Music In the Missional Church

Meaningful musical experiences outside the church.

Climbing a mountain singing a song

Being in a band with friends

Writing a song with a friend

Looking into eyes that see words forming melodies of life eyes that see music forming. He sees so much more that what any of us do...He can't see us, but he understands us...he knows us. He tells stories and paints pictures. Goth makeup and black clothes that he's never seen. They were singing it like no one was watching. Like the last song they'd ever get to sing. He can't see the smiles, see the tears, see the standing ovation.

Hearing voices singing hymns from memory.

You hear the average anthem and the average praise song, you associate them with the "innoculations" that we've heard in the Bible...Lion King and the circle of life - we relate to this. We have to sing versus what we wish we were singing.

The idea of preaching at a wedding versus preaching at a funeral...hope versus celebration, that which we want to happen that might not, that which has happened, the story of a life lived...telling our stories versus telling someone else.

Side by side (we don't have a barrel of money)...walkin' along, singin' a song, The whole song is the gospel. It's about what we're looking for...we see what we're looking for. New languages to sing the gospel. 3000 church leaders understood it for the first time. Who are we talking to? We're so stuck in what we "should" be doing.

We have to have music in every conceivable musical language. Pipe organ and drums together...why do the two have to be mutually exclusive? Honoring the heritage but bravely using something new.

What would happen if when we sang one of the old great hymns, if we told a story about the hymn...what it meant to our Grandpa, Pairing music with story.

The girl that slept around and did drugs. Did alcohol. Led mom's sons astray. But then I went to a christian rock concert and heard a song. With drums. Grandma, will you listen to that song? with drums in church? will you let me share it with you?

I come to the garden alone. I hated that song. 1989... a pastor from China who was put in prison for his faith...my job is to shovel out the cesspool. I was there by myself. I can sing as loud as I want. I only know one christian song, I COME TO THE GARDEN ALONE...and the cesspool becomes my garden. I have to respond to the story. I don't have a choice. 5000 of us sing...and 5000 of us have tears in our eyes. We have to respond. We've heard the story.

Every church has people that speak country, jazz, folk music...what happens if you read the pentecost story, preach a pentecost sermon, and you do the hymn of the day 'the answer my friend is blowing in the wind' and the old hippie who knew they were going to change the world hears that song and recounts stories about their time in jail...you have hooked them.

Trinity Sunday - the comforter who has come. One is the loneliest number...wow. Holy Crap. We're not alone. we need to be able to speak many musical languages. Music therapy.

I brought you this dinner because I believe that God wants us to love each other...goodnight. That was all.

The man who pounds on the strings of the piano...The keys are too limiting.

It's dangerous to have the services split. the traditional for the old folks, the contemporary for the families, a 20 something service, but we're tearing apart the fabric of the church. What would happen if you told your jazz musicians that they should do one piece, a blues piece, about being alone. Combine the things. the jazz musicians get to hear Handel singing the blues, and Handel gets to hear the jazz musicians singing the blues.

If I start praying with a song...maybe someone else will sing and pray along.

The Church Is....We Are...

The Dead Sea. No movement, no rainfall. Nothing flowing in, nothing flowing out. Stagnation. The Jordan River. Flowing. Fresh. Teeming with life. This is a better picture of what the church can be like. Discipleship is not just retraining the same old people. It is reaching out. The church as an outpost for the Gospel.

Stages - - 1)))Live an evangelistic life. Live it. But I'm not gifted in this. Roughly 5-10 percent would say that they are, but even they don't want to admit it because of the stereotypes that are then bestowed upon them. The Bible is not multiple choice. The Bible is an all of the above. We don't get to pick whether we are going to be a missional church, an outreach church, a contemporary church, a good eating church... I have no special gift, but there are some things I do to try and live out what I have been called to do...let me show you. And we were blown away. You can go out and mess up - - and God might use it anyway. So...what do we do? How do we grow our heart that is four sizes too small? I haven't 'so loved the world' enough to even take care of my neighbor lately. What we become as leaders is what our church is likely to become. We must reflect what we want others to be. A)))Passages. Go to the Bible, find what fires you up. How do we let the word of God dwell in us richly? How do we see through chapter and verse eyes? Hebrews 13:2. Luke 16 - Lazarus. Luke 15 - the Lost - that which is missing. John 4 - the woman at the well. B)))Partner. Who is in your life, that when you are around them, they fire you up to reach for the people on the outside? Amy. Logan. Jeff. Katie. C)))Person. We have to get out of the labratory (lavratory?) and get out on the field. HMMMMmmm... there's a story here... who should we be looking for...to...at...walking with...reaching out to... It would revolutionize our churches if we all had someone that we loved who was far from the Gospel. D)))Prayer. E)))Person.

