My Worship Revolution

To ask me whatever you want.
It's noon.
You ask, I'll answer.

You ask…I’ll answer.
I’ve seen 4 or 5 other bloggers give this one a try.
A few mega-blogs, others not.
Told myself I wasn’t gonna go there.
I changed my mind. So here’s how it works.

What better way to post what you wanna hear than having you ask me anything you want?
Whatever you want to ask, leave it in the comment section.
Whatever you want to know about me, my thoughts, or anything else you may have wondered about that I’ve never addressed.
And I will answer every question.
So bring it.
Be creative.
No holds barred.
(Well…kinda.  If it’s too personal, I’m sure I can come up with a sarcastic answer that doesn’t really answer the question.  But give it a try.  That probably won’t happen.)

Oh yeah.  Some of the other blogs gave 24 hours to ask.
I’m not that confident.  I’ll give you a little more.
It’s Thursday at 9am PST.
Comments turn off on Friday, 5pm PST.
If I get enough questions, I’ll start answering next week.
If I get one and that’s it, I’ll do a quick answer post buried among others and pretend this experiment never happened.

Ready…Go!

I wonder…
What was going through Caleb’s head between, or during these two pictures:

Your Thoughts?

That last post that several of you responded to was supposed to have a poll embedded.
Apparently it didn't work.
It's there now.
Thanks.

OK, so maybe we put the cart before the horse, but I can do that if I wanna.
Some of you told me what post you like to come by for, but now I wanna know who’s here!

Who are you?
What do you do with your time?

I figure most of the people coming are either worship pastors, other pastors, friends who know me personally from now or in the past, or family members.  But I know for a fact that there are others too.  So click the poll below and let me know.  And I wanna know what kind of jobs (or lack thereof) you have, too.
So if you click on other, or friend or family for that matter, leave a comment and share what that other is or what you do during the week.

And lurkers, this is your chance to come out from the shadows.  I want 100% participation here!
So ready…go!

So I've never really considered myself much of a stat ho.  Yeah I check my stats.  I'm curious.  And I like to see big numbers.  But I've never done major pushes to try and increase my stats.  I probably won't do that much either. 

At the same time, though, people blog for different reasons.  Some just want to have a place for a few family and friends to see some pics, and that's cool.  Others feel like they have something worthwhile to say and want to have some influence, and more readers means more influence.  Either way, to a certain degree, we blog because people read it.  Otherwise, this is just some journal in my computer and there's really no need to put it online.  It can just be like the end of a Doogie Howser episode, recording my reflections and learnings from the episode…errr…day.

So I thought this week, I'd think a little bit about who's reading, and maybe try to learn what I can do to move to the next echelon of blogdom.  Sort of like breaking through a number barrier in church growth.  And get to know you all a little bit better.

So that being the case, I have a question for you today. Some research.
Why do you read this blog?
What are your favorite posts?

Let's be honest.  Even on our favorite blogs, there are posts that we just glaze right over in our RSS feeders.  So what are the posts that you enjoy the most here?  When you see a new post from My Worship Revolution and you go to click on that feed, what are you hoping might show up.

And Mom, I already know.  More of Caleb.  ;)  So the rest of you, what do you like to see?  Just curious.  Thanks for sharing!  (hint, hint)

Your turn.
Speak.

While visiting Portland, I was most looking forward to visiting Kari’s church here, Imago Dei.  It may sound familiar to you as the home church of author Donald Miller or the church that birthed the Advent Conspiracy movement.

I love going to different churches to learn, get ideas, be inspired, and of course, worship without any responsibilities on occasion.  Here were some of the things I noticed while there.

Kids Ministry

So, several times I’ve visited churches and kinda reported on my experience here at the blog.  Well, I realized kids ministry isn’t something I ever discussed, because well, it didn’t affect me then.  Times have changed.  And as a parent, I can tell you that Imago Dei’s children’s ministry kicked butt!!

