Heart Soul and Might

I am EXTREMELY passionate about world missions and am busy putting together the details for my fifth missions trip, October 19-November 2 to Kenya and Nigeria… We have a stellar team of 11 people going from Fellowship to facilitate a Worship Leadership and Marriage Conference, partnering with Celestin Musekura and ALARM (African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries).

So, I was interested to read Mark Driscoll’s post on “A Pastor’s role in world missions” on his Resurgence blog. I resonated with every word… And then… found out it was a message by John Piper from 1984! No wonder I was compelled by the message. I listen to Piper’s podcast on my iPod every morning when I run. Here is an excerpt:

The way a pastor sees his role in relation to world missions will depend on his vision of God and his view of man. And these in turn depend primarily upon his grasp of Scripture and secondarily upon his awareness of our contemporary global situation.

So what I would like to try to do this morning is present the vision of God and the view of man that the Scriptures have thrust upon me, and then spell out some of the implications for world missions and the pastor’s role in it.

Read the whole post here. It’s not just for pastors. And…It is VERY good.

I went by myself to our local theatre last night to see The Da Vinci Code and see for myself if it really lived up to all of its terrible ratings, and… in that respect I was not disappointed. It was pretty bad. I thought the book was very engaging and with all of the twists and turns with anagrams, codes and things to decipher, it kept my attention. Of course, I was offended by the outrageously heretical and blasphemous claims of Jesus having a relationship with Mary Magdalene and fathering her daughter, the historical revisions concerning Constantine and the development of the Biblical canon… but as far as murder mystery books go, I knew it had all the makings of a blockbuster when I read it a few years ago. Click here for my post on the Da Vinci Code’s “perfect storm.”

But the movie was nothing like the book. There was little character development, hardly any intrigue and I thought some pretty poor directing choices - not to mention nothing really spectacular of any of the acting… even our beloved Tom Hanks.

To do the book justice, Ron Howard really needed to make about a 5-hour movie… which of course, you can’t get away with no matter the content. But Ron didn’t really even do all he could have with the 2 hours and 29 minutes I graciously gave him.

And that’s why I was pleasantly pleased when I left the theatre. I came away from reading the book thinking… this could do some damage to some people’s faith because of it’s claim to fact and truth. I came away from the movie thinking… this isn’t going to do much damage to Christianity because it is so obviously FICTION, and not really good fiction at that. In fact, the opportunities the producers have to really inflict damage on Christianity really fall miserably short. So short, that I think they look pretty foolish. They even took the obvious pot-shots at the Catholic polity in the Vatican and didn’t create anywhere near the controversy that the book did.

All that to say… as fan of good films, I was sorely disappointed. But as a lover of God and truth, I was elated. Yes, this film will raise questions in many people… But if someone’s faith is weak enough to be swayed by this poor piece of art, their faith was on thin ice to begin with. This poor excuse for a blockbuster film was a snoozer. And the only damage it did to me was steal $8.50 from my wallet I could have used at Starbucks this week.

More good stuff from Bob Kauflin at Worship Matters:

This is my last post (for now) on the topic of bodily expression in corporate worship. Let me say again that in issues regarding our faith, physical expressiveness in corporate worship is an important but secondary issue. I have no problem worshiping God with a church that may be more enthusiastic or reserved than I’m used to, as long as they are proclaiming the same Gospel and glorying in the same Savior.

However, our culture tends to separate head and heart, doctrine and devotion. Some congregations sing profoundly biblical lyrics with no visible effect (which doesn’t always mean they aren’t affected). Other churches are enthusiastically expressive, but seem to be pursuing experiences more than God (which again isn’t always true). So that leads to a fourth suggestion to help a church grow in natural expressiveness:

4. Preach and sing the Word, works, and worth of God, centered on the Gospel, to raise the affections of people for God.

This might have made a better first point. We don’t help people grow in God-glorifying expressiveness simply by explaining it or telling them to lift their hands. Teaching and encouragement may be necessary at times, but directing people’s gaze toward God’s glory in Christ is our ultimate motivation and goal.

