Join Us for "40 Days of Prayer & Impact"

The Significance of Forty

The number forty (40) is seen throughout the scriptures as a period in which God has made major changes and transformations. To name a few...

• It rained for 40 days and 40 nights during the flood of Noah and it took another 40 days for the water to subside.
• Moses was on the mountain with God for 40 days ... twice.
• The Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the desert wilderness.
• Jonah warned the City of Nineveh they had 40 days until God would overthrow the city. The people repented in those 40 days and God spared the city.
• Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days before He began His ministry.
• After Jesus was crucified and was resurrected, He spent time with His disciples for 40 days before He ascended to the clouds.

It only seems appropriate as we get closer to the Encounter Grand Opening on 10-10-10, that we recognize we are only 40 days away. That's right, we are only 40 days from our public launch and we are stoked! These 40 days are an opportunity to build excitement and to ask God to again bring major transformation in our hearts, in the Encounter community of faith, and in our city.

Join Us In 40 Days of Prayer & Impact

As we count down these last 40 days before the Encounter Grand Opening, we will be focused on the prayer and impact God desires to make in our hearts and our community. We will posting and emailing one prayer a day with a practical way we can make a positive impact in those around us for that day.

So we are asking you to join us in what God is doing and is going to do in these next 40 days. Pray with us. Act with us. Imagine the impact we could have in Helena if each one of us is individually involved in making Helena a better place. Imagine the lives that could be touched. Imagine how the spiritual landscape of our community could be changed even BEFORE the grand opening.

Join us on the Encounter Helena Blog each day at here.

Good Friday FWD at Encounter

Wow, what an amazing night! Our very first Good Friday gathering called Good Friday FWD was both an "impactful" and "meaningful" evening according to those who attended.

The live acoustic-style set featured violin, guitar, and piano with songs like Nothing But The Blood, Love Is Here, and Mighty To Save.

The focus of the evening was the power of forgiveness and cleansing in the blood of Christ. More specifically, we described how the blood of Jesus Christ flowed from seven places.

Jesus bled from His head.

There are thoughts thoughts that we might not want to face up to, because of what we've seen or heard. We asked people to touch the crown of thorns and imagine how His head was beaten. His blood cleanses you of those thoughts.

The blood poured from His back.

There are times when we’ve turned our back and walked away from Jesus. At this station, we asked people to turn their back to the cross on the wall and imagine how Jesus was whipped with shards of bone and metal until His back was raw. His blood covers the times when you've turn your back on Him.

Spikes were driven through the bloody hands of Jesus.

There is stuff that you ought not to have handled and things you ought not to have done. We asked people to place your hands in the red paint and leave their mark on the wall. Imagine the spikes driven through Jesus’ hands and know that His blood cleanses you.

Blood and water poured from Jesus' side.

There are times when you harbor sins such as bitterness and anger in your gut. At this station, We asked that people write a sin, challenge, or struggle on a slip of paper and slide it into the bowl of thick red liquid. Imagine how the spear was thrust into Jesus’ side and give thanks that even our deepest sins are cleansed and forgiven through the blood of Christ.

Jesus bled as the spikes were driven through His feet.

There are paths you ought not have walked and places you ought not have been. At this station, people followed the lighted path outlined on the floor. Knowing that the spikes were driven through Jesus’ feet and into the cross, we can give thanks that He continues to draw us back to His path through forgiveness and grace.

His Body, His Blood, & The Resurrection

The evening included communion – an examination of how Jesus' body was broken and His blood was poured out. And because Encounter will be focusing on "being the church" on Easter instead of gathering for a service, the evening concluded with a look at the resurrection – that Jesus is the Light of the world. We each lit candles and from the Christ candle to represent how Jesus’ light spreads from Him, then to us, and then to all the world.

View the Picasa slideshow here
View all the photos on Facebook here

Untamed Truth: Night of Worship & Art

It seems that Untamed Truth: A Night of Worship & Art was a success! The place was packed with over 50 people. It's about all the place will hold so it was standing room only.

Despite that, it was a nice relaxed atmosphere and the band did great. Had a little snafu with sound system so we started a little late, but not a big deal.

There was some awesome poetry readings by Amber Olsson and Andrik Powell. There was also an amazing sketch artist, Andrew Giulio, who created an art piece the whole time. Just met him last week and just found out that he's legally blind and color blind. Wow!

