So to help infuse creativity into the chaos, here are five questions for worship leaders to ask as the songs are being chosen.  These are not meant to strap you in, but to set you free.  So if they don’t give you a feeling of freedom, toss them and stop reading this blog altogether.

WHAT AM I ASKING MY CONGREGATION TO RESPOND TO? In Scripture, our worship is always a response to something God has done, or is doing.  So much of the time, we hope people just respond to the music we prepare.  But there’s gotta be something more.  Pick a characteristic of God, and help people respond to that characteristic in their worship.  Become a Tour Guide, not just a Music Leader.

WHAT OLD SONG SHOULD WE PULL OUT AGAIN? So many people connect past God-moments with past lyrics.  Pick a song that you used to sing all the time.  Put a different dressing on it, and sing it loudly.

IS THERE A NEW SONG I WANT TO INTRODUCE? I always used to introduce no more than one new song per service.  Then, I’d always try to repeat that new song for three weeks straight.  If there’s a song that’s been ringing in your heart, make sure you’ve got the right band to introduce it well, and go for it.

WHAT SONG WILL PROVIDE A DOWN MOMENT OF QUIET? Our lives are so loud, so every set should include a down time when everything “bottoms out”.  Pastors shouldn’t be scared of these moments.  What song helps provide a moment like that?

WHAT WILL YOU INVITE PEOPLE INTO DURING THE QUIET? At the bottomed out moment, what will you invite people to think, pray, or do?  Make no mistake – these can be transcendent moments in the lives of worshippers, and worship leaders have the rare opportunity to help establish a spiritual marker in their hearts.  For so many people, this IS the service take-away.

So as you recreate this thing called “worship”, and as you do it over and over and over again, I pray that these questions launch you into creativity and inspiration.  And I pray that each week begins to look and feel differently on paper, in your services, and in your creative heart.

I love that song.

As we traveled through the verses and the chorus, we finally arrived at the bridge.  It’s such a powerful moment in that song.

“Take my life and let it be, all for You and for Your glory.  Take my life and let it be Yours.”

My open hands shot upward, my eyes closed tightly, and I sang louder than before.  In that moment, I was offering my entire life to God as an offering.  And I meant it from my heart.

But in the middle of this moment, something weird happened.  In this moment of surrender, I found myself wanting something in return.

Magic.

I became full aware that I was giving God surrender, and I was expecting magic in return.  I wanted God to magically transform my life into a life lived for His glory, and I was only willing to sing a song to get there.

While my surrendered heart was what He wanted, my expectation of a magical personal transformation was not.

In essence, I was saying, “Here I am God.  I’m raising my hands.  I’m singing loudly.  I’m reconnecting with you.  And because I’m doing this stuff, it’s Your turn.  Change me, right now, in this moment.  Make it magic.”

I wonder how many times we do this as we sing our worship songs?  We surrender our hearts to God, and then expect an instantaneous transformation of our lives.  We expect magic.

The problem with this is that God is not a magician.  He’s a lover.

So for me, in that moment of surrender, while God was very pleased, He also knew that a life lived for His glory will take a ton of work on my part.

Surrender in worship on Sunday means that on Monday, I’ll need to ask people for financial donations for community restoration projects in El Salvador.  It means I’ll need to be as kind to my wife as I am to my business associates.  It means I’ll continue to care for my Dad in these final years of his life, even though I need more margin than his needs can afford.

And while the Spirit of God will walk with me and empower me, it’s my decision to live a life for God’s glory.  It can and will include moments of transcendence and wonder, but it probably won’t include magic.

At first, the guys and I were going to go with a funny video idea called “Witnessia”.  But the more we talked about it, the more we felt like we wanted to say something really important.  While some Producers use humor to do that, it’s never been our forte.  For us, the answer was to create a short film called “The Least”.  For me personally, it’s the film that’s been haunting me for a couple of years.  I’ve felt like I was supposed to create it, but I kept putting it off.  The urgent kept winning out over the important.  Happens most days to me.

