Practical Worship

Ministry and The Hundred Acre Wood

2011-12-09T13:45:00.003-05:00

With a three year old daughter at home, I have suddenly become very familiar with Winnie the Pooh and friends. Apparently, Pooh wasn't as popular back in the 80's when I was growing up, because I really don't remember much about him or Piglet or Tigger.

What I love about Winnie the Pooh and friends is that each character is so different...each possesses their own unique personality, mannerisms, etc. Lots of people relate so well to Winnie the Pooh and friends because they see themselves in one of the characters...or better yet, they see the characters in the people around them.

One of the keys of leading people in church ministry is being able to identify the strengths and weaknesses in those you lead so that you can create opportunities to serve that both allow people to thrive and challenge them to grow. And, I've discovered that the characters of The Hundred Acre Wood help me figure out how certain people operate, are motivated, etc.

Winnie the Pooh
Strengths - Pooh always has something kind to say, always is willing to help out a friend in need, and is always ready to cheer somebody up.
Weaknesses - Pooh is very forgetful, has a habit of getting caught up in the moment and ignoring what is happening around him, allows his tummy to control his thoughts and actions, and tends to be very messy (think honey).

Piglet
Strengths - Piglet is very humble, willing to work behind the scenes without patting himself on the back, and is always willing to do his part, even when his part is very small.
Weaknesses - Piglet is very fearful of trying new things, second guesses and doubts himself constantly, and tends to rely on others for motivation.

Tigger
Strengths - Tigger is extremely energetic, is always the first to try anything new, and is an incredible encourager.
Weaknesses - Tigger can be energetic to the point of destruction (think Rabbit's garden), can get so far ahead of people that he finds himself all alone, and often acts without really thinking things through.

Rabbit
Strengths - Rabbit is very intelligent, is very thorough and prefers to do things with excellence, and likes to organize the group when they are planning projects and adventures.
Weaknesses - Rabbit likes to over analyze things to the point of frustrating everyone else, can be very, very stubborn, and tends to become very upset with others when they mess things up.

Eeyore
Strengths - Eeyore is very dependable, very diligent about completing a task, and tends to be the wisest of all of the characters (even though nobody seems to notice).
Weaknesses - Eeyore is very slow and tends to hold others back, is always depressed, and the first thing out of his mouth is almost always negative or critical.

Owl
Strengths - Owl is something of a father figure to the other characters, tends to show up at just the right time, and is always available with a bit of advice.
Weaknesses - Owl really doesn't do a whole lot other than sit in his tree and give advice (often very bad advice), considers himself to be way more intelligent than he actually is, and tends to make a big deal out of nothing.

Gopher
Strengths - Gopher is a very hard worker, always has a positive attitude, and tends to always have the resources needed for the task at hand.
Weaknesses - Gopher comes and goes as he pleases and is not always around when he is needed, and although he means well, his solutions to problems are often problems in and of themselves.

The great thing about this group of friends (I know I didn't name them all) is that, despite their collective shortcomings, they always seem to get the job done and have fun doing it. They work together as a team, often though not always led by Christopher Robbins, and at the end of the day, they are always ready for the next adventure.

The unfortunate thing about this group of friends is that, despite their many mistakes, they never seem to learn from them.

So, which character are you? Which characters make up the team of people you lead or serve with? Which character(s) are you missing from your team? How do you encourage these people to grow in their strengths and overcome their weaknesses?

Nate

Secular in the Church

2011-06-30T10:12:00.001-04:00

If, as many argue, the church can only use music that was written by those devoted to God, does that mean we can only hire Christian architects to design our church buildings, Christian bakers to prepare our communion bread, Christian seamstresses to sew our choir robes?

What say you?

Nate

Enemies (Considering the death of Osama Bin Laden)

2011-05-02T09:06:00.007-04:00

The death of Osama Bin Laden, and vast spectrum of reaction has me thinking about how followers of Christ are commanded to relate to our "enemies". Understand that I'm approaching this from a Biblical perspective, not from an "American" perspective. Neither does the following cover every aspect of this topic.

Should we hate our enemies? Should we celebrate the death of an enemy?

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? - Matthew 5:44-46

Who is responsible for justice? Should we celebrate God’s justice?

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you,be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." - Romans 12:17-20

I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, To You, O LORD, I will sing praises. - Psalm 101:1

Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, In due time their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them. - Deuteronomy 32:35

Who does God consider to be "evil/wicked"?

THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE. - Romans 3:10-12

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23

What is God’s desire for the wicked? Should we celebrate the death of somebody who will spend eternity without Him?

But a wicked person who turns his back on that life of sin and keeps all my statutes, living a just and righteous life, he'll live, really live. He won't die. I won't keep a list of all the things he did wrong. He will live. Do you think I take any pleasure in the death of wicked men and women? Isn't it my pleasure that they turn around, no longer living wrong but living right—really living? - Ezekiel 18:23

Who are “God’s children”?

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. - John 1:12-13

From what I understand from God's Word and character, here are a few thoughts:

- Any believer who celebrates the death of an enemy and that enemy's eternity in hell does not truly understand the heart of God or the reality of hell (and, truthfully, nobody completely understands God or hell).

- Any believer who doesn't praise God for His justice doesn't truly understand God's justice (again, nobody completely understands this).

- In the eyes of God, everyone of us is "wicked" and on our way to eternity without God...the murderers, the liars, the nice people.

- God offers eternity with Him to anyone who believes in Jesus. The good, the bad, the most evil. The fruit of Bin Laden's life speaks very evidently that he never held that belief. BUT, if he did, he will spend eternity in Heaven.

- The "children of God" are those who have believed in Jesus. Again, if Bin Laden never believed, he is not "God's child".

Nate

Facebook as a Ministry Tool - Facebook Events

2011-04-04T14:07:00.002-04:00

We've discovered at Nags Head Church that Facebook is an incredible tool to help accomplish this. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of the best ways we've discovered to use Facebook for ministry and mission.

One of the great things about Facebook is that it can be relatively easy for something to go "viral", locally. Because the OBX is not a huge community, and just about everyone is connected to everyone else within one or two people (think Kevin Bacon), we've discovered:

1) News can travel fast on Facebook. For example, on the OBX, photos of a beached whale from the morning start popping up all over the place on the profile pages of OBX locals within just a few hours and are everywhere by early afternoon, rumors of Chick-Fil-A opening locally circulate within hours on profile updates, etc.

2) Often, any news is big news. As evidenced above, it doesn't take much to get people's attention around here.

3) Because of 1 & 2, lots of local folks use Facebook as a local news/information source.

Based on our observations, we've discovered that creating a Facebook Event can be a great way to get the word out about an upcoming outreach event. Consider these guesstimations/statistics:

1) About 90% of our NHC partners and regular attenders are on Facebook, and most of those people are connected with several other partners/attenders. That's around 350 people.
2) Let's say, conservatively, that 50% of those people check their facebook about once a day and would be up for "attending" a church related Facebook Event and inviting their local friends to that event. That's 175 people.
3) Let's say that the average NHC partner/attender has 400 Facebook friends, and about 200 of those friends are local.
4) Again, let's say that 50% of those local friends check their Facebook at least once a day. That's 100 people.
5) Because, most likely, many of our NHC partners and attenders share many of the same local Facebook friends, let's say that each of those 175 partners/attenders who are regular Facebook users has 50 unique local Facebook friends who are outside of our church.
6) We know for a fact that only 7% of adults in our area attend church regularly. So, we'll subtract 7% from 50 unique locals outside of our church, and we end up with 47 (rounding up).

So, take all of those numbers, and let's guesstimate that we could possibly market to over 8000 people (175 x 47). Of course, 8000 people aren't going to show up to every event, but the potential is there for 8000 people to be exposed to a Facebook invitation to an event. Maybe that number is way high, or maybe it's way low...in either case, that's still a lot of people. And, we've discovered that, if we can get our own people excited about an upcoming event and committed to inviting other Facebook friends to an event, that number is certainly not unreasonable. And, that's just via Facebook, not considering that we understand that personal, face to face invitations are still the most effective.

So, we do our best to set up a Facebook Event for just about every outreach event at our church. Not every event gets good results because of Facebook Events, but it's kind of stupid to ignore this free and effective marketing tool.

A couple of tips from experience:
1) Keep the information as simple, accurate and clear as possible.
2) Develop your own graphics/artwork that are culturally relevant and hopefully attention grabbing.
3) Focus on a target group.
4) Talk about Facebook on Sunday mornings.
5) When setting up the Facebook Event, uncheck the "show the guest list on the event page" box. We've discovered, especially with youth events, that people will often check the guest list and make their decision about attending an event based on who they can see are "attending" and "not attending".

Nate

God Makes No Mistakes

2011-03-28T10:42:00.003-04:00

Yesterday at Nags Head Church, we talked about humanity as God's creation. In doing so, we decided to contrast Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" with Gungor's "Beautiful Things" to illustrate the huge (yet deceptive) difference between how God's Word and the beliefs of society. We sang an acoustic version of "Born This Way" (similar to This Video), and then invited our church to pay close attention to the difference as we sang "Beautiful Things".

Based on the feedback, I would say it was incredibly effective, and certainly surprising to the parents and grandparents who had no idea their kids had already been introduced to "Born This Way".

Below are the two songs mentioned above. I have to warn you that "Born This Way" is a little disturbing to watch (close your eyes and listen if nothing else), but I believe it is something that we need to see and hear to understand how desperately our world needs the Truth of Jesus. Pay close attention to the way Lady Gaga mixes Biblical Truth ("God makes no mistakes") with untruth ("There ain't no other way").

Nate

Facebook as a Ministry Tool - Profile Banners (Update)

2011-03-17T11:08:00.005-04:00

This is an update from the post below.

After talking with a few people and trying a few different methods, the easiest way of allowing others in my church to use the banner is to upload it as outlined below and then invite others to simply tag themselves...the trick is, to tag in reverse order, starting with the 5th photo/graphic (on the far right) and ending with the 1st (on the far left).

And, I have found at least two other churches who are using profile banners to market for upcoming events.

Nate

Facebook as a Ministry Tool - Profile Banners

2011-03-15T21:31:00.011-04:00

One of the things I love about my job is that I get to spend time building relationships, both with our church partners and with people in our community, both face to face and online. We've discovered that Facebook is an incredible tool to help accomplish this. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of the best ways we've discovered to use Facebook for ministry and mission.

I'll start first with something that I'm still working on. One of the changes that came about with the latest Facebook upgrade was the collage of five photos that now spread across the top of profiles.

It literally only took a few days for somebody more creative than me to figure out how to build "profile banners", a series of five photos that make up one single graphic that people can upload and use for advertising, marketing, or just to share more of their personality.

I began seeing more and more of these banners pop up, people advertising their personal business, telling the world of their love for Justin Bieber, asking people to think and pray for Japan...and, I began wondering, is this something that people in our church could use to let their friends know about upcoming events, like a small group party, a surf camp, or Easter Sunday? So, I started searching online, and I found this video...

So, I followed the instructions, and within about 20 minutes had created the banner below.

The tricky part now is trying to figure out how to pass these five graphics onto others in our church to do the same...

I'd love to find out if any other churches have taken advantage of this same idea, and if they have been able to easily pass this onto members in their church. Is this something you'd consider using as a tool for communication in your church?

Nate

Confusing Conviction and Pressure

2011-03-08T12:54:00.004-05:00

Spiritually speaking, Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit moving within you to change your life from the inside out. Pressure comes from people, circumstance, etc. trying to persuade or force you to change from the outside in.

It's easy to get the two confused when you're opposed to both. God will use both to move us to becoming more like Him, but He never uses pressure without conviction.

Do you agree?

Nate

Don't Be a Schizophrenic Church!

2011-03-03T10:00:00.001-05:00

One of the biggest topics of discussion over the past several years among worship leaders has been about churches that offer multiple worship gatherings with different styles of musical worship. For example, a church will offer a 9am "traditional" gathering and an 11am "contemporary" gathering. Is this a good idea, is it the best strategy, is it a really stupid thing to do?

From my experience, a church that offers multiple styles of musical worship is, practically, functioning as multiple churches. Just because two groups of people meet in the same building, share the same pastor, give to and spend from the same budget doesn't make them one church. And, if these kids of churches do attempt to function as a single church, they tend to suffer from something that resembles schizophrenia...they are constantly dealing with internal conflict, they fail to think logically, and they may experience delusions and hallucinations.

As described several times in the New Testament, a local church is at it's best best when it is functioning as one "body"...when the hands, legs, eyes, neck, etc. are all serving their unique roles to serve each other and and fulfill the purpose of the church.

In comparison, a church with two or more groups of people who do not worship and serve together cannot function as one body. It's certainly not impossible for two groups to coincide together and partner with each other to serve God and others...I've heard of a few churches that offer multiple worship styles and function well as two separate churches, but only because they've recognized their situation for what it really is and have made the decision to do so.

But, for one church to be unified, to be one body, it's individual members must share goals, purpose, vision, strategy. It is difficult for a single church with multiple worship styles to be one unified body because each worship style identifies who the "target" audience is going to be (whether purposefully or not). Although people will tell you they love a church for many reasons, few people will attend a church service that uses a musical style that doesn't fit their personal preferences. Especially when the pastor is preaching the same sermon twice with two different accompanying musical styles, people are naturally going to migrate to the service with the style they prefer, and stay there.

And, I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. People naturally thrive in an environment that is comfortable and with a mission that is challenging. We all have personal preferences, and that's a good thing. And, naturally, people with similar preferences will group themselves together. And, if so, why are so many churches trying to force their square people through a round hole?

Interestingly enough, Jesus didn't spend much time instructing his disciples (the very first New Testament church planters) what music style to use, what color to paint their church walls, how to most effectively divide the time of an average a church service between music and sermon. My guess is, because He is God, Jesus knew that all of those things are really up to each individual church to figure out for themselves (hopefully, in a peaceable way)...instead, He focused on teaching those twelve guys about the things that are not up for debate (if you're not sure what those things are, read the words of Jesus in the Gospels).

Seriously, how many churches would be in a much better place if they would simply recognize the truth of our human tendencies and choose function as two separate, Bible believing/teaching churches?

Nate

Expect the Best (of People)

2011-02-26T23:17:00.004-05:00

Before reading below, please understand that, although we do deal with these issues from time to time, this post does not stem from anything that is currently taking place in my own church.

Maybe it's just because I am and for nearly all my life have been a pastor's kid (PK). Maybe it's simply because my parents taught me, through word and example, to defend the unity of the church at all costs. Maybe it's just because I'm just a trusting guy...

There are very few things I despise more than the idea that somebody is even suspicious that I've lied to them when I haven't. Partly because of that, I do my best to trust others, unless I have proof otherwise. People who are not trustworthy tend to be the first to be distrusting. I deeply desire others to have the confidence in me to trust me.

A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. (Proverbs 11:13)

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. (I Timothy 1:12)

Maybe, it's because my parents taught me what a New Testament church was really meant to be. A NT church is the bride of Christ, the body of Christ. God says he'll protect His church, and He commands us to do the same.

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. (John 17:21-23)

It's not a coincidence that I have continued to love the church since I was a teenager. My parents not only taught me to love the church, but they raise me in a church that I could love among people who loved me. The same church I grew up in is the church I now serve full-time. The same pastors who led me as a child now lead me as a 29 year old man, and I consider each of them a close friend. My pastors have taught me and the rest of my church by example what it means to protect the unity of our church. Nothing cripples the church more or more quickly than false or unproven accusations.

And, maybe it's because I grew up in a pastor's house. Many pastors have lost all credibility and reputation because of false accusations. To be a leader, especially a leader who is willing to speak the truth and ignore "political correctness", is to set oneself in the crosshairs of all sorts of accusations. My father has never shied away from the truth, and it's only by God's grace that he has weathered the storms brought about by those who hate the truth and hate him for it.

To accuse another believer of heresy or sin is a very, very serious thing. To accuse a pastor of heresy or sin is even more serious. The Bible is extremely clear about this...

Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent. (Exodus 23:7)

Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. (I Timothy 5:19)

My parents did what they could to protect me and my sisters from the ugly side of full-time ministry, but I was still aware at a young age of how hard the life of a pastor can be. I've heard horror stories from other PKs about things their fathers went through, and although I am certain I don't know the half of it, I'm thankful my dad and our family was protected from much of what could have been. When I see other pastors (those I know, and those I might not know) being accused without proof, it hurts my heart because I know experientially the damage a false accusation of a pastor threaten to do.

