He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘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.’  You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”

This is from Mark 7: 6-8 (NIV) when Jesus was talking to the Pharisees.

The question for us today is could Jesus say the same thing to us about the things in our lives…

Our churches…

Our homes…

Our own lives…

I know if I am being completely honest and were to make a list of the things that in my life and hold them up against this list with “God\Man” boxes beside them to indicate whether these statements describe them…way too many of them would have the “Man” box checked.

What about you?  Be honest – What does your list look like?  Are you following God or man?

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Eph 4:29

Simple question tonight – Are the things you’re saying helping others or hurting them?

So, last night was the Women’s Connexions retreat.  The theme verse for the retreat was Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” They started the evening with a potluck dinner.  In addition, each person that came also had an opportunity to submit a chocolate dish to be entered into a “Chocolate Recipe Showdown”.

Now, as the husband of one of the event organizers I thought I’d be nice and volunteer to help in the kitchen and to run the tech\sound for the worship time and speakers.  There were three other husbands that also volunteered.  As a “thank you” for this we were told that we would be the judges for the chocolate showdown.

Now, maybe you’re thinking, “Awesome!  I love chocolate.”  Well, I love chocolate and I love deserts…but let me tell you after you take a bite or two of eleven different chocolate dishes!  YIKES!  Now, there were a lot of amazing dishes…a LOT.  However, this quickly became a case of too much of a “good” thing.  Chocolate is a delicious treat in moderation, but it doesn’t really offer any nutrients that my body needs.  All four of us had chocolate in our eyes by the end of the tasting.

It got me thinking about what I fill my time with.  Am I filling my time with too many “good” things?  Things that I may find enjoyable, but that aren’t filling my spiritually?  Am I filling time with my family, in prayer, in God’s Word?

How about you…is there something in your life that can be considered “too much”?

Travel Agent – someone that suggests where to go, give you information about the place, and tells you to enjoy your trip.

Tour Guide – someone that goes along with you on your trip, has been there themselves, has a passion for the trip and all it entails.  Some that stays with you from the beginning until you reach your destination.

Right now I’m reading Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples
by Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger.

It’s a case study of four hundred churches across the country and the conclusion that simple churches = thriving, disciple making churches.  It examines the four ideas that simple churches focus on:  Clarity, Movement, Agility & Focus.  If you are in any church leadership position I strongly recommend this book.

Here’s a quote from chapter on Clarity that I keep coming back to:

“People need spiritual tour guides.  They have had plenty of spiritual travel agents.  Be a tour guide through the process of spiritual transformation in your church.  Take people on a journey with you.”

Do I see myself as a tour guide or an travel agent?  Do OTHERS see me as a tour guide or a travel agent?  If I’m not a guide what do I need to change in order to become one?  How can I help encourage others to become guides?

How about you?   Which are you?  Which would you like to be?

As you know, I’ve been at the Rittman United Methodist Church for the last few months.  In that time I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get to know who people were.  To understand who they are, where they are in their walks with the Lord, what their joys are and where they hurt.  I’ve been praying for them and praying for God’s wisdom as I look at how to come along side them.

One of the families that I had heard about from the very beginning was a father, mother and their son and daughter.  I heard about this family for two reasons:  1) they are a vital part of the church and 2) the father was battling brain cancer.

I had a chance to meet Dale at a social gathering a few weeks after we started.  I spent a few minutes talking with him and a couple of other men and that was it.  I can remember his smile and remember him making a couple jokes.  That was the only opportunity I had to meet Dale.

Last night we got the news that Dale has gone home to be with the Lord.  We can rejoice that he is no longer in pain, that he no longer suffers and that he is with his heavenly Father.  Yet, we also mourn as his family and friends now have to try and figure out a way to continue their lives without him.

And to be honest – I’m having a hard time understanding it.

I can’t even imagine what it will be like for this family – for the wife and two high school kids.

I keep thinking of a family at Wadsworth United Methodist who lost their mom last year to cancer, leaving behind a husband, son and two daughters.

I keep thinking of my own wife and kids and wondering what they would do, how they would handle it.

And I keep coming back to the same answer…we get through it with God.  It all comes back to that.  Sure, there would be tears, questions, frustration…maybe even anger.  I can totally get that.  But at the end of the day I know that we get through these times because God is right there with us.  I know that’s how Matt, my youth friend over in Wadsworth, was able to deal with the loss of his mom.

