Lee Baker

I took a trip out West by myself once and was embarrassingly efficient at living cheap on the road. Two things that were certain were that in any given city in the United States, there was a McDonalds with a dollar menu and a Motel 6 with a $40 room. The interactions at these establishments (no matter where I was) were all the same; the taste of a McDouble, the passive attitude of workers, the stale air and smell of a cheap hotel room that says, “I’m used but cared for.” Ryan Bingham says it well of the universality of places like airports: “It’s these kinds of systemized friendly touches that keep [our] world in orbit.”

I had a conversation with a friend once concerning something I wrote about our mutual church home. To be truthful, it was more of a parody of the church universal than a critique of anything serious, but when the type of church you serve at becomes an entity of comfort that you can find in just about every city in the world, it starts to be sort of alarming. My friend said (of Northstar), “We’ve always been this church of tattooed, barefooted rebels,” and he expressed his hope that we never become a place that draws only upper-class people because of the expected, comfortable transaction they’ll take part in.

I did my best in that conversation to assure him I didn’t think that was what we had become, but that we had inevitably adopted some of those characteristics familiar to so many formula mega churches. The least concerning of these have to do with how we all brand things with catchy names that say nothing and fancy Photoshop work that drinks dry the well of Dafont.com. The more serious issues include how and why we attract and handle visitors. If you’re not careful, you can easily decide in your head that all churches with like methods are seeking to accomplish the same thing. It’s a mistake made in isolation.

I was reminded of this recently when visiting a church that, in every regard, seemed extremely familiar to me. In fact, if I were to have a strictly non-visual sensory experience there, I would assume I were attending a normal Sunday evening at Northstar. The differences became apparent as I studied my surroundings more carefully. Among the first things I identified was their mission statement. While Northstar is primarily aimed at seeking un-churched individuals, this particular body’s implied purpose was that of developing current believers and families. They were exceedingly efficient at it.

During their worship time, I seldom noticed a hand that wasn’t lifted in the auditorium. People were excitedly jumping and singing along to four songs I pretended to know. It vaguely reminded me of my time at Passion 2012. Both experiences left me wondering why sometimes during our own worship services at Northstar, it feels like we couldn’t pay the congregation enough money to respond. But then, as if I’d been ignoring the basest of all revelations for years and years, I suddenly understood: saints worship; the lost observe carefully (and skeptically) from safe distances.

In a moment when a lot of us are focused on numbers within our churches, this may be one of the most comforting things we can hear from God. Despite the fact that many of our churches subscribe to the same issues of Fabulous Foyers, Grandiose Graphics and Visitor Verbiage, and even though differences can rarely be drawn between us, a lot is defined in our convictions. What do our people say about our motivations? Not “what do they literally say?” but what do they say for us? All I can hope is that when our churches are still, it’s because we’re worshiping with the lost. That makes me feel different enough.

Matthew 22:15-22 (ESV)
Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

Jesus’s words here are an interesting choice to me and something that made me feel extremely valuable. When cornered by the Pharisees here with a question about paying taxes Jesus refers to the image or “likeness” on the Roman coin. He tells them this bears the image of Caesar so give Caesar what is his, but also tells the Pharisees to give to God what is his. Guess what bears God’s image? You. Though our money and some of the things of this world may bear the images of others the image of God is on our very souls. We belong to God.

Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

We bear the image of God and we belong to him. So if you feel unimportant, invaluable, or depressed know that you were created in the image of the Creator of the Universe, the only God and not only did he create you in his amazing and beautiful image, but when humanity fell he spent the life of his Son to rescue us back to himself. When you look in the mirror today realize who’s image you bear, realize who’s power lives inside of you, and surrender yourself to the loving God who created you. You are made in his glorious image.

Time capsules always seem to catch the imagination, mainly because no one has any idea what is in them. It could be anything. The items could be hundreds of years old.  But, usually it is not the gold coins or stocks and bonds people are hoping for. Normally, it is a collage or collection of stuff that represents the  every day function of society at that time. The idea is simple. By opening the time capsule, people will know what life was like at that time.

There are unlimited possibilities that would represent our society. We could include a gallon of gas which may make someone rich in the future. Or, a t-shirt that says “I waited 100 years to open a time capsule and all I got was this lousy shirt!”  Or, a newspaper. Or, a video of Roy doing his Michael Jackson imitation. Or, an iPhone. Or, a note that says if time travel has been invented come back to Panama City in 2012 and give me the lottery numbers for any week in February. Or, an explanation of why we wore our pants on the ground. Or, why we loved William Hung from American Idol.

