Life is Uncertain, God is Not.

The Monday before Thanksgiving the President of the Southern Baptist Convention announced that he has prostate cancer and will undergo surgery in January. On Thanksgiving Day, a young 35 year old pastor in Flower Mound, whom I look up to greatly, suffered a seizure which led to them finding a mass on his frontal lobe and will undergo brain surgery this Friday to remove the mass and discover whether it is malignant or not. Two days after Thanksgiving a former president of the SBC and the current VP of the North American Mission Board, tragically lost his 32 year old daughter. On the same day a church planter in the Houston area had a marital dispute with his wife and “made a bad choice how to settle it, and took his own life”. These are all leaders that are very close to home in the Baptist realm and local area. They have all been on my mind and in my prayers all week especially the young pastor from Flower Mound.

When I woke up this morning it was snowing. Just a week or so ago we had the a/c on in our house and this morning I cannot get warm enough. It dawned on my through these events, life is unpredictable. We never know what tomorrow holds. Last week the young pastor in Flower Mound was getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family and this week He is having brain surgery unsure of the results. Last week Frank Page was spending time with his daughter at thanksgiving, this week she is gone. Last Sunday a church in Houston had a young, vibrant, Pastor; this week they are confused and hurting. Life is unpredictable and we are never guaranteed tomorrow.

Each one of us makes many decisions and has many conversations every day. Some of these we are particularly passionate about. Through our decisions and conversations what if we weighed everything in an eternal perspective? Is everything that we do during the week eternally uplifting? Are the discussions or conversations that we have degrading or uplifting to the body of Christ? We must think of all things in their eternal value. As a young man of 25 I recognize that I do not have much time and when I look back over my week I have wasted so much time in conversations that were not of eternal value. I repent of this. Our time here on earth is short, each moment must be lived to Glorify God as we are not promised tomorrow. In our lives and church, we must move past our own agendas and desires and to eternal ones.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Lukewarm and Lovin' It?

Lukewarm and Lovin’ It?

If you have known me for any length of time you know that apart from God I have two great passions in life: music and coffee. In fact my website/blog is even called “coffeeshopgod.com”, even furthermore a majority of these newsletters are written as I sit at my favorite coffeehouse. I am predictable in the coffee that I drink; I prefer a cup of hot, bold, brewed coffee. I guess you could say I’m a traditional coffee drinker. However in recent years coffeeshops have made a ton of money by selling new drinks iced, frozen/blended.. I could not tell you how tired I was of making frozen/blended coffee drinks in the summers that I worked at Starbucks in Mississippi. They were a huge seller. In all my time that I worked at Starbucks there is one type of coffee I have never heard anyone order, lukewarm coffee.

There was a city in the first century called Laodicea. Laodicea was self-sufficient city, a commercial center and the site of a thriving medical and textile industries. They did not view themselves as poor; they were sufficient by their own industries, not really dependent upon God for their daily needs. In many ways you can say that the community of Laodicea is similar to the modern day United States of America. As a vast majority of Americans we are self sufficient and do not have to wonder where our next meal will come from, where we will sleep, or whether we will have clothes on our back. Just as the city of Laodicea, we are not desperate for God; in fact I would make the statement to say that as a whole, we as American’s are Lukewarm. Sure we claim to “know God”, we may go to church on Easter or Christmas, we may be able to quote John 3:16, and our grandparents might go to church, we won’t renounce God completely, but we are not desperate for Him. We are lukewarm.

John, through the divine author Jesus Christ, has something to say the church of Laodicea in Revelation: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were one or the other!” So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit (vomit) you out of my mouth.” These are incredibly harsh words to be spoken to someone who doesn’t claim to not follow God, but who is merely not desperate for God, right? Wrong! “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform any miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

God views men and women who say “Lord, Lord” but live lives consumed with their own glory, as a cup of lukewarm coffee. He will spit them out of His mouth. Are you desperate for God? Who does your life give glory to? Think about these things as you have your daily cup of coffee.

Worship Wars Pt. 3 (Sorry I missed it)

Worship Wars:

Part III

What is Contemporary Worship Music? Is God glorified through it?

Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.

Psalm 96:1-2

What is contemporary/praise/worship music? Is it a style? Is it a time frame? If so, when did the transition from hymns to contemporary music began? Contemporary is defined as being of the present time or modern. So could we say that at one time all worship music was contemporary? I would argue that we could. Could we say that at one time all worship music was contemporary and was controversial? I would argue that we could. Could we say that contemporary music generally is not judged by the text but by the style of the music? I would strongly argue that we could. No one can define when what we refer to as contemporary worship music began. Ask 10 people of different ages and you will have 10 different answers. Some would say the 70’s, some the 80’s with songs, and others the 90’s. Some refer to Gaither music as contemporary, some refer to Gaither music as traditional gospel; there is no clear indication of when contemporary worship music began.