Here's the bottom line. Expect the best of people, especially those who have proven to be of godly character. Whether it's your best friend, an "enemy" or the hottest televangelist. Even those who have suspicion clouding around them should be given the grace that God has extended to us.

Nate

As a footnote, if somebody has been proven to be a heretic, to be living in sin, etc., then yes, the Bible also speaks clearly about how to address those situations. I'd suggest reading Matthew 18 and Titus 3:10,11.

Auditions Are Not Just For The Band

2011-02-16T22:19:00.007-05:00

They might not call them "auditions", but every ministry team in our church has a process/system in place to literally give people an audition for ministry. Our Kids Church Team, our First Impressions Team, our Hospitality Team, our Youth Team...every single team has an audition of some kind to allow people to determine if their ministry is a good fit.

There are a few great reasons why your church should also have an audition process/system for everyone who wants to get involved in serving, but it all boils down to one thing...people.

People should be our priority. Beyond bringing glory to God (worshiping Him in everything we do) our number one priority should be people. The church isn't a building...it's people. Our mission isn't to do good things...it's to invest spiritually in people (what the Bible calls "making disciples"). We serve in ministry because of people, we reach out in missions because of people, we learn to love like Jesus loved because of people. If you can't agree with this point, don't bother reading further.

So, if our priority is people (or perhaps more defined, helping people grow as followers of Christ), then our priority in ministry must be to help people find the specific ministry(s) that God has uniquely gifted them for. At Nags Head Church, we believe that God has given each of our partners a unique SHAPE to serve the church as well as or better than anyone else in the church.

S - Spiritual Gifts. God has supernaturally given every believer at least one (often more) spiritual gift to use in serving the body of Christ. Read 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4.
H - Heart. God has given every believer a heart (or passion) for specific things. Music, children, food, cleanliness, education, art, etc. He wants us to use our passions to serve Him because He knows ministry is fun when we're doing something we love.
A - Abilities. God has created each of us with natural abilities, whether we're good with our hands, good with our heads, or a jack of all trades. He wants us to use those natural abilities to serve others.
P - Personality. God has given each person a unique personality. He wants us to find ways to use our personalities, whether outgoing or quiet, to make a difference in the lives of others.
E - Experience. Every believer's life is full of unique experiences, both good and bad, all orchestrated by God. He wants us to serve in areas of ministry that will allow us to use those experiences to relate to and help others better understand Who He is.

Once people understand how God has SHAPEd them, they can then begin to explore which ministries in the church might be a great fit for their unique gifts. Unfortunately, too many churches simply check for a pulse before plugging the latest ministry hole with the next available warm body. As a result, too many people walk away from serving altogether because they got "stuck" doing something they either didn't enjoy or were told they were not doing well, simply because those of us in charge don't use just a little bit of wisdom to create a process/system for bringing them slowly into a ministry position.

You can't run before you walk, and you can't walk before you crawl. Just step outside the walls of your church building and look around...every successful restaurant, every successful gas station, every successful business of any kind in your town is almost certain to understand this principle and to have a system in place for bringing on new team members (employees). I'm not saying operate your church exactly like the night club down the street, but there are some organizational truths that are universal and can easily be adapted by the church. Yet, again, too many churches believe that auditions of any kind for any ministry don't have any place in their church.

But, by giving people a process for joining a team, you communicate a few important things to the people you lead:

1) "We care more about you than we do about filling a hole in ministry."

2) "We do care about excellence in ministry."

3) "We are OK with the fact that this might not be the right ministry for you, and we're willing to let you audition with other ministries to help you find the right fit."

By taking the time to properly explain what the ministry is all about, give people a chance to observe the ministry behind the scenes, and train people how to do the ministry correctly, you're putting people first, raising the bar of excellence, and giving people an easy out should the ministry not be a good fit.

Bottom line...God has called us to be good stewards of ever resource He has given to us, starting with the people we are leading. Give God your best by desiring the best for those you lead.

Nate

Review - Worship Leader Boot Camp, Southern Baptist Convention of North Carolina

2011-02-07T09:59:00.007-05:00

Many people don't realize it, but Nags Head Church is a Southern Baptist Church. In fact, most of our first time guests think we're non-denominational based on how we do things. But, while we might appear very non-traditional in our methodology, we are very traditionally baptist in our beliefs. Having said all of that, it's always a bit of a risk for us when we attend events put on by our regional and state conventions. We always seem to be the odd man out.

This past Saturday, I traveled with four of my band mates from NHC to the Worship Leader Boot Camp, a training event for worship leaders put on by our Southern Baptist Convention of North Carolina. I try to take advantage of any event like this...if nothing else, it's great to get away from our normal routine and spend some time together learning.

The kind of teaching and training that is being offered with these boot camps is something that is greatly needed. Far too many worship leaders do not have a solid Biblical foundation of worship, nor do they have the tools to be able to lead with vision and growth. Just in our area in rural Northeastern NC, it's evident through my interaction with other worship leaders that very few churches recognize the importance of equipping their leaders (who are mostly unpaid/volunteers) to lead well.

We really appreciated the tools that were given to help with organization. The examples of how to create and organize song lists and set lists, and how to create flow in worship were a great reminder that God has called us to our best. The theology that was taught toward the beginning was dead on, and literally identical to part of what I teach in a similar worship class I created for NHC.

I am certain that most of the churches represented were given a great picture of what could be. We sat with a group of 4 from another church at lunch, and it was obvious that they were very hungry for what was being taught, and that many of the concepts being presented were new territory for them. Having said that, the boot camp, for the four of us, while a great reminder of things, did not offer many new ideas or tools. Again, I think it was a great event for the target group, but my feeling is our church wasn't in that target group. My hope is that one day we'll be able to attend an SBC event like this that can challenge our church in the same way it will challenge many other SBC churches.

I would highly recommend this event for any church that is...
1) Wanting to transition from from traditional to blended in their worship style.
and/or
2) Wanting to provide a solid foundation of Biblical worship for their worship leaders.

Nate

Resolutions

2011-01-01T14:18:00.002-05:00

If you're a church leader, struggling in a not-so-good situation, here are a few suggestions for new years resolutions...

1) take the power away from your deacons...yes, it is Biblical.

2) stop looking at your pastors and staff as primarily "employees". stop looking at everyone else in your church as your "employers".

3) tell the rich family in the church who thinks they decide everything that God doesn't want their money, and neither do you.

4) stop viewing the church down the street as your competition.

5) stop investing 95% of your work week into what happens during one hour on Sunday morning.

6) change your bylaws so that you no longer have business meetings...also Biblical.

7) stop being scared of what people think...fear the Lord.

8) stop saying "ever member is a minister"...start saying "every member is a missionary".

9) give responsibility to the people to do the ministry...stop micromanaging.

10) refuse to "work" overtime when you should be spending that time with your family...as a PK, I can't tell you how important this is.

Christmas as a Season of Worship

2010-11-19T10:26:00.004-05:00

At Nags Head Church, our goal every Christmas is to challenge people to not fall into the trap of nostalgia. Too often, when it comes to Christmas music, we tend to sing more because of those warm fuzzy feelings than to actually worship God (for more on this topic, read my post about "The Problem with Christmas Music and the Church").

So, instead of just playing the same old Christmas classics every year, we attempt to put together a setlist that includes songs from all three of the following:

1) Old songs with a new arrangement or a few new lyrics.
These songs can challenge people to not just go through the motions of singing a familiar song without thinking about what they're singing. It makes the worn and old seem fresh and new.
2) New Christmas songs.
Too many worship leaders see the Christmas season as a time to mentally check out and give their bands a break from learning new music...a shame since there are so many great new Christmas songs being written by people like MercyMe, Chris Tomlin and others. New Christmas songs can help your church create new traditions.
3) Worship songs that may not have been specifically written as Christmas songs.
Too many Christmas carols are seen by many people as tradition and not worship. Challenge your people to think about Christmas as an incredible time to worship by painting a picture of the Christmas story with "worship" songs that you might also be singing at other times of the year.

With those things in mind, here are some of the songs that we're using this Christmas season (along with the authors, in case you want to give them a listen).

Angels From The Realms of Glory - Downhere
How Many Kings - Downhere
Gloria - MercyMe
Glory in the Highest - Chris Tomlin (We actually have been using this song as a Christmas song for several years before Chris wrote the third Christmas verse a year ago)
Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy) - Chris Tomlin
My Soul Magnifies the Lord - Chris Tomlin
Rejoice - Chris Tomlin (we also add the chorus from "O Come, O Come Emmanuel")
O Praise Him - David Crowder
Shout for Joy - Lincoln Brewster
O Come Let Us Adore Him - Matt Redman/Passion

What are some songs that you're using this Christmas to point your people toward worship?

Nate

(Bump) The Problem with Christmas Music and The Church

2010-11-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

This is a post I wrote in November of '07...I thought I'd bump it in case anyone missed it.

I love Christmas music. I began listening to "Jingle Bells" and "O Holy Night" several weeks ago. The way I see it, the department stores (and their incredibly early commercialism) are finally catching up to my family and our traditions. My mother would pull out the Christmas music well before Thanksgiving, and we had a very nice collection. Old records of Bing and Nat, updated classics with Steven Curtis Chapman and Amy Grant, and even a little bit of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra filled our house and car with the sounds of the season.

Anytime I hear any of those recordings, or even any recording of some of those songs, a warm and welcome sense of nostalgia causes a flood of memories to flash through my mind. Christmas music is such a beautiful and fun part of Americana...no doubt everyone has distinct memories of Christmases past (whether good or bad), and, my guess is that most of us relate many of our Christmas memories with the music of the season.

And, therein lies the problem with Christmas music and the Church. I've discovered over the years that, it's very easy for us to sing our favorite Christmas carols at church in December and never allow for anything more than that warm nostalgic feeling. We can get so caught up in the warm feelings that worship never really takes place...worship is our primary purpose when we gather together on Sunday mornings, not singing Christmas songs.

And, I think this problem goes way beyond Sunday mornings. Christmas (or any holiday season for that matter) can, as a whole, seem more like a nostalgic and whimsical dream than a reality. The commercials, the movies, the shopping, the parties, the food and drinks...it's a huge thing that can seem to pull us out of our everyday lives, including our everyday worship. Singing songs, hanging out with friends, giving gifts, and even reading the Christmas story (Jesus) can become the ultimate goal instead of means to a greater end. (that's partly why January can feel like such a depressing month).

I've discovered some ways to help our people (including myself) understand how to worship during the Christmas season. But, first, have you ever thought about this or recognized this in your church before? What are some ways that you use the nostalgia and joy of the season to point people back to worship?

Nate

More on Distractions in Church

2010-06-30T10:47:00.002-04:00

I certainly don't expect every church to function the way that our church functions. Every culture, every community, every target group is different, and therefore, every church should decide for for herself the best way to "do church". My thoughts and opinions come out of my own experiences, come from the purpose, vision and strategy of my own church.

"You're welcome at our church."

"You're not welcome to cause a distraction to others when you have the ability and maturity to control said distraction."

At NHC, these are two things that we communicate to people, both in word and action. We believe that these two statements are not contradictory. We believe that these two statements better allow us to fulfill our purpose as a church, to reach people to discover life in Christ.

We also believe that there is a HUGE difference between parents who don't care about the distraction they are allowing and those people who come to church because they want to know God but may cause a distraction to others because of their natural tendencies. There will always be something that could be a distraction to me during a church worship service. The lady behind me sings off-pitch, the guys beside me smells funny, the couple in front of me plays footsies. But, it's my responsibility to not allow the natural distractions around me to keep me from worshipping God.

But, it is also my responsibility to be aware of my own naturally distracting habits. I like to bounce my legs when I sit, I like to fiddle with things in my hands when I'm listening, I like to move when I sing. However, corporate worship is not about me...corporate worship is about US giving worship to GOD, and I realize that simply doing what I want to do (bouncing my legs, etc.) can be a hindrance to the worship of those around me.

On Sunday mornings, I want my worship to be pleasing to God AND unifying to those around me. This means that I've got to be willing to lay aside my personal preferences and attempt to subdue my naturally annoying habits so that I don't distract others in worship. I certainly hope that those around me do the same, but I also realize that the people around me represent the spectrum of the spiritual journey...those who are maybe in church and hearing about God for the first time, and those who have known God intimately for many years...other people may not always smell, or look or act in a way that I find pleasing, but again, I can't allow that to distract me from worship.

But, as a church leader, it is also my responsibility to address those who choose to be or allow a distraction that prohibits others from worshipping. Whether we want to admit it or not, there are distractions in church that are impossible to ignore. Children, to continue to use the example I wrote about before, are not a distraction. Noisy, energetic, unattended, ill-mannered children CAN be an unignorable distraction.

We seek to be proactive in avoiding any possible distractions in worship. We make our nursery and kids church highly visible to everyone who enters our building. We have greeters who target young families and inform them of the options for their children. We invite young families to sit near the back of our auditorium so that they can limit any distractions their children might cause, and so that they can exit easily if necessary. We inform families with young children early in the service that many of the topics we discuss on Sunday morning are sensitive issues (sex, addiction, etc.) and give them one last shot to make use of our Kids Zone.

Nobody looks down on any family who chooses to bring their children into the auditorium. Nobody gives them a guilt trip. We have never had a family communicate anything but appreciation for our commitment to helping their entire family worship God.

And, when a child (or anything for that matter) becomes an ignorable distraction during a service, our ushers quietly invite their parents to follow them to the lobby where the parents can allow their kids to vent some energy AND still listen to the service. We have never once had a family refuse to exit the auditorium OR become upset with us that we asked them to exit.

In fact, just this past Sunday, one of our ushers did just that, and ended up having a long conversation with the family. They are new to our area and were checking out our church for the first time. He gave them a tour of our building and our Kids Zone and explained to them why family is so important to NHC.

Bottom line...they felt welcomed and valued. Those still in the auditorium also felt welcomed and valued (as did our preacher). Our usher made a much deeper connection with this family than he ever would have if he had not invited them into the lobby. And, their kids were able to see what they were missing in our Kids Zone.

Again, there are many different ways that we can worship God in a corporate setting. And, at NHC, there are many opportunities for parents and children to worship God together, far beyond Sunday morning. But, for our church, Sunday morning worship in our auditorium is targeted at adults who are seeking to learn more about God and grow in Him. Any kind of ignorable distraction simply prohibits that from taking place.

You might think that we're unwelcoming and unfriendly to families, but until you understand our strategy from an experiential point of view, it's hard to make that call. I'd love to discuss this further with anyone, which is why I wrote this second post.

Nate

Commitment

2010-06-30T10:30:00.000-04:00

Working with students is incredibly fun, and incredibly challenging. Not that us adults are perfect, but one of the biggest frustrations I've dealt with in working with students in the lack of commitment. Although they might be passionate about the ministry, the lack of experience and maturity can cause some issues when it comes to making a commitment. Here are some things that I've been trying to teach our students to help them mature in their ability to commit.

1) Consider carefully before making a commitment.

Even if it seems like a simple, menial task, if you've committed to doing it, somebody (more than likely, somebodies) is going to depend on you to get it done, so don't commit to something unless you know for certain (short of a real emergency) that you'll be able to do it.

Before you make a commitment, here are three key factors you should consider:
a) Check your calendar and check your spouse's/parents' calendar. If you don't keep a calendar, you shouldn't be committing to anything.
b) Ask questions and get all of the facts before you commit. Do I know all of the info? What time, energy, preparation will this require of me?
c) Is this something I really want to do? There are times when we SHOULD do things that we don't exactly want to do...BUT, people tend to be much more committed to the things that they sincerely are excited about participating in.

It's OK to say "no" sometimes. It's not OK to stretch yourself thin because you say "yes" to everything...which leads us to our second point.

2) Remember your priorities.

Do you have a list of the priorities in your life? My priority list, starting with the most important, looks something like: God, Family, Friends, Church, etc. If I'm asked to do something that doesn't match up with my priorities, I probably don't need to make that commitment. For example, if I'm asked to do something related to church that forces me to miss out on the quality time I need with my family, I'll want to consider that commitment carefully. If I'm invited to participate in something with my friends that will cause my relationship with God to suffer, that's a commitment I probably shouldn't make.

3) Stick to it.

The definition of "commitment" is: a pledge or promise; and obligation.

I'm not crazy about committing to things that I know I won't enjoy, but sometimes, you've got to do what you've got to do. Even when a commitment becomes an obligation, it's still honoring of God to follow through, with a good attitude. Any commitment you make to another person is a commitment you're making to God.