Our bodies naturally reflect what affects us. I cringe when a glass of milk is about to be knocked over; I open my arms wide as my daughter runs to greet me; I jump up from the couch with my hands upraised when my team scores the winning goal; I gratefully applaud unselfish acts of service; I cry when a friend’s child dies. Is the church the only place where our bodies can’t express what our minds are comprehending and our hearts are feeling?

So our goal must be to help people hear, see, and understand the right things. What does this look like? As we sing “No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand,” some might raise their hands to thank God that His plans to save us can not be thwarted. As we sing, “My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part but the whole, has been nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,” some might kneel in grateful adoration that ALL their sins have been paid for. After singing, “Crown Him ye kings with many crowns for He is King of all!” we might hear joyful acclamations of praise to the omnipotent, sovereign, reigning Savior.

Even when my heart isn’t affected by what I’m singing, expressing my devotion to God bodily can stir up affection in my heart. I raise my hands because God IS worthy to be exalted. I kneel because I AM completely dependent on God for mercy, sustenance, and wisdom. My feet move for joy because my greatest problem – my sin against the holy God – has been solved through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Of course, at the end of the day, I’d rather be sitting in the midst of a quiet congregation that is singing rich, doctrinal truths than be jumping around with a lively congregation that is belting out shallow, man-centered songs. But why not pursue both? God doesn’t intend for us to have to choose. We can experience theological depth AND passionate expression.

Our physical expression should help people see the greatness of God’s glory in Christ. It may feel uncomfortable at times. We may find ourselves on our knees, broken over our sin, while others sing on, seemingly unaffected. It will mean we have to make every effort to engage with GOD, and not simply our emotions. It will certainly mean that we’ll never think any physical expression is adequate to fully express our amazement at God’s mercy in drawing us to Himself through the Savior. It will look different at different times, in different churches, and in different cultures. But there’s no question that we have to help those in our congregations understand that God is worthy of our deepest, strongest, and purest affections. And that our bodies should show it.

My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being!
Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great above the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. (Ps. 108:1-4)

HT: Worship Matters 

Part 3 of Bob Kauflin’s discussion on physical expression in corporate worship (from Worship Matters):

I’ve been talking about how to help a church grow in physical expression that draws attention to the greatness of God’s glory in Christ. After teaching on the appropriateness of that expression in worshipping God and the importance of the heart, I’d move on to:

3. Address the different reasons people might be reserved in their expression and teach on preferring others.

Some Christians are simply unaware of what the Bible teaches about physical responses to God. They don’t know that Scripture is filled with examples of exuberant, passionate worship (Psalm 150; Neh. 8:6; Rev. 5:11-14). Perhaps they’ve grown up in a church environment that elevated certain types of expressions and ignored others. Often simply understanding what the Bible says will bring about a greater freedom in expression.

Others restrict their responses to God because they’re afraid of what others might think. They wonder if their image as a “respectable” Christian will be tarnished. They’re concerned that people might think they’re pursuing emotionalism. The Bible calls this the fear of man (Prov. 29:25). Our responses to God are based on His worthiness, not our any image or reputation we may be trying to protect.

Some think it’s hypocrisy to express honor towards God physically when they don’t feel anything in their hearts. On the contrary, it’s only hypocritical when we act a certain way to give others a false impression of our spirituality. A better response is to acknowledge our lack of desire for God as evidence of our innate sinfulness, and to begin to fill our minds with truths about His kindness, mercy, holiness, grace, and goodness, especially expressed to us in the Gospel. We then act in faith, trusting that God will give us a greater passion for Him.

