Back and ON FIRE!

I have been taking some time off since Christmas, just relaxing and getting some stuff done around the house. It's been good on a couple of levels, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the work of the Kingdom. I noticed some things while I've been 'away' and wanted to share them with you:

• Christmas Eve services were AMAZING! Had to be the most worshipful I've been a part of since I've been in church. God was in it like I've never seen Him before. WOW!
• We had three really good services as well. We actually went over last years numbers by a little more than 12%. Kudos to you all who invited people to come meet Jesus.
  
• When I'm not with my church family on Sunday, I'm a little empty. I can worship without you, but it's just not the same.
• People in Pocatello don't know how to drive in the snow - and it drives me CRAZY! Nearly got hit about a dozen times this week...and that was just on Monday!

The more time I spend in God's Word, the more amped up I get about what He wants me to do. I don't fully know what it all is, I just know that He is working in my heart to do some amazing things for the Kingdom. I do know this: what I (we've) been called to do is NOT easy, is NOT for the faint of heart and is NOT for wimps!

I've been disgusted by 'Christians' today who say one thing and then won't back it up with their life. There's a word for that - hypocrisy! And it has to break our Father's heart. But my biggest frustration has to come from cowardly Christians. For example, if someone were to come to your house and start calling your mom or dad all kinds of names and stuff, would you just sit there and let them? NO WAY! You would defend them at all costs, and say that it was in honor of the family. And you'd be right! But when we get challenged on our faith, or people start using God's name in vain or calling God a liar, we just sit back and say, "They're entitled to their opinion," and then we let them continue doing it. WHAT IS WRONG WITH US? That is our Father they're talking about. That is our Dad they are attacking - and we're letting them.

Not me. I'm tired of it. When I read God's Word it clearly says that we are to be standing FOR God - period. He has given us the spirit of boldness - not wimpness! He has given us the Holy Spirit to be our guide - not our excuse! So I'm going to be pissing some people off who think they are 'entitled' to come after my Dad and think they can dishonor Him. Not gonna happen! I'm going to confuse some people who think that only 'certain people' should get help if they meet their criteria. Who decided that we get to pick and choose who needs help? If you see someone in need, scripture says, HELP THEM!

Church - in Pocatello and elsewhere - we have been called BY GOD to be a light in a dark world. Put away the bickering that keeps you from being that light. Put away 'denominational' excuses and reach out to the community in your own backyard. You want to make a difference? Start by opening up your doors to help ANYONE who has a need. God will provide the resources. All you need to do is open your heart to serve.

I'll 'rant' more later. Just had to get this first part off my chest...

See ya in church...

New Sunday, New Worship!

With each passing week, I see God move in the lives of His people here at First Baptist, Pocatello. IT NEVER GETS OLD! I watch and listen to you as you lift your voices in song to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It inspires me and excites me.

• We introduced a new arrangement/intro for "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and it went above and beyond our expectations. Our hope was to invite you in to a place where you could worship Him and celebrate Him. It was a very worshipful and inviting moment. God is Good!
• Baptisms...do they ever get old???
• 9 a.m. crowd...YOU ROCK! You get up early, battle the weather (which held off!) and make room in the 11 a.m. service for those folks who are checking things out. THANK YOU! AND, you brought your worship heart Sunday and let God know how much you love Him. YEAH!
• 11 a.m. crowd...YOU ROCK TOO! But I'm still going to keep challenging you...move to the 9 a.m. service (where all the cool kids hang out) so we can have room for the visitors at 11. We've been over 80% full several weeks this quarter and it won't let up anytime soon. So, you can see we have a problem in the making. HELP US OUT - PLEASE MOVE!

This holiday season, let God bring out the best in you by worshiping with all you have and with all that you are. Take your everyday life and give it to God as an act of worship. I love the paraphrase version of this verse (Romans 12:1-2) because it communicates so clearly what we need to do. AND, it is a good reminder that we don't want to be influenced by culture - EVER! When we let God influence our lives for His purposes and plans, life takes on a whole new meaning! And it effects our personal worship as well as our corporate worship. HE is exalted and lifted high in our lives, both inwardly and outwardly.

Keep pursuing Him this season and look for how He will use you for the Kingdom!

Merry Christmas!

Building A Worship Team - Part 4

Okay -
...We're in tight with our Senior Pastor and have a solid relationship as well as a clear understanding of worship and the vision.
...We've outlined, CLEARLY, the expectations for our worship team so as to avoid any prima-dona syndromes.
...And we've taken a hard look at who and what we have to work with and provided some resources for them to become skilled at their instrument.

Whatever you do, don't let anyone tell you that you don't need to pray before your rehearsals. And don't be afraid to have a brief devotional along with it. Your team needs to not only sound good and blend together, they have to be bound together in Him and with Him. Otherwise, you will have a mess on your hands that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.
Encourage them to pray together either as a whole team or in groups of 2 or 3 (depending on the size of your team). This also helps them to know how to pray for each other during the week...what a concept!

Now it's time to get to work - time to make some MAGIC!

1. REHEARSAL STRUCTURE

Worship Leader - you have to be prepared yourself! Don't come to rehearsal and just wing it. Even the best of us at this don't do that. Know what needs to be done, how it needs to be done and then do it!

For the rehearsal time:

• Make certain that you allot enough time for your prayer/devotional.
  
• Make sure you have adequate copies of music (lead sheets, sheet music, rhythm charts, etc.) to hand out. If you are using Cd's or MP3 files to help the team practice, same thing - have them ready and have enough.
• Pick one song for the upcoming weekend service and work it. Take a dry run all the way through, just to make sure folks have an idea of the song.
• Break down the instrument parts. Who comes in at the beginning? Everybody? If not, who and when do the other instruments come in? Talk about instrumental 'solo' parts and how they will be laid out in the song. Listen for odd rhythm patterns that clash with the main one. For example, listen to the strumming pattern of the guitar compared to the rhythm being laid down by the drummer. What is the keyboard player doing? Does it clash with other instruments? KEYBOARDIST: You DON'T have to play ALL THE NOTES! Less is always better!
• Break down the vocal parts. Who is singing lead, if not the Worship Leader? How many parts do you need to have? When do parts actually come in and when do you sing unison? Can the song be led by more than the Worship Leader? Perhaps there is a piece of the song that sounds really good for a male voice, or a female voice to lead out. Switch it out and try it. CAUTION: Worship Leaders - the more you lead every Sunday and are the main voice, the more chance of people expecting you to always be there. Not a good thing. This can lead to the congregation putting you on a pedestal that you don't want to be on!
  
• A great question I get is how many singers should a Praise Team actually have? Here's an easy answer: for every 75-100 people in the congregation you need an additional vocalist. That means for a church of 100 you would have 2 vocalists' - one lead and one harmony. If you're a church of 300, 2-3 vocalists' and a lead vocal will be more than enough. Now, the bigger you get, this 'rule' breaks down. You wouldn't want to be a church of 600 and have 7 people leading. You might as well have a worship choir (which isn't a bad thing!). We helped out a church with some worship stuff and they had 4 part harmony with an additional lead vocal on top of the Worship Leader. They actually defeated the purpose of the harmony with so many voices that the mid-range of the speakers sounded muddy and distorted. It wasn't a great sound. Too much is not the answer when it comes to vocals.
• Take the same approach with vocals as you do with instruments. Who needs to be singing? What and when? Is what they're singing clashing with the instrumental parts? Sometimes we can make a song sound way too busy by adding all the voices. Mix it up. Have one person sing in one section, then add one or two voices. It's called layering and it's extremely effective.
• Once that's all figured out and understood, play! Start putting it together and find out what needs tweaking, eliminated, adjusted, etc.
  
• Work it again and again until it feels comfortable and smooth. Then put it away for a moment. Come back to it before you go home, but for now let it rest. Pick another song and do the same thing. This process will help stretch your musicians and help them to focus.
  
• WARNING: Know that you will have some down time for both the vocals and the instruments as you 'work' the songs. Let them know this ahead of time so they don't go postal on you!
• Work through your Sunday set at least once. Focus on transitions, key changes, tempo changes, etc. If you are using other elements - scripture reading, sacraments, video, live drama/sketch, etc. - share with the team where these go and how it impacts flow. DON'T SURPRISE YOUR TEAM ON SUNDAY!

This will get you started. Have fun working with different songs, styles, patterns, arrangements, etc. And when you work on a song, don't try to do it just like you've heard it. Learn it first. Then make it your own by trying different instrument mixes, vocal parts, even the tempo can make a song more like your own. Whatever you do, find the voice of the song that moves you and your team to worship. If that happens, chances are you're going to be leading others into the presence of the Almighty!

More later...

12 Days-o-FUN!

The Invitation

For a snowy and cold day we had a good turnout for services. In fact, as I looked at the same weekend last year, we were running the same. Makes me wonder what would have happened if we didn't have the snow...

• Really missed being here last week, cause when you get your worship hearts on...it reminds me that this is the place God has called me to.
• LOVE celebrating volunteers! This Sunday I got to thank my teams for what they do (all 97 of them) and got to thank our Administration teams as well. As I said yesterday, it doesn't just happen by itself. It takes 30 of our Creative Arts volunteers EACH SERVICE to make Sunday happen. Can't wait til next week when we get to celebrate some more folks!
• One other group that has made a HUGE impact in the life of God's people is our Connection Group leaders and hosts'. We now have 22 groups - and GROWING!
• 11 o'clock service - you guys RAISED THE ROOF with the worship music! THANK YOU for taking me with you. Thank you for opening yourself up to let God see how much you love Him and want to praise Him.
• 9 0'clock service - you catch a break just because it was COLD at that hour. AND the heater in the Worship Center stopped working overnight. When I arrived after 7 a.m. it was a balmy 50 degrees in there! Our instruments did NOT like it, that's for sure.

