Tech Saturday (on a Sunday!): Planning Center Online

Hello friends! 

 

Sorry I haven't been on schedule around here on the J-Blog. It's been a busy season with a final paper and a new language to learn down at the seminary, as well as the kickoff of a few things at Westminster that need my attention. But, happy happy news is coming to the J-Blog, and I'm hoping to make that announcement next week! In the meantime, accept as my apology a late Tech Saturday offering, and we'll see you all again on Tuesday!

 

To quote Rob Bell, I would screw up a one car parade. My administrative abilities are negligible at best, and disastrous at worst. Before the advent of iCloud, and the ability to keep all of my calendars and to-do lists in a single space, my desk, car, refrigerator, backpack, and palm were covered in sticky notes and reminders, about half of which I ever remembered to follow through on. My arrival at Westminster forced me to change my habits when it comes to planning and personal discipline, because the mistakes you might be able to get away with in a smaller church can be devastating in a larger environment.

 

One of the hardest things to keep straight and going was planning for our Bridge worship service. The way we've always put it that makes sense to me is that the Bridge is made up of many moving parts, each of which are changing from week to week. There are two primary worship leaders, who are both sometimes out of town. There are (at the moment anyway) 5 regular preachers. There are dozens and dozens of skilled and talented musicians who have cycled through our doors in the last 5 years, almost none of whom work for the church. And so we have to keep it all straight, some how we have to manage this monster of a thing called the Bridge, and in a perfect world, do so in such a way that to the congregation it seems seamless and smooth. 

 

This is not an easy task! 

 

Enter Planning Center Online. This outstanding web based service has helped us to keep track of what's going on from week to week and keep everybody in the loop. There are any number of excellent features on this site, and truth be told I still don't think I have figured out how to use it to its full advantage yet. But here for the sake of a blog post are a few of the features that have changed our worship service, and that I think could help you organize yours:

 

1. PDF downloads with YouTube Videos. We are forced because of the temporary nature of our worship space to run the no huddle worship team, meaning we do not have a weekly rehearsal time to get things ready for the Sunday to come. So one of the challenges we faced early on was how can we best equip our musicians to be ready to play when they walk in the door for a quick hour long sound-check that doubled as rehearsal? 

 

In Planning Center, you are able to upload PDF files of your chord charts. Our habit is to simply download the chart directly from CCLI when we can, and upload the PDF to planning center. That way each musician has the ability to download the music on their own when they're scheduled for worship. You can also attach a youtube video to the song in question, so that musicians can listen to the song and maybe even practice along with it with the chord charts. A few of our musicians show up to practice on Sunday mornings with their charts all marked up and highlighted, so they know what to expect when they walk in the door. 

 

2. When did we use that song last? We try our best to limit the number of times we repeat a song in worship, because we don't want to get bogged down singing "How Great is Our God" for ten weeks in a row. But because we have several different worship leaders sharing the workload, it's hard to keep track of what we do from week to week. Planning Center offers us a Matrix view, where we can see how each of the last few services shaped up, and what songs we might need to step away from, or what songs we haven't done in a while that could use re-introducing. 

 

This feature is also great when it comes to be our turn to participate in CCLI reporting. Planning Center can communicate directly with your CCLI account and report the songs we're doing from week to week, to make sure that the goofy worship leader doesn't forget to do so on Tuesday morning after staff meeting! One less thing to worry about in a busy week.

 

3. Scheduling. This is the biggest help for us. Once we know who's leading worship on a particular week, they can sign into planning center and set a schedule for each of our musicians. The musicians themselves can even help things along by letting us know which weeks they are unavailable, so that we can avoid scheduling them or schedule someone else. When someone declines an invitation, Planning Center can help suggest people who might be able to fill that role. 

 

Planning Center is a monthly subscription service. The cheapest package is zero dollars a month, so you really owe it to yourself to at least give it a shot! Plus, they do an incredible job with their video tutorials so that you know your way around the service. Stop on by and check it out today!

 

www.planningcenteronline.com

Building towards Sabbath part two: Technology Saturday

Good morning bloggers!

 

As I left you in the last part of this series, I had come to the sudden realization that I had not taken a real Sabbath in a while. It is indeed a spiritual discipline, in that it's extremely easy to fall out of if you're not careful. The feeling that comes from falling out of the Sabbath practice is subtle, creeping up on you until one day you're cursing your phone out while driving down RT 28 in the middle of the day like a lunatic. 

 

So what is a Sabbath? Take a moment to reflect on this definition from Exodus:

 

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 

So really, at the heart of things, this is about not doing any work. That would be hard enough, right? It leads to some pretty serious discussions about what is work. Our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox Jewish tradition believe that even something as simple as turning on a light switch would qualify as work. That's not as really silly as it sounds though. Is a game of dodgeball work? It is to a youth pastor! Work can be defined in lots of different ways by lots of different people. I think at the end of the day, it's a heart issue for each person. 