2)))Once you have been instilled with the desire to evangelize, reach out to those around you and do the same to them. Re-instill the vision, teach others what it means to have that adventure. Pray about it. Focus others. Attack on every front. Do what it takes. This isn't just something we're doing for the month of July. It has to be an ongoing thing. The man tiling the floor behind the friend's desk that you're trying to convert heard the message you thought was for someone else. This is a whole new thing...ricochet evangelism.

You Can't Do It All Yourself...

"We like to be needed. And we become overconfident in our ability. But we're not God...we're finite." We are crack(ed) pots. I spent a couple hours this afternoon in transit to and at the Apple Store at the Southdale Mall in Edina. It turns out if you stop a computer mid-update, it's basically like giving the poor thing a lobotomy. No organization can rise any higher than its leaders Leaders rarely surround themselves with other leaders...mostly because we don't want to share the spotlight. No leader has ever suffered because his followers were strong. Most people don't do what's expected, they do what's inspected. People will do what they see you do.

I am not omnicompetent.

When I stepped back, my church stepped up.

We have to get the wrong people off the bus, the right people on, and everybody in their right seats.

Sometimes we have to release people and let them go...lovingly. Sometimes they're not going to be happy about it.

Six goals...one for each area of their lives. It took work...but it was necessary. They knew I was taking an interest in their lives.

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Pachabel's Canon - I wanted to do this by myself...

Chasing the Wild Goose

For the last six months now, a friend of mine and I have been pursuing the idea of opening a coffee shop in town. It was an idea that developed after being approached by a couple of people from the local community college who were interested in finding a place that could be a hangout for some of the students between classes and after for doing homework or just relaxing. Within a few days or weeks, we heard about a grant that was being offered, and thought about just how awesome it would be if we could find a way to develop our coffee shop idea so we could try and secure the grant. We attended the meetings, waited, attended more meetings, waited...and found out that we had not gotten the grant. No, wait, we actually did get the grant - part of it, anyway...but no one told us right away. There began the arduous journey that would be the next several months. Little did we know. And, funny, because part of the grant committee was called TMI - which I feel is exactly what we have gotten over the course of the past few months. or maybe it was the opposite...TLI - too little information. :)

After getting the grant, we had to reconsider exactly what we were going to do, because the amount of money was less than we had originally bargained for. So, we thought partnering would be a better option - not having to start from scratch...and after talking with a handful of people, someone gave us the name of a local woman that was looking to start a coffee shop in town. GREAT!! She even called it an answer to prayer the first time I talked to her on the phone...seriously...it was for us too. So, we talked. Began the process. Dreamed together.

Then...deadlines came. And passed. Timelines were shifted, moved back...lost altogether. We met, waited, met, hemmed and hawed, got grief, got everyone's opinions (whether we wanted them or not), and tried to keep going. For three months.

Turns out, everyone really wants this coffee shop. That's what they say, anyway. They say "we really need one here, that they really want one here...and they wish they could help, but..." That's my favorite comment of all. Honestly, if the answer is no, say that. I'm ok with no. What I'm not ok with is you saying you want to help, but there's no way you can. That doesn't help me. At all.

"The time isn't right." "There is too much uncertainty. We don't know which direction we're going to move with that space, so, the timing is bad." "Have you talked to so and so? I bet they might have an idea..." The comments came. Everyone seems to know someone else that would be a great place for us to go to and get started or find a new springboard...but after the third or fourth one of those things, you start wondering just where that goose is at...hiding just behind the next corner, waiting on the other side of the top of that hill? Who knows.

The funny thing is...today was the best conversation...perhaps the most productive one we've had so far...and our idea was all but completely shot down. I sound bitter...I was...I don't think I am anymore though. You see, today felt like the first time we got any straight answers out of anyone. I'm sick of beating around the bush. Yeah, there was the token 'I'd love to help, but...', but even then...something just felt different. I don't know why. They kept talking about money...thinking they'd lose all sorts of money if we shared space with them. I remember thinking at one point that I wish there was a way to somehow get the money to go to them instead. Sort of the 'kill them with kindness' mentality I suppose. Or something like that.

So, I left the meeting, rode my bike over to the bike shop for a pick me up, and then came back to work, where I found a lovely CER letter waiting for me in my mailbox, about what else...the coffee shop. Another 30 days notice about the grant. Salt in the wound, or icing on the cake? I'm not really sure which at this point. Salty icing? No, that just sounds gross. :)

So, we continue chasing the goose. Or something. I struggle some days with wondering if this should be taken as a sign that this is not meant to happen right now...or happen with us...or happen in this way, or if it is a lesson in perseverance and continuing on even when things seem hopeless. It's a bit like being given a parachute for climbing a wall...sure, we're prepared...but not for the right thing, apparently.

