Everybody Needs Somebody To Look Up To

I have lots of friends, many who are in ministry and many who are not. They have different positions from farmers to banker, from gas clerks to associate pastors, and all of them bring a unique prospective to the table. Each friend from the different backgrounds hold valuable advice and direction from unique perspectives, however they are not what I would call a mentor. Even though I talk to my friends often and ask advice, it is always good to find those people in my life or those I know about who have been doing ministry longer and better than me, and ask questions about how they got to where they are and what God is doing in their lives! Sometimes we are afraid to ask other people questions because that would be admitting that we don't have the answer. God told us that there is wisdom in the company of counselors, but we must be careful who that counselor is. This idea can be applied to all areas of life and to anybody. If you are a banker, you can always be better by asking somebody who has been doing it for a while and really making a difference. If you are a CEO, there are always others who are in charge of larger companies that you can take to lunch and find advice. As a worship pastor, I am constantly finding other worship guys and pastors to watch and ask about ministry things. Recently I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days with a fantastic worship team from FBC Woodstock in GA. These guys are absolutely amazing and God is blessing them tremendously. You might say, "They are in a huge church, how do they relate to you?" Easy, because there was a time they were where I am at, and God has taken them to a larger platform to reach more people. Obviously God has blessed them and deserves all credit for any good or advancement, but there were many lessons learned on the way to thier present position. The time I was able to spend was filled with observation and lots of questions. Everything from what time do you practice, to how do you handle conflict. Those two days have been a major blessing to me and I will take several things I learned in GA to make the ministry better in KY. Did I like everything about Woodstock's worship ministry? No, but even difference of opinion can be a learning experience. Let me challenge you. Find those people in your life that you might not even know yet, and request some time with them to learn and ask. Even if it is only lunch, offer to buy their lunch and pick their brain. Be sure to really be interested and have some questions ready, this way you don't wast your time or theirs. John Maxwell when he was first getting started, would take those in his profession who had it together to lunch and pay them $100 for an hour of their time. Why? Because input from others is very valuable if you ever intend to grow and be better. Why be better? Because God deserves our best, and if we only want to stay where we are, then God is not pleased and we will become stagnant. God was always asking His followers in the Bible to go forward, or stand still and wait on Him, but He never asked them to go backward or become dull and dried up. Take this opportunity to evaluate where you are in your walk, profession, ministry and service. If you have not made any advance in those areas of your life in recent months, find somebody to speak into your life through Gods word and get moving again for the Glory and worship of God! Be ready for honesty, and dont accept anything less. Honesty is what will help us be better.

CD Music Review- Travis Cottrell

I am not a professional critic but when I find a great collection of worship I want to share it with others. So many of today's artist sound the same, especially when they release a worship CD. We usually find a CD filled with songs we don't know or are hard to sing. Sometimes we discover songs that make us want to cry and not because we are broken, but more like the songs on the CD are so bad. If this is the case in your search for good music, I have great news for you! Travis Cottrell is not just another artist trying to promote a new CD that just happens to be filled with worship tunes but, Travis is an actual worship leader with a heart that comes through as he leads. Jesus Saves Live was recorded at FBC Woodstock in GA along with special friend Beth Moore. From the deep drumbeats of "To The King" all the way through to the classic "In Christ Alone", this project will move you to worship God with everything that is within you. Giving others who are called an opportunity to serve is definitely a vision of Cottrells and you can tell as other leaders are featured on the new rendition of Mercy Seat and the great exhilarating arrangement of Victory In Jesus. This is not your grandmothers hymn tucked away in the pages of an old hymnal, but this power packed version has been revived to portray the real, powerful victory that is our in Christ! I highly recommend this project to anyone that loves Worship music that is deep and meaningful, not just shallow or as some traditionalist rightly describe some songs as 7-11 music. This CD is anything but....Thank God for Travis Cottrell!

