Making fun of rapture dude is just too easy. It’s like making fun of someone with a dirty word for a last name. After a while, it’s just lame.

So, did your jokes make the list? I know mine did

Top 8 Overused Rapture Jokes:

1. “Shoot, if I knew the rapture was coming I would have [fill in some self-destructive yet pleasurable activity here].
2. “Hey, anyone want to go throw some clothes around town”
3. Any reference, even subtle, to REM.
4. “Can I outrun the end of the world by flying ahead of the time zone?”
5. Look up where in the world 6pm has passed and tweet about it .
6. Insinuating in any way that Harold Camping should read Matthew 24:36.
7. Reference the “Left Behind” series (e.g. the first line in this post)
8. Expect this one tomorrow: “I’m still here, are you?”

What other ones make the list?

“Dude, when you guys hit that last song, something just snapped and I felt God in such a real way!”

It’s one of those things that you kind of understand. You know, enough to nod your head and agree, but not clearly enough to preach on it. It really is something special though. Honestly, as a worship leader you can try to fake those moments. Whip up a climax with huge drums and a fist pumping chorus. But it just falls short. It’s not the same.

Sometimes those moments creep up without any singing at all. Sometimes it happens in silence.

When I’m leading worship, I picture everyone in the room holding a little dixie cup of water. The water is praise and affection for God.

When a person engages with God, they pour that little cup of water into one big bucket. Little by little, the bucket fills up. There is a tipping point in worship. Eventually, the bucket fills up to the point of overflow…and everyone gets wet

Here’s the takeaway for worship leaders: find ways to engage as many people as possible in your worship gathering. Some respond to spoken words, others are drawn in through quiet reflection, etc. Ask the Holy Spirit how he wants to woo people into worship.

Here’s the takeaway for worshippers: What are you going to do with your cup? You have a part to play in what’s going on. You can choose to give your attention to something…to Someone…beautiful and glorious. You also have the potential to miss out altogether. Choose to pour your cup.

Snow days are exciting, but they take a backseat to something else:

The night before it snows.

Granted, the snow day itself is something to behold. But the excitement, the anticipation of a snow day is even more enjoyable then the event itself. Just look at any kid who stares intently at the television screen waiting to see whether or not school is canceled for the next day.

The school kid brings all of his attention to the TV screen. He becomes familiar with strange words like “Doppler radar”. He waits, with eager expectation, knowing deep down in his gut that that the snow is going to dump hard–any minute.

Expectation is powerful.  It brings about focus, passion, and persistence.

Expectation & Faith

Biblical faith is defined by expectation,

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1.

Faith begins with a promise.  When the promises of God are heard and received by faith, they come to pass.

A Promise + Faith = Blessing

As a people marked by faith, expectation should define our daily life.  We should expect that all our needs will be met.  Why? Because it’s promised.  We should expect to hear God’s voice.  Why? You got it, we have a promise that he will speak. We should expect that suffering will come in this life but that we will get through it victorious and full of perseverance.  Why? I think you know.

Get to know the promises that God has made. Listen for promises that he makes to you personally.  Remember the promise, repeat the promise, and EXPECT the promise daily.

When you meet to worship with your community of faith, either in the home or in a public building, expect God’s manifest presence to meet you.  He is honored by this expectation because he is the one who promised to “show up” in the first place!

Expectation In Worship

There is nothing more difficult than leading a group of people in worship who are all waiting for God to sneak up and surprise them.  God is so gracious that he will often put up with this immaturity and encounter people who are indignantly waiting for him to prove himself in some way.

But if you find yourself in a group of people who are hungry and expectant for the presence of God, it’s only a matter of time before the ground starts to shake.

Even Atheists Exercise Faith

Faith isn’t about naivete.  It’s about weighing a promise, and the track record of the one who makes it.  You exercise faith every time you set foot on a plane, expecting that the pilot is trained, capable, and sober.  You exercise faith whenever you drive down the street that the other drivers will not cross the median and collide with you head on.

