Every Breath, Every Moment

I have a new catchphrase to live by. "Every Breath, Every Moment." It's quite simple, really, but the implications are life changing. I've been singing the song for years. I've led it so many times, I couldn't count them all. I've sung it fast and I've sung it slow. I have it recorded by several different artists. It's never really affected me. Until tonight.

I am afraid that "corporate worship" has become about emotions, great chord structure and moving melodies. Don't get me wrong, I think that the worship songs that have been written recently are some of the most profound, intimate, life consecrating music that the church has seen in years. Worship leaders like Joel Houston, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder and others are without question writing songs out of a life rooted deeply in an intimate relationship with the Father. Their songs are being sung in churches all over the world. Their songs are bringing people to the throne of the Almighty on a weekly, even daily, basis.

But there is danger. Their music is so good, and their melodies are so moving that, I think, we'd love them no matter what the words said. So we get wrapped up in the emotion of the song that we don't really pay much attention to the words that our lips are singing. We walk out humming the melodies, not living the lyrics. How many people have sung "consume me from the inside out" and not meant it all. How many of you reading this (there may be only one or two people reading this actually) have stood in your church and sung "Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause?" Do you mean it? EVERYTHING you are for HIS cause? I am as guilty as the next guy.

Again, I don't want you to misunderstand this as a rant. I don't think it's complete hypocrisy if you haven't meant 100% of what you sing 100% of the time. I think the point is to take the lyrics and use them to be brought closer to Him and to become more like him. My heart doesn't break for everything that breaks His heart. I want it to, and it's my prayer that it does. I don't give everything I am for HIS cause, but it's my prayer that I can and will. I want you to pay attention to the words of the songs you sing in your church or whatever worship experience that you encounter and pray that you would latch on to not just the melodies and music, but to the words of the song.

So what caused this post? We sang that song tonight at Catalyst that I have sung and led hundreds of times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uqBxizNZJ4


This is my desire to honor You
Lord, with all my heart I worship You
All I have within me I give You praise
All that I adore is in You

Lord, I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I live for you alone
Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord, have Your way in me


I want God to have His way in me Every Breath and Every Moment.

Worship At My Church

There are times in my life when I have been absolutely blown away by God. It's those times where He does something or I see something/experience something that reminds me how absolutely huge and unfathomable He is. Now don't get me wrong, I am always aware of the power of the God who made not only our universe, but universes that we can't even see, but there are times when it smacks me in the face and I am again stopped dead in my tracks left only to wonder at His awesome power.

On a side note, if you have never really understood the creative power of God, you should try to catch Louis Giglio's talk titled "How Great Is Our God." He goes into detail of the unbelievable massive stars and universes that God has created. He mentions that he has been "wrecked" by God's power and I was left the same way after seeing his talk. I have a copy if any of you are interested in seeing it. If not, here's a link:

How Great Is Our God

I encourage you to watch it. It's about 40 minutes long. You'll never be the same.

Back to the reason for this post.....

Our church is amazing. Not the building or the staff (who are all great) or the programs, but the church. The people who God has brought to Stones Crossing Church are amazing. I have the honor of working with some extremely talented people. The musicians who lead our church to the throne of God every weekend are absolutely incredible. I have never seen the number of quality musicians and tech operators in one place. Throw in the fact that we are a church of around 600 and it it even more amazing. Or worship team consists of about 50 people. That is almost 10% of our church. That would equate to a ministry of over 200 people for a church of 2,500. Maybe that's the norm, I'm not sure, but I think it's pretty unique.

But that's not where it ends. Not only do we have 10% of our church involved in our worship ministry, but every single one of them is a devoted follower of Christ with a desire to be used by Him. Again, maybe that's not unique either, but I have been in places where this is not the case. When you are dealing with artists (musicians especially) you usually have to put up with egos, sensitivities, attitudes, and a general "I know better than you" environment. Not only is this not the case, but if there was even a hint of such it would quickly be snuffed out by other members of the ministry in a loving and edifying way.

Here's where God has really blown me away. The third element to our worship ministry is talent/ability. God has brought to Stones Crossing Church the most amazingly talented group of people I have ever been associated with. Not just one or two great players and a bunch of adequate players. I can honestly say this is not the scenario at SCC. The level of skill that each and every individual brings to the table is top notch. In fact, this weekend at our MarriedLife Live event (which is another blog post altogether), the act that was brought in said to me (and I quote) "Your house band is better than any bar band I have ever heard in my life. And I mean that as a huge compliment." (Our new tag-line: Stones Crossing Church....better than a bar band.) The level of musicianship and technical ability is astounding. There is nothing that excites me more than getting to worship with these people on a weekly basis.

Now a lot of churches can boast of two of the three things I have mentioned here. But very few can say that they have all three. At Stones Crossing Church, we can unequivocally say that we do. And it is all because GOD has gifted these people and brought them together. He gets ALL OF THE PRAISE. Let me say that again, HE GETS ALL OF THE PRAISE. He gets all of the credit. I am so blown away that I get a chance to be a part of what He has assembled.

Our Website

Revelation Song

I'm A Terrible Blogger

Okay, I admit it. I am a terrible blogger. I don't know if it is because I just don't have a routine yet, I don't have a lot to say, or am just plain lazy. I hope it is that I just don't have a blogging routine yet, but the other two options are realistic possibilities.

I have known and subscribe to blogs that are updated daily, on schedule. I guess I am going to have to set a time to blog whether it be once a week, every other day, or daily. I don't think I have enough to say that people would want to read, so I am leaning toward a weekly update with the occasional extra blog on the occasion that I have something pressing to say. We'll see how it goes....again.