This past month Lakeside had an awesome week of remembering the death and resurrection of Lord, Jesus Christ.  About a month prior, we received our copies of the new Sovereign Grace Music album, Risen.  We made a last minute decision to introduce one of the stronger worship songs from the album during our Good Friday Communion Service in order to prepare the body to sing it again on Resurrection Sunday.  Not necessarily my first choice to have new music on such an evangelistic Sunday as we try to have more familiar worship music to help guide those who may be visiting.  Thankfully, the risk paid off and the church was well focused during our services.  We featured “Name Above All Names” as a special new worship song for the congregation and as a thankful, redeemed body, they sang it well.

One thing we try to do when we introduce new music to our church (which, at most, is one new song a month) is sing it a couple of consecutive weeks in a row so we get used to the tune, melody and lyrics.  It seems like Lakeside really enjoys worshipping with “Name Above All Names.”  Musically, it is somewhat of a ballad which makes it enjoyable for the band.  The verses are contemplative and have a repetitive structure (in a good way) that draws focus to the lyrics, specifically the name of Jesus.  The chorus is easy to belt out which makes it easy for the hearts of the worshippers to proclaim with full emotion, “You are highly exalted!”  And the meditative proclamation of the bridge, “Our knees will bow, our tongues proclaim, that you are Lord of all,” provides a moment of reflection and response to the content found in the rest of the song.

Again, Lakeside is grateful to Sovereign Grace Ministries and Music for their investment in the local church.  Keep it coming, guys!

I remember being a freshman at The Master’s College living upstairs in Hotchkiss Dorm on the wing that we so sacredly called Upper Back.  My roommate, Adam Powell, was also my RA and he served alongside a steller group of young men in the dorm carrying out the not-always-pleasant duties that are assigned to a Resident Assistant.  One night, I had my brother visiting late in the room as he and I were recording a CD (The Wellington Project…NZ01!!!) that would be a fundraiser for our upcoming Summer Missions Trip to New Zealand (missions, evangotourism, whatever you like).  Suddenly there was a loud, purposeful knock on my dorm room door and we stopped strumming our guitars.  I answered the door and there stood Matt Pearson, the RA from the wing below, and he was obviously tired and unhappy.

Matt was tall, and as he towered over me with a very seriously look he said in a low, trying-to-stay-calm voice, “Seriously?…”  My brother and I were obviously keeping him up.  That’s all he had to say and I got it.  I felt like I had woken the sleeping dragon and wanted to try and run but that wasn’t going to happen.  Thankfully, my life was spared and all we had to do to was put the guitars down.  But that was Matt.  He wasn’t a jerk, he just knew how to communicate with more than words and when he used words, in this case, he chose them wisely to get his point across.

Matt was known for three words in particular during that first year of my college experience – “Seize.  The.  Day.”  His wing lived by it.  They’re theme movie was Gladiator and I’ll never watch that movie again without thinking about, “Seize the day.”  Coming back this weekend from Winter Camp 2011, I was reminded of Matt’s mantra through the teaching of Nathan Busenitz.  Nate did an excellent job on Saturday Night demonstrating the scope of our life span here on earth compared to our lives in eternity and what it means to live for more than what is under the Sun.  When reflecting on such things, it causes me to want to resurrect that concept to seize the day.  To make every moment last for an eternal purpose.  To truly understand that every moment in my life has purpose and I have a responsibility to grab those moments and utilize them for the Lord.

During the Summer of 2001, while our Missions Team was in New Zealand, we received word that Matt Pearson had been in a fatal car accident in Northern California.  Those words had never been louder in my ears…seize the day.  God had used Matt as a prime example of his own message.  Our days are short.  They’re numbered.  We only have what has been given to us and we have the privilege to use these moments.  May we be people like Matt.  May we never lose focus on the fact that these days under the Sun are just a vapor in light of eternity…these days are ours to seize.

Well, it proved to be another great kick off to the year at Lakeside with our Annual Spiritual Life Weekend.  The theme this year was Uneclipsing The Son with our special guest, Rick Holland.  I believe it was refreshing for us all to reflect on the place Christ has in each of our lives.  Is He just a part or is He our life?

