COMPLAINING.

This blog should be my biggest hit yet.  Why?  Because I’m writing about something that we all do 99% of the day, every day.

Excuse my hyperbole, but it’s not too far off.  Complaining is a constant in every aspect of our society.  It is all over the place, and it seems to only be getting worse.

Before I proceed, I’ll confess that I’m probably the biggest complainer out there.  So before you tell me to take the plank out of my own eye, I just told you it was there.  So…there.

Complaining is easy and seems to go hand in hand with fear.  If it’s the first day of school or you’re starting at a new job and you are too afraid of just simply introducing yourself to the people around you, then the best way to break the ice is to complain about something and find a mutual ground, right?  NO.  Yet that is what so often happens.

We strive to feel like we’re a part of something.  We want to be in a group.  But so often, instead of being a group with mutual interests or a mutual goal, you start off as a group that enjoys complaining together.  When this happens, the entire basis of your relationship with that person, or group, is negativity.

This person doesn’t like this person so they complain to that person and it gets back to that person and then they complain about that person to another person.

It happens in work, it happens in social groups, in friendships, and even in church.  Rather than having an adult conversation to fix the issue at hand, it’s easier to just avoid it and complain.

My challenge to you, and to me, is to simply stop doing it.  This blog isn’t intended to be something that will blow your mind, but rather a simple reminder; that complaining is really obnoxious, and it ultimately harms people.  When I hear someone complain about something I said, a song I chose to sing, a joke I told, or anything else, my first response is always “why didn’t they come to me first?”

My final word is this: negativity, gossip, slander, and complaining…they all exist.  As a society, we thrive off of them.  We watch television shows based around them, and the ones that don’t have them usually get cancelled.  As a human being, I should try to avoid them.  As a Christian, I feel ashamed to know that I’ve been a part of participating in them.  Lord, forgive me and help me to build up rather than tear down.

Security?

I just finished up the busiest Summer of my life up to this point.  I took over as Worship Leader at Legacy Church, where I also serve as Middle School Pastor/Youth Worship Leader.  I had church camp, a mission trip, weekly youth events, moving into a new house with my best friends…all while taking on a new, huge role in the church.  While I am completely honored and humbled to be where I am, I’m exhausted in just about every way.

As I was moving all of the last minute things out of my apartment, I was thinking about my life (deep, huh?)  While I’m super thankful for all I’ve experienced and for where God has placed me, the thing that kept popping in my head was security.  

I could get real weird and deep, but I’m trying to keep this simple so that someone might be able to follow me crazy thoughts.  My whole life I’ve searched for security.  I don’t think I’m stepping too far out on a limb to say that everyone is searching for that.  My mind is seemingly always racing with thoughts of finances, friendships, relationships, job stuff, etc.  When it all comes down to it, I long to feel secure in all of those areas.  And as I moved my last boxes into my fourth new home in four years, I realized something; nothing in this life is secure.

I want to be financially secure.  I want to feel secure in my friendships.  I want to feel secure in my relationship.  I want to feel secure in my job.  I want to feel secure in my relationship with God.

The problem is that it’s impossible.  Anything can be taken away at any moment without warning.  All my money can vanish.  My friendships could end in a second.  My girlfriend can drop me.  I could lose my jobs.  All of that happens to people on a daily basis, and some of it, or all of it, could happen to me anytime.

So what I’ve learned is that I can’t spend my time worrying about these things.  I am blessed beyond what I deserve just to be living, and to have everything I have, know the people I know, and to have seen the places I’ve seen, I could die happy tomorrow.  My new goal is to live my life the best way that I can, glorify God the best I can, and be content in ALL situations.  If I lose every dime, every friend, my girlfriend, my family, and all my possessions, I am STILL blessed beyond what I deserve.  

We must remain content in all things, including the bad times.  Easy to say, hard to do.  But I will try my best.

Are We Giving God Our Best?

Before I say anything, the title of this blog can be applied to just about anything…but I’m going to focus on the area of worship (shocking…I know.)

As I sit here pondering all kinds of things in regards to worship, I can’t help but come back to something I heard when I first started leading worship.  I was the “worship leader” for a campus ministry in Plano for about 2 years, and the campus pastor gave a sermon at our weekly meeting one night about worship.  Something he said that night hit me like a ton of bricks, and it still does to this day.

“If you don’t like to worship right now, then Heaven isn’t going to be very fun for you.”

I’m obviously paraphrasing a bit because I don’t recall his exact wording, but you get the point.  As I’ve been to and lead for many different churches over the years, it always seems like the entire worship service is geared towards getting the congregation to participate.  I’ve been to some places where it feels like the worship leader is trying to pull teeth just to get people to sing.  Now, let me say that I’m not on here trying to tell anyone how to worship, and I’m not judging anyone for anything.  I’m writing this because I’m probably the worst offender I can think of in this category.  My question is this: are we really giving our best to God in the way that we worship?

Imagine this.  You show up to church on Sunday morning (or whenever you go) on time, and from the first note to the last note, you’re giving everything you have to God.  I can’t tell you how encouraging that thought is to me as a worship leader.  One of my favorite times of worship ever was a Sunday at Legacy Church when I was leading the song “Jesus Paid it All”.  I looked out into the congregation right before the main chorus at the end of the song and it looked like every person in the room was singing as loud as they could.  It was amazing, and I actually started crying and had to back away from the mic for a minute.  It was such a pure moment of worship, and I wanted more of it.

