Worship Arts

New-Church

I’m Starting a New Church

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New-Church
Leading worship on the first night of New Church.

 

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Click for Podcast version

WHAT’S NEXT?
After eleven years of amazing opportunities in ministry at CrossPoint, I found myself trying to figure out what God wanted me to do next. I began seeking Him for a new opportunity. I prayed for direction. I had conversations with numerous people to see what was out there. I talked with friends and family for their advice. Should I seek a position leading a worship department at another church? Maybe take my show on the road offering consulting and coaching for worship ministries that could use a hand. Write more books? Record more records? People had a lot of ideas about what my future could be.

Many of the conversations led to the same surprising idea—at least surprising to me—that I should start a new ministry. A ministry to the people of Katy without being in direct competition with other local churches.

One of the first people to bring up the idea was my daughter. “Dad, why don’t you start a new church?” I tried explaining to Von how hard it is to start something from scratch, how we had tried a couple of times in the past, and how it is a lot easier said than done. She shrugged her shoulders and insisted, “I think it would be awesome.”

My typically wise friend Kemper Crabb was the next one to bring it up. “Have you thought about starting a new church? You’ve been ministering to a lot of people over the years who may want to join you on something new. I don’t think God’s done using you in this area.”

Several other people came forward to say roughly the same thing. I began to take the idea to heart. I started fantasizing about how cool it would be to start a church that was also a “third place.”

THIRD PLACE
People need a place that is not their home or work, they seek a third place, a safe place to gather and hangout with friends. Like home and work, the third place also shapes your identity. Not unlike the bar in Cheers, Central Perk on Friends, the diner on Seinfeld, or even Starbucks, a “third place” would combine the things I love most—great coffee, great beer and comfort food—with worship. A lot of churches desire to provide the “third place” but they’re not equipped for that because they’re only open on Sunday and don’t offer a setting for people to actually get to know each other socially, at least not on a daily basis. What if I opened a place that offered all of these things all week long, in a way that fosters hanging out with friends, belonging, sharing life and becoming community? We would also come together to enjoy great worship on the weekend. It seems like the perfect means to be a vocational blessing to the community while building a bridge to and with the people who live here.

I started seriously considering that God might actually want me to do this crazy new ministry. But I kept talking myself out of it, “Nah. That’s nuts.” There must be a thousand reasons why planting a gastropub church in Katy is a bad idea.

A DREAM
After this, I had a dream about starting a new church and remembered every detail about it. I saw the facility where it was located. I saw the stage, the lights, the sound system hanging from the ceiling—I even recognized a bunch of the people in the room. I saw how we could install stage lights to define the space, how we could hang a giant black curtain to make the room beautiful, and use TVs to display lyrics for singing. I woke up thinking, “Hmmm, that could actually work.”

I couldn’t get it out of my head all day. I started thinking of names for the church. I contacted the owner of the facility through Facebook and asked if I could run an idea by him face-to-face. I didn’t know him very well but we had exchanged hellos many times. The only real conversation between us had taken place four years earlier when my son went to his daughter’s birthday party because they were in the same class. He invited me to meet him at his facility the following day at 6 pm.

THE LAB
The next evening I sat in a conference room with him and his wife and described my dream of starting a new church. He told me that on the way back from a business meeting earlier that very day they had been discussing my layoff and decided to search for a new church home. An hour later, there I was, sitting in front of them, presenting my ideas about starting a new church. The more we talked the more excited they got about the idea.

“Yes. The answer is ‘yes.’ We are in. Mi casa, su casa!”

I said, “Wow, that’s really cool, but you need to hear about the crazy left turn I want to take in phase three of this church idea.” I started telling them about “third place” and how I think having a gastropub would be a great way to be a bridge to the community. Not a “Christian pub,” just a great establishment where we also happen to have worship services on the weekend.

He looked at his wife, who was giggling by this point, and said, “Did you put him up to this?” They explained they had already begun securing the space next door to install a coffee shop/wine bar. In other words, the idea was already underway. Suddenly, it was as if the 150,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of this new church had flown out of the box and landed nearly completely assembled on the floor. I was starting to see it.