I promise that we will have the heater fixed and ready to go by this next weekend. Even if I have to light a fire in the middle of the room to heat it up, we will be ready for you to bring the people that you want to bring to church. DON'T LET ANYTHING GET IN THE WAY OF INVITING SOMEONE TO CHURCH! EVER!

I look forward to seeing what God is going to do in this season of Christmas here at FBC. It's never the same - but He is! And that's what really matters!

See ya in church...

Father and son - JOY!

As of now, I have no voice! I just got to see my Steelers take out the Cowboys in an incredible and cold game. By the time the 4th quarter started, they said it was 17 degrees with a wind chill of 7 degrees. Sweltering!
I had the joy of being at Heinz Field on this cold December day with my son, Austin. This was his first ever trip to Pittsburgh, and obviously to Heinz. What a joy it was to see him get excited, overwhelmed, over joyed, amazed, anxious - all at the same time! It was intense, in a GREAT way!
We ate good, had fun with the crowd, and froze our toes off.

In a sense, I got to get an idea of what it must be like for God to look at us and see us enjoy life, especially those things that are important to us. My life verse is Ephesians 2:10. It says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepares in advance for us to do." God has called each of us to do something great for Him. In that same breath, I believe that He grants us opportunities to experience those things that bring us joy - just so He can see us enjoy life.

It got me thinking - how much do we enjoy God Himself? How much do we look forward to meeting Him day after day, looking to enjoy His company?
How often do we look forward to spending time with Him?

I have had this day marked on my calendar for months, looking forward to spending it with my son. It was nothing less than fulfilling in every way. Even if we had lost, it was still all I'd hoped it would be. Dad got to spend some quality time with his son - and it brought me great joy.

I'm looking forward to next Sunday to spend time with the Father and His family. I hope you'll look forward to the joy as well!

See ya in church...

No More Neat and Tidy - Just Foolish!

7 1/2 years ago I moved our family from Southern California to the booming metropolis of Pocatello, Idaho. Talk about your contrasts in cultures. Both Sue and I knew what to expect, culture-wise, because we had gone to school at Idaho State University. Our kids, however, had only visited on a couple of occasions. Luckily for us, they adapted well and really haven't desired to go back there since. (Praise God!)

But the journey to get here was not blessed by many people in our circles, including some of our family. In fact, I even heard the words, "it seems a little foolish" uttered by some. We didn't have a home to move to before we got here, and Sue didn't have a job or even an interview lined up. We left good jobs, a solid church, a roof over our heads - all to follow a 'dream' to come on staff at FBC, Pocatello. Foolishness! Absurd!

Unless you have faith and are willing to be obedient.

See...we, as Christians, think things have to be neat and tidy for us to be able to serve God. We think that things have to all be lined up in a neat little pile and THEN God can use us. The reality is that's what WE think it needs to be. All God wants is our hearts, fully obedient and sold out to Him. He'll take us however we are, wherever we are and use us to do His work.

As artists, we really fall into the 'things-have-to-be-neat-and-tidy' category more than most. We are, to a point, perfectionists. HOWEVER...when we do this, it doesn't leave any room for God to do a miracle in our own lives.
When we, my wife and I, made the decision to follow God to Pocatello, it was seen by some as reckless abandon - and not in a good way. But we didn't care what others thought. We were more concerned about being faithful to Him than anything else. And so we came... and the rest is His story. I believe that reckless abandon for the Kingdom leads to incredible faith building events in our lives.

How long will you continue to live a neat and tidy life YOUR WAY? What will it take for you to suck it up and take that big step of faith that you keep putting off until 'just the right time'? SHUT UP WITH THE EXCUSES! He's heard them all before! I even used some myself. IT GOT ME NOWHERE!

• God, I can't afford to give a full tithe, because I have all this debt. DUH! Get out of debt! You're wasting HIS money, not yours!
  
• God, I can't afford to give my whole life because I like living this way. Besides, I can come to you and be forgiven as often as I need to. "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." (Prov. 26:11) By the way, God does NOT like to be mocked. (Galatians 6:7)
• God, I've been so bad for so long there's no way you could accept me, let alone forgive. "For God so loved (put your name here), that He gave His only Son...so that (put your name here) may NOT PERISH but have EVERLASTING LIFE." (John 3:16 - Karl paraphrase)
• God, if I do this what will other people think? "The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom..." (1 Corinthians 1:25a) Two words - WHO CARES? You'll be spending eternity with Him, not necessarily all of them!
  

Only when I completely surrendered my life, my family, my future to Him - only then did I really FULLY understand who He is and what He wants to do with my life.

Stop making excuses for why you won't be obedient to God. Start taking your relationship with Him seriously today. Get on your knees in prayer right now and ask Him to move you to a new place. Ask Him to give you another chance to be used MIGHTILY for His work. And, commit to do it whatever the risk is. It may seem foolish - GOOD. It won't be neat and tidy (not always) - GOOD! It will be scary - GREAT! He is a BIG God and He won't ask you to do more than He knows you can handle.

So get up, get on your knees, and get after His life for you. It will be foolish to those who don't know Him. I can't think of a better compliment than that!

Being a FOOL for Christ right beside you...

Building a Worship Team - part 3

Now that you and your Senior Pastor have had a great lunch and gotten a good start on the commitment thing, where to from here? First of all, know that your commitment guidelines will change as your church and ministry grows. That's a good thing! We need to be constantly reviewing our goals and expectations, especially in times of growth. Look at what other churches in your area are doing. As you do, look at churches that are similar in size to where you are, and the next size up from where you are. Always keep an eye toward growth!

As for building the people part of your team...once they know what to expect,

1. START WITH WHAT YOU HAVE!

• What instrumentalists' do you have?
• What vocals (parts and lead) do you have?
• What is the skill level of those people?

Have a night where you just come together and 'work' a worship song or two. Start with something simple, something basic. For some of the more experienced people, this may seem redundant. However, you need to remember you are building a TEAM not an 'act'.

• Teams need exposure to one another, which means they spend time together.
• Teams aren't teams until they can master the basic mechanics of playing together.
  
• Teams require working together as one unit.

Get everyone together and play through a familiar, fairly simple song (Amazing Grace).

• Start with instrumentation. Who will play what? When? How much? Make sure every instrumentalist understands what you expect of them. Not everyone has to play at the same time. (Keyboard players in a band setting: LESS IS BETTER!)
  
• Then add vocals. Who will sing lead? What parts will be sung? When will you sing in unison and when will you have parts? NOT ALL SONGS NEED TO BE SUNG IN 3 or 4 PART HARMONY! Try only adding one part. Instead of singing the 3rd, try adding a harmony sung in the 2nd or 4th range of the scale. You never know until you try!
  
• Now, do it all TOGETHER.
  
• Do it again....and again...and again. Spending time going over a song together also helps you, leader, see where the ability level is of each of your people. Use that to encourage and educate your team.

2. GET YOUR TEAM RESOURCES TO LEARN FROM!

There are a bunch of good resources out there to help build a team. Let me recommend what I think is one of, if not the best resources out there. Paul Baloche has put together a series of GREAT training DVDs for praise and worship teams.
Start by going to his website and picking up "Worship Band Workshop". This is a great resource for your team to see what a team playing together looks and sounds like. DON'T TRY TO COPY THEM! Learn from them and apply what you can to your situation. Topics include "band dynamics and tempo", "creating an atmosphere of worship", "mapping out a song", and more. All done in a very basic, easy to learn setting.
For your vocalists, let me recommend that you also pick up the "Worship Vocal Workshop" from Paul's' site. They cover "modern blending", "proper warm-ups", "harmonizing" and more. Great lessons on singing as a team. This also includes some time with microphone basics that is invaluable.

• Find resources and get them into the hands of your people as often as you can.
• Get your team to conferences when you can. Getting them exposed to other teams and leaders will help them understand where you really want to go with them. Check out Integrity Musics Seminars4Worship.
  
• Find people who will come to you and teach. You'd be surprised at how many artists will come and do workshops for you and other churches. Some just ask you to provide a hotel and charge a fee for their workshop. Guitar, keyboards, even some vocal teaching is available this way. You just have to do some research. Email me and I'll share with you the folks we've had come and the impact they have had. (karl@fbcpoky.com)

Playing together as a team and resource sharing are the two keys to our success here at FBC, Poky. If you were to ask some of our folks they would tell you that it sometimes gets old working over a song the way we do. But when we take our place on Sundays, when it's time to lead God's church in musical worship, the distractions of timing, tempo, pitch, parts, etc. aren't there because the music has been internalized and now is coming out as worship.

Good luck in this part of the process. Be patient...look toward what you're hoping to accomplish in the end, not the junk in the front. It will be worth it!

Continue later this week with the next steps...

"Hungry" by Kathrynn Scott Clip

Sunday Lessons

It NEVER ceases to amaze me how God works on any given day, let alone on Sundays!

• Thought Aaron and Bill did a great job leading us in a service of communion. It was a good reminder for me to see communion this way.

• Really appreciated the worship team for hanging out all service(s) on the platform. Felt like the music connected well to the spoken word and helped drive the point home. I love my team!