My challenge to anyone reading this is to never take a chance to worship our awesome God for granted.  The entire point of worshiping with others in a church is to build up the body and encourage one another by singing the praises of God.  The way you and I worship affects more than just ourselves.  If I show up unprepared or not in the right mindset to lead, then I’m hindering people from worship.  If someone is having a bad morning and shows up to church in a bad mood, that might hinder someone else from truly connecting with God.  We should be excited at the chance to worship God and also to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ.

So I leave you (and myself) with one last question: If Jesus sits next to you this Sunday, will your worship look different?

Another Goodbye.

Well…now that the news is officially out, I can write a little something about how I’m feeling.

I’ve come to learn that no matter what, people are going to walk in and out of your life.  And that’s just how it’s going to be, especially if you stay in one place for a long time.  I’ve also learned that some of these hit a little bit harder than others.

About 3 years ago, I was basically a nobody when it came to being a ‘worship leader.’  I had led worship at a small church in Denton, but I was no more than a Sunday morning jukebox.  I didn’t understand what it actually meant to lead worship.  Through some random connections, I ended up at a large church in Allen, Texas.  I was basically just a hired gun brought in the do what every church seems to be wanting these days when it comes to electric guitar; “can you play like U2?”  So I went in and did just that.  I showed up and did my job.  The worship pastor who hired me began to take me under his wing.  He told me that he saw something in me and that I was a born worship leader.  He eventually hired me on as his intern.  Here I was at age 23 interning at a 5,000 person church under a pretty well known worship leader.  Not only that, but I had someone on my team…someone that believed in me and encouraged me.  He saw something in me that I couldn’t see.

Now fast forward about 9 months…and he’s gone.  The one guy in my corner moved 18 hours away from me.  Naturally, I felt like I was floating around in the ocean and had no clue what was next.

Fast forward about 6 months and I’m at Legacy Church in Plano, Texas.  How did I get there?  Well, a couple I served with at that big church ended up leaving and heading to Legacy Church, so they introduced me to the Executive Pastor there, who then gave my resume to the youth leader, who then hired me to come in and do youth worship.  It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but it was a place where I could do what I loved doing, so I took it. Little did I know at the time that the Executive Pastor would become my new mentor.  I lost one, but gained another.  Funny how God works things out in just the way we need them.

Fast forward almost 2 years…and he’s moving away.  A lot happened in those 2 years, and there was one guy that I knew would always have my back no matter what.  He was my biggest cheerleader and he helped me see a totally different side of worship leading.  He showed me what it looks like to be faithful.  He showed me what it looks like to serve God with all your heart.  He showed me what it looks like to be genuine.  And now he’s leaving.

Life isn’t easy, and living life for God is even harder.  I could sit around and ask God why he keeps taking people out of my life, but instead I will cherish the time I had with them.  I’ll remember the things they taught me, the advice given, and the examples they both set for me.  I know God has a plan and a purpose, and I won’t question that.  I can only hope that one day I can impact someone the way these two guys have impacted me.

He doesn’t like things like this, but it needed to be said.  Kenyon, you’ve helped me more than you’ll ever know.  You’ve set the bar extremely high for me, and I thank you for that.  Your shoes are way too big to fill, so I won’t even try.  It’s been an honor to work under you and walk through this life along side of you.  I’ll be happy if I turn out to be half the man you are.  Good luck in your next adventure.

new beginnings.

So I’ve started a blog.

I’m not an aspiring author.  Nothing I say is going to cause a light bulb to go off in your head.  In fact, I doubt anyone will ever even read this thing.

And I’m totally fine with that.  My goal with this blog is to share my experiences and to give myself a place to put all the thoughts that go through this brain of mine.

So with all that said, here’s my first post.

The staff at my church just got back in town from a planning retreat at Possum Kingdom lake.  We roughed it Monday through Wednesday in one of the coolest houses I’ve ever been in right on the edge of the water.  It had more bedrooms than we had people.  The garage was stocked with six 4-wheelers, intertubes, fishing poles, and just about everything else you can think of.  It was a time meant for planning the Fall, mixed with a little bit of relaxation time.

I learned a little about myself during the three days we were there.

While I am in a leadership position in ministry, my personality tells me to follow someone that knows better.  I feel safest when I see someone else do something first, and then I have something to go by when I do it.  For example, when we took the 4-wheelers out for rides on the trails, I never led the way.  I took a back seat to those who either knew their way better than I did, or those who like to take risks more than I do.  I kept up with just about everything they did, but I just needed to see them do it first.  That way, I knew I would be safe.

When we pulled up to the edge of a 50 foot cliff and someone said “let’s jump!”, I thought they were crazy.  All I could think about was slipping and landing on a rock below, jumping in the water and realizing I had jumped into a moccasin pit, or realizing that the water was only 3 feet deep and breaking every bone in my body.  So naturally, I let the risk-takers jump first so that I knew it was safe.  Once they did it, I jumped.

The more I do what we call ministry, the more I realize that God is constantly placing me in situations that I’m not comfortable in.  When I was 18, if you had told me I would go on to become a worship leader or youth pastor, I would have laughed in your face.  It’s not my nature to be in front of people.  I don’t like having attention on me.  The only thing that scares me more than snakes is public speaking.

But despite my shortcomings, God has provided me with new opportunities to both lead His people, as well as serve His people.  While it’s not in my nature to do most of what He calls me to do, I do it anyways because He never forces me to be the first to jump.  He places people in my life that guide me and help me along the way, which allows me to make a move.  God is always faithful when you trust in Him.

So as the trip came to a close and I stood out on the dock, looking out into the seemingly endless amount of water and watching the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, I thought about the next door God has opened in my life.  It won’t be easy.  It won’t feel safe.  It’s not what I pictured myself doing.  But God is my risk taker, and I will trust Him to lead the way for me just like He always has.