 

What helps to solidify things is a sneaky little phrase in this passage, one that is too easy to look over. The seventh day is a sabbath TO the Lord your God. It's as if God knows (because he does) that the things we do as work actually wind up separating us from Him. God wants just one day out of our week where our primary focus is on Him, and our relationship with him. He wants us to stop producing things. He wants us to stop placing our value or hope in the things that we DO. He wants (I believe) to speak into us our worth and value, and he needs our undivided attention to do it. 

 

So if you were going to start a Sabbath-keeping practice, what would you do? What kinds of things would you stop doing because they get in the way of your relationship with God? What kinds of things would you have to START doing to enhance your relationship with God? If you find God in nature, would it be beneficial to have a day each week where you spent the majority of it outside? If you find God with people, would it be beneficial to have a day where you invited your closest friends over for a meal? 

 

For me, I realize that while I have a deep and profound love of technology like my Macbook, iPhone, iPad (ok, maybe just Apple Tech) that these things do little to nothing to enhance my relationship with God. I understand I could use them for that, and wouldn't discourage anyone who would want to go down that road on their Sabbath. But my technology devices remind me of work. The texts, e-mails, tweets, Facebook messages, all point in the direction of work sometimes, which can make Sabbath hard. I combine that with the fact that as an introvert, I connect with God best when I can sit on my porch for a while, reading, studying scripture, praying, and thinking in silence. So a new Sabbath for me looks like a Monday where I shut the phone off, leave the laptop at work, keep the TV at bay, and spend time in study and prayer. I would deeply encourage each of you to figure out what activities keep you from God and which activities enhance your relationship with God, and set aside (the definition of Holy by the way) a day to the Lord.

 

Incidentally, this presents a problem for the olde J-Blog. Monday is the first day of writing, and writing is a big part of what keeps me sane. You'll note that I've had more posts in August this year than I have in any month in the last three years. But if my laptop is turned off, I can't very well write for the J-Blog. What to do, what to do?

 

And so we're introducing Tech Saturday. I'm going to move the whole J-Blog's week back a day, so there will be no posts on Mondays. But then, on Saturday, since I'll be turning off my tech on Monday, we'll spend a little bit of time on the intersection of Technology with our four big areas (Youth Min, Worship, Seminary, and Book Reviews). I'll work through products, apps, websites, and other things related to the techy world. I think it will be fun! If you have any ideas for a Tech Saturday post, please let me know!

 

As for me, it's time for a Sabbath. See you next week J-Bloggers!

Photo Friday: Sunrise and Music

Good morning friends!

 

I have some more thoughts to continue in the Sabbath series that we'll get to this afternoon. But I wanted to share a moment of worship with you all that I experienced this morning. Sometimes worship creeps up on us. Sometimes it's the absolute last thing we're expecting. I was driving in to school this morning, watching the sun come up over the city across the Liberty Bridge, and this song came up on my iPod and just set the whole tone for the day. 

 

 

Take a moment today to just appreciate God's creation. Even if it's in a traffic saturated commute to work or school. Put on a song that resonates with you, that speaks to beauty, and just enjoy what God has for you. 

 

More to come later today!

A humbling question!

Greetings friends,

 

As I've mentioned before, I'm in an intensive class this week (it turned out to be a one week class instead of two) on church planting at the seminary. I think on Saturday you can look forward to a post about this class, as it has been one of the most unique and innovative classes I've ever been a part of. But more on that later.

 

Part of the class is that we are to pair up with someone as a prayer partner and spend some time each day praying for each other and for the class. My prayer partner Judy and I meet every morning before class, and start our day out with the exact same question:

 

"How can I pray for you today?"

 

On the surface, particularly to those of us who are in ministry, this can seem like such a meaningless statement. We might throw it out there the same way many people answer "Fine and you?" to the question "How are you?" without thinking. It's built into the job, it's part of the lexicon, it's an afterthought, it's not much to worry about or get excited over. But being on the receiving end of that question for the last few days, it's really been a humbling, inspiring, and encouraging experience for me. Perhaps it's the weight of the question itself, or perhaps it's even that the asker in this case isn't asking it in an afterthought kind of way. Judy is legitimately asking to step inside my world, and join me in praying to God. What an honor!

 

When a phrase is staring to lose its significance for me, one of the things I try to do is to move it to places you wouldn't usually expect it. We anticipate hearing the pastor ask "How can I pray for you?" in a church building, especially on Sunday. We expect it at certain points in a conversation. We expect it in all kinds of places. What if we started using it outside of where it was expected? What if we started asking people how we can pray for them at work? What if we started asking them out to lunch or coffee, just to see how best we could pray for them? Are you asking your students, whom we all spend a great deal of time entertaining and teaching, how you can best remember them in your prayers? Are you then remembering to pray for them? Weekly? Daily? 

 

Prayer is a powerful agent. Prayer is the connection point between God and us. To have someone offer to pray for you is humbling. It leaves me at time speechless, because it's one thing to think that God would have time for my needs and worries (a whole other discussion) and it's another thing to think that another person would have that kind of time. So take an opportunity today to step into someone's life, and offer up some prayers in their direction. You might just make their day!

