Getting Clear on What Matters

"What you do simply proves what you believe." - Simon Sinek

I've been getting really clear about what matters to me.

It's so helpful to really dig deep and find that out because if we're not careful, we could fill our days with things that don't really reflect what we truly care about, and what we're here to create. We get caught up in so many things. And then we can end up spinning our wheels for days or years in areas that don't actually align with our greater purpose.

And that just feels like wandering around in mud. As fun as that can be sometimes, most often I'd prefer some nice clean traction. ;)

So here's me practicing some clarity for myself.

I really care about the big picture.
I believe He gives us access to thriving.
I believe that when we find our way to thriving, we are better able to operate fully in and fulfill our higher purposes and callings.
I believe I'm here to find my thriving and to help others find their thriving.
I believe in a future where the light is getting brighter, where families are operating at higher and higher levels, and where joy, peace, and excitement are daily experiences.
I believe that joy and flourishing is available to us all in every single moment, should we choose it.
And I'm looking for people who believe that same thing and have set their course to find it and help others find it.

Because of what I believe, I chose doTERRA as my business. It is an incredibly effective tool to facilitate flourishing in any family. It is the most amazing organization I've ever seen for assisting us in finding and expanding our emotional, mental, physical, and financial health. It is now a 4 million member social movement, led by an incredible team of leaders, that is moving families into freedom on a global scale.

Because of what we believe, we chose Action Church as the faith-based community we could link arms with to inspire life change. We are so incredibly honored to be a part of this vision. We have never been a part of a more healthy, well-balanced, ego-less, mission-focused church leadership team.

If you believe similarly to how I believe, then I invite you to bring your gifts and talents to the table in whatever way you choose. Create, inspire, encourage, build up, restore, renew, and cultivate freedom.

If you live in the Central Florida area, I invite you to come visit Action Church and get involved. It might just change your life.

If you want to engage in a business that practically facilitates flourishing, then come link arms with us in doTERRA. It might just change your life.

My life has been changed, and still is changing. All of this is already happening. The mission is clear and the train is moving fast.
NOW is the time to get involved.

Can you envision your community, your friends, your city, rising in it's ability to flourish? Can you envision families experiencing more wellbeing, joy, peace, and excitement on a daily basis? Can you imagine yourself coming alive, flourishing, and impacting the world around you in a magnificent way? If you can, then it's time to become a part of it in some way. It's time to facilitate thriving.

Don't wait for "them" to do it. It starts with you.

#actionchurch #doterra #thriving

Worship Isn't A Song

Worship isn't a song, a tempo, or a sound. And it's not an activity that we participate in every seven days. Those community gatherings (that we often refer to as "worship") are auditory articulation... the verbal and physical expressions of something more. Something intangible and deeply felt in the heart.

We can often place more focus on the symptoms of an illness, than on the actual illness. "She has a fever." So we take her temperature often, administer helpful remedies to reduce the fever, and try to make her feel cooler. We are relieved when the fever dissipates. All focus was on the fever... what temp it was, how long it lasted, what it looked like... not what actually caused the fever.

The fever was just a symptom...the body's outward response to an internal state. In the same way, the expression of worship is an outward symptom of our internal state of adoration. The true worship is our inner, innate response to a growing understanding of His deep love for us, and our appreciation for that love.

When that inner adoration is expressed outwardly, it doesn't have to look or sound a certain way. It can come out in thousands of ways. Like appreciating the smell of a flower He made, caring for a loved one He created, deciding to maintain your integrity in a sketchy situation out of your reverence for His presence with you, whispering to Him a "thank you", helping others when it's inconvenient because those people belong to Him, or improving yourself because you know His plans are waiting on you. All are outward demonstrations of an inner love.

But all these outward expressions of inner worship do have a certain feel to them. They feel like adoration. So instead of getting hung up on what our expression of worship looks like, let's focus on the state of our inner heart toward Him. And then the expression of that adoration will flow easily and come out in a multitude of forms.

