The Corner Booth

Pushing the button every 108 minutes

2008-05-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

I admit it. I'm Lost. No, I don't mean I need directions, I mean every Thursday night I'm glued to my TV set. Well, actually, this being the year 2008 I actually watch the show first thing on Friday morning on the internet. But you get the idea: I'm hooked on Lost.

One of the advantages of TV these days is that you can get caught up on years worth of episodes via DVD or the internet in a very short amount of time. I started watching LOST right around the beginning of the year. I know, because I was held up in my office watching reruns of Lost during the Super Bowl party a couple of months ago. One advantage of watching TV this way is no commercials. The other advantage is that major ideas and themes become much more apparent since you don't have to wait weeks or months between episodes.

In the beginning of season 2 the characters find a mysterious computer with a countdown that sets off an alarm every 108 minutes. Once the clock gets close to zero, they push a button and the timer resets itself. This goes on for the entire season.

The problem is, nobody seems to know what the countdown is for. Nobody knows why there is an alarm, why they need to keep pushing the button. But no one is willing to risk whatever the consequences might be if the button is left un-pushed.

So they continue to push the button every 108 minutes.

Sometimes our worship is a lot like that button. (ah, the segue)

Think about it: Why do we do what we do? I mean, some aspects of the worship service are self-explanatory: we sing, we pray, we receive the Word of the Lord (either a reading or a sermon). But why do we have announcements every Sunday in the same spot? Why do we sing 3 hymns: one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end? In my church we always sing 3 verses of each song. Since most hymnals print 4, probably the most important discussion in weekly worship meeting is which verse of the 3 hymns is going to get cut. . .because we can't sing more than 3 verses.

What would happen if we sang 4 verses, or 2, or 5? What would happen if we skipped the announcements an just printed them in the bulletin, or rather, directed people to our web site, their worship bulletin? (gasp!) What if we didn't have a bulletin on Sunday morning? What if the sermon happened first and then we sang for the second half of the service? What if we met in a different room or at a different time?

For many, church is where they go once a week to push the button: "ah, here we are. . .got that taken care of, now God will like me until next week." And sadly, for those of us "in charge," we find ourselves tirelessly creating a pleasant, predictable environment in which to push that button.

Church leaders continually complain that they have so many pew-sitters. So many members of churches who do little more than take up space. But think about it: By creating a worship environment that is so predictable, don't we feed that kind of spectator mentality?

I've had enough of it. I'm done pushing the button every 108 minutes. I'm ready to find out what happens when the button doesn't get pushed. Who's with me?

Details, details. . .

2008-04-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

Exiting things happening at the church right now! We're launching a new ministry for college students, young adults, and the young at heart. Basically, we're crafting a worship experience for those who enjoy thinking outside the box.

While it's a very exciting time, it's also an anxious time for me. I think about all the things that could go wrong!

There are so many decisions to be made. We've had dozens of meetings just trying to come up with a name, only for me to wake up the next morning and realize the name we had agonized over, and finally agreed upon, was a very bad idea.

Worship should be such a simple thing: You sing, you pray, you hear God's Word, maybe there's a coffee pot and some food. I never realized how many details would be involved!

After the name crisis, I've found myself trying to secure money for a stage, obtain nursury and childcare, and children's programming, establish a meeting time and meeting schedule, Coordinate with our creative staff about sermon topics, series, and issues.

And then there's the nagging question: Will anybody show up?

I rest in knowing that I have some very talented and creative people who are behind this. They will come up with good ideas and turn out a quality product. But I still worry about all those details.

The saying goes "the devil is in the details". As a worship leader I know all about this. a dead battery or an incorrect mediashout slide can wreak havoc in a worship setting. I played a concert a couple of weeks ago where I managed to knock over my microphone, unplug my bass and lose my strap all in one motion. On Sunday morning, I frequently pray that God will be in the details. That the Holy Spirit would be be involved in every aspect of what we're doing.

I'm an anxious person by nature. My friends call me "chicken little." But I take great comfort in knowing that I'm not alone in this. 2 Scriptres that I find very helpful when I'm about to be overwhelmed by the details are Matthew 6:25 and Philippians 4:6.

So the next time you're overwhelmed, remember that God is in the details.

Doing things with excellence: You get what you pay for. . .