So we invited a few key people to participate.  Then, we invited everyone who follows us on Twitter and Facebook to participate as extras.  We had to create a church service dismissing, then walking to the parking lot, and then to cars. We shot from 10:00am – 1:00pm in the Fresno heat (106 degrees that day).

We also had to find the perfect church building.  We found it in a neighboring town.  Pastors Paul and Greg were extremely gracious to us, allowing us to use their more-than-perfect facility.

The short film debuted at the Echo Night of Film on July 29, 2010.  As hundreds of people watched it, I felt like my heart was gonna jump out of my chest.  The three of us were interviewed afterward (live).  I muddled something like, “Mama got dogface in the banana patch”.  I was too nervous to speak with any coherence, so Dave and Jason saved the day, speaking very plainly and confidently.

So that’s the back story.  Now you know.

As you watch this film, I’m wondering if you could answer just one question?  Below, could you please tell me and other readers who you believe the sign-holders are?  We’ve already had quite a few varying opinions.  I’d love to know how you interpret this film.

And whoever the sign-holders represent for you, our prayer is that we all make a decision to do something for them.

First, it can communicate truth.  Music can do this.  Video bumpers can do this.  A masterfully crafted story can do this.  Sermons can do this.

I think the North American church has become really good at using art to communicate truth.

Secondly, art in churches can create fresh and unresolved cravings.  I wish churches would become more open to this.

“A work of art introduces us to emotions which we have never cherished before.  Great works produce, rather than satisfy needs, by giving the world fresh cravings.”

Abraham Heschel

At church this morning, we talked about legacy.  Our legacy.  I left with a fresh craving to go create a far better legacy.  It was the result of a masterfully crafted sermon, based on a Scriptural narrative (David and Solomon).  There were certain “how to’s”, but I most likely won’t remember them.  I will, however, remember that I was given a fresh craving.  I felt it deep in my gut.

Paintings and sculptures can do this.  A beautifully designed table during the Eucharist can do this. Silence can do this. Stories, music, or an unsettling video piece can all do this.

And while there are a myriad of qualifying questions to ask in the planning of our worship services, it could easily boil down to just two:

* What are we hoping to communicate?

* What fresh cravings are we hoping to ignite (not to answer, but to simply ignite)?

And the really cool thing is this – God has already hardwired the arts to truthfully, and beautifully provide the answers to both of those questions.

It can be so much more than some music, and a lecture.

YOU SHOULD GO.

Worship pastors.

Media guys and gals.

Techies.

Church volunteers.

Senior pastors who think the Creative Arts aren’t satanic, or irrelevant.

Children’s ministry workers who have a hankering for creativity.

Anyone else who can use the word “hankering” in a sentence.

YOU SHOULD GO.

Here’s why…

The Echo Conference isn’t about giving you a bunch of ideas to go home and copy.  The Conference is about equipping and training you to go home and create the best original media you can envision.

The Echo Conference is a place where artists are in a room full of people like themselves, and where senior pastors and executive leaders can feel the uniqueness of the artist’s heartbeat.

The Conference is more about inspiring, and less about informing.

Donald Miller is a keynote speaker.  I’ve heard him twice, and the guy is brilliant.

The Breakout Session speakers are largely accessible, and you’ll be able to sit down with many of them, just to talk about media, creativity, church, and other stuff.

The Conference will top out at 500-600 people.  It’s big enough to have a party, and small enough to be intimate.

Chick Fil-A Sweet Tea.

Jon Acuff was just added as a keynote.  Acuff blends humor and truth like no one I’ve ever read.

Being a Christian and drinking a beer is more okay in Dallas than in many cities.

The Conference provides a deep well of fresh water for thirsty church workers.

The food is the best at any conference, anywhere, at any time.

I’m no big deal, but I’ll be there, and I’ll be speaking, and I’d love to meet you (seriously – I could be working for you one day).  I’ll be the tall guy with no line waiting.  Scott McClellan, on the other hand, will be the tall guy with a swarm of people around him.