Ordinary Moments With My Guitar

So, every since my experience leading worship in Nepal back in March, I've been working on learning guitar.

I'm working with a beginners guitar course online, so I'm able to move along to the next lesson whenever I'm ready. I'm advancing pretty slowly...maybe a lesson every two weeks or so. It's the practice time that gets me. Not that I don't like practicing... oh no. But because it's a toddler magnet.

Every time I pull it out, the girls fall all over one another trying to make the loudest, most torque filled strum possible, while uproarious laughter bubbles out of them. If one of them strums a particularly good (loud and distorted) one, they both jump up and down so excited to be making music. But alas, the music suddenly dies, so they both lurch forward together trying to make the next fabulously obnoxious strum.

After a few tense minutes of that, my concern for the guitar has overcome me and I "close down the music store". Then I shoo them back to watching Dora The Explorer, where I (thought I) had them settled in the first place.

Then my practice begins again. Tentative at first. (Down,up,down,up,-,up,down,-....switch chords...sing...switch chords....) Then more confident. Then the whole song comes crashing into a complete mangle of train-wreckage as I attempt to get the Bm chord right. Nope, still awful. Oh well. I get to try it again in 16 bars.

And just when I think I sound pretty good, I hear, "Baaaby!! Will you shut the door?? I can't hear anything over your changa-chang-chang!"

Ok, so I guess not that good.

Nepal 2011: Worship

We stepped out of the small taxi and paid him for his time. He thanked us respectfully and eased off down the dirt alleyway as we stepped through the gate into the church yard. It was five minutes till 4pm, when the service was to start.

"Jaymasee...Jaymasee." (Victory in Christ) Everyone greeted us with soft voices and hands pressed together. Many spoke broken English. We slipped our shoes off and stepping into the dark two-room building and met Pastor Bedu, the young pastor of a 70 member church in Pokhara, Nepal. Some of the team sat down on the four chairs that had been brought in for us. The rest of the church would sit on the floor. I walked up to the front to see if I could prepare myself to lead worship in the few minutes I had left before the service started.

The young Nepali man that led their worship introduced himself. He led with guitar. I silently wished that I could, also. He stood next to the wall, flicking a light switch intermittently. Nothing was happening. "No electricity. It will come on at 4pm." Nepal's electricity is created through hydroelectric plants and this was the dry season. So electricity was rationed to certain hours of the day in certain parts of the city.

Suddenly, it worked. 4pm, on the dot. The one light bulb in the middle of the room came. "Ah! Ok. Here. This we get for you." He pointed out a toy keyboard set on top of stand next to the pulpit. It was about two and a half octaves long (perhaps 2.5 feet) and looked like "My First Keyboard". It had 6 or 8 different sounds it could make. The keys were about half an inch in diameter--perfect for a child to play. Two of the keys were duck-taped together. So, if you played one, they both played. Suddenly, I desperately, desperately wished that I knew how to play guitar.

"Ah, thank you very much!" I smiled at him and began looking over the few (but important) settings. I realized that they had very little and it probably took some effort to produce this keyboard for me to use. It would be very rude for me to not use it. I immediately turned to him and asked him to play with me. I pointed out my chord charts and offered him one. Shyly, he bobbled his head and agreed.

After the Nepali worship, which was lively and full-voiced with lots of hand-held noisemakers, I was asked to come up and lead worship. After I introduced myself, I prayed and jumped right into "I Am Free" by Jon Egan and Desperation Band. I played the bass note with one finger on my left hand and a chord with my right hand. The Nepali worship leader strummed hesitantly, trying to find the rhythm. I sang strongly and, despite sounding like a five year old's Tonka toy concert, soon people were joining in with the repetitive chorus. Then the noisemakers started and it was a regular noise-fest of awkward worship to God. I began encouraging the congregation to pray for their families, their church, and their city, Pokhara (pronounced: "PO-car-ah"). Of course, I pronounced it "po-CAR-ah".