Photo Friday: American Dreams

Greetings Earthlings,

How can you not love Switchfoot? While I shuffle the contents of my iPod rather frequently, there is almost never a time that Switchfoot isn't at least a part of the mix. Lately, I've been stuck on the album Oh Gravity... and in particular this song American Dream. 

I find myself going back and forth. In my heart of hearts, I want to live a simple life. It seems to make sense to me. I don't want to spend any time at all caught up in the trappings of consumeristic America, letting my wallet determine my worth. And so every once and a while, I'll drift into a living simply mode, where I try to set things aside and live as basic and down to earth as humanly possible. 

It usually lasts a week or so. 

Then I'm right back into it. Apple will release a new iPad that I absolutely must have. Old Navy will have a sale and I'll spend my money there rather than say at the Goodwill, where everyone wins in the end. I will obsess over how my car isn't good enough because it doesn't have leather seats or a navigational system (though, at this particular moment I'm happy the car runs without falling apart!). And no one will notice anything is wrong, nothing will feel wrong, because that's the culture we surround ourselves with. I'll blend in to the crowd, and no one will notice me. 

I worry about this. Jesus seemed to think that living simply was the best way to go: 

"Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts, no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or staff, for the worker is worth his keep." (Matthew 10:9-10)

In other words, working for the kingdom of God should be payment enough for us. It should be status symbol enough for us. Whereas the American Dream really ends up enslaving most of us (ask anyone who has over-maxed their credit cards), the Kingdom and the work we do for it frees us. It might seem so backwards to our American culture, but the less you worry about yourself, the more free you'll really end up being. 

This has implications for youth ministry too, you know? If our youth ministry is run by programs and toys and gadgets and stuff rather than by relationships and an honest yearning for the Spirit of God, then our kids will end up loving the world every bit as much as we teach them to. Please understand, this comes from a place of conviction, I'm thinking through our ministry as I'm typing this. But all the same, does your ministry feed the American Dream, or the Kingdom Come? 

I'm going to work on this the next few weeks. I hope you'll join me. I hope you'll join me in trying to put God first by putting myself last. I hope you'll join me in trying to advance the Kingdom by suppressing my desires. If his love is really better than wine, and the worker is really worth his keep, then won't we actually be better off in the long run? Won't we actually be free? 

Trying to listen

Hello friends,

The Dark Night of the Soul is a concept I've written about here before on the J-Blog. It's the idea that God would simply stop speaking to you. You wouldn't hear from him for a long while, despite constantly praying and seeking and asking and searching. It is, according to many church fathers like St. John of the Cross, a blessing. If you only had a relationship with God for the sake of loving God, and not for all the things he could bless you with, would you still love him as deeply? Or is God our cosmic sugar daddy, always there to give us what we need? 

This isn't that...

I found myself in a situation this morning where I needed discernment. Sarah and I even sat down and prayed together and asked God to help us make the right decision. And as I found myself in the moment, as I was thinking through decisions and what was in front of me, I heard nothing. I didn't hear a voice from God. I didn't feel the Spirit descend like a dove. I didn't see the clouds part. I had nothing going on inside me. It was not unlike driving in a really thick fog, being pretty sure there is road underneath the wheels but having absolutely no idea where the road was taking me. 

The temptation in this moment is usually to blame God. After all, he can take it, right? The temptation is to call this a dark night of the soul, a moment in time where God abandoned me and stopped communicating. For once in my life, I saw right through the temptation right away. The problem wasn't that God wasn't speaking. It was that I wasn't asking. Sure, Sarah and I said a quick prayer that morning, but my mind was elsewhere. The prayer was half baked on my end at best. In typical fashion, my mind was on what I could do. My mind was centered on the actions that I could take. What am I going to do next? 

It's so subtle isn't it? This idea of grace vs. works. I mean sure, when it comes to salvation and eternal life we're all pretty good at seeing the difference, knowing that the correct answer on the theological test is to say that nothing we could ever do would make God love us less. We are given our free gift of salvation because of Christ's work on the cross, not ours here. Yet I don't think that the eternal ramifications are the only place this grace vs. works battle plays out. I think when we enter our prayer life focused on what we can do in a situation rather than ask God for his wisdom, it's like trying to have a conversation with someone while wearing headphones. You can't possibly listen to what the other person has to say. 

Tonight, I'm taking my headphones off. I'm hoping that I can sit quietly enough to hear what God is saying to me. The situation from this morning is well passed and resolved, but there are other situations. There are so many areas in my life where I would rather trust myself and what I can do rather than leaning back, trusting God, and listening to what he wants to speak into my life. 

My prayer for us tonight is that we would listen. That we would be still enough to hear what God is speaking into our world. That we would have the strength and the courage to take the headphones off, and listen and converse with God. What a privilege and an honor it is to have a conversation with the God of the universe, that we all to often take for granted. 

Let us pray...

The words and the Word

Hello friends,

Jim touched on something the other day in his sermon that has been rattling around in my brain ever since. The sermon dealt with fear, and what it looks like as a Christian to deal with the fear in our lives. Nobody lives without fear, it's something we all deal with on a daily basis. But when dealing with fear, and consulting with friends about it, one of the annoying refrains that Christians seem to throw at each other is "Oh, just trust Jesus. It'll be better."