I believe that in these circumstances, when God sometimes seems the farthest away, he is the closest.  He’s there through those that he puts in our lives – those that become Christ’s light, God’s love to us.  He’s there with us as we go through this with our church family – the body of Christ.  Paul reminds us that “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Cor 12:26, NIV ).  He’s there as we go through our sufferings, suffering beside us – Jesus himself wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:33-35, NIV) for he understood the pain that comes with loss.

So, while I don’t always understand it – I know that I look forward to being used by God – however he needs me.  It may be just to sit back and pray, it may be to sit with family or a friend and listen, it may be to be an example to others and continue to praise God even in the storms of life, it may be something else – but however he needs me I look forward to being His servant.

Confession time – I’ve always loved math and numbers.  I’m a geek, what can I say.  I loved math in school.  Algebra was great, Calculus was a trip, differential equations…not so much.   But in general I love numbers.  Here’s some numbers I’ll throw out there for you:

4012 – The number of songs currently in my iTunes library (though I’m still importing my CD collection)
39 – The age I will be in a few short weeks (though I act like I’m 16 most days)!
15 – The number of years I will have been married to my amazing wife at the end of this month!
8 – The number of days since my last post here
7 – The number of jobs I’ve had since I graduated college
5 – The number of years I’ve been leading worship at my church
3- The number of beautiful children I have
2 – The number of dogs I currently have
1 – Number of siblings I have
0 – The number of times I’ve broken any bones in my body

It’s amazing how much you can learn about someone just by looking at numbers.  And it’s amazing how much music I have.  Here’s a few other number related things that I’ve been thinking about this past weekend.

On Friday night I attending the first night of a men’s retreat at my church entitled “Dad’s That Make a Difference”.  I wasn’t able to make the second day due to a previous commitment (which I’ll get to next).  What I did get to experience though was 1 night with 13 other men who all wanted to strengthen themselves as Christian Fathers.  We ate together, fellowshiped together, worshiped together, watched the videos together and had some great conversation and discussion.  We talked about what we remembered about our dads and what we wanted to do to become better dad’s for our kids.  It was wonderful to hear that you aren’t alone in your struggles and that other dad’s are going through the same things.

On Saturday morning I joined with 34 men to continue building our team of servants for the upcoming fall Walk to Emmaus.  We’ve been meeting for 7 weeks with 1 more meeting to go before the 36 hour weekend retreat where 21 men (pilgrims) will experience an amazing weekend.

Then, on Sunday I was able to attended the 9:30 service at WUMC as a member of the congregation rather than as a member of the worship team.  I took this week off due to everything else going on – plus I needed to just take a break and recharge.  We then headed up to Aurora Sunday after church my daughter’s soccer game – which they unfortunately lost 5-2.

Lots and lots of numbers.  But there was some other mention of numbers that brought joy to my heart and others that disturbed me as well.

On Saturday we were discussing the number of men (pilgrims) that will be on the Walk to Emmaus.  We always pray for a strong turnout for these weekends.  They really are an amazing weekend and God does some amazing things during an through the weekend.  The comment that brought joy to my heart was during a discussion of how as team members we are there as servants.  We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus for the pilgrims that will be making the walk.  It was then that one of the team members said that it doesn’t matter how many men we have on the weekend – if just 1 feels the love of Jesus, see’s the love of Jesus and comes to truly know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and strengthen that relationship then all of the time, work and effort that we have put into this weekend will be worth it.

Then on Sunday, I heard a comment regarding an upcoming possible expansion to the church and how it will will help us build the church.  But my problem is – what is it building?  Sure, it’s building a beautiful structure.  Sure, it’s going to give us more space and it may give us the opportunity to do some things that we aren’t today.  But I keep thinking about this and have to ask myself, so what?  We don’t fill our current sanctuary on a Sunday morning.  I mean, how often do we judge the success of the church on the attendance on a Sunday morning.  How many times have you described your church by the number of people that attend services on a Sunday morning?  Has the church in America become just a building that people can go to to be comfortable, see their friends, get a nice cup of coffee and a danish before the service starts.  How will it encourage the body of Christ to open to Word of God and study it and learn it.  How will it encourage the body of Christ to spend time each day in quiet time with God in prayer?  Will it increase our ability to bring people to Jesus Christ and know him as their Lord and Savior?  Will it encourage the body of Christ to step outside of the walls and reach out to those in need or will it make it harder because they have air conditioning, comfortable seats and good music?  The church is called to do the work of Jesus- to be his hands and feet in this world.  To care for our brothers and sisters, to love them unconditionally, and to reach them where they are.  To feed the hungry, care for the sick, to clothe the naked.  Jesus talked about how we are to leave the 99 to find the 1

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.  ‘I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:4-7, NIV)

How are WE finding the 1?

