Lee Baker

I am not afraid to fail, these are the words I utter in my mind on a daily basis. The fear of failing is not an issue for me, it’s falling from the failure that scares me. Failure much of the time can bring about change, but falling from failure, is like getting hit by a semi, you may survive, but recovery will take along time.  Now I don’t mean that there is an instant lesson learned from when you fail without falling, but you can usually evaluate your failure and bounce back pretty quickly depending on if you are willing to make the necessary changes to succeed.

Falling from failure, usually means starting over completely, because when you fall, you don’t bounce. Trust me, I know about falling first hand. When I was much younger, I was king of failure, in fact, not until the last 15 years have I really ever experienced a success that was even measurable. King of failure, that was me, but it wasn’t that I didn’t care or not even that I didn’t want to succeed, I was going to live against the grain every chance I had, if someone told me to do something a certain way, I did my way, if that didn’t exist I made it up. In many areas it almost made me a jack of all trades, but you know the rest of that saying, a master of none.

My rebellious days left me with lifetime of experience that would eventually lead me to the place I sit today as a pastor. I wasn’t able to recover from my last fall to failure on my own, I had fallen to the bottom, but with help I was able to recover. When I arrived at the place of a broken marriage, drug and alcohol abuse and not knowing who I had become, I cried out for help. Help came in a way of surrender, a life changing experience, a encounter with a savior, who specialized in using the broken, the hurt and the rebellious, yes I encountered  Jesus.

I had been given the chance to see again, no I had not been blinded in the since of losing my eye sight, but I had lost myself worth and a relationship with Jesus was able to restore my vision for life.  I will never be perfect, but I am not called to be, but I am called to love and to forgive and to share what was shared with me that brought about life change. God has a plan, 4 years ago he led my family and I to Northstar Church in Panama City, Fl, where I have learned first hand nobody’s perfect, anything is possible and everyone’s welcome. You see, failure does not mean the you have encountered the end, no it just means that change is needed, but be careful, not making the correct changes could lead you to the edge and even closer to the fall.

I had the pleasure of “speaking” at our Northstar Students Graduation Night on Friday evening, and I was encouraged afterward to share my letter to the graduates here on Community. I hope you enjoy!

“Well, here I am. Get a good look at me. Don’t focus so much on my face. You’ll never remember anything about that except for my weak, pencil-thin mustache with no middle. I don’t even get to be the ‘official’ graduation speaker. I’m the ‘church youth group graduation ceremony thingy’ speaker. This will be hard, so find something on my person that you can attempt to attach this memory to; this image and lesson that has had, since before you arrived, barely any chance of sticking in your heads. Try to remember the color of my shirt. The color of my hair. My quirks that grate on your senses. Find something about me that annoys you. It’s the best hope you or I have for remembering anything about tonight.

“I don’t remember much about my graduation except for the fact that someone, at one point, said something about Hobbits. There was a clip from The Lord of the Rings that I assume had something to do with the journey ahead of us. I’ll employ no such thing as clever. I’m that awkward guy who read a letter at one of your many graduation ceremonies your parents or mentors needed you to participate in that year that they graduated you from high school. I’m that guy. That’s right; not quite a man in this world. I haven’t earned the dignity of that title just yet, and it’s been 7 years since I sat where you do now. Time apparently doesn’t make you a real man or a real woman. And I’ve already proven that time doesn’t supply you with respectable facial hair either.

“I’m the guy you’ll try to remember in twenty-five or thirty years when you’re sitting at your kid’s ‘graduation something-or-other’ listening to an orator with an equally as unmemorable speech as this one. ‘Who was that guy?’ you’ll ask. ‘Oh, I remember that part! A guy; not a man.’ Very good. I will admit, I probably have a better chance of being remembered by you because you probably already know me. I’m Nick, by the the way (if you don’t). Hello. I guess I’m supposed to tell you a little bit about my own post-high school experience. I’m supposed to tell you to cherish this time. That you’ll look back on high school with fond memories and wish you could do it all over again. I’m supposed to tell you that college is the place where you’re going to find yourselves and become equipped for the ‘real world’. Did you know that, by the way? You’ve been living in a fake world? That’s why people tell you that you don’t know what love is. It’s why your parents want you to stop hanging out with that one dude. But it’s wired into each and every one of us not to listen. Not until we’ve experienced something for ourselves. You can’t take that away from me. Anything else. But don’t rob me of that.

“So here I am; an ex-patriot of the ‘fake world’. I hated high school. I anxiously awaited in vain for my professors to impart to me some fabled ‘life nugget of knowledge’. I was in love at seventeen. I would tell you my opinions on those things now, but like I said, you would respectfully hear my piece and then politely decline to oblige me. Ok, let’s try it anyway. High school is awesome. College is awesomer. Don’t date that guy. How do you feel? Did it work? Here, let me try it with a little more passion. It won’t do to tell you how you’ll miss high school life so much that it hurts. How that first true taste of adult freedom and independence in college is more addicting than heroin. How being in love at seventeen is like the excitement of walking into an amusement park, and how choosing to love someone years later is like the comfort and relief of finally coming home from one.