• Had a GREAT time watching my Steelers pummel the Patriots! Great way to end the afternoon for me!

• Ended the day with my men's group - Gary, Tom, Scott, Tait - where we just got to be guys for a couple of hours. These men encourage me, challenge me, let me challenge them, and they really help me get perspective on stuff. I am truly blessed!

• As a special treat yesterday, I got to do a duet with my beautiful wife, Sue. It just doesn't get any better than that!
  

I love serving God in this place! I know without a doubt that God has called me to this place and that He has wonderful plans for me and my family in the future. I trust Him with my life!

See ya in church...

Building A Worship Team - part 2

Okay, now that you and your Senior Pastor are best of buds...
I can hear the excuses now - But Karl, I don't get to do it the way I want to do it! I NEVER get to be creative! I, I, I... tell your ego to shut up!

Did you ever stop to think that maybe he/she knows something you don't? Did you ever ask them why you weren't allowed freedom and flexibility? What have you done to show them that you can be effective if you do it your way?
Yes, you are supposed to be the "expert" in this area. That may mean that you need to educate them on why you want to do what it is you want to do. Soooooo, INVEST IN TIME WITH THE SENIOR PASTOR AND SPEW SOME OF YOUR VISION! They very well may surprise you - but you won't know until you spend time with them!

Okay, now that you and your Senior Pastor are the best of buds...
It's time to start building the team - almost. I'm going to assume that you already know what style of worship music you want to use. If not, see the first part of this rant!

Even before you put instrumentalists' and vocalists' in place, you need to have a clear expectation for the commitment level.

• What will the spiritual maturity 'level' need to be? If you have a membership class process, how far in the process should they need to go before they can serve? {Our requirement is that they complete CLASS 201.}
  
• What will the regular attendance and support requirement be? Will they be required to be at all of the services throughout the year, even if they aren't on every week? [We require 80% for the year, whether they are on or not.}
• What will their commitment OUTSIDE of rehearsal be? Will they be expected to practice on their own? If so, how long each week? Will you provide the tools to make that possible (i.e. practice CD, jump drive file, etc.)? {We require 2-3 hours of personal practice time each week to work parts, rhythms, etc.{}
• How will you handle sin issues when they come up? And they will - some more evident than others, but they will come up. Will you allow them to remove themselves when they have an issue they can't discuss? Can you be okay with that, knowing that it may mess with the plan for Sunday? {We have a regular discussion about knowing where we are. If there is something that will hinder them leading, they can - without question - sit out until they are back where God needs them. They also know that if I'm aware of unconfessed, unrepentant sin, I will ask them to sit until they are back where God needs them.}
• Here's a fun one, but one that needs to be a part of your commitment - are they financially supporting the ministry of the church? Are they committed to the vision as seen in the churches budget to do ministry in your community? If they aren't giving, they aren't being obedient. Jesus himself said, "If you love me, you will obey my teaching." (John 14:23)

One more thing I've learned over the past 18 years is to have a system in place for them to evaluate how they think they are doing. We just started doing 'self-evaluations' here and I love what it's doing already. They get the chance to 'grade' them selves on spiritual and commitment issues, as well as skill issues such as pitch, rhythm, tone, musical style, etc. This evaluation is taken directly from the commitment covenant, so nothing is a surprise.

When you put people on the team, they need to know CLEARLY what the expectations are and how they are going to be measured. This will take care of a lot of the prima-dona junk that comes up before it has a chance to surface. And yes, you will have people accuse you of asking for way too much commitment. Good. You don't want them on the team. Trust me, you'll find the ones you need just in time.

So, once again I have to go. I'll finish the rest of this up - maybe - on Friday. It all depends on how long it takes me and my (college age) daughter to shop.

In the meantime, have fun building the commitment covenant and hanging with your Senior Pastor. Take them to lunch on Friday - just don't order the turkey!!!

K

Building A Worship Team - part 1

I don't hesitate to brag about the people I have the privilege to serve with at FBC, Pocatello. We have been blessed with some very talented, gifted musicians. For example, if I want to change a song or do a small piece just a little different, no problem. We walk through it, get the changes, do a little practice and off we go. It's like we've worked it all along that particular way and it either rocks or brings us to the moment we were looking for. We did a little of that tonight in rehearsal and it was cool. WAY COOL!

But it goes way beyond just skill and giftedness. I am blessed to be surrounded by artists who love God first and foremost, and who desire to put Him first in their lives as well as their ministry. This group of people struggle like everyone else. They deal with sin, relationship issues, joy and sorrow and all the other things that life throws our way. But they know that they have been blessed with the ability to share God's truths and His Word through song. They get that this is the place God has called them to, and they strive to please Him. And it gives me GREAT JOY to serve them!

How did we get to this place? How did we find such great, talented and focused people? Simple - they just fell out of the sky! (Sorry, too easy to let that one just sit there!)

Here's a couple of key steps that I think God wants ALL of us who lead worship teams to weave into our ministry:

1. Have a clear vision for what you want to accomplish, both in the worship service itself, and the ministry beyond the walls. DUH! But really, do you have a clear vision beyond this weekends service or the next series? If you do, great. What are you doing to take the ministry beyond the walls to the streets? What does your community need? You have to have a vision that includes your community or else you will stay inward focused.


2. Have a clear, Biblical understanding of what worship is. How does that fit with the vision and ministry of your church? If it's out of alignment, sit down with your Senior Pastor and understand what his/her vision for worship is. Your job, lead worshipper, is to make that vision a reality. If you can't, leave your position so the church can find someone who can. Read Become A True Worshiper, Tom Kraueter.
   
3. Know who the REAL Worship Leader is. (By the way, lead worshipper, it's not you!) Your Senior Pastor is the Worship Leader for the church. You just get the honor of leading that portion of worship with music. Do so in such a way that honors God and supports your Senior Pastor!
   
4. Senior Pastor and Lead Worshipper - spend time together getting to know each other. If you can't build a relationship with your leader, how can you hold your team accountable to relationship building? This is the NUMBER ONE problem in staff relationships still today and it pisses me off! I am sick and tired of Satan getting between the two most visible leaders in a church and causing the crap he causes. Listen, Senior Pastors and Lead Worshippers - you're not in junior high any more! Be a man/woman and own your junk and find a way to work together for the good of the Kingdom! Your church needs you; your community needs you; and I believe the local church needs you to be a good example of how to work together! So - DO IT!

Notice I haven't even mentioned the key players yet - the Worship Team. That's because without the foundation that I'm talking about, it doesn't matter what you do next, it will not work. It will not be successful because God is not honored, God is not central in the relationship - simply put, God is not in the details because your stupid ego is on the throne!

So, I'll continue this rant tomorrow after I've calmed down. In the meantime, as a Lead Worshipper, ask yourself the following:

• Do I have a clear vision for the worship ministry? Both inside and outside the building?


• Do I have a clear understanding of what Biblical worship is? How does it align with the understanding of my Senior Pastor?


• How is my relationship with my Senior Pastor? Am I open, honest and real? Do I allow him/her to hold me accountable? Do I see him/her as the Worship Leader? What will it take for me to get to that point?


• Where is my ego in all of this? Who will help keep the ego in check?

I am blessed to be serving with Pastor Bill McCready. He and I have spent countless hours together, as well as with our families. Building this relationship has been and will continue to be the most important relationship I work on in the church next to God. He makes it easy, 'cause he's a wierd dude like me. Pray for him, though, cause he's a big Seahawks fan.

Do we always agree? No. Do we always see eye to eye? (Did I mention he's a Seahawks fan?) What we DO is work things out, talk through them, get to the heart of things. And in the end, he's my Senior Pastor. When we walk out of the office I am 1000% behind him and the diretion God is leading - cause he's the Worship Leader. Get it?

I'll be praying for you...

What's Your Part?

Sunday was one of those days you live for in ministry!

• 5 baptisms between the 2 services! How cool is that? Talk about a party in heaven...
• Baby dedications are always special - and Arwin was a real cutie. Congrats to Chris and Margaret S.
• God called out to a lot of people to step up and serve. We have had a HUGE response to ministry opp's over the last several weeks. Keep looking and serving. God will be praised!

Pastor Bill had a good challenge and a tough challenge all in one sentence. If you can't find a place to serve here, if you can't find your passion here then maybe this isn't the place. (I'm paraphrasing)
That's a tough thing to hear - but one that needs to be heard and we need to do something about. If you look at what we've been called to, nowhere does it say we're to be complacent. Nowhere does the Bible say that we get to sit on the sidelines while others serve. Jesus himself came and served - hmmm...

So what will your part be? If we don't have something you have a passion for, perhaps God has put that in your heart to start that something! We have people all around us, both in the church and in the community, who need help. As His church, our job - our calling is to help. But we need people with a heart for Jesus to make it available. Will you step up? Will you allow God to break your heart for those in need? Will you rend your heart, bow your knees and just say YES to what God wants to do in your life?

My prayer is that you will hear God's call and answer it right away. Whatever I can do to help you make that become a reality, come find me at the church or email me at karl@fbcpoky.com.

Let's do our part - together - and see what God does with us!

See ya in church...

Refreshed Vision, Renewed Calling!