MANY CONFIRMATIONS
I set up a meeting with a pastor friend named Aaron who had started a church about a year before called Oikos. Like me, he had been part of the same LCMS church for over ten years and had recently started a new church near his former congregation. I wanted to ask him what he had learned from the experience— maybe there were things we could do differently and avoid problems. I hadn’t explained to him why I was coming over.

We sat in his living room and he said, “I’m dying to know what this meeting is about. I know what I HOPE you want to talk with me about…”

I laughed, “What do you HOPE I am here to talk about?” I assumed he wanted to know what had happened between me and CrossPoint.

“I think it would be awesome if you wanted to talk about starting a new church.” He actually said that. I was floored.

God has confirmed the idea of this new church in many ways through various people and circumstances. Although I have not talked about it publicly, people have come to me asking what I am planning on doing next and in what ways they can be part of it. Whatever it is.

God is assembling the launch group for this new adventure.

THE NEW CHURCH
So, I’m starting a new church and it’s pretty exciting. We meet on Saturday evenings at The Athletic Performance Lab of Katy near Toys R Us on Katy Fort Bend road. Informal worship from 6:00 to 7:15 pm is followed by an amazing BYOB and food hang time until 9 pm or so. Jesus is glorified and we have a blast.

You probably have questions. There is a lot about this new church that we don’t know yet, but we are listening carefully to what God wants us to do and who He wants us to be. Some things are perfectly clear and others are still taking shape.

This is our origin story. Phase One of our journey has just begun. I would love for you to consider joining us but I feel like I need to must warn you beforehand: WARNING! We are not trying to impress anyone. This is not the time to “check us out” by kicking our tires unless you want to help us build the rest of the car. In time, the dream will come alive in full splendor with lights, sound and snazzy production. If those things are important to you, you could wait and kick the tires then.

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” Zechariah 4:10

It has been amazing watching God orchestrate this new church as I follow Him around like a kid on an Easter egg hunt. Right now we are assembling our core team, the people who want to be on mission with us, people who want to be part of an exciting new thing Jesus is doing in Katy bringing glory to God and blessing to others.

JOIN US
Maybe you want to roll up your sleeves and join us. That would be fantastic! We need more people to help us with this new adventure. If you do, bring a lawn-chair, we don’t have many seats. Yet.

For more information just ask. (Click to create FAQs)

(If you plan on coming and need childcare, please RSVP)

New Church
Saturday evenings at 6:00
(The Lab)
481 Katy Fort Bend Rd #210
Katy, TX 77494

Farewell CrossPoint

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Friends and Family,

I’m writing to share with all of you what some of you have already learned. On Tuesday, January 13th I was laid off from CrossPoint Community Church due to a budget shortfall.

CrossPoint has been the church home for my family and me for eleven years. We will forever treasure the friendship, love and support the people have given us. I will cherish the ministry and worship we did together as long as I live. CrossPoint is a unique culture; it is “not churchy” and places a priority on reaching out to people who might not hear the message of Jesus otherwise. I like to think I contributed to this in some small way.

Please pray for my family and me. And for those who may be angered or saddened by this information please be faithful in loving each other through this difficult time. You are my family. I love you. I am thankful for the time I had at CrossPoint. I do not wish to burn any bridges or lose any friendships over my leaving.

Love.

Frank

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EVANGELISTIC WORSHIP – Part 2 | MODERN WORSHIP VS HISTORICAL WORSHIP

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WorshipOutloud-GraphicLet’s divide the church into two giant categories—Modern Worship and Historical Worship. Actually, the church has already been divided into those categories, maybe we should try to bring them back together.

Modern Worship is very popular but it has plenty of critics and is a pretty easy target for abuse. Worshipsters can look goofy with their bedhead gel, clever shavings and flavor of the month fashion victim sensibilities. They might as well paint a bulls-eye on the back of their deep-v t-shirt.

“Is this a church or a rock concert?” the critics ask in disgust. They turn their nose up at the glitzy technology and production. The worshippy bland music usually sounds like a copy of a copy of some incarnation of the band Apple violated our iTunes with. There are complaints that the songs are marked by sentimentality, sameness, and individualism. The performances are thought to be showy, pushy, phony, or cheesy.