“Allow me to sum up my high school, college and post-college experience for you. I went to a small Christian school around the corner. My graduating class had 12 people in it. After that, I went to the community college, before they added the word ‘state’ to all of the signs and stationary. It was there that it took me two and a half years to realize there was something called ‘Math for Liberal Arts’. Listen to me, if you’re bad a numbers, declare General and skip College Algebra. Don’t try to be a hero. After that, I commuted back and forth to the only university in Florida without a football team. I lived with my grandparents for free, spent my dad’s money on gas and food, wrote literary criticism for 40 hours a week and played World of Warcraft for 70.

“When I had finally finished it all, I gathered my 3 special pieces of paper, filed them neatly away in a box on the top shelf of my closet and hit the road. I thought I was Jack Kerouac, driving alone into the West with nothing but a truck full bagels and Goober. I made it all the way to Salt Lake City before I called my mom and asked her to MapQuest something for me. The one thing I regret about that trip was that I didn’t stay gone longer. When I returned home, I was optimistic about being able to find a job, even though we were in the worst part of the recession, and even though my degree was in English. Let’s be honest, I didn’t go to college to learn how to make money any faster. I would tell you that you shouldn’t either, but most of your parents would probably have a word with me after. Luckily for me, however, and because of that English Degree, I’m better at words than your parents are and have confidence in my ability to spin those words wisely. And since wisdom and confidence are more valuable than gold, here goes nothing: don’t go to college to learn how to make money. Go to college to become better at something you love.

“It took me less than a year of trying to convince myself I was now worthy of the white collar to learn that there are really great jobs out there if you’re willing to make them up. That’s right, people will actually pay you real money to to do something you love. Some of those actually do require that you wear a collar. That’s great. Just wear a collar you love. I’m twenty-five years old and I don’t dread Mondays. That’s worth a lot more to me than being a ‘man.’ I’ll be just a ‘guy’ for that. I’ll take a pay cut for that. But that’s me. And those are merely a few opinions I have for you. That’s the bit you won’t remember. That’s the bit you’ll take for what it is and form your own opinions from. It’s only right of you. If life were truly like the world of Lois Lowry, and I could impart the actual feelings unto you and keep you from ever making a single mistake, you’d all hide in your homes and marry your moms.

“This next part is the part you can’t argue with. The universal truths. The things that are, for the most part, already a part of your subconscious set of virtues. They are my non- negotiables on a list that could potentially be a hundred items long someday, but given that my life is optimistically only 1/4th finished, I have only been fortunate enough to have recorded 6 thus far. These are the gems that I will proudly pass to my children without a second’s hesitation. I can only hope that you too will discover these truths for yourself (maybe not the exact ones, but some kind of non-negotiable set of wisdoms) and etch them into the proverbial cave walls of your existence and legacy. They are as follows:

“Number 1: ‘Be both loyal and faithful, and do what you say you’re going to do.’ For the most part, this came from a frustration I adopted upon coming to the realization that most people will never truly hold sacred, the things that you hold sacred. To those people, be dependable. Shame them with your faithfulness. Understand that loyalty doesn’t always involve enjoyment. It almost never does. But we do it anyway.

“Number 2: ‘Pay attention, and live your life on purpose.’ It took accidentally driving thirty minutes back towards Panama City on my way to Pensacola one weekend for me write this one down. Do something like that once or twice and you’ll adopt the same philosophy.

“Number 3: ‘Think ahead, call ahead and ask questions! Don’t assume anything.’ The moral here is that you’ll waste a lot less time and feel a lot less stupid.

“Number 4: ‘Listen for God’s voice the most in his word and in his spirit.’ This isn’t to say you should disregard wise council, but I emphasize these 2 because of their unshakeable reputation for being completely and utterly infallible. When a question arises in your life, open your Bible knowing that the answer is inside waiting patiently for your eyes to find it. It’s there.

“Number 5: ‘Write it down!’ If I had adopted this rule in the beginning, I would have most certainly been sharing a list with you 7 items long instead of just 6. I’m still looking for that lost thought. One day.

“Lastly is Number 6. It’s one that I shamelessly plagiarized from Louie Giglio several months back, but it’s so true. It’s this: ‘Don’t over-complicate God’s will.’ Too many people spend their lives waffling back and forth over what God wants them to do. Whether it’s this town or that town. This girl or that girl. Pepsi or Coke. Do yourself a solid, apply non-negotiable number 4 and make the best decision you can. If it’s the wrong one, course-correct and move on. God never meant for us to wander. He will always have the answer. Find it fast and execute.

