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Gratitude

I've have a lot to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for my wife of seven years who has supported me, challenged me, listened to me, fought with me, and above all - loved as we've walked in ministry together.

I'm thankful for Levi's logic and Max's imagination.

I'm thankful for my mom and dad and their legacy of faith. I'm thankful for my brothers and sisters who love the Lord and lead their families in doing the same.

I'm thankful for a senior pastor who's also my friend, an executive pastor who's on my side, and a team of pastors who work together more than ever.

I'm thankful for Zack Watts' technical genius and servant heart.

I'm thankful for Amanda Olson's ability to stay sane in the midst of the chaos that is my work life.

I'm thankful for Christy Holt, who has completely taken our choir to a new level at CTK.

I'm thankful for friends like Mark Nordyke, who not only laughs at my jokes, but says things that only idiots like us would find funny.

I'm thankful for my friend Klint Warner, who has known me my whole life. I don't think you could find two more different people, and yet, we've always had each other's back, and I know I can always rely on him if I need to.

I'm thankful for vocalists like Traci Ling, Danielle Dow, Anna Thornton, Katie Kemp, Melissa Elsner, Debra Schwulst, Catherine Fast, Tracey Williams-Bisconner, Dan Storgaard, and Jared Bryant.

I'm thankful for instrumentalists like Greg Jenkins, Jamie Miller, Nate Beede, Chris Powell, Dave Fast, Tom Bay-Schmith, Jeff Cowden, Brian Lynch, Russ Roosma, Kyle Plata, Dave Thomas, Rob Hooff, John Billester, Mark Nordyke, Juan Plata, and Trish Guude.

I'm thankful for people like Homer Hillis, Mike Theriault, Tommy Walker, and Jeff Berry who spoke into my life either by allowing me into their lives or letting me witness their ministry.

I'm thankful for everyone that has a hand in making Guild D-40's and Guild Starfire III's, Martin OOOM's, Gibson Les Pauls, the folks in the Taylor Guitars Custom Shop, Fender Telecasters and Strats, Yamaha Motif XS8's, Moog Keyboards, Digidesign (ProTools Department), Toshiba Laptops, Shure E5's (and the folks who make the custom molds), Subaru Outbacks, Toyota Siennas, and the folks at Dunlop who make those cool yellow picks I use.

I'm thankful for leaders like Dave Browning and Cliff Tadema who have taught me with their example.

Above all of these things, I'm thankful for my Maker, Father and Savior... my Redeemer, Restorer, Rebuilder, Rewarder... my All in All, and my Life - Jesus.

Happy Thanksgiving.

This Weekend

This past weekend at my church, we had a great time of worship and introduced Charlie Hall's song "All We Need". I got tons of great feedback from people whom I've never met that are regular attenders of CTK (which I view as a problem, not a good thing) who said that the song held very deep meaning for them...

We have all we need in You
All we need is You
All we need is You

Rich or poor, God I want You more
Than anything that glitters in this world
Be my all, all consuming fire

You can have all my hands can hold
My heart, mind, strength and soul
Be my all, all consuming fire

What a great song....

Counting

In the blog that I linked in another post, Dave Browning talked about Counting. In that post, he talked about some numbers that truly do matter. One of the numbers he talked about was the numbers of baptisms in your fellowship.

This past weekend, I witnessed 147 people identify with the death, burial, and ressurection of Jesus Christ. We baptized people in every weekend service, and then we came back tonight to baptize 40 or so more at a monthly worship service that we hold.

It was an amazing weekend. God is good.

Time

In March of 2004, in a staff meeting at CTK Skagit Valley, Dave Browning told us (quoting an economist, I don't remember the name...)that 20% of our effort produces 80% of our results. He said that this also meant that 80% of our efforts produced only 20% of our results. We talked together about how true this is, especially in full-time ministry.

How do you find out what your 20% is? Start backwards. Look at what's working in your ministry, then work your way backwards and figure out what you did to make it happen. What conversations did you have? What people did you connect with? What resources did you use or give away?

As you ponder this, keep in mind that effort does not equal time. It's an amazing little process to go through, and quite humbling. We can accomplish a lot for the Kingdom in a short amount of time if we leverage the efforts that we put forth.

This week, I'm having everyone that I supervize at CTK Bellingham join me in keeping an every-15-minute log of their time at work to see what happens. No one's going to get in trouble over this, I'm just looking for current reality.

What if we did this wiith our personal time?

A Word to Young Worship Leaders (like me)

I'm not a old worship leader. At the ae of 30, I am in fact I'm a young one, so I'm saying this to myself as much as anyone. We need to slow down.

In learning guitar, I have had many people tell me that slow=fast. What that means is this - the slower you practice, the faster you'll be able to perform. This past week, I was trying to learn a Phil Keaggy song, and I wasn't able to nail it until I slowed down and rehearsed each phrase slowly and them put them together.

Something about this process is lost on a lot of our modern culture. We have instant access to anything through the internet. Want to find a pictue of a squirel wearing a speedo while driving a motorcycle through the Appalachians? You can probably find it, and find it now.

The trap for young worship leaders becomes this... we confuse knowledge with wisdom. We think that because we read all the latest articles, listen to and play all the latest songs, and know who's doing what and where that we think that we are wise. We're not, we're merely informed.

For other worship leaders who are in my position, they key is to surround yourself with wise people. Find someone who doesn't know a six-string from a banjo, but has lived a Godly life for more than five decades, and them ask them their thoughts on corporate worship. Ask them what their priorities are in worship. Get some wisdom.

We owe it to our Lord, our church, our worship fellowships, our teams, and ourselves to use the knowledge that we can find, but to do the hard work to couple it with wisdom. Slow down. Get perspective. Find wisdom.

Highlights of the Last Few Months

I haven't blogged in a while - and on purpose. I'm being trying to listen more and talk less in my personal life, and that has reflected itself onto this blog.

But, since July, a lot has happened, and I've learned a lot. There are a few things I want to share with you, by way of giving you some links.

First, I read one of the most powerful pieces of writing I've ever written. Most of you won't be surprised to find out that it comes from Dave Browning, the Lead Pastor of CTK Internatonal. In a blog he wrote, called "COUNTING", he talks about why numerical mass isn't the mark of success for his church. Dave, in my mind, is the most successful pastor in America at the moment, but it all depends of your definition of success. I've heard lots of feedback from friends that have read the same article, and they've responded with comments like, "It's an excuse for laziness", or "it turns a blind eye to what matters". I couldn't disagree more! Find out why by reading the link.

Secondly, I heard a very courageous sermon by Wade Hodges at Garnett Church in Tulsa, OK. He addresses his church's heritage with the issue of female leadership, and does a great job of doing so. I know many of you don't have the same "baggage" that Wade's church does, but listen - if only to hear what courage sounds like. You can hear that sermon by clicking on this link - "Women in Leadership at Garnett". Wade is a longtime friend of mine, and I not only proud of my friend for doing this, but impressed by a fellow pastor who is leading with strength.

Lastly, I've been inspired by my friend Joel Quile', who is blogging like he's addicted. I'm ready to blog more, and he's really pushed me to do it again.

Peace,
Sam

I'm Speechless...

First of all, know that as I write this, I'm just about ready to throw up all over my computer monitor.

That's right, kids.... YOU could be the next Steven Curtis Chapman!!!

My question is this... who judges the "Worship Leader Competition", and what they heck is the criteria?

To me, this is the ultimate example of what we've done to worship and Christianity. We've made an industry, a production... I'm heartbroken.