Modern Worship may have numbers on its side, but even this is used against it. Critics say it is popular pabulum desperately trying to be relevant, giving people what they want rather than what they need. Cries of “foul,” “Bait and switch,” and “Itching ears” as the critics attempt to overturn the tables in the sanctuary.

They would say the simplicity of modern songs are inferior vehicles for the message of God and His praise. Like serving filet Mignon on a paper plate and eating it with a plastic spoon. (By the way, if you can prepare a filet Mignon that can be eaten with a plastic spoon, count me in.) They would also say the modern songs do not teach the deeper things of faith the way hymns do.

To many people Modern Worship seems like a desecration of the richness of our identity and heritage, trading the deeper time tested treasures for shallow imitations. Others have proposed that the cultural elements embraced in Modern Worship are not innocent neutral elements but actually have dangerous psychological and unbiblical presuppositions at their core. They wonder if we have carefully thought through the long term implications.

On the other side of the great divide, Historical Worship is accused of being elitist and exclusionary. Promoters of culture instead of the Great Commission and having more interest in the preservation of historical liturgical practices than responding to God’s mercy and love. Obsessed with connecting the ministry of worship to a historic dead culture rather than connecting the Gospel to the living culture in the community where their church is located.

To the mission minded critic there are too many arcane trappings that come off as pretentious and unnecessary. Everything from Old English language, vestments, formal liturgical forms, pompous organ preludes, and somber singing and chanting are viewed as lacking authentic connection to real life.

Because of this, the Historical Worship is accused of lacking vitality. The numbers are not on their side, and the beautiful buildings grow more empty with each funeral service.

They are accused of serving stale, sour wine for which they have acquired a taste, but is repugnant to the uninitiated. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” is spoken like a dare on Fear Factor.

The battle rages, each side convinced they are fighting for Truth with God on their side. Each side building a straw effigy of the other to destroy with smirks when they are surrounded by friends. Blogs and podcasts hurled at each other like flaming arrows to the applause of those in their own camp, hoping for the destruction of brothers and sisters in the other.

Maybe we can find a better way.

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EVANGELISTIC WORSHIP – Part 1

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WorshipOutloud-GraphicI need to clarify what I mean when I talk about Worship. In a broadly defined sense “Worship” is the entire Christian life. Everything we do in response to God is worship. In both the Old Testament and New Testament the word most often translated as “worship” means to bow down, face down, and submit ourselves to God. Everything. Our whole life.

Recently many people refer to the music portion of a church service as “worship.” The “worship leader” Is the hipster who does the music—the Worshipsters.

In some traditional contexts the word “worship” has specific historical implications attached to it, because of this the word has become theologically dividing. There is historical worship and modern worship.

For this discussion I’m using the word “worship” to refer to gathered church events where there is word and sacrament. Everything that happens in the Sunday morning gathered worship service.

WORSHIP = GIVING GLORY TO GOD AND BLESSING TO OTHERS.

Let me go ahead and tell you where I stand on all of this. I don’t believe worship is about honoring historical traditions or keeping up with cultural trends in an attempt to be relevant. I believe it’s about responding to God’s grace and giving Him glory when we gather together, and doing this in a way that will be a blessing to the people in the room as well as to the people outside our church walls in the surrounding community. It’s about honoring God in a way that does not repel nonbelievers, and maybe even attracts them—then leading those people to real faith and real commitment in following Jesus.

I have been part of CrossPoint Community Church in Katy, Texas for over eleven years. It’s a ministry strategically designed to connect Godless families—like the one I came from—with a Heavenly Father they don’t acknowledge exists. It’s a ministry that’s trying to love people who are not already connected to a church. We know that people are dead in their sin, hostile to God and can only be made alive by a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit through Word and sacrament. We believe the local church is the best hope the world has to find out about Jesus. God knew what He was doing when He brought me here because He has been preparing me for this job my entire life. He knew what He was doing when He put you where you are, too.

In the next several articles we will be considering the idea that worship is not only for the glory of God and the edification of the Church, but also for the blessing of the unbelievers who are watching. This will likely raise many questions and need for clarification and I request that we try to understand the other side and put the best construction on what is said.

Who knows, maybe we’ll actually find some common ground.