Check out this article from the September 2008 issue of Worship Leader Magazine for some more thoughts on this topic:

Look Inside >> September, 2008

Please understand that everything here is my own opinion and we all know what they say about opinions – everyone’s got one.  Whether mine is worth more than 2 cents is definitely up for debate (and with today’s stock market slide it’s probably only worth about 0.8 cents).  I don’t intend to come across negative – these are just the questions I am struggling with right now.  Why does it always seem to be about the bigger numbers?  I think the most important question we need to ask ourselves no matter what we are doing is, “Am I doing the will of God or am I doing my will?”  If we can answer with “God’s will” then it’s all good.

Join the conversation.

Have you ever been stuck?  You just can’t move forward?  Things have entered a familiar routine and you can’t break out of it?  Have you ever felt like you were living out the movie “Groundhog Day“?

Well, I’m stuck right now.  I feel like I’m stuck in a rut where I’m doing the same things over and over.  I’m stuck doing what seems like the same thing at work.  I’m stuck on the same frustrations over and over.  Situations seem to just keep repeating.  At times I feel like I’m stuck in a deep hole physically, spiritually, and emotionally and I just can’t seem to dig out.  I’m stuck struggling with following what I believe is God’s call on my life.  I’m stuck as I struggle with stepping up to be the husband and father I know God calls me to and that my family deserves.

But here’s the thing – this is NOT intended to be a “Poor Jeff” post.  On the contrary, it’s just the opposite.  You see, in addition to being stuck in all those things I’ve been stuck in a specific book of the Bible – a specific chapter – a specific verse.  You see, I started reading James a couple of weeks ago and no matter how hard I try I can’t get out of the first chapter.  I keep reading the first half of the chapter, over and over and over again.  My eyes and my heart keep going back to verses 2 through 4.  Here what it says:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  (James 1:2-4, NIV)

Pure joy?  Seems like a strange thing to do when I’m facing trials.  The last thing I want to see right now is more trials of ANY kind, let alone MANY kinds.  But the good thing is that I know that I am going through this season for the purpose of being built up. God has a plan for me and if I can just get out of the way and stop trying to drive the bus maybe I’ll actually see where he wants to lead me.  And that’s just it – THAT’S where the pure joy will come from.  When I go through these trials, when I stop and just listen for God and his guidance for dealing with these trials then I will find joy.  If I look to His Word and not the world for the answers then I will find joy.  If I quit worrying about what I want and how I want things to work out then I will find joy.

It may not be immediate – and that’s the struggle that we face sometimes.  We want everything right now.  I know I hear that from my kids all the time!  They see something in the store or on TV and they have to have it NOW!  Sometimes my kids think that if they don’t get that new toy that the world will end.  And I’ll have to admit, that’s how I feel sometimes with God.  If I don’t get the answer that I want from God when I want it then the world will end.  Luckily as I continue to grow in my faith and my walk I am getting better about waiting.  I’m DEFINITELY not perfect (just ask my wife) and probably never will be – but I’d like to think I’m getting better.  I am getting more comfortable with where I am and what God is calling me towards and I am waiting for the day when I can look back and say, “Yep, that’s where the perseverance was developed.”

How about you?  Does this make sense?  Does any of it resonate with you?  Is there a place you’re stuck?  Trials you are going through?  Are you able to see how God is using that to build you up?

Worship Central just put up a message by Francis Chan.  All I can say is wow.  I had the opportunity to hear some of this message last year at the National Worship Leader Conference but other parts are new.  Parts of this give me more food for thought after a previous post of mine.  Parts of this are challenging me in other ways.

Go grab a cup of coffee, close the door, open your heart and let God speak to you through Francis.

You can watch the video HERE.