Really? 

Does that provide any sense of comfort to the person in question? Or what if the person in question is already trusting Jesus, but still feels fear? What if the fears themselves are wrapped up in what trusting Jesus looks like (a prospect that honestly should scare us more than it does I think)? There are more than a handful of situations where the words "Just trust Jesus" don't fit. In fact, they can be harmful. 

But as I mentioned, that all got me thinking. A cursory glance through my twitter timeline this week led me to a handful of sayings that we seem to try to make fit in every situation, even when they don't. Sometimes I even get a bit nervous when we post random pieces of scripture that are taken completely out of the context in which they were meant. For instance, did you know that the saying "Where two or more are gathered, I am with them" comes from a teaching about disciplining an unrepentant sinner? 

I mean, I get it. The twitter world attempts to solve every nail with a 140 character hammer. But our words are at times worthless. Our words can only take us so far. Our words, more often than we'd like to admit, fall flat and much shorter than we intended. 

But Jesus does not. 

Jesus himself is THE Word of God made flesh. When God speaks words, whole galaxies come into being. When Jesus speaks, light breaks into darkness. When the Spirit speaks, an entire movement within the Church is born. When the Word speaks, things start happening. 

And so maybe for those of us who are in ministry, we should spend a little less time coming up with and finding pithy sayings that are meant to encourage in every situation, a one size fits all piece of theological encouragement, but rather we should spend a little more time inviting the Word made flesh into our ministries and our conversations. Maybe we should invite Jesus to put a fresh word on our tounges every time we are bold enough to represent him publicly, to those who need to hear from him most. Maybe instead of tweeting about a situation, we could spend a bit more time meeting with the people behind the situation. 

Just some food for thoughts. Happy Wednesday everyone!

 

 

Home

Good morning friends!

I have been lucky as a member of Tree Anthem to be able to lead worship in some amazing spaces. Obviously this past summer I had the joy and the honor of leading worship at the Alive Music Festival in Ohio with about 250 of my closest friends. We've played at Camp Ligonier's outdoor stage a few times, and those kids are already pretty hyped up by the time we get there, so it's usually a pretty beautiful rock and roll set in the woods. And of course, who could forget Pine Springs the Big One, our favorite show to play each and every year? I have had the privilege of leading and singing all over the place, and I look forward to leading and singing in a bunch of new locations!

But yesterday I played at my absolute favorite venue. I hadn't been back at the Bridge in three weeks, and so I was extremely excited to get back in there and to lead worship. I saw friends I haven't seen in a long time. I got to laugh and some of the summer stories that have already started to form out of that place. I was challenged by the sermon and the scripture texts that went along with it. In short, I was home. 

I have known youth workers and worship leaders who don't feel at home in their congregations. Not so with me. I was home at Westminster the very moment I first step foot in one of the 31 doors we have become known for. The people I serve with are my friends, and truthfully everyone in the congregation serves right along side me and the rest of the staff on a daily basis. The Church (big C intentional) is the gathering of followers of Jesus, wherever they may find themselves. And so throughout the week when I see these friends at grocery stores or movie theaters or the more than occasional times we get together outside of the church building, I know that I am living a realized dream for what church should look like. I have found my home. 

Do you have a church home? A place where you can experience the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ through friendships deep and meaningful? A safe space where you can be challenged with the words of Scripture? A place where you can bring your brokenness unashamed, because everyone is encouraged to come just as they are? I hope you do. If not, by all means, feel free to join us at 9:45 AM on Sundays. We're the loud ones. 

More to come this week!

Godspeed,

J

Photo Friday: Swing

Hello everybody!

Welcome to a second (record breaking!) episode of Photo Friday, wherein I end the week with a photo that summarizes what's been going on here at the J-Blog. Let's dive in shall we? 

This week, in so many ways, it is all about getting back into the swing of things. Tuesday was the first official day in the office in almost three weeks. It was the first time we gathered in Jim's office for our staff bible study, the first time we had staff meeting, the first creative lunch after staff meeting. It was good to get back, but it was difficult to get into the swing of things. We definitely had to re-find our rhythm. 

This week is also my first time back at the Bridge in a while. I feel like I'm going to have to re-introduce myself to the congregation! But again, this was the first week I had to put together a set list, to really think about what songs would line up well with the sermon and would be singable by those who are in the congregation. There was a considerable amount of rust to shake off. 

I also began reading again for Seminary. A glance at the syllabus for the class I'm taking in August (that I'm really glad I read through!) informs me that I should read 1,200 pages of material before arriving on the first day of class. And so, summer break is over, and I've been diving back into reading. But not just reading as in letting my eyes see the words on the page and semi-absorbing what they said. This is back to seminary reading, back to trying to do everything I can to retain the information in question so that I can call it back whenever I need it. 