Weigh the promises of God carefully.  Look at his character and track record, then draw your own conclusions.  But make sure that you decide one way or another.  Are his promises for real? If they are, then expect to see them come to pass.

New Year’s resolutions have become the butt of a lot of jokes. If you’re like me, you’ve even felt a little bit silly for making one of the first place.

The beginning of the year is a great season for Gyms and other workout facilities. You can hardly get on an elliptical machine between January 1st and January 10th.

But after the middle of the month the crowds began to thin, but their waists don’t get any thinner.

You see, the thing about New Year’s resolutions is that they take resolve.

We are all stars at setting goals, having vision, and desiring change. We consume book after book for inspiration. We watch motivational speakers on television. We have no shortage of good intentions; what we lack is the resolve to get things done.

If you have a dream for 2011, congratulations! Kudos to you for bucking the status quo, for desiring more, for shunning complacency.

But now is where the hard work begins.

A dream without an action plan is like a brand-new Porsche without gasoline. I believe that you will accomplish anything that you put your mind to in 2011. But you’re going to need action steps. Little by little, you’ll be filling up the tank of your dream with premium fuel. Once it’s full, you’ll be able to drive.

5 Action Steps To Fuel Your Dream

1. Write down the dream.

Don’t be vague here. You need to illustrate your dream, describing it to the best of your ability. Without a clear vision of where you’re going, it’s impossible to reach it.

2. Make an ordered list of what you need to make this dream a reality.

Be honest with yourself, this is not the tine to be optimistic! If your dream is to start a business in 2011, there will most likely be start up costs. Without fear, write down exactly what you need to accomplish this dream and be conservative with your estimates.

3. Problem solve.

Look at your ordered list of needs, and start brainstorming the ways that those needs can be met. Start with the resources that you have: time, energy, experience, passion, technology, and anything else that comes to mind. Then think about the resources that are around you: friends, family, your community, your school, etc. If you don’t have what you need, then get creative! It’s okay to leave some of these needs without a solution, for now.

The solution might come to you while you’re sleeping, or you might even meet somebody in the next couple weeks who is able to point you in the right direction. The goal of this step is to get you thinking like a problem solver. Once you begin the process of overcoming what stands between you and the dream, you will be much more apt to perceive a solution.

4. Set a time frame.

Okay, you have your ordered list of needs, and a way to meet those needs. Now what you need is a timeframe. Give yourself due dates. There’s a reason why your elementary school teacher made your long division homework due by Friday. You need pressure to get things done, otherwise procrastination will kill your dream.

5. Be flexible.

While your dream shouldn’t change along the way, your action plan should be very flexible. Remember, it’s where you’re headed that’s important, not necessarily the method by which you arrive. New challenges will present themselves on the way, but so will new solutions. Write down your dream in pen, but write down your action plan in pencil.

It’s not that the songs were bad, they just weren’t the right songs for that particular time and place.

In my mind, a train wreck is when you look into the crowd and only few people are engaged.  You look behind you, and your band looks more clueless than Santa Claus in a ballet outfit.  You sit down, after it’s all finished, bite your upper lip and think, “yikes, that was rough”!  More often than not, the culprit is poor song choice.

Over the last twelve years of leading worship, I have been  derailed by each of these 5 mistakes.  I’d like to say that I learned my lesson after one train wreck, but that would be lying!

