why are we the way we are?

So it’s been a crazy long time since I’ve written. During my sabbatical I’ve transferred all my posts to my new blog at http://michaelsimpson.wordpress.com [so this will be the last post at the blogspot address]. Also, I’ve added Ada as a contributor…hopefully she’ll actually contribute ;-)

Anyways, I’ve got a new blog, a new blog entry, a new look, and my world has been rocked over the break.

I want to talk a little about that now.

Last Saturday I woke up before 5 a.m. in order to travel to Dallas for a youth convention with Ada’s church. I arrived around 8:30, and the convention started at 10:00. It was a great day of authentic praise and worship. There were two services, both in Spanish. I couldn’t understand a darn thing, but the Lord was there. In the morning service, the preacher brought a sermon about “running the race” that Paul speaks of in the New Testament. It was great. He hammered on the point that we’re not only called to run the race, but we’re called to finish it. He used the analogy of a marathon runner. In specificity, he used the analogy of a marathon runner that was sent to the Olympics for his country. He came in dead last, and was tired as he strolled in the last mile. When asked why he didn’t just quit, being last, his response was “my country didn’t send me to quit the race, they sent me to finish.”

Wow –if only we could have that attitude about this great race that we’re running.

The preacher went on to say how it’s only possible to run this race to completion with the proper training, equipment and whatnot…just like being a marathon runner. The training we receive comes from the word, and the equipment is the discipleship we receive by being in community with those around us.

The worship in this church is amazing. There is no choir nor are there any instruments. Now some of you are automatically saying “must be lame.” I tell you the truth: it is amazing. In a day in age that it’s so easy to get caught up in lyrics and instruments, it was a breath of fresh air to not be caught up in that. I sure wasn’t caught up in the words…as I had no idea what they were saying. There were no instruments to get caught up in. Everyone was singing (except me). They were shouting their praises to the Lord without regard to how good their voices sounded. It was great. It was great because we know our Lord hears our voice as beautiful worship to Him. It was truly amazing.

I loved the way the convention went. It was a convention in which youth groups were given the opportunity to make a presentation on a specific topic. Each group walked in together singing a song. The walked up on to the platform together, and each member of the group was given a short speech to make to the entire crowd. Topics were eschatology, lamentations, salvation, the power of God, the Bible, and more. Now, I didn’t understand these presentations, but it was great to see youth stepping up and showing leadership at young ages. I think that’s very important.

I am a youth pastor. Meaning…I’m supposed to be a leader. It’s my job. When I see youth step up into leadership and use this sort of “positive peer pressure” I am encouraged in ministry. The preacher from the first service was around 16 years old, I believe. Why was I (or anyone my age for that matter) never encouraged to preach or teach at that age? It seems to me that the American church isn’t concerned with developing leadership among its youth... Sad day.

+ms

Lord, please empower me to run this great race with endurance. Please give me the training and the equipment to finish the race strong. Please give the church a burden to develop youth leaders…the next generation of Church leaders. Thank you for the convention and the impact it had on my life. Thank you for showing me some true worship. Thank you for your grace and your mercy that you give so freely. Amen.

I'm Coming Back to the HEART of Worship

Hold on to your hats, folks! I just had a very interesting thought.

As most of you know, I'm dating a girl that is part of a church community that worships in Spanish. I have told her on multiple occasions that I would like to attend a service there, but of course I don't speak Spanish. One would think "there's obviously a language barrier that would interfere with you being able to worship," right?

The more and more I think about it the more and more I want to go experience it. Of course I wouldn't know the words to the songs, but who cares? I think all too often we get caught up in the words, and our own knowledge keeps us from experiencing true worship. Fact of the matter is that not knowing the words could make for a better worship experience. One wouldn't be focused on keeping the beat or staying on pitch. One would be focused on one thing --worshiping God. O, how awesome that would be.

Now, I'm not going to post the words to the Matt Redman song that is the title of this post, but the song basically talks about a heart seeking God rather than a body seeking attention. The song seeks to make people realize that we shouldn't focus on words or the beat or whether the choir is on tempo. It clearly seeks to put the focus of our worship on Christ. "it's all about you, it's all about you, Jesus."

My theory is this: If I don't know the words, I can't try to "perform" or whatever. I'd be standing there like a mumbling idiot just praising God. I'm not focused on singing on pitch or knowing the words. I'm focused on one thing --glorifying God.

Then comes the preaching. I obviously wouldn't understand the words coming out of the preacher's mouth, but does that mean that I couldn't get anything out of it? I think not. First of all, I believe that one can decipher a lot just based on non-verbal communication. However, I also believe in the Lord's ability to break down language barriers. Would I go in expecting a mystical miracle where I hear everything in English? no. In fact, I would hope to continue to hear in Spanish. I do believe that the Lord would teach me. And I could continue in my worship. It would be quite the experience indeed.

I hear of way too many churches or individuals that attend a specific church whining and complaining of how there's no traditional hymns being played in worship. First of all, as one who has studied philosophy, I would have to ask how one defines "traditional." Then, after hearing aforementioned definition, (which, by the way, would most likely consist of "the way you do it is too fast" or "we're used to an organ" or "i don't like the drums" or "it's too loud.") I would have to go one step further and ask "how do you know that to be the correct definition?"

See, there really is no "traditional." There is "the way things have been done," and there is "the way things will be done." At times they can overlap, but both are constantly changing and progressing, transforming. In the context of worship, however, I must ask why we are concerning ourselves with petty issues of "Why isn't there an organ in the worship room?" Seriously, if you have a heart seeking worship as opposed to a heart that is seeking a certain sound or a heart seeking confrontation you really have to step back and ask yourself..."who gives a damn?"

God, help me not to lose focus of the heart of worship. Bring me back there. Make me realize that It's all about you no matter what the words say, no matter how long the bassist's hair is, no matter whether the worship leader is bare-footed, no matter how loud the music is...no matter what. Create in my heart a passion for seeking to live a lifestyle of worship...for YOUR glory. Amen.