So that’s that. It may or may not have been exactly what you expected, but given that I’ve only had a 7 year head start on you, it’s the best I’ve got. I leave you with this: my hope for you is that you would break molds, shift paradigms, love God, love others, believe and live by the entire Bible, never compromise, sacrifice for people, build relationships, end relationships, create things, embrace the imperfect, sleep when you’re dead, see however much of the world you are able, take time to rest, do something frivolous, do something on a higher level, read books, take huge bites, spend plenty of time alone, find something that is—for the most part—harmless, and make an unerring decision never to do it  (if for nothing else but the sheer sake of building discipline), think of something witty and keep it to yourself forever, see movies by yourself, give away everything that you own (at least once), pray for strangers, pray for friends, walk with God in the valley, understand seasons of life, live inside of tensions, keep traditions, change traditions, break traditions and take time to celebrate. Thank you and congratulations!”

“The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged…The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Pastor and Theologian  

Over the last few blog posts, I have talked about my commitment to teaching, and why the addition of Executive Pastor Lance Young enables me to concentrate on that. In this article, I want to talk about another priority for me this year – Northstar Groups.

Over the years, we have continually discovered that it is just as important for the church to grow smaller as it is to grow larger. Which simply means is, as we grow and expand, we also want to grow in connection. As you know, Northstar has grown from a handful of people to nearly 2,000 each weekend. As we have grown, we also needed to grow our ability for creating a church that can connect with people in a smaller setting outside the weekend services. While it is a work in progress, dividing the church into smaller communities or groups continues to be our focus.  I don’t want Northstar Groups to be just another option in a suite of services and programs here at our church.  I look at Northstar Groups as non-negotiable because I believe sharing our lives takes priority over fulfilling a weekly calendar item. Northstar groups promote an environment that is created to draw closer to God and draw closer to others.

So, how do you look at Northstar Groups?

What’s more, some of the myths such as the need to be a seminary student or an extrovert are simply not true. I have found that Northstar groups can significantly impact your life regardless of what level of spiritual maturity or the material being covered. It happens all the time.  People find they are not alone, that there are others who have faced what they are facing now. And along the way, community is built. These groups are a place where a journey is shared, joys are shared, struggles are shared, and growth is shared. People find fulfillment in being able to use their experiences, talent, and gifts to lift up and encourage others. And, in turn, they are revitalized.  People begin to see the bigness of God, faith gets stretched and growth begins.  I have seen it happen and I am sure some of you have as well.

We all need the support of loving, nurturing people in our lives and never more so than when trials are upon us. Simple gestures and practical acts of service speak volumes. Anybody who has been in a small group for sometime can recite a story about someone in need. One night the small group shows up at someone’s door, helping he or she put away the groceries they bought. The person was overwhelmed. But then the group stayed for over an hour just loving on them, laughing at jokes, sharing stories, and listening to music. It’s an example of the value of small groups.

For us, Northstar Groups have become a way of life, not an event. Small groups make a large church feel like a small intimate church.

I believe with all my heart in small groups.  To me that’s one of the pinnacles of who we are and how we do ministry. Ministry happens through relationships and relationships happen in Small Groups.  Typically, people feel connected best to their faith when they are involved in small groups within the Church groups. It is often within such small groups that we learn the most about our faith, and we feel comfortable to share our struggles and challenges with one another.  In such groups we find an attentive ear and a comforting presence in our lives.

So, a challenge for all of us is to see if we can develop more small and meaningful groups within the Church, and get more of our attendees involved in such groups. The early church shares a beautiful picture of what the church can look like in terms of being there for each other: they shared everything and took care of each other, prayed together and worshiped together regularly. That’s our model and what we strive to be.

Con’t in part 2

I have had the privilege of being the lead pastor at Northstar since we opened the doors in 1998. Even though I’m 14 years older now, with two grown children, some wrinkles and a few gray hairs, I love what I am doing more than ever. And the same passions and convictions which led me to start Northstar are the ones which continue to drive it and grow it with divine force.

We began the church by being passionate about mission and seeing lost people come to know, love and embrace Jesus as Savior. It has alway been our prayer that Northstar would continue to grow healthy and strong and increasingly become a base for the ministry of the Gospel both here in Panama City and beyond. I feel invigorated every day I spend a Northstar. I constantly seek to become a better servant of God. And, that starts with my teaching.

I teach four times on Sunday morning. I don’t always make it, but my intention is to try to get out into the foyer after each message.  I try to do this as a means of meeting people now that we have grown out of  the “everyone knows the pastor” phase in our history.

Standing in the foyer after one service, several people walked up to me and said, “I enjoyed your sermon.” Presumably, the folks who did not enjoy my sermon did not want to offend me by telling me that it was average or bad. But, this got me wondering: How effective is our teaching? Teaching must be more than a talking head on a stage, addressing  a passive audience. Will the teaching be a turning point in someone’s life? Will it result in a climatic experience? That is what preaching is meant to do. That is what you find in the Bible and in the subsequent history of the Church.