Floodgate will have a booth there, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be giving you something for free.

If you type in “floodgate” during the checkout process, you’ll save 20% off the TOTAL cost of your registration (you gotta do this before July 1).

Here’s the bottom line.  When I was a pastor, I attended almost every conference known to man.  As a media guy, I’ve been to the other ones. And I can honestly say that the Echo Conference is the most unique, and most inspiring Conference I’ve attended in the past ten years.

YOU SHOULD GO.

Really.

Today, I want to look at what Jesus did on Monday during Passion Week (Mark 11:12-19).  There’s so much here, and I apologize for the length.  I pray that this can become kind of a devotion for you today, and that you might not feel the need to hurry through it.

You’ll also discover that I don’t really come to any conclusion, only some suggestions.

So here’s what happened that Monday…

¹⁵On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, ¹⁶and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written:
” ‘My house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations’^[c]? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’^[d]

Jesus went to the temple courts, saw what was going on in the name of God, and got really, really ticked.  He went on a rampage.

But why?

The classic interpretation suggests that people were buying and selling stuff in God’s house, and that’s not okay.  So for churches that have a coffee bar, Jesus might toss the latte machine out the window.

I wonder if something else is going on here, and I wonder if the Old Testament passage Jesus quotes informs our understanding?  The passage Jesus quotes is Isaiah 56.  There’s not enough room to print it all here, but you should really go read it for yourself, then come back.

In verses 4-5, Isaiah addresses eunuchs.  He says that, if these people who are ceremonially incomplete (and perhaps even considered to be unclean) pursue God, and honor Him by keeping the Sabbath (an issue of dedicating themselves to Yahweh in addition to the King they serve), then God will call them “sons and daughters”, and they “will not be cut off” (that’s some really funny wording for eunuchs, but I’m not going there).  Here’s the point:

Those who are considered ceremonially incomplete or unclean, but who love God and are pursuing Him, are not out.  They’re in.

Next, in verses 6-7, Isaiah addresses the foreigner – the alien – the non-Israelite.  He basically says the same thing, adding that they will find “joy in the House of Prayer”.

Those who are considered nationally unclean, but who love God and are pursuing Him, are not out.  They’re in.

He ends his thoughts with this:  “For My house will be called a House of Prayer for all nations.”

ALL nations.

Back to the Temple, on Monday.

The mention of selling doves is important.  Because of God’s grace and kindness, this was the only sacrifice God required from the poorest of the poor.  Not a fattened lamb, or bull, or scapegoat.  And the mention of Temple “courts” is important too.  The courts of the Temple were where everyone was invited to come, pray, and experience God.  Nationality or social status was never meant to exclude people (maybe that’s why the Acts 2 church met there – so everyone could come).

Those who are considered marginalized and not worthy of love, but who love God and are pursuing Him, are not out.  They’re in.

But because of a pricing issue, the poor were actually excluded from experiencing atonement (the sacrifice of a dove) because they couldn’t afford it.  Even more importantly, they became excluded from the Grand Invitation of becoming sons and daughters.

Do you see the heart of God?  From the beginning, God’s heart was for Israel to become a light to the world, not an exclusive club.  And when well-meaning people block that invitation, God gets really, really ticked.  That’s why the religious leaders plotted to kill Jesus – their club was being compromised.

Wanna apply this to the Christian church today?

God’s heart is for Christ’s Church to become a light to the world, not an exclusive club.  And when well-meaning people block that invitation, God gets really, really ticked.

Jesus did nothing by accident.  And it was certainly no accident that, four days before opening the way for everyone through the cross, He turned the tables on people who had blocked the way of the Old Covenant.

When our churches invite “anyone” to come, we really need to mean that.  God’s heart is, and has always been, that for people who are willing to experience God on God’s terms (even if they’re not sure what that means), they are invited to come, learn, grow, and worship.