5 Things To Avoid With Your Song Selection

1. BIG songs, little band. If you are leading alone with a timid little Casio keyboard, it may not be the time to give your best rendition of “One Way” by Hillsong.  A lot of these songs are written to be played with a BIG arena sound, backed by stacks of sub-woofers and full drum kits.  Be aware of your dynamics.  Not only is it awkward to play these songs with the wrong instruments, but it’s also hard to follow.
2. Every song is new. You might be stoked about 10 new songs that are freakishly anointed.  In fact, you played them all on repeat for the past week and know them by heart.  Guess what? For 90% of the people on Sunday, they are completely new songs.  Give them something to sink their teeth into, something familiar that they can use to engage God’s heart.  Then introduce a new one.
3. 7 Songs with 10 different keys. You don’t want to have to take off your capo and move it after every song.  Even worse, you don’t want to have to come up with a “transitional prayer” for each of these changes! Group together some of your songs into the same key to allow for smoother transitions and a better overall “flow”.  This can also allow space for you to vamp and it gives more freedom for spontaneity.
4. Songs are out of normal singing range. You may have pipes, but keep in mind, most of the people in your meeting probably aren’t trained vocalists.  If you choose keys that are too high (watch those choruses), you may see people start to bleed from their vocal chords, and that could get awkward very quickly.  It’s totally ok to make people shout for a bridge here, or a chorus there, but try to make it accessible overall.
5. Great songs, wrong crowd. If the median age in your church is 87.5, be sensitive to that.  If God has called you to lead those people in worship, it’s highly likely that you will be leading with a lot of hymns.  It’s a healthy practice to introduce new, contemporary songs as well, but your goal is to lead people into the manifest presence of God, so keep it relevant and engaging.  If you’re a guest worship leader, do everything you can to find out what the community is accustomed to for worship material.

Hey, it’s ok if you have a train wreck, or two, or three…Understand that God is full of grace, and that he isn’t hesitant to meet with his people.  We don’t have to perform for him, he wants your affection and acknowledgment.   This is just a short list of things that will help you equip the Church with stronger leadership.

I love when all the soup is gone, but you still get that soft, gooey sourdough bread, ripe for the ripping.

While pondering bread bowls today, I remembered how Jesus quoted the Old Testament scripture: “Man does not live by bread alone”.

Then, I remembered that Jesus also taught us to pray the following: “Give us today, our daily bread”.

So here then is my integration of both: “Man does not live by bread alone, but he still has to eat!”

This might come as a surprise, but it is ok for you to ask for your needs to be met.  I believe that God is waiting for us to ask.  Just to acknowledge him in this way.

For some reason we believe that He is capable of destroying, you know, THE SIN OF THE WORLD, but is somehow unable to provide a little bread.

So remember, man does not live by bread alone, but he still has to eat, and it’s good for you to ask.

If you’ve ever received a condescending pat on the back from someone “wiser”, this one is for you.  There’s nothing like getting fired up about a new idea, business opportunity, ministry call, or relationship, then hearing, “Well that sounds nice, but don’t get your hopes up”.

All too often, pessimism masquerades as wisdom.

As we age, we tend to gravitate towards extremes.  Don’t believe me? Just visit a nursing home.  There are very few moderates.  Unless Botox is readily available, the wrinkles either turn down or they turn up.

So what does it take to be one of the optimistic ones?

Responding To Failure

I’m learning that our level of optimism or pessimism is directly linked to the way we handle failure.  It’s really quite simple.  Pessimistic people perceive  life as full of disappointment and regret, and have very low threshold for failure.  Optimistic people live as though anything is possible.  They have handled failure time and time again but as a result, have experienced success.  One success story validates a thousand failures.

If you don’t want to have any wrinkles, use Botox.  If you hate needles and expressionless faces, start learning how to fail with purpose!

Therefore, it is argued, that since every song is in some way responsible for the intellectual stimulus of the worshippers, they should be selected on the basis of a very strict rubric.

I remember leading worship in a church where the senior pastor gave me a list of songs that were appropriate to sing, and another list that was “off limits”.  What parted this “Red Sea” of worship songs? It was their level of theological sophistication.

“Astute Pursuit”

I love the brothers and sisters who plan carefully for every service. They tie each song together with a logical transition and only choose titles that relate directly to the message for that morning.  At least two songs unpack the doctrine of sin, Christology, and emphasize the “already/not yet” tension of this age. I love them because they take their responsibility seriously, and they honestly desire to see God worshipped through right thought and speech.