Planning a Worship Service

OK so this post will be a little out of the ordinary for me, but it is in response to those of you who have been asking how a worship service is planned at the creek. Well there are as many answers to that question as there are songs that are sung. There is not a magical method that I use to deduce what songs or what will happen in a worship service, but there is alot of prayer. I usually begin planning a typical music line up a couple weeks out. I will try to find out what the sermon will be or if we are in a series like we are currently, I will find the theme and find songs that might fit. I use a list of about 85 active songs that we are singing, then compose a list of about 8 songs from that list and consider keys, transitions and tempo as I arrange them in an order. As I said, prayer is important, so I will usually spend a couple days praying about the eight before going further. Sometimes a song might come to my mind in my quiet time or something I am reading and if it keeps coming back around to me for a couple days I will add it to my list of 8 (which makes it 9 LOL). Other people like to give suggestions at times to what song they haven't heard in a while (24 hours or less), and if the songs fit the message or God just really impresses it in my spirit then I will add it. Once the 4 songs are picked then I add them to the worship planning online for the team to be practicing. Then on Thursday we have a creative team meeting where songs can and sometimes do change, depending on a change of direction or some thoughts or direction given by the pastor. One thing that all worship Pastors should keep in mind, is that God has given us a shepheard in the Senior Pastors office and we should be able to trust his heart to give us suggestions and input. On Thursday after the creative team meets, I will finalize the entire service order with, videos, testimonies, special music, drama or whatever we have felt led to add or use for that week. I will also put together the tentative list for the next weeks services and begin praying over that service and the elements we plan to use. Some might say that this is too much planning, but keep in mind that the Holy Spirit still has complete control and it is not uncommon to change everything on Sunday or even Saturday night! As one pastor put it, "I would rather plan ahead and allow God to change things when He shows up, rather than not plan at all hoping God shows up and he not be in our midst."
So there you go, a very short snap shot of planning in the worship department. May not seem like very much but God has blessed us with over 50 people that go into the planning and execution of each weeks services so it can become very busy, complicated and hectic very fast. I am so thankful to be a part of a church that has a passion to worship and bring honor to the King through music and arts!

Just some random thoughts!

This post will be different from normal, but I hope useful. In the last several days I have read and heard some great quotes and scriptures that I wanted to share with you. Some are funny, some are thought provoking, some are sad while others are deep. What have you been reading or studying in your quiet time? Has God given you any great thoughts or scriptures to help you through the day? If so, respond to this blog and let me know.

- If we tolerate what we should terminate, then corruption will permeate and sin will escalate!

- The woman at the well was more concerned about "where" to worship rather than the "who".

- I am sweating like a pavlovian dog thinking about Krispy Kream doughnuts!- E. Canur

- God is going to cut the grass one day!- Trevor Barton

- "So Let Your Light Shine before men that they might see your good works but glorify the father which is in heaven"- Matt 5:16

- When you give everything you have to Christ, then you have everything left!

- "I Want to leave this place better than I found it!"- JMH

- True humility is not making yourself small, but making others BIG. - Unknown

- "He who dwells in the secret place of the most high, will abide in the shadow of the almighty- Psalm 91

A Proverb A Day

People ask me on a regular basis, what are some good things to read during my devotion time? This is actually a topic that God had placed on the heart of my Pastor and so in this particular post, I want to give you just a short synopsis of what he recommends. A great read for anybody would be the book of Proverbs. It has 31 books which naturally gives you 31 days you can read a chapter and use it during your time of prayer each morning or evening. Once you read through the corresponding chapter with the date of the month, it is a good idea to take the chapter verse by verse and ask God to do those things in your life or shape you according to His word. For example in Proverbs 3 when it says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not to your own understanding", that's a good opportunity to ask the Lord to help you not always have to have your way and to trust Him more. What a great prayer, that we would trust God more. It doesn't sound like much but when you begin a daily digest of the word and putting it into action, you will see that God will bless and help you to become more like Him!

