Better with the lights off...(worship, that is)

Last night there was an amazing worship service at a local church with Shane and Shane.

I love Shane and Shane. Not only are they amazing musicians, they have amazing hearts for Christ. There is something about them when they take to the stage that brings you to a place of freedom to worship. They are not showy, they do not dress or act like rock stars (Shane #2 sings with his hands in his pockets and wears a backward baseball hat). They exist to make one person famous, Christ.

About halfway through the service, they stopped their set, turned off all the lights, and we entered into one of the most real and raw worship times I have experienced in a long time.

No frills, just Jesus.
No lights, graphics, electric guitars, just Christ

All focus was on Him.

When you can go from "Before the Throne" to "How Great is our God" to "O come let us adore Him" is an amazing experience (There were lots of other in between as well). A we sang the last verse of "O come let us adore Him", the Shane's walked of stage as we sang. There was no one else to applaud for except Christ.

I cannot shake some thoughts in my head. I have just been reevaluating everything that I do the last few days and begging God to show himself and what HE wants.

here are some of my thoughts
- How pure is our motivation in worship?
- Are the people on stage leading by example?
- words are cheap. Actions speak louder. James says faith without works is dead.
- When I am on stage, I do not want to say or do anything onstage that I am not doing regularly off-stage.
- I think God is concerned with REAL worship more than REALLY PRETTY worship. I am not saying that we should not play with excellence and practice. What I am saying, is that you are not "that good" at what you do. God is not super impressed with your vocals; He is much more concerned about your heart. The heart is where it is at.

- What do I need to get rid of in my own life?
- What is the "lighting" in my own life that I need to turn off to make sure that Christ is all that shines through?


Thank you Shane and Shane for being an example of beautiful and true worship.

I am not done with this thought; I do not think it going to go away soon.


- I am jacked up on Dunkin' Donuts coffee (there is waaay to much caffeine in that stuff). This post may not have made any sense in type, but it made sense in my head.
With that, I am going to stop typing.

More to come...