Last Sunday Gorgeous and I were commissioned by our current church to begin the work of establishing a new church. Obviously everything is in its very early stages but if you’re interested you can read more at www.networkfellowship.org. I mentioned to a couple of people that the last time I remember feeling as nervous as I did on that Sunday morning was the day of my wedding.
It’s not so much that I was worried or anything, and it’s not as if I haven’t been up in front of that particular group of people before but like the day I got married there was a whole new life to look forward to, one that I was excited about; but at the same time filled with quite a few unknowns. In the lead up to the wedding Gorgeous and I prepared for our new life as best we could and for the most part we were as ready as we were ever going to be (It’ll be 10 years in December so we must have done something right). But what single person really knows what they’re getting themselves into? All you really have is your commitment to each other and to God and the rest you sort out as you go along.
I draw some parallels to our current new adventure. We believe God has called us to this ministry and we’ve done our best to prepare as best we could, but in the end all we have is our commitment to Him and desire to serve.
Gorgeous and I put on a farewell concert for our friends and family over the weekend. It was great to have everyone together and have a chance to speak words of appreciation and encouragement. Among others, we sung some that I have written over the years that have been used in various churches including our current fellowship.
This one was written about 10 years ago. I don’t recall the circumstances surrounding how it was written but the sentiment ten years on hasn’t changed. All sorts of things can befall us in life, good things and bad things, some as a result of our own actions, some because the sun and the rain fall on everyone (Matthew 5:45). All these different experiences can be used as an excuse to move away from God OR to come before once again and put Him in His rightful place and offers ourselves to Him (Romans 12:1).
Years ago (hmmm, we’re talking about 17 years ago) I worked for a Christian media production house. While the main focus was on radio we also did video and television production which is the area that I worked in. One of the programs we did was about prominent Kiwi Christian sportspeople. This was when Michael Jones was still in the All Blacks (the priests of New Zealand’s state religion ;) ) so he was one of the people we interviewed. We also interviewed Chris Nicholson (beware this link goes to a PDF file (sorry only decent info I could find)) who is a dual Olympian competing in cycling at the Barcelona games and also the short course ice racing in the Winter Olympics in that same year.
As a cyclist he spent a number of seasons on the European circuit and mentioned how he was often under a fair bit of pressure to get a good rank in a race because the resulting prize money would mean he would be able to eat, etc. Our interviewer remarked that this must have been quite good motivation. His response is something that has stayed with me and influenced my thinking ever since.
As a worship (as in music) leader in my church I often think about what is “true worship” and also the context in which it occurs and how to foster it. It’s likely to be something I come back to frequently, so since this blog is kind of a big mind map for me (which you get to peek into) I thought I’d better get a starting point.
This is what I wrote recently in a letter expressing interest in some church jobs in California that might be available and just sharing a little bit about my attitude / approach to ministry.
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