First of all, it’s important to notw that Imago Dei sets up and tears down at a high school every week.  Portable church.  Not sure that I miss that.  So we went down the stairs where there was a very clear sign for the nursery – 0-24 months.

As soon as we got down there there was a check in area where they got our name and his.  He received a name tag with a bar cose that was scanned and we received a corresponding name tag with a number for him if we were needed during service.  They had some really cool blue dividers that clearly and nicely split up the children in several different age groups.

As a parent I felt really good and really safe leaving my kid down there.  And added bonus when we went to pick him up.  We were heading in to go grab him, and we were stopped as were were heading in the area by a gentleman to see our nametag with bar code before going in there.  Then as we were leaving both tags were checked and returned.  Way to go Imago Dei on taking care of families!

The Experience

So we arrived near the high school a few minutes late.  Around 10:35 for a 10:30 service.  Definite issue for them is parking.  And we drove around for quite a while looking.  We ended up parking on a street quite a walk away from the school.  But there were lots of people driving around looking for a space.  Again, in a place like we are where we have parking issues, a great reminder.  Whatever it is that’s drawing them there, if it’s good enough, people are willing to walk and be inconvenienced to go there.

The high school is an old brick building with a way cool vibe.  No matter where you meet it’s the little thins that make a difference in welcoming guests.  So while this was a little thing, I was impressed and couldn’t help but snap a picture in the men’s restroom.

They set up a changing table in the middle of a high school restroom.  What can I say.  I thought that was kinda cool.  And thoughtful.

They also had some nice setups to share about ministries at the church:

We walked into the worship space at the beginning of the message, being a bit late, so we stuck around for the beginning of the next service to see what we missed.  the vibe of their auditorium is very cool.  They are in a series being taught by one of their elders who is a seminary professor on the reliability of scripture.  The content was really good, but a bit dry at the same time.  Best part of the message was when he brought it home with some application at the end.

We head on into worship as a time of response.  They also had communion tables in front and at the back of the room.  I understand they have several different worship leaders and teams that rotate.  The worship time was really good.  Kinda what I would expect to contextualize in a city like Portland, if that makes any sense.  A little more mellow rock vibe kinda thang.  As I worshipped I couldn’t help but feel some tears welling up.  not sure if the Spirit was just moving in there or it’s just kinda where I’m at right now.  Probably some of both.

Some Final Learnings/Observations

• Like I said earlier, people are willing to walk and go out of their way if it’s worth it to them, whether that’s for the experience or the community aspect.
• Communion was available during the response time.  I had noticed the tables, and as a guest I was listening to see if it was just go ahead during worship.  To me, it wasn’t very clear, but luckily I was able to ask Kari.  Good reminder as to how important it is to let people know about this each week, even if I sound like a broken record.  Guests need to know what to do.  Even having it in the bulletin would have helped.
• Lots of people responding and receiveing communion during worship regardless.  Gotta figure out how we can help people to respond more in this way at CLC.
• They had one table for communion at the back that provided Alergen free crackers.  Gluten free, etc.  Thought about a friend at CLC who can’t have gluten.  What a great idea.  This had never occurred to me in regard to communion before.  Might wanna think about making that available.  They also had your choice of juice or wine which I thought was pretty cool, but somehow I have a feeling some people at CLC wouldn’t go for that one.
• Wrote a lot about it above, but putting guest parents at ease goes a long way.  I wasn’t concerned about it, and still appreciated the effort.  I can only imagine what that is like for the parent who is unsure about church in the first place.

I’m sure there was more, but this post is long enough already.  Overall I had a great time visiting Imago Dei.  Great church, and being able to meet several people from Kari’s Home Community Group, seems like great people, too.  I love being a guest and remembering what it’s like to be on the other side.

But I also can’t wait to get back and worship with my faith community next Sunday!

It was nice to get away this weekend with the wife and kid to visit a friend in the Portland area.  Saturday we were able to roll out to the coast on Saturday to visit some other great friends and former pastors of ours, Boomer and Lisa Reiff who were at Cannon Beach conference center leading some worship.  Haven’t seen them in years and it was great to catch up!  We got to join in on the family carnival they had at the conference center and I destroyed my wife on the blow up obstacle course. 

