Dave Gibbons asks GREAT questions @ Story 2009
Before I dive into the questions and observations that Dave makes let me say that we need to pay very close attention to him if for only that he gave his talk from something he felt the Lord gave him about 8-12 hours before he was to speak at this conference. When someone is willing to scrap a message to people that you desperately desire to impress after being awakened in the middle of their sleep I LISTEN. That’s what happened with Dave, and I was most impressed and not in the worldly sense where I think, “Boy I want to be like Dave Gibbons.” That kind of impression is a very selfish kind of impression. Instead I must say that I was impressionable, as a child is impressionable, and because that is where God had me then Dave, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, branded me…impressed me, and all at once it was painful, beautiful, disturbing, and encouraging.
I pray that my small attempt at making notes does the same for you. First, I would encourage you to read Isaiah 6, and while we usually stop at verse 8 I urge you to press on and focus on what happens after verse 8. Because Isaiah is given a disturbing message to communicate, with verse 13 being Dave’s focus.
“13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
NOTES…
Why can’t we measure success in churches by:
1. Eradicating the foster care need in our community
2. Eradicating poverty in our community
3. Caring for the elderly in our community
Instead of…
1. Church attendance
2. Baptisms
3. $
Dave is not suggesting ignoring what we typically measure in the Church, but it needs to be tempered with “Are we making a difference in our communities?” kinds of questions. If we cannot answer these kinds of questions affirmatively then it makes the typical measurements of success irrelevant.
What if 80% of our budget was spent on outreach instead of our venue?
What is missing in spiritual formation in churches?
1. There is no one size fits all. We need to customize a path based upon collaborative resources
2. We miss the intersection between a person’s story and the Holy Spirit by trying to immediately funnel them through a series of steps with the false promise that at the end of the funnel they will move from broken to whole and from newborn to fully devoted follower of Christ.
Churches need to start asking, “What do we NEED to feel uncomfortable about?”
Churches need to develop a theology of suffering because walking people through suffering can birth a HOLY seed.
What I learned from Ed Young @ Story 2009
After doing some research on Yacht Clubs Ed discovered that most Yacht Clubs began as Rescue Societies. They gave themselves to the hard and dangerous work of going to sea in the worst of conditions in order to save people in trouble. Over time people began to tire of all of the work involved, and the Rescue Societies began to be transformed into Yacht Clubs where people joined, not for the adventure or sense of duty of saving people in trouble, but for what the Yacht Club had to offer them in the way of networking, prestige, food and pleasure.
The Church is NOT a Yacht Club.
The main thing for the church is to throw drowning people the rescue ring of Christ (cue Flood by Jars of Clay).
Excuses for not throwing Christ to the people (I’m highlighting excuses I commonly hear at HCC):
1. The Depth Excuse, “I’m just looking for something deeper” – ALL rescues happen in DEEP water! Philippiams 1:6
2. The Knowledge Excuse, “I just don’t know enough to rescue people.” – If you don’t know your own story of transformation then maybe you’ve never been rescued because that is the only thing you need to know.
3. I Need to Pray About It Excuse – We’re commanded to do this, so why do you need clarification?
4. The Sheeple Excuse – When you are comfortable with growing in numbers by transfer from other churches, then you cease being the church. True growth is through baptism.
My reflections: True growth is in baptism of the unbeliever, and a growth in love and compassion by the believer for the unbeliever.
Worship Leaders Listen Up!
Eight Things I Think Every Worship Leader Should Know September 4, 2007
I have had the incredible privilege of working with Lee McDerment since Mother’s Day of 2000. He was the first full time staff member I ever hired–and I have never regretted that decision. I was talking to him about this post the other day and ran these eight things by him (actually there were seven–he came up with number eight.) He thought these were great…but little did he know that these are things I have learned by watching him (I try to learn from everyone!!!) So here goes…
#1 – When you are singing…OPEN YOUR EYES!
Seriously…if I attend one more conference where the worship leader closes their eyes the entire time I think I am going to throw something at them (they wouldn’t see it!)
I’ve heard worship pastors say, “I think I need to just worship and people can see me doing so and will be drawn to do the same.” WRONG ANSWER…they are not there to see you–they need to see Jesus, and there are MANY people that will never experience God’s presence unless you LEAD them there. (Thus the title WORSHIP LEADER!)
It’s easy to close your eyes and disconnect–the challenge is to lead people. NO, I am not saying that it is a sin to close your eyes…but when you do it the entire time it becomes a distraction.
#2 – You are not the preacher–SING!
I attended a conference once where the worship leader thought he was supposed to preach a sermon–we’ve all been there!!! Lee does an excellent job of setting songs up in a minute or less…and I am spoiled. (The only people getting really mad right now are worship leaders who talk a lot!)
#3 – Surround yourself with talented people.
Talent matters–the ONLY organization in the world that doesn’t get this is the church. We’ve all been to the service where the person got up to sing BUT could not sing…and we cringed…and then we saw them after church and lied by saying, “I really enjoyed that!”
#4 – Write songs
Even if you never use them in a service…write them…it will stretch you creatively.
#5 – Go to concerts
Lee goes to concerts all the time to see what the latest sound is and how artists are connecting with contemporary culture. Just recently he went to see Justin Timberlake in Atlanta…and I think he has gone to nearly every U2 show that he can. Seriously–I would say he goes to at least 40-50 shows per year, most of them being non-Christian venues, and he comes back refreshed with ideas.
#6 – Read Scripture
Believe it or not–the earliest worship music was written in the Bible and not in some hymnal at your local Christian bookstore. Lee always has his nose in the Bible…and He knows the word so well that he intimidates me sometimes!
#7 – Work in unison with the pastor
Lee and I are in creative planning sessions every week. He knows the sermon topic sometimes months in advance and spends time praying over songs and set lists. After we discuss the message in a creative meeting we then talk about the music. We don’t do the “I do the message, you do the music and then we will see what happens.” We are a team!!!
That is all I had–but Lee wanted me to mention one more…
#8 – Place God’s dream before your own.
The church is God’s dream…not your worship album! Jump into a local church and build something eternal instead of being so freakishly obsessed with you!!! Lee and I have met so many talented musicians who spend time trying to “make it” when they should be partnering with the church in developing fully devoted followers of Jesus.
When you place God’s dream in front of your dreams–it’s amazing what can take place. Lee is actually going into the studio to record a worship album this fall…and the church is sponsoring the project! Why? Because he is dedicated to Jesus and NewSpring…he’s put in seven years here and this church believes in him! I can’t wait for it to be released…it’s going to be amazing! Thanks Lee…it is an honor to work with you bro!
By the way–Lee will be doing a guest post next week on this site about what a pastor should know from a worship leaders point of view!!!
Tagged: Church Issues