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Silly Words and How They Have Helped Me

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WorshipOutloud-GraphicSome people like to make up words. Maybe they like to noun verbs, or verb adjectives—maybe they like to mash words together or add a suffix as necessary as a worshipster’s scarf.

I have found some of these new words to be helpful and others not so much. I have noticed that some people are quick to embrace them while others seem to have trouble holding back their gag reflex as they call for their friends to gang up and jump on the mock pile.

Here are some thoughts on a few of the silly words:

Incarnational – In the incarnation God took on flesh and became one of us, it was the ultimate act of selfless love. This word is a reminder that I am to follow Him and love people, be Christlike, live in the world but not of the world. I am to help my brother and sister with their burden, become all things to all people, and minister to those I come across even if it seems like I will get dirty helping them. Yes, there is a sense that this turns the Gospel into Law, I call it Lawspel, but it’s really just a metaphor to help me understand one aspect of WWJD.

Missional – If a pastor says his church is “missional” then he is hoping for his people to be “on mission.” He wants his congregation to understand they are called to minister to the community where they live. The mission of the church doesn’t stop at the exit sign, it begins there.

Glocal – A mashup of global and local. It is an attempt to raise the awareness of how the internet and other technology has made it a smaller world after all. I find the word to be as annoying as the Disney song.

Sacramental – Sacraments are the mysterious ordinances instituted by Jesus where common things are united with God’s Word by the power of the Spirit and become means of grace. Protestants recognize two sacraments and Roman Catholics have seven. Some people will read my definition of “sacrament” carefully looking for a way to disagree with me—those are the people who don’t like the word “sacramental.” The word is a metaphor to remind us that God uses common people united with His Word by the power of the Spirit to offer grace and forgiveness. God uses imperfect people “sacramentally” as a result of the sacraments Jesus instituted, they are not equivalent.

Lutheranal – I made this one up to be silly and to remind us that we might be Lutheran but don’t have to take ourselves so seriously.

Entrepreneur – This is a real word but people think it’s silly to use it in the church because it is from the corporate world. I don’t care for it either but it’s meant to be a reminder of how the Apostles started new churches and reached new believers by taking Spirit-led risks. Another funny sounding extra-Biblical word is “urinal” and I am glad most churches don’t employ the regulative principle on it.

Contemporvant – A mashup of “contemporary” and “relevant” from a Northpoint video where they poke fun of themselves. It has become a codeword to remember that made up words can be silly. It is also a good reminder of how it’s not good to mock sacred things because in mocking them we give the Enemy ammunition to hurt God’s people and tear us apart. No matter what our church’s worship looks like, once we see it cleverly torn down in a parody it can be hard to take seriously again.

Sometimes new words help make familiar things strange in a good way, and sometimes they just make things strange. Some people find them to be helpful and others think they are silly but all of God’s people should be unified in the truths they are pointing to.

Let us hear each other’s words with grace. May we put the best construction on the silly things we hear each other say. May we live at peace with one another in as much as it depends on us.

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How Can We Say Things So People Will Hear Us?

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WorshipOutloud-GraphicMaking The Familiar Strange

Sometimes it is helpful to say something with different words so it can have impact again. When we hear things over and over in exactly the same way we can lose the ability to listen to the meaning.

I overheard two people in church yesterday as they greeted each other with smiles. One person said, “Hey, what’s going on!” and the other person answered, “Pretty good, how about you?” Obviously they had mixed up the standard “How are you doing?” and “Oh, not much.”

Words can lose their impact when we hear them often. The first time my wife told me she loved me my heart swelled up with joy and I was ecstatic for days, now it is something we say to each other before we fall asleep. It is not meaningless, in fact it is more meaningful after thirty years of marriage than it was when we were awkward teenagers, but the familiar words have lost some of their impact.

What if tonight she said, “I loved watching you help the kids with homework tonight,” or “I feel like the luckiest girl in the world when I lay beside you each night.” That would feel different wouldn’t it?

It is risky though.

I might be so moved by her words that I am tempted to incline more than my heart toward her and then we might not go to sleep right away.

I might wonder if she is being passively critical of other nights when I didn’t help the kids with their homework.