...you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, "Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord." Simply let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No" be "No"; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5:37

There are very few things that will either build up or tear down your reputation and witness than your level of commitment. What you commit to says a whole lot about your priorities, about your character, about your faith. As do the commitments you break.

My favorite people to serve alongside in ministry are not always the people with the prettiest face or the most talent...my favorite people are those who I can count on, those people who are dependable.

Nate

A Question for the Parents

2010-06-27T13:23:00.003-04:00

To all parents of young children, I ask you this question:

What is of greater importance to you? That you teach your children to be in church every Sunday, or that you teach your children to love God?

I'm not saying that those two priorities can't coexist. Certainly both are important. But, it is very easy to give church attendance the greater priority and end up with a grown child who neither attends church nor loves God.

Too often at Nags Head Church, I observe parents who refuse to allow their young children to either be cared for by our brilliant nursery staff or be taught by our awesome Kids Zone staff...instead, these parents bring their kids into the worship center with the adults, and, nine times out of ten, neither the children nor the parents (nor any of the others around them) get much of anything out of the worship gathering.

Let's be real...how many kids under the age of 12 do you know who are engaged by 30+ minutes of adult teaching on a Sunday morning? How many parents of those same kids do you know who can sit with their kids in an adult worship setting and stay focused on the message? How many people do you know who enjoy sitting in a worship gathering with a crying child nearby?

I don't know about you, but when I was ten, I couldn't behave myself in an adult worship gathering for more than about fifteen minutes. As a parent of a highly energetic 2.5 year old, there's no way I'd be focused on anything but keeping her entertained and quiet. As an adult, I simply cannot focus on worship when another person's child is unable to contain his/her energy.

Please, understand that I'm not bashing on kids...kids are kids, and even the most well behaved, well trained children simply cannot engage in a meaningful way with much of what takes place in a Sunday morning, adult worship gathering. And, that's OK. What's not OK is parents who don't seem to understand how selfish it is to force their children into that situation.

From what I've observed, the vast majority of parents would do better for themselves and their kids (and the others attending church) if they would just stay at home and lead their family in their own little worship time than to bring their kids to church and not take advantage of the nursery and kids church that has been provided to them. Seriously...it just doesn't make any sense to me.

My point is this...if your going to take the time to get up on a Sunday morning, get everyone fed and dressed and into the car and onto church, why not actually make it mean something more than a religious ritual? If you're going to make it a priority to teach your children the importance of attending church, why not allow them to attend a worship gathering that is geared for their age group?

If you can't trust other adults to care for and teach your kids for a short period of time, please, stay home this Sunday.
If you can't bear the thought of leaving your child in a nursery or class room for an hour on Sunday morning, please, stay at home this Sunday.
If you think that your young kids are better behaved than that and won't cause a distraction, please, stay at home this Sunday.
If you've convinced yourself that others in church really won't mind if your kids run around the back of the worship center during the sermon, please, stay at home this Sunday.

I love attending my church, and I want my child to love attending my church with me...even more, I want her participation in my church to be something that motivates her to love God. That isn't going to happen if I try and force her to "sit still and be quiet" in "big church" with me.

I want my daughter to be cared for and have fun in the nursery, learning to play with other kids her age. When she's a few years older, I want her to be engaged in authentic worship and taught by adults who have been given the tools and training to help her understand and love God more. And, when she's ready, I want her to join me in an adult setting so that we can worship God together on Sunday morning.

Because, if, at the end of Sunday morning all you can say is, "We attended church", you've truly accomplished nothing more than that.

Storytellers

2010-03-23T00:01:00.003-04:00

Here's the graphic for our new sermon series. I'm really stoked about this series! I'll admit that I stole the idea from Elevation, although the direction of our series is totally different than Elevation's series.

Nate

The Problem with "The Invitation"

2010-03-22T21:01:00.004-04:00

Our youth band was asked to play a few songs at another local church last night. This other church is having their annual "revival" this week, and Sunday night was their youth night. They brought in a well-known "evangelist" (a bit of a local celebrity) to preach for this revival.

I'll not share the name of this church or the name of this evangelist, because the purpose of this post is not to criticize this church or this man. I simply want to critically examine some of his methods.

After speaking for nearly an hour for a room full of students and adults, the evangelist invited everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes. After talking about salvation for a few more minutes, he invited folks to repeat a prayer and receive Christ. All good so far, but what took place over the next 15 minutes or so is where I really became uncomfortable.

The evangelist then asked everyone to stand. He spent the next 2-3 minutes talking about "really meaning it"...he really hammered home the idea that, unless the people asking Jesus to "come into their hearts" really meant it, nothing would "change" for them. After telling everyone else to keep their eyes closed several times, he then asked for all those who had said the prayer and "really meant it" to come forward.

I didn't dare look up at this point, even though I was sitting on the back row, so I can only assume that there were several youth who came forward, and maybe a few adults. Once these people were up front, he told them to all hold hands in a circle. Apparently there were a few students who weren't to keen on this idea (I'm assuming they were boys), because he said, more than once, "I know you don't want to, but you have to hold hands".

Once he was satisfied that they were all touching each others hands, he said, "God's telling me that there are some adults in this room who have said this prayer but haven't come forward, so we're going to all pray that they will come forward." He asked us all to pray with him (I didn't, sorry), while he said something to the effect of, "God, take away the spirit of fear that is keeping these adults from coming forward". I think maybe one or two more adults came forward at this point, but I'm not sure, because I still wasn't willing to look up.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this, the evangelist paused and addressed at least two of the boys who had come forward..."I'm sorry, but I can't handle the laughing...you boys have been laughing since you came up here, which tells me that you really don't mean this...if that's true, you should go sit back down."

Once he had everyone up who was going to come up (at this point, we'd had our eyes closed for about 10 minutes), he went on to explain how he sould never forget the night he accepted Jesus, and how he wanted these people to not ever forget this night either. He then spent about 5 minutes talking to these people about how, now that they had made the decision to follow Jesus, they had to give him their "whole heart". He also talked about how they had to read their Bible everyday. He made each one of them promise to read their Bible everyday.

Everyone else may have been looking up to the front of the sanctuary at this point...my head was still bowed...I tend to look at the ground when I'm feeling uncomfortable or angry...

Finally, after the evangelist had apparently said all he wanted to say and had gotten all of the verbal commitments he could out of these people, he ended in prayer. At the end of his prayer, I finally looked up to see that there were probably close to 20 students and at least a few adults returning to their seats. In a room of maybe 100 people, that's a pretty big number.

Anyway, there is the story. Here are my thoughts:

First of all, let me just say, if you're going to spend more than 20 minutes to share the Gospel with a room full of teens (on a school night), you'd better be incredibly dynamic. Unfortunately, and I can say this because I've heard this particular evangelist speak more than once, he's not dynamic enough to pull that off. IMHO, people who get up in church to preach should spend more time checking out the words (and length) of Jesus' "sermons" in the NT. Jesus usually kept it short and on point, and he had miracles to fall back on if his topic was a bit boring. But, onto more serious thoughts.

The idea that a come-forward invitation does anything for anyone's salvation is beyond me. I've heard many stories of people who have gone forward in a church because the preacher told them to but didn't actually come to Jesus until a later time, but never once have I heard of anyone who, after saying a prayer, only came to Jesus because they walked forward in a church service.

What I do know is, asking people to come forward in a church service makes most people very, very uncomfortable. Making people feel incredibly (and unnecessarily) uncomfortable at the exact moment they could be speaking with God for the very first time is probably something that makes Satan very, very happy. That's not right.

My guess is, those boys who were laughing were probably laughing because they were either incredibly nervous about being in front of everyone, because they were nervous about having this evangelist guilt them into doing and saying things they weren't comfortable doing and saying, or because they were being forced to hold hands with each other (and maybe even with a girl). And, calling a few 11 year old boys out in front of everyone is certainly not going to makethem respect an evangelist or God.

I also know, from experience, that asking a student to come forward is a great way to get a very unclear idea of who is actually making a decision and who is just bowing to peer pressure. I can't tell you how many times I've been to a student conference or church service with an invitation and have seen who knows how many students walk forward just because they got caught up in the emotion of the moment and wanted to stick with their best friend who was also walking forward.

Requiring (and again, this evangelist spent at least 5 minutes guilting people into coming forward) people to do anything other than call out to God for salvation in order to "be saved" really, really messes with people's heads. It is faith alone that saves...forcing people to not only come forward, but to also hold hands with each other, to promise to give their "whole hearts" to God and to look the evangelist in the eye and promise to read their Bible everyday is really muddying the water. All of those things might be good and well at certain times and in certain steps, but people must understand from what you tell them and from what you ask of them that salvation begins and ends with faith.

Certainly there's a better way of doing things? Certainly there's a way to share the Gospel, lead people to the point of accepting Christ, and be able to speak with them individually and connect them with that local church without creating an incredibly awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere?

BTW, just so you know I'm not anonymously attacking this evangelist personally, I am sending him an email with some of my thoughts here (although, I'll word it more sensitively) and an invitation to contact me, and I will continue to pray for his ministry. From what I know of him, he's pretty set in his ways, but I'll give it a go anyway.

Nate

Beth Moore Commercial

2010-03-16T13:31:00.003-04:00

NHC is hosting the upcoming Beth Moore simulcast. Here's our in-house commercial.

Register Today!

Sunday Blitz

2010-03-15T09:09:00.002-04:00

> It was very evident that the time change snuck up on people this Sunday. The 11am gathering was probably twice as busy as 9am. I'm guessing that people either forgot until after the woke up, or they just decided to catch up on the lost hour of sleep and come at 11. Not that it really had any impact on 9am...the people who were there came ready to worship!

> After Andy and Steve did a great job tag-teaming last Sunday, Tom spoke with us this week about "serving" God and others in ministry. Ministry is worship. Ministry should be fun and bring us success and satisfaction. Every believer has a place in serving the church.

> the MP13 Band has been learning a bunch of new songs lately. We introduced "Send Me Out" by Fee last Sunday, and "With Everything" by Hillsong this week. Look for both songs this coming Sunday to help us worship during our annual missions fair.

> I've been busy the past few weeks. I led our teaching time at F1RST Wednesday two weeks ago, and Andy and I taught our Discovering Nags Head Church CLASS this past Saturday. Both went very well!

> Congrats to Mike (our First Impressions team leader) and Tina (our Kids Zone team leader) on the birth of their second child and first boy. They'll both be taking some time off from ministry, but I'm guessing with the great job they do coaching their teams, ministry will cary on as with excellence.

> Good Friday and Easter are quickly approaching. It's a busy time for NHC...along with F1RST Wednesday we'll be offering 5 worship gatherings in the span of 5 days during that first week of April. Lots of opportunities to reach people to discover life in Christ!

> Go DUKE!

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2010-03-04T10:28:00.003-05:00

> Our pastors are continuing to do a great job teaching! Burnie did an amazing job of sharing the purpose of our connection groups this Sunday. I hear that several people talked with him and used communication cards to show their first-time interest in joining a group. That's awesome!

> Our Kids Zone teams are also doing an amazing job transitioning to their new space. Especially considering that their team leader is out for a while on maternity leave. She's done such a great job with her team, you wouldn't even realize she's gone (that's a huge compliment)!

> Our time of musical/singing worship continues to be fresh and new over the past several weeks. We've tweaked a few things in our worship gatherings, which is giving us more freedom and more time to sing our praises to God, and people are responding!

> I had a great Discovering Worship class this past Saturday! Lot's of great discussion and lots of good feedback. Excited to see people hungry to learn more about God and worship!

> F1RST Wednesday last night was amazing. I'll be posting more about that ASAP!

> Looking forward to hearing Andy and Steve tag-team the message this Sunday. I've got a video to edit for them, so I'm saying "adios!"

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2010-02-22T12:24:00.003-05:00

> Yesterday was definitely one of the most charged worship gatherings in my 3+ years at Nags Head Church. People came worshipping to church, which is always the best way to come! With seven songs, offering, prayer, and a great message, we gave them plenty of opportunity to worship in freedom.

> Pastor Steve was filling in with the message this Sunday, continuing our series on the church, talking about tapping into the power of God by making worship personal.

> Our kids and adult leaders are getting settled into their new Kids Zone. After working out a few kinks from last Sunday, I was told things were running smoothly this week. Nothing but great reports on their new space from the kids and adults!

> Great to see some of our former church partners (members) who have moved away walk in unexpectedly at the beginning of our first gathering! I miss their presence in worship every week!

> The band nearly missed our cue to come back on stage during the second gathering...we were too busy having fun in the green room...this week, I install a new speaker so that we can listen in and not be late.

> Speaking of...NHC hosted The Green Room this past Friday. About 8 churches represented by nearly 50 people. If you missed it, you really did!

> We also hosted The Call, a student leadership conference in it's 8th year. Our youth band, Contagious, led worship while Andy taught.

> After our second gathering, I led a meeting of our Ministry Team Leaders. Lots of laughs and excitement as we discussed the Kidz Zone and other exciting things coming down the pike.

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2010-02-16T22:57:00.002-05:00

> We officially moved into our new Kids Zone this past week! Two huge rooms for our elementary and preschool age kids. The adults cheered them on as they walked from their old rooms to their new rooms...awesome!

> Andy followed Tom with another great message, filling in for our lead pastor who is on a 3 month sabbatical. The teaching has not been lacking the past few weeks, for sure!

> With our other pastors filling in, we have a big more time during our gatherings for some other elements, including more singing/music. The band is not complaining.

> The new Kids Zone affects many of our other ministry teams, but everyone seemed to make the transition this Sunday without a hitch. Well done!

Nate

Contagious Faith

2010-02-08T12:34:00.001-05:00

Two students began their relationship with God last night after watching these students share their stories.

Sunday Blitz!

2010-02-07T14:27:00.003-05:00

Our lead pastor is on a three month sabbatical, so I'm committing to write my Sunday Blitz every Sunday while he's gone to replace his weekly "Sunday Flashback" posts.

> Pastor Tom kicked off a new, seven-week series today by asking the question, "How Big Is Our God?" Tom did a great job!

> Will this be the last Sunday that our Kidmo (elementary) kids meet in our office space? The rumor is we should receive our occupancy permit for our new Kid's Zone by the end of this week!

> The band did something a little different today...we combined Chris Tomlin's "How Great Is Our God" with Hillsong United's "Hallelujah (Our God Reigns)" with the classic hymn "How Great Thou Art" to give people an extended opportunity to respond to Tom's Big question.

> Awesome to know that our team leaders can take a break every now and then and their teams carry on at high gear!

> We announced this week that Nags Head Church is a satellite host site for a Beth Moore simulcast conference in April. I'm sure the ladies will have a great time.

> Looking forward to teaching my worship class next Saturday! Looks like I have about 8 people signed up.

> Pray for our students tonight during their outreach night. The Contagious band has learned a new song specifically for tonight, and three of our students will be sharing their stories of Christ on the big screen.

> My Prediction - Colts 31, Saints 24

Nate

Contagious Faith Promo

2010-01-27T16:48:00.004-05:00

I was asked to shoot a video with three of our students sharing their faith stories for an upcoming "outreach night" for our youth group. I was very impressed with what they shared, and am also very happy with how the videos are turning out (I think they may be my best "interview" style videos yet). Here's the promo video that we'll show this Sunday morning.

Nate

Song Repertoire Equation

2010-01-27T12:08:00.002-05:00

I was talking with a friend the other day who has recently taken over leading her church's worship team. She was asking for a few quick tips on song selection. I was sharing some of my suggestions I've written previously about Repertoire, when I realized that I'd basically come up with a simple song repertoire equation that works well for most churches.

# of songs your band uses on average per week x (times) 10 = # of songs in your band's repertoire

For example, our church band uses about 6 songs per week on average, which means our repertoire should have about 60 songs in our repertoire at any given time. 60 songs gives us just the right number of songs...not too many so that we're forgetting how to play songs, and not too few that we're getting tired of playing songs over and over.

You may need to adjust the second number slightly up or down to fit your church, but in general, I'd suggest that this equation will work well for just about any church band. You can thank me later.

Nate

Christmas In Our Hearts

2009-12-10T18:00:00.000-05:00

We began a new series titled "Christmas In Our Hearts" (thanks Downhere). We're focusing on a few of our most treasured US Christmas traditions and refocusing them on Christ. Here is the teaser that we showed the Sunday before the series began.