People were also given a chance to create small artistic expressions throughout the night and then post them in a collage by the end of the night. I think people really got a opportunity to connect with one another and encounter God's creativity.

We heard a lot of comments that the music sounded amazing, the environment was so relaxed, people enjoyed themselves, and I hope they took away something about God's life-giving creativity.




You can find all the great photos on Facebook here.
Check out a Picasa slideshow here.

This night was a entry point and kickoff for a regular small to mid group gathering we'll be having every other week called Friday Night FWD. We are already looking for musicians to get involved in one or more gatherings. It starts on December 4, so we could really use your prayer. So many people around here will come to an "event" like a Sunday morning service or a night of worship. But it is much more difficult help people connect for some ongoing spiritual growth.

NWLC Notes: Day 4 (2 of 2)

"Creating a Culture of Worship" Workshop by Buddy Owens - Thursday afternoon July 24, 2008. My friend Buddy Owens led this workshop. Aside from contributing to my graduate classes at Hope International University, Owens is also the author of The Way of a Worshiper, and the Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. As usual, Buddy had some great stuff, but here just a portion specifically about the role of music:

Introduction

• How do I create a culture that values worship?
• You can tell what a person worships by the way they love. People value what they worship.
  
• How is the value we place on God reflected in our worship?
  
• If you are bored with the music in your church, chances are God is too.
  

Music is Cohesive

• Music has a "stick-together" quality to it. Think about before a baseball game. When the national anthem plays, people stand and hats come off. They've gone from being a crowd to being a congregation. They have one purpose. They are focused.
  
• It is the same with music in worship. The way we start our services is important. It brings people together, unifies them, creates focus.

Music Captures Memories

• Music takes us back to a memory. Songs have become sacred moments to people - they remind people of "God moments" in their life.

Music is Attached to People

• You can tell what kind of audience you are trying to attract by the music you choose. People feel like we are devaluing them when we don't like their songs. A young person will say "that place isn't for me." An older person will say "this is no longer my home."
  

Music Documents God's Work Among His People

• Whenever God moves throughout history, his poets and songwriters document His work. Therefore, look for and expect new songs if God is doing something in our midst.
  
• We need to "repristinate" some things in the church. It means to take old things and make them look new again. Like the white post that has been in front of the church for 125 years. If you leave it alone, it turns grey. You've got to paint it from time to time to keep it looking like a white post.
• We need to "repristinate" our music as well. It helps people understand why our songs were valuable in the first place. Then new people will discover the song's value for the first time.

Music is Sacramental

• Music helps people experience God in a way that we cannot encounter Him when we are alone.
  
• It puts words in our mouths - a common language of response. Much like a greeting card - we have a feeling, but the card give us the words to express what we're feeling.
  
• After a great sermon, the right closing song is crucial to getting the point across. It reminds people of the truth. It gives people a common language to respond to the truth. People won't quote the sermon, but they will remember a song.

Music Teaches Doctrine

• Songs of faith are as important as words of faith. Are our songs theologically sound? Are they true? We believe what we sing about.

Music is Enchanting

• This can be good or bad. Music can blind us to truth. Think of the secular world - music can turn our eyes from a bad message or character.
  
• Never confuse talent with annointing. Talent never set anyone free. It is the Spirit of God upon a man of God who speaks/sings words of God through the Spirit of God that brings Jesus transformation.

NWLC Notes: Day 3 (1 of 3)

NWLC General Session - Wednesday morning July 23, 2008 at 9:30am. Worship was led by Calvin Nowell, Drew Cline, and Nia Allen. They were awesome! The morning speaker was Bishop Joseph Garlington. I've heard much about Garlington, one of my favorite quotes is attributed to him, but never heard him speak in person. Amazing!

Garlington recounted the story of the angel coming to Mary in Luke. It was a message about the times when God speaks into our lives leading us to times in the "hallway of hell."

I have to to say that his presentation was unlike any message I have heard. As a very musical person himself, Garlington's entire message was "underscored" by a band - and primarily his keyboard player Clarence (props to his amazing skills). Here are some of my notes, but I am also posting the entire mp3 below:

• Words create worlds. Nothing happens in God's Kingdom without a spoken word.
  
• Heroes (leaders) are not born, they are cornered.
  
• When God speaks to you, it always sounds so good in the presentation - but it's hell in the hallway.
  