Back from Seattle and the Christian Musician Summit. Had a great time of connecting with God's vision for ministry, as well as learning some new stuff.
Have to give a big shout out and thank you to Mark Nelson and the team for leading out on Sunday. Heard it was a great time, despite the evil technology demons in the system. I have confidence in Mark to lead, or else I wouldn't have had him in that spot to do so (DUH!). I appreciate his heart and willingness to get out of God's way (which is big for us musicians) and lead God's way. It was just what we needed! Thanks again, Mark.

As for the summit:

• Brian Doerksen reminded us that our calling is NOT to awaken worship. It's to redirect our worship onto the character of God; to model His character.
• We were reminded that we need to be pleasing the Audience of One. If people come on Sunday and don't 'get something out of worship', good. It wasn't for them!
  
• I don't want people to get the idea its really all for them, because it's not. It is about us giving our hearts in worship and service to Him - period.
• Heard a lot about the need for personal practice time, separate from our weekly rehearsal time. Musicians should be spending time personally learning their parts, understanding transitions, knowing key changes and where to come in or sit out - all the stuff we've been expecting! But now that someone else said it, I hope it really sinks in.
• As a musician, how are you using the 'talent' that God gave you? Look up the parable from Matthew 25:14-30. Look at it from the standpoint of the gifts/talents that God has given you. How are you using yours? Are you investing or hoarding?
  
• Picked up a few pointers on keyboard. Some simple ways to transition songs in different keys using the same tag line in both keys. Will be sharing this with our keyboardists' this week. Got to share the wealth! (Matthew 25 Parable!)
• Was also able to speak with some key people about new building design and steps to take to make that process less painful, more efficient.

The other BIG thing that I really walked away with was the need to give more of what we learn away to other churches. Many of us in the ministry know how hard it is to take people to these kinds of events. It costs a lot of money, requires time away from real jobs, and doesn't guarantee that what we learn will ever be implemented when we get back to our churches.

One of the foundations of my ministry has always been to give away what we learn. We need to develop a platform on our end to be able to do just that with these resources.

So here's what I'm going to ask of you, especially those of you in the Northwest (Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon):

• If we could bring in some of today's leaders in our fields - worship leaders, vocal coaches, guitar and bass players, drummers, sound techs, etc. - would you be interested in coming to an event in Pocatello or Twin Falls?
• If we could bring such an event, what would be a 'doable' cost for you? At the LEAST, it would cost $100 and at the high end $199. Pick a point and let me know.
• Who would you bring? It can't be just you - that's not fair to you or your team. How many would you like to bring? (YES, there would be a group discount)

Please email me at karl@fbcpoky.com with your feedback, or post it to this blog. I know that I am being called to be this resource, for whatever reason, here in the Northwest. Pray for me and my team as we put some of these things together. I can tell you that we are already working with some 'key people' to do an event in May. You'll hear about it here when we get some details nailed down!

I'm EXCITED for what God is doing in my life and in the life of those around me. I'm grateful for those who got to go with me to Seattle, and what that will do in their own personal lives as well as the lives of the others on the team. And I can't wait to see what our God does with us here in the Gate City over these next few months. God Is Good!

See ya in church...

Goin' To Grow!

I'll be heading out on Thursday for Seattle with 6 of my team members for the Christian Musicians Summit. It will be a great time for some intense learning, off the chart worship, and hopefully some connection with old friends and colleagues. We'll be back in town on the evening of the 17th.

Here's what I hope to see us get done...

• Crab Pot for dinner on Thursday night - YAHOO!!!! (Hey, a boys gotta eat!)
• Clarification for how to reach this culture in the worship arena.
• Skills to bring back to assist the rest of the team - i.e. vocal technique, various instrument tips, media and sound tips, etc.
• Ideas on how to begin the design process for a new worship/multi-use facility (technologically speaking).
• Some new song ideas!
• Recruiting tips/ideas for worship leaders of the future (don't forget, I've got to replace me!)

Would you do us, those that are going, a favor? Pray for us to have open ears and hearts, to hear what God wants to say to us. And pray we can bring it back to the team the same way we heard it and not let things get lost in translation.
Pray for Mark and the team that will be leading in our absence, that God would work through them all and that the body would be connected to God through the worship music as well as through the spoken Word.

I'm looking forward to letting God continue the work in me that He has already started. Can't wait!

See ya in church next week...

Sunday Done...

WOW! What a day! I love being in that place where God uses me and I don't remember much, if anything, of what I said. Just a great reminder that, when we get out of His way, He will do wondrous things in and through us. Yes, He'll even use broken people like me to point people to Jesus - who knew?

• Hey, 9 a.m. service, way to be awake and with it! It was fun to be on the floor and visit with you. We'll have to do that more often...
• Don't know what all the buzz is about, but we have seen an incredible increase in the number of college students over the past couple of weeks. NOT COMPLAINING!
  
• As a result, church, we need to be thinking about how to make these students fell welcome and help them not miss home so much. Sounds like some ministry opportunities for people who have the gift of hospitality!
• In case you're wondering, we've been averaging over 350 people the past several weeks, and the numbers are creeping ever so slightly with each passing week (Sunday was 362). Could we be on the verge of REAL REVIVAL at FBC-Pocatello?

Are YOU on the verge of revival in your personal life? I challenged you yesterday to surrender your sin to God and turn away from it and to run hard after God. The exercise of writing that sin down on paper and then watching it dissolve in the water was/is a great picture of what God wants to do in your life.

• He desires to make you clean and holy for His purposes.
• He desires to forgive your sin and toss it as far as the east is from the west!
  
• He desires to see you live the life He planned for you. That life is a life of hope and promise, not a life of hurt and depression and pain. See Jeremiah 29:11.
  
• He desires to see you become His creation, that which He planned long before your birth. See Ephesians 2:10
• He desires that you reflect His glory, His character in your day to day life.
• And He desires to bless you!

Is God FIRST in your life? If not, what do you need to do to give Him that place? What sin do you need to repent (turn away) from? Deal with it today and watch what God does in your life. Trust me - you won't be disappointed in any way!

See ya in church...

Quality Time

Sue and I have traveled north to Post Falls, Idaho for a meeting. It's actually a meeting that Sue gets to attend, but I took the opportunity to get away for some personal time and work on my sermon. But the main reason I came along was to spend some quality time with my wife. And here's how our day went up to this posting:

• Spent most of the morning in some form of transit - car, train, elevator...
• Spent the rest of the afternoon SHOPPING! Love it!
• Got to check out the hot new store in Coure d'Lene - Brody Mack! Spent too much money, but OOHH! was it worth it!
• Fellas - you've got to check out what Katie has at brodymack.com!

Did I mention, I got to spend some quality time with my wife?

Not that we don't love our kids - we are crazy about them! But if Sue and I don't take time regularly to get away by ourselves and 'reconnect' to some degree, our relationship will suffer. We need each other in order to be complete. I'm man enough to admit that, without Sue, I'm not much on my own. (I think she would say the same thing about me, only she wouldn't call herself a man!). Not because we're weak, but because we are incomplete without each other. It is an amazing thing to have someone in your life that you just can't live without!

That's really how it should be with us and God. We should have such a relationship with Him that we couldn't imagine a day without connecting with Him. We would feel empty, incomplete, even alone.

But look at what we do with Him. He gets whatever time we have left in the day - the scraps. He gets the pain and the anger in our lives, seldom the joy and praise. He is treated as an afterthought at times. How would your best friend feel if that's how they were treated? How would YOU feel if it was you? Folks, this is not the kind of relationship that God had in mind when He sent His Son to the cross for our sins.

His desire is that we pursue Him much like He pursues us. We start each day WITH Him. We continue through the day WITH Him. We end our day WITH Him. Talking to Him, laughing with Him, thanking Him, praising Him and yes, letting Him know our hurts and needs. But we have to GIVE Him something more in return. And yes, it will cost us all. He wants our lives - all of it. No holding back, no excuses, no bargaining. ALL to Him. The Bible says to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, mind, soul and strength. As I read it, nothing is left out.

So let me challenge you - this week - get away with Him for just a little while. Spend some time in prayer, away from all the noise and just listen for Him. Get to know God again, like you did when you first met him. Trust me - you're going to love it, and you're going to love Him more!

I'll be praying for ya...

This NEVER Gets Old!

Week in and week out, for the most part, I can say that what I do never gets old! I serve a HUGE GOD who has blessed me with a GREAT CHURCH! Sunday was no exception to the other Sundays where we got to encounter God in all of our worship.

• We got to celebrate how God used over 100 volunteers to help serve over 5000 people on Friday at Trick or Treat the Old Town Streets. You guys ROCK! And for those folks who sat in and around the businesses that needed help - what a blessing you were to them!
• Sunday was a blast for me, because you guys were in a place to worship through music and through the spoken Word.
• Pastor Bill was bringing a tough message about confession. And he nailed it! Way to go, Bill!
• And, big surprise, we had over a dozen new faces AGAIN this week. I have never been a part of a church that brought so many people with them to worship. AWESOME IS OUR GOD!

Pastor Bill reminded us that God wants to forgive us, but we need to own our stuff and follow through with what He wants us to do. I really appreciate the reminder. We can no longer wander around thinking all is well when it really stinks. We can't turn our back on the sin that is festering in and around our lives. We've GOT TO OWN IT and deal with it, much like King David had to when he finally owned his sin.

Yeah, it's gonna be painful. Yeah, it may hurt other people when you finally confront/deal with it. And yeah, it is going to leave a mark on your life for others (those who you let know) to see. BUT...then there's the forgiveness part.