The phrase "getting back into the swing of things" has been thrown around a lot this week. Swings are a pretty good image to carry around with us sometimes. You have to go backwards first before  you can go forward on a swing. Sometimes people assume that the only way to go is forward in our society, keep moving, keep producing, keep busy, keep going. But a swing reminds us that you sometimes have to take a step back in order to take a step forward. You have to go on a quick vacation every now and again before you can come to work full of energy and creativity and passion. Or perhaps it reminds us that a step backwards won't be forever. Perhaps making tough decisions in your financial world will lead to a much brighter future. Perhaps tearing down a statue feels wrong at the moment, but removing the culture of hero worship is a big step forward in the long haul. 

Jesus seemed to think in these terms. Whoever is last among you shall be first in the Kingdom of God. Whoever wants to be greatest must become a servant. Greater love has none than this: whoever lays down his life for his friends. Sometimes backwards is ok. 

And so this weekend, be ok with a step backwards. Take a moment to breathe, to relax, and to stop producing. If you really get into the swing of things, taking a step backwards will propel you further than you could possibly go on your own. 

Godspeed,

J

All about the journey

Good morning!

As you are reading this, if I've figured out my blog editor correctly, I'm currently on the road back home from Vacation. If I can pretend for a moment to predict the future, I am probably staring at the countdown clock on my GPS telling me exactly how many more hours I'm going to have to sit in this car before I can get out, get home, and stretch my legs. Or I'm looking at how far away the next Starbucks break is going to be. 

This particular journey will also be difficult as I will be headed back to work tomorrow. I'm guessing future me is thinking about all the tasks that are ahead of me. In a best case scenario, I'm letting my mind dream a little bit, starting to think about the big ideas that are ahead for Veritas and the upcoming school year. Worst case scenario, I've already activated my e-mail on my phone, and I'm thinking about all the mundane tasks that lie before me. 

What troubles me about this approach, and what I'm hoping I can avoid on Monday, is that I'm letting miles and miles of beautiful Pennsylvania (and at times, significantly less beautiful New Jersey) pass me by without so much as a second glance. What kind of beautiful sights might I miss if I'm not paying attention? What sorts of things might God want to be telling me that I'm just not listening to right now? 

I confess that I do this constantly. I am way more about the destination than I am about the journey. It should really be the other way around. The number of T-shirst in crummy gift shops that tell us that life is a journey ought to be evidence of this enough. It's almost as if some of us have conditioned ourselves to believe that the destination is where life is to be lived, and the journey is just in the way. "I'll be happy when I get that new job." Will you? Or were there points in between job A and job B that were meant to make you happy, but you missed it because your eyes were on the destination? 

I'm going to try my best this morning to enjoy the journey. I hope and pray that whatever journey you find yourself on, you will do the same!

Godspeed,

J

God in the mundane

Good evening friends!

I'm trying to write a sermon, but it's not going so well. So of course, I turn to the blog for distraction and/or inspiration. 

I've actually been meaning to write this post for a while now, but my week has gotten away from me. Tuesday, I had to get the packing lists for this year's Alive festival mailed out to all the students. This is typically a tedious project. First, I have to open up the file from last year and change all the dates and times and what have you. Then I proof read it, which was hard this year because Ed was in class, and so I had to proof read it all by my lonesome. And if you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that proof reading is not my style. At all. So if you're going to Alive this year with us, and you got your packing list, please add "lawn chair." Completely slipped my mind. 

Then I had to wage war with the paper folding machine. It's this device that lives in the print room at Westminster, and claims to make life easier on all of us. Wrong. It's sole purpose is to taste human blood. That thing is insane. There are way too many buttons for a machine that is supposed to in essence be a faster pair of opposable thumbs. Luckily, Mariela who runs the print room was there that morning. She commands respect from the machines. They obey her. But that didn't stop the dreaded paper folding machine from scowling at me while neatly creasing the letters in question. It was a scowl, I tell ya!

From there I returned to my desk, and set up an assembly line. A stack of packing lists, a equal sized stack of Veritas envelopes, and a sheet with mailing labels for everyone who is signed up for the trip. I had 15 minutes to get the labels on and the letters stamped before our weekly staff meeting, so I was in go mode. 

But then I thought about something that Dr. Sunquist said during class one evening last term. Every morning, he wakes up and walks to the seminary from his house, and as he passes the dorms, he takes a moment to pray for the students that are just waking up and getting ready to start their day. Because why would you waste an opportunity to pray for someone, even in a mundane moment of life? 

And so I took those words to heart, and spent a little bit of extra time praying while I stuck labels on envelopes. Some of the students I've known for all 6 years we've been going to Alive. Some of them I know, but not incredibly well, maybe because they just moved up into 9th grade. Some of the students I don't know at all, because they're friends of some of the other kids and this will be their first entry into youth group with us. And so I prayed for each one of them. I prayed for this trip, even though it's mostly a fun trip, meant to be an enjoyable start to summer, I prayed that these students would have a profound experience with Jesus along the way. I've been praying the same thing ever since. 

This isn't meant to be bragging. My prayer life is nothing to be bragged about. It is however (hopefully) an awakening, a return to a prayer life consistently for the students and for the ministry that we've been called to at Westminster. Too often I get caught up in the little things, the details, the how and why and when and where that I forget the Who that's behind it all. And that's not right at all.