Dave Wilkins – one of the Partners at Floodgate, created this video.  It expresses the invitation better than I ever could.

Come As You Are from Floodgate Productions on Vimeo.

It doesn’t matter if your church is young, old, or somewhere in between.

It doesn’t matter if your church loves drums, hates drums, or burns drums.

From the deepest part of my gut, I honestly believe that – when everything seems to be falling apart around us, now more than ever – churches need to remember that this Easter, there are extenuating circumstances in most of our lives.

Please excuse my pathetic scribble.

On the biggest day of the year, I’m praying that churches spend less time proving that Jesus rose from the dead, and more time helping normal people connect an empty tomb with a renewed sense of life-altering hope.

And I see with extreme clarity the things I’d do different when planning and implementing a church’s Easter services.

So when I stop all the self-editing I’m prone toward, here’s what comes out…

I WOULDN’T COUNT THE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE. Knowing the number of people who attended the Easter services only did more harm than good to my heart.  While it always provided a temporary emotional lift, the next weekend services descended back down to a more normal level of attendeees.  Reality set in, always mixed with a little depression.  We should know names, then follow up – hard.  But counting them never really did much good – except when I would later brag to other pastors about that number.  Size mattered, I guess.

I’D TELL MORE PEOPLE-STORIES. I’d focus on creating 2-3 video stories of people whose lives have been absolutely transformed by the life of Christ.  I’d work at weaving those creatively into the entire Easter experience.  I’d also work to make baptisms (lots of them) happen during the Easter services.

I’D PERFORM A SECULAR SONG THAT EVERYONE KNOWS. Connecting with the blessed Unchurched is SO important on Easter.  I’d find a great secular song that everyone knows, and kick off the service with it.  I’ve been dying for a church to start their Easter services with Boston’s “Don’t Look Back”, or Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate”.  Talk about setting the tone for a party!

I WOULDN’T PUT ADDED PRESSURE ON ARTISTS. I used to gather all the artists together (musicians, media folks, actors, etc.) and give them a pep talk.  Usually that pep talk reminded them that “this is the biggest service of the year, so do everything extremely well.”  While all of that’s true, they didn’t need me to remind them of that, placing even more responsibility on their volunteer shoulders.  They ALREADY knew the stakes were higher – I didn’t have to tell them that.  And if they didn’t already feel that, they probably shouldn’t be on the Easter stage.

I’D PAY ATTENTION TO UNPLANNED MOMENTS. Once the service gets moving, there are always unplanned moments when the Spirit of God whispers, “By the way.  I’m here.”  When those moments happen, it’s so important for the pastor, emcee, or worship leader to say something like, “That feeling we have right now is God.  We hadn’t planned this, but He did.”  It’s so easy to become solely concerned with getting through the service elements, and miss the God who is speaking through those elements.

I’D REHEARSE EVERY TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT. As a pastor, I was the king of wing.  I wish I had planned exactly what to say in key transitional moments, and not winged it so much.  I don’t think I ever realized this truth…

Coming out of a reflective song, testimony, or video, I could literally implant truth into the hearts of everyone in the room, with the exact sentence I uttered next.

If I had it to do over, I’d require that everyone on the stage write out, then memorize, then rehearse their transitional statements within the services.  This not only takes away any ackward distractions; it also frees leaders to recognize God-moments better when they happen, because we’re not so concerned with making something up on the fly.

That’s a long list of do-overs.  I hadn’t planned on making this post as long.  I never do.

God’s richest blessings to you and your church as you plan and implement this year’s Easter services.

I’d like to identify three distinct worship environments that you may be a part of.¬† You may or may not have thought about them in these terms.¬† There are so many ways to slice this pie, and I’m not saying that this the only way to do it.¬† It’s just something I’ve been thinking about lately.

To help identify these three distinct worship environments, I’ll use the terms “Seeker” and “Christian”.¬† By “Seeker”, I’m referring to people who are open to God, but who have not yet placed their faith in Jesus.¬† By “Christian”, I’m referring to people who have already placed their trust in Jesus Christ, and who are seeking Him with their whole hearts.