• When you say yes to God, He can take you anywhere.
• Nothing shall be impossible with God - No word that comes from God shall be impossible for it's fulfillment.
  
• When God tells you something, it will come to pass.
• If you have a miracle in your life, don't talk to people who don't believe in miracles (listen to this in context).
• Every word of God is tried ... in the hallway.

I'm serious, you've got to listen to this to get the full effect. Download the mp3 here or listen in the player below.

NWLC Notes: Day 2 (4 of 4)

NWLC General Session - Tuesday afternoon July 22, 2008 at 3:30pm. Rush of Fools led worship and Marcos Witt spoke about 6 things people said about David behind his back (see 1 Samuel 1). And then challenged us as leaders of worship to aspire to those same things.

I've heard Marcos Witt two-years ago at the Purpose-Driven Worship Conference. Witt is the son of missionaries and although American, grew up in Latin America. He is a worship leader and pastor having won Grammys for his Latin American Worship songs.

As a fellow musician, Marcos is always fun to listen to (definitely ADD) and he understand musicians and worship leaders well. Instead of giving you my notes I decided to post the session online - it's 45 minutes and worth it!! You can download the mp3 here.



BTW, one of my favorite parts is about playing the heck out of "G."

NWLC Notes: Day 2 (3 of 4)

"Assessing Your Worship Service" Workshop by David M. Edwards - Tuesday afternoon July 22, 2008. In his workshop, songwriter and worship leader David M. Edwards spoke mostly about whether there is life-change happening in your congregation. Here are just a few key nuggets:

• God has given us a platform, not a stage.
  
• If you're going to lead someone into the presence of God, you need to know the way in yourself.
  
• Are people engaging God? Can you sense the power of God and the moving of the Holy Spirit in the room?
  
• Too often, we in the church get caught up in the "sin" of personal preference.
  
• People rarely rise above what the senior pastor is doing experientially. People in your congregation will rarely go beyond where he goes in worship. His depth of worship, his participation level gives permission to the congregation. It doesn't matter what you as a worship leader do if your senior pastor is not engaging in worship as a worshiper.
  
• You have to teach people about worship. Biblical expressions of worship. An extended worship times like worship nights are good.
  
• Music, art, and nature are vehicles God uses to help us worship.
  
• It is the anointing of God that breaks the chains of bondage.
  
• People are desperately hungry to be touched by God.
  
• As a worship leader, here are some tips to assess your worship:

1. Once in a while, get off the platform and among the people. Blend in. How are they responding?
   
2. If there is something wrong in your church or leadership? If so, have the courage to stand up and speak up.
   
3. Stop assuming what God wants in a worship service. Ask Him!
   
4. Be willing to try something new. If we do something different, are we doing it to bring deeper meaning and to help people see truth?
   
5. Are lives being changed in your church? It's a reflection of your worship.
   
6. It's not just about the "worship," but the entire "message" of your services.

NWLC Update: Days 2 & 3

Wow! There is so much to take in. Days 2 and 3 of the National Worship Leader Conference were full days - and I mean full! 2 workshops and three general sessions per day. Plus it's around 102 degrees and 100 percent humidity (not really, but it feels like it).

Day 2 - Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I already posted my notes for the morning session with Leonard Sweet, but here's a quick synopsis. Our morning workshop was Summoned to Lead (also with Sweet). Fantastic, thought-provoking stuff. I'll post my notes when I can.

We also attended David M. Edwards' workshop on Assessing Your Worship Service. Edwards is a worship leader and songwriter for artists such as Kathy Tricolli and Nichole Mullins.

Then we had the afternoon general session with worship by Rush of Fools (Undo, When Our Hearts Sing) and Marcos Witt speaking - they were great. Marcos Witt is a pastor and an ADHD musician, so he is always fun to listen to.

Finally, the evening session was just worship. First was Matt Maher (Your Grace is Enough) - pictured to right. I've never seen him lead worship and he was awesome! Then Leeland (Yes You Have, Beautiful Lord) shared some more worship - they were just as phenomenal as when we saw them at Harvest in Riverside, California. The night ended with Phillips, Craig, & Dean. Of course, those guys are great performers.

Day 3 - Wednesday, July 23, 2008
This morning's general session started with worship by Calvin Nowell, Drew Cline, & Nia Allen. I didn't recognize these folks, but I did recognize all their songs. They added a soulful flare to the worship, but we're really outstanding. I've also never heard Bishop Joseph Garlington speak. As a senior pastor type who is also a worship leader type, his message was extremely unique to me. He delivered his entire message with a backup band who basically played a "soundtrack" to his narrative story of Mary. Wow! Amazing!