Sunday morning we worshipped at Imago Dei, which I’ll be posting more about later.  Also this weekend we were introduced to the board game Settlers of Catan.  Fun stuff.  Here’s a few pics from the past couple of days:

How was your Memorial Day weekend???

P.S. – Typepad recently changed their format for posting and I think it’s a royal pain in the behind!!  Especially for pictures!

And really bad at it!
But hey…it' vacation!  For both of us!

Here's the deal.
Early on, Rachel and I agreed we didn't want to use the T.V. as a babysitter for Caleb.  At one point I even pondered the idea of having no T.V., but that would mean no movies or Guitar Hero and that is just WAY unacceptable.  We only get 4 channels at our house, but Caleb has tons of videos, so he spends plenty of time in front of the tube.  So we've started trying to limit him to an hour a day.

Now, last night we hopped in our car to drive to Portland, OR to visit one of Rachel's best friends, Kari.  An 11+ hour drive.  We arrived at 6am.  I drove 9 1/2 hours and slept a little less than 2.  Kari is a first year teacher, and Rachel, having been a teacher herself, was excited to visit Kari's class all day.  Which means I was hanging with Caleb at the apartment for the day.

On no sleep, you better believe the T.V. was planned to get some good use!  We finished an episode of Curious George and the Disney movie Hercules and it was still only 9 o'clock.  I tried to go look for a playground at one point, but little did I realize till we walked out that it was raining outside.  We played in the rain for a few minutes.

Well, thanks to the power of Gawker, you get to watch video evidence of my neglectful parenting of 8 hours in less than 4 minutes.
Notice the amount of time the T.V. is on, and the effort by myself to move as little as possible.
Hey, one day of too much T.V. isn't gonna kill him!
And sorry, the 2 hour nap time isn't the most exciting, but you got everything!
Time lapse is cool.
Check it out:

Rachel told me last night that she had read on a few blogs we both read about a horrible event.
I went to read the story myself.
Even knowing what was coming, my eyes teared up as I read.
Stephen Curtis Chapman’s daughter killed by car in driveway.
The car was being driven by her older brother.  A horrible accident.

Stephen Curtis Chapman is a Christian musician and leader I have always had a great deal of respect for.
Incredible musician.  But more importantly, and first in his life, a great husband, father, and all around family man.  Also a huge advocate of overseas adoptions, having three little girls from China and a whole foundation.

This morning my heart aches for his family.
I can’t imagine the pain of losing Caleb under any circumstances.
My first reaction.  Sadness and disbelief.
And the slight feeling of lack of understanding.  Why?  He, of all people, deserves so much better.

Part of me will always wonder that.  It will always have that question.
But then I moved to another place.
I would never want anyone, anywhere, under any circumstance to have to go through what that family is all of a sudden going through.
At the same time, I see the amazing opportunity for Christ to be glorified.
Life will go sideways at some point.  For everyone.  I really believe that.  And in the middle of our loss and despair, the world is looking to see what we do with Jesus.  Even Christ followers will now see this family have the opportunity to turn to God in the most difficult of circumstances.  Hopefully as the Chapman’s rest in Jesus, those going through similar circumstances can be encouraged as well.

I remember something a teacher of mine at Vanguard said that deeply impacted me.  When we ask why me, perhaps a better question is why not you?  Would you rather your neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus lose a child?  Would you rather your friend who hasn’t experienced the peace of Christ come down with cancer?
Ouch.
Hard pill to swallow.

I wish it hadn’t happened.
My heart hurts.
I pray for their family.
Please join me and do the same.
And I also pray that God will use this situation to bring Himself glory in the long run.

It reminds me of a John Piper video I saw regarding the prosperity gospel vs. suffering.  I’ve embedded the video below.
I love the following quote from the video:

God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him in the midst of loss, not prosperity.

God, please bless and strengthen the Chapman family.  Amen.