Keep honking, goosey goosey gander. Perhaps one of these days we'll catch you. I hope it's before you die.

Why did I...

Guilt is a powerful weapon. Even when it is not used intentionally...or perhaps it is used most powerfully when it is unintentional. Is it still guilt then? Or is it merely a call to be accountable?

Why do we see being asked questions as being questioned as a person, to our very core? Why, when our motives are questioned, when our reasoning is questioned, or even when our not having done something is questioned, do we feel like a puppy who is being scolded for making a mistake?

What is so deeply embedded in our human nature that we feel responsible for everything going on around us...or not going on around us for that matter? Is it because we really are responsible, whether directly or indirectly?

Word (and thought) of the Day - Intentionality

I don't wanna go through the motions,
I don't wanna spend one more day,
Without your all consuming
Passion inside of me...

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
What if I had given everything...
Instead of going through the motions...

These words, from a song called 'The Motions' by Matthew West, seem to sum up well the thoughts that I have been having and the conversations I have been a part of over the course of the last few days. It's another one of those overarching themes that has taken over my thought process as of late.

I was having a conversation with my pastor about some conversations we will be having with the confirmation kids over the course of the next year, mostly looking at the promises they make when they go through their Affirmation of Baptism. We want to ask them why it matters if they keep the promises or not...what it means for them to keep them.

We also want to have a conversation with the small group leaders about what the main focuses/purposes are when we are teaching confirmation. Our hope is that they will find the connections between what we do in confirmation and what areas we focus on with our ministry at Grace.

Then, I had a third conversation before a meeting earlier today about a couple lines in a book I recently read - - if our community said that they were going to shut our church down, who would step up to defend it? Would it be solely the people that attended the church. or is the ministry focused enough on outreach and community support that others beyond the church membership would rise up in its defense as well?

What does it mean for us to live lives that are intentional? How different would it look from the way we are living right now?

Musings of the Two Wheeled Variety

I did something this weekend that many would consider ridiculous to attempt. I completed my third century bike ride - I rode 100 miles in just a little over 8 hours on Saturday. Started at 6am and watched the sun come up...and saw great expanses of the southeastern Minnesota countryside.

So, what do you learn when you spend 8 hours on two skinny wheels and a tiny uncomfortable seat?

1. Keep your eyes on the road. Holes and bumps often sneak up unexpectedly, and if you're not prepared for them, you're liable to hit them or fall in. Some of the bumps cannot be avoided, but if you are ready for them, you can brace yourself, making the impact less threatening.

2. Things on the road are not the only threats you will face. Some dangers will come out of nowhere, barking and growling and threatening to chase you down. Others will come in like a gust of wind, ready to knock you over, unseen, but nonetheless felt.

3. Nourishment is vital. You will run out of fuel, and you need to make sure you keep your tank full.

4. Never underestimate the power of a word of encouragement. Sometimes a smile or a 'Good Job!' is enough to get you the next 10 miles.

5. Those that are available to help you are not often right in front of your eyes. Sometimes you have to seek out a helping hand intentionally, or you will miss the opportunity.

6. Things that appear to be obstacles sometimes change into opportunities. That wind that was blowing in your face and slowing you down turns into a wonderful push when you change direction.

7. A good song (or two or eight) can be the difference between staying sane and going nuts when you are out on the road by yourself. It becomes a wonderful companion for those lonely miles.

8. Be prepared. Making sure you have extra supplies and tools can be the difference between success and failure when you have an unexpected accident.

9. Not all pain is crippling. Sometimes it just makes the journey a little harder for a while.

10. Not all pain lasts forever.

11. Hills are both good and bad. Most uphills have an accompanying downhill...but not all of them do.

12. There are other riders on the same journey as you. Often they are facing the same struggles you are...and sharing the same joys. Befriend them - learn from them - encourage them.

13. Sometimes you can move just as fast going downhill without pedaling as you can going uphill pedaling...or even faster. Take advantage of those times.

14. Trust your vehicle.

15. Take time to say hi to old friends, especially those that have been doing what you're doing for longer than you. They often have wise advice.

16. There are people looking out for you.

17. Windbreaks are nice, but don't always 'break' the wind. Sometimes they just turn a wind that is a cross wind into a headwind for a moment.

18. Appearances aren't everything...for either the rider or the bike. Some of the more beat up looking bikes and unlikely (or young) riders are just as good (if not better) than the shiny bikes and the 'hardcore' looking riders.

19. You are going to be better than some riders some of the time and worse than some riders some of the time. Your position will likely change over the course of the ride...several times.

20. Never take things like being able to get off of your bike for granted. Sometimes you just can't.