So take a few moments this week and pray for your kids. Even if you've wrapped things up for the summer, take just a few moments in your office and pray for the students who God has graciously placed in your life, and pray that they would experience Jesus in a new and radical way. Because I'm quite sure that's a prayer that God never tires of hearing.

Ok, sermon time!

Godspeed,

J 

Engaging Emotion

Good afternoon bloggers,

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You are at a Christian conference or concert or something, and a speaker is beginning to land his message. His whole desire is to get those in the audience to make a life commitment to Jesus, to offer themselves fully to the God of the Universe and to fall on his grace. And then, out of nowhere, you begin to hear a orchestra playing really sappy music. The strings would ebb and flow in time with the speakers dramatic dialogue and reading of scriptures. And then at last, as the orchestra reached its climax, the speaker would invite everyone who wanted to dedicate or rededicate their lives to Christ to come down to be prayed for/with. Teary eyed teenagers would rush the stage, overwhelmed with emotion.

And typically, I the cynical youth worker, stand in the back of the room with my arms crossed, disgusted at what I'm witnessing. Not that kids are committing their lives to Christ, that's always a welcomed and exciting thing. What disgusts me is that someone has manipulated what we in the audience are feeling. The song, the tone of speech, the lighting, the atmosphere, are all designed to convince the listener to have an emotional reaction to what's being said. When I see it happening, I almost always ask myself if Jesus needs this kind of manipulation on our parts to win the hearts of teenagers. Shouldn't Christ alone be enough?

Emotion is part of the Christian experience, for sure. But for me, it was the part I wanted to rely on least. I mean, as a big, tough, good looking, macho guy (stop laughing) admitting that you have feelings is almost seen as a sign of weakness. Plus as a leader of students, I don't want to be the kind of guy who manipulates emotion. It's there, but I just don't talk about it or think on it too much.

Marko, as is often the case, had a great post yesterday about spiritual auto pilot. I'll admit, I was about to write about the same thing today. I think I made it through the whole Lent and Easter season without truly engaging who God is in my own life. I mean, I do a lot of reading for work and for seminary. But I wasn't in it. My heart wasn't in it. I wasn't engaging God emotionally.

And while I don't think I'll ever be on board with people who manipulate the emotions of teenagers (or other audiences for that matter), this morning I've spent some time reflecting on what it looks like to love God with all my heart, not just with my mind and soul and strength. What does it look like to own up to my sin-stained heart, and to offer it to Jesus just as it is? Even claiming to love God is an emotion response, one that my stereotypical reasoning Presbyterian mind doesn't want to open up to.

And so this week, I'm going to engage in my emotional response to God. What suggestions do you have for engaging emotions? How about teaching youth to engage with God emotionally?

Godspeed,

Jason

Busy

Greetings friends,

I have been suspiciously absent from the blog for a little while now. As I sat in my office this morning and tried to pinpoint a reason for my absence, the usual answers came up. I've been working too much for Veritas. I've been too busy with training for the MS 150. I've been too busy working on stuff for Tree Anthem. Somewhere along the way in the conversation I had with myself, I felt like I was a boy scout showing off his merit badges. "This one's for all the long nights I've spent in the office. This one's for all the music I'm writing..."

It felt horrible.

Do I really want to wear my business as a badge of honor? I mean I guess at some point along the line, someone decided that time was money, and so the busier I am the more I must be worth, right? The more effort I put in, the more people respect me, right? Are these really the priorities I want to live by?

It's not to say that we should all just camp out on the couch and not do anything. Keeping oneself busy is a pretty great way to keep oneself out of trouble if my middle school experience has anything to say about it. But this is different. This is taking pride in my busy-ness.

And not to mention that my busy-ness has kept me from things that I adore doing. Last night I didn't read my bible at all because I was too busy catching up on my rest from spending the Easter holiday being too busy. If I repeat that sentence again my heart's going to burst. Really? I was worshiping Jesus so hard this easter that it literally wore me out to the point that I could no longer worship Jesus?

Sarah has said on more than a few occasions that she hates going out to dinner with me when I've been busy, because I tend to spend the whole evening apologizing for how tired I am. My busy-ness is enough to keep me from being fully present with my wife? Not cool man. Not cool at all.

Some of what keeps me busy is worth while. Some of it is (I think) an attempt to earn another merit badge. And so, as is the case every now and again, I need to take a step back and re-establish priorities. Why am I saying yes to the obligations that I am saying yes to? And if I say yes to this, what will I inevitably have to say no to later? Would it be worth it? Is my appointment calendar kingdom building, or Jason building?

I challenge us to take a look at our merit badges this morning, and see why we say yes to what we say yes to. What does it cause us to have to say no to? Are we really just worshiping the art of being busy?

Stripped Down

Good morning bloggers!

I'm extremely excited for a bunch of worship opportunities this weekend! As we speak, my good friend Adam Strawcutter is working his was to the South Hills from Indiana Pa. Tomorrow morning he'll be leading worship with the Bridge band, and while he's in town for that he agreed to help me lead worship at my friend Jay Higham's new church plant here in Peters Township.

