Please Father, Steal My Show This Sunday

Last Sunday I was bopping down the road with a contemporary Christian radio station on and was blown away by a Toby Mac song I had not heard before: “Steal My Show.” The lyrics are basically a prayer before a concert asking God to take over the “show.” Here are the lyrics of the chorus:

If you want to steal my show

I’ll sit back and watch you go

If you’ve got something to say

Go on and take it away.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=149eaHcrPHA&list=FL9ob471u_BJ8O-VN1SCau8w&feature=share)

It reminded me of my prayers when I first started preaching. I was always very nervous and I would ask the Lord to calm me and take over, because whatever I did or said was His show and I felt Him remind me that if I truly made it His show, He would not sponsor a flop.

Thanks, Toby Mac, for giving me such a great reminder. In recent years, production values have become much more important in morning worship. Not that we didn’t try to do our best back in the day, but now there are so many more things at our disposal: worship bands, music videos, illustration videos, funny videos, etc. And sound systems are now unbelievable in their complexity as well as their quality. Teaching pastors and worship leaders, even in relatively small churches, spend a lot of time with the production of the service. This is not a criticism. Worship should be the best we can make it with what we have. But, the pressure these days to “put on a good show” is tremendous.

I guess it was always like that. In the past, the pressure was on the choir director to get his group to make a harmonic sound, and the organist did her/his best to make the old instrument sound worshipful, but now the emphasis is a bit different. Sometimes leaders feel like they’re in competition with the church down the street. That may be true, but only for a few church s-hoppers—not for the majority of prospects. Our competition for them is an easy Sunday morning in bed. So, we still need to make sure we do our best.

First and foremost, our worship is supposed to be aimed at God. The object is not to glorify you, but to glorify Him. After all the hard preparation work, worship leaders and pastors should take a moment and remember why they worked so hard to produce an excellent time of worship. Make sure the focus is on our Lord. (I spoke at one church where the worship band was in a stage pit instead of front and center. It was a brand new church auditorium, so it was by design to keep the focus of the service on the cross, not on those serving in leadership.) He gave His best for us, His Son, so He deserves our best. Any applause should be for Him, not for us. This should be obvious, but is it always?

Second, in our time, at least in America, Sunday morning worship has become the receiving room for the church. A healthy church will offer many doors to prospective Christ-followers: small groups, children’s ministry, student ministry, recovery ministry, sports ministry, to name only a few, but for most churches gathering together for worship is the main event. So, we need to do our best.

Third, Sunday morning worship is still a vital part of winning a prospective Christian to Christ and discipleship. It should not be all that we do, but it is an important part.

Fourth, Sunday morning worship reveals our priorities. Is God really the reason we come together? Are we interested in new people? Do we want newcomers to understand the Gospel? Therefore, we need to do our best.

But, all we can do, in this case, is not all we can do. We MUST submit our efforts to the Lord. We must ask Him to not only use what we have prepared, but do more with it than we can imagine. We must, as Toby Mac put it, ask Him to “steal my show.” After all, it’s not our show. It is His. It is for Him, from Him, and because of Him.

Please, Father, steal my show!

What Now?

It has been a year and a half since I resigned as pastor in Kokomo. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out what God wants me to do with this next chapter of my life. The Lord drew my attention to a verse of scripture that has become my theme:

“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation.” Psalm 71:18a (NIV)

This is exactly what I want to do.  Accordingly, I have looked at several possibilities:

1. I looked at becoming a specialist in helping churches as an interim pastor. I did an interim last fall and enjoyed my time with the church in Walla Walla, Washington. To do interim work on a full-time basis is tough, because you never have a real home. You move every nine months or so. That becomes problematic on several levels. I don’t think that it would work for our family as a permanent way of life. However, doing an interim from time to time could be possible.

2. I had hopes of overseeing a group of churches. I spent a long time going through an extensive candidating process with an area church fellowship, even becoming a finalist, but someone else was chosen, so that door was closed.

3. I asked the Lord if He was done with me in ministry and should I look for a secular job? I considered this carefully, but I’m trained and experienced in ministry. Even though I have a master’s degree in business, I have used it solely in the context of ministry. Besides, the secular job world was not crying out for this old pastor.

4. What I would most like to do is to consult and coach pastors and churches. This would directly fulfill Ps. 71:18a, and I think I could help churches that are plateaued or declining see what they need to do to get moving in a positive direction. My age would help me challenge older church members to get behind younger pastors who want to make the changes necessary for a church to reach the next generation. Making a living at consulting and coaching is not a very easy proposition. I’ll continue to seek ways I can do this, but I won’t rely on it as a way to put bread on the table.

5. Perhaps, the most obvious thing for me to do is to return to pastoring somewhere. I put my name out to churches that are looking for pastors, and I had preliminary interviews with six churches and been invited to candidate by five of them. To each I have said no. Not because they were bad situations. All of them held good possibilities. As a matter of fact, two of the churches are larger than any of the churches I have led. I just did not feel that God was calling me to any of them. This past week, when I turned down the last two of these churches, it finally occurred to me that God doesn’t want me to pastor anywhere at this time.

