Doesn’t this just have a great ring to it? Campfire. Eating together. Relaxed worship. Late-night talks. Teaching tailored to your team. Friendships deepened. A break from your routine. God speaking...

As we approach the end of the year, I encourage you to take a moment between sips of 'nog (stay tuned for a killer recipe) to reflect on the state of your team's relationships.

What’s your worship team like? And by “worship team,” I mean the musicians and techs together.

Are you like a Worship Family? A Worship Indie Band? A Worship Elevator? Let me describe each one.

Every leader disciple needs to learn how to work with people.

Today, I’m giving you an outline rather than paragraphs. That’s obvious.

But what’s not obvious is how much what you do impacts congregational engagement. I want to challenge us, as leaders, to grow in BEING:

I got together with some friends and had seven gifts I wanted to give them. These gifts would provide a backdrop for testifying about what God had been doing. It was a real encouragement for us, and I wanted to bless you with those things.

How modest is modest enough? The most common internal answer is “the same as me or more modest than me.”

Have you ever wished your teams, pastors, and congregation were great at giving each other feedback?

Going it alone really, really stinks! Oh, it can kill you too. You may have friendly people on your teams, but how do you become true friends?

I know the need for watering, fertilizing, and generally tending to the gardens (metaphorical as mine may be) are upon us every spring and summer.

When was the last time you took a breath, ready to sing the next line, only to slowly exhale, mumble, or watermelon through the next line because the words weren’t up in time?

Do you wish that rehearsal would go deeper than just pulling the music together?

When was the last time you worshiped with other believers? Wait, but I mean not at “your” church. I mean, when was the last time you joined believers outside of your congregation and fully engaged in worship in their Sunday morning worship gathering?”

What REALLY causes the “not enough musicians” syndrome?

Are you trying to figure out how to add more musicians to your teams? “We just don’t have any in our church.” Really?

So, which of these phrases best reflects the way you serve together in your worship and technical arts ministry?