Category: Faith

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The Lifestyle of Worship

Worship is a lifestyle of sacrifice. Paul wrote in Romans 12 about being a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Paul continues his thought on worship saying that attaining this lifestyle comes from not being conformed but transformed by the renewing of your mind. Paul also poses the question of, “What captivates your thoughts?”

Is Jesus the center of your thought life?

The sad fact is most of us would say no, Jesus is not the center of my thought life or the center of my life at all. We have conformed to the cultural standards that a relationship with Jesus only happens on Sundays or Wednesdays. The cultural standard says a relationship with Jesus works when it is convenient and when God does what I ask Him to do.  I believe that there is a scary trend in our culture that faith or “going to church” is the next fade. In our current situation people are flocking to church/religion, but for what reasons? Is it truly for hope, peace, faith, a relationship with Jesus? I cannot be the judge of that person’s intentions, but I do know that the “Church” has a tremendous opportunity to preach the Gospel and speak well of Jesus.

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So, let us not conform any longer, but be transformed into a lifestyle of worship. Students and adults alike need to defy the trends of the culture and start living by the word of God. Let’s make scripture the lens that we live life from. If we will transform our thought life to run everything through the lens of scripture, our world will become more of a representation of the Gospel. We will accomplish Matthew 28:19 and Acts 1:8. We will push the kingdom of God forward instead of building our own kingdoms where we sit on the throne of laziness and complacency. Our current culture needs Hope! Hope has a name and His name is Jesus.

I am always intrigued by scripture and the events that happened. In Mark, there is an account of Jairus, a synagogue leader than comes to Jesus asking Him to heal his daughter. Jesus, on the way to Jairus’ house, feels someone touch his cloak. The scripture says that large crowds were following Jesus to watch the miracles He was performing and listening to His teachings. Amongst the crowd, someone reached out and touched Him. I would imagine this was a pretty normal occurrence, but there was something different about this touch that made Jesus stop and turn around. Scripture says that a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years touched Jesus’ cloak in hopes to be healed. No big deal, right? Well, I think it needs a little more investigation. I think there are some really important lessons we could learn if we will stop and look to see what scripture is offering us. Culturally the woman should not have been there. She had been to many doctors and they could not figure out why she was bleeding. She would have been considered unclean and not welcomed in town. But the one quality of the woman is her persistence to get close to Jesus. I often ask myself that question, when the odds are stacked against me, when the culture condemns me, am I willing to continue pursuing Jesus. Am I hungry for the Lord? I believe that is why Jesus turns around. Jesus says, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” I think Jesus knew all the obstacles, the suffering, and the faith it took to reach out.  I want that kind of hunger for Jesus.

Jesus has afforded His disciples to go speak on His behalf, but the reality is are you speaking for Jesus, the Gospel, or are you speaking your own form of religion that puts you at the center and the deity to be worshipped? I want a faith where I fall at the feet of Jesus just like the suffering woman did.  I want a faith that I worship Jesus only. Not what culture demands or the next trend, but a lifestyle of sacrifice for the King of Kings!

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Months ago, I started seeking wisdom from businessmen that I knew personally about a decision I was making. I chose men who are genuine and honest and I knew I could trust them. They were all very kind to let me have several hours out of their busy day. I had a set of six questions I used to interview them and I was excited to hear their answers. I trust these men’s words of wisdom and advice, not only from a business perspective but also as a follower of Christ. My “M.O.” was to meet in a coffee shop, share a cup of joe, and gain as much wisdom as I could. I really wanted to just listen and not talk. I asked my questions and tried to write down everything that was said. In one of these meetings, we met in a local coffee shop and sat down at a farm table to drink coffee and discuss the questions I had. I would say it was one of the best meetings when the person I was interviewing turned the questions back on me. “What’s your why?” he asked. Then he gave me the title of a book to read. “Start with Why” This book pushed me to think about my career and what I want to accomplish. After reading and analyzing the book, I had to own some of my shortcomings and address the underlying issues. It was a kick in the pants that I needed. It was what I needed to move forward in making a decision.

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I have always been an authentic person and don’t mind telling my story in hopes that God will use it to help other people. So, let’s discuss some of the issues I had to address. Through reading several books, I realized I had some major flaws, catastrophic some might say, that needed to be fixed. The first major flaw that was staring me in the face was that I had lost trust in Jesus to work His plan for my life. I was constantly pushing my agenda and asking God why it wasn’t working. Now, is there some backstory that may have caused me to move in this direction? Sure, but in the end, it was my choice to lack trust and step out to do things my own way. On several occasions, I found myself wanting to compare my situation to others, telling myself “If I say and do all the right things to impress this person then I’ll get promoted too.” or “If I play perfectly this Sunday, then maybe I’ll be considered for other playing opportunities outside of Sunday mornings.” It was only after a lot of frustration and praying did God begin to show me where I had stopped trusting and started manipulating. So, I am owning my part and trusting God to work His plan for my life. I am not trying to build my own platform, but I am willing to let God build whatever platform He deems worthy for me to occupy. I was trying to kick open every door that I came in contact with. To me, every opportunity was carrying major weight and implications, but God had not put those there. I was putting them there and causing myself a lot of pain. I was the only one stressed and losing sleep at night.