I transitioned like a train wreck into "Open The Eyes Of My Heart". My wonderful Nepali worship leader tried to slow his rhythm and match me, while energetic Nepali church people were still banging their noise makers to a high tempo beat. Then suddenly, the power to the toy keyboard went out. The power cord had some loose. I kept banging, but nothing was happening. Undaunted...(well, more like).... Terrified, I began to sing even louder. Realizing that the guitarist and my melody were not on the same chord, I began pointing at the chords on the chart at the time they needed to be played. He tried to follow along but inevitably changed chords at the wrong time, conflicting with the melody I was singing. All the while, the congregation was going to town on their noise makers. It was pure, gut-wrenching, pandemonium to me.

But then something began to happen. People were lifting their hands. Some had their eyes closed and others were pressing forward as they all began to sing in unison, "Holy, holy, holy, I want to see you." They were worshiping! They were actually worshiping! It shocked me and then encouraged me. If they could worship to this, then so would I.

After that song, one of the team came up to encourage the young church for a few minutes. While he spoke, my Nepali friend and I tried to get the power cord to stay in the slot. It cut in and out for the next song which was more distracting then having it on all the time. I prayed a few more times over "po-CAR-ah" and then I finally didn't use keyboard at all for the last song. And through it all, they worshiped.

After I sat down, trembling, horrified, in awe and humbled by the amazing Nepali people, our host whispered excitedly, "Great job!" I responded without thinking, "That was rough!" He smiled and shook his head. I realized that it was time for me to be quiet.

Kenneth spoke and was well received. After the service was over, we stayed to pray with people. A line formed quickly and people came forward for prayer for all sorts of things, including sickness, financial difficulty, family issues, demonic harassment, bad dreams, and marriage trouble. We prayed until they brought out food. From the tiny kitchen in the back of the building, they brought out enough Dal Baht to feed everyone there. People lingered long into the night. They were so encouraged to have visitors come spend time with them. And we were so happy to be there with them. It was an incredible night that I will never, ever forget.

Moral of the story for me:
More people need to go visit this incredible church.
It is not about me. It is not about me. It is not about me!
And I really need to learn to play guitar.

Song Lists

I pray and wait to hear what He says. Sometimes I peruse through my folders of songs and see if one jumps out at me. Some days I just want to pick five songs and be done with it.

I'm leading worship again. We're attending a great local church here that has seen some rough times and it taking a turn for the better. Now I have two small babies (two years and 4 months) running around as I prepare for rehearsal and Sunday service. Sometimes I just wish God would spell out what would please Him most and just give me the set list. It might be easier and less time consuming.

But the truth of the matter is, there is a lot to consider, and I don't take it lightly. Yes, I believe God would still be pleased with our worship and I believe that the people would still worship if I just pulled five song titles out of a hat. But, I personally think that doing it that way is scraping by with the barest of effort and with minimum respect for the position.

There's a lot to consider. What kinds of things are the congregation going through? What (style, type, lyrics) would speak to them? What would transition well into another chosen song? What song would take them to a place of humility and transparency that would please God most? What would they identify with? Just because I pick five songs doesn't mean that they flow well together, or speak a consistent thought from the heart.

I'm a fan of themes. I pray and ask God what He wants this Sunday to be about. (Desperation for God, reckless abandonment, humility, appreciation for His love, etc.) Then I ask for direction in choosing specific songs that will speak to that theme. But sometimes, He picks out five songs for me that seem to have no connection--until I'm in the middle of worship on Sunday and it all starts to make sense.

There's really no exact science to it. It's different every time. But there is always one common denominator. I ask for the leading of the Holy Spirit every time. I don't carry the role of leader lightly. I spend time in prayer, I wait, I listen, I'm thoughtful, intentional, and purposeful about it. I keep the people in mind, I keep the musicians in mind. And I do it expecting God to show up every time. And I'm always glad that I did it that way.

Serving Again

The time for serving has begun again.

