Good for Nothing…
Whenever people call you good for nothing you are certainly discouraged. People like to throw around that term along with popular cuss words and the Lords name in vain, but there is also a better way to look at this.
Take a look at what I mean
The other day I was sitting in Psychology class and my professor, Dr. McManus said something that resounded with me. He said “Be Good. For Nothing.” For a minute I thought he said “be good for nothing,” but he didn’t. He was referring to the biblical principle taken from the 6th chapter of the book of Matthew.
3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:3-4 ESV)
This verse means that when you are doing something good, or right don’t do it pridefully. Dont expect to get paid for it. Don’t expect the hand clap. Expect Nothing! If you aren’t verbally prised for your actions that is ok. Think about it. Be humble next time that you are doing something for somebody.
I realize that this might look different for each person that reads this. What does being good for nothing look like for you?
Extravagant Simplicity in Worship
“How much is much admission?” my brother, Brent jokingly commented as we were waiting for the doors to open. He had heard from people that compared the worship services at Elevation Church, in North Carolina to that of a concert.
I had the privilege of attending Elevation Church Sunday night with a few friends, and family at their newly built Matthews campus. This campus of the church was built in an old abandoned strip mall. When you think of church in a stip-mall you don’t usually think of over the top production, lighting, audio, etc. Well, Sunday at 6:00 at night Elevation Church proved that wrong.
As a guy with a passion for technology, and the like I keep a close eye on media related things and productions that churches are doing. Tonight was no different. Several rows of moving fixture lights, 2 huge screens for video playback, a backdrop also for video/lighting, Elevation had it all. I didn’t get to look at the A/V booth, but I am sure that their sound board and everything else back there was top notch. I am not saying that you need all of this to have a worship experience, but in order to reach people for Christ sometimes you have to do things a little different than other churches.
The thing that really amazed me throughout the worship service is that the songs that were played were lyrically simple, but at the same time musically extravagant. At Elevation the worship leaders at their various campuses write original songs, something that I really like because it shows that they are not just copying what other people are doing, but really using their gifts to truly lead.
Every song I sang was simple.
Easy to understand.
Memorable.
How many times do you come out of a worship service forgetting the songs you just sang minutes ago? I do not know about you, but for me it happens all the time. I would like to challenge you to think about how you can keep your worship services simple, yet extravagant at the same time. I know this is a tough thing to balance, but it’s possible. Elevation proved it.
I didn’t pay anything for admission. I felt overwhelming welcomed and at the end of the night it was NO concert at all, but rather an inspiring, uplifting of the Holy Spirit. Props Elevation!
I hope that this blog encourages you to not only think about how you can make your church service extravagant, but also simple at the same time. If you have any comments please leave them below.
I’m a #YouVersion Comunity Champion
I’ve been in contact with a good online friend of mine named Chase the past few days about getting involved with youversion.com the support team. Chase does a lot of work with youversion, but decided one day that he couldn’t do it all on his own, not even with all of the amazing guys they have on staff, they can’t do it alone either. With YouVersion recently hitting 4 Million users I think they could use all of the help they can get with user support and just being there to help people use the different youversion platforms.
For those of you who are still lost and have no idea what youversion is check out the following link. Also if you have a lot of time on your hands check out this in depth video form the youversion team.
Well, it just so happens that I have singed up and im now a part of the support team. My official title is “Community Champion.” I love that! It sounds so awesome. If you have any questions about youversion feel free to open up a new request, but before you do that make sure your question is not already in the forums.