If I greet someone at church with a real question about how they are doing, they might actually tell me their problems and I would have to stand there pretending to be interested.

What if we applied this idea to what we say in church? What if we changed up the way we say the common prayers, confessions, invocations, songs and scripture readings? What if we intentionally made the familiar things strange so that we could think about them again? Not to distort their meaning but to allow the words to have fresh impact.

This is risky too, and can make people uncomfortable.

Some people will hear God’s Word through these “changed up” moments and be convicted by the Spirit, or have questions and conversation stirred up—this is a good kind of uncomfortable.

Other people will be critical of change, they will not put the best construction on things, they will mock the new approach and complain about how it is inferior to the old, and dangerous—this is a bad uncomfortable.

Sometimes it is comforting to hear familiar words, so I am not suggesting that we throw out the old. I’m suggesting that we draw attention to the most important things by occasionally changing up the words and giving them fresh impact.

May the Lord be with you.

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Transitions are Where the Bad Things Happen

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(Or, What I Learned about Major Life Changes From Worship Planning)

WorshipOutloud-GraphicOn Sunday morning the band enters the stage quietly while the congregation is busy finding seats and talking among themselves. The first song begins and will probably make it to the end without much trouble. There might be awkward silence before the next song begins—the keyboard player shuffling through his sheet music, the bass player tuning his strings and comes in late, the progression from bridge to double chorus is mutilated by the electric guitar player, and the quiet chorus at the end is butchered by the drummer. The wrong slide is on the screen and everyone in the room feels the pain of blundering graceless incompetence.

It is during the transitions that everything falls apart. A bad transition will not only ruin what just happened but will sabotage the thing that happens next.

This is not only true for Sunday morning, it is also in the passage from one chapter of our life to another that we can be in the greatest danger. I wrote about how transitions can be hard to accept when we are called to put aside one dream to pursue another. The way in which we handle the space between one chapter and the next will define what we are leaving behind and set up what we are about to begin.

In the transition from child to adult we can become lost in our adolescence, shirking responsibility, raging against authority and making mistakes that will set the course for the rest of our life. It is the same for other major changes—college to career, single to married, first job to second job, or finding ourselves between jobs.

Transitions are a natural part of life, here are a few things to think about when you are in between:

  1. Remember where you have been but don’t hold on to it so tightly that you stop moving forward. Like when you just played your favorite hymn and the next song is that Chris Tomlin song you said you never wanted to hear again.
  2. Look forward to what God is calling you to do, He has been preparing you for the next chapter. Like when your music teacher told you to always look ahead in your music so you’re not surprised by the double forte that suddenly becomes a triple pianissimo.
  3. Don’t dwell on the transition itself, giving in to despair and hopelessness. Like when you make a mistake but you don’t stop the song and cry.
  4. Refrain from blaming others for the situation you find yourself in. Like that one time when you called out the soundman for muting the wireless microphone that you had forgotten to turn on.
  5. Prepare for the transitions you know are coming, gracefully improvise through the ones that are a surprise. Like having a scripture ready to read just in case the guitar player breaks a string or the computer running ProPresenter needs to be rebooted.
  6. Acknowledge the reality of the transition to the people who are around you, don’t try to hide it. Like when the person running slides is on the wrong verse so you say, “Let’s sing the first verse again.”

When we are between where we have been and where we are going it can be awkward and frightening, but God will fight for us—we need only to trust Him.

 

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It’s Called “Worship Arts”

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WorshipOutloud-GraphicArtists make beautiful things that help people respond to God and give Him glory. It’s an easy concept to grasp, and most of us have experienced music and other created things that have helped us worship God. The church needs true artists.

Great art happens when the artist is “in the moment” working in freedom—when they are not trying to impress anyone and have let go of their insecurities for a moment. Like when a child is happily scribbling on a piece of paper singing a random improvised song.

I consider myself to be an artist but I’m not trying to elevate myself with that title. Our culture seems to have a love/hate relationship with artists. We see them as a kind of mystical shaman floating above the rest of us (this is not what I am claiming about myself) and we also see them as dysfunctional and childish.

Artists are children that never let the creative part of themselves grow up. We just become more sophisticated with our scribbling and more intentional about our random songs. We still have to tap into that same place of joy and freedom if we are going to express a true response to the wonder and awesomeness of God.