The Worship Team, as well as Atoned For, did a steller job in provided excellent musical support to the worship time.  Once again, their efforts to make the music the best it could be paid off as people were not only encouraged to sing but as we witnessed, those who attended experienced heartfelt times of worship focused on the One who desires to draw out our affections for Him.  We were able to introduce a song to the congregation called All I Have Is Christ (Jordan Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries) which ended up being a perfect fit to the theme this year.  We also enjoyed special music from Atoned For and Kelli and Hannah Ramey over the weekend.  Tim Drumm was the man behind the scenes making the weekend roll and he did a great job.  The LBC Media Team also did an awesome job: whether it was Matt Chavez’s moving graphics or the simple support of having the correct slides displayed for the worship time.  There were no major hiccups and for that I am thankful because it made it that much easier for those in attendance to focus on Christ.

My prayer is that coming out of such a deep-filled, contemplative and challenging time revolving around Christ that our church wouldn’t slide back and lose our first love.  I hope that our desire to make Christ the central focus of our lives does not breed more (what Rick called) christianese terms, talks and mindsets.  We know the formula for living a life that is full of purpose and hope and it is found only in Jesus Christ…now the question is how will we use what God has entrusted to us this weekend for true change in our lives?

Click here for the complete Sermon Series from the Spiritual Life Weekend | 2011.

This is a great message from the book of Jude delivered by CJ Mahaney at the Resolved Conference 2010.  He camps out on and articulates very well the idea that when Believers in Jesus Christ come together in the church for worship through music, that is a specific time for us to build one another up by singing ‘theologically informed Gospel-centered songs’ therefore keeping us in the love of God.  Another great reminder that singing in church is not about religiosity, tradition or entertainment.

When I think of the glory of God I instantly go to those majestic acts or attributes of Him that are familiar to me:  creation, resurrection, physical healing, omniscience, omnipresence, holiness–these are no doubt glorious and good helps to cause me to worship Him.  The thing is, when I think of the Cross I don’t often think of Christ’s death as glorious–and this is a huge miss in my worship of Him through life and music.

John Stott reminds us of the glorious humiliation of Christ,

The self-humiliation of the Son of God, which began in the incarnation, culminated in his death.  Yet in that very abasement of himself he was “lifted up,” not just physically raised on to the cross, but spiritually exalted before the eyes of the world.  Indeed, he was “glorified.”  The cross that appeared to be “shame” was in fact “glory.”

So when I sing The Glories Of Calvary or The Glory Of The Cross, my mind will be refreshed that Christ’s death on the Cross was the Father’s purposeful lifting up of His only Son.  No one else could have died that death.  No one else could have bore that shame.  The Cross was only Christ’s to claim and for that, for what He did there, we see the glory of our Savior.  This is why we, who believe, worship and why those who don’t believe only see foolishness:

For in the cross of Christ, as in a splendid theatre, the incomparable goodness of God is set before the whole world.  The glory of God shines, indeed, in all creatures on high and below, but never more brightly than in the cross….

If it be objected that nothing could be less glorious than Christ’s death…I reply that in that death we see a boundless glory which is concealed from the ungodly.

-John Calvin

I had a friend recently send me a link to the following post at Desiring God.  I thought it was an excellent follow up to the conversations that sprung up from the last entry.  Even though Pastor John Piper’s personal convictions are not the ‘end all’ of what to do with the internet, media and the like; the principles he shares along with his balanced thoughts are challenging and insightful:

Why and How I Am Tweeting

John Piper | June 3, 2009

I see two kinds of response to social Internet media like blogging, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and others.

One says: These media tend to shorten attention spans, weaken discursive reasoning, lure people away from Scripture and prayer, disembody relationships, feed the fires of narcissism, cater to the craving for attention, fill the world with drivel, shrink the soul’s capacity for greatness, and make us second-handers who comment on life when we ought to be living it. So boycott them and write books (not blogs) about the problem.