The second major issue that needed to be addressed was I had started checking the box for a quiet time. This lack of trust had bled over into my relationship with Jesus. I was reading the devotion and scripture, but not really investing in my time with Him. Why would God want anything to do with me? I’m a failure. Just writing that out…it is amazing how quickly your thoughts can turn toxic and you find yourself in a nasty place. Now, I also know I had some help from the enemy. The Apostle Paul talks at length about captivating your thoughts so you are not taken captive and you can set the captives free. I had been taken captive to self-deprecating and believing I had fallen out of favor with God. I was encouraged by a colleague to read the book “Rooted.” I think it was by divine appointment to have the conversation and to put me in front of a book I desperately needed to read. It was a call to return to the scripture and remember the roots that were planted by that stream of water in Psalms. It was a call to trust again in what God has for me. Being in scripture is the only way to truly develop a level of trust and to put that trust into practice. Finding yourself trying to operate outside of scripture is not a place that anyone should be. It’s a hopeless, anxiety-filled place that is not healthy. There is a reason we have the inspired Word of God. So, I have been back in the Word admitting, repenting, and trying to understand God’s unconditional love for me. 

Now back to the meetings, I said I would meet these men in coffee shops. Well, some weeks after our meeting at the local coffee shop, I had the opportunity to buy that table. Now some might say it has “character” after being in a coffee shop. There were dents and dings and scratches. The table had seen good use and was fulfilling its duty at the coffee shop. With all the spare time from the quarantine, I was able to refinish the table. I sanded the old stain off to get down to the original wood. The legs needed some freshening up and in general, the table needed a little TLC. As I worked on the table, I kept hearing this voice in my head. “It’s not easy, is it? It takes time. It takes care and love that you thought was impossible.” The table project began to take on a whole new meaning. I realized God was working on me like I was working on the table. Taking the old away and sanding away the rough edges. There are still dents and dings, but that gives the table character. I stained the table, painted the legs, and put on new felt pads for the feet to sit on our hardwood floors. It now sits in our kitchen where we use it every day. It is still a table fulfilling its purpose but in a different capacity. Instead of it being thrown away the table went from a coffee shop to our family. It has been renewed. Romans says to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  

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I find myself being repurposed/renewed for the kingdom. If God wants me in a classroom to teach then I will be the best teacher I can be to push the kingdom forward. If God wants me behind a drum set, then I will drum my heart out for the kingdom. What I have had to relearn is to trust what God is doing. I believe God sees all and knows all. It is not my job to seek justice or point out fallacies in others. God deals with all of His children just like He is dealing with me.  I will leave it up to Him and His timing. I am waiting on doors to open and I am trying really hard not to kick open any door that is not for me. I know I am a child of God and I am loved. My value, identity, and self-worth come from Him alone. I don’t have to be perfect, He is already perfect for me. Maybe there are some struggles you are having and you need a reminder to get back into scripture, to enjoy the unconditional love God has for you, maybe it’s to let God open doors of opportunity or maybe it’s to let God fight for you and not fight against Him. 

 

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Most weeks I find myself prepping for Sunday mornings. I use several techniques such as active listening, passive listening and actual practice behind a drum set all in prep for helping lead worship on Sunday mornings. I am super thankful that all the places I play I am not looked at as just “the drummer.” I have always been encouraged to listen to the Holy Spirit and play accordingly. I have been playing for many years and I am still trying to master listening to the Holy Spirit on and off the stage. This past Sunday was no different. I had worked through the week of listening and making notes. I had spent several hours behind the drum set, all for 18 minutes of worship. I felt like I was ready to sit behind the kit with confidence.

There is also another side to what I do in which I film and make short videos of the worship set. Back in the days of drums lessons, I would often practice in front of a mirror and if I could film/record practice I would. It never crossed my mind that if I were to fast forward time I would be doing the same thing as an adult. But here we are, 22 years later. I knew I needed to work on some problem spots in my playing, so I turned to filming again. What used to be for me to improve has slowly become something other than its original intention. I was encouraged by one of the worship leaders at my home church and several other drummers to post what I had done. Throwing inhibitions to the wind, I started a YouTube channel and posted the video. I had no formal training on cameras, mics, software, but for some reason thought this was something I really wanted to give a shot.