It makes me wonder what we would offer up for Northstar Church as our legacy in a time capsule. So hundreds of years from now, when our descendants remove that time capsule from the corner of Northstar Church, and open up that shiny, stainless-steel time vault, what will they find? To me, the time capsule would need only as many items as necessary to firmly establish one fundamental truth. Those item(s) would be something that would enable those opening the time capsule to truly see how we believed with all our heart that Jesus Christ is the good news and the salvation for the entire world, and the answer to real problems. After perusing the items, the person who opened the time capsule would say, not only is it a testament to the past history of Northstar Church given by the faithfulness of God, but it is also a living example of Ephesians 3:20-21:  “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

If Christ truly is good news for the world, then our commitment to Him must be more than a legacy, or a church building. Several hundred years from now it won’t matter how many people attended Northstar, or how large our offerings were, or how many satellites we started.  What will matter is those we have led to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, how we worshiped God and served a hurting world, and how we discipled people and sent workers into the field.

Our legacy should be how through our talents, energy and contributions, we left the church  a little different, a little stronger, a little better than the first day we walked through the doors. That is what will stand the test of time.

In last Sunday’s message, Marty and I talked about how we can be transformed.

Not just how to change what we do (which results in temporary change), but how to change what we want to do (which results in permanent change).

I hope you have joined us this week in applying the 5 principles from Romans 12 for transformation.

What we didn’t tell you on Sunday is there is one change that will change everything for you.

It’s found in Romans 12:2

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Let’s break down what the verse says.

We can be transformed.

How? By renewing our minds.

And what is the purpose for renewing our minds? To be transformed? Yes, but also to prove that the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect.

You see, proving the will of God to be good, acceptable and perfect is exactly the same has being transformed.

Why is this? Because the degree to which you believe God’s will is good, acceptable and perfect is the degree to which you will be transformed.

Every time you have ever sinned is because at the moment you sinned, you believed that what you wanted was better or more desirable than God’s will.

So how do you prove to yourself that God’s will is good and acceptable and perfect?

I’m glad you asked.

Let’s review:

1. Refocus your mind
2. Humbly evaluate yourself
3. Get group support
4. Fill your life with love
5. Nurture your enthusiasm

My prayer is that you’ll join us on this breathtaking, heart stopping, eXtreme adventure  of transformation.

And of course you can’t do by yourself.

So if you haven’t already, join  a small group here.

About a year ago I invited many of you to join me in attempting to eat only when we were physically hungry and stop eating when we were full for 21 consecutive days.

In an astounding display of self-control… it took me only three tries.

After completing the “21 Day Hungry Eater’s Challenge” my goal was to continue a lifestyle of self-controlled eating and consistent exercise.

If you remember last years challenge you may have at some point thought to yourself, “Hey, is Roy still fat? I thought he was supposed to be doing some sort of self controlled eating thing?” Actually, I suspect you have a lot better things to think about (like if that snippy blonde on The Bachelor is really a plant).  But I did have that exact thought recently.

After some honest evaluation I realized I had slowly, over several months, allowed myself to become less diligent in my eating habits.

Usually when I set a goal I try to measure my progress…and it was becoming apparent I had stopped making any.

And so for several weeks I did what most people do when they stop making progress. I tried harder (even though I know through past experience this is a completely worthless strategy).

Albert Einstein said the  definition of insanity is “to continue to do the same thing over and over and expect different results” (he also said “E=MC²” but I’ll save that for another blog).

I realized just trying harder to do the same thing was not going to change the results. I needed to change my strategy.

So I found a friend who would allow me to keep a journal of what I ate each day and send it to him for accountability. It was a great help to have a friend praying specifically for me (and it didn’t hurt knowing I had to write down “emptied freezer of all dessert products” if I lost control one night).

I am happy to report that this adjustment has resulted in my once again making progress.

But it took some honest evaluation and the willingness to change (instead of just try harder)

           Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves – Romans 12:3

And did I mention that my I met my friend in a Northstar Group (you knew I was going there eventually, didn’t you)?

You can sign up for a group at www.northstar.cc/smallgroups/

You’ll be glad you did.

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.