The other response says: Yes, there is truth in all of that, but instead of boycotting, try to fill these media with as much provocative, reasonable, Bible-saturated, prayerful, relational, Christ-exalting, truth-driven, serious, creative pointers to true greatness as you can.

Together with the team at Desiring God, I lean toward response #2. “Lean” is different from “leap.” We are aware that the medium tends to shape the message. This has been true, more or less, with every new medium that has come along—speech, drawing, handwriting, print, books, magazines, newspapers, tracts, 16mm home movies, flannel-graph, Cinerama, movies, Gospel Blimps, TV, radio, cassette tapes, 8-Tracks, blackboards, whiteboards, overhead projection, PowerPoint, skits, drama, banners, CDs, MP3s, sky-writing, video, texting, blogging, tweeting, Mina-Bird-training, etc.

Dangers, dangers everywhere. Yes. But it seems to us that aggressive efforts to saturate a media with the supremacy of God, the truth of Scripture, the glory of Christ, the joy of the gospel, the insanity of sin, and the radical nature of Christian living is a good choice for some Christians. Not all. Everyone should abstain from some of these media. For example, we don’t have a television.

That’s my general disposition toward media.

Now what about Twitter? I find Twitter to be a kind of taunt: “Okay, truth-lover, see what you can do with 140 characters! You say your mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things! Well, this is one of those ‘all things.’ Can you magnify Christ with this thimble-full of letters?”

To which I respond:

The sovereign Lord of the earth and sky
Puts camels through a needle’s eye.
And if his wisdom see it mete,
He will put worlds inside a tweet.

So I am not inclined to tweet that at 10AM the cat pulled the curtains down. But it might remind me that the Lion of Judah will roll up the heavens like a garment, and blow out the sun like a candle, because he just turned the light on. That tweet might distract someone from pornography and make them look up.

I’ve been tweeting anonymously for a month mainly to test its spiritual and family effects on me. In spite of all the dangers, it seems like a risk worth taking. “All things were created through Christ and for Christ” (Colossians 1:16). The world does not know it, but that is why Twitter exists and that’s why I Tweet.

By his grace and for his glory,

Pastor John

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

My friend sent me a link to a blog post that drew me to think of a topic God continues to bring to my attention throughout my life.  My brother calls it Social Christianity.  Jesus calls it practicing your righteousness before other people and I think it is one of the biggest things a Christian can struggle with being a part of the local church.  In Matthew 6 Jesus says:

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven….And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

In secret is a big deal in Matthew 6.  Jesus knew full and well that people love to be seen by others.  People are consumed with themselves (ourselves) and how they are portrayed by others.  When that poisonous pride of the flesh mixes with a Christian’s desire to do what the Lord calls him to it concocts the nasty blend of self righteousness.  The ‘I’m awesome’ mentality with a Christian flavor.

After reading J. Dodson’s post it helped me think, “Really?  Is that what we’re doing with the gospel?”  Have we become so familiar with the rhetoric and catch phrases of our religion that we spout off external knowledge instead of living out heart change – just so others think well of us?  Christ warned us of this.

He said to beware!  Don’t show off what isn’t yours to show off.  Keep it secret.  Keep it between you and God and He will reward you.  Show off how you’ve got it all together and sure, you’ll probably get the applause, the glory, the adoration of men…at least for a little while.  Until you fail.  What is in secret will be made known someday.  So beware because the Father sees in secret.

Christ did not come to earth to make much of you (me) and His purpose has never been for you to make much of you either.  He gave us the gospel to have a close, intimate and secret relationship with Him that in turn He uses to love on others, show others who He is and build up His Church.  Does that mean be secretive about being a Christian?  Well, can a light hide in a dark room?  Can it secretly pretend to be anything other than light?