This is difficult in the grown-up world of church work because we are tempted to squash “the child within” so we can act like an adult. We have responsibilities, assignments and deadlines—they don’t pay us to play with colorful blocks in a sandbox. We crave the approval of our pastor and church leaders and don’t want to be thought of as irresponsible or childish. We tell our creative inner child to sit still, mind his manners and stop acting like a baby. We squash him into submission and put him in perpetual “time out.”

We silence the part of ourselves that knows how to find joy in music, listen to the still, small voice of the Spirit, and follow our bliss to the creative places—the secret nooks and fantastic crannies—where adults don’t fit.

Our ideas become “safe” and “sterile,” inspiring no one, neither ourselves nor anyone else. Sunday morning worship becomes a performance, polluted with insecurity and self-doubt. We bury ourselves under the burden of perfectionistic striving. We worship God with one eye on our leaders, imagining their disapproval while hoping for their affirmation.

This is the way of burnout and death to our soul.

It’s time to release your child from detention. Time to go outside and throw the ball around, get some crayons, lay on your belly and draw a picture that shows the glory of God the Father seated on His Heavenly throne—with you sitting on His lap—because that’s where you belong.

We are worshipers that never let the childlike part of ourselves grow up.

It’s from this place that we will be happiest and most able to lead our congregation. When it is not about our need for affirmation from the people we are serving, or our need for significance and perfectionism. Our core identity is not who we are in our church job. It can be hard to remember but our first identity is that we are a beloved child of God.

Take a moment to let that sink in: God has called you to be His child and for you to call Him Father. Freedom in worship and creativity in art flow from the safety and truth of that reality. That is the gift of true worship arts in the church.

Come as a child.

The Dangers of Church Work

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meat grinderI was anxious about working at a church full-time. Before I played in Atomic Opera I had gone to Bible College to become an Assembly of God Pastor and nearly lost my faith. We joked that “seminary” was more like a “cemetery” where young Gospel zeal goes to die. Many of my friends survived dusty theology classes only to be killed in the muddy trenches of their first ministry position. Churches can be terrible places to work and have a special way of using and damaging the people they hire. Very few of my friends made it through their first years of music ministry, youth ministry or pastoral ministry—it is difficult being a “professional Christian.”

Churches can be like sausage factories. People like pepperoni on their pizza but no one wants to see how it’s made, and once seen it cannot be unseen. Many of my friends blamed God and left the church entirely after the way they were treated by pastors, elders, and fellow Christians. Some of you are there now, wondering why you ever signed up for this, putting your soul in the hand cranked meat grinder of church work.

My first church job was twenty years after I graduated with my B.A. in Bible. I walked into the factory with my eyes wide open and full knowledge of what to expect. When a bunch of sinners get together to do God’s work it’s going to be messy and we are going to hurt each other.

The way to survive is to keep our focus on Jesus, following Him through the dangers of this antique dilapidated factory of horrors. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Remember what He called you to do and keep the fire of that passion burning.

Remember that He loves you, gave Himself for you, and promises to be with you.

Remember that He loves your pastor, elders and fellow Christians and wants to love and serve them through you.

Remember that you are part of the part problem, too. Their motives are not pure but yours are not either.

Don’t let them get between you and God, spoiling your view of His love and mercy. Walk in the forgiveness you have been given. God has forgiven you, forgive yourself, and forgive the people who have hurt you.

You can do this.

*****

A Thoughtful Response from Pastor Paul Goeke

Frank, thanks for reaching out to hurting leaders. I know that leaders all across the country and world have legitimate hurt from “sausage factory” churches. People have been manipulated and abused emotionally, spiritually, and in every way. “Sausage factory” churches need to be addressed honestly and squarely, as you seek to do. We need to lovingly care for those who have been hurt.

I want to offer some more encouragement: Not all churches are sausage factories. When faced with or experiencing this hurt, it can seem like every church is a sausage grinder. But it’s not true. “Sausage grinder” situations do not define all local churches everywhere. Already some voices may be tempted to say, “Well…they are just bull-shittin and not being honest. They are ALL sausage factories.” That’s what hurt may be tempted to say…but it is simply not true. The “sausage grinder” picture is a church that is putting out a “product” (ministries, church services, impressive and cool things) that is necessarily contradictory to how things work behind the scenes, in the factory. It looks good, but it was a nasty, unhealthy process. I know that this is sometimes the case.