It's been eight months since The Church At The Well closed down. We've had plenty of rest and a season of re-prioritizing. We've spent time doing nothing, spent time expecting God to do something, and then spent time thinking about making something happen ourselves. And now we've come back to being willing to just do whatever He wishes.

Gee. Wish we'd have gotten to that conclusion sooner. But hey, each day of the journey is important.

I've recently accepted a position as Worship Leader of a great local church in the area, Church Alive. It's a small, six year old church, with a love and passion for God. We're just about to move into the first permanent building the church has ever had. This church family is hungry to go to the next level of worship. And the foundation of the church is well set for stable, impacting growth.

I'm excited to be useful again. I'm excited to lead again. I'm excited to play, to learn, to teach, to dig deeper. It's a different direction than where I thought God was going to take us. But I've determined to let that be. This is where God has placed us. So I'm going to serve and love and give as much as I possibly can. And I'm excited to get started.

Calling

One of the things I've been praying about in my quiet time lately...

(Let me interrupt. Maybe "devotion time" would be a better term. Because, between diapers and feeding and playing and crying and more feeding and diapers... it's not always quiet, nor is it always at one time.)

I've been praying a lot about my/our calling. And yes, part of that is being a mother to my children. But part of it is also being involved in worship and missions. And while I love being at home with my children and spending this recovery time with them, I miss being involved in ministry.

During a conversation I was having with God while praying, I was asked a question that still lingers with me.

Are you pursuing your calling because you love others and want to see them healed and restored to Me? Or are you pursuing your calling for your sake?... because you like to do those things and like the way it makes you feel?

It left me really wanting to answer that question honestly. I could easily say that I want to be involved in ministry for the first reason, but would it be the whole truth? I'm not saying that it's wrong to enjoy the calling that God has given you. I'm just digging down into the depths of my motivation, to make sure that my desires aren't selfish. Perhaps my prayer focus shouldn't be "Pursuing all that God has for me." Maybe it should be "Drawing others to Christ through the gifts He's given me."

If I have more love for the calling than for the people... where does that leave me when the calling gets difficult? And more importantly, where does that leave the people that I was to reach?

Recording A Demo

A few days ago, at 9:30am, we showed up at this little, old, white house in the woods. It had a tin roof and no driveway. But when we walked inside, there was music gear everywhere. Red rooster hand towels decorated the kitchenette and there were two rocking chairs pointed at the instruments, ready to listen. We set up and started testing.

We spent the whole day recording the demo CD. We got three full tracks and a partial out of it. I was a lot more focused and relaxed than I thought I would be. It helps when you're all good friends. :) It certainly was a demo... we're not professionals. We hadn't even played together for two months. Listening back through a recording made me feel a lot more vulnerable than I thought. Everything is caught. Every little "happy mistake".

But at least it's something... at least I have something that demonstrates a part of what I've done. It's just a demo, it's not a masterpiece. But to me, it's a beginning. It's something I've always wanted to do. And so, I'm proud of it.

New Environment

So, yesterday I led worship for a church in Lake Mary.

I've been on the worship team for many different churches over the years. In fact, as a child, my mom made me stand up and sing with her when she led worship. But I had only led worship at one church for the last couple years.

Yesterday's experience was great. It was really good to step out of a comfort zone and play with musicians I had never played with before. It was good to be forced to lead, correct, instruct, etc... when for so long now, I've played with musicians who know where I'm going before I tell them, because they've played with me for long enough. The worship was good and the church responded really well to it--and to the Holy Spirit, who was the real leader of the day.

I was kind of surprised with how comfortable I was in such a new environment. But really, I shouldn't have been. I had asked God to lead, and He did. So that really took the pressure off me. :)

Writing Worship

I've been writing today. I'm working on a new worship song. Sometimes it's strange watching a new song take shape. I listen for sounds in my spirit and it turns in to scribbling on a sheet of paper. Wrong notes and dissonant chord slide up or down the keyboard, morphing into a sound, a rhythm, a melody, an emotion. It moves in a direction and then falls off the sheet as I try and find where it goes next. I repeat it, then wait until I hear what's next. Sometimes it's a muddle, sometimes it's crystal clear. But it's always a challenge I love. It's a conversation that I can't rationalize. It's a molding that I only help to form. It's one of my favorite things.