We Will Remember

So yesterday we celebrated Memorial Day across our great nation. Some gathered with family and friends, had cookouts, played in golf tourneys, decorated graves, went to the lake and many other activities but what exactly did we remember? As I sat at a late lunch with my sweetheart, the TV's were tuned to a NASCAR race and I watched as the race was stopped at 3pm to remember the fallen hero's of our country as well as some of the driver and crews family who had given everything for the cause of freedom. Some pictures began to flash on the screen along with names. The photographs contained men and women in uniform, some smiling and some somber but all proud to wear the red white and blue. I began to cry, and yes partly because I am a big baby but also because it moved me. There I sat in a restaurant with strangers looking at pictures of people I did not know nor would ever meet but was touched to think of how they were willing to give everything so I could be sitting there. The call was un-mistakable, the sacrifice was great, and the soldier was willing! Praise be to God that those who came before us were bold and courageous enough to stand tall and report for duty! As a christian, I pray we would always remember and support our military and pray for their safety and safe return. Find a veteran or soldier in uniform and say thank you! If you see a soldier out eating, secretly pick up the check. God has blessed us to live here, but just as the freedom we have in Christ did not come without blood, so the American freedom came by the same currency. Truly God has shed His grace on us!

Ponder the path

Sometimes there are ideas and principals that are so obvious that we fail to recognize them or even heed the advice and direction that they give. In the book, “The Principal of The Path”, such a principal is found. The thought is very simple yet profound, and one which we realize all too late in life most times. Basically the principal can be summed up in this statement, “Whatever path you are on, will lead you somewhere, and it might not be where you want to go.”
Of all places to find wisdom, Andy Stanley takes up to King Solomon himself, the wisest King to ever live or rule. Solomon tells us that we should observe where we are because it can tell us where we are going. How much simpler could it get? If we will take the time to first of all, examine our current path, what we are giving energy to and spending resources on, we may be able to see what the ending will be like. There have been many times that when all is said and done we look back and think, “If I had only seen this coming”, but the truth is there are times that we could have. If we had only taken the time to look around, check a map, or ask somebody who has been where we are, then some circumstances could be avoided. I have reflected on several things in not only my personal life path, but my ministry path as well. Looking back from this point, I see why I am where I am and how I could have been somewhere different, but I have also found some great insight in the book that will help me get to where I feel like God wants me to be. One thing, that Stanley and King Solomon hammers home is the concept of wise counsel from wise people. Too many times we ask the wrong people for advice and direction who may be good friends and confidants, are not “wise” on the issue that we seek input about. The bible makes it clear that the best counsel comes from those who have “been there and done that”, not those who have a fresh view or promise a “new perspective”. Rehoboam learned this the hard way when he rejected the counsel of the elder statesmen and went with the direction given by those the bible says “he grew up with”. The path we are on can be navigated no matter how young we are, however we must use those around us who know how to navigate the path and have already been that way before. Another point that stuck out to me is the story you tell while on your path, will make a great impact! No matter what path you are on, there will be a story about the journey can be as important as your arrival. I have heard Johnny Hunt mention over and over that he prays that he will “finish well”, and oh how we should all desire that, but some of us will never finish well if we don’t change the path we are on. We find ourselves making the same mistakes over and over, but we are not willing to change paths, and eventually the sympathy that people feel for us as we fall the first couple of times will turn to apathy because they can see that we are headed for a dead end, if we don’t change paths. The last thing from this great book I would like to discuss is the art of paying attention and not being distracted. When we are on the path, there will be many distractions and “side shows” to grab our attention but if we are to finish the path, it’s a good idea to stay focused. Stanley uses the analogy of a driver that stares at something to his right or left while driving, will veer toward it. The same holds true for us as we walk the path we are on. Whatever captures our attention will cause us to steer toward it, and sometimes that can be dangerous and sometimes fatal. Once again, King Solomon shares a story about the young man who was dealing with a questionable woman who, even though the young man couldn’t see, was standing at the doorway that led to destruction. The young mans attention was captured and his path was re- routed. But what if our focus and attention was set on Christ and we steered our path in His direction?
In conclusion, this book was a great read and recommended to all church staff, leaders, even business folks. I challenge you as you read this, look at the path you are on and ask yourself “where am I going to end up if I continue doing this job” , “making these decisions”, “treating my spouse this way”, “giving God this amount of time”, “pleasing people”, “working here” or whatever would fit your situation. Once you have assessed your life, then make some decisions about changing your path and remember, don’t do it alone, seek “wise” counsel, get directions, keep an eye on the story line, and pay attention!