I saw this image, and it captured my current season.

Do I have what it takes?

I was twenty-six. Having recently moved cross-country, leaving the long summers of South Texas for the short ones of Pennsylvania, I was learning many new customs in this new culture.

On Sunday, we visited a church we hadn’t been to before. While the eight of us filed in a few minutes past starting time and found our seats in two rows, two leaders addressed the congregation.

I read a job description for a Director of Music and was struck by the first “Core Competency” required.

My wife has taught me many things.

It’s time to deepen your life with God.

We’re a part of an eclectic small group made up of expats.

I was reading the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 and was stuck by something Jesus did.

Have you ever wondered where we got the worship style that many of our churches use?

Plastered on most tithe envelopes (if such things still exist) lives a little hint: “God loves a cheerful giver.” Have you seen it?

Any stage amplifies what’s already there. Any spotlight highlights what was hidden. If I want to be freer on stage, I need to know what freedom is offstage.

In my devotional time, I was drawn to read Psalm 100. Classic for worship leaders, I know. But this is how I read it:

I’m pretty hooked on home improvement shows—at least the good ones.

Some churches don’t seem to mind breaks in between songs. You know, the team finishes. There are five seconds of (awkward) silence.

Worship ministry is personal. It’s a beautiful weaving of the human and the Divine. It’s logical and unexplainable. It’s predictable and mysterious. But…

The worship leader put a message out to the team. It said:

I sat in a meeting surrounded by 18 other worship team members from our church.

You remember the Capital One commercial “What’s in your wallet?”

God is not seeking worship. God is seeking worshipers. (see John 4:23)