The afternoon session featured Rita Springer for worship. Andrea and I have seen her before at Vineyard Anaheim. Springer is a talented and anointed leader, but definitely not our cup of tea. We were also very tired from the heat so that may have played into it as well. Gordon MacDonald spoke, stressing the importance of the people to whom we minister.

Our afternoon workshop was Teaching Narrative to Postmoderns by Frank Couch. Couch is certainly a qualified leader for this subject, but the workshop was not what we expected or were hoping. It was mostly about a new narrative translation of the scriptures he's been working on.

Finally, the evening worship was some of the most impactful worship I've ever experienced. Don Moen (God Will Make A Way, Thank You) was, well, Don Moen - a very gifted, talented, leader who relates well with his audience. Kathryn Scott (Hungry) flew in from Ireland (and was backed up by Paul Baloche on guitar, his son on bass, and Carl Albrect on drums). Then the group from Gateway Worship (You You Are God, Revelation Song) led some songs and it was fantastic. Chris Tomlin came in un-announced and just sang "How Great is Our God" which led the way for Lincoln Brewster (Love The Lord, Everlasting God). Man, that guy can play guitar!

This night was one of the most amazing worship I've experienced. Now, I'm tired. I gotta get to bed. Miss you all...

Lunch At The Conference

If you look close you'll see Paul Baloche spending his lunch saying hi to people.

NWLC Notes: Day 1

NWLC General Session - Monday evening July 21, 2008 at 7:00pm. Worship was led by Sarah Kelly, Jonathan Noel, Matt Redman, and Paul Baloche. Pastor Skip Heitzig spoke on worship:

1. Worship is a RESPONSE to God - We love Him because He first loved us.
2. Worship is a PROPER response to God - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)
3. Worship is a proper response to God THAT COMES FROM THE HEART - God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
4. Worship is a proper response to God that comes from the heart WHERE WE PUT GOD ABOVE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
5. Worship is defined in relationship. It means looking at who He is AND who we are.
   He is the creator ... We are the created
   He is the Sustainer ... We are the sustained
   He is the redeemer ... We are the redeemed
   He is the Master ... We are the slaves
6. 45 years ago, A.W. Tozer wrote that "worship is the missing jewel of the evangelical church." In many churches, it is still the missing jewell.
7. We often rate or critique our "worship experience," but we need to remember that worship is about ascribing "worth" to God. It's not about how you felt about it. Did you give Him worth? Is what you gave to God in worship (as a congregation, as an individual) worthy of God? Our worship should say "I'm preoccupied with God."
8. Worship IS emotional. Why do we feel that our enthusiasm for God must be carefully contained?
9. If God has given you a beautiful voice, then make it your instrument of praise. If God has not given you a beautiful voice, then give it back to Him (in praise) :-) No matter what, the voice that God gave you IS an adequate instrument of worship.
10. Remember in our worship, that God is not impressed with "secret admirers."

How Metrosexual Is Your Worship Leader?

Okay, I read this over on Stuff Christians Like. Man, I could read that blog for hours - he cracks me up.

Back to topic. Prodigal Jon says "when you tell someone about your church, there's not a standard system to describe the degree of metrosexuality your worship leader possesses. Wouldn't it be awesome to say, 'You'll love my church and the music. Our worship leader scored a 78 on the SCL Metro Test.'"

I know that you know where this is going. He's posted the test. Go there now and rate your Worship Leader ... and then let me know his/her score in the comments. (It's okay to rate me - I think I scored about a 20 when I rated myself.)

Also, if you don't know what metrosexual is, you can look it up here.

I'm No Music Scholar...

I'M NO MUSIC SCHOLAR...
I came across this letter last week and thought I'd share. It read:

"I am no music scholar, but I feel I know appropriate church music when I hear it. Last Sunday's new hymn - if you can call it that - sounded like a sentimental love ballad one would expect to hear crooned in a saloon. If you insist on exposing us to rubbish like this - in God's house! - don't be surprised if many of the faithful look for a new place to worship. The hymns we grew up with are all we need."

I thought it would be fun to share this letter written to a pastor in 1863. The song they were writing about is the hymn "Just As I Am." It just turns out that the more things change, the more they stay the same. As Solomon said, there's nothing new under the sun.