So what is contemporary worship music? That question itself is even hard for me to define. To me as a person who studies worship music day in and day out I have two modern distinctions: contemporary Christian music and worship/praise music. Contemporary Christian Music, or “CCM” is a lot of what you would hear on the radio if you tune to your local “CCM” station. It’s music, written in a style similar to what worldly music is being written in, with only Christian lyrics. I guess you could refer to it as pop music with Christian lyrics. I personally don’t care much for this style of music but I think it is great if people want to listen to this rather then to the top 20 on a worldly station. Then there is the distinction that I have defined as “worship/praise music”; these are songs that are written by a church for the church. These songs are written by Music Ministers around the world for their church to sing. These are the contemporary worship songs that we sing in our church; songs such as “The Power of the Cross”, “Mighty to Save”, “You Never Let Go”, and “How Great is Our God”. However over the last five years a phenomenon has began to occur with worship/praise music that I think is unhealthy, groups that have sung “CCM” music have recognized the fact that they can re-record worship/praise music as “CCM” music and sing it as a trendy type music with the intention of profit. I think this is unhealthy and can take away from a text that was written for the church.

Does contemporary Music glorify God? Yes. Do I have to be careful to always analyze the text to see it is profitable for us as a church? Yes. One of the ways I do that is I will not lead us in any text that is under a year old. I want to make sure that the text is sufficient for us a congregation to sing. Many times I will wait for my professors at the seminary to approve of the text, knowing that they are much wiser then I, before leading that text at our church. You know this by heart now: We sing songs of the old because they show that God was alive and working before we were here, we sing songs of the present (contemporary) because it shows God is still at work, and we will sing songs of the future because God will remain to be alive and at work. God is still at work around the world.

“Is God Glorified in the continual battle of traditional vs. contemporary? No, Satan is. God desires unity in His church.”

Worship Wars Pt. 4 (Final)

Worship Wars:

Part IV of IV

What is Unified Worship? Is God glorified through it?

…the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “ Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Revelation 4: 10-11

What is unified worship? What does it look like? Is it a certain musical style? Is it a blended musical style of worship? Is it when everyone’s needs are satisfied? How are we as a church unified in our worship? These are not questions that just I am asking; I just finished watched an hour and a half video from the heads of both Lifeway Worship and Lifeway Research discussing this very issue, Unified Worship. This is and has always been a hot topic in the church. However the dilemma is over, I have come to a overwhelming conclusion!: The Church will never be unified if we look to musical style to bring unity. Period.

Musical style will always bring diversity, always. Many times Natalie and I cannot even agree on a radio station, she prefers pop music and I prefer acoustic/jazz/blues music. Musical style will always bring diversity. So what is the solution? Do we come to a truce as Natalie and I do by listening to pop music? No! Never in the church do we come to a truce over musical styles! All we have done when we come to a truce is attempting to please everyone. So what do we do?

We Worship. We Worship the triune God; the God who died on the cross so that our sins are covered by His blood. The blood unifies us. Musical style does not matter when we are unified in the God whom we worship. Mike Harland the head of Lifeway Worship put it this way, “If our Worship is not unifying the body, then we have a larger problem than one of Musical Style.” Our supreme purpose of Worship is to Glorify God; there are however secondary outcomes of worship, one of those being to reach the lost and hurting community around us. When the lost see us as a church dis-unified what does that preach about the God whom we serve? If we claim to follow God but cannot love each other more than our preferences what Gospel are we preaching? This is a lesson that I am having to continually learn as a young minister.

So what does unified worship look like? Unified worship looks like an older man putting aside his dislike for the musical style of “You Never Let Go” and Worshiping God with all his heart mind and soul by seeing that the God we worship is bigger than a musical style. Unified worship looks like our younger generation singing a “Mighty Fortress Is Our God”, understanding that the man who wrote the text, fought so that we could have a bible in our own language. Unified worship looks like a people who dress different, talk different, and who are all different ages, casting down our crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” “Is God Glorified in the continual battle of traditional vs. contemporary? No, Satan is. God is Glorified in the unified church.”

source: http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/

Worship Wars Pt. 2

Worship Wars:

Part II

What is Traditional Worship Music? Is God glorified through it?

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8

What is tradition? Is it a bad thing? I would argue that tradition is good in the perspective of allowing reflection upon the many whom have come before us, sacrificed for the beliefs we have today, and died so that we could have freedoms such as the word of God in our language. I would also argue that tradition in the perspective of music is good because it allow us to see times when God moved long before we were around. However I would caution that we should not look so intensely at God’s movements in history that we fail to see Him move among us today. Our tradition should never become our religion. We worship the God that was the cause of the tradition not the traditions themselves.