Another reason our physical actions to God are tempered is theological presuppositions. I have good friends I respect deeply who love God passionately, know the Bible much better than I do, and are more reserved in their physical expressiveness. They believe our worship is to be characterized by an attitude of reverence and awe (Heb. 12:28), soberness and solemnity. It’s true that reverence and awe are essential to biblical worship, but can’t bowing down or lifting hands be a sign of that as well? Also, it’s impossible to ignore the multitude of examples and commands in Scripture that emphasize celebration, passion, delight, and exuberance, all reflected through our bodies. The question to ask ourselves is this: Is there any physical expression of worship that God has given us in Scripture that I’ve never displayed? If so, why?

Finally, some think that worship is a matter of the heart, not the body. Actually, both are crucial. If I told my wife that I loved her in my heart, but never demonstrated it through physical actions, I doubt that she would believe me. We wouldn’t have much of a marriage either.

In every church there will be varying degrees of physical expressiveness. While the focus of our bodily expression is God Himself, we are called in love to do what is edifying to others (1 Cor. 14:12; 13:1-8). That means I don’t break into loud shouting and enthusiastic dancing just because I feel like it. I want people to see the glory and greatness of God, not my physical displays. I also don’t assume that those who are physically expressive are seeking attention, hypocritical, or insensitive to others. Perhaps God wants me to learn from their unhindered and sincere expressiveness.

Our focus should be exalting God in a way that magnifies both His infinite holiness and His unfathomable grace which has brought us near to Him through Jesus Christ. Our culture, personality, or background doesn’t ultimately determine what that looks like – God does. May our churches be filled with the kind of truth and expression that most clearly communicates to others the value of the One we worship.

Every Friday is Fenelon Friday, where we drink from the very deep well of my favorite 17th century French Bishop in the Catholic Church. (Everyone should have a little Fenelon with their coffee in the morning…) Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon (born 1651) was a mentor to a number of younger men on the court of Louis XIV. Many of Fenelon’s writings are actually letters he wrote to some of these young leaders as they sought to walk the life of faith in the face of opposition and adversity. My life has greatly benefitted by this man of faith.

Sensitivity to Reproof is the Surest Sign We Needed It

I certainly want you to have inner peace. But I think you know that this peace does not exist, except for the humble. And there is no real humility unless it is produced by God in every situation. This is especially true in those situations when we are blamed for something by someone who disapproves of us, and when we realize our inner weaknesses. But we might as well get used to both of these trials, for they are tests which we will face again and again.

It is a good sign of real, God-produced humility when we are no longer shocked by the correction of others, nor by the resistance within. Like little children, we know very well that those correcting us are right, but we also humbly acknowledge the fact that we cannot, by ourselves, make the necessary corrections. We know what we are, and we have no hope of becoming any better except through the mercy of God. The reproofs of others, harsh and unfeeling as they may be, seem to be less than we really deserve. If we find ourselves rebelling and getting irritable, we should understand that this irritability under correction is worse than all our other faults put together. And we know that correction is not going to make us any more humble than it finds us. If we have inner resentment at being corrected that just shows how deeply correction is needed. In fact, the sting of correction wouldn’t be felt at all if the old self were dead. So the more correction hurts, the more we see how necessary it is.

Francois de Salignac de La Mothe Fenelon, Let Go, pp. 48-49.

Part 2 of Bob Kauflin’s discussion on physical expression in corporate worship (from Worship Matters):

Last Friday I started to answer this question from a pastor:

“Exactly how, and how much should we encourage our people to follow the numerous commands throughout Scripture of bodily expression (as a natural outpouring of the heart)?”

I began by saying we must teach our people that physical expression is appropriate in biblical worship. We aren’t disembodied spirits. God intends that we use our whole beings to bring him praise (Ps. 16:9). But how and how much? We don’t simply tell people to “sing like they mean it,” or “jump higher for Jesus,” although in my early zeal to see God honored I crossed that line a few times. Commanding a physical response can produce artificial affection and actually end up being dishonoring to God. Nevertheless, it’s clear from Scripture God expects us to use our bodies to glorify Him both in corporate worship and in all of life. He is infinitely glorious, desirable, good, and worthy of our strongest and purest affections.