Read the Dan Kimball's whole post here.

Lonely People

Tony Morgan pointed out this video from a worship service at Granger Community Church. The song is the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby (check it out by searching the GCC player here).

It's an awesome site to see them combine the audio and visual together to create an experience that speaks to today's culture and bring up a topic that plagues many — LONELINESS.

It also brings up a few questions.

• Do you think people remembered the overall message that Sunday at Granger – not just the topic, but the message?
• Do you think first-time guests were intrigued enough to come back next week?
• Was it appropriate to use a 'secular' song in the service?
• What are your overall impressions?

Let me know what you think in the comments...

Ask...

There are times in our lives where we face a crossroads. When we begin a new season and a choice stands before us. Hannaford now stands at that crossroads, for instance. I believe I may stand at a crossroads as well.

While some would say that we must simply do "what seems right to us" (as I heard one conference speaker share a few years ago), I disagree. I think we must ask. God knows the plans He has laid out for us and it is flat out arrogance or stupidity NOT to seek His guidance through the Holy Spirit in every step we take.

May we be diligent in surrendering to the Spirit in all our decisions ... and ASK.

This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.

-Jeremiah 6:16a

A Little Bird...

A little bird told me that the worship was awesome today at Hannaford - great job Youth Worship Team! Looking forward to hearing more when we get back.

As for the Powell's, we worshiped this evening at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California. Greg Laurie spoke and we got to see Leeland. You can check out the webcast here. Leeland was amazing - still love their song "Carried To The Table"! Also, their namesake, Leeland Mooring, is way young - who'd have thought?



We met our good friend Jennifer at Harvest and then had a late dinner together at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Thanks, Jennifer!

Great FREE Worship Resource!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Martin Allen from Worship Foundations sent me an email about an online event called the 2007 National Worship TeleSeminar.

It is a new FREE worship training event for worship leaders and ministry members, that's done entirely online or by phone. Some of today's leading worship teachers, give you some top notch training to take your worship ministry to the next level, enhance your worship leading skills, and discover how to deepen your congregation's passion for worship. And it's all done right from home, as you log on or dial-in to these live, nationwide conference calls.

There are two one-hour sessions per week through July and August and although it's already started, all the sessions are available for "re-play" (downloadable mp3). I've listened to two live sessions and two "re-plays" and I can say these are a great FREE resource for anyone in ministry or just interested in being a worshiper.

Some "gems" I caught this week's sessions from Gerrit Gustafson ("Mighty Is Our God") and John Chism (Worship4Life Ministries):

• Authentic worship is only authentic when worshipers are changed.
• The role of the worship leader is not to "create" worship but to "express" it. We prompt, model, release, facilitate, exhort, and teach worship...but we don't create it. The role of the worship leader is to prompt what is already in the heart of believers.
• "Every man's way is right in his own eyes" (Prov 21:2). We all have our own biases and preferences. Are we willing to learn to express our love for God in ways He prescribes, even if they are outside of what is easy for me?
• "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). It says MUST. All worship must be in spirit and truth.
• Spirit: Worship in the spirit centers on Jesus. It is born out of dependency on God and repudiates confidence in the flesh. Spirit contrasts with the flesh. Living according to the flesh refers to human effort independent of God (Gal. 3:3), and human wisdom apart from God (1 Cor. 2:12-14). Therefore, worship is not driven by human initiative, but is is instead a response to God's grace (Rom. 12:1).
• Truth: Worship in truth means that it aligns with God's truth. It also means that it has a spiritual reality - External expression without internal reality is unacceptable worship. Jesus referred to that as vain worship (Matt. 15:8-9). How can I as a worshiper ensure that I don't get into the habit of drawing near in word when my heart is somewhere else?
• If I am to "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30), then I am to worship the same way. Simply, worship is the expression of our love for God. And God requires our totality in worship - everything!

I hope these "gems" inspire you as either a worshiper or a worship leader and I encourage you to sign up and partake of the FREE offerings from the 2007 National Worship TeleSeminar.

What's Missing? More On The Kingdom Of God

I found this over at Josh Scott's TheWayIThink.com.

I would say that most of the Christians I know think of the story of salvation like this: Fall, Redemption and Heaven. In this story, the purpose of redemption is life after this world and the only people who have any value are “saved” people. All efforts, resources, talent, time and money are spent solely for the purpose of evangelism. I think that’s why we’re called evangelicals.