So what is traditional worship music? In my short five years that I have been working in churches I have come to a radical conclusion. Traditional music means something different to everyone. Traditional worship music to a person in a high church might mean singing an arrangement of a song from the order of the mass, in the reformed traditions it might be singing 17^th century music of Luther, and in a majority of Baptist churches it could be songs from the 1890-1950 revivalistic music era. I have also discovered that one’s definition of traditional is closely related with songs that the songs that one or one’s parents sang while they were growing up, or either associated with some type of spiritual or emotional mountain top that one had while they were in church. Using the previous definition I could say that traditional music to me, the music I grew up with, is everything from “Beulah Land” (1973) to “Heart of Worship” (1999). As we see the term traditional can be quit confusing since there is a variation in the definition.,

Does traditional worship music glorify God? Yes. Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2 to stand firm and hold onto the traditions that we are taught, Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5 to respect those who labor among us and are over us. Yes we should remember those who have come before us, the movement that God did in their lives, and the dear price that they paid for what we have today. Can traditional worship music not glorify God? Yes. If we allow the music itself to become more important the one it was written about, tradition can become a bad thing. We see this greatly in the catholic church. Many times the ones who go to the church service can recite the order of the mass, bud do not know the God that is to be worshiped. Paul says in Colossians 2 that we should see that no one takes us captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human traditions. We should never allow our tradition to become our religion. So why Traditional Worship Music? To reflect upon God’s movement in history.

“Is God Glorified in the continual battle of traditional vs. contemporary? No, Satan is. God desires unity in His church.”

Repost: Are You Approachable

this is a re-post of a blog by Michael Bleecker the Worship Pastor at The Village Church where Matt Chandler is Pastor. Great thoughts for leaders, and one I definitely needed to hear.

Are you approachable?

Michael Bleecker Michael Bleecker 2009-09-29

I’ve been thinking a lot about how well I receive advice, ideas or correction. When approached by a member of our church or cornered by an enthusiastic musician who has ideas about how I could do things differently (“better” may be a more appropriate word here), or even caught up in the inevitable “difficult talk” my wife and I inevitably have (the double “inevitable” is for you single guys), how do I receive such advise, ideas or correction?

How do you receive advice, correction or ideas that may alter your idea?

Do you thoughtlessly reject others or do you respond with humility?

Scripture gives wisdom here:

Proverbs 13:10
By insolence comes nothing but strife,
But with those who take advice is wisdom.

Proverbs 17:10
A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.

Andrew Murray writes:
“All want of love, all indifference to the needs, the feelings, the weakness of others; all sharp and hasty judgments and utterances, so often excused under the plea of being outright and honest; all manifestations of temper and touchiness and irritation; all feelings of bitterness and estrangement, have their root in nothing but pride, that ever seeks itself.”

Pride will bring destruction by isolating us from others who love us. We will become an island that can’t be challenged by others. Memorize the Scripture passages below and use them in times where pride creeps in. Be teachable. Be humble. Be approachable.

Proverbs 19:20
Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

1 Peter 5:5-6
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you…

Worship Wars Part I

Worship Wars:

Part I

Is God Glorified in the continual battle of traditional vs. contemporary?

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor…..Live in harmony with one another. …live peaceably with all….Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:9-21

War is a horrible term if you truly think about it. People die, friendships are torn, blood is shed, and people are never the same afterwards. When we think about war on the national level, it is necessary for our freedoms and others freedoms. However when we think of war in more a localized way, it is almost never a necessity, yet a travesty. Think about localized wars that you have seen in your lifetime: family wars, city wars, political wars, and even church wars. When we think about war in a localized sense it is always brutal, and many times, in the end, everyone loses.

In my brevity of a lifetime, I have seen what I consider one of the sickest, most despicable, and immature wars the modern church has ever seen. Worship Wars. Even the name is demoralizing. I believe that music is Satan’s greatest tool in the church today – it has split churches, divided bodies into two services, causes an uncountable number of fights, and causes “Christians” to destroy each other with hurtful words, acts, and deeds. Why is there such a hatred and passion connected with the tunes that go along with the text in churches? Why is there such a rebellion against what is new and such a disconnect and removal from what is old?

I have many questions and very few answers in regarding this topic. This topic is one that I wrestle with day in and day out and keeps me from sleeping many nights. God has called me to lead His people in the Worship of Him. God has called me to lead His people, in unity, as the church, to worship Him. Our greatest call as a Christian is to Love God first and foremost, and to love others as we love ourselves (Matt 22:36-40). There is much selfishness in the church today. Those who truly follow Christ will love others as they love themselves. The reason that there are worship wars are present in our churches are because of selfishness on both parties and an unwillingness to come together in unity for the sake of the cross.