The second thing I’d do is teach that physical expression should flow from a heart that desires to bring God glory, and that outward expressions are no sign one way or the other that someone is offering God acceptable worship. God strongly rebukes those who think physical expression makes up for an idolatrous heart or disobedient life. Moving our church into greater physical expressivness that’s not rooted in a clear view of God’s glory will hinder, not help, true worship.

One of the actions that supposedly signifies spirituality is lifting hands. Lifting hands can express a wide range of emotions and attitudes - dependence, gratefulness, expectation, reverence, or celebration. However, God condemned both the actions and motives of the Israelites through His prophet Isaiah.

When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. (Is. 1:15)

The hands we lift to worship God should be holy hands (1 Tim. 2:8), made so through our humble trust in the atoning work of the Savior.

In our culture singing has become almost synonymous with worship. But God turns a deaf ear to singing that isn’t accompanied by righteous living.

“Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:23-24)

I’ve known more than one person who was exuberant in corporate worship who lived in unrepentant sin. I’ve also known people who exhibit little physical expression on Sundays but have a thorough knowledge of Scripture, an exemplary life, and a profound love for the Savior. We never prove our devotion to God by external acts alone. God looks upon the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about helping people understand the possible reasons people are non-expressive in corporate worship, and how we can serve one another in this area.

I wanted to wait until I had the time to do this post justice - hence, waiting over a week following our 2nd annual EXPRESS Festival of the Arts… The Festival ran Friday and Saturday, May 12-13 on the campus of Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, TN - and it was amazing! What an incredible expression of worship as our church body celebrated the gifts of over 100 artists displaying or performing over the weekend to the glory of God. It was truly an unforgettable and God-honoring weekend.

Over 40 visual artists from Fellowship displayed their creations in two of our buildings plus and exhibition tent in the parking lot. You can see, from the picture on the right, how the displays were arranged… and these halls line with booths were crowded all day. Many of the artists sold their work, and most of them stayed near their booths throughout the day to answer questions and interact with those walking through. There were painters, film-makers, mixed-media artists, potters, sculptors, jewelry makers…

We also had over 30 musical performances at five different venues through the campus starting Friday night with our Writers in the Round concert and concluding Saturday night with our “559 Coffeehouse” concert.Here on the left is Sam Mullins in concert in the Barn… Sam has had cuts with Diamond Rio, Michael W. Smith, Avalon and many others. He is a pretty incredible songwriter and also performed Friday night at the writers in the round concert.

Others in concert included Ronnie Freeman (Artist in Residence and worship leader at Fellowship), Jeni Varnadeau (just finished her 6th CD project), John Russell (great country songwriter), Kara Williamson, and many others.

Our Friday night Writers in the Round concert was one of the highlights from my perspective. The first hour featured songwriters Nathan and Christy Nockels (known as Watermark, and worship leaders at Fellowship), Ronnie Freeman, Tony Wood and Don Koch (over 30 #1 hits and many Dove Awards). Don didn’t have a voice so he brought friend and artist Alan Asbury to sing for him. I joked with Don that it was a blessing his voice was shot, because Alan sang Don’s song “In Christ Alone” better than Michael English ever did. (Dove award for Song of the Year back in 1994 I believe.) Ronnie sang a few songs off his new record coming out this fall… Christy blew everyone away as usual… singing “Knees to the Earth” - a song they penned for a Passion conference a couple years back.