Please, hear me on this. ALLOW God to forgive you. RECEIVE His forgiveness and don't let anyone tell you different. God wants to and DOES forgive when we confess our sins to Him. Trust me on this one - His forgiveness is incredible and real.

Once you're free from that bondage, that sin which has held you captive for so long, then God will begin to use you in ways you never even thought possible. You will begin to SEE THE LORD and understand His plan for your life. Get out there and live for Christ today like you've never lived before. "In ALL your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6)

God said He'll do His part and you'll need to do yours - so GO! Don't wait. Get after whatever it is that He has for you TODAY! I'll be here for you if you need anything - encouragement, someone to pray with, a swift kick in the butt, a listening ear - whatever, I'm here to help you move closer to Christ in your journey. You know where to find me...

See ya in church...

Praise - and Worship

It's funny how these two words are used to describe how we do what we do on the weekends as a body of believers. We get together and give our praise and our worship to a Sovereign God, who is deserving of it all! But there's another aspect that we, as artists of various types, have to be keenly aware of on a daily basis.

That's the trap of praise for our worship.

Let's face it: as artists (of all kinds) we have bigger egos than most people do. We have a skill or ability that is special, and it draws attention to us as individuals. Praise for what we do is not all bad, hear me say that!

C. S. Lewis said it well: "Pleasure in being praised is not pride. The child who is patted on the back for doing a lesson well, the woman whose beauty is praised by her lover, the saved soul to whom Christ says, 'Well done', are pleased and ought to be. For here the pleasure lies not in what you are but in the fact that you have pleased someone you wanted (and rightly wanted) to please." But our trouble comes when we move from "I have pleased Him" to "What a fine person I must be to have done it." (Excerpt from Holy Fools, by Mathew Woodley.)

God is pleased with us when we do the things He calls us to. He is the Father who wants to lovingly shower us with praise as much and as often as He can. He is deserving of our praise every day.

We play a set on Sunday and it 'rocks the house' for Jesus, or we have an art piece that jumps off the canvas and speaks volumes into someones life. When we're in the right relationship place with our Father, our response will be, "I have pleased Him." But there are times when we do get caught in the other box, when we lose sight of the right relationship and say, "What a fine person I must be to have done it." It's in those moments I want to run and hide from Dad because I know I've just let Him down. Folks, ANYONE who is an artist has had at least one time where they 'fell' into the trap of praise for the wrong reasons. That's no cause to abandon God. It is an opportunity to get back in touch with Him and ask Him to forgive so that we can draw even closer!

So how do you deal with the praise of the people when worship rocks, or art blows their mind? In my case, I have been responding to the 'worship was awesome' comment with a question: Did you encounter/experience God in worship today? I don't just mean the music, either. The WHOLE worship service, did you connect with God? Talk about turning the tables!

I'm not saying I don't want or need praise. I just want to make sure people here at FBC, Pocatello, know that I'm not doing this for them. My audience is a very small ONE. The rest of the people in the room are invited to join and that's it.

Artists, when you come to worship:

• Is your attitude the same as that of Christ? (Phil. 2:5)
• Have you dealt with the issues in your life that you have with others? (Mat. 5:23-24)
• Are you putting a higher value on your gift than you are the giver? (1 Cor. 12:4-7)

When you get your heart in the place that God desires for it to be, especially as an artist, you begin to see your gift(s) the way He intended for it/them to be seen. And you begin to have a new appreciation of worship, both in a corporate setting and in your personal time.

Here's hoping that your week gets 'wrecked' as you wrestle with God on this issue!

See ya in church...

About Yesterday...

I love my job!

In case anyone hasn't noticed that yet in coming to FBC, Pocatello, I really do love what I do. And it's not really a job to me. That's what I had at Target. Get up, go in, do my job, get paid, go home. Here, I (usually) can't wait for Monday and for what I get to see God do everyday of the week. Some days are bigger than others. But hear me on this - EVERY DAY God does an amazing work in someones life and I get to see or hear about it. That's a very fulfilling and encouraging work environment! LOVE IT!

Anyway, here's what I saw God do yesterday...

• Once again, as I looked out and worshipped with you, there were about 12-15 new faces that I had never seen! AWESOME! I think many of them are new to the church because you've been invited to one of our new connection groups with I Saw The Lord.
• We introduced two new songs, and you picked up on them both with worshipful hearts. I love it when FBC pours its heart out in musical worship. It's not just the sound of your voices that stirs me. It's the outward expressions that you share.
  
• Pastor Bill gave us ALL a great reminder - God is not hiding from you, open your eyes!
• I really need to hear that once in a while in my own life. I can see what God does in other people's lives, but sometimes don't pay attention to what He is doing in my own life. (Call it "occupational hazard".)

I thought Pastor Bill asked a great question that I want to restate for you here - would you follow a God you can't figure out? If God is so confusing, then we don't need to be following Him. When we dig into God's Word, as we are in the "I Saw The Lord" study, we can't HELP but find a God who is clear in His expectations, clear in His plan/will for our lives, and clear in how much He loves us and wants to provide for us. Open your eyes! We have a Savior who FULLY understands all that we will ever have to experience in our lives, and MORE! Jesus - the fullest revelation of God's glory - has given us the model for how to live. And it ain't all that hard to figure out or follow!

The hard part is our hearts. We don't want to change OUR ways for HIS ways because our ways are comfortable, familiar and 'safe'. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be safe if it goes against what God wants. Safe is keeping God at a distance.

Here's what a 'safe' life with God looks like:

• Occasional prayer, mostly when you remember to pray.
• Some giving (financially) when it's convenient for you and your budget. In case you're not sure, that is NOT tithing. The Greek word for that is selfish. (Hey, it's all His anyway.)
  
• Some ministry service when it fits the schedule.
• Little to no sacrifice for someone outside your immediate family.
• Avoiding tough conversation with others, hoping it will just 'pass over' so that we don't hurt anyone, is not what the Bible refers to as Passover.

God was revealed to Moses in incredible, extraordinary ways. And what was his response? Show me MORE of you, God! He didn't keep God at a safe distance. He was willing to risk to have more of God in his life by being obedient and by stepping out in faith when God told him to do so.

You're in the same boat today. God is NOT hiding from you - open your eyes! Look for where you see God is working in your life and go join Him there. Be like Moses and ask God to show you more of His glory in your life. Once you get that taste, trust me - you'll want more!

Seeking more of His glory with ya!

WorSHHHHHHHHHip!

Did you ever have moments in worship (private or corporate) where you just couldn't focus? You tried and tried to clear your mind and get in touch with what God wanted for you in that moment. But no matter how hard you focused - clutter, distraction and noise ruled your brain.

{Okay, if it's just me then someone better have me committed NOW!}

My wife will tell you that when I worked at a retail giant - I won't mention their name, but they were always 'on target' - I would really have a distracted mind. So much so that I would dream out loud about sales events, merchandise sets and employee situations. According to her, unless she responded to what I was saying, I would just keep on merchandising, or checking in freight, or whatever I was dreaming about. (I'm really fun to live with sometimes!) I never really cleared my mind when I got home, and it carried over to my life of worship just as bad. I was never really focused - and I was in ministry! (What a sinner.)

Clutter, distraction, noise and more constantly rule our brains in the world and in the church.
We just let so much of life consume our every thought that we never really give ourselves a chance to see God, to hear God or experience God. We miss out on ALL He has for us when we allow this to happen. And as someone in full-time ministry, that's just not acceptable. In fact, the un-churched of our community/culture have a word for that - hypocrite. And they're right. I say one thing - even preach one thing - and do another. I don't really practice what I preach.

In fact, none of us who claim to be Christ followers really does. We don't take regular time to get away and be alone with God. We don't take regular time to 'clear the mechanism' so that He can speak into our lives. And then we have the nerve to say things like "I just don't think I'm hearing anything from God" or "I don't see any fruit in my life" - to which I have to say - DUH!
To use Anne Graham's words from last week - WAKE UP! You have NOT because you aren't doing your part, pinhead!

You get the most out of what you invest the most in. I don't invest in enough 'SHHHH time' nearly as much as I want to - at least not yet. But I'm committed to working on it because I'm committed to being a radical Christ follower. I know it will cost me. I'm willing to let some things in my life go so that He and I can become closer than we've ever been. I want this because I love God and I need this because I want to please God.

What about you? What are you willing to surrender in order to have some SHHHHH time with the Father? (Many of you have younger kids and that takes a ton of time. I get that.) But do this before you say you can't find the time:

• There are 168 hours in a week. Take one day and write down where EACH hour goes that you can account for.
• Then note how much time is spent 'relaxing' in front of the TV or the computer or how much time is spent 'reading tabloid magazines' or whatever else robs your time.
  
• Now, note how much time you spend with God.
  

It may not be fun, but at least you will have an idea where your day goes. Once you see where your time is spent, why not commit to give Him more? If you want a changed life, if you want a life that REALLY worships God, then invest in time with Him. I can guarantee that you will NOT be disappointed. Seriously, what do you have to lose?

See ya Sunday in worship...

Pay Attention!

I am still buzzing about today! We had some great times of worship and I believe God got a hold of several hearts. We are in the third week of "I Saw The Lord". Today we looked at Ezekiel, focusing on chapter 1. Here's a quick snapshot from the peanut gallery:

• Storms ARE coming. We may have already had a few in our lives, but we're not done until our final days.
• We need to take away two things when we face storms: 1) God is in control! 2) God has something for YOU in your storm.
• The question for us all is will we pay attention in the storm? Sometimes God uses the storms to bring us BACK to Him. (Hmmm...ya think we're a little slow sometimes?)
• Completed CLASS 201 again tonight with 6 people. We had a great time and it got me excited to be able to pray for and encourage folks as they work on the spiritual disciplines needed to become more like Christ! LOVE watching people grow!