When we started Northstar, I wanted a style of teaching that was more than simply “What.” “What does the Bible say?” Our goal at Northstar is not just “What,”  but “So what?” and “How?”  “How does the teaching series apply to your life ?” “How would you start doing what God’s Word says to do in that verse?” “What needs to happen for you to start obeying what is being taught here?”

But something happened on the way to becoming a large church.  The demands on the pastor slowly increase and accelerate.  Before long the pastor is considered the church’s head “everything” and is wearing many hats. At first the pedal to the metal is manageable, but then it stretches out week after week and month after month.  In too many cases, the pastor has to do far more than he was ever called for or even trained to do. Then the staff of two doubles and doubles again. But, as the church grows, and while the workload is spread over more people, the pastor is still the one stop shop for everything church related. That is not to suggest serving in that way is a burden.  As in every facet of life, it is hard to do one thing very well, if you are concentrating on many things. It is a simple matter of balancing our priorities.

The point is, I believe the greatest thing I can do for the people who attend Northstar is teach the word of God faithfully and creatively each week, But to do that, I need to stubbornly guard  my preparation time.  Yes, I can do other things such as casting vision, be a counselor, solve problems, but if I am not teaching the Word of God with power each Sunday then the church suffers. Flipping that around, if I teach the Word well each Sunday, other things may struggle for awhile, but the church will be healthy and other leaders will arise to do those things.

Surprisingly to me, considering the size of our church, I feel relatively balanced, and I think that is because of the leadership culture in our church. People in our church really do see a host of pastors, small group leaders, every bit as capable to solve a problem or address a church issue as I am.  I have the freedom now to return most of the phone calls and emails that come to me. That’s in part because people from the church don’t email me as much anymore–because we have leaders they can talk to, including our new Executive Pastor, Lance Young.  We hired Lance to do most of the things that I used to do, so I can better concentrate on one critical responsibility, teaching.

God always accomplishes His plan. In my life He used this experience to make me even more dependent upon Him. This year I’m allowing Him to work out the balance and direct my “schedule” more so than ever before. Although change is afoot, I am at peace because I’m not trying to juggle it all. With God, my week has become much less wobbly.

So walking through the foyer in the future I hope to hear comments like, ‘Marty that was a thought provoking message” or “life changing” or “I was challenged and empowered” or “I’m leaving a different person than I came.”

In fairness, we have heard those things.  But, I believe God is telling me we can still do better. Although it will take me some time to get acclimated to being more hands off, I am excited about immersing myself in the study and preaching of God’s word.

In part 1, we looked at the story of Job and the question of whether faith and doubt can coexist in the Christian.

I challenge you to read Job chapters 38-40 when you get a second.  Not only is it a good reminder of who God is, but it can challenge the relationship we want to have with God. It can be troubling to read how omnipotent God is and yet the giants, that he could fix instantly, are ignored and left to wreak havoc in our lives. We want to have faith, but we also want to have a life devoid of problems.  That is what Job wanted and that is what we want.  Unfortunately, as Job found out, it doesn’t always work out that way.

This is an aha moment for Job. God, not a prophet, or an angel, or talking animal answers his questions. God puts him in his place. God schools him big time.  God reminds him of who is God and who is not.  It had to make Job feel small. Made to feel small can be taken two ways.  One, you can feel belittled, or two you can realize that God talked to you, that God allowed these giants and God answers us.  Let that seep in for a moment.

Regardless of our giants, God will answer us. He will respond,  maybe not exactly when and how we would like it – but in a way that works together for our good.  It may not be today. or tomorrow.  In fact, a giant, like temptation, may have set up camp in our lives and settled into a routine, tempting us at home, at work, at the beach, sitting at the computer, etc.

But if you remember only one thing from this blog, or from the giants series, it should be this: God will respond. God has an answer. God has a plan. That knowledge should give is the faith we need. That knowledge should connect us to God in a powerful way. That knowledge should enable us to say, “Yes, I have been tempted, and yes, I have given in to that temptation..but I know God knows me, God loves me, God cares for me, God has a plan, God wants the best for me, so I give the temptation giant to Him.” And as Job found out the hard way in chapters 38-40, we just need to put our faith in the all knowing, all powerful, all present God. Because as Isaiah 59:11 reminds us: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  

Like Job, bad things happen in our lives and we don’t know why. But, God does know why. I don’t know what giant you are facing today, but I’m sure you could fill in the blank with something in your life that is difficult. Maybe it is your children, your grandchildren, maybe it’s your job or your car. Maybe it’s cancer, the loss of a loved one or a relationship that has not been healed.