The Contagious Band

2009-12-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

When I was first approached 9 months ago about helping to restart our youth band, I admit I wasn't incredibly enthused...we actually had a youth band a few years ago, but shut it down because the youth group just wasn't that into it. I was leading on stage, so it was more work than what I felt was worth at the time.

But, I've been pleasantly surprised by this experience with The Contagious Band. I decided, instead of helping to lead on stage with a guitar and a mic, I was only going to coach, which has been a great decision. Our band, keys, drummer, electric guitar, bass and two vocals (one male and one female) is made up entirely of students, except for our bass player who is one of our adult youth leaders (and we'll gladly replace him if we find a student who's got what it takes).

And, no joke, these kids are really good. They're still working out the kinks that come with leading worship for the first time, but they've done a great job and it's been a lot of fun to work with them.

Here are a few videos.

Nate

The Green Room (Willow Arts)

2009-12-09T14:19:00.005-05:00

Willow Arts, a ministry of the Willow Creek Association, is running an event for artists and creative type people who serve in the local church called The Green Room. This one-day event will take place on Friday, February 19, 2010.

We're very stoked that Nags Head Church will be one of the satellite host churches for this event. We are looking forward to gathering together artists other churches in northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia to learn together.

If you're a creative person in a local church and are interested in attending this event in Nags Head, pleaser leave me a comment or shoot me an email to inquire about a few super-cheap tickets I have in my possession. Visit The Green Room website to check out the schedule and other information.

Nate

Unspeakable Joy Setlist

2009-12-09T11:00:00.004-05:00

We haven't done anything "special" for Christmas here at Nags Head Church for several years. Of course, we always gather together on Christmas Eve to worship, but it's been a long time since we've had a special gathering in December for Christmas music/worship [you'll never read the word "cantata" on my blog (except for right there)]. Because we've changed the format of some of our other Christmas "traditions" at NHC this year, we thought it would be a great time to try something new.

Here's our (maybe) finalized setlist for our Christmas Concert on Friday night. If you're reading this and planning on coming to Unspeakable Joy on Friday, you may want to stop yourself here just so you can enjoy the fun without knowing what to expect! (songs are italicized)

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Welcome
Scripture – Isaiah 9:6,7
O Come Let Us Adore Him
My Soul Magnifies The Lord (a new one from Chris Tomlin)
Scripture – Luke 2:8-20
Gloria
Glory In The Highest (an NHC favorite from Chris Tomlin)
Scripture – Philippians 2:6-11
Silent Night
Hark The Herald Angels
O Holy Night
Christmas Time Is Here (the Vince Guaraldi classic)
Joy To The World
Closing
Scripture – Philippians 4:4-9
Rejoice (another NHC favorite from Chris Tomlin)

Only One Did That For Me

2009-12-08T10:26:00.002-05:00

Christmas is a time of wonder…a time when many of us are reminded of Christmases past, of Christmases from a more innocent time in our lives. For most of us, our mental images of the first Christmas are molded at an early age, with thoughts of silent nights and angelic singing and idyllic shepherds, and lavish gifts of wise men and farm animals all kneeling at the manger. Even as adults, when we hear songs about Jesus birth, and the Baby laying in a manger, we often imagine the scene as one of calm and beauty, of joy and perfection.

But, it’s important that we also remember that God coming to earth was not necessarily as serene as we might like to think.

The Message translation of Philippians 2 describes Jesus’ descension to earth this way:

He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what.
Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human.
It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges.
Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

To truly appreciate Christmas we must understand the entire story of Christmas, the beautiful and the ugly. Although it was certainly a holy night, it probably wasn’t quiet, being born in a stable with farm animals. It definitely wasn’t clean, and it probably didn’t smell very nice either. The baby Jesus more than likely spent just as much time crying as he did asleep in the hay.

For Christ to humble Himself to become human, born to homeless parents, placed in the feeding trough of filthy animals, acknowledged only by the lowliest outcasts of society, pursued as a criminal to be put to death...it required an incredibly amount of sacrifice and humility, poured out from a heart of love and mercy.

How many kings have stepped down from their thrones, how many lords have abandoned their homes, how many greats have become the least for you and me? Only one did that for me.*

As we share the story of Christmas with others this year, as we paint the picture of that nativity scene, let’s not forget to tell of the sacrifice that the God of the universe made for us.

Nate

*Borrowed from the song, "How Many Kings" by Downhere.

Recent Graphics

2009-12-06T18:36:00.003-05:00

Here are a few graphics I've produced recently. As always, istockphoto and Illustrator are my friends!

Title PPT graphic for a recent sermon series on Holiness.

Title PPT graphic for a recent testimony by my friend Sam.

Poster for Thanksgiving Worship Gathering.

Poster for our upcoming Christmas Concert.

Title PPT graphic for our current sermon series on Christmas Traditions.

Nate

Scott's Story

2009-11-16T12:53:00.004-05:00

In the video below, my uncle, Scott, tells the story of his life, how he has always been a good and religious man, even as much as playing in his church band, but never had an authentic relationship with God until just a few weeks ago. It was an honor to be present at his baptism yesterday...

(Bump) Halloween?

2009-10-29T14:00:00.000-04:00

I doubt I'm about to say anything that you can't find thousands of other people saying on the internet this week...and, I doubt that you have much doubt about my views of Halloween if you've been reading my blog for more than a few days...and, I am certainly NOT posting this in an attempt to get a theological discussion going about Halloween...nor am I trying to persuade you to change any opinions about this or any other holiday...trust me, I know that if you believe that Halloween is the devil, there ain't nobody going to be changing your convictions anytime soon.

But, I’m sharing this with you because I have had a few people ask me why we celebrate Halloween.

First, let me share with you my history with Halloween. When I was very young, my parents would take my sisters and I out every year trick or treating (totting). I remember Halloween as lots of fun...my mom would even make our costumes (before the days of Wal-Mart). One year, I was Kermit the frog...another year, all three of us were the pink panther [those were some HOT (not sexy hot, but sweaty/stinky hot) costumes...].

The biggest thing I remember about those early years of totting (beyond the requisite candy-trading with my sisters at the end of the bountiful evening) was a very real fear of dying from eating a poisoned or razor blade embedded piece of candy...I don't know why my parents thought it was OK to warn me about such things... So, from early on, I was taught that Halloween was not all fun and games.

When I was about 7, my parents made the decision to stop allowing us to participate in traditional Halloween festivities...namely the evil and dangerous totting. I'm guessing that this decision had as much to do with the fact that my father was a pastor of some “convicted” people as it had to do with my parents’ own convictions, but regardless, pink panther was long gone.

In it's place, we began having the wonderful Baptist (although I hear it's not contained to one denomination) alternative called, "Harvest Party". If you've never been to a harvest party, think of it as the alternative prom...the one that all the lame people who didn't want to have any fun went to. I'm not saying our harvest parties weren't any fun...I have some good memories of all of the Bible characters I dressed up as and all of the sword drills I won for candy. But, Halloween for us was definitely not the same as Halloween for the rest of the known world.

Fast forward to present day. Harvest Parties are long gone at our church. I haven't done a sword drill in years. In a few days, my dad is going to be grilling hundreds of hotdogs for a few thousand unchurched guests (about 500 families) who come through NHC's TRUNKorTREAT. My mom is going to be trying to up her costume from last year (see pics below). I have been plotting my own costume since last spring. About 80% of our church is going to be volunteering to pass out candy, man our giant inflatable games, serve food and drinks, etc.

My Dad:
My Mom:

At some point, my parents finally saw the light...and, I got past my deadly fears as well.

All that to say, here's what we believe about Halloween:

> There is nothing evil about October 31 in and of itself. Nor is their necessarily anything evil about dressing up, buying candy, passing out candy, receiving candy, eating candy, hanging out with friends, carving a pumpkin, etc.

> There are people in the past and in the present who choose to use October 31 as a day for evil. Vandalism, substance abuse, sexual "fun" (have you seen some of the costumes these days?), imitation of blood and violence have all, among certain groups, become closely associated with Halloween.

> There are also people who choose to use October 31 for neutral reasons…hanging out with friends, eating candy, staying home to watch the World Series, etc.

> There are some people who choose to isolate and insulate themselves from everything related to Halloween, fearing the possible evils and harm that could come their way if they were to participate in the day.

> And, there are people who choose to use October 31 for God-centered purposes.

We choose to use Halloween as an opportunity to reach out to our community and show them, not that there is an alternative to Halloween, but that there is an alternative to life. While we do stay away from using witches and ghosts and axe murderers in our Halloween celebration, we don't put Halloween or those who celebrate it differently than us down in any way. Instead, we invite people to come and celebrate October 31 with us (even if they dress up as a witch), hoping that they'll see and hear about our alternative way of life.

I realize that a lot of people disagree with how we view Halloween, and that's OK with us...most of those people are not who we are trying to reach. In fact the cool thing about ToT is that, because so many other churches/Christians disagree with our view about October 31, we almost exclusively attract unchurched people in our community with this event. I also understand that Halloween is celebrated very differently in other cultures (even in the states), which makes what we do a little easier. We see very little of the violence and vandalism that many other cities and towns deal with on October 31...we see less neighborhood totting as well. TRUNKorTREAT is actually not just another stop for our community on October 31, it has become the place to be...this year we're expecting upwards of 2500 people.

Nate

The Fun Theory

2009-10-15T13:53:00.007-04:00

Ministry should be fun. Maybe every single second isn't a party, but in general, I should find joy in serving my church.

If you're a ministry leader, ask yourselves these questions:

“Do people on my ministry team love serving, in part, because we have fun?”

“What am I doing as a team leader to make our ministry team fun?”

“Can I identify any menial, boring, difficult or frustrating things about our ministry team that need to be eliminated or re-evaluated?

“Is there anyone on my team who is not enjoying their ministry...how can I help this person rediscover the joy of serving others?”

By definition, serving others should be a joyful, fun experience. If it's not, there's something wrong...

Nate

Seth & Jeanna

2009-10-14T13:10:00.001-04:00

We produced this video in-house to promote the upcoming Crown Financial Seminar in November at NHC.

Sunday Blitz

2009-10-06T22:17:00.002-04:00

> My first Sunday back leading worship with the band post-uvulo-palato-pharyngoplasty (you can read more about that surgery Here)...although my throat is still healing up a bit and still a little tender, the singing felt great. And, it's always just a little extra fun to lead worship when you've missed a week or two.

> The MilePost13 Band didn't miss a beat without me for two weeks...the past two Sunday are actually the first time I've ever not been on stage when our band was leading. Other worship leaders will know what I mean when I say it's awesome to be surrounded by talented people who can hit the bar with or without you!

> The Contagious Band (our new youth band) led worship for the first time this Sunday night, and they are really, really good. They should be since they've been practicing since June... I'm hoping that the entire youth group learns more about God and worship of Him with their help!

> Our new Kids Zone is nearly complete! We're just waiting for lights, a bit of electrical work, flat screen tvs, and some decor, and they're ready to roll! Their sound system sounds better than the auditorium's system, and I guarantee the kids and their adult leaders are going to have a great time engaging with God in that space!

> We always love to see old friends, especially former partners who have moved away and are back to visit. We miss everyone who relocates, but we know that God is willing and able to use their talents and passions for Him in another local church.

> October brings two big, fun events for NHC...our annual Ministry Fair and TRUNKorTREAT! We're looking forward to reaching people to discover life in Christ through these two amazing events!

Rock on!

Nate

Viva La Blessed (Mashup)

2009-09-30T22:59:00.002-04:00

I've been looking for some new inspiration lately and have become very fascinated by the creative musical effort known as "mashups". This Video in particular is incredibly creative...it seems that Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" has become a favorite choice for mashups, so I figured I'd give it a try with a worship song. I looked through our list at NHC for a song that could work, especially looking for something that had a similar temp (around 140 on the metronome)...Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name" ended up being a perfect fit.

I don't know of any easy way to upload MP3's to blogger, so I share this to you via video. Please excuse my vocals and cut me some slack...I am only two weeks out from a tonsillectomy...

"Viva La Blessed"

The MP13 Band and I are going to be working on this and a few other mashups soon...do you have any creative ideas for Worship Mashups?

Nate

Introducing Christ

2009-09-29T11:01:00.011-04:00

How do you introduce Christ to others? I hope it's at least a little something like Steve Harvey would do it...

Steve Harvey Introducing to Christ @ Yahoo! Video

Sunday Blitz

2009-09-14T07:43:00.002-04:00

> Sam Knight was our guest speaker this Sunday. Sam's a partner at NHC, a great friend, and a powerful communicator. I'll have the podcast up ASAP, as well as a podcast from earlier this year when he shared his faith story with us.

> The message was about crippled feet...how God loves to love those with crippled feet. We all have messed up lives in one way or another, and He wants to use us to bless others.

> The band learned "Carried To The Table" by Leeland, which, I'm pretty sure, was written out of II Samuel 9...fit incredibly perfect with Sam's message, and was a lot of fun to play and sing.

> We're gearing up for TRUNKorTREAT at NHC! I'm currently writing a post all about how we do ToT for anyone who is interested.

> I love sitting with my wife in church, which is something I haven't always been able to do because of her health. I also love picking up my daughter from the nursery and hanging with her between our worship gatherings...she was especially fun to show off this Sunday wearing her Redskins uniform!

> Speaking of which, we won't talk about the game....

> I'm having my tonsils removed this Monday, which means I'll be MIA for at least a week. The MP13 Band always rocks on without me, from what I hear (because I'm usually out of town when they do), so I'm hoping to at least be at church this Sunday to hear it for myself!

Rock on!

Nate

Summer of 2009

2009-09-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

Nags Head Church has taken advantage of several opportunities to reach the Outer Banks to discover life in Christ during the summer of 2009. This video highlights a few of those opportunities.

How does your church show her community that people matter?

Nate

Connection Groups (Two Stories)

2009-09-03T22:09:00.001-04:00

We showed this video at F1RST Wednesday this week as a promo for our Connection Groups.

Connection Groups Commercial (05)

2009-09-02T13:00:00.002-04:00

We've produced five Connection Group Commercials to show at NHC over the month of August to help promote our upcoming trimester...here's the fifth...

Nate

Connection Group Commercial (05)

2009-09-01T21:22:00.000-04:00

We've produced five Connection Group Commercials to show at NHC over the month of August to help promote our upcoming trimester...here's the fifth...

Connection Group Commercial (04)

2009-09-01T13:00:00.000-04:00

We've produced five Connection Group Commercials to show at NHC over the month of August to help promote our upcoming trimester...here's the fourth...

Sunday Blitz

2009-09-01T10:34:00.003-04:00

> This one's going to be short because I've got a few projects to finish for F1RST Wednesday, tomorrow, night, 6:30!

> Worship was rocking on Sunday! We introduced two new songs...one was a "performance" song that utilized Larry Z. on the sax ("In Christ" by Big Daddy Weave), and the other was an older song, but new to our church that fit perfectly with the message about idolatry ("You Are God Alone" by Billy and Cindy Foote).

> We've got the first coat of paint rolled in the Kid's Zone! It should be ready for use in just a few more weeks!!!

Rock on!

Nate

Not Above My Pay Grade

2009-08-27T16:20:00.005-04:00

It's been a little over a year since President Obama famously (or infamously, depending on who you ask) side-stepped a pointed debate question with his "answering that question...is above my pay grade..." response.

This post is not about Obama or politics...it is about knowing what is and is not in my realm of responsibility as a leader. I've heard and read way too many worship leaders recently say something like, "who am I to judge a person?" when referring to the decision of allowing a person of questionable intentions, attitude or character lead worship.

This post is also not about what kind of people (maturity) we should allow to participate in the ministry of leading worship...I'll leave that decision to each church and that debate for another blog. This is about those of us in leadership recognizing that we have been given the responsibility to discern the intentions, attitudes and character of those who call themselves believers and help determine if God would be glorified through their participation.

I know of some church bands that do not have auditions for musicians because, "who are we to judge a person's gifts and calling?" I've heard of some worship leaders who do not set up spiritual values for their band members because, "who are we to judge what's going on in a person's heart?" Seriously? That just blows my mind...

It's not always easy, and it certainly is not always the popular decision, but having standards in ministry and sticking to them is about giving priority to God and others. There are too many church people serving in a ministry that they are neither skilled or spiritually qualified for...by allowing this to take place, church leaders are not helping their church give their best to God, are devaluing the unique gifts and calling God has given each of us, and are giving people an easy opportunity to get bored and frustrated with church.