I posted my first video Feb. 14, 2016. It is a blog style video and at the time not many people were making videos like this. Currently it has 199 views. Now to some that is an extremely low number, but to me I had a hard time believing that, that amount of people actually clicked on the video. It was the longest 3:30m video of my life. I spent hours trying to figure out editing in iMovie on my iPad. Yep, I started with an iPad and iPhone. Don’t get me wrong, its not the highest of quality, but it was produced and published. Any tutorial video you search, not matter who it is, will tell you to start with what you have. So, I did! Again, fast forward to current day and I use five GoPro cameras and my iPhone with an external mic. I have moved from iMovie to Final Cut Pro. I still find myself trying to make the best quality film with the tools I have. Am I a pro? Absolutely not!! There is still lots I have to learn. But I think learning is all part of the process.

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So, I share the back story to get you to this past Sunday. I was playing at Bethlehem Church, which is my home church. On the main campus there are three service times 9:15, 11, and 5pm. When I play at the main campus, Sunday mornings start early. Call time is 6:30am, however I like to be early. I usually wake up around 5am and I try to be to the church by 5:45am. I get there to set the drum kit to my liking, set the click tracks and start thinking about camera shots. Also, not to be hyper spiritual, but I want to pray over the room, chairs, tech stuff, the hearts of the people coming to worship, the worship leaders, and finally myself. Music is powerful for me and I think its powerful for the people that come to the services. I want God to be involved in every aspect that is for Him anyway.

Nevertheless, where is this going? Well, I’m glad you asked. In a portion of a song our worship leader began to talk about how we have an enemy. We, as believers, remind him of God. Because of that constant reminder, Satan hates all believers and wants to destroy us. John wrote in his gospel that Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. I agree with our worship leader when he said “It’s time to fight back!” So, to answer your question, I’m fighting back. I believe people relate to music and to stories. It’s the only reason I can find why people, that I do not know, would click on a video. From that start date two years ago, I have subscribers on my channel that watch videos of me playing drums. Now, it could be that the places I get to play have some incredible singers and musicians. It could be that some want the “behind  the scenes” look at what we do or some are searching for help. The other side is that we all have a story to tell and you never know how your story is going to impact other people. I try to faithfully tell my story through drumming and the platforms God has given me. Making videos, blogging, social media or whatever the case may be, I want people to see Jesus.

My hope has always been that me overcoming my personal fear of insignificance, self doubt about drumming and posting videos would encourage other people to do the same. Overcoming those fears has been a long slow journey with Jesus through some very dark times. I’m not saying that journey is over either, but what I hope to communicate is that, with Jesus, the journey feasible. Jesus is not the “easy button.” Jesus is the person that gave his life for you to have a fighting chance. Everyday I go to battle, most of the time against my own thoughts, but I fight. “It is time to Fight!”

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We are not the Hero

I was sitting in church and my pastor began a new sermon series on Hosea and Gomer.  In our traditional way of thinking, we always want to put ourselves in the position of Hosea. We want to be the hero in every story.  However, my pastor challenged us all to look again and put ourselves in the position of Gomer. At first glance, we never want to admit that we have those types of problems. But upon further investigation, it was easy to see how we turn our back on God to pursue things that are not Godly. I am so thankful that God is a God of unconditional love and pursues me despite of my flaws.  I found myself searching scripture to find verses on how to live out the Christian faith. The book of James is where I landed. James had the perfect example of how to live out your faith. His example was his brother Jesus. James, in the first chapter of his epistle, talks about how our faith can be tested and the results of that test.  As students, we all hated tests. As a teacher, we realize it’s not particularly the test itself but the results of the test that matter. James gives us the some encouragement that the test helps us produce perseverance.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  –James 1:2-3

Consistency

James tells us it’s not a matter of if, but when the test happens; it will help develop our faith. So, I turned to find the definition of steadfastness. By explanation, steadfast means that you have consistency in your life. For me, in my own personal walk, it can be difficult to have consistency. I also think that the test helps us produce endurance in our journey. Endurance, by definition, is the ability to do a difficult task for an extended period of time. I began to notice a theme of consistency and endurance. I don’t know about you, but living out the Christian faith is a difficult task over an extended amount of time.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. –James 1:4

Through the Trial

James would challenge us to not look at the test itself, but the results. How incredible is it that after the test we are matured in our spiritual journey? In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the disciples to follow him you have to deny yourself daily. Paul would write in Romans that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character and character produces hope. To challenge our traditional way of thought, maybe we should not look for God to deliver us from a trial/test, but let Him redeem us through the trial/test.

Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash