Left-Brained Worship. Part 3

I am already having a hard time not wanting to Twitter or play on Facebook. This just adds to the conformation that it is something I need. Tweetdeck has become my cocaine. I have really become obsessed with my online persona...maybe sometimes more than who I actually am.

I am praying that God will move any distraction out of my way that is keeping me from worshiping Him and falling on my face in awe of who He is.

Here is some more of left-brained worship for your reading enjoyment.

Brain Drain

Our mind likes patterns. We are addicted to them.

Work schedules, school schedules, alarm clocks, planners, and watches.
I take a shower and brush my teeth the same way every day. I make my bed the same way, and even have a routine when I get on the Internet. Patterns are not bad, we would be very confused without them and some people (like me) would be freaked out all the time without them.

The problem comes when we put patterns on a God who is much bigger than we can imagine. We pencil God in our planner. When he does not show up like we wanted, we wonder what went wrong…

There are two sides to the human brain. Right and Left. Here are some characteristics of each side.

Left Brain
Uses logic
Detail oriented
Facts rule
Present and past
Order/pattern perception 

Practical
Safe

Right Brain
“big picture” ideas
Imagination
Feelings
Impetuous
Believes
Present and Future
Risk Taking


The left side of the brain is a great thing. We would not make it very far in the day without it.

But I am afraid that we have turned into left-brain worshippers.

We follow the bulletin, we know when to sit, stand, and shake hands.
There is nothing wrong with order, until we order God out of the service. The details become so consuming that we forget why we come together.
I am not at all trying to say that we should not plan; planning is extremely important.

Many times, we plan God right out of the service. We pick the songs we know will get a response. I have been there, many times. We stop taking risks, fearing someone will be upset with the change. We play it safe, and follow all these unwritten (and sometimes written) rules. It may not always be a conscious move, our left-brain wants consistency and order, but it happens.
God has called us to something much more exciting than that. We can choose be stuck there, in the land of rules and regulations. Or, we can move out into the unknown. God uses us the most when we rely on Him the most.

In the next verse in Mark, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men (Mark 7:8). They become left-brain worshippers. Traditions ruled over transformation. They were in the presence of the savior of the world, and rebuked him for not following their rules.

Facebook Fast

This is not an original idea, but that does not change the fact that it could be a great thing for me.

I am taking lead from Anne Jackson, and Kami. They paved the way, and I am following in their idea.

I have never really fasted from anything, so I think it will be a good experience. It may be hard... I think I am addicted to Twitter.

I am going to give up Facebook and Twitter for the next month. I may also be giving up my blog (at least spending time editing it...). If I do post, it will not be too often, and it will be about things God is teaching me during this time.

I want to spend a good deal of time writing, without agenda, or pressure to post. I want to have time to sit in God's presence and beg Him to speak truth and life into me. That is why I am pulling the plug for the time being.

My prayer is that I will return to the online community a new person.

Goodbye for now...I'll be back soon

Left-Brained Worship. Part 2

Hope you all enjoyed the first section yesterday, here is next heading in the article.

I Hate all Your Show

Jesus had some strong words for the Pharisees during his time on earth. They always had something against Christ, and he always had an answer to give (although it was rarely what they expected).

In Mark chapter 7, the Pharisees come up to Jesus and his disciples and rebuke them for not cleaning their hands before they eat. They were upset because they were not following the traditions of the elders. Jesus calls them hypocrites and quotes Isaiah 29:13

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

Ouch.
Jesus just called them out. He quoted the Old Testament and told them that the prophecy was about them.

It’s easy to hate on the Pharisees, isn’t it? I’ve been there, pointing the finger (or bible) and telling of their evils. It is a favorite preaching point.

What scares me is that we are just like them. What if Jesus was on earth today? Would he have similar words to give to Christians?

I think he might…I think we have all been there with the Pharisees. It is much easier to give lip service. It is easier to go through the motions.
Jesus is not interested in show. He is not impressed with how well you sing (or play), or how many hymns you can name off the top of you head.

Left-Brained Worship. Part 1

Over the next few days, I am going to be posting some of the sections from my first article. I hope you have read it. If you have not, you can click on the link under the section titled "articles" to your right. If you have read the article, I would love some feedback.

The whole goal of these articles is to share what God has put on my heart. I hope that you enjoy them (I enjoy writing them...).

ok. Enjoy some article clips while I go work on some Spanish homework and get ready to watch 24 tonight.

Where have all the flowers gone?

If you have been there, you remember. If you have experienced true worship, it is not something that fades from memory. There is power in the presence of God; knowing that He is big, you are small, and feeling the weight of His glory around you.


Powerful moments.
Maybe it was a service at a church; maybe it was in your dorm room by yourself. Maybe it was at a U2 concert, or maybe it was in a moment of silence brought by tragedy. There are times in our life when the glory of God shines through like the warm sun breaking through the clouds.
Then thing change


Life happens. Stress happens.


We try to recreate the moment; we put every element back in place and hope that we will have the same experience. The problem is, many times, the experience is not the same
How can this be!! All the “stuff” is in place. We made the perfect set list; we planned for every detail of the service.
I have been there; I think every worship leader has…


All you want is for people to experience God in worship, but it just does not happen, even if the band is on fire. Where is the passion that once permeated the service?

Birthday

Yesterday was a really great birthday.

So many people wished me a happy birthday, it was really nice.

At Fusion, everyone sang to me and even gave me a cookie cake. I had no idea they were going to do it either. It was a very wonderful surprise.

Everyone wanted to be my friend afterward to get some cookie...just kidding. But I did give some away, and Kami and I enjoyed some after practice as well.

Tonight I went with my family to a seafood buffet at a really nice hotel/ convention center. I love crab legs; my stomach becomes a bottomless pit when they are around. I ate my money's worth in crab legs I believe. I had a great time catching up with my family.

Biking tomorrow. It has been far to long since I have been on a bike. I may be a little sore, but it will be fun.
- Going tomorrow to get my new present (hopefully). I will let you know when I get it, and I will share all about it. I am sooooo excited about it.

- Ok, going to be soon. I am exhausted.

Feels good to be 20. I think I am going to like being 20....

goodnight.

Want to be part of my life?

Ok. Here is the thing

I am looking to continually expand my musical horizon. I feel like there are so many amazing artists out there that I just have not heard of.

That is where you come in.

I want to find a new band every two weeks. That means two new bands a month.
I will be doing my own share of looking, and I would love your input as well. Every two weeks, I will blog about the band I am listening to at the time.

Maybe you are in a band and would like to share you music. Maybe you have a friend in a really good band. Or maybe you are into weird stuff and know about all the non-mainstream bands.

If you have any suggestions for me, let me know and just may put them in my rotation of music.

I am looking for songwriters that are real and genuine. If you have a band you think I may like, leave it in the comment section, on my faebook, or Twitter, and I just may give it a try.

This can be your way of getting to be part of my musical life.

Send the suggestions my way, and we will get this thing rolling.


Oh yes,
On a side note.

My Birthday is tomorrow, and I am excited.

Why?
- well, because I am going to be 20.

I will no longer be a teenager in a few hours...and that feels good. My teenage years have been filled with all kinds of interesting things. I am not sure that I would like to go back and be 13 (actually, I know that I would not like too...), but I think they have been very important years in shaping who I am now, and who I am going to be.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

Taming the Tongue

Warning. 

This  may cause discomfort and/or conviction...

I am reading through James in my personal time. I could not even get out of the first chapter with being convected by nearly every verse. There is so much truth embedded in James that it could make your head spin while reading. 

I wanted to share some verses that really stuck out. 

"26. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." 

James 1:26-27

How many times are we guilty of flapping our tongue like it is going out of style?? We can babble on and on about how we feel about things and say all sorts of evil about others.  James says that if we do not control out tongue, we have a worthless religion. I think the tongue does more damage than any other part of the body. 

Maybe this is why so many people view Christians as hypocrites. We preach love and justice, but spatter hatred and malice from the pulpit and TV. I think James realized the importance of words; he would not have made such a bold statement if he did not fully believe in them. 

But, there is more than just controlling your tongue.

There is importance in action as well. James says that helping widows and orphans is true religion; Jesus spent a great deal of time helping others. 