We will often not know why certain things are happening to us. Why would God allow this? What purpose is this serving? But while fighting giants we should trust God who is in complete control.  Job 41:11 says “Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me”  And Romans 11:34-36 which says: ““Who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has been his counselor?”  “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

When was the last time you did something and wondered if you’d catch any flack for it? I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth before and caught a faceload of humble pie. (Did I use that term in the right context?) We’ve all done that, but aren’t there times when it’s just a matter of education? I don’t mean that in the sense that only Ph.D’s are capable of having civilized arguments; I mean that a lot of times we attack individuals without even gracing them with a layer of primer first. They’re simply lacking a basic knowledge of what we’re tying to accomplish.

I’m a terrible judge of climate when it comes to things like this. (I’d describe “climate” here but I’d just be making a judgement about you.) My first reaction to seeing someone with a PC is of course to preach Mac to them. When my mom asks for help with a DVD, I roll my eyes. Get it? Say your an excellent judge of climate, and the climate tree is ripe for shaking; well, now is the time. Shake it. Maybe your congregation has been neglecting a change that it’s high-time for. You better shake now while your opinion still matters, because one day your lack of movement will result in a lack of your own credibility.

Here’s the thing that we’re all afraid to admit; there was a time when our families, our churches, our jobs made a lot less sense to people and were a lot more effective. We slip into a rut of safety. We stop challenging things. We stop poking at comfort. We stop picking scabs. In the book of Matthew, it was the religious crowd, not the Athiest club at the local high school who were berating Jesus for shaking things up. These individuals had seen their faith one way for so long that they were literally unable to adjust before bringing themselves to kill him.

That’s the danger we face; fear that a Christian may not find us as “Christian” as they are. We’re not getting killed over here; we’re defending our faith in 140 characters or less. What are you so afraid of? Learn from Jesus and mess with some people’s perceptions today. Shake the tree.

Hey Everyone! Check out the songs that we sang together yesterday as a Church! Hope you have an amazing week!

Your Name- Northstar Worship Arts

You Make Us Strong- Northstar Worship Arts

There Is Love- Northstar Worship Arts

Forever Reign- Hillsong Live, A Beautiful Exchange

One of my specific prayers this year was that God would make me a better leader. I wanted to accept a challenge that I felt God was issuing to my heart that if I would listen and act upon what I heard that he would help me to grow as a leader. As I began to study leadership and pray deeply about it one thing became vividly apparent.

If I really wanted to grow as a leader I needed to ask some key questions to those who follow me and make myself accountable to them.

EMAIL 1
So I sent an email to my Worship Arts staff asking 2 simple questions:

1.) Tell me one thing I’m doing well at as a leader.

2.) Tell me one thing I need to improve at as a leader.

I heard some very encouraging things and some very pertinent ways to improve. Some were not easy to hear, but all were spoken and received in love and ultimately helped me to overcome some things as a leader. I pasted their exact responses where I could see them on my computer desktop for the next month and focused on improving in those areas. It proved vitally helpful.

EMAIL 2
A couple of months later I was reading a book called The Minister’s MBA about business strategies in the church. The authors posed 12 wonderful questions that I wanted my staff to answer for me:

1.) Do I know what’s expected of me at work?
2.) Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my correctly?
3.) Do I have the opportunity everyday to do what I do best at work?
4.) In the past week have I received recognition or praise for good work?
5.) Does my supervisor care about me as a person?
6.) Is there someone at who who encourages my development?
7.) At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8.) Does the Vision and Purpose of my team make me feel my work is important?
9.) Do my co-workers do quality work?
10.) Do I have a best friend at work?
11.) In the last six months have I spoken with someone about my progress?
12.) Do I have opportunities to learn and grow at work?

The answers to these questions helped me to identify some things that I needed to clarify for my staff as well as some small things that I could do to help them realize how valuable they are to this team and the Kingdom of God. I followed up with each person with just a short chat about their answers to make sure that I understood their responses clearly. It deepened our relationships tremendously and gave them the reassurance that they could come to me with any issue or need that they had. It opened up some wonderful dialogue and helped to further strengthen and unite our team.

EMAIL 3
Just this week I sent another email to the 2 full-time guys that work with me about an issue that I saw creeping up on me.

Hey dudes, I have been consistently about 5 minutes late this week each day. I want you to hold me accountable to something. I know it’s just 5 min. and you probably haven’t even noticed, but the issue is when I am just a little late it’s usually because I was working at home and lost track of time for a bit.

Although that sounds noble, 1.) I shouldn’t be working at home I should be hanging with my family, and 2.) Late is late no matter how noble it seems.

If you see me come in late ask me why. Integrity is letting your yes be yes and no be no. I am supposed to be here at 8:30am not 8:35am. Also, I need to be spending time with my family. That’s the focus of my morning before work; my time with God and my time with my family. Thanks for holding me accountable guys.

The response was encouraging. This was something they both wanted to be held accountable for as well and shared their deep respect for my honesty with them.

Sometimes we believe being vulnerable as leaders will cause us to lose respect with others, but I definitely find the opposite true. Integrity and humility create environments of accountability and grace which are key to developing the kind of work and ministry cultures that we all desire. Jesus lead the way in humility and integrity and I don’t think any of us have lost respect for him.

