Restore Worship Blog

204 Years Ago...Still "Cutting Edge" Today

I interpret the meaning of cutting edge NOT to be the latest system, sound, look, paradiam, or program in the church.  I believe to be truly cutting edge you must; seek God's revelation for YOURSELF, not look to how and what everyone else is doing in ministry and determine your success on what everyone else says or thinks about yours, and to preach God's word without apology. THAT, to me, is cutting edge.

William Carey, an English Protestant Missionary known as the "father of modern missions" and famous missionary to India, developed a covenant that was repeated three times yearly by those working at his mission at Seampore, India in 1804.  I believe it's relevant and can still serve as a model for ministry leaders today.

1. To set an infinite value on men's souls.

2. To acquaint ourselves with the snares which hold the minds of the people.

3. To abstain from whatever deepens nationals prejudice against the gospel.

4. To watch for every chance of doing the people good.

5. To preach "Christ crucified" as the grand means of conversions.

6. To esteem and treat nationals always as our equals.

7. To guard and build up the church.

8. To cultivate their spiritual gifts, ever pressing upon them their missionary obligation, since only nationals can win their country for Christ.

9. To labor unceasingly in biblical translation.

10. To be instant in the nurture of personal religion.

11. To give ourselves without reserve to the Cause, "not counting even the clothes we wear our own."

12.  To assist the pastors to grow in their giftedness and to teach them how to reproduce others in their congregation to do the same.

Are You TOO BUSY? Take this Quiz to find out....

As ministry leaders we are almost always too busy doing "stuff" and saying it's "for God".  I'm not saying that everything you do isn't "for God".  But most of what we do we don't even ask God if He wants us to do it at all.  We simply think, "Of course God would want me to do this!" or "A lot of our congregation has requested that we start doing this" or "We have done this every year and everyone expects us to do it", so we justify overloading our life and calendar doing stuff "for God" that He never asked us to do.....especially around this time of the year. 

Too often we spend too much time at work (in ministry) and ask God to take care of our family.  When all the time God is telling us that we should be spending more time with our families and asking Him to take care of the ministry.  God has called us to Him first, our families second, and then our ministry/job.  My prayer for you after reading this blog and taking this quiz is that it helps you put what you already know into better perspective, the forefront of your mind ,and into daily practice.  We all need to be reminded over and over again because we have an uncanny ability to wander and attain our self-worth in our jobs, how much we are doing, how others view our "success", and not in Christ alone.

Take this quiz and see if you have a tendency to be TOO BUSY:

Answer the following statements with this question and rate yourself according to the following scale:

"The statement is true of me..."

1 = Never
2 = Sometimes
3 = Often true
4 = Always true

1. ____I prefer to do most things myself rather than ask for help.
2. ____I get very impatient when I have to wait for someone else or when something takes too long, such as long, slow-moving lines.
3. ____I seem to be in a hurry, racing against the clock.
4. ____I get irritated when I am interrupted while I am in the middle of something,
5. ____I stay busy and keep many "irons in the fire."
6. ____I find myself doing two or three things at one time, such as eating lunch and writing a memo, while talking on the phone.
7. ____I over commit myself by biting off more than I can chew.
8. ____I feel guilty when I am not working on something.
9. ____It is important that I see the concrete results of what I do.
10. ____I am more interested in the final results of my work than in the process.
11. ____Things just never seem to move fast enough or get done fast enough for me.
12. ____I lose my temper when things don't go my way or work out to suit me.
13. ____I ask the same question, without realizing it, after I've already been given the answer.
14. ____I spend a lot of time mentally planning and thinking about future events, while tuning out the here and now.
15. ____I find myself continuing to work after my co-workers have called it quits.
16. ____I get angry when people don't meet my standards of perfection.
17. ____I get upset when I am in situations where I cannot be in control.
18. ____I tend to put myself under pressure with self-imposed deadlines.
19. ____ It is hard for me to relax when I'm not working.
20. ____ I spend more time working than socializing with friends or pursuing hobbies and leisure activities.
21. ____I dive into projects to get a head start before all the phases have been finalized.
22. ____I get upset with myself for making even the smallest mistake.
23. ____I put more thought, time and energy into my work than I do into my relationships with friends and loved ones.
24. ____I forget, ignore or minimize important family celebrations such as birthdays, reunions, anniversaries or holidays.
25. ____I make important decisions before I have all the facts and have a chance to think them through thoroughly.

Now add up the numbers in the blanks for your score.

25-49 = You are not overdoing it.
Congratulations! You've achieved a balance between getting things done and taking time for yourself. Keep it up!

50-69 = You are mildly overdoing it.
You're doing really well, but be careful, you have a tendency to become very busy. Take time for the things that are important to you and don't be afraid to say no.

70-100 = You are highly overdoing it.
Well, you're too busy, but you probably knew that already.  Make the necessary adjustments to add margin to you life and trust God to take care of the rest.

"God, thank you for lavishing Your love on us.  Thank you for the immeasurable grace You extend to us every day.  And thank You for the gift of our families.  Help us to never put our ministry responsibility above or before our spiritual intimacy with You and our families.  In Jesus precious name we ask it..."

Are You a Perfectionist?

Perfectionism is one of the ministry leader's biggest battles.  But you say, "I don't expect to be perfect."  Well, look at these signs and be brutally honest with yourself.  Because chances are, if you expect too much from yourself, you probably expect too much from those around you.