Here are the three worship environments…

Speak to Seekers, knowing that Christians are in the Room.¬† A friend of mine visited a church recently, and her comment was this:¬† “I feel like the pastor was talking to non-Christians, and speaking around Christians.”¬† In this kind of worship environment, Christians are there primarily to serve the needs of seekers, and are therefore encouraged to put their own wants and needs aside.¬† A common critique from Christians is that it’s not “deep enough”.¬† As pastors and creative staff members prepare for this event during the week, they’re thinking about what Seekers need to hear and experience.

Speak to Christians, knowing that Seekers in the Room.¬† In this kind of worship environment, there is less concern with offending Seekers.¬† This, however, is balanced with explaining to Seekers what certain inclusive Christian terms mean.¬† As pastors and creative staff members prepare for this event during the week, they’re thinking about what Christians need to hear and experience, but they’re choosing their words carefully.

Speak to Christians, without any awareness of Seekers in the Room.¬† In this kind of worship environment, the assumption is that everyone knows Jesus, knows Scripture, and knows what the Gospels are.¬† You’ll hear speakers and leaders say things like, “We all remember the story of Jonah…”, because the assumption in the room is that everyone does remember the story of Jonah.¬† Seekers are given a place, but not in the worship service.¬† Their participation and assimilation into the life of the community starts in a class, or a small group.

So my question to you is simple.

If we want to influence our community and our world, which environment is best?

I’m not asking which environment you prefer, or which environment you participate in currently.¬† I’m asking what you honestly believe about which environment works the BEST to influence your community and your world with the love and grace of Christ?

If we want to influence our community and our world, which worship environment is best?

I’d love to hear your responses…

When I was a teenager, bands like “Rez Band” (called “Resurrection Band” back then) and “Servant” proved that they could sound like Randy Rhoades and Eddie Van Halen.  My best friend – Nick – and I saw “Servant” in an abandoned warehouse downtown, and some no name band called “Petra” opened for them. Their eight-tracks, and their live shows, were incredibly inspiring to me.

It was good stuff.

But some of it’s not so good anymore.  So I’m writing a letter to the CCM industry.  And I’m asking that one thing be remembered as these song-writers open a blank word processing document, and begin to put phrases down. Here’s my letter…

___________________

Dear CCM:

I humbly request that you recognize that God is not your girlfriend.  I’m quite sure you already know this, but the lyrics you produce, and the albums you record, seem to indicate that you don’t understand this truth completely.

I’d like to propose a ban on the following phrases when you write your lyrics.  Please treat my proposed ban like we treat the swine flu epidemic – do everything you can to keep it from spreading.

My proposed banned phrases:

* “I just wanna be with you.” God is with you, whether you want Him to be, or not.  He is ommipresent.

* “Take me as I am”.  He’s not ever gonna take you as you are.  His holiness demands that He cannot.  God takes you as Jesus is, not as you are.  No need to keep begging.

* “Take me away”.  God wants the opposite for each of us reading this.  He wants us to partner with Him in fixing a broken world, not escaping from it.

* “Let me see you”.  You really don’t want Him to answer this.  Moses begged for it, and He saw God’s butt.  If we ever saw God, we’d disintegrate.  Faster than the guy at the end of Indiana Jones.  An act of God’s grace is for us to see His work, but not His person.

So CCM – you’re probably wondering why this is so important to me.  It’s quite simple, really.  I have three teenage daughters who are deeply influenced by your songs.  They sing your words by heart.  They know the lyrics to your songs far better than they know Scripture.  So if you’re gonna become such an influence in the lives of my daughters (and in the lives of millions of teengers and young adults), I would simply ask that you hold high the Almighty God in ALL His holiness.  My daughters, and the millions of people in their generation, really need to know the One True God.  They need to know the love and the grace of a holy God.

Because God is not your girlfriend.

Not even close.