Philippians 2:1-8
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

I had a conversation the other day with a fellow author while sitting at the BCPL’s BooksALIVE event, where I was trying to convince him that his next computer purchase–of course–should be a Mac. I was showing him the word processor that I use for writing. We later got into a discussion about other types of word programs, so I thought it would make an interesting blog topic to discuss a few different ones here at the official start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I hope you writers out there gain something beneficial from my reviews of some processors I’ve worked with.

The following are 5 popular WPs (we’ll assume each to be at their latest versions):

MS WORD: Without a doubt the most universally accepted mode of word file creation.

- The Good: It’s probably the program you’re most familiar with (at least between updates). When MSW doesn’t take over for you with formatting, it’s actually fairly easy to manipulate. It’s hard to complain if you’ve never known anything else.

- The Bad: As stated before, from update to update, the platform changes drastically and causes users to have to basically relearn where the developers have put everything. As also previously stated, MS Word has a mind of its own. It’s an antique car with an automatic transmission.

- The Janky: The operation is a dump, especially after returning to this processor from another one. It’s like trying to kill a wild turkey with a Nerf dart. “Where is double space again?”

MS Word Details Here

PAGES: The WP for the enlightened Mac user who is too poor to pay for MS Office: Mac.

- The Good: Universal file exporting (change your stuff to Word, PDF, Rich Text, Plain Text or even ePub). Clean Mac interface and integration.

- The Bad: The minimalist-style interface takes a bit of a search to find some functions you’re looking for.

- The Janky: Pages has never had a full screen option until now, and it looks like this…

Pages Details Here

EVERNOTE: Most people would call this an organizational note-taker. Others would call it a lifestyle.

- The Good: Organization and Navigation is unmatched. Sharing/syncing is superior (between iOS devices and web-based servers).

- The Bad: The Premium edition (co-editing of shared docs and unlimited space) is a hefty $50.00 a year…

- The Janky: Ads on the free version I guess?

Evernote Details Here

GOOGLE DOCS: Google’s greatest contribution to the internet since Google. Web-based and open-source.

- The Good: It’s FREE! It’s online! It’s freaking smart! It does everything any of the others can do, plus it allows you to share via email and co-edit with friends or colleagues with annotations, Google Chat and so much more. If you don’t know about Google Docs, you’ve been living under a rock.

- The Bad: It’s free… It’s online… It’s too smart? Given that it’s free, you can’t expect too much in terms of updates, the need for internet juice can sometimes be a limitation, and I’d bet most people will never use this WP to its full potential.

- The Janky: Though there is the ability to annotate, it can be a bit cumbersome/misguided at times. “What exactly is that note referring to?” “Why don’t I have edit privileges yet?!” “I swear I deleted that file yesterday.” “Why won’t my chapters stay in numerical order?!”

Google Docs Details Here

WORD PAD, TEXT EDIT, ETC: The “Oh dang, let me write this down” WPs.

- The Good: They’re quick.

- The Bad: They look like garbage and have next to no formatting.

- The Janky: Does “Kmart of the WP world” mean anything to you?

That concludes our look at Word Processors. I hope it helps those of you who are graduating from pencil and paper and are on the fence about where your WP allegiances should lie. Happy Writing.

Word Pad, Text Edit Details Here

Hey Everyone! Check out the songs that we sang together yesterday as a Church! Hope you have an amazing week!

Run To Me- Northstar Worship Arts

All We Need- Charlie Hall, Flying Into Day Break

Paint The Sky- Northstar Worship Arts

Our God- Chris Tomlin, Passion:Awakening

The Bible is without a doubt the most popular book in all of history. It has sold more copies than any other book ever published and continues to be the most purchased text today. That can be perceived in many ways. It could be because of the compelling narrative of the Scriptures. Stories like David and Bathsheba read like a popular episode of the latest TV drama. It could be because of it’s great literary value as the book contains poetry, lyrics, narrative, history, and apocalyptic genres that are all great writings in and of themselves. However, I believe that the reason for the popularity of the Word of God through out time is a great reflection of man’s search for redemption and hope and thankfully humanity seems to be searching in the right place.
The Bible is not only a book about God, it is God. John 1:1-4 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” The “Word” in this passage is referring to Christ himself and helps us to see that these Scriptures are not simply about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit they are the heart of the Godhead revealed to us. It’s through the Holy Scriptures that we see who God is, what he does, and how we are to reflect his glory ever more clearly in our lives. Our lives are lived in response to God and response requires revelation. To reflect God we must see God and learn about the truth of who he is and what he has done. It is by his Word in which we do so. The Bible is the full truth of who God is. However, it is true that we see God in other places as well. Look at what Psalm 19:1-4 says:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