2008-03-14T04:22:00.001-07:00

I had an orchestra rehearsal tonight. From week to week in our little church we sing a lot of the typical church choir stuff. . .Mark Hayes, Joseph Martin, Allen Pote. . .typical church choir kind of stuff. But at Christmas and Easter, I like to dig into a much more involved work. So for the second time this year, I hired an orchestra.

Hiring an orchestra is expensive. I mean, you can save money by trying to contract them yourself, and end up with a lot of young, inexperienced, or rusty players. I don't do that. I make a phone call. And a man I do business with sends me the best players money can buy.

When we do our little church program on Friday night, some of the people in the orchestra are world-famous. Some of them are only famous in this city, but all have one thing in common: They all have my very best interests in mind.

When my baton goes down, no one is talking. No one is missing, because no one is late to the gig. All of them see it as their job to make this tiny little church choir sound like a million bucks. . .because it is. They are professional musicians.

Sometimes I feel guilty. The work we're doing tonight is one we played in college. I went to a tiny little Christian school with few orchestra students. To put the orchestra together we begged, borrowed, stole, and basically took anybody who was available and willing to play for gas money. And it sounded like it.

And here I am in this tiny little church in the country, and my orchestra is world class. Why? Because you get what you pay for.

We all know churches in American are dying, but we don't always recognize why. Many of us continue to use buildings that are falling apart, purchase equipment that is sub-standard, or use equipment that is antiquated and out-of-date, and we rely on volunteers to accomplish tasks they are not qualified to carry out.

Volunteers are wonderful. One of those very fine orchestra players I used last night is from my own church. She was wonderful! But don't rely on people to do things they are not capable of simply to save money.

A co-worker of mine is fond of reminding me that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, which means he owns the hills too. God has unlimited resources he can direct your way. It's our responsibility to pray and trust that He will provide, and then be wise stewards of what we have.

I don't pay top dollar for orchestra every Suday. I do it twice a year. And because I spend money on that, I choose not to spend it in other areas.

Never let money be an obstacle to doing things with excellece. Because you get what you pay for.

Adventures in Missing the Point. . .

2008-03-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

Maundy Thursday. What is Maundy Thursday?

I grew up in a traditional, but very non-liturgical church. We celebrated Christmas, Easter, and we had a communion service on Good Friday, but that was about the extent of our liturgical practice.

I'm in the middle of planning my second Maundy Thursday service right now. And today I learned what Maundy Thursday means.

I mean, I know about the foot washing, the Last Supper, communion, and the anticipation of the crucifixion, but what does it mean? Did they just misspell "Monday?" And if so, what happened to Tuesday and Wednesday?

The word Maundy comes from the Latin word "mandatum," meaning a mandate, or a command. Bingo! The lights went on! Maundy Thursday is a celebration of when Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment: to love one another.

What does this mean? What's the point? Exactly. Why do we do what we do in our churches? How is it that we've gotten so involved in the liturgy and the ritual, that we forget the bigger picture?

Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law. There were hundreds of commands in the Torah. Jesus gave his followers one: love one another. Love was the single most important thing to Jesus. It was to be the distiguishing mark for all of Christ's believers.

We have one job here on this Earth: to tell other people about Jesus. How are we supposed to do that? By loving people. Period. That's it. We don't need four spiritual laws, five points of Calvinism, or ten steps to peace and happiness. What we need is to love people.

But see how easily the message and the meaning is eclipsed by ritual and rite? Ask anybody who hasn't been to seminary what Maundy Thurday means, and they will tell you about the foot washing, the Last Supper, Jesus Betrayel, and the garden of Gethsemane. But where's the love?

We do this in modern worship, only in a different way. Rather than getting lost in ritual and tradition, we obsess over polish and programming. We want a worship experience that is so perfectly crafted, people will enjoy every minute of it, but many will not realize why they came. And sadly, how they are supposed to be different when they leave.

So, whether you're a traditional ritualist who's been having their feet washed one Thursdsay a year for decades, or whether you've never heard of Maundy Thursday before, keep this in mind: don't miss the point. Love somebody.

Welcome to the Corner Booth

2008-02-28T04:38:00.000-08:00

My friends and I frequent a local restaurant and sit in the corner booth. We share hopes, dreams, ideas, visions, elations and frustrations.

Welcome to the Corner Booth. . .