I believe that every member of God's family has been uniquely shaped to serve the church and the world in an excellent way, and that every church should have opportunities for those who do not yet know God personally to jump in and partner and serve. I also believe that people are given the best opportunity to grow spiritually when they are serving God and others in ways that God has created them for.

If we sincerely love God and value people, we will be willing to be a leader, rise to our "pay grade", make some tough decisions and help people truly experience all that God wants for their lives.

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-08-19T10:06:00.003-04:00

> Sunday continued our tag-team teaching series...we went from personal holiness to corporate holiness as a church. Probably one of the best messages I've heard in a long time.

> The past two Sundays have reflected the end of the busiest part of our tourist season...the out-of-town numbers are down, but the locals continue to check us out. Word is we have about 10 new partners (members) getting ready to call NHC their church home!

> Operation Backpack was a HUGE success this year! We gave free school supplies to about 160 elementary school students...we're already planning to make next year bigger and better!

> F1RST Wednesday reboots in September after taking the past two months off. It's been great to have a break from planning, and to observe the Lord's Supper on Sunday mornings with so many people, but I'm really stoked about gearing up again!

> Matt the Intern has gone back to school...he was a great addition to our staff and church family, doing a ton of stuff, a lot of which nobody else could or wanted to do. We'll miss you Matt...come back and visit (and bring your gear with you)!

> I'll be out of town this coming weekend for a wedding...I'll miss the final message in our holiness series (Our Holy Mission), but will catch up thanks to our handy dandy podcast!

> Which means, Tricia and I should be worshipping with our friend at C3! Always love the chance to just participate (without preparing/leading) during worship!

Rock on!

Nate

Connection Group Commercial (03)

2009-08-18T18:00:00.001-04:00

We've produced five Connection Group Commercials to show at NHC over the month of August to help promote our upcoming trimester...here's the third...

Check out the second commercial Here!

"Visitor" vs "Guest"

2009-08-18T16:00:00.000-04:00

It's amazing how one little word can affect the church's perception of people and people's perception of the church. For example, how many times have you ever heard or used the word "visitor" when referring to people who are not regulars at your church? What if, instead of thinking of people as a "visitors" at our churches, we thought of them as "guests"?

A “visitor” is typically somebody who comes and goes without much preparation on our part or much thought afterward. Most of the time, a visitor is a consumer only...a person who is simply looking for a specific service or product. A visitor is only interested in investing whatever (time, energy, money) is necessary to to get what they want out of their stop.

Hospitals have visitors. Museums have visitors. Grocery stores have visitors. Usually, some amount of effort is made to prepare for visitors, to make them feel welcome, to clean the floor, to have the service or product hot and ready. But, the primary purpose of preparing for a visitor is to serve their consumer mentality...do just enough to entice them to buy into a certain product or service, with the hope that maybe they'll exit quickly to make room for another consumer and return when they need that same product or service again. The bottom line when focusing on visitors is about getting as many satisfied people in and out the door as possible.

A “guest”, in comparison, is typically a person who is cared for and has been intentionally invited. Most of the time, a guest is somebody who is a participant...a person who looking for a specific experience. A guest is often interested in investing in the greater purpose of the group.

Homes have guests. Elementary classrooms have guests. And, churches should have guests. A guest is somebody you’ve dusted every nook and cranny for, put out your best china for, prepared a certain meal for. You wait for them at the door, offer them your favorite chair, spend time getting to know them, and invite them to be an active participant in what you are doing. The primary purpose of preparing for a guest is to serve their felt needs...do everything possible to offer them the opportunity to experience change, with the hope that maybe they'll have a desire to enter into a deeper relationship. The bottom line when focusing on guests is about being ready to have a life-altering connection with every person who comes through the doors.

I don't know about you, but I want to see people as guests and not visitors. I want people to see the church as a community, not a retail store. I want the members of my church to realize that their interaction with our guests, whether a quick "hello" or an extended conversation, could have an eternal impact. I want our guests to come to my church hoping for something more than friendly people, a positive message and some feel-good music.

What about you? Are you serving visitors or are you serving guests on Sunday morning? Does it really matter? If so, what would it take to change the focus of your church?

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-08-10T10:43:00.003-04:00

> This Sunday was packed with about as much stuff as any I can remember...we just had a lot to do and talk about and celebrate that all seemed to culminate into one day...here's a rundown:

> Operation Backpack, an outreach event that offers free school supplies to local families is ready to roll this week. We've changed the event from one day to three this year. This Sunday was Backpack Sunday...we encouraged everyone to wear the backpacks and school supplies they bought to the church.

> It was Matt French's last Sunday at NHC as our summer intern. He's done a great job, been a lot of fun to work with, and has made some life-long friends with many of our locals. We sent him off with a few pocket-fulls of cash...at least enough gas money to get him back to school this week.

> Our second week in our "Holier Than Thou?" series, and our second week of tag-team preaching from our pastor and Matt Glock. It's been a great series so far, and I'm really looking forward to hearing Matt go solo next week, talking about what corporate holiness looks like.

> We also remembered the Lord's Supper, which fit in perfectly with the message about personal holiness. Next month, we restart our F1RST Wednesday worship gathering, but it's been enjoyable to do Communion on Sunday mornings the past few months.

> The numbers were down this week, which is a sign that people are headed back to school and back to work. It also means that the fun and craziness of doing summer church at NHC is coming to a close.

> The band only did two songs together yesterday, which, is probably the least number of songs we've done as a full band since I arrived here a few years ago. George (harmonica), Rachel (vocals) and I (acoustic guitar) did a trimmed down version of "What Do I Know Of Holy" and Rachel and I were the only ones leading "By His Wounds" during Communion. It's fun to shake things up, but I'm looking forward to rocking hard again next week.

> I peeked in on our Discovering NHC class during the afternoon, and only recognized about half of the faces...of the faces I did recognize, half of them are new believers. All of that is a great thing!

Rock on!

Nate

Connection Group Commercial (02)

2009-08-09T15:36:00.003-04:00

We've produced five Connection Group Commercials to show at NHC over the month of August to help promote our upcoming trimester...here's the second...

Check out the first commercial Here!

Holier Than Thou?

2009-08-06T16:28:00.001-04:00

Here's the series title graphic we're using for our new Sunday Morning Series about holiness...after I got done with it, I realized that it looked a bit like Harry Potter, which is fine with me...

Nate

Connection Group Commercial (01)

2009-08-05T12:00:00.010-04:00

We've produced five Connection Group Commercials to show at NHC over the month of August to help promote our upcoming trimester...here's the first...

Nate

Connection Groups

2009-08-05T11:02:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned, we've got a new ad campaign promoting our Connection Groups. Here are the two in-house posters we've created...I'll post our first commercial in a little while.

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-08-05T10:14:00.002-04:00

> The crowds continue to surprise us...this Sunday was our biggest yet, with well over 600 people in attendance. I'd like to guess that this coming Sunday will be the last huge one before school starts and the tourist numbers start to drop, but trying to predict things this year has already proven worthless.

> We've started a new, four-week series called "Holier Than Thou?". Our pastor and one of our missionaries are doing a tag-team teaching approach each Sunday...the message on God's holiness was very good this week, and we're looking forward to the remaining three weeks.

> We introduced a new song, "What Do I Know of Holy" by Addison Road as our theme song for this new series. Beautiful song, with some very honest, introspective lyrics...we'll be using it again, maybe every week...it's that good, so give it a listen.

> There are just some Sundays where the music seems to click on a higher level with the hearts of people...this was one of those Sundays. Maybe it was the fact that we did one more song than we normally do, but everyone seemed prepared to worship from the start.

> This was Amber Elwood's last Sunday at NHC...she'd the local artist who has been helping us illustrate our Moses series...which reminds me...I need to post some more of her paintings for you to see. Thanks for using your gifts, Amber!

> The heartbeat of NHC is our connection groups, and we're taking the month of August off to give our groups a groups a break and give people the opportunity to change groups or try them out for the first time. We've got a new ad campaign for our groups...our Sunday morning crowd is enjoying it, and I think you will too...more to come shortly...

> A big announcement was made this past week...I and the rest of our full-time staff will be going bi-vocational for a season. I'll be working about 20 hours for the church and 20 hours elsewhere, and will be job hunting over the next few weeks. I'd appreciate your prayer!

Rock on!

Nate

Hukilau Continues to Make Waves

2009-07-29T15:25:00.001-04:00

Check out another article about Nags Head Church's Hukilau Surf Camp!

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-07-27T12:07:00.002-04:00

> July continues to be the big month for us at NHC...we have been packed every Sunday. One of my favorite things about the summer is meeting new guests and seeing the familiar faces of people who vacation here every year.

> Not to mention the tons of new local guests who are checking us out...is so encouraging to see local people who are still seeking come back for a second and third time.

> Speaking of...yesterday's message was all about having a relationship with God...here's hoping our guests were hearing it.

> We're into the story of the ten commandments in our journey with the life of Moses...a timely message about relationships vs. rules this Sunday, and we're taking the next four Sundays to talk about what holiness looks like.

> Word is that one of our kids rooms was full to capacity no less than 10 minutes before one of our worship gatherings began...the space upstairs is getting closer and closer to being done, which should eliminate that problem, for now...

> Check out my dad's blog for a cool story from Sunday...

> Been working with our new youth band on Sunday afternoons...they've got one song nailed and will start working on another one this week...amazing some of the talent these kids have so early on.

> This week is crazy busy for me...I have two big projects to complete, and I'm leading worship (with the band) every morning and Friday evening for Impact Outer Banks. Gotta run and get some stuff taken care of now...

Rock on!

Nate

The Great Divide

2009-07-21T15:52:00.000-04:00

One of the things we spend a lot of time and energy focusing on at Nags Head Church in how we do and communicate things is trying to break down the misconception that many people have in their minds that the people on stage and the people in the congregation are two different groups. There is a great divide, even if it's unspoken, that exists in many people's minds that separates what happens on stage and what happens off stage, especially during musical worship.

This is why we stopped calling our band the "worship team"...they are NOT the only team in church that worships or even "leads" worship. This is why we don't call our auditorium the "worship center"...a room in the church building should NOT be the center of our worship lives. This is why we no longer call the music part of our gatherings "worship", but instead refer to it as the "music" or the "musical worship"...worship can and should be every element of our worship gatherings. This is why we've developed a discipleship class that covers foundational Biblical worship that every member of our church is required to take...we want to give people the tools to dig in and learn more on their own about true Biblical worship.

No matter how clearly we communicate, no matter how many barriers we remove, there are still people who just don't get it. But, it's so worth it for the people who do get it and are freed from thinking that it's my job as a "worship leader" to tell them exactly when and how to worship. I constantly remind the band (and anyone who will listen) that it's our purpose to get the corporate ball rolling and then step out of the way and allow space for people to worship together freely in their own unique ways. It's a blessing to watch people do just that, and frustrating to watch those who are always waiting for their cues.

I'm not saying that our corporate worship times should be a free-for-all and unorganized...God speaks strongly about corporate worship being focused and set up with holy boundaries. But, too many people can't get past the great divide in their minds that keeps them boxed in to whatever they're told to do.

How does your church address this great divide in your worship gatherings? Where do you see this misconception of worship show itself in the things that people say and do?

Nate

If you enjoyed this post, you may want to read the blog series titled "Rethinking Worship".

Guarantee

2009-07-14T10:45:00.001-04:00

There are few things in this life that are a true guarantee...death, taxes, slow service at McDonald's, and whiny, complaining Christians. If I were a betting man, I'd also be a wealthy man by betting that every time we ever receive a whiny, criticizing, complaining comment about our church, it's coming from a Christian. Sometimes it's from our own folks, more often it's from a first (and usually only) time guest.

We Christians love to come to church with expectations...whether our own church, or a church we're visiting for the first time, we feel like we should be able to read the name of a church and automatically know what to expect from our experience on Sunday morning. We expect a certain style of music. We expect that the preacher will and won't say certain things. We expect that we'll be allowed to do certain things with our kids and not allowed to do other things with the way we dress. I'll be the first to admit that I've done my fair share of Christian complaining and whining.

But, at Nags Head Church, although it's not our top priority to simply be different, it seems that our desire to "reach people to discover life in Christ" leads us to throw a lot of the normal Christian expectations out the window. Our music and preaching style is not very "baptist"-like, although we are a baptist church. Our building and facilities are modern and brand new, although our church is actually over 50 years old. Our ministry philosophy and systems are forward thinking, even though we hold to centuries-old, traditional church and family values. We do try to communicate who we are to people before we come, but most people like to trust their own experience about church more than what we try to communicate.

And, although we have a very good reason (I would argue, the most important reason in all the world) to do things differently, many people can't see past their own Christian church expectations to realize that we're not randomly doing things just to make their church experience unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

Take the young family of tourists who arrives 15 minutes late to our 11am worship gathering and gets upset with us because we won't allow their kids to go to Kids Church and our Nursery...they even say to us, "I would expect your church to value families enough to keep your kids stuff open for us tourists who come late..."

Yeah, well...actually, we value families so much, that we won't allow a single kid to walk in more than a few minutes late and interrupt the flow of 20 other kids who are totally engulfed in Kids Church, or allow a single baby to go to the nursery more than a few minutes late and cause 10 other babies to start crying because they think it's mommy coming to get them. We value families so much that we give "perks" to those people who actually show up on time (you can even get some coffee and donuts if you come a little early). It's cool with us that you think we're selfish jerks who don't care enough about families, and we sincerely hope you find a better place to care for your kids. Unfortunately, we don't have time to explain that to everyone...

Take the older couple who arrives early, takes the time to check out our building, grabs a seat before the gathering begins, observes our modern auditorium, stage lighting, rock band set-up, heavy-duty sound system and then gets up and leaves half-way through the third song, only to call and leave a message on our answering machine later that morning to ask, "Do you have a rock concert every Sunday?"

Yeah, well...actually, we have a room full of about 200-300 people (times two) every Sunday who are offered an engaging and relevant worship environment and invited to freely express their worship to God, most of whom take us up on that invitation on some level. We believe that God enjoys music and singing that come from a heart of worship and that He wants the church to be a place of life and joy and creativity, and we make certain that our website, our building, our parking lot, our lobby, and everything else about us screams who we are loud and clear so that those who think church is best done as a black and white funeral service can decide quickly and quietly to attend elsewhere. It's cool with us if you don't like our style, and we sincerely hope you can find a better place to worship. Unfortunately, we don't have time to explain that to everyone...

We don't have time to explain to everyone who doesn't like us why they should. We can't afford to use time and energy convincing people who already know God when we've been called to reach those who are far from God. It's hard to get past the whining and criticisms...it's hard not to take it personally.

Whining and nitpicking and complaining, especially coming from those who should know better, is such a downer. We've been walking through the story of Moses on Sunday mornings, and we're currently in the middle of the desert with the nation of Israel...oh, how they love to complain and whine about everything. How completely they forget their miraculous exodus from slavery and poverty in Egypt. How quickly their hearts turn time and again from the God who has kept the safe and fed in the middle of a desert. We should have much to learn from the story of Moses and the exodus...

I'll be honest, if left to my own personal preferences, even some things in my own church would look and feel and sound different. But, life is too short and our mission too great for us to spend so much time complaining about how unfamiliar and uncomfortable a one hour church service is. It's not about me...it's about loving God and loving people. The people who come to church on Sunday mornings to give (worship to God and encouragement to others) are always the ones who walk away having received the most.

There are some obvious reasons why we love unchurched guests and children so much at NHC. There is also a secret reason...they never complain...

I guarantee.

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-07-13T09:16:00.003-04:00

> Let's just get this out of the way...9am was maybe the most frustrating worship gathering I've ever been a part of, technically speaking...just about everything that could go wrong, did. I have a reoccurring dream/nightmare about a worship gathering that falls apart, and yesterday came as close to living that dream as I've ever come before.

> Having said that, God isn't bound by our imperfections...He was still there and moving in the hearts and lives of people. And, 11am was smooth sailing.

> Funny thing, I was kind of expecting some bumps in the road yesterday...we were playing with a new drummer, which can always be an adventure...but, he played incredibly well, and the few mistakes he did make were only detectable by the band. Good job, Alex!

> Instead of a sermon/message, we had an on stage interview with Matt and Sylvie Glock, part of our global team in France. Whether it's with foreign missionaries or our own people, I love when we do these live interviews, because it shakes things up a bit and gives people a very real and tangible view of who God is and what He is up to.

> Matt the Intern filled in well for us on the bass, and it was fun to have double electrics rocking again for the second strait week.

> Our set list included "Give Love Away" (Exodus) and "The Power of Your Name" (Lincoln Brewster), helping us focus on the missional theme of the day.