We see God in nature. He is all around us and the earth and the heavens tell of his glory. We can also see the glory of God in our marriages, our children, and in art, but all of these things are devoid of the thing we need to see most about God; his holiness. It’s his holiness that reveals to us our need for redemption and only through his Word do we get a clear picture of what we truly deserve and what Christ did on the cross to rescue our souls from the wrath of our just and holy Father. God reveals himself in many ways, but only the Bible is the full revelation of God and the full truth of how we are called as his children to live lives in response to his amazing grace.
God’s plan for redemption unfolds like a beautiful sovereign tapestry throughout the entirety of the Holy Scriptures. In the beginning God showed us about the importance of faith in his relationships with Abraham, Noah, and Joseph. These men had no laws to live by until God gave the 10 commandments to Moses later. Their relationships with God weren’t about keeping the law they were about faith. Which is why these great men are later referred to by the writer of Hebrews in what many Christians refer to as “The Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. These great patriarchs showed their faith in God and went to be with him in eternity. I am often asked how those in the Old Testament, especially before the presentation of the law and the covenant, would come into eternal life and salvation with God and the answer is less complex than most think. They were saved through faith. They were saved through their faith in God and their faith manifested itself in their obedience to God’s commands. They had no written laws, but when these men heard from God they obeyed and were revered as fathers of not only the Jewish faith, but of the Christian faith as well.
After the presentation of the laws to Moses and his communicating of them to the Hebrew nation they still were saved by faith. They had faith just like the previously mentioned patriarchs that if they obeyed God he would be faithful to forgive them. So as the Jews followed the law that was given to them God had his hand of favor firmly upon them, but when they would rebel God would remove his hand. This became a vicious cycle for the Israelites. The would be living in harmony with God then they would disobey. God would then warn them through a prophet to return to him and obey him. The Hebrews wouldn’t listen and God would turn his back on them. The nation would then beg for God to rescue them and in his mercy and justice he would. God sovereignly new that this covenant wouldn’t last forever and through out the Old Testament spoke prophecies and words that a new covenant would one day come by way of a Savior, but it wouldn’t just be for the Israelites.
In Isaiah 60:3 the prophet spoke these words, “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.” When God chose the Israelites as his people he knew that his story of redemption was not just for them, but for all creation and that the Jews would be the “light” by which the rest of the world would find hope and salvation.
In his unmatched divine wisdom God orchestrated a sovereign symphony to crescendo with the birth of Christ right at the crux of all time. In the days when BC switched to AD the birth of the Savior of the world transpired and he began fulfilling more than 300 prophecies about him found in the Old Testament. Once, the people had to have faith that if they fulfilled the laws of God then God in his faithfulness would forgive them, but under the New Covenant they simply had to believe in the one who had come to perfectly fulfill the law and the prophecies once and for all. Christ declared this about himself in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Also, when Christ was transfigured on the mountain before his 3 closest disciples in Matthew 17 he appeared with Elijah, the greatest prophet to the Jews, and Moses, to whom God revealed the law. Jesus is salvation come. Not just for Israel but for the entire world. His death and resurrection tore the curtain in the temple and fully satisfied the wrath of God. This was the beautiful manifestation of both God’s infinite mercy and perfect justice. But this story of redemption and hope presses on in the Word of God.
Jesus returns to the Father after his resurrection where he sits at his right hand. He has empowered believers since the day at Pentecost by the Holy Spirit and given Christians the promise that they will do even greater things because he was going to be with the Father. That promise came true at Pentecost in one way as more people came to know Christ as Lord and Savior on that day than during Jesus’ entire earthly ministry. God gave us the Holy Spirit by which to live in the power of the resurrection and as the church grew throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Europe God gave us the letters to the churches, or Epistles, in his Word to instruct us on how to live out the Christian life. The central way God shares the love and salvation that only comes through Jesus is through the lives and testimonies of those who believe. Therefore, much of the doctrine of Christian churches is derived from the letters of Paul, Peter, and other writers of the New Testament Epistles. These writers tell us how to live out our faith that we may be used by God in reflecting his truth to those who do not know him. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” God wants our lives to shine his love so that the world may believe in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.
Paul tells us in his second letter to the church at Corinth 3:18, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” When Moses had seen the glory of the Lord he had to veil his face as to hide the glory of God from the Israelites. They could not behold it, but we have been made holy by Christ and Paul calls us to remove the veil and let the glory of Christ shine through our lives. He also says that glory should be “ever-increasing”. We should be growing in the degree to which we reflect Christ. We should be becoming more like Christ in the way we live our lives.
It’s this command that stirs my heart back to what the Bible really is. It is the revelation of God. If I want to be more like God, if I want to reflect his glory ever-increasingly then I need his Holy Word. It is the perfect truth of who he is and tells the story of why I need the sacrifice of God to rectify my relationship with God. It’s true that I can see the glory of God in creation, art, relationships, etc… but I can only know the truth of his love, redemption, and grace by loving, absorbing, and living out the truth revealed to me through his one and only Holy Word. This is why the Word of God has been and always will be the most influential book of all time. It is faith, hope, and love incarnate and the only place that man will find his life to lose it.