Worshiplanet - Global Worship

I happened to be out of town this past weekend for a quick trip to Colorado to participate in the Worshiplanet annual board meeting. I love what this ministry does and am so blessed to be a part of it for the last several years.

Click on the picture above and check out what's going on with global worship in Asia. I love the combination of spoken word, sounds from the Asian world, and worship to God blended in a new sound. It's pretty amazing stuff.

New Sounds

I'm a little stale today.

Last night I was laying awake in bed praying. Sometimes that happens--especially when I'm waiting on Selah to go back to sleep due to a random middle of the night wake-up.

I was asking God to revive me... to revive my passion for worship.

Perhaps a weird statement if you've been around The Well lately. We've been having some great breakthrough in worship in ways that we haven't had before.

But I find that I'm tired of a few things. I'm tired of the same type of worship songs being produced over and over. I'm tired of the separated genres of worship. I'm tired of the limits of my skill level. I'm tired of the same sound.

I want a new sound. I want a fresh groaning for more, a burst of adoration and abandonment that is screamed through the sound of nations, not plucked within the boundaries of a cultural genre.

And I'm not afraid to ask for it. I'm asking God for more musicians, more worshippers, and more sounds. And if He brings a choir and a horn section of angels... I'm not opposed to that either.

Monday Musing

Yesterday was one of those worship sets where I felt like two left feet in a room full of dancers.

I couldn't keep tempo to save my life, then forgot the beginning to two of the song, and the list goes on. Then, after service, when I was feeling about as talented and qualified as a cockroach, someone came up to me and enthusiastically said worship was awesome. (And they aren't one to blow smoke.)

I stared for a moment and then said thanks, thinking that if I just take it at face value, it would be better than swallowing the hidden joke that it certainly must be. And then I realized that they were serious.

Father...
Thanks for the reminder. So glad this is not about me. So glad that worship is not a graded performance where critics count every measure and mark off points with a red pen. So glad it's more than the music and the words. I'm so glad that my inadequacies are beautiful inside your adequacy.

Worship And The Unchurched

Below is part of an article titled Worship As Evangelism by Sally Morgenthaler.



"Early in 2005 an unchurched journalist attended one of the largest, worship-driven churches in the country. Here is his description of one particular service:

'The [worship team] was young and pretty, dressed in the kind of quality-cotton-punk clothing one buys at the Gap. 'Lift up your hands, open the door,' crooned the lead singer, an inoffensive tenor. Male singers at [this] and other megachurches are almost always tenors, their voices clean and indistinguishable, R&B-inflected one moment, New Country the next, with a little bit of early '90s grunge at the beginning and the end.

They sound like they're singing in beer commercials, and perhaps this is not coincidental. The worship style is a kind of musical correlate to (their pastor's) free market theology: designed for total accessibility, with the illusion of choice between strikingly similar brands. (He prefers the term flavors, and often uses Baskin-Robbins as a metaphor when explaining his views.) The drummers all stick to soft cymbals and beats anyone can handle; the guitarists deploy effects like artillery but condense them, so the highs and lows never stretch too wide. Lyrics tend to be rhythmic and pronunciation perfect, the better to sing along with when the words are projected onto movie screens. Breathy or wailing, vocalists drench their lines with emotion, but only within strict confines. There are no sad songs in a megachurch, and there are no angry songs. There are songs about desperation, but none about despair; songs convey longing only if it has already been fulfilled.'

No sad songs. No angry songs. Songs about desperation, but none about despair. Worship for the perfect. The already arrived. The good-looking, inoffensive, and nice. No wonder the unchurched aren't interested."