One of the greatest pastors and theologians of our days, I am convinced, is John Piper. John Piper is famous for saying, “God is most Glorified when we are most satisfied in Him”. Creation has One Purpose. The Glory of God. If we truly desire to glorify God, then what do we find satification in? If we find satification in pews, hymnals, chairs, tv screens, coffee bars, a certain translation of the bible, attire, ect., then God is not Glorified in our church or in our lives. We must repent of our traditions and religion (whether they be of traditional baptist or contemporary baptist), and find our satisification in Christ alone or else we will die in our tradition. “Are we going to die in our religion, or are we going to die in our devotion?” This is a question the church has had to face throughout all of its history and we face it again today. Will we war over personal preferences at the expense of disobeying the second greatest commandment and not glorifying God? I truly pray the answer is, “no”.

Is God Glorified in the continual battle of traditional vs. contemporary?

No, Satan is. God desires unity in His church.

Sources: http://www.desiringgod.org; http://www.brookhills.org;

Let's not Be Anxious

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:25-34

I love people. I love talking to people. If you have known me for any length of time you probably know this about me. One of my favorite things to do during the week is to go get coffee with people to talk and see how God is working in their lives, I do this almost everyday with different individuals, usually either younger than me or somewhere similar to my age. My blog is even called coffeeshopgod. During the course of these conversations, conversations on the phone, and my life, I have noticed something in general about people. We are anxious about our lives.

It seems as if we as a culture are always looking for the next step. It starts at a younger age and continues through life. A drivers license, high school graduation, college, college graduation, marriage, job, children, children’s drivers license, children’s high school graduation, children’s college, children’s marriage, grandchildren, retirement, ect.. There is nothing inherently wrong with being excited about any of these events, but when the expectancy of or lack of these events alter your satisfaction/joy, then there is a problem. Each day is a gift from the Lord.

I am as guilty as anyone. I am anxious for graduation from Seminary. I worry about financial issues. I make plans for tomorrow and wish today would hurry up and get over. Each day is a gift and God has us in each situation in life for a reason. Let’s take joy in where the Lord has us each day.

Is Your Church Missional?

Is Your Church Missional?

Are you as a church effective in your community? Sure we have services Sundays and Wednesdays, meetings almost every other night, activities, and fellowships. We are all very active and busy. You may have visitors every Sunday, many whom are invited by many of you, others who wonder in because we are located so closely to a freeway. But are you as a church effective in your community?

I have been thinking this week about ways that as a church we can be more effective in our communities as a light in a darkened world. If we are going to be missional churches that have passion for our communities then it takes a lot of work. We cannot just expect to have church on Sunday and have people show up and become followers of Christ. What are some ways that we can began to love on our communities with the ultimate hope of showing and sharing the gospel?

Food is one. People love food. Is there a business or school where you could as a church began to intentionally feed the employees as just a simple thank you from your church? Could you imagine the message that would send and the doors that one simple act of love might open if you fed all the employees of the local Wal-Mart? God would work through that.


What are some other ways that you could reach out to our community through acts of love with the ultimate hope of sharing the gospel? I encourage you to think about that this week, pray about it, and let God show you ways we can become more intentional missionally. Time is short. Death is near. If we have a true gospel theology then it demands an urgent missiology. I don’t know about you, but my time on earth is short, and the harvest is plentiful. Does your heart burn for the lost? Do you know the lost? Are you surrounded by the lost?

And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:16-17

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Matthew 9:37

True Gospel Theology Demands an Urgent Missiology

True Gospel Theology Demands an Urgent Missiology

Death is upon us. Each day you hear of tragic accidents, family members, elderly people, freak accidents, and many other ways that people meet death. It is no secret or surprise that each day we have the possibility of meeting death. Each breath, and each moment we have is a gift. At any point we could meet death. Then why do we often have the mentality that we are somehow promised tomorrow? We save up, make plans, have retirement, and take for granted that we are given tomorrow? Not that it is bad to plan ahead, but we should never take tomorrow for granted.

As Christians unless we realize the brevity of our life, and more so the brevity of others lives, then we will never have an urgency for the gospel. Billions around the world who have never heard the name of Christ, millions around our very metroplex who have never heard the true gospel, and their life is fleeting. We must retain a missional lifestyle. Not a lifestyle of bible beating, or telling others that they are going to hell in the first sentence that you meet them, but a missional lifestyle. In the world that we live in today we must earn the right to share the gospel. We get to know someone first, find out their needs, meet their needs, and then share the gospel.


Life is short. Death is upon us. If we really believe what is in the bible, if we really take it serious, then our gospel theology will demand an urgent missiology. “Those who are the most effective in reaching the many are the most passionate about reaching the One”. Lets seek God passionately like there is no tomorrow for us, or for them.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23