Thank you God for your Holy Word.

Sunday, our friend and team member Anthony Peterson performed an original spoken word piece entitled “Reminded”. It was a wonderfully inspiring piece about the depth of Psalm 24:1. Below is the video of that performance as well as the written poem. We hope it serves as a reminder that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.”

REMINDED
At times it seems that my feet have been cemented in my own debt.
It feels like my spiritual walk has been outlined in chalk
That reads the headlines of my regrets.
Don’t fret, I am reminded, rewind it, and bind up all Of your regrets,
For, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,”
“My child,” I have forgiven your debts.
So many lonely nights that I’ve invited despair to stare Into my soul.
The eyes of despair’s stare are always heartless and cold! Yet still I’m reminded, “My child,” rewind this, And bind it to your soul,
“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,” by faith I’ve made you whole!
When depression keeps pressing like linebackers blitzing
In my direction,
And I scramble in the wrong direction losing sight
Of my protection,
I am reminded, “My child,” I Am your protection,
Your direction, your center and linemen.
The earth is Mine and everything in it, I’ll lead you with perfect timing!
What about when my tears fall like tons, because they are
Full of pain!
As they crash into the earth’s surface and burst into flames!
I’m reminded, “My child,” as your tears fell to the earth
I extinguished The flames.
I replenished your soul; as the earth when it rains!
LORD I get it, now I see!
“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it
You blessed me before I came to be!
It was you Lord who has blessed me throughout my years
Of not knowing how quick the flesh will parish!
It was you Lord who has blessed me!
The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit within me!
I love you, Lord, the Trinity.
“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.”
His love is everlasting from beginning to ending!
“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.”
His love is everlasting from beginning to ending!

Hey Everyone! Check out the songs that we sang together yesterday as a Church! Hope you have an amazing week!

For Your Glory- Northstar Worship Arts

Your Love Never Fails- Jesus Culture, Your Love Never Fails

Rescue My Soul- Northstar Worship Arts

A few weeks ago we opened up a new opportunity to worship here at Northstar in what we call our Theatre venue. It’s actually set up like a small movie theatre and seats about 175. We wanted to offer a more “unplugged” worship environment to compliment what we were offering in the main auditorium. It’s been a great success so far, but as I had my first opportunity leading in that venue this past Sunday I was re-awakened to the vast differences in leading large group and small(er) group times of worship. I wanted to share 3 of these that I think will be helpful to those leading in the 15-100 range of people.

1.) Awareness:
Anytime you go into an environment that you’re not familiar with leading worship in you need to be aware of the kind of environment it is. It’s size, how wet or dry the room is, how the seating is arranged are all things that if ignored could be a surprise. Our theatre venue has movie theatre style seating, it’s a very dry room with curtained walls, and is a shotgun style room. The sound is good in the room, but very simple. People typically don’t sit up front in small rooms like this. I gathered that I would be dealing with a small crowd since this was a new opportunity and that people would be sitting far away from me. I knew there would be a tremendous opportunity for things to get awkward very quickly. Being aware of this I was able to prepare mentally and spiritually to engage a small group of people who would be sitting further away. That’s very different than engaging a packed room of 650 people with a full band. In our theatre the instrumentation is very simple so I had to be aware of that as well.

2.) Acclimation:
I went into the room a little early and plugged up and played through some of the songs alone before the other lead worshipper showed up. I got to hear the room, get a vision from the stage and pray for the services as I worshipped through a couple of the songs. It’s one thing to rehearse at home, but if you’re playing in a fresh room it’s going to sound and feel it’s own so it’s a good idea to spiritually and artistically acclimate yourself to these surroundings.

3.) Attitude:
When you’re in a new situation and especially in leading small(er) group times of worship there are sometimes great opportunities for awkwardness. This was a new opportunity for our church so the congregation came not knowing exactly what to expect. We need to make sure that whatever happens the people that we are leading in worship feed off of our attitude. If we are awkward and uncomfortable they will be, but if we are joyful and ready to worship no matter the situation they will feed from that. As leaders we have a tremendous effect on the room both in what we say and do and in our demeanor. Make sure that your attitude is prayerful and that you come expecting God do amazing things as we worship him.

These things apply in every worship setting, but in my experience small(er) group times of worship have more opportunity for things to get uncomfortable. The people can hear themselves singing, you typically don’t have lighting conducive for the situation, and the instrumentation is simpler. However, small(er) group worship has the beautiful opportunities for intimacy and simplicity that isn’t always found in our times of worship in the greater assembly. Above all realize that every time we worship it’s an opportunity for us to lead people into the presence of God and we as lead worshippers have the responsibility of doing all we can to make that experience a great one.