The rest of the article is really fascinating. It leaves me confident that if I try to build a great worship team, I will fail my calling. I have a to encourage my team to be deep worshippers. Worship is not something we do or a place we go... it's who we are. If we aren't worshipping God in the shower, the car, our living room... if we aren't living a life that displays worship to God in front of our neighbors... how do we expect to lead others in worship Sunday morning? Worship is not a show, it's authenticity. And it's our authenticity and God's love that is the most attractive thing to seekers.

Authentic Vs. Relevant: Part III

So... what? Am I supposed to dress emo, comb my hair across my forehead and try to be cool so I can reach the next generation? (See Part I and Part II.)

Authenticity is about being who you are, where you are. Not trying to be something. It's just being... the very person that you are and are becoming.

My question is... who are you? Really.

I think we spend the first 15-20 years of our lives trying to figure that out and when we find a genre we like, we adopt it. Oh, I'm a rock-climbing, tree-hugging, nature lover. Oh, I'm a 1980's, big-hair band loving mother of three children. Yeah, I'm a wanna-be thug who only wears FUBU and bling-bling, and drops the r's.

Yeah, well if you are called to reach people for Christ, then you just cut your playing field down drastically. Honestly, is that really who you are? More importantly, is that who God designed you to be? Being authentic may not mean being who you think you are today. If we all took off the images that we have unconsciously subscribed to, and be real, vulnerable, truthful, open... authentic... I think we would all be a lot more relevant.

Don't stereotype yourself. Don't box yourself in like that. If you are called to lead people, to reach people for Christ, then don't cut off half the people that God intended for you to reach. If you are part of a worship team, then you are called to reach people... and chances are, you are one of the first people that your visitors see.

Be known for your love. Be approachable. Learn to love the culture of the people you are trying to reach.

Authentic Vs. Relevant: Part II

I think you have to know who you are called to reach. See Part I.

Once you know, how are you going to reach them? You have to be relevant. You have to "speak the language" or they won't identify with you, understand you, or hear what you're saying. You have to be able to answer the questions they are asking about their life. You won't know what those questions are if you're not relevant... if you're not listening, hearing, and understanding.

It's not enough to know that we have the answer. We have to know how to speak the answer in their language. But how do we do that when we're so used to speaking... for lack of a better word... "church". We sure know how to "do church" well. But "doing church" only speaks to people who speak Christianese.

I believe relevance starts in your heart. It's a result of the love and passion you have for God's people. It's the desire like Paul had to be all things to all men that he may reach them for the glory of God. (1 Cor. 9:22) The clothes you wear, the words you speak, and the actions you take are all results of the condition of your heart. The relevance you have to those you are trying to reach will be in direct proportion to the love you have for them.

More thoughts on authenticity tomorrow.

Authentic Vs. Relevant: Part I

Besides the greeter who smiles broadly, offers you a bulletin, and ushers you into church... the music is generally the first thing you notice. (Unless you're one of those rare breeds that actually comes to church early.) You scan the faces of the people on stage, the lights, the set up, the sound, the crowd, the room. And then you look for an inconspicuous seat.

The worship team is generally one of the first thing visitors notice.

Recently our worship team was having a discussion about how to be more relevant... how to be appealing, more "attractive" to the people we are called to reach. How do you "BE" relevant if you aren't? And if you're tying to be something you're not... how do you maintain your authenticity? What's my authenticity, anyway? Are you talking about the length of skirts, or my hair cut, or the way I worship?

The conversation was interesting... and one that I think more worship teams need to open up.

Here are my thoughts. I think you have to start with what your calling is. You may call it your purpose or a missions statement. Who is your church called to reach? Those are the people you are called to minister to and to serve by leading them to the throne room.

The Well is called to the seeking, the hurting, and the next generation. We are planted in an affluent, young/middle-aged multi-cultural location. Your church may have a real heart for the homeless and reside in an all-white location. Or, you may be called to minister primarily to the elderly in a predominately Hispanic community. Wherever you are... you have to determine your purpose and who you are called to reach.