6. Then what am I going to do? What has God led me to do? For the last six months or so I have been working as the administrator for Tina Houser Ministries. I kind of fell into it, because Tina is my wife, her ministry has been growing at an explosive pace, and she needed some help. I’m doing things that I haven’t done very much (bookkeeping), learning to do some new stuff (website maintenance), and getting to brag about my wife (promoting her books and her workshops). I get to travel with her (and lug her books and stuff around), and see her shine as she shares her heart for ministry to children. This is what I believe God wants me to do now. It is a means by which I can make an impact on the next generation. This is a part-time job, so I’ll continue to seek ways to serve the church. Actually, the thing that has made this a hard decision is that it lacks financial security, but Tina and I both believe that God is directing us to do this. In a couple of weeks we are moving to Woodstock, Georgia, at least, temporarily. We will get to be near our son and his wonderful wife. We’ll get to be grandparents to our beautiful grandtwins (see above). In addition, I hope to do some preaching, and I’ll have time to do some consulting or coaching, should those opportunities present themselves. Finally, for the first time in 38 years I will be involved in a local church without being on the pastoral staff. (By the way, I intend to be some pastor’s big supporter!)

So, if you see Tina anywhere in the world, you will probably see me behind her book table. And, if your church can use my help, I am very available. Thank you to all those who have been praying for me through this time. You have been a rock for me. Please keep looking for this blog. I plan to continue to use this platform to share with you all and to proclaim God’s power to the next generation.

My Talents, Time, and All

The other night I was awakened by a dream. That happens from time to time, but always before, it was when I had a nightmare. Usually, I wake up just as I am falling off a high cliff or a ladder (or stage), but this time it was different. The dream woke me up, not because it was scary; in fact, it made me feel good … kind of puzzled, but good.

Here’s what happened in my dream.
I was with a group of people who had been in my youth group when I first started in the ministry. We were all the age we are now. One of the women had brought us all together for some kind of reunion and it was a lot of fun. We gathered round a fire at the close of the celebration to sing some songs we sang in church and youth group in the old days. I awoke when we sang,

My life, O Lord, I give to Thee,
My talents, time, and all;
I’ll serve Thee, Lord, and faithful be,
I’ll hear Thy faintest call.

I lay there for several minutes thinking about the dream and the song in particular. The words were familiar, but at first I couldn’t remember which song they were from. As I thought about it, I began to remember the words to the verses and recalled the song as one of the songs often used at the close of worship. It was part of the invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. It went along with the theme of much of what Pastor Jones talked about. Over and over he told us, “God has something He wants you to do, and you have to find out what it is.” He was all about total commitment to following Christ. That little chorus brought back the times when I decided to accept Christ as Savior, to invite Him to guide me, and to use my life for His purposes. In other words, this was one of the songs that the church was singing when I fell in love with Jesus. I hadn’t heard it or thought of it for years. I love contemporary music, but some of the old songs like this one, also hold deep meaning for my life.

I spent the day thinking of the dream, the song, and what it might mean. I had never before had a dream that I thought meant anything. (Except, perhaps, that I should keep myself from falling.) Was the Lord trying to tell me something through a dream? I know He sometimes speaks to people that way, but not me, at least not before now. When I sang those words as a youth, I meant them. I heard His call—to go to a private Christian college and seminary, to youth ministry, then pastoral ministry, later to church planting, then back to pastoral ministry. This last year and a half I have been trying to figure out what God wants me to do with the next chapter of my life. I have applied for several jobs that I thought fit my gifts and calling, and I turned down some that didn’t. I was disappointed when the position I really thought I wanted, and for which I was best suited, was given to someone else. Let me admit that I have been confused, frustrated, and sometimes felt sorry for myself. Through this dream God reminded me of the commitment I made to Him as a teenager. I think He is asking me if I still have that same trust in Him. So now I am renewing my commitment to do whatever He wants me to do. I’m not going to try to make something happen on my own, but I am going to be open to whatever He brings my way. Right now, I am enjoying my work as the administrator for Tina Houser Ministries. Basically, my role is to make it easier for her to do her workshops, be her traveling companion, sell her books, and take care of her website. In addition, I am speaking wherever I am invited, and writing this blog. I remain open to whatever else God lays across my path to do. Will it be a full-time ministry position of some kind? Part-time? I don’t know, but I will do what is set before me. Also, I am listening for His further call, if He has something else, or something additional He wants me to do. “I shall be wholly Thine.”

By the way the little chorus comes from the song “Consecration” by Andrew L. Byers and Mildred E. Howard. Below are the lyrics for the entire song. They move me still.

Since Jesus gave His life for me,
Should I not give Him mine?
I’m consecrated Lord, to Thee,
I shall be wholly Thine.

Chorus:
My life, O Lord, I give to Thee,
My talents, time, and all;
I’ll serve Thee, Lord, and faithful be,
I’ll hear Thy faintest call.

I care not where my Lord directs,
His purpose I’ll fulfill;
I know He ev’ry one protects
Who does His holy will.

My home and friends are dear to me,
Yet He is dearer still;
In my affection first He’ll be,
And first His righteous will.

My all, O Lord, to Thee I give,
Accept it as Thine own;
For Thee alone I’ll ever live,
My heart shall be Thy throne.