Instrumental Reflection Break
Jul 20, 2009 Free Stuff
For one more week I will take a break from posting an instrumental reflection. I unintentionally went on break from them during My weeks of summer camp. I I tended to record some of me playing piano at camp but seems like all I aged was guitar. That being said look for new reflections and othe regular blog posts to resume shortly.
Tags: break, camp, guitar, Instrumental, piano, reflections, summer
When it’s Ok Not to Produce Fruit
May 30, 2009 Worship Planning
I recently have taken up the fine art of gardening. It’s nothing serious, but I do like to buy plants and see how long I can keep them alive. Right now I have some petunias, coleus, daisies, and on the vegetable side beans, watermelon, tomatoes, peppers and some rosemary.
When I started with these plants in the spring, I took care to plant, water, and take care of them like I should. Some of them I grew from seed, so I planted the seeds, covered them with soil, and watered. Some of the plants though started as plants. These required me to take them from their growing containers and transplant them where they would be, some in containers and some in the ground. The seeds came with instructions, the plants did not. So I headed to the internet to get some advice. It was while looking that something took me completly by surprise. I was looking up how to transplant some of the flowers I had purchased and one of the first things it said to do was to pinch off the flowers.
I thought, “Now just wait a minute! The flowers? Thats what I bought the plant for!”
You see I really did not buy the petunias because of the green leaves, or the white roots going beneath the surface. I bought them because of the pretty flowers that opened up, smelled sweet, and attracted butterflies. Why in the world would I want to pinch off the flowers?
Well, according to this website, by pinching off the flowers you give the plant a chance to focus on the roots. When it doesn’t have to worry about putting out pollen, or making petals, it can concentrate on growing deep, and strong, and becoming a more healthy plant. And a more healthy plant will produce more flowers, not immediately, but they will come.
I wonder if the same could be said of a church as a whole, or the individual ministries within. I recently heard from a youth director friend of mine who said he was taking the summer off. No weekly gatherings, no Sunday School, aside from some big trips the program was closed for the summer. I will admit that at first I thought this a little strange but then I remembered about the plants. Pinch off the flowers now, so you can build strong roots and more flowers later, and have a stronger plant, or ministry.
And if you think about it God shows us this every year with something we call seasons. In the Spring and Summer everything is blooming and growing and producing. In the fall things begin to slow down, the leaves begin to die and descend, the fruit trees stop producing. In the winter bears hibernate, trees shut down, and the natural world kind of stops, refreshes and recoups. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us there is a season and a time for everything.
This has made me wonder. Am I so focused on producing fruit that I am not taking time to develop roots? As a church would it be right to take time to grow stronger within, so we could then be a stronger witness to the world? Is it ok to spend time as a church focusing on discipleship, and fellowship and not on evangelism and witness, for a season?
No I don’t guess we could take the summer off from church services, but here are some suggestions I have thought of that could give me and my team time to focus on roots, more than fruits.
1. Guest Leaders- My team leads worship week in and week out. While everyone has the chance to take a week off here and there, bringing in a guest band or worship leader would give my entire team a chance to not be on the stage. Maybe they go to church and sit in the congregation, maybe they spend a Sunday morning with family, or maybe they even stay home and sleep in. Who knows, but a guest leader can give you that opportunity.
2. No New Songs- We have a list of about 90 worship songs that we use during the year. Normally we try to continue adding new songs to our repertoire. But what if for the summer we did not. Surely we can come up with enough variety in the songs we know, not to have to stress out learning new music.
3. Don’t rehearse- Actually by doing the No New Songs mentioned above we were able to do this one. We choose songs we pretty well know and instead of rehearsing during the week we meet up on Sunday Mornings to go through them. (This actually became our normal schedule.. read how!)
4. Retreat-Get away as a group and go do something fun. This would be made easier by utilizing a guest leader as mentioned in #1. I have thought of taking our group to a retreat center for a few nights. Have everyone bring instruments and sit around and jam. Take time to talk about the past year and think about the next year. Listen through and suggest songs to learn. Teach someone else your instrument. Have bible studies, play games, break bread, share communion.
What do you think?
Tags: break, petunias, plants, recoup, retreat, seasons, summer, take off
Lessons Learned from My Dogs- #1 Let It Go
Jan 26, 2009 Devotions and Thoughts
I have 4 dogs and a cat. Each one has their own personality and quirks and I love them all. The amazing thing is that for the most part they all get along, even the cat. What has suprised me though is how, by watching them interact, I have learned some really great lessons.
I thought I would take a chance to break from my usual posts about chords, or music, or worship, to share some of these insights with you from time to time.
This evening we were sitting in the living room watching tv. As usual Jaeda our Cocker Spaniel was on the back of the couch, Ultra had claimed the love seat and Honey, the Lab/Greyhound was laying in the middle of the floor chewing on a nylabone. That’s when Mia, the fourth dog, walked right up to Honey, put her mouth on the nylabone and took it away. Mia walked away about five feet, laid down and began to chew on her recently stolen treasure.
I know if that had happened to me I would have done one of two things. Either gone over and taken it right back, or gone and complained to a higher authority about how something had been taken from me and it wasn’t fair.
So what was Honey’s response? Honey looked at Mia, then got up, walked over to the “toy” box and picked out another chew toy. She did not growl, she did not whine, she just moved on. She could have held on and fought but she just let it go.
What did I learn? Sometimes it’s best to just let it go. I recall this verse from 2 Timothy.
“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 2 Timothy 2:23″
As I look through my day I can see countless times where I get into a discussion or argument that really doesn’t matter in the end, when the best thing for me to do would be to get up, go find something else, and just let it go. Earlier in the verse 4 it says:
“No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.”
Before getting involved in one of these discussions, or arguments I really need to ask, “Does getting involved with this have anything to do with what God is wanting me to do? Does it please Him?” This question even cuts out those things that may not be harmful, but just are not relevant to me or my ministry or my calling.
So my question to you. How much of your day is spent in discussions, arguments or quarrels when it would really be best to just walk away and let it go?
Why is this important to do?
Tags: break, Chords, Devotional, dogs, lessons, Music, question, Share, walk, Win, Worship