Once you know who you are trying to reach, the next step is relevance. That's it for now... more to come on Wed.

Uncivilized Worship - Part 2

Processing more thoughts on our worship being too civilized. (Go here for Part 1.)

Worshipping in spirit and truth doesn't mean look spiritual while speaking the truth. It means be authentic and honest in your worship. We have to lead authentically--be who we are before God. We need to be surrendered human beings worshipping a FANTASTIC AND MIGHTY GOD with everything that's in us... not think like sanctified-and-set-apart church people singing to our oh-so-Holy Father in Heaven by clapping on 2 and 4.

I think there's a "church worship team" mold that we need to break out of.

David broke out of it. In 11 Samuel 6 he danced so freely and authentically before the LORD, that it offended the temple-Pharisee mindset in his wife, Michal. I want to worship God with the same abandonment and joy. I want to care less about what people think and care more about what God thinks. I want to let go of the restraints that say "do it this way"... I don't want to be cookie-cutter, I want to be real.

Uncivilized Worship - Part 1

I've been mulling over some thoughts for a while and just thought I would share. What it comes down to is... I think we are too civilized in our worship.

In an effort to become sanctified, I think we make ourselves sterile. In an attempt to be holy, we become hallow. We try to be Worship Leaders, instead of just worshippers who happen to be leading. We need to let God do the cleansing while we do the worshipping.

We were designed to infiltrate, not separate. Be in the world, and not of the world. We focus too much on the not of the world part instead of the in the world part. I think it's because we don't go deep enough to be able to stand alone. We do OK as long as we're surrounded by a bunch of people who are trying to do the same thing, but outside of that context we shrink.

If we want to reach the seeking, the hurting, and the next generation, then we have to speak the language of the seeking, the hurting, and the next generation. I'm not talking about looking cool, I'm talking about intentionally BEING relevant and readable. We've got to remove the religion out of our voice. Remove the church out of our dress and manner. Remove the stoic Pharisee out of our worship.

Jesus did it and did it well... there was nothing religious or predictable about Him. He was as raw and real as it got. We have to learn how to be completely connected with the Holy Spirit, and yet fully relevant to those around us.

The Door and Humanifesto

I recently recieved a copy of The Door.

An incredible worship DVD filmed in Beijing, China, by Worshiplanet. During worship, this spoken word was given...

Humanifesto
I want to be a grace guerilla,
no longer a chameleon of karma;
the time has come to stand out from the crowd.
I want to give forgiveness
a fighting chance of freeing me,
to live in love and live it out loud.
I want to drink deep of the foolishness of wisdom
instead of swallowing the wisdom of fools,
to find a source in the deeper mines of meaning.
I want to search out the unsearchable,
to invoke the invisible,
to choose the truths the TV hypnotists aren't screening.

No camouflage,
no entourage,
no smoothly fitting in.
I want a faith that goes further than face value
and a beauty that goes deeper than my skin.

I want to be untouched by my possessions
instead of being possessed by what I touch,
to test the taste of having nothing to call mine,
to hold consumption's cravings back,
to be content with luck or lack,
to live on water as well as on wine.
I want to spend myself on those I think might need me,
not spend all I think I need on myself.
I want my heart to be willing to make house calls.
Let those whose rope is at an end
find in me a faithful friend.
Let me be known as one who rebuilds broken walls.

No camouflage,
no entourage,
no smoothly fitting in.
I want a faith that goes further than face value
and a beauty that goes deeper than my skin.

I want to be centred outside the circle,
to be chiselled from a different seam.
I want to be seduced by another story
and drawn into a deeper dream,
to be anchored in an undiscovered ocean,
to revolve around an unfamiliar sun,
to be a boom box tuned to an alternate station,
a bullet fired from a different gun.

No camouflage,
no entourage,
no smoothly fitting in.
I want a faith that goes further than face value
and a beauty that goes deeper than my skin.

Gerard Kelly is a poet, author and senior pastor
of Crossroads International Church, the Netherlands