> Along with Sunday morning, I had a busy weekend, including a wedding on Friday night, teaching my Worship Class on Saturday morning, and working with our youth band on Sunday afternoon. I'm looking forward to my day off today, spending quality time with my family.

> A young family who attended our 4th of July event were in church for the first time yesterday morning...their daughter enjoyed Kid's Church and they both seemed to enjoy our worship gathering and want to come back again. That's what it's all about!

Rock on!

Nate

Hukilau Newspaper Article

2009-07-09T15:04:00.001-04:00

Check out This Article (click the link and then scroll down to the "Hukilau Surf Camp" link) about our Surf Camps!

Nate

4th of July at Nags Head Church

2009-07-09T15:02:00.001-04:00

Here is some video of our 4th of July event at Nags Head Church thanks to Matt the Intern.

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-07-07T10:38:00.003-04:00

> Attendance was one of our all-time highs at Nags Head Church this Sunday! We have more local guests attending than ever before, and with the holiday weekend, tourism was booming as well. We purposely designed a more high energy setlist just to help add the the energy and celebrative atmosphere...it was rockin'!

> Because we're taking a few months off from our F1RST Wednesday gathering, we also worshipped through communion (the Lord's Supper) for the first time on a Sunday morning in several years. Serving the elements to nearly 600 people is no easy task, but our First Impressions team (with a few extra hands) made it seem like we do it every week.

> The Kid's Zone upstairs is getting closer and closer to the finish line, which means, soon, the offices space will be available for the band to use as our "green room" before and after and during the worship gatherings...we're really looking forward to that!

> I'll be honest, with the business of yesterday, I actually missed the message during both gatherings, and although I get a sneak peak every week reading through our pastor's notes, I'm looking forward to downloading our podcast in a little while and catching up on what I missed.

> My wife tells me every week how fun and engaging her time is leading our preschoolers in worship...are church is booming with young families!

> Our 4th of July outreach event on Saturday night went very well. We opened up our parking lot for free parking for the local fireworks...we also gave away free hotdogs and sausages, free drinks and free slushies, and we had our two big moon bounces for kids. Hopefully this event will grow in years to come.

> During the event, I was able to give a tour of our church building to a young family...they were attracted to the fact that we have a modern rock band, and were impressed with our kid space. They guy also looked at me suspiciosuly when I told him most people come to church in the summer dressed just like they were dressed...in shorts and t-shirts.

> We got a few of our new, home made acoustic pannels up on the back of the stage behind the drum kit to try out...the difference was great, and our sound tech loves having more control in producing better sound quality. We'll get a few more finished this week and have the entire back wall of the stage covered.

> Looking forward to bringing in a new drummer (the son of our regular drummer) this week...he's played with us a few times, but in a long while...hoping to get him into the rotation soon.

Rock on!

Nate

A Job for Matt the Intern

2009-07-06T11:08:00.003-04:00

Seriously...this is why we're letting him hang out with us this summer...

Nate

Patriotism In The Church

2009-07-04T10:32:00.004-04:00

Some people (church leaders) like to argue that there is no place for patriotism in a church worship service...it is never appropriate for us to mention our military, sing "God Bless America" or display the US flag in church. (don't ask me to explain it because I don't understand it)

My argument is, if there is a place for patriotism in your personal life, then there can be a place for patriotism in a corporate church worship gathering. It may not always be profitable, but it is possible.

Too often, we like to compartmentalize our lives, believing the lie that says that the worship that happens on Sunday mornings is more holy and important that the worship that happens during the rest of our week...the lie that says we must be more careful about the things we say and do in church than the things we say and do outside of church. But, if my entire life, every second of every day is purposed to be an act of worship to God, how can showing patriotism at a baseball game with thousands, in an elementary school with hundreds, and at my family cookout this Saturday with a few be more OK than showing patriotism in church?

For the record, I understand how blessed I am to live in a free country, I say "thank you" to those who have served in our military, I cheer loudly during the Olympics, I salute the flag and I hold my hand over my heart during the pledge. None of those things in and of themselves make me patriotic, but I do have a love for and devotion to my country, and I'm OK with expressing my patriotism at the appropriate times.

What say you? Is there a place for patriotism in a church worship service? Can we sing the songs and acknowledge the flag while still bringing glory and honor to God?

I certainly hope so.

Nate

4th of July

2009-07-03T21:08:00.001-04:00

Here's a little OBX secret...the absolute best place to watch fireworks is on top of Jockey's Ridge...not only do you not have to fight the traffic and the crowds that invade the beaches that night, you can easily see not one, not two, but three different fireworks displays from the biggest sand dunes on the East Coast! Here's another secret...the best place to park and walk up the dunes is at Nags Head Church.

Along with free parking, there will also be free Boar’s Head hotdogs (seriously some of the best dogs ever), free Seafreeze Slushies (nothing better than something ice cold in the middle of summer) and some awesome free activities for kids (can you say two moon bounces?). Did I mention that everything is free?!?

If you're wondering where I'll be tomorrow evening, you can find me in the parking lot of Nags Head Church.

Hope to see you there!

Nate

Parking is limited, so don't be late!

Sunday Blitz

2009-06-29T12:01:00.003-04:00

> Contrary to how it feels, our attendance is actually up a bit from June of last year...it feels down because we know that tourism here is down, but the enthusiasm of the worshippers and the numbers, especially the kids, speak for themselves. July will be the real test, as it's always the busiest month here at NHC.

> After a few weeks of rough starts for the band, yesterday morning flowed really well from start to finish. A few minor bumps, as always, but no major frustrations like we've been having the past few weeks.

> Great message about leaders...being a good leader and praying for and supporting those who lead us...can never hear about that stuff too often.

> Our First Impressions Team may have the toughest assignment each week...while our other teams have a plan in place with little variations, the FI Team is basically always adjusting and reacting to what comes at them...big crowds, small crowds, late-comers, cranky tourists, bad weather, small parking lot, etc....they do an incredible job of meeting the challenges of a growing church during tourist season.

> Speaking of cranky tourists (and, just in case you're coming to our church soon from out of town), I really wish there was a way to explain to our out of town guests why we do everything we do...some people come to church thinking that we're here to cater to their every need, putting aside the needs of everyone else, and that's just not the case. We do everything we do for a very specific reason, and although we love our out of town guests, our target is our local, unchurched guests, and we will make the most sacrifices for them and our regular attenders. Although, we will do it with a smile on our face, even when people are cranky...

> We've yet (knock on wood) to have a bad weather Sunday this summer! Nothing better than walking out of the church building on Sunday afternoon with nothing to do and blue skys! Yesterday, we spent some time with family and friends at the beach...first time my wife and I have been in the ocean together in a few years!

> It was just one of those gatherings yesterday at 9am...a ton of little children in the auditorium (somebody explain to me why so many parents don't send their kids to do their own thing?)...which also meant a ton of distractions...once we've got our Kids Zone finished and can shuffle some things around, I'm hoping those distractions will be minimized.

> Speaking of kids, my daughter may be experiencing her first bit of separation anxiety...the past two Sundays, at 11am, when I hand her off to our awesome nursery team, she's cried. She never crys...I'm hoping it's just a combination of hunger, nap time, etc. and not real separation anxiety (although it does make my heart melt).

> Stoked to have my great friends Matt and Sylvie Glock (and family) in town with us over the next few months...I love all of our missionaries, but especially Matt and fam. Matt was in town from France a few years ago and we went and saw the Transformers movie together...hoping to see the sequal with him sometime soon.

> Now it's time for me to chord out a few new songs for the band, finalize plans for our 4th of July outreach event, and find some lunch!

Rock on!

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-06-22T08:10:00.002-04:00

> Matt the Intern played bass with us for the first time yesterday...he blogs about it a bit Here. I especially enjoyed his friendly argument with our sound tech about his guitar "fretting out"...

> Great message yesterday to fathers about instructing and modeling holiness to our children. Especially enjoyed the passage from the first part of Proverbs 4.

> Speaking of which, it was my second father's day, and a great one spent worshipping with friends and hanging out with family. You can read a few of my father's day thoughts Here.

> Tourism is down this summer, and it's being reflected at church...normally, this Sunday should have been our first huge Sunday of the year, with well over 200 in each worship gathering, but not so. That's OK with us, because we're still getting a lot of local guests, which is our target anyway.

> The band has had rough starts each of the past two Sundays during the 9am gathering...going to work on a few things this week to help us "fix" that, because it's frustrating for us all, even if nobody else notices.

> The band did a sweet, men-only cover of DCTalk's "What if I Stumble" yesterday...a great and timely reminder to us fathers and husbands (and future fathers and husbands) that our bad decisions affect those around us.

> We have a new check-in system for all of our kids...some kind of scanner thing that spits out a name tag and records who is there each Sunday...should help us better serve and reach families.

> Word is that our first Kayak Camp of the summer went well on Saturday, and our first Hukilau Surf Camp of the summer this coming Saturday is filling up fast!

Nate

Step Up

2009-06-10T10:43:00.003-04:00

I've talked about this a bit before...one of the greatest joys as a worship leader is watching the infectious nature of joyful worship take over a room. Leading worship doesn't just happen on the stage...any one person in a crowd of people (the congregation) can change the entire atmosphere and attitude of the crowd by stepping up and leading worship.

We have several people in our church who, every Sunday, I can count on to be the first to stand in praise, raise their hands, jump, shout, whatever...and watching others around them follow their lead and step up with them is such an awesome thing.

Check out this video (there may be a bit of language in the song lyrics)...wouldn't it be cool if your church had this kind of attitude and infectious nature when coming together to worship (maybe minus the bikinis and alcohol)?!

How infectious is the worship at your church Sunday to Sunday?

Nate

A Few More Thoughts About That

2009-06-09T00:20:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about That all day...not like every second, because I did have a great day with my wife and daughter...but it's been, at least, on the back of my mind all day. Maybe getting a few more thoughts down on paper may help me to move on and focus. Again, although this is related to the particular situation that went down this past weekend, I'm trying to think and write in generalities that will help me keep my nose clean.

> I have no idea why any man in church leadership (or in any leadership outside the church, for that matter) would invite a woman to be his "personal assistant". If a pastor absolutely needs a personal assistant, isn't the obvious choice to invite a guy? Beyond all of the sexual crap that can be avoided, church leaders should be looking for opportunities to mentor younger men, and what better way to do so than to have a personal assistant (maybe that's what we used to call "disciples"?) at your side? Not to mention, I couldn't imagine having the guts to tell my wife that I'd just hired a woman to spend hours a week "assisting" me in my ministry...yikes!

> I must be so careful how I communicate with the opposite sex, especially via the internet. Again, big screw ups don't happen overnight, and often, in this modern culture, they begin and are fueled via online communication. Whether email, twitter, facebook, texting, etc., I've got to be willing to limit who I communicate with on a very personal level and how I communicate with them. I know some church leaders who even have a personal policy not to have any facebook friends who are young, single females, just to avoid all appearances and temptations of evil. As a former, single, college student, I know how easy it is to flirt, even "innocently", with the opposite sex online...not something I want to even come close to as a married man. If my wife wants to look at my facebook private messages, I shouldn't have anything to hide.

> I must be incredibly careful how I talk about the opposite sex, especially via the internet. Living "above reproach" means that I don't give anyone any reason to doubt my character should a rumor or slanderous piece of gossip start going around about me. If I'm ever accused of anything morally questionable, I never want anyone to be able to say in honesty that they heard or read me say/write something innappropriate about a woman. If you ever hear me say that any woman is "hot", I'd better be talking about my wife.

> I have got to learn how to kill (ie. let God kill) my ego if I'm going to be in ministry. Again, if I'm ever accused of anything, I don't want arrogant and insensitive things I've said and written (and the stuff I say and write comes out of my heart and mind) to come back and give people reason to question me further. From emails, to twitter updates, to blog comments, I've got to learn to say everything with love and grace and encouragement, even if what I'm saying comes from great conviction. Transparency can be a good thing, but not if my heart is always filled with ego and pride.

Thanks for listening...I think I can get to sleep now...

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-06-08T14:00:00.000-04:00

> Yesterday was one of the best Sundays ever at NHC. Here's a few reasons why...

> It marked our first HUGE attendance Sunday of the summer, with well over 200 people at each of our gatherings (lots of touristy guests from here until mid-August). Anytime you get that many people together for one purpose, there's going to be some energy. Plus, I think our own folks are really stoked about the buzz that summer brings to NHC.

> The singing and authentic participation in worship during both gatherings was incredible. It's been a while since that many people came worshipping to church (which is different than when people come to church to worship), ready to join their lives and voices together. I seriously haven't heard the people off the stage any louder than during the chorus of "All Because Of Jesus" yesterday!

> The message was a great one about trusting God and trusting God's leaders...Moses and the nation of Israel still have a lot to learn as they're just beginning their 40 years in the desert...

> The new Kid's Zone shirts that all of our Lil K and Kidmo leaders were wearing today looked great. And, as a parent, it will be helpful to more easily identify the team members that will soon be teaching my daughter.

> The band was just dead on today. A few minor, undetectable (by most people) mistakes as usual, but the overall feel and sound was just great...just one of those days when everything comes together.

> Tricia and I met at least three families who follow my other blog and have been praying for us over the past few years. It's a blessing to meet these people, just as much for us as it is for them.

> Kurt Beach, a recent liver transplant recipient was sitting on the front row this morning, and you could tell from his face and his hands and his jump and dance that he knew better than the rest of us when we were singing "I am alive because I'm alive in Him"... I'll admit I had a tear or two as I worshipped with him.

> And, the best part of the NHC day...baptizing about 12 new believers in the Atlantic ocean at 12:30. A couple of cool things about this. First, I'm pretty sure that everyone we baptised today was a brand new believer, and most were adults...God is helping us reach our target! Second, we don't baptise in the ocean often...a few of the people specifically wanted it, so we made the plans and prayed for good weather and warm waters, and that's exaclty what we got! Third, I think more people from the church came out to watch this baptism than ever before... Which meant that, Fourth, we attracted a lot of attention from the hundreds of people doing their beach thing...what a great witness (a few people asked me what was going on), and I hear that the lifeguards were even asking questions about it later that night.

> After church, the Lawrenson family plus a few friends ate some leftover wedding food (congrats to Rich and Lauren, and thanks for the crab dip!) at my parents' house and then all headed out to the beach for a few hours. The ocean was finally warm enough to get in and enjoy, and I introduced my daughter to her first ocean dip.

> We finished out the day with a trip to John's for the best milkshakes in the world. Chocolate Peanut Butter is always my choice.

> And, I'm looking forward to participating in our Hair Cut-A-Thon this Wednesday! We're raising money for a few things for our new Kid's Zone, and I've been holding out on a hair cut just for this day. I helped Steve bring his authentic (and comfortable) barber chair into the church building last night!

Nate

It Could Have Been Me

2009-06-08T07:00:00.001-04:00

This post is about me...not about anyone else, although I will express a few opinions about others so that you can better understand why this is about me. Also, I seriously doubt anyone I know who has dealt personally with their own public moral failure of this kind is reading this blog, so don't think that I'm thinking of you as I wrote this.

I heard the news today
That another soldier tumbled
A fragile warrior slipped and fell from grace
The vultures swooped to tear his heart
And pin him to the ground
And from the shadows someone took his place

I won't name names or link blogs, although some, if not many of you reading this will know who and what I'm thinking about as I write this. Another pastor, a pastor that many would call a "Christian celebrity", has resigned from his church by admitting to a sexual sin. I heard about it yesterday afternoon, just a few hours after the "story broke", and, as usual, it has left me with a sick feeling in my stomach...but this time, it feels a little sicker.

Today we talk amongst ourselves
We never bought his words
We say we've seen the madness in his eyes
Tomorrow he's forgotten as
We've scrubbed him from our hearts
And as he bleeds we slowly turn our eyes

To be honest, I haven't had much of a liking for this particular pastor. I have followed his blog and his church website for a few years, and have had some personal interaction with him via the internet, which may or may not give me a better idea of what he is really like. The church he has led is doing amazing things to connect people with God (mostly for the first time in their lives), and I really believe that God has been glorified through their mission. And, because of that, I have chosen to never bash him or his ministry. But, I have never felt right in my heart about his personality and the way he communicates his passion for reaching those who are far from God.

So, to be honest some more, one of my first thoughts when I read about his confession yesterday was, "I'm not all that surprised."

Then, I quickly was reminded, for several reasons, how disgusting and shameful a thought like that is.