Where am I tempted to show off my righteousness?  Well, the internet has become a new outlet for sure and I think that we have to be more aware of it as we find more ways interact socially:  Twitter, Facebook, Blogging (not this post, of course….ha!).  Maybe I’ll coin the phrase Social Network Christianity.  How’s that Ryan?  It is true, though, that the Social Network on the internet has stolen people’s secret time – the time they are most real and alone before the Lord.  When did we start getting so loud about our quiet time?  My brother, Ryan, writes of Social Christianity:

Are you putting forward a façade of Christian faith because it’s what’s expected?  Are you practicing a Pharisaical Christianity?  Are you dying because you feel like you can’t fail, you can’t sin, you can’t be immature even though you know you are failing, sinning, and immature?  The only cure for Social Christianity is to examine in private your motivation for faith—are you doing things to be seen by men?  Are you doing things because of [people's] expectations?  Are you being honest with yourself and with others about your spiritual state?  Jesus knew this danger, and calls us to abandon the games, the façade, and the fake faith for true, genuine, human faith in Him.  True faith is not bound up in society but in reality.  Strip away the supports of society and the pressure which comes from peers and family and social religion will fall apart.  What is left is the genuine state of your spiritual condition.

We need to know that when we strip away the supports of society and the pressure which comes from being around the Church, friends and family – that we will find ourselves hiding in Christ’s righteousness and not some worthless attempt to prove that we are religious.  The cost is too great and having people think that ‘you’re the man’ ultimately means jack if what the Father sees doesn’t match up.  He sees us in secret.

I’ve been reading Kauflin’s book, Worship Matters, and chapter 15 is an awesome reminder of why we (as believers) do what we do and why worship leaders must not lose heart or focus in what it is they are doing.

He starts out the chapter asking, “Why proclaim scriptural truths we’ve previously heard an already know?”  Even though it is hard to admit, deep down inside I think that.  I’ve heard this before.  I’ve sung this before.  I’ve been singing the same song for over twenty years! Kauflin answers his own question and encourages the Christian, “Because we forget.  We lose track of who God is and what he’s done.”

That’s why we do what we do.  That’s what worship leaders need to remember.  Remember that people forget…people forget about the most important thing in the universe – Christ!  They forget about how He lived, why He died – about His power and place.  God knew we would need to proclaim it to help keep it first in our lives.  He also knew that proclaiming it would enhance our lives and comfort our souls.

That’s why I am so scared that I could be leading more of a religious system and corporate worship times that are obviously more about traditions rather than about Christ.  Bob Kauflin writes,

“If that’s not happening [proclaiming the gospel] in our churches, it could be because people don’t understand how Jesus’ dying for their sins affects the rest of their life.  They’re unclear on how to apply the gospel to their lives.  Maybe they see the gospel as something only for unbelievers or new Christians.  They’re fine with singing about it in church, but they don’t understand how it applies to the rest of the week.”

He goes on to give examples of how the Gospel is specifically connected to life dealing with our Sin, Suffering, Sanctification & Relationships With Others. It’s easy to forget that Christ is, “the head of the body, the church.  He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent,” (Colossians 1:18) and that it doesn’t impact just one aspect of our lives (religion) but that He is first in everything.  And that’s why we proclaim the Gospel.

Kauflin reminds me why I do what I do – that as we (God’s people) deal with life, with the lies of the world and our own tendency to forget about our first love,

“we gather as the church to proclaim the truth.  We gather to declare–to ourselves, to each other, and to God–what we know to be eternal reality.  There is one God, who is sovereign over the universe and every detail of our lives.  We have rebelled against him.  He sent his Son to die in our place for our sins.  And through Jesus Christ we have forgiveness and peace with God.”

This morning a great conversation sprung up about what we, as God’s people, are investing our time and lives into.  What benefit is coming out of what we are doing with our lives…with our week…with our moments?  One of the comments made was, “I had been doing all of these things for twenty years and it got to the point where I had to say, ‘what am I doing right now?’”  It’s that age-old question – does what I am doing right now have any eternal impact?

If you are a leader in any way (at work, in ministry, in discipleship, as a spouse, as a parent, etc.) there is a further challenge – is what I am doing with the responsibilities given to me having any eternal impact?  That’s pressure!  But healthy and necessary pressure.

The take away from today’s meeting:  The older we get, the more time we are given on earth, we all tend to have an increase of impact and influence and as we continue to weigh the importance of our actions, we have to ask ourselves, “What is the eternal impact of what I am doing right now?”