is broken. And I have yet to have a friend who shares openly with me who has not turned out to be broken as well. I will even go as far as saying that you are broken! Do I know you? No, probably not that well. But I know that you are broken on some level.

My question is this - if we know we are broken, and everyone else around us knows that we are broken, why do we all try so hard to fake it? Add on top of that the fact that I am a follower of Jesus and it pretty much guarentees that I will be expected to have it together (or as they call it, be living 'victoriously'). Yet I consistently find that extremely unhelpful. When I tell people I have it together (even if I really do) they resent me for it. People seldom want to hear that you are finding your way when they are not. It's like a slap in the face! And so, as I've grown older, I've begun to share more out of my brokenness. The result has been that more people connect with what I'm sharing. So why am I blogging about this?

A few years ago I had a church leader (whom I respect very much) tell me that 'people don't want to hear about how you are struggling unless you have walked thru the struggle onto a place of victory!'. (Interestingly enough, this leader was inviting me to join their staff as worship director and I knew the moment I heard his 'encouragement' that I could never lead worship authenticly under such guidance.). My experience has been the exact opposite of this persons view. I find the more I share out of my weakness, the more people find common ground and encouragement from the fact that I'm still pressing into God in life/worship.

I'd be interested to know if this holds true for you?

I'm not simply saying that misery loves company, I'm posing the question - If in my brokennes I crawl into the light of God's love, and from that place declare my struggle to the world. Who will be drawn into the light with me? Will it not be other people with a similar brokenness? And is that in fact the place we all want to be! Our entire life is about drawing people out of the dark into the light of mercy.

So what is my thought? I guess it would be this:

To be a moth held captive by the light; I must first admit I'm not a butterfly.