The second hour featured Sam Mullins, pictured above, Chad Cates (who sang 2004 Dove Award Song of the Year “Everything To Me”) and John Brennan Russell. All three guys were amazing and it was very fun to hear the story behind the song from some extremely talented writers. John brought the house down with “You’re Too Ugly (To Be Cheating on Me)” - But I haven’t been able to find the right place for that song in any of our upcoming worship services for some reason.
Definitely one of the most beautiful and inspiring elements of the Festival was the two Saturday performances of our Dance Exhibition - featuring our very own Fellowship School of Dance. A forty minute program showcased students from all ages - age 5 up through high school. It was pretty incredible.We also were able to bring in the Still Point Dance Company, a Nashville-area professional dance company that our School of Dance is partnering with. Dance displays God’s glory in a way that no other art form can. The movement of the human body, created in the image of God, done with excellence is matched by almost nothing else. One word: WOW.

Fellowship is privileged to have Kurt Heinecke on the worship team… Kurt is the Music Director for Big Idea - the creators of VeggieTales - and Kurt was able to pull some strings so Fellowship could be the host for the EXPRESS Festival Sneak Peek of the return of LarryBoy in the latest VeggieTales episode “LarryBoy and the Bad Apple”. Kurt composes the music for all of VeggieTales’ shows, and did a wacky behind-the-scenes whirlwind tour of VeggieTales music following the Sneak Peek. Our Worship Center was packed with kids for this special event. It was a lot of fun for both kids and adults, and a big draw for family’s to make a trip to the Festival.

One of the highlights of the Festival - and by far the highest attended event - was the afternoon performance of the Drum Maniacs. I introduced the Drum Maniacs as 8 of the most percussively dangerous men on the planet and they did not disappoint. They performed pieces composed by Chris Brush, Mark Hammond and Mike Powell… and even had a very special guest. Yes… I had a cameo appearance for a cowbell solo during the middle of one of the pieces. I have to admit, I think I got the crowd chanting and swaying. (not!) But, it was a blast! (yes…that’s me on the infamous cowbell solo on the left)

This Festival was an incredible display of artistic expression from a body of believers that is blessed with an incredible amount of artistic talent. We simply want to be good stewards of the talent with which we’ve been blessed, and this Festival was a great way to expose the rest of the church and community to excellent artistic expression ALL to God’s glory!

This from Bob Kauflin at Worship Matters:

After the Together for the Gospel conference, I received a lengthy e-mail from a worship pastor in attendance who shared a current dilemma his pastoral team is facing. They have been “wrestling with how to best be obedient to Scripture in our corporate worship through song.” His church contains people who are “naturally NOT very expressive AT ALL” during that time. So he asks:

“Exactly how, and how much should we encourage our people to follow the numerous commands throughout Scripture of bodily expression (as a natural outpouring of the heart)?

First, I want to thank this pastor and his team for their humility in seeking to wrestle through this issue from a biblical perspective. His background and training have minimized physical expression, but he is realizing that although bodily expression in worship is not the MAIN issue, it can reflect an inward reality.

Responses to this question range from sober reverence – “do what you’d do in the presence of royalty” -  to complete freedom – “do whatever God commands in Scripture.” I think the answer is a little more nuanced than either of these extremes suggest. For that reason, I want to take a few posts to answer this question.

Here are my recommendations for how to lead your church into biblical physical expression. (I adapted these four points from Mark Alderton, a pastor in one of the Sovereign Grace Churches in Minnesota.)

1.    Teach on the appropriateness of physical expression in worshipping God.

Worship of God was never meant to be mere intellectual engagement with biblical truths. Nor is it limited to an inner emotional response. God created our bodies to glorify him (1 Cor. 6:20). We aren’t pursuing a Gnostic spirituality that downplays or negates the importance of the body in true spirituality (Rom. 12:1; Phil. 1:20). God commands us to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That certainly includes the bodies he’s given us.