Firstly, no matter how much or little I knew or liked about this pastor, I never had any real reason to doubt his authenticity or character. Yes, sexual sin is not something that just comes out of nowhere...it is, indeed, often a "slow fade", and one that always begins with a choice to pervert priorities. But, I've heard almost nothing but great things about this guy from others, including from several pastors who I do greatly respect. Just because he says some stuff that makes me cock my head to the side doesn't give me any real reason to be able to rightly judge his character as a third party over the internet. He is my brother, one whom God knows as a son, and I can and should love him without having to love everything about him.

I'll be the first in line to acknowledge that I say and do (publicly, privately, etc.) some pretty crappy things, on a fairly regular basis. And, I have no doubt that, when I say/do something that seems flawed, there are some who would have reason in their own mind to not be surprised by my words and actions. I'm thankful for grace, and forgiveness, and for the wisdom to realize that I'm as imperfect and as capable of the lowest of the low as the next guy.

But, what gets me the most...what really gives me that extra sick feeling in my stomach today and makes me stop and question my own priorities is the thought that, it could have been me....

But it could've been me
I could've been the one to lose my grip and fall
It could've been me
The one who's always standing tall
For unless you hold me tightly, Lord
And I can hold on too
Then tomorrow in the news
It could be me, it could be me...

I'm not saying that I'm contemplating having an affair, or that I've got a list of x rated websites hidden away somewhere. I am saying that, unless I'm constantly checking my priorities and motives and habits, seeking to love God in all I do, and allowing others to do the same for me, I'm really not much further from a big failure than if I were already committing it. I'm guessing that every decision that leads to the fall is a "big" screw up in hindsight...again, these failures don't happen over night, and are always preceded by wrong, "small" choices.

And in our hearts we fear the ones
Whose lives are like our own
Whose shadows dance like
Demons in our minds
We think to push them far away
We exercise our souls
We make them play the tune for all mankind

Perhaps, when we hear of stories like this one, the greatest danger for church pastors and leaders is to not realize that it really is not a far fetched thought that, it really could have been me. Anyone in ministry leadership who believes they are further than one quick decision away from falling hard is insane. If we were to have asked this pastor, just a few months ago, about his commitment to sexual morality, I'm guessing he would have had no idea he'd be in this spot now.

So, today, I'm asking myself...

Are there thoughts I'm thinking that are not of pure and holy things?
Are there words I'm speaking that are breaking down my fellowship with God and others?
Are there things I'm doing that are leading me away from God?
Are my motives about God, or about serving myself?
Are my passions for the things that make God happy?

More than just about anything else, the thing that keeps me wanting to know and love God more is the healthy fear of falling hard and crushing my God, my family, my friends, my ministry and my reputation in front of those who are far from God. I know, from past mistakes, what I'm capable of, and I know how much I can hurt other people (my wife, foremost) when I say or do something even sightly embarrassing and questionable.

And I've seen enough of our "Christian celebrities" and even a few personal friends publicly screw up huge to know that, even in my small realm of influence, my failure would have a huge impact on others.

I believe there is a place
Where (I) can run and hide
When (I) know that (I) can't stand
For one more day
And I believe You're waiting, Lord
To hold me very close
For You know without Your love
I'd lose my way

I pray for humility to acknowledge and confess my shortcomings. For wisdom to see the future consequences of my words and deeds. For discernment to pause and check the smallest of decisions with God's Word. The blessing of having others who love and care for me enough to ask the tough questions. For love and grace and forgiveness to help me get up and and dust off and keep moving forward.

Nate

The lyrics above (in italics) are from the song "It Could Have Been Me" by Phil Keaggy.

"Hello Love" Revisited

2009-06-03T15:59:00.002-04:00

About ten months ago (wow...doesn't seem that long) I wrote My Review of Chris Tomlin's "Hello Love"...I thought I'd revisit the review and tell you how we're using this album in worship at NHC now...

As I mentioned before, although I wasn't crazy about "I Will Rise" to begin with, it has definitely grown on me. I've also noticed that many who have purchased this album have identified this song as their favorite from this album, and I can understand why it is connecting with so many people...there are very few things about our faith that people connect with more than Christ's victory over the grave. I almost used this song a few months ago, but decided to go with another song of a similar theme. There's still a strong possibility that we may use "I Will Rise" as well as "Praise The Father, Praise The Son" at some point...the only thing I don't like about "Praise The Father..." is that it never mentions specifically what "the name above all other names" is...

Although we stick close to the live Passion version, "God Of This City" has become one of our church's favorite anthems. And, considering that we're a church that spends a lot of time focusing on vision and reaching our community for God, the lyrics make this a song that we could use nearly every week if we wanted to. Our band has taken a few liberties with the arrangement, while keeping the basic structure of the song the same. If your church has a passion for reaching her community, this is a song you need to be using in worship!

"Exalted" is another song that has become a favorite at our church. It doesn't hurt that our church is currently going through a series focused on the life of Moses, whose God is known as "Yahweh". I felt that this song would sound much sweeter for us if the lead vocal were female, s we moved the key up about 4 full steps so that our two alto vocalists could sing lead, and it definitely sounds great. Our worship choir learned this one as well and it really rocks.

One of the first songs we learned off of this album is "You Lifted Me Out". We had some trouble at first finding the right key so that people in the congregation could sing along comfortably, but finally settled on the key of A with a guy singing lead. The theme of this song is hitting home with a lot of our folks who have either come out of or are going through some rough times right now. Plus, it's a lot of fun to play.

The latest song that we literally just started using about 3 weeks ago is "My Deliverer". We probably wouldn't have given this song a second glance (I didn't even mention it in my review), but it fit so perfectly with the story of the Exodus and the Red Sea that we had to use it...and, it went over so well (it's a super easy song to learn) that we're adding it to our repertoire. Plus, the band loves to play the simple and groovy intro/outro...our percussion section especially has a fun time. Our worship choir learned the chorus and bridge (singing in unison) in about ten minutes, and totally rocked it a few Sundays ago.

How about you...is your church using any songs from this album? Tell us about it!

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-05-31T22:22:00.002-04:00

> Awesome time of worship this morning. Sermon hit a lot of hearts, communicating God's desire to turn our bitter into better. People were standing and clapping and lifting their hands without any prompting...not that outward expressions are always a sure sign of what's going on inside, but it's great to see freedom in worship.

> Thanks to Camas for filling in on electric guitar today...he's got a very different style and sound than our normal guys, but it fit really well with our song selection today!

> Also great to have Chad H. back from school and leading with us through the summer...he brings some great talent to the stage and give me a chance to sing some more BGVs.

> It's great fun to be able to see more of our nursery team in action now that my daughter is a regular in the infant room...I keep getting reports that she's a great baby, so I guess we'll keep sending her back there.

> Also great to know that my wife is serving in consistent ministry after a few years away due to her health issues...and I don't mind at all being able to ride home with my family after church instead of thumbing for a lift.

> Our church finally got the permit to begin finishing out the Kid Zone area upstairs...just in time too, as our kids from infants to middle school are multiplying like rabbits!

> It was nice to have a snack to munch on during the second worship gathering...hopefully our people will continue to remember that the food we serve on Sunday mornings is more about creating a welcoming atmosphere for our guests than it is providing breakfast for our regular attenders.

> Our last F1RST Wednesday of the year is coming up this week...we're taking a two month break to catch our breath and re-evaluate...it will be back in September!

> I hear we may have nearly 10 new partners (members) to add to our church in the next few weeks! I love that our church is growing with every age group, and mostly with new believers!

> After a few hours at the YMCA outdoor pool, a nice visit with my girlfriend Rita and a quick nap at my parents' house, it was a great ending to the day to watch the U of Florida's softball team make it to the world series finals by knocking a game-winning grand slam out of the park with two outs in the bottom of the last inning...that's fun stuff!

Nate

Sunday Blitz

2009-05-10T21:52:00.002-04:00

I haven't done a Sunday Blitz in a long time...time to get back into it, I think...

> Today was Family Day at Nags Head Church, as we celebrated family with our favorite moms.

> We opened our worship gatherings today with about 13 minutes of KidMo, giving our adults a taste of what our elementary age kids do every week...Matt and Alex did a great job leading the kids, and it was sweet to see many of the adults joining in on the high energy songs and activities.

> Our youth and children's pastor, Andy preached today...a sermon about parenting that fit perfectly with my small group's discussion from this past week.

> We always do a parent/child dedication (ask me why we don't call it a "baby dedication") on Mother's Day, and today was definitely our biggest dedication ever, with over a dozen families committing to model Christ to their kids.

> We hosted a college student this weekend...Matt may come intern for Andy and I over the summer...pray that we can find him a good host family to live with if we do make the decision to bring him on with us.

> Hukilau Surf Camps are open for registration! Kahuna Steve is actually traveling down to Florida in a few weeks to run a camp for my BIL's youth group.

> May is the last "normal" month for us...June through August bring the big increase in attendance as the tourists flood our beaches...it's an exciting time to belong to NHC!

Nate

Revelation Song

2009-04-29T12:31:00.002-04:00

We've been doing this song for a few years, and it's definitely one of our favorites, but it's time to shake it up a bit. The version we've done was based on a recording from Liberty University...we're now going to learn the version below...I'm very excited!

"Revelation Song" by Gateway Worship

Nate

With Everything

2009-04-29T12:00:00.001-04:00

Here's the newest song that the MilePost13 Band and our Worship Choir are working on...

"With Everything" by Hillsong

What new songs is your church band learning right now?

Nate

New Music?

2009-04-16T16:49:00.003-04:00

While we all wait for Hillsong United's new CD to hit (BTW, get a free MP3 from their upcoming album Here), do you have any new music suggestions for me?

I've recently downloaded the newest U2 and Keane albums...both good, not great. Any other suggestions, Christian or not?

Nate

How Was Your Easter?

2009-04-13T10:34:00.004-04:00

Our Easter gatherings were awesome! We added a 7am gathering to try and avoid having to use our overflow during the 9 and 11am gatherings...it worked! around 100 people came out to worship with us at 7, and, oddly enough, of all three gatherings that morning, they had more energy and seemed more engaged than the 9 or 11 gathering.

The Worship Choir joined us at 9am and 11am, singing "Today Is The Day" "Praise The King" and "Overcome". It's so great to have them on stage, adding their voices and energy to our musical worship!

Around 600 people total in attendance, which is our biggest single day crowd ever at NHC. Add in the 100 people from Good Friday, and it was a huge weekend. I don't know exact numbers yet, but I do know that a few began their relationship with Christ for the first time! Here's hoping some of our guests will be back next week!

Our "volunteers", especially those who were willing and able to give extra time and energy this week/weekend deserve all of the human credit...we have the best people in the world at NHC!

How was your Easter Weekend?

Nate

Just For One Day

2009-04-08T15:45:00.002-04:00

Oh to have Lincoln Brewster's hands just for one day...

Nate

Best Of You

2009-04-06T12:30:00.001-04:00

One of the things that drives me crazy is to hear church ministry leaders say something like, "I can't ask my team to..." when it comes to raising their commitment level. Don't get me wrong, I've been guilty of having thought and said that in the past as well, but, if I've learned anything over the past few years, leading ministry and working full-time in a church with a bunch of "volunteer" servants, it's that I should never assume anything about people's limitations when it comes to serving in the church.

I've also learned that, as a leader, I have a great amount of influence on the people I lead...my ability to communicate a high level of expectation and follow through with those expectations can empower those I serve with to give their best. When I expect a small commitment, that's usually what I get. But, I'm continually in awe of the attitude and commitment of those whom I expect great things from...

The single mother of three who not only puts in more than 15 hours/month playing with the band, but also gives 2 hours ever Sunday night to serve on our youth ministry team. Although she will tell you that her life is crazy right now (did I mention she also teaches elementary school?), she will also tell you how much she loves spending her time and energy serving God through the church. When I first arrived at NHC a few years ago, I was afraid she was going to get burnt out because I was about to ask her for a bigger commitment...

The middle-aged drummer who spends over 30 hours/month playing and practicing with our band, and then, every Sunday, stays late to vacuum the Kid's Church floor. Despite not having a steady paycheck (thanks to the economy) and having to drive about 30 miles round-trip between the church and his house at least twice a week, he never misses a single practice/service and always comes with a smile on. He loves playing and leading worship so much that he's one of the few in our band who volunteers for nearly every single opportunity...

The young married mother of four young children who, along with singing with the band every other week, rarely misses a Worship Choir practice, even if it means bringing along her kids to entertain themselves. Even though she and her husband both work multiple jobs, they always schedules her life around her commitment to God and the church, including cleaning the church as a family every few weeks. I'll drop hints every now and then that she's free to miss a practice or take a break if she needs to, but she usually just looks at me like I'm crazy...

And, don't even get me started on our Video and Audio Techs, or our First Impressions Team, or our Nursery and Kid's Church Teams, on and on and on. I can't tell you how many people in our church are serving in ways that amaze me.

Last year, we had our biggest Easter attendance ever...even with our new, bigger building, we still had over 30 people sitting in our "overflow" lobby during one of our worship gatherings. To be honest, our "overflow" option is one we try to avoid because most people just do not get the same high quality experience sitting in the lobby as they would if they were in the auditorium. This year, we're adding a third gathering at 7am to avoid having to use our overflow at 9am or 11am, which means that many of our ministry teams are being asked to step it up and give a little more time and energy to help people discover life in Christ. It's been amazing, both for me and our other team leaders, to see so many who have not only been willing but excited to serve those extra few hours.

I don't share all of that to say that it's about giving a certain amount of time or energy to serving God through the church. My point is, I think many church leaders who have a low level of expectation for their "volunteer" staff would also be amazed at the desire and willingness of people to give more, if only they were asked and empowered. Whether it's a person stepping up from serving once a month to every week, or a person stepping up from serving once a week to three times a week...it's not about tapping people for everything they've got...it's about giving people the opportunity to serve as God has created them.

Unfortunately, some people just aren't mature or "real" enough in their faith and relationship with Christ to step up when offered an opportunity for a deeper commitment. Some people will even freak out and want to quit altogether if you require something bigger from them. But, don't use the people who choose a safer spiritual existence for themselves as an excuse to neglect and abuse those who desire something more...too many people (in your church) are only serving "the minimum" because nobody has ever cast a clear and compelling vision and invited them to step up. God requires our best for His service...too often, people simply aren't giving their best to God because their "leaders" are getting in the way.

Are you asking the best of people? Are you equipping people to be their best? Share a vision that invites people to look beyond themselves, offer ministries that are fun and full of purpose, and give people the chance to surprise you...I promise, most people will not disappoint.

Nate

Easter? (Part 3)

2009-03-26T16:27:00.002-04:00

Just in case you think I'm crazy in my thoughts about Easter Worship Services, Russ Hutto had a few similar things to say about the topic Here.

And, if you've got about 15 minutes, check out This Podcast (The Power Of A Combined Service) by Nelson Searcy concerning multiple worship services...there's a few good minutes talking about Easter Sunday as well.

Nate

Easter? (Part 1)
Easter? (Part 2)

(Bump) Easter? (Part 2)

2009-03-25T16:01:00.001-04:00

In Part 1, I asked the question: "How does your church do Easter Services" and gave you the options of "We Put More Time and Energy Into Easter than Any/Most Other Sundays" or "We Put the Same Time and Energy Into Easter as Any Other Sunday".

Although there wasn't a huge turnout of opinions, the results seemed split down the middle.

Here's how our church views Easter.

Easter is one of the only Sundays of the year that many people will enter our church building. Most of those people who only show up on Easter are far from God, either because they have never really met Him, or because they have chosen to run from Him.

We also realize that most people are not going to change their minds about church and God and Christians based on one Sunday morning, no matter what we do. Most people come to know and appreciate God based on personal relationships with those who already know and appreciate Him.

We aim to be excellent in everything that we do, all of the time. We certainly come up short a whole lot, but we try to put the same amount of energy and time and creativity into each and every Sunday. Our goal is that, a person will be interested in our church (and our people, and our God) just as much or even more during their second visit as they were during their first. The only sincere way to make sure that happens is to be constantly good every week at what we do.

It's for these reasons (and a few more) that we do not go all out on Easter Sunday to try and attract or retain first-time, unchurched guests. We don't do a big cantata (what the heck is a "cantata" anyway?) or musical, we don't invite a fire-breathing evangelist in as a guest speaker, and we don't cover the church with purple cloth and white flowers.