The fun part about worship tonight will be the complete lack of anything going on. No sound system. No flashy lights. No loud band. Just two guys with acoustic guitars and a choir of believers. It's as close as I think I'll get to what Jon Foreman has done after Switchfoot shows for a couple of years now, just a stripped down worship set. I'm super excited for it.

Don't get me wrong, I love to rock and roll with the best of them. Tree Anthem will always be my preferred style of worship music, loud and ruckus. But every now and again, I think it's really important to step out of what we're comfortable with and meet God in a profound new way. And for me at least, it's important from time to time to just trim the fat, to get all the distractions away, to take away everything that could get between me and the beautiful Savior.

And so perhaps this has more truth to it than just music. Perhaps today should be a day for all of us to strip down our relationship with God. Get away from the things that might hold us back, the things that might look like they're helping but are in actuality hurting. I'll give you an example that I've been convicted of lately. I am a sucker for a good devotional plan, a book that puts the words of God into my mouth for me. And while reading through these books every day looks like devotion, I started to wonder a few weeks back if I was actually communicating with God. The tool became the distraction.

So let's strip down from the garbage today. Let's strip down to basic worship, to un-hindered praise. Let's sing in a parking lot if that's what's required of us! Let's meet the face of God!

Godspeed,

J

Reset 2012: Ashes

Good morning dear bloggers!

Today is Ash Wednesday. Tradition has it that in the early church, when a new convert wanted to join, they had to go through a 40 day preparation period before their baptism, which followed a liturgy of death and resurrection. The practice continued until today, where we celebrate Lent as preparation for the resurrection that is to come.

But simply put, resurrection doesn't make sense without death. We have a tendency in the Church to focus only on that which is positive, that which makes us feel good inside, that which makes us happy. Sure, that's all well and good, but without death the resurrection is just another story. Without death, Christ's work loses it's meaning. We don't call it "sad Friday" because it's the day Jesus died, we call it Good Friday because this death is leading us somewhere unbelievable.

And maybe that's the greater point. Maybe we need to look at death (and by this I should say I mean all different forms of death, personal, professional, emotional, financial, and all the other ways that darkness creeps into our lives) for where it's taking us. Ash Wednesday is all about staring death right in the face and saying "You don't scare me." through the power of the Risen One.

Today, if you attend an Ash Wednesday service, you'll bare the mark of death on your forehead all day. Let it be a reminder. Every time you look in the mirror, let it remind you that on our own, we're nothing more than a pile of dirt. I know, I know, sounds miserable. But the trick is, and what we really really need to remember is, we're not on our own. We are A LOT more than a pile of dirt. Not because of who we are and what we've done, but precisely because we've put ourselves to death, and let Christ reign in our hearts and in our lives. (Galatians 2:20)

May we all stare death in the face today, and realize that he doesn't have the last word. Jesus does.

Godspeed,

Jason

Reset 2012: Pre-Game

Greetings friends,

Today is Fat Tuesday, and while I originally thought that this was a celebration of portly people like myself, it's actually the pre-game celebration for a liturgical tradition within the Church known as Lent. The idea goes like this: when Lent arrives on Ash Wednesday (tomorrow), the tradition has it that you would give up something near and dear to you for a period of 40 days in dedication to Christ. So naturally, since today would be your last chance to enjoy such things, you party as hard as you can and consume as much as you can. This is where Mardi Gras comes from, and obviously that hasn't been blown out of proportion.

But for me, Lent is way more than giving stuff up. Lent is a period of re-dedication, of pushing the reset button on our walk with Christ. In an era of human history where my phone literally tells me when it's time to get up, time to eat, and time to go to my next meeting, I think it's easy to forget things. It's easy to forget why we do what we do, why our day holds to the patterns it holds to, why we feel strongly about that which we feel strongly about. And so in Lent, we hit reset. We order things as they should be, we put things back in perspective.

And not just for a minute or two either. Lent lasts for 40 days, a stark reminder that sometimes to get to the promised land you're going to need to spend a little bit of time in the desert. You can't bring our typical consumer culture to Lent, because it demands all of your attention for a long period of time. You have to sit. You have to wait. You have to see things play out over a period of time.

And so my plan is simple (or at least it seems that way on the surface). I'm going to be getting up early each day (6:00 AM for those who were wondering), and spending a significant period of time in prayer and in scripture study. I'm going to be working through the Divine Hours (a habit I had but seem to have lost along the way) and reading through the daily lectionary (again, a habit that once was and isn't any more.) I'm not really giving anything up (other than sleeping in I suppose), so I guess I'll have to skip out on the party today. But I'd invite you to join with me! Pick up a bible, read a little bit, pray honestly and expectantly, and see where the Spirit leads you during these 40 days. Whether you're church tradition celebrates Lent or not, it's always helpful to push the reset button from time to time.

Also, if you're not doing anything and you're in the area, tomorrow night at 8:00 Westminster is hosting our annual Ash Wednesday service to kick things off. If you're a regular Veritas attender, we're going to wrap things up 10 minutes early or so, and head down to the sanctuary. Everyone else is welcome to join us as well!

Here's to a happy Lent, and to pushing the Reset button.