Many of the words that we translate as “worship” in both Greek and Hebrew contain the idea of bodily movement. The two most prominent words – histahawah in the Old Testament, and proskynein in the Greek – connote the idea of bending over at the waist or bowing down as an expression of homage. In addition, physical expression is both commanded and spontaneously modeled in Scripture as a way of giving God glory. (Ex. 12:27; Job 1:20; Ps. 47:1; Ps. 95:6). Those  expressions include clapping, singing, bowing, kneeling, lifting hands, shouting, playing instruments, dancing, and standing in awe (Ps. 47:1; Eph. 5:19; Ps. 95:6; Ps. 134:2; Ps. 33:1; Rev. 15:2; Ps. 149:3; Ps. 22:23).

Some have pointed out that the New Testament contains few references to physical expression other than kneeling, singing, and lifting hands (although this last one isn’t emphasized too often). However, it’s not readily apparent that the bodily responses commanded in the Old Testament have been superseded or fulfilled in Christ’s high priestly work, or that we now obey them only in a “spiritualized” manner. (“I’m shouting in my heart.”) Rather, we need to seek to apply these Scriptures in a way that truly honors God and edifies the church.

It doesn’t look very good for The Da Vinci Code: The Movie… Not the opening weekend it was hoping for. Here are some reviews from a movie cite I go to often, RottenTomatoes.com. The movie only has a 21% “fresh” rating… which is pretty terrible…

Here are a couple of the more interesting reviews:

  “You know a movie’s a dud when even its self-flagellating albino killer monk isn’t any fun. “

– John Beifuss, COMMERCIAL APPEAL (MEMPHIS, TN)

  “Too measured to be lively, too skittish to be provocative, too dramatically slack to be more than a ploddingly literal book-on-film.”

– Peter Canavese, GROUCHO REVIEWS

Here are some great quotes concerning the Gospel from the Together for The Gospel Blog:

“If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.” (Augustine)

“The whole gospel is contained in Christ.” (John Calvin)

“Whenever the gospel is preached it is as if God himself came into the midst of us.” (John Calvin)

“There is nothing attractive about the gospel to the natural man; the only man who finds the gospel attractive is the man who is convicted of sin.” (Oswald Chambers)

“A gospel that elevates man and dethrones God is not the gospel.” (Will Metzger)

“The world has many religions; it has but one gospel.” (George Owen)

“The man who does not glory in the gospel can surely know little of the plague of sin that is within him. (J.C. Ryle)

“The revelation of the gospel is to a world that is already under indictment for its universal rejection of God the Father.” (R.C. Sproul)

“If the Lord’s bearing our sin for us is not the gospel, I have no gospel to preach.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“The heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“When we preach Christ crucified, we have no reason to stammer, or stutter, or hesitate, or apologize; there is nothing in the gospel of which we have any cause to be ashamed.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“The gospel is a glorious declaration of the mighty acts of God when he invaded this earth in the person of his eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (John Blanchard)

“The gospel is not ‘God loves us,’ but ‘God loves us at the cost of his Son.’” (Derek Thomas)

“As there is only one God, so there can be only one gospel.” (James Denney)

“The church is the fruit of the gospel.” (Hywel R. Jones)

“We have an unchanging gospel, which is not today green grass and tomorrow dry hay; but always the abiding truth of the immutable Jehovah.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“The gospel begins and ends with what God is, not what we want or think we need.” (Tom Houston)

And some more quotes from the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

“Never lose heart in the power of the gospel. Do not believe that there exists any man, much less any race of men, for whom the gospel is not fitted.” (CHS)

“Let this be to you the mark of true gospel preaching - where Christ is everything, and the creature is nothing; where it is salvation all of grace, through the work of the Holy Spirit applying to the soul the precious blood of Jesus.” (CHS)

“If God does not save men by truth, he certainly will not save them by lies. And if the old gospel is not competent to work a revival, then we will do without the revival.” (CHS)

“On Christ, and what he has done, my soul hangs for time and eternity. And if your soul also hangs there, it will be saved as surely as mine shall be. And if you are lost trusting in Christ, I will be lost with you and will go to hell with you. I must do so, for I have nothing else to rely upon but the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived, died, was buried, rose again, went to heaven, and still lives and pleads for sinners at the right hand of God.” (CHS)