This study we're doing is breathing new life into this church. We started out with about 95-100 people involved in connection groups, with about 13 total groups. As of this blog, we have almost 190 people in groups and have launched 6 groups with two in the wings. WOW! The feedback so far has been extremely positive. PAY ATTENTION - God IS up to something, and He wants to include you all in it. Be ready.

Today's worship, with regard to the music, was special for me. You all seemed to want to give to God your best. It isn't about the tempo or the style of the music. It seemed as if FBC Poky was ready to give God their hearts in worship. You could see it on your faces. You could see it in your outward expressions. You could even see it in your non-verbal expressions by HOW you sang. Thank you for making my job such a joy.

I want to continue to challenge each of you to find that place where God wants you in His church. You don't just get to come and 'do' church on Sunday and then leave. That's not God's plan. PAY ATTENTION to how God stirs your heart, when and where He gives you a passion. Act on that passion and find a way to plug into God and His ministry. The opportunities that exist are numerous and every one of them extremely fulfilling. Call the church office if you want to find out what all is available for you to get plugged into. Find one, try one. If it fits, GREAT! If not, find another one and try it. Keep trying until you find that match, that God-fit. Then enjoy the ride. Oh yeah - and make sure you pay attention along the way. God's got somethin' for ya!

See ya in church...

"God of This City" link

No More Sleeping!

Good challenge Sunday from Pastor Bill to step up and evaluate where we are in our walk with Christ.

• Being good is not good enough. You'd think that most Christians would say, "Duh!". But we all see these same Christians live day to day like this. They think they can just do good and God will accept them just like that. They don't believe they really have to spend quality time with God, that just casual on-the-fly conversation is enough. They don't believe they have to really serve God in any substantial way. They don't believe they need to be connected to other people, like in a connection group. Yeah...keep thinking that. I'll pray for you.
• Obedience is not an option. Don't know how many of us got that, but that's exactly what the passage from1 John 2:3-6 said. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did! Any questions?
• Once again, as I got to observe from the back, I learned a lot about people. For some reason, the 9 a.m. service was much more awake and alert than the 11 a.m. service. Must have been the coffee!
• We have a TON of people just sitting on the sidelines - watching. What's up with that? Do you not realize how much more ministry could happen if even just 20 of you got off your blessed assurance and served in ONE SERVICE A MONTH? Some ministry opportunities are as little as 20-3- minutes a month - WOW!
  

How about we ALL step back and look at what we really value. If we say we love God, does our life show it, both in the church as well as outside? If we say we have a relationship with God, are we permitting Him to change us? Or are we too afraid that He will and we're not sure we'll like it? If you really want to wake up to what God has for you, get into His Word and let it change and influence every facet of your life. Get involved in "I Saw The Lord". We have some groups forming this week so if you're not in a group, call the church office and we'll get you connected.

Don't miss this! God is moving - don't be left by the curb because you were too stubborn. Get on board!

See ya in church...

Radical Worship

I've been dwelling on this concept of radical worship ever since I began reading the book Holy Fools, by Mathew Woodley. If we are going to be true worshipers of Christ, I mean TRUE worshipers of Christ, our view of everything we are and everything we do as His followers HAS to change.

Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" and each time He called Peter to do something radical for Him. He called Peter to love, care for and feed His sheep. Put yourself in Pete's shoes right now and ask yourself, "As a Christian, am I really doing what Jesus called Peter to do? Am I doing this today for the people in my life?" If you're like me, the truth is going to be no. In fact, you're going to find out, as you really get after God, that you and I don't even come close. Let me push it a little further. Some of those people that we aren't loving, caring for or feeding, we don't even like. In fact, we have issues with them that cause us to avoid them, ignore them or be mean or disrespectful toward them. How does that measure up to what Peter - and us - were called to?

If you want to experience radical worship, in your personal life and in corporate life, then I want to challenge you to do something that will make you super uncomfortable (and possibly make you not want to come to church on Sunday).

I want all of us - me included - to be the person that God called us to be and love the unlovely in our lives like we never have. I want us - God wants us - to deal with the junk we're hanging onto with the unlovely people like these:

• You have an issue with a family member, a friend, a co-worker that has gone unresolved for years and you're not willing to try to correct it. Then don't come to worship until you do. You're heart is not ready to hear from God. The Biblical word is unrepentant - not willing to change (in short).
  
• You have someone in your life who you know needs your help. You're too busy or too uncomfortable to work with them or help them, and even think that someone else will step in and take care of them. Don't bring your fake, hypocritical worship to God on Sunday and expect that it will please Him. To Him it smells like what it really is. (Hey, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, smells like a duck - must be a duck!)
• As if I haven't stepped on enough toes, here's one more. You're in a connection group that is just the right size for you. If you add more people, it just won't be the same. And yet, you know there are people who are starving to get into a group and grow closer to God. You won't let them in for fear that it will change your group. Really? You're the biggest problem with the church in America today. The word that seekers use is 'exclusive'. In Jesus' day, He had a lot to say about the Pharisees who knew a lot about how to be exclusive. Everything they did was all about them. Connection Groups, it's not all about you! Jesus said, "Feed my sheep". If you can't do it, stop calling your self a connection group. And don't think that God doesn't see that heart when you bring it to worship. (Remember the duck?)

Before we all get the pitchforks out, let me remind you that at the beginning I said that WE need to change, not just you. I have things that I have to work on in relationships. I have to get over myself in helping those in need and caring for them God's way. And I'm not doing this because I have too. I WANT to make the changes in my life so that I can be FULLY used by God for His purpose in my life.

You see, I want to experience ALL that God is, and I want all of US to experience all that God is. And I know that we don't always experience Him on Sundays because we all fit into one or more of these areas that I mentioned a moment ago. My prayer (in this season of my journey) for you is that you will join me in fully surrendering the struggles that we are holding onto and give them - I mean REALLY give them - to God. If we truly become the people that we are called to be; if we truly become the servants and caregivers that we have been called to be- - I know that we will encounter a God we have yet to meet. We will be transformed, not just changed. And He will get the glory and praise that He truly deserves. Will you join me? Will you help me in my journey by holding me accountable? Let's get after worship with the Creator like we really do care.

See ya in church...

For Your Listening/Learning Pleasure

This is mostly for our Praise Team, but anyone will enjoy listening to and learning these songs. For the folks of First Baptist Church, Pocatello, take a listen and learn these songs. When you're in church with your friends and family it will be nice to have the extra voices being lifted up!

For the Team: here is the Tomlin tune that we need to learn by 10/19. You've heard it a lot on K-Love, so it will come fairly easy. Don't worry about the choir in the background on the chorus at the end. We'll add that later. For now, just melody and harmony. We will NOT do it in this key, as Tomlin is an animal when it comes to range. Our congregation would just listen and not sing, so we'll make it easy for us all!


Here's a reminder for a tune we learned a year or more ago, Love The Lord Your God, by Lincoln Brewster. This one will also be coming up for 10/19 I hope. The nice thing about this one is it has a lot of the old-school echo technique vocally, so there isn't a lot to learn harmonically!


See ya in church...

Off and Running...

We kicked off the "I Saw The Lord" campaign Sunday and it has some great momentum. Pastor Bill did a great set up getting us ready to hear from God as we dig into His Word. If you have NOT connected to a group yet, call the church office THIS WEEK and get yourself in position to let God do an incredible work in your life. More on that in a minute. From yesterday ---

• No drummer, no problem. God STILL shows up even when there ain't no booming beat! Who knew?
• Even though it was an 'all male review' worship team, God touched our hearts and brought us closer to Him.
• First service, what is up? I know we had a smaller crowd than normal because of the women's retreat, but come on! If you're going to come to the 9 a.m. service, give yourself a little extra time in the morning. We don't want you to miss whatever it is that God has for you cause' you couldn't wake up. Bring your coffee to church if you have to (YEAH! I said it!).

Some of you thought that without the drums you seemed to miss something. To that I'd have to say that you probably did! We need to do more music without the whole team, including the drums, so that it's not about the team. I know that's not what some of you meant, but it's getting close to being about the music with statements like these. My job is to make sure it never is. So I'll be working very hard at being 'creative' in our arrangements so that we connect with God through our whole gift of worship, not through the instruments of our worship. That's my bad for not catching this sooner.

I Saw The Lord - The group exercise was WAY COOL! If I had to guess we had well over 95% participation in both services. And the responses back to Pastor Bill were GREAT! Thank you to those who were brave and stepped out to share - IN PUBLIC- what they just picked up from God's Word. Our hope is that enthusiasm and momentum will continue into your daily study time as well as your group study time. Remember, we need you to let us know how it's going throughout this study. You can comment on this blog or email it to me at karl@fbcpoky.com.

God is moving His people into position for something incredible. Will you join Him? Will you step out and seek Him in His Word and let Him change your life? You won't be going it alone. We have almost 200 people committed to this campaign (we average 320-350 in weekly attendance). With that level of commitment, I can't wait to see what God does when we're done!

Working alongside you to see how God wants to use me,
Karl

Will You Be Radical?

