Follow the Leader...

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
John 12:25-26

Recently, I have been thinking about what it means to “follow Jesus.” It seems like it is an easy “pad” answer to living the Christian life, but sometimes it is hard to recognize Christ in me (Galatians 2:20), if I am being honest. It seems that in America, being a “good Christian” is reduced to going to church, being a good person, and avoiding certain “worldly” endeavors such as ________, _________, or __________ (fill in the blanks as you like). Easy as that may seem, it turns relationship back into rules (any closet Pharisees out there?), and changes the Gospel from the radical, transforming, redeeming Gospel of the life, sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, into a gospel of morality, which is not at all the reason Jesus came to die.

If we are to follow Jesus, I think it means doing that which Jesus did--pray; love others; develop a relationship with God; honor God in your vocation and relationships; even setting aside my own preferences and desires to make time for others. Also, listening to the direction and convictions of the Holy Spirit; and being about the Word. I think the morality that is promoted within our circle is a good thing, but doesn't focusing only on being a “good person” (and no one is good, no not one) and “sin management” distort the crux of the Gospel message--that we are sinners in need of a Savior, hence we can't save ourselves (which the Pharisees tried to do via the Law) and thus, the cross of Christ and His resurrection has satisfied the requirements of the wrath of God we deserve. Too often, we associate "Christian" with the good person bit, when that is but a small fraction. Would you agree that it includes a life centered around Christ and his work, and being about that w/o compromise? Yet, when we do compromise (and we probably will, this side of eternity) returning to Jesus, by the grace and mercy of God, repenting and confessing and moving forward, which is our sanctification and growth.

So, fellow saints, what is your take on this? And, as LBC, how do we take this “following Jesus” into our daily lives and impact the community for Jesus?

Welcome Greg Baker!

Hey everyone! I just want to personally welcome Greg Baker to Laurelglen Bible Church as the new worship pastor. In the few weeks I have had to work with him, he has been a tremendous support to those of us working with SNL. I am glad you are here Greg and look forward to the great work we are going to do on Saturdays at SNL! I also look forward to that Sweet Comfort tribute band somewhere in the future.

If anyone has any words of encouragement for Greg, sign in be sure to leave them. Once again Greg, glad you are here!

The Sad Songs We (Don't) Sing

“God is interested in truth... and that’s why God is more interested in rock n’ roll rather than Gospel (music). Because Gospel (music) a lot of the times are not being truthful…because they’re not describing about their lives…a lot of the time.”
—Bono of U2

This post is dangerous…I recently heard a podcast from the Whitehorse Inn (http://www.whitehorseinn.org/) that was talking about “Happy Clappy Worship” and it’s infiltration to today’s evangelical churches. Bono’s statement got me thinking about what it is we sing each week at our services. Often times, our songs are celebratory in nature; other times pinpointing aspects of God’s character; other times surrender or even the magnitude of the Cross. Which are all good things, and necessary in a worship service. But, sometimes it feels like the spectrum of emotions is left unchecked.
What comes to mind is one of grief, lament, sadness, distance. If we look at the Psalms, we see the full range of emotions expressed by the Psalmists. God created us to be emotional beings; Jesus himself was emotional. I recently had a close friend lose her mother to a tragic car accident. In the following months, it has been our season of grieving with her, supporting her and praying with her. If I was to take her (or anyone) into church, would there be room for her to lament during the corporate praise time? Probably not. Many of our songs would not express this grief. And that might be something to think about as we plan our music. I like how Bono says that God is interested in Truth. Of course, he is Truth, so it’s no surprise. There are times when praise is a huge sacrifice; when all we feel like is grieving, being alone and saying/singing nothing’ I can’t imagine coming in and trying to sing “You Are So Good to Me” or “Let God Arise” or any particularly upbeat tune when I’m trying to process death, anxiety, loss of a job, grief, exasperation, etc.
So a challenge, I guess, for those of us who are involved in “Worship Ministry” would be to write songs from our lives, the core of our being; not necessarily a contrived statement about God, but rather songs that describe our relationships, our fears, our weaknesses. Then, following up with the fact that God is our salvation, our Rock, our strength in the midst of those emotions to remind us of the Truth. Many Psalms follow that “formula”, if you will, rather than the CCM formula of something that makes us feel good to worship or “the best worship.” No earthly song can be that.
If you will let me, here’s some honesty: I am not a fan of much “contemporary Christian” music. Not enough innovation, edge, or authenticity. I feel the same about most pop music, anyway, so I am not really picking on the church here. (I am just a frustrated guitarist, so who cares what I think, anyway). But, as an artist who is a Christian, I feel obligated to give God my best, and give him my worst (we are sinners saved by grace, after all). Give back to Him the gifts he has given to me, and be faithful to use them as uniquely as possible. I think we can bring in some of that edge, that authenticity by expressing to God our heart’s cry and letting him shape us into who he wants us to be. That, to me, seems like it would be attractive and compelling, rather than something to be ignored.
What do you think?