But if the purpose of worship is education, why aren’t we taking exams before leaving, just to reinforce the teaching? Can you imagine…bringing #2 pencils to church and filling out those little bubbles?  Just a hint: the answer is always “C”.

No! Worship doesn’t hold  a PHD for a good reason.  Its purpose is not to educate. It’s true that the act of worship has a tremendous power to inform and shape theological belief. It is a great teacher, but that’s not what it sets out to accomplish.  Worship is about responding to a loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. It’s about “zooming in” on how beautiful, holy, and faithful he is.  Worship is the opportunity we have to experience God, by making him the center focus of our lives.  It’s an honest engagement of our being with who he is is.

Sometimes Less Is More

If the main goal of worship is education, by all means, let’s bring in the heavy artillery.  Let’s sing 20 verse songs that nail home perfect theology.  But since the purpose of worship is to connect with God and magnify who he is, let’s not rule out the humble praise chorus played on repeat.  With just one whisper of his voice, we can apprehend years of wisdom.  There is a tremendous difference between wisdom and information.

No Fluff

Please, PLEASE, don’t mis-understand where I’m coming from here.  I am NOT saying that right theology is unimportant to our song selection as worship leaders.  We can’t expect to lead people into a genuine encounter with the living God, if we have them declaring things that aren’t true.

I AM offering a reminder that worship isn’t chiefly concerned with instruction.  It’s about pointing to the beautiful One and making his name known.  Through that act, we are invited to “taste and see that he is good”.

Honesty Is Intimacy

I learned that nugget of truth back in college.  When I “get real” with God, he seems to respond more profoundly, even if it’s just in a whisper.  The result of this authentic interaction is deeper intimacy with Him.

For example:

I wake up in the morning, close the door to my office, open the Bible and start to pray,  and my mind is preoccupied with all the things I have to do that day.  My heart is anxious because I don’t feel like I have enough time to finish everything before me.  The last thing I want to do is be still and wait on God in prayer.

In fact, I’m actually a little resentful towards God that things aren’t working out the way they “should” be.

Nevertheless, I open my mouth and say things like, “God you are good”, “God you are faithful”, “God, you are all I need”.

Now I believe that we need to confess the truth of God even when we don’t feel it.  In fact, in a later post, I’m going to unpack the process of commanding our souls to come in alignment with His truth.  But here’s the thing: we can’t get in the habit of faking it with God.

God already knows what we are feeling and thinking.  It’s not a secret to Him.  So why do we act like he doesn’t know?

Continuing with the example above, when I come to my senses, I confess my true feelings of the moment.  It may sound something like this, “God, I really don’t want to be here right now.  I’m having a hard time believing that you’re good.  Why is life so difficult right now?”

Without fail, a couple things will invariably follow this prayer:

1. I sense God’s overwhelming understanding, compassion, and grace over my life and circumstances.
2. My own issues of pride, selfishness, or unbelief are gently brought to the surface.

That’s a “sweet spot” in prayer.  It’s praying in faith.  It’s recognizing that God is real and present and that He desires sincere interaction, not religious, empty flattery.

Like The Psalms

Let’s take a page from David’s book.  He was, after all, a man after God’s own heart.  You’ll notice that a large majority of David’s psalms (“prayer-songs”) begin with an honest questioning of God and His faithfulness.  Sometimes he will describe his circumstances, and how hopeless they appear.  He will lament that God is “hiding His face” (Psalm 13) or that He has forgotten about David completely.

You’ll also notice that those prayers end on a positive note, with grand declarations of who God is, and how His love and faithfulness is “unfailing”.  I don’t think David did this just to make a nice, theologically sound psalm for us to recite thousands of years later.

I believe that in his honesty with God, David experienced true intimacy as well.  I believe that God honored the sincere cries of his heart and encountered him in that moment of prayer.  That intimacy is what brings revelation into our circumstances, and that revelation has the power to change our hearts.

Let’s do away with the lip-service, and encounter God in that place of honesty.  He already knows our hearts and loves us the same.  We have nothing to lose but everything to gain!