Okay, so I've been reading this book, "Holy Fools" and I told you I would update you on what God is saying to me. Let me warn you now: YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS! If you don't want to hear it, stop reading and have a nice day. If, however, you want to hear something that will rock your world and cause you to look at others in a way you never have before, read on!

We have been called to a radical lifestyle - period. We were NEVER called to a safe, cozy, country club style of Christianity. For the part I've taken in the past in promoting that lifestyle, I am sorry. I don't want to ever do that again. That means that our time on Sunday really has to be about those who are searching for God, and less about you.

• This radical lifestyle calls us to love the unlovely: the dirty, the sick, the lonely, the depressed and all the 'others' that Jesus refers to over and over in Scripture. Matthew Woodley, author of "Holy Fools" calls it radical acceptance. Are you willing to have a church full of people who don't look like us? Are you willing to have a church full of people with tattoos, piercings, weird hair and maybe even some with pretty bad body odor? They're out there in our community, will we let them in?

• Radical lifestyle also means that we will pursue others for Christ. Jesus' style of ministry was just that, pursuing the lost. He WENT to where the sinners were (Matthew, Zaccheus for example). He didn't make them come to church. He WAS the church. Who are you willing to pursue for Christ? Right now I've got 2 people in my life that I MUST pursue, and I know that number will increase. Who do you need to reestablish your pursuit with?
  

• Radical hospitality is the third radical step Woodley calls us to. When you invite people over for dinner, who do you normally invite? Friends, family, people you know and are comfortable with. Who did Jesus invite? Tax collectors, 'sinners' of the day. NOT his companions. What will it take for us to do this both in our homes and as a church? We've talked on and off about serving a meal at/around Thanksgiving. But that's all we ever do is talk. Let me be frank with you - if all you are going to do is talk and not serve, keep it to yourself. We don't need talkers - we need DO-ERS. It's the proverbially 'put up or shut up' moment, isn't it?!
  

First Baptist (Pocatello), I love you with all I am. You have blessed me and my family. You have blessed God by giving of yourselves in our worship time as a family and that puts a smile on my face (and His too!). But I want more. I want us ALL to experience a revival the likes that no church in Pocatello has ever seen. I want each of us to be WRECKED by God to the point that we let go of our comfortable church lifestyle and radically pursue the people in our lives who don't know Jesus - NO MATTER WHAT THE COST! Friends, family, success, prosperity - what's it all worth on an eternal scale? Nada. Nothing. Zilch. 0. But our friends, family and neighbors in heaven with us - WOW!
Rick Warren puts it the best way I've heard, "Who will be in heaven because of you?"

Join me in becoming a radical. Accept them as they are, pursue them for Christ, and welcome them into our homes - all so they can come to know our Father.

We have a great opportunity right now for you to invite people to pursue God and His Word. We are just 6 days away from "I Saw The Lord", the church-wide Bible study campaign that we will all go through together. This is a great introduction for a person who is searching/seeking to learn how to dig into the Bible and find what God has for them. Invite them to your connection group and invite them to come with you to church (preferably at the 9 am service). The books are only $8.00. If that's a problem, just let me know and we'll make sure they get one, I promise!

I'm looking forward to what God is going to in my life and in yours!

See ya in church...

Sunday Reflection

Another good day with God! Even in our weaker moments, God is bigger than anything we can ever face. Pastor Bill gave a great message that WE ALL need to hear and begin working on NOW!

• Unity is not an option. It is God's requirement that we reconcile with others in our lives. Then the watching world will know that we are one...but we have to want it!
• Unity is also messy business. As I sat and listened, I looked around the room and could see people processing. I wonder, do we really want to live as one, or is it too much hard work? My prayer for all of us is that we will work at it with all we have. Not because we have to, but because we want to for Christ and His Kingdom work. Is there any other better reason?
• As a leader, I need to make sure that my teams are all working on this same principal. It's one thing to be united as a team, but are we all united as a BIGGER team?
  

It's time to get our hands dirty. We will have to have some 'tough' conversations with people who we have been keeping at arms length. (Hey, I'm right there with you all!) It will take us having to admit that we may have been wrong, or that we hurt someones feelings. Go find those people you need to have these conversations with, listen with God's ears, and then love the relationship back to where it needs to be. It's kind of like a shot - it will only hurt for a little bit, but once it's done, the pain subsides. Trust me, it's worth it to bring unity back into your relationships and back into your life.

If you need help or just someone to bounce stuff off of, get in touch with one of us on staff and we'd be glad to help you.

See ya in church...

Creativity and THE LORD!

We are about to undergo an incredible Bible study campaign at First Baptist - and I need your help!

Beginning October 5th, our entire church - connection groups, youth group and the worship services - will all be participating in the Anne Graham Lotz study, "I Saw The Lord". This will take all involved through the same Bible study of 7 different characters in scripture. It will involve group study (with DVD), individual study on your own (participants guide $8.00), and a 'wrap up' on Sunday from Pastor Bill on the passage you studied during the week. This will begin with the first Sunday (Oct. 5th) with Pastor Bill teaching on the method that Anne Graham Lotz uses for studying the Bible, and will be used for the remainder of the 7 weeks. This will be a different study 'technique' than most of us have done, but please indulge us for this time. It is effective and really helps to draw out some great insights from God's Word!

Here's what I would like from you:

• Pray. I know, duh! Seriously, take time to pray for this study to impact YOUR life in a very special way. Pray that God would draw you closer to Him.
• Listen. What is God telling you during this time? Write it down and share it with others. And listen to what God is telling those in your group and others around you. Again, write it down and share WHAT YOU CAN with others.
• DO something with what HE tells you. "Do not merely listen to the word. DO what it says." James 1:22

There are a couple of reasons for me wanting to know what God is up to. First, I am hoping to capture some of what God does here and put it into words we can give back to Him in praise. New songs for a new time in our life. We can also capture this in various other art mediums. A visual 'praise' is just as impactful as a spoken or sung praise. Second, the folks at Angel Ministries (Anne Graham Lotzs' group) are EXTREMELY interested in hearing how God speaks to and challenges people. They would love to hear some of our stories. What an honor!

What will this do for our church? For one thing it gets us into God's Word regularly, both as individuals and as a church. Satan's gonna love that, huh? It also introduces those that don't have a relationship with Chris to a way to explore and study His Word. For some it will help to affirm their belief and faith in God. Did I mention that Satan is really gonna love this? So be prepared for him to be stupid and show up in really stupid ways. (Go ahead, tell him where he can go. I'm sure he knows the way.)

I cannot tell you how JACKED I am for this to get under way! Right now I have over a half dozen boxes of I Saw The Lord material in my living room (had it sent to the wrong address!). But it is kind of a rush in a weird sort of way...the anticipation, the excitement. It's like Christmas Eve when I was 12! I believe that God is going to wreck our worlds over these next several weeks and make Himself very evident to many of us. I look forward to hearing about your wrecks in the weeks to come. You can post stuff here if you like, or you can email me at karl@fbcpoky.com

See ya in church...

What's The Deal With The Voice?

In every church I've served in and visited, the issue of good, quality voice coaching has always been an issue. It doesn't matter what 'style' of worship music you do, it's always the same type of questions that come up:

• How can I teach good technique for my vocalists?
  
• My vocalists' don't have a high enough range, so I'm having to rewrite stuff in lower keys. Isn't there any way to increase their range?
• How do I get that natural, solid tone out of my vocals?

I deal with this in ministry here. And I'm always looking for good, safe options to help my vocal team burst through in that natural tone with a good high range. I'll share some of the resources here in a minute.

In almost every case, vocalists' use about 2 octaves when they sing. They can move into a falsetto and increase a little, but it holds true that 2 is the magic number, even for those trained in a college/university. The human voice was actually designed to cover 3 octaves comfortably, with proper transitions from head to chest. This is one of the most important and key areas that we, in churches, should be focusing on in developing our teams.

So where do you go for some tips on developing the depth of range, the comfortable depth? I've found a resource that I'm still learning about that I've tried and I like. I'll be sharing this with my team in a couple of weeks to see how it works. We've already tried one technique for loosening and stretching that produces a clear, warm sound in ALL of them. It cracked me up too, cause I learned this in my vocal training at Idaho State! It's a silly technique that works:

• You can do a scale exercise or use a mid-range song to do this.
• Relax your face and sing the word 'nay' instead of scale or song words. But when you sing nay, sound it out like this - NYAAY. The n-y connection should like the letter 'n' in words like nino, with a tilde over the 'n'.
• Let the sound be nasally.
  
• Attack the note. Don't slide, bend, etc. Just land ON each note.
• Sing through an entire scale or song.
• Now, repeat using the words.

It may not seem like much, but you are training your voice to capture that true sound and 'free up' that natural, cool tone inside. It takes a little repetition to really feel it, but it is way cool! As I said, my team had a completely different, warm, round tone.

Check out Brett Manning and his resources. It's a little pricey for some, but I'm finding it to be rather interesting and encouraging. I'll share the other sites and sources here soon.

In the meantime, keep it real for Jesus, and have fun serving Him!

Culture of Crucial: Recruiting People, Not Musicians or Singers

Ministry Team Leaders - this is a great reminder as we look at the openings we have in our areas. This is NOT just for the Praise Team leaders, as you will read. It covers all leaders in any ministry area. Just some good reminders. Share your thoughts as you get a chance to process it. And let me know who the recruiting goes, both the positive and the negative. We'll work through it all and get this process down to a fun science!