HT: Together for the Gospel 

I was too bleary-eyed the other night to continue typing… so, I’ll finish where I left off in my update on the Hollywood Connect meeting. The three others in attendance at the think-tank roundtable were:

Kim Guenther - Kim is from Atlanta and seems to have a ton of irons in the fire in a number areas. A singer, dancer and actor, she is involved with the creative team for  “Art Within” - an organization that develops and commissions talented screenwriters and play wrights who have promise in the secular arts industry. I believe this is how she became connected with Hollywood Connect and Michele Suh. She also owns an “interior botanical” company called “Plants Forever” - I don’t know much about this company, but I know she owns some nurseries and it sounds pretty interesting!

Barry Landis - Barry was a record label exec for over 20 years in the Word and Warner Brothers family and in the last 18 months has transitioned into more of a free-lance and consulting role with a number of companies. He sees this new season as one of networking with Christian influencers all over the country to the change the world. Barry worked with “Roaring Lambs” author Bob Briner prior to his death, and in honor of Briner is developing the Briner Institute which will influence and inspire Christians to excel and make a difference in culture to advance God’s glory. (the Roaring Lambs philosophy) I first heard Barry speak a couple years ago at the ReCreate Conference and just listening to him, it’s not hard to tell he’s a mover and a shaker…

Larry Moschell - Larry was in attendance for Byron Spradlin of A.C.T. - Artists in Christian Testimony. A.C.T. is basically a mission board for artist missionaries. Their vision is to equip and send out arts missionaries. Michele Suh with Hollywood Connect is one of their “missionaries” and receives some financial support. You can give to A.C.T. - a 501(C)3 non-profit - and earmark funds for a specific artist or general purposes, and receive a tax deduction. It sounds like a great organization for the advancement of the Arts for God’s glory!

One of the things we talked about was developing “Artistic Entrepreneurial Connectors” - relationships and gatherings which would create creative synergy and collaboration and enable artists and leaders to take advantage of resources, people, time, space, creativity, energy, etc. in a way that wouldn’t be possible without collaboration. This is why artists and leaders from across the country would even take the time to get together like this. Everyone has a busy schedule with more than enough on their plates to handle without another meeting. But, the great thing about a connection like this is that greater creativity is available as we pool resources and ideas and think beyond our borders out to the country and the world. And the cool thing is… That’s how God thinks, too!

One of the practical ways that this kind of collaboration is so beneficial was seen as I mentioned my need to book speakers for our upcoming Fall and Spring Artist Symposium Series at Fellowship. Both Kathleen Cooke and Michele Suh have promised to utilize their networks and influence in Los Angeles to help bring some great speakers to Nashville for the symposium series. I love how God works!

Every Friday is Fenelon Friday, where we drink from the very deep well of my favorite 17th century French Bishop in the Catholic Church. (Everyone should have a little Fenelon with their coffee in the morning…) Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon (born 1651) was a mentor to a number of younger men on the court of Louis XIV. Many of Fenelon’s writings are actually letters he wrote to some of these young leaders as they sought to walk the life of faith in the face of opposition and adversity. My life has greatly benefitted by this man of faith.

Letting Go

You must let go of your restlessness, your excessive curiosity, your longing for success, and your habit of collecting things that stroke your ego.

The best way to let go of these things is to cultivate an inner silence where you may come to experience your Lord’s presence. If you do this every day of your life, you will make real progress in denying yourself.

Sitting in your Lord’s presence will calm you, soften your temper, humble your know-it-all attitude, and restrain your impatience. You will be made aware of your Lord, and the needs of your neighbor. God has blessed you in making you sensitive. Things that would hardly bother other people touch you to the core. You are troubled or pleased by nothing half way! But I warn you to guard yourself against your likes and dislikes since they are so passionately expressed.