But what if the story goes like this: Creation, Fall, Redemption and Heaven. It actually becomes a different story. The purpose of redemption becomes much more than just escaping this world. It actually becomes about renewing it.

The gospel then isn’t just about individual happiness and fulfillment and God’s wonderful plan for my life. It’s about His wonderful plan for the whole world. It’s a story of God’s kingdom renewing ALL things.

The kingdom of God has come near to you... What do you think?

Making Jesus Famous

Each one of us was created by God with a for a purpose. God said to Moses in Exodus 9:16, "I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

God demonstrates His power in our lived every day, but we are often to busy to see it. We miss it. Sometimes we live week after week failing to recognize God working in our lives. We were created to recognize His power and to tell others about it. We were created to make Jesus famous; to make Him known in all the earth.

What if we truly grasped how famous Jesus is? The entire last book of the scriptures tells about it; "One day every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord." Our job now is to tell others how He has shown His power in our lives and to help make Jesus even more famous.

Lord Father, give us the boldness to tell the world that "Jesus is King" and to proclaim with our worship that "He alone is worthy!" Because of who You are, because of your great love and power demonstrated to us not only through salvation, but through your day-to-day speaking into our lives. We want to make Jesus famous and we will not stop until the whole world knows.

I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

Listen to Famous One sung by Chris Tomlin

The Blind Squirrel Problem

I was reading this post from Seth Godin, and while he may not have intended it, the post reminded me of a similar issue in the church. "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then" translates to "We all get lucky sometimes, even when we don't prepare."

Take this story of the young man trying to get a summer job. Seth implies that a little preparation beforehand might have landed him the job and a summer's worth of work.

Unfortunately, we in the church do this all the time. We leave things to the last minute (like right before the worship service) or fail to think ahead about the big picture of elements needed for our worship service. The old adage is true: When we fail to plan, we plan to fail. How sad to think that we set God's work up for failure by not planning well.

Sometimes, if not always, appropriate preparation involves leaders enabling others to minister and for them to prepare for an event or service (God knows we can't do it all - When we try to, that is also inadequate preparation).

The same applies for those of us on worship team who fail to practice or review songs before and after the team rehearsal. The team rehearsal is just that - a rehearsal for the team to see how things fit together and mix. Trying to learn a song structure or coming to rehearsal without ever hearing a song before is a lack of preparation (Remember, almost all the songs we do have samples and music charts posted on our Praise Team Resource Page). Those type of activities are for individual rehearsal at home.

While God CAN bless these efforts or lack thereof (He has His own plan and offers His grace to fill the gap), I sometimes think He would prefer not to - He prefers that we would not "make offerings that cost us nothing."

Certainly these are half-hearted offerings.

Jesus The Artist

Having recently gone through Rory Noland's The Heart Of The Artist with the Hannaford Praise Team last Fall, I've encouraged us to look at ourselves as artists - both the good and the bad. Noland's book is quite good and reveals the challenges we artist deal with when serving God and working with artists in community.

Recently I read a blog article by Mark Batterson which spoke of Jesus as an artist as well. Batterson wrote...

We don't tend to think of Jesus in artistic terms, but I think we underestimate how artistic Jesus was.

For starters, Jesus created the heavens and the earth. Looks pretty good on your artistic resume! But let me put it in incarnational terms. During his tenure on earth, Jesus spent most of his time as an artisan. He was in carpentry much longer than he was in ministry. Almost a 10:1 ratio. And I'm pretty sure he took pride in his carpentry craft. He sanded till the wood was perfectly smooth. He measured twice to make sure the angle was just right. He cared about color. He cared about contour. He cared about quality. And like any carpenter, I'm sure he wanted his work to bear his unique signature...

\I think we underestimate how much his artistry influenced his ministry. Read the gospels. Jesus was a wordsmith right? He chose words like an craftsman. Each word was measured like a carpenter measures wood. Any way you slice it, Jesus was an artisan first. And his ministry was shaped by his artistry."

The point is this. Jesus gave his best and we are called to give our best as well - a wholehearted effort for our master. As Dorothy Sayers is quoted, "No crooked table legs or ill-fitted drawers ever, I dare say, came out of the carpenter's shop in Nazareth."

May it be the same with us through the power of Christ!