Signs of perfectionism:

•    Maximizing the negative - Maximizing the negative is self-centered because it focuses on us and our shortcomings.  God is the only one who’s perfect.  Perfectionism is a way of being in control; if I can control my environment, I can protect myself from pain and disappointment.
•    Minimizing the positive - Never really celebrating anything because it always could have been better.
•    Dot syndrome  - Focusing on one small piece of the entire picture and blowing it out of proportion.  You miss the big picture, you lose perspective, you’re obsessed with the tiny dot.  Like staring at a newspaper picture made up of thousands of tiny dots.  You can only see the one tiny dot you are staring at and not the whole picture that is MEANT to be seen.
•    Black and White/All or Nothing Thinking – For the perfectionist, one thing gone wrong means everything’s going wrong.  This is "Black and White" or "All or Nothing Thinking."  The perfectionist tends to internalize disappointment and failure in an unhealthy way.  They can’t seem to forgive themselves for making the simplest of mistakes and engage in a lot of negative self talk. 
•    Self-esteem based on performance instead of identity in Christ.  Many leaders are extremely insecure because they’re overly perfectionistic.
•    Not being able to admit weakness - We all like to believe that we admit our weaknesses, but the truth is we only admit what we think is acceptable and "normal."  Not being able to admit our weaknesses not only leads to perfectionism but it produces high and unrealistic expectations not only in ministry but our careers, our marriages, our friends, and our kids.

Help for the Perfectionist:

•    Celebrate the Journey –  Celebrate anything and everything positive that comes your way, in life or in ministry.  Celebrating is God-centered and helps us keep our eyes on God and not on ourselves and our own ability.
•    See the BIG Picture - Back up from staring at the tiny dot in the picture you're looking at so you can see the WHOLE picture God has painted and is trying to get you to see.
•    Know who you are in Christ - When you don’t know who you are you live one way with one person and another way with another.  You act one way at work and another way at church.  You act another way at home and another way in your small group.  You don’t really know who you are.  As a result you end up living a lie.  You live a phony life.  You wear a mask.  You pretend.  You’re a hypocrite.  You’re always pretending.
•    Brag about your weaknesses - "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.  So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." --2 Cor. 12:9  All good and great leaders know their strengths and their weaknesses.  They accept their strengths and they admit their weaknesses.  Leadership is not ignoring one in favor of the other.  It’s being honest about both. 
•    Let God be God - He alone is perfect.  It’s one of the reasons why we worship Him and not ourselves. 

Hi, I'm Justin.  I'm a perfectionist.

7 Questions Every Minsitry Leader Should Ask Themselves

Here are 7 questions I believe every ministry leader should ask themselves on a monthly basis (if not more often).

1.    Am I living above reproach?  II Timothy 2:20-21 says; 
"In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
2.    Is this job my passion or my paycheck?
II Samuel 23:9-10 says; 
"Next in rank among the Three was Eleazar son of Dodai, a descendant of Ahoah. Once Eleazar and David stood together against the Philistines when the entire Israelite army had fled. He killed Philistines until his hand was too tired to lift his sword, and the Lord gave him a great victory that day. The rest of the army did not return until it was time to collect the plunder!"
3.    Am I in line with where we are going as a church?
You shouldn't work at a place where you wouldn't attend.
4.    Do I feel like I deserve more? *hint* - You shouldn't
5.    Am I reflecting on how things used to be or passionate about how things are going to be?
6.    Do I feel like I have to "kill time" because there is "nothing to do?" Or do I feel like I'm so busy "doing" that I have lost my sense of "being." 
"If we are not careful, the joy of service turns so easily into the drudgery of duty, and before I know it, I have replaced intimacy with responsibility. I fill my life with activities when God wants to fill it with himself. More meetings, more projects, more hours spent at work serving my master. All of these things are worthy of my time and effort. But as we learned from the Parable of the Prodigal, God is not looking for servants. He is looking for sons who will join him in the family business. ~Buddy Owens (from "How Healthy is Your Vineyard?)
7.    Do I fully trust the leadership? I Thes. 5:12-13 says;
"Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance.  Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other."

New Ministry....New Blog....New Journey

For a while now, I have been praying about and burdened for the "Professional Christian."  As I have written about in previous blogs, I'm concerned at the expectation and pressure that is placed on church leaders to maintain a spotless, or at least a "better-than" image.  The problem is, no one is perfect...no one is spotless...no one is "better-than".  Left unchecked, an environment of hiding and denial can be created where the leadership becomes a group of people who have signed an unwritten pact to avoid the shame of confessing their sin.....and at worst... buy into the illusion that they don't have any.  While honesty and authenticity are said to be encouraged by the leadership, they are seldom valued.  We say we want the truth....but the truth is....to quote Jack Nicholson..."We can't handle the truth." To which I would add, "out of the light of God's grace."  Grace among leaders isn't given much of a chance. 

I believe there is hope for restoration and healing.

In response to this burden, Mary Beth and I feel the Lord has called us to start a ministry to ministry leaders.  We're calling it "Restore Worship" and God is already directing us and laying the foundation for this new journey.  I'd love for you to check it out at www.restoreworshiponline.com.

As a result, The Rockalot Blog is no more.  That's why you were directed to this new page.  I'll continue blogging through the new ministry at www.restoreworshipblog.com.  Please RSS the new blogsite and stay in touch. 

"So far, so good" = God has brought us SO FAR, and He has been SO GOOD!

What A Night!

Not that I ever worry that the Lord won't show up, but it never ceases to humble and bless me when He does.  The concert was amazing.  After months of praying, writing, recording, mixing, and preparing, it was incredible to get up on that stage and offer it all to Him.   So many people offered their time and efforts, and about 900 people showed up to share in the worship.  It was an incredible night.  I am blessed.  I am humbled.  I am encouraged.  Thank You God for nights like this.  And thank You for the hope of more to come.