Maybe it is time to get off the soapbox and into the world. 

Just some thoughts swimming through my head this afternoon. Hope it helped/challenged someone out there

Just what I needed today

I think it is always interesting to see how God speaks. 

I was praying last night for God to show me something, anything. I just wanted to know He was there. 

I read this post this morning 

God is faithful, and He is in control. 

That was just what I needed today. Just wanted to share..

Last few days

I know I have been absent in the blog world the last few days. I have been busy. 

here is what has happened in the last few days. I hope to get back on a regular schedule with my blog soon. 

- excited I got my first article up. Second one is in the works! I hope this keeps growing 

- I want my own domain name. I would like a more self-hosted site. 

- Went to Converge two weeks ago, and Woodstock last weekend (for a men's conference..not 3 days of music). Both were very good conferences. God is really stretching me in so many areas.

- Excited about all the different times I get to play guitar in the next few weeks. Between Fusion, Sunday mornings, nights, Fridays. Yeah, it is going to be rockin. 

- I also want a new amp; that would be a good birthday present...

- Struggling right now, if you cannot tell. Doing a lot of praying, sitting, thinking, and taking time to figure out who God wants me to be. I am praying that I will just fall in love with God all over again. That is the goal of all of this. We are giving God our full attention. 

- 24= amazing show. wow, I have been blown away this season. And LOST is as good as ever. 

- Glad Coldplay won some Grammy's. Sad that the musical world has stumped so low that they would feature the great Stevie Wonder with the pre-teen pop failures that are The Jonas Brothers. I am sorry, just because you have won the hearts of little girls everywhere does not mean that you make good music. Just saying...

- Addicted to Twitter. It is true. I find myself checking multiple times a day. I just went over 1,000 updates this weekend. I have a feeling that the next thousand will come even faster (especially if I watch another award show...). 

- ok. Time for bed. I have a busy week ahead of me, and I am not feeling well at the moment. Hopefully it will pass...

Getting Through

Here are some verses that are getting me through this morning. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11-14

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

Psalm 30:5 

"For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning," 

Three

Elevation Church is hosting a one-day, no frills, no music, no breakout sessions conference called 

Three- The Making of a Movement

and 

I want to go.

They are doing 3 sessions that are 2 hours each. That is all. 

Stephen Furtick will be sharing what they have done at Elevation in the last 3 years to get where they are. 

I would love to be able to go. 

Only problem. It cost $300. 

Considering that I have almost no disposable income, this just will not work. 

But, you may be able to do this. If you are a church leader, any type of leader, church planter, or just someone who want to be involved then this is for you. 

I would love to be able to go...just not sure how that will happen. 

but if you can, it will be worth your time. 

Slamming other pastors

You hear it all the time on tv and even from other pastors (they can be the worst). 

I have been guilty of doing it; it used to happen a great deal after chapel and church services.

Most times, the criticism was not about anything that had any value; it was because there was something about them I did not like. My personal opinion became more important then the speaker being who God called them to be. 

I am not saying that we should not test what is said and done with scripture. But we should test it with the bible, NOT our personal preferences

I have seen so many pastor quote another pastors sermon and then spend the next twenty minutes slamming a quote they just took out of context. You just look silly when you do this... and you just wasted time you could have used to tell them about Christ and His love. 

Instead.

You slammed another pastor, someone in ministry with you. No wonder people think Christians are hypocrites. 

I was talking to one of my friends today, and he told me of someone he knew that messaged him and told him to watch out for a local pastor. They showed a 2 minute video clip of him on their weekly show. They said things about this pastor that were not true at all and took what he did say completely out of context. This just really bothers me.

I am not sure why Pastors feel the need to use  the stage as a soapbox. Maybe they have big ego. Maybe they are insecure in themselves and feel the need to project that on others. 

I am not sure why... but it saddens me to see it. 

It also bothers  me when pastors push political agendas over preaching God's word. The world is not going to end because there is a Democratic president. We did not stump God; I think He was pretty aware of what was happening... 

Maybe we need to get out of our adulterous relationship with the republican party and  get back to focusing on the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. In the words of Derek Webb,                                                                                                     "There's never been a savior up on Capitol Hill..." 

Just a thought.