OK, so as a worship leader you might think that I’m all about the music.  How many songs are we going to do this week?  How can we incorporate that new Chris Tomlin song this week?  Let’s look for a chance to really highlight the drums or guitar this week.  Here’s a really cool song that I love that we should do as a special piece.  Stuff like that.

And the truth is I do love the music.  I love lifting a song up to God in honor and praise of who he is or what he’s done.  For me a lot of the times that I feel closest to God are when I’m playing or singing.  Music can remind you of a time in your life when you felt closer to God or of a time when you felt far away but he pulled you back.  Music can help us when we are hurting, giving us the comfort and reassurance that God is always there for us and that we can praise him and honor him no matter what may be happening in our lives.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this type of stuff lately (see my previous post).  It has really been pulling at my heart.  I’ve started reading Rory Noland’s “The Worshipping Artist” which is also challenging some of my thinking.  I love leading worship and I feel that God has given me gifts that are to be used to glorify him.  My desire is for the people that come in to worship on a Sunday morning (or anyplace else that I’m leading at) to walk out and not think things like:

“Wow, that was a great service.  I loved all those songs.”
“The band was really on today.”
“Man, everyone really was clapping along today.”

Now, I’m not saying that it’s necessarily BAD if people walk out thinking those things.  What I am saying is that it is my desire for people to walk out of a service and feel as if they had an encounter with the Living God; for them to feel like they were able to really give their whole selves up to God; that they were able to really connect with God and understand what it is that he’s calling them to do; for them to feel that God spokedirectly to them through something that happened during the service.  I want for people to come away from that time and understand that the worship doesn’t end at 10:30 am when they head to the local diner; that it’s a “life thing”.

So how do we get there?  I think that music can be one way, but not the only way, that people can get there.  Prayer, silence, quiet moments, scripture, video, the message, times to recomittment ourselves, times of exhuberant praise and thankgsiving for what God is doing in the body of Christ – all of these are ways to worship him.  It’s up to us as worship leaders, musicians, pastors, lay leaders, etc. to ensure that we are promoting an atmosphere that encourages that type of an experience from the moment people walk in the door until the moment they leave.  That we do all that we can to serve during a service in a way that minimizes distractions, that we do our best to ensure that the flow of the service is such that there aren’t any “train-jumping-the-tracks” type of moments that could pull people out of a place of intimacy.  As leaders we need to ensure that we are prepared logistically and, most importantly, spiritually for the responsibilities that we have. That we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit during a service and that we are prepared to follow and put our plans aside in favor of God’s work.

I definetly don’t have all the answers – but it does present some food for thought and some good discussion.

Continue to pray for this family – especially the son.  I can not imagine what this young man is going through right now.  The Chapman’s have set-up a website where people can post a word of encouragement and see a video blog of Maria with Stephen that was shot a few months ago.  It just really makes you stop and think about life and how fragile it really is. 

Here is the e-mail I received today:

• If you’d like to express your condolences and get a glimpse of this beautiful little girl through a short video clip, click here.
• Mail to PO Box 150156 Nashville, TN 37215.
• In lieu of flowers, the Chapmans request any gifts be directed to Shaohannah’s Hope, click here.
  

I know I always tell people that my family comes first, but this has got me to thinking how often do I actually live this out?  How many times have I blown off a request from Taylor to do something because I was “too busy” doing something that probably could have waited for 30 minutes?  How often have I snapped at the kids because I was having a bad day and they were innocently asking a question?  How many times did I get upset with the kids just because they were being kids and goofing around?  Why don’t I spend time sitting with them and reading the bible?  Am I doing enough around the house to help Beth out?  How often do I let other things get in the way of spending time with my family – quality time, not just time sitting in the same room as them. 

The thing is that none of this is ground-breaking or new.  This is the type of stuff that I’ve heard in classes, seminars, Proimise Keeper events, books, etc.  I guess I need to take some time and really just examine myself and pray about this and make sure that I’m not just saying that they’re first but that I’m LIVING it.  I know having just finished Tony Dungy’s book that this was a central theme in that book – family first!  I also know that with the things I’ve been struggling with lately in my life and the plans that God has for me, how my family figures into it all is a huge piece of it.  It just seems like God has really been opening my eyes lately to the importance of family and the importance of being a strong example of Christ’s love to them.  I only pray that I can live up to that.