And yes, all churches are filled with dysfunctional people (like me). But In my 10 years as a pastor, I think the some of the deepest, most profound love that I have experienced in my own brokenness was behind the scenes. It wasn’t a factory, it was a family. The “product” put out was not a church service or some cool ministry, but people receiving forgiveness and love and healing – often because they actually got to be honest about their lives and struggles for the first time. This was certainly my experience. In fact, I learned so much about Jesus’ love behind the scenes.

Thus, the “product” was not contradictory to the “behind the scenes”…instead, it flowed from it. The two were the same. The good stuff (love, forgiveness, grace, freedom to be weak, freedom from performance-based relationships…in short, the Gospel of Jesus) that was taught in public was EXACTLY what was happening behind the scenes as well. Yes, relational struggles happened. But behind the scenes, the manner in which those struggles were addressed modeled the way we would want them to go on “the outside.”

In fact, I’ve been in situations in which we openly brought these things into the public eye and taught them from “the stage” simply to show that 1)Leaders struggle too 2)These things can be addressed with grace and result in deeper relationships than ever before 3)The local church is being led in a way in which the “system” is consistent with what we teach. In fact, the public ministry flowed from what happened behind the scenes.

It was not a dilapidated factory of horrors. It was a family, a comfort, an advocate, an agent of healing, an evidence of unearned, ill-merited love. Parents are not physical abusers. Some are. In the same way, churches are not sausage factories. Some are. And when they are, we’ve got to address it honestly and love well the people who have been abused.

Man, your “Remember…” statements at the end are a great encouragement to so many. I am so grateful to have you as a friend and brother. I am so grateful for your constant encouragement to me personally. Thank you so much for loving me well. Thank you for encouraging me in the midst of my weaknesses and struggles and insecurities…and for showing me that the church is not a “sausage factory”

– Paul Goeke

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Transitions Can Be Hard to Accept

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FullSizeRenderSometimes it is hard to say yes to God because we don’t want to give up on a dream. My band Atomic Opera was signed to Warner Brothers Records, released an album, had a couple music videos on MTV, toured all over and lived the rock n’ roll dream.

While we were on tour I found out we were dropped, the ride was over and we crawled back to Houston with our tails between our legs. I spent the next ten years producing other artists while trying to get my band going again. I attended worship at a Church on Sunday morning with hymnals, pipe organ, choir and candles and I led the music for a liturgical church plant on Sunday evenings called Christ Anglican.

I received an unexpected phone call inviting me to sing and play guitar on Sunday morning. At first I couldn’t imagine doing it and tried to dismiss the idea. It was a church in the suburbs of Houston doing contemporary music with a praise band.

Let me say that again: The suburbs! A praise band!

Why would I want to play in Christian cover band. I’m an artist.

I didn’t want to do it but God had other plans. It seemed like He was saying, “I want you to do this—go to Katy Texas and lead the CrossPoint praise band.’”

In my heart I said, “No Lord, I really don’t think this is a good idea. How about if You miraculously help me to get another record deal instead?” “Please?” In Jesus’ Name, AMEN.

The words “no” and “Lord” shouldn’t be used together in the same sentence.

I didn’t want to give up on my dream of being an artist but I have learned that I can’t win an argument with God.

I accepted the position and for the next 500 Sunday mornings or so I have sucked in my pride, straightened out my un-tucked shirt, walked up on the stage and played music to glorify God—glorify God—not me.

It was sad when the record label dropped my band but there is another way to look at it. I call it the Chuck E. Cheese Principle: Dad takes his child to the earth’s most annoying pizza place on a Saturday afternoon because he loves his kid. It doesn’t matter how long he lets the child stay and play because when it’s time to go the kid is going to throw a fit. There will be tears and tantrums. The child is not thankful that they came, only sad that they are leaving.

It’s hard to trust that when God wakes us from one dream to begin another it is for our good and not to harm us.

Have you ever had trouble with a transition?

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