Now, I'm not saying that, if your church does any or all of those things, you're doing something wrong. All I'm saying is that we've decided doing those things would be wrong of us. We've figured out that none of those things are going to attract or retain first-time, unchurched guests in our culture/community (in fact, most of those things would probably repulse them), and none of those things in any way, shape or form represent who we are the other 51 Sundays of the year.

We want people to like us for who we are, not for who we are on Easter Sunday. We want people to come to know the God of every day, not just the God we might want to present on Easter Sunday.

And, I'm not saying that Easter is no different than any other Sunday. Easter is the one day that all of Christianity sets aside to devote completely to remembering what Christ did for us by dying and rising from the dead. We do a few things differently on Easter...we always present a clear opportunity to begin a relationship with God for the first time (we don't do this so emphatically every Sunday), we usually introduce a new song or two because it's so easy to do with such a clear theme, and we always anticipate a larger than usual crowd.

And, just in case you were wondering, we had our largest crowd ever this past Sunday! A dozen people indicated that they were starting a relationship with God for the first time, and several first-time, unchurched guests indicated they are interested in coming again!

Nate

(Bump) Easter? (Part 1)

2009-03-25T16:00:00.001-04:00

So, I'm interested to know how your church does Easter. Easter is the biggest Sunday of the year (as far as church attendance goes) in the US, and most churches tend to pull out all of the stops for this one Sunday.

I'm guessing that we do Easter a little differently than most other churches.

Please, take ten seconds to answer the poll below (which is now closed) by leaving a comment explaining your answer. Then, check out Part 2 for some more discussion!

Thanks!

Nate

Great Blog/Church Cartoons

2009-03-24T10:38:00.004-04:00

I've just discovered ASBOJesus, a funny and biting view of the modern church through the eyes of a cartoonist. The cartoons aren't the most artistically stunning you'll ever see, but they get the point across. Here's one of my favorites...

Nate

A Place for (the) Community

2009-03-11T17:57:00.004-04:00

Part of the vision we had when designing and building our newest facilities was that it would be a place where our community would feel welcome...not just on Sundays. Several organizations (not directly affiliated with our church) in our community have used our church building in the past few years, and a few community groups use it on a weekly/monthly basis, including the local AA Group who meets here once a week.

As I was sitting in my office earlier today, one of the women who attends the AA came in looking for something that she thought she may have left here after their last meeting. After a quick search, she was on her way out, she stopped, turned, and said, "By the way...we just love being able to meet here...it is so nice and disabled accessible, and we just feel very comfortable and welcome here." I smiled and thanked her for sharing that with me, then she left.

That comment totally made my day...I had spent an hour or so this morning helping to clean out one of our huge storage rooms, taking for granted the space we've been given and even grumbling a little under my breath about the other work that I needed to do today. Being reminded that this is God's building and I'm partly responsible for being a good steward of it by keeping it a welcoming place for our community was a great kick in the pants from God.

I think I'll look a little differently at the handful of AA folks who meet here every week, and maybe go out of my way sometime when I see an opportunity to serve them. I am the church, and I am here for those who don't yet know God...this building is simply a tool for me to use to share God with others...

Nate

The Gallery

2009-03-04T12:58:00.003-05:00

Some friends of mine at the Church of the Outer Banks are getting ready to open up The Gallery, a local alternative art gallery featuring the work of local artists. The Gallery also has a stage for small venue concerts and free wi-fi. I'll be checking it out soon...having seen a few things like this before (in other locations), I'm a little skeptical if it will work or not, but it should be interesting either way.

Nate

(Bump) New Team Members

2009-03-03T06:30:00.002-05:00

It took me several years (note, "several years" to a 20-something may not really seem that long to some of you old people) to finally figure out the need for a very clear and purposeful way to introduce new team members to our band, tech teams, etc. The following is a basic outline of how and why we do things the way we do them when bringing on a new member to our band. Much of this is transferable to any ministry team that I lead.

I never use the word "recruit"...that's a military term, and ministry should NOT be militaristic. I use the word "invite". Ministry should be an enjoyable experience, and I'd much rather receive an invitation to something fun than be recruited for a task. When I do invite people to join our team, I cast a vision of our ministry by explaining the purpose for our team.

You must be a member of our church to be involved in any kind of week to week ministry. I know of some awesome churches that hold to different standards than ours, some are more strict and others are more casual, and that's OK. But, this is what works for us.

We rarely invite brand new church members to be on the team because we want them to get to know us and us to know them very well before we put them in an on-stage, leadership ministry position. I try to remind our team that, because they are placing themselves on the stage, even if they're "just" playing an instument, they are being looked upon as leaders in some way, shape or form by our church, our community and our God. I want to be able to learn at least a little about a person's character before I place them in that leadership position.

Other members on our team can suggest that I invite people to be on our team, but I do NOT allow other members of the team to do the inviting unless they have talked with me first. Because I am on staff, I am more privy to some things (issues in people's personal lives) than most of our team members.

Musicians and vocalists MUST audition for me. One of our values is to do all things with excellence...if it ain't real good, we don't do it. NOTE: We also value people doing their best, but a lot of people can do their best playing an instrument or singing a song and it doesn't come close to what we consider excellence. Every member of our church has the potential to be excellent in at least one ministry, and our goal above all else is to help our members find the ministry they're most excellent in. One of the biggest hindrances to corporate worship is unqualified musicians and vocalists. The same can be said for any other ministry team in our church, which is why I am NOT involved in children's ministry.

I always have what I call the "audition before the audition"...I tell people who want to join our team, "if you want to audition for the band, you must first agree that you will accept my decision with grace and a good attitude, without holding any grudges toward me or anyone else because of my decision." If they can't promise me that, they don't get to audition. If somebody's going to get mad at me, I'd rather them get mad about not allowing them to audition than telling them "no" after they've auditioned.

If an audition goes well, I explain as much as I can about what our team is all about: why we do things, what our purpose is, what our values and expectations are, etc.. If the person is still wanting to give it a go, we then begin a two month "trial" period in which the person becomes a limited member of the team. This period usually consists of the person coming to as many rehearsals as possible to become familiar with our music and schedule and chemistry. The person usually begins practicing with us by singing or playing un-amplified, and is not brought onto the stage for rehearsals or services until I feel they are ready. At the end of two months (sometimes this trial period needs to be extended, sometimes it's shorter) we both get together and assess whether we feel this ministry is the right fit for this person.

The reason I do a two month trial period: if somebody is willing to come but not "preform" for two months, and maintains a positive attitude throughout, it's a good sign that they're in it for the right reasons. Above all else, we're looking for qualified people with servant's hearts...people who are truly wanting to serve God and others by using their gifts to lead in worship. Two months of coming to practice and not being placed on the stage usually weeds out any potential egos and allows the true servants to rise the top.

If, at the end of the trial period, we all agree that this is a great fit in ministry for this person, he/she is welcomed as a full member of the team, put into our rotation, and hopefully, everything goes well after that (and it almost always has). If we decide that the band is not a good fit for their personal gifts, it becomes my priority to help them audition for another ministry team...I will personally hand them off to another team leader. Again, if my priority is to help every member of my church serve on the team God wants them serving on, everybody wins in the end.

Those are the basics for us. How do you bring in new members into your band/worship team?

Nate

Exodus: Give Love Away

2009-03-02T17:00:00.000-05:00

Exodus' latest album "Give Love Away" has just been reviewed by Worship Leader Magazine.

Exodus is a band out of Liberty University...these guys are friends of mine and have hearts to serve and lots of skills to go around. The majority of the songs on this album are originals, and although the production of the album is a bit under par at times, it's still a good pick-up, especially if you're into Hillsong United, Chris Tomlin type stuff.

We've been using the title track "Give Love Away" for a few weeks...a great, fun song to play and sing with a solid message that can't be overused.

The only track I do not like is their cover of Hillsong's "Hosanna" which just sounds really cheesy and loses the anthemic energy it was meant to have.

These guys are really solid live and have a worship leading maturity that you don't often find at their age. They led worship recently for a youth conference our church hosts and during our normal Sunday morning gatherings, and I'd definitely invite them back.

You can find their album on iTunes.

Nate

Gag The Worship Leader!

2009-03-02T10:22:00.006-05:00

One of the HUGE things I've learned over the past several years of worship leading is, the less I say while up on stage leading worship, the better. I used to feel like it was my responsibility, as a worship leader, to really help move things along by attempting to read a scripture, share a thought, or lead in a prayer before every/most song(s)...I'm a bit older and wiser now.

And, it's not like I'm a shallow thinker or a poor public speaker. Most of the time, when I say something from the stage, I think it's something that is really important, and, I am a pretty good communicator...but maybe not so much when I'm improvising. I discovered that, most of the time, even though I was attempting to add something to the worship, I was actually detracting from it. A .300 batting average is good for Major League Baseball, but not so much for communicating while leading worship.

One of the methods that helped me wise up was to video record some of our worship gatherings and watch/listen any time I would say anything from the stage. It's amazing how, when I was speaking on the fly, what seemed like 30 seconds actually amounted to 2 minutes, or what seemed like a short encouraging statement actually turned out to come across as something of a sermonet.

I've also learned how to plan and prepare more. The Worship Director at Willow Creek explains how he trains/equips his worship leaders to "speak" as they lead worship (thanks to Fred for this):

1 - don't speak at all.
then, once you mastered that...
2 - write down what you will say, let me approve it, and read it.
then, once you mastered that...
3 - write down what you will say, let me approve it, then memorize and share it.
then, once you mastered that...
4 - write down what you will say, and memorize and share it.
etc...

I wish somebody had shared something like that with me a long time ago... Why do we prepare so much for the music (our band spends about 3-4 hours every week just practicing together), but leave our speaking parts totally up for improv? Why do we expect our pastor to figure out (and even script out) what he's going to preach, but the WL thinks it's cool to speak on the fly?

I realize that many churches place a high value on being free and open and "spontaneous", but that doesn't mean we can't plan ahead...I've seen and heard (and have even said) a lot of really stupid, irrelevant and confusing things because people didn't plan ahead...unfortunately, I have also heard some rally bad and cheesy stuff come out of the mouths of those who did plan ahead.

I've also discovered that, when I get the chance to not be up on stage and can simply participate in worship without leading, I get really distracted and frustrated by worship leaders who are constantly interjecting their own personal worship in the middle of a set or song. If I've got something personal to say to God while I'm leading, I now almost always step away from the mic so that I don't distract others. The bottom line is, it takes a really special worship leader to say something intelligent AND relevant that clearly helps encourage and edify those he/she is leading. As Abe Lincoln put it, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

At Nags Head Church, we've developed a culture in which we give people the freedom to worship and respond to God in their own way...although we spend a lot of thought planning out our worship gatherings to focus on a Big Idea, we also don't want to box people in by telling them how to respond to God and the truth(s) that He's showing us. Usually, when I'm on stage and attempt to interject my personal thoughts and feelings about what is going on right in that moment, I get the feeling I've actually done more to squelch what other people were thinking and feeling in that same moment than to actually help them worship.

We've also developed a culture in which our people tend to love to sing, a lot...so much so, that, if we end a few minutes early, people will sometimes shout out for us to play another song. The more I talk, the less we get to sing together, and since we only get to do corporate worship/singing a few times a month in a big group like we do on Sunday mornings, I figure, let 'em sing. Most people need all of the responding-to-God time they can get. I rarely get comments about anything I say...I DO get a lot of encouraging comments about how a song really connected with people.

All that to say, I still do speak as I lead, but 95% of the time, it's something I've either planned to say, or something that I say every Sunday (like, "Welcome to Nags Head Church...we invite you to stand and worship with us."). But, most of the time, I now just prefer to get the corporate worship ball rolling and then step out of the way as much as possible.

So, what do you think? Have you, as a worship leader, found yourself putting your foot in your mouth because you thought you had something good to say? Have you, as a worshipper, ever been distracted and confused by a worship leader who won't shut up?

Nate

If you enjoyed this post, you may also want to read the other posts in the Rethinking "Worship" series:

Fire The Worship Leader!

Terminate the Worship Team!

Death to the Worship Service!

Burn the Sanctuary!

Revelation

2009-02-25T14:46:00.006-05:00

This past Sunday at NHC was a very impacting day for many in who were there. Our pastor/my father shared a very personal story - which I can remember bits and pieces of because I was about 5-9 years old at the time - about going through a very long and dry desert in his life. We decided to use the Third Day song, "Revelation" from their latest album of the same name, and the sermon and the song together really seemed to hit home for many people.

If you feel like you're going through a desert and aren't sure what God is trying to do in your life right now, I'd encourage you to listen to the Podcast (on NHC's Podcast Page or on iTunes). And, here is a rough recording of "Revelation" from our 9am worship gathering.

Nate

Cliche?

2009-02-24T13:30:00.001-05:00

So, I've heard/read a few worship leaders recently criticize Christian artists/songwriters for being too "cliche" with their lyrics and music, especially referring to worship (Christian songs we sing to or about God) songs...in fact, I've heard a few people declare that this is one of the "real" problems with modern Christian music. I have issues with that criticism...

"Cliche" as defined by Webster means:

1: a trite phrase or expression ; also : the idea expressed by it
2: a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation
3: something (as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace

Now, in my humble opinion, if a "worship" song is worth any weight, it's lyrics are going to be based on Scripture...either quoting/paraphrasing scripture, or coming out of the Christian life/experience...which is automatically going to create the risk of making the lyrics "cliche".

But, what does it say about our God and our worship if we believe that either Scripture or the Christian Life has become trite, hackneyed or overly familiar? God invites us to sing a new song, reminds us that His eternal mercies are new every morning, and declares that His Word is alive and powerful even today. Revelations describes the angles of Heaven singing "Holy, Holy, Holy" for all of eternity...how's that for cliche?

I understand that these criticisms are coming from people who are a bit tired of the same old same old with contemporary worship music...but, does that say more about the people writing the music, or more about those doing the criticizing? I freely admit that I don't like certain artists or songs for similar reasons, but, again, does that reveal more about me and my culture and my background and experiences than it does about those artists and songwriters. There is certainly a place and time to call out those who's character is seriously questioned or who's songs do not match up with the truth of God's Word, but most of the recent negative criticism I've seen have come from those who just don't enjoy what they're hearing.

For example, I do not care for the music of Jeremy Camp, for personal preference reasons that are related to this discussion. But, whenever anyone asks me about my opinion of Camp, I am also quick to acknowledge that I'm obviously in the minority (Camp is hugely popular) and that I have heard nothing but good things about his personality and character and have never heard any criticisms of his music for being anything but Biblical and true...so, I try (it's hard sometimes) to simply share my personal tastes and not criticize the guy.

Having likes and dislikes when it comes to music is a neutral thing...it's neither good nor bad in and of itself. But, when we're negatively critical about artists and their music simply based on those personal preferences without any Biblical reasons, what we're really doing is showing our immaturity by criticizing the Great Artist. And that, in my humble opinion, is one of the real problems with modern Christian music.

Nate

Worship Fallacies

2009-02-23T09:55:00.003-05:00

Thanks for the discussion during the Worship Fallacies series...unfortunately, a few people are upset with me and think that I'm attempting to attack and/or slander people, which, of course, wasn't my intention at all. But, in order to maintain the peace, and since I think the discussion has run it's course, I've removed the 4 posts.

Thanks!

Nate

Moses Art 03

2009-02-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in This Post, I'm working with local artist, Amber Elwood to create a series of paintings that will help illustrate big events in Moses' life as we work through our current Sunday Morning Sermon Series, "The Journey: Start to Finish - Tracking the Life of Moses". Below is Amber's third piece depicting Moses' encounter with I Am (read Exodus 3-4:17).

Nate

Moses Art 02

2009-02-19T13:21:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned in This Post, I'm working with local artist, Amber Elwood to create a series of paintings that will help illustrate big events in Moses' life as we work through our current Sunday Morning Sermon Series, "The Journey: Start to Finish - Tracking the Life of Moses". Below is Amber's second piece depicting a pivotal moment in Moses' journey to leadership (read Exodus 2:11-22).

Nate

The CALL Stage

2009-02-19T12:47:00.005-05:00

This past weekend, Nags Head Church hosted The CALL Student Conference, an annual youth event that focuses on the 5 Purposes (fellowship, worship, discipleship, ministry and mission) of the New Testament Church. This year's purpose was "Mission".

Our theme verse:

Lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest.

John 4:35

Rich Coleman created this year's graphic based on the theme verse:

And Amber Elwood created the stage artwork (if you want to know how, ask me):

Nate