Love serving with you all! Keep up the FANTASTIC work!
Karl

Culture of Crucial: Recruiting People, Not Musicians or Singers

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So..What Are YOU Going To Do?

Thought Sunday was a GOOD day for all of us to hear from God.

• I needed to be reminded that God's plan is ALWAYS bigger than I think. I have plans to do this or do that in ministry and in my personal life. But I have to admit that I don't dream/plan as big as God does. Time for that to change!
• We don't have anything on our own. DUH! But how often we forget this, huh? What would it be like if we REALLY LIVED THIS OUT IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES?
• I don't know why, but God takes what I have and turns it into something that He can use. Folks, please hear me, I am NOTHING without Christ. My talent, my 'skill', my drive is motivated SOLELY by my pursuit of Him. Take that away, and I suck pond water!
• I need to serve with what I have from where I am. But I can't stop there! I need to be chasing after those things that God has put in my path and see how they can bring glory to Him. In short, I need to be serving, not just 'doing my job'.
  

So, to follow up on Pastor Bill's challenge, what are YOU going to do with those things that God has given you? Will you be selfish and make excuses as to why you just can't fit serving into your schedule? Go ahead and do that, but know that you're doing that to God, not to the church. You're saying, "God, I don't have time for you. I have time for all the things I WANT TO DO, but you'll just have to wait." I'm sure He'll understand. (You can tell I'm tired of being nice and dancing around how I really feel!)

AHH!!!!!!! People - STOP LIVING THE LIE! Stop telling yourself you can't serve EVEN JUST ONE SERVICE A MONTH! Put your faith in Him and trust Him with your busy lives and schedules. Go ahead and risk for HIM! I can tell you - from personal experience - that when you DO THIS, He will bless you in ways you never thought possible. When I realized I needed to give Him more time, while still working full time in retail, my whole world was turned RIGHT-SIDE UP! My relationship with God grew, my family life improved, we never went without anything, ministry opportunities began to increase and the list goes on and on. It wasn't until I put GOD FIRST that any of this happened.

If you love God - and I know you do - step up. Today...this week...no more putting it off. Find that passion that He put in your heart and find out how to use that to point people to Christ. This Sunday, following both services, we will have the Service Opportunities information available on the patio (weather permitting). Come and get information...come ask questions...get plugged in to serving on the team and be blessed. That's one promise I can make!

See ya in church...

Are We Ready?

Just a couple of quick notes before Sunday. If you don't remember some of these 'challenges' go back and read "What Is God Up To?" and "Gloves Off". It'll clear things right up (snicker, snicker).

• Sundays comin...are you ready to make the shift to the 9 am service, where all the cool kids hang out?
• Are you ready for God to bless your socks off as you sacrifice for Him and for those who He wants to be here?
• Don't forget...look for the service opportunities on the patio (weather permitting) following BOTH SERVICES. You can find some great ways to get plugged in to serving.
• If you're a musician (vocal or instrumental) both Aaron and I will be out there to answer your questions as well.
• Had a great visit with First Baptist in New Plymouth on Wednesday this week. A little town of 7-8000 people and they have 300 PEOPLE in church and 150 IN SUNDAY SCHOOL! AND...they are trying to figure out where to put the rest of the people who are doing harvest stuff now that AREN'T part of this 300! God is WORKIN IT in New Plymouth. Pray for them to continue what it is that God is calling them to do and how they're doing it.
• Heads up for future blogs...I'm reading a book called "Holy Fools" and it's kickin' my trash all over the place. I'll be sure to 'share' with you as I go.
• "I Saw The Lord" will be an awesome time of connecting people to God individually and as a church body. This is the church wide bible study campaign that all of our groups, including our youth, will be doing at the same time. I can't wait to see what God is going to do in this. Be sure to get into a Connection Group if you're aren't in one yet. (There will be a 'Quick Connect' time on the 28th for those not in groups. This is a time to meet to connect people to a group. You will leave IN A GROUP!) Then pick up a copy of the participant's guide on September 28th ($8.00 per). God is going to ROCK OUR WORLD!

See ya'll in church...

What Is God Up To?

I had a great conversation with one of our vocalists tonight after rehearsal. We were talking about how there is a feeling in the air of anticipation, that something big is about to happen. Week after week we see new faces in both our services. And many of them are coming broken, with problems, addictions, baggage and all kinds of stuff. Praise God they're coming here! They sense that something is going on and they feel like God may be able to do something with their lives and help them.

We see it every week from the platform. As a pastor, I know more than I should. I konw many of the hurts, pains and stuggles that people are dealing with. But that in itself is a blessing for me. Now, I don't tailor a service for anyone person except the person of Jesus Christ. Yet week after week we hear people say, "I don't know why anyone else was here today. The music and the message were just what I needed. It was awesome!" My response...it WAS OUR AWESOME GOD!

Any pastor who 'tailors' a service to one person or group of people would be nuts. I am simply trying to hear what God wants to do each week. And we don't always get it. But the times that we do are increasing at an alarming rate. That tells me that He has something in store for us.

For all you FBC people, let me ask you a direct question. If God is up to something and about to do something amazing, are you ready to step in and be a part? Are you willing to sacrifice your comfort zone to make room for those not yet here? Are you willing to see what God has in store for us, and specifically for you? What will you do to make it happen?

Here's what needs to be happening NOW:

1. If you attend the 11 am service, STOP! Move to the 9 am service to make room. If someone is going to check out church, studies show they will overwhelmingly come to a service that starts around 10 or 11 am. Anything else is too early. Set your clock and make the move. What's it going to cost you, really? Stop making excuses.
If we don't start making room, we will need some volunteers to stand at the door at the 11 am service and offer this greeting:
"Thank you for coming to MY 11 am service. We're full now, and I don't want to change for you, so go home and go to hell! Have a nice day!"
Just being real...

2. When God blesses us with these people, we'll need some more people to accommodate them in many, many areas. Where are you serving? Notice I didn't say LEADING? Just serve. You can find some opportunities THIS SUNDAY AND NEXT SUNDAY following both services on the patio next to the Worship Center. There will be several 'service opportunity' postings available for you to look at, and people to answer your questions. SECRET: Most service opportunities don't require more than one service time a month! Some even just 1 HOUR A MONTH!

3. Pray for your leaders, all of them! We need to hear CLEARLY what God is up to and what He wants to do with us and all the folks He wants to send our way. We are being bombarded left and right with attacks and 'challenges' of all kinds. Pray especially for Pastor Bill as He listens for what God wants communicated to this crowd.

Thank God for what HE is doing, and how He is doing it! Lift up a song of praise and shout HIS name! He is in control and He is gearing up for something KING LIKE!

I'll see you in church, worshipping Him and serving Him!

Sunday - From the BACK!

I took today 'off' so that I could worship without leading, for one thing, but also so I could see things from the perspective of those I'm tasked with ministering too each week. Here's what I saw:

1. Aaron and the team did a great job getting us to a place where we could connect with God, hear God and obey God. Good job, folks!
I made a comment a while ago about how I need to 'replace myself' in the near future. One of the ways that I will do this is to put Aaron, and others, in front of the the 'crowd' as often as I can. This helps keep it about the music of worship instead of the music of Karl leading worship. Get the difference?

2. Our Greeters team, thank you Gary and Letty for leading this, do a good job of taking care of business. It's way more than handing out bulletins and shaking hands. Noise was becoming a factor from our Children's ministry area, and before I could do anything, they were already closing doors and making sure that distractions were kept to a minimum. They were even showing folks seats once the service got started - YEAH!!!

3. Music is always going to be a challenge in church until we all get to go home. Sorry, I just think 'church people' are too selfish to care about what we need to do in order to communicate to those who don't know Christ yet. Our church has done a GREAT JOB in letting the music NOT be an issue, to the point of 'letting go' of much of the old to make room for the new. THANK YOU FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH and thank you to Becky M. for blazing the way before I got here.

4. Our guests' are NOT getting the chance to get to the Guest Services area at the end of the service. We're going to work on fixing this PRONTO!

If you want church to be a place for those who are seeking Christ, those who are in need of hope, and those who are hurting, you have to apply what Pastor Bill reminded us of today:

"Let go of the illusion that you are in control and admit that God is in control."

Are you willing to let go of 'church' as you have always known it in order that 'the lost may be found'? Are you willing to be the 'spark' that starts the massive move to take over the Portneuf Valley for the Kingdom? I'm not saying give up everything you've ever known. I'm asking you to make a sacrifice, much like one that was made for you, so that someone may come to know Christ. We have a group of people in our church who made a huge sacrifice for the good of those not yet here.
Our seniors class, called the Lamplighters, used to meet in the back of the worship center. The room used to be a parlor, with couches, comfy chairs, a fireplace and two way glass that looked into the worship center. This was their Sunday School class meeting room. At the end of each service, they could stay in the room if they weren't feeling well and still hear the service.
A few years ago, our Children's pastor cast some vision about our need for a place for moms with infants to go and still hear/be a part of the worship service. The logical place was this room. After casting some vision (from our Children's pastor), and after much prayer, they sacrificed their comfort and their 'place' for those not yet here. They made a huge sacrifice! And to this day, we hear from moms with infants how incredible this room is and how wonderful it is to be able to take their babies away from the crowd and still be able to hear the message and connect.

Something that was 'sacred' to us has become a spark for showing how much we are willing to let go of our control and let God have complete control.

Have I said lately how much I LOVE MY JOB? TOTALLY DO!

See ya in church...