Godspeed,

Jason

Love, incompletely

Greetings friends, and happy Valentines Day!

Sarah and I have never been really big on celebrating these holidays. Why is today the day that we express our love to each other? Why is today the day for gifts and presents and chocolates? (Actually, Sarah has all but demanded I get her chocolate today, but I don't think that has as much to do with Valentines day as one might think...) What makes today any different than yesterday?

And then I was struck by how many of my friends on Facebook are single, and how much they struggle with this holiday. From a single person's perspective, this holiday is almost a slap in the face. Everybody else has somebody, except YOU. I can't imagine the loneliness that one might feel with every TV commercial, billboard, or news story dedicated to Valentines day when you have no one to celebrate with.

It all points to the fact that our idea of love as human beings, even at its absolute best, is incomplete. 1 John 4:8 says "But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love." Love, when it is complete, is the Father. Love, when it is full, is the outstretched arms of Christ. Love, when it is most magnificent, is the grace and embrace of the Spirit.

So here's my encouragement to us today: Let us focus on the right kind of love. If we have a significant other, could we shower God with worship as much as we shower them with gifts and flowers? If we're single, could we direct our attention to the God of love rather than to our culture's idea of togetherness? If we are truly blessed enough to have a marriage, could we look at our spouse the way God looks at them?

Some food for thought!

Godspeed,

J

Travel Blog!

Hello friends!

Today is the big day! A group from Westminster Presbyterian Church has been planning to go to Haiti for quite some time, and we're getting on the plane at 5:00 tonight! The best news of all though is that my wife and father in law will both be on the trip as well, and so it's a whole family affair! I'm really excited about what God's going to do in our lives through this trip. I'm really excited to see how God is moving in and through the people of Haiti, and how our stories can intersect. I'm really pumped for new worship experiences, both formal and informal, new ways to meet God in a new place.

That's the best part of mission trips, I think. To change the scenery a little bit on your typical prayer life and devotionals, to take a step out of the normal and dare I even say comfortable in your life, so that God can interact with you in a way that he might not be able to while you're at home. So I ask for prayers, that our team would be open. Open to do whatever we can to help the people of Haiti, and also open to allow God to have his way with our hearts through this trip.

I think there will be internet down where we are, though it may be spotty at best, so I'm hoping to hop on and post some pictures and updates of the trip. If the internet is fussy, I'll keep writing the posts any way and then share them when I get back to the States. Your continued prayers are amazing, and I look forward to what God has in store for us through this trip!

Godspeed,

Jason

The ocean in a cup!

Hello friends,

Last week, some of us on staff at Westminster Presbyterian Church were giving ourselves metaphorical high-fives, rejoicing in our wonderful decision to delay the start of our Wednesday evening activities as week into the new year. Rather than start last week, we decided to start tomorrow night, to give us time to ease back into the swing of having a full time job before trying to figure out what our next moves would be.

That was all well and good, and probably would have continued to be well and good, had I actually taken the time to ease myself back into the swing of having a full time job. Instead, I spent most of last week trolling the internet looking for hilarious youtube videos. The result? It's Tuesday, I have messages to deliver on Wednesday and Sunday, and I am totally stuck. Way to go J!

Actually, it's not the problem you would expect. Or at least it's not the problem I expected. You would expect after three weeks off, I would just be out of practice. You would think that after a few moments of opening up the bible and/or my favorite commentary, bouncing the "sermon writing ball" off the wall a few times, and busting out my trademarked yellow legal pad would be enough to get the blood flowing again. But I don't think my writers block (at the moment at least) is due to a lack of discipline, or even a lack of things to say.

I think it's that I have too much to say!

That blank page is not intimidating because it's blank. That page is intimidating because there is so much I want it to be. There is so much that I want to communicate through the lost art of the sermon that 20 minutes just isn't enough to contain the whole thing. When I sit down and open my bible, I'm struck by the unyielding grace of the God of the universe, who in spite of everything has decided to share his love and his grace with me through his son. I want to try to find a way to help other people feel the way I feel when I think about that. I want to try to express the joy that's going on inside my bones every time I say the name of Jesus out-loud. And the whole time, this blank page is staring at me, almost laughing at me, daring me to write something down, to make physical something that is so deeply spiritual.

The blank page dares me to try to fit the ocean in a cup.

And so I'll do what I always do. I'll wrestle for a week, and try to get as much out as I can. I'll probably be disappointed. I'll probably think that the messages being delivered this week aren't up to snuff. And this isn't a pride thing, like I'm saying it's not good enough in the hopes that the congregation around me will tell me how great it was and I can feel pretty cool. I'm not even talking about substance or style at the moment. It's like Peter writes, I am filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, and at the moment, I'm feeling the frustration of not expressing the inexpressible.

Anybody out there here with me? And if so, do you have a good text for Sunday? :)

Godspeed,

Jason

Thank you!

Wow!

The J-Blog has hit 20,000 views! That means that 20,000 of you have accidentally found this website while searching for the Toronto Blue Jays, or that one person has been constantly refreshing to see if I will ever say something negative about Rob Bell. Either way, thanks for making the J-Blog one of the most fun things I do all week!