No Worries...

I find myself saying this statement quite often. Someone will apologize for something that's usually no big deal and I'll fire off a "no worries" response. It's quite presumptuous for me to think they've been agonizing over this "not-so-dilemma" that I would respond with a "no worries".

So it got me thinking about not having any worries. What a concept! No worries...ever? I try to even fathom that concept and I get worried I won't understand it. In Philippians 4:6, the writer Paul says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." It got me to think about all the other passages that tell us about worrying (i.e. 1 Peter 5:7, Matthew 11:30, and Hebrews 4:15-16). It seems like a great concept, but how attainable is this really?

What I realized, partly through what's been happening in my personal life over the past few months, as well as this past week, is that scripture never tells us to do this alone. It never once says that you will be able to do this by your own power. If it were true, why would we need God? Why would we need His Holy Spirit? I think more often than not I expect, when I read these passages, to figure it out and muster up some kind weak attempt to do as they say. Often what I realize is that I'm weak (I know you're shocked!). I'm not strong enough to not worry. I'm not humble enough to cast my cares and be anxious for nothing. Left alone, I end up pounding my head against the wall in frustration and I completely forget about the power of God's spirit within me.

Philippians 2:13 says, "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

I truly believe part of understanding this takes maturity. I was at the store the other day and I saw a lot of elderly people congregating around these flowers eating some sort of seed from a sandwich bag, which I'm sure are healthy because elderly people eat weird and healthy things. And as I was standing in line waiting to buy my unhealthy items worried about getting home so I can hurry and finish what I needed to do there so that I can hurry up and go to the gym so that I could hurry up and pick up my son so that I could hurry up and hurry, I had somewhat of a tranquil moment starring at these older men and women enjoying these flowers eating their healthy seeds. Whether this is true or not, I believe they had a lot of peace. They didn't seem like they were in a hurry, they didn't seem like they had somewhere to go, they didn't seem like anything was on their mind except how much they enjoyed those flowers and how they really like consuming healthy seeds. So, I began to think a little. My conclusion was I needed be older. Not older in age, but in maturity. I don't think you appreciate or take the time to slow down, remember who you are, remember whose you are, and remember to pray because it's not by your own power, but it's the one who works in me. I don't remember this because I'm immature and I'm too busy thinking about myself.

So, when Paul writes to be anxious about nothing and by prayer bring your requests to God, he's not saying anxiety can be avoided completely. He saying when you rely on God and through prayer to Him, you can have peace through that difficult and often busy time. In my own opinion what often hinders this practice is my habitual reliance on myself and not God. Maybe this is a start for me. Maybe I won't have to wait until I'm too old to finally figure this out. I'm still not going to eat those healthy seeds. Yuck!

Kara = Paula?

I realize that I'm limiting my reader interest with this post, but I think it's pertinent due to the statement by our newest judge on American Idol, Kara Dioguardi. I understand that as a judge you required to share your insight and your opinion about how each contestant performed. Of course, we can always rely on Paula to share some discombobulated comment, but Kara is beginning to sound more like Paula and less like someone we actually care to give ear.

The particular comment she made last night made absolutely no sense (very Paula-like). The contestant's (Danny Gokey) rendition of "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood was one of the better performance of the night in my opinion and needed little criticism if any. Kara's comment was something like, "Danny, when you hit those big notes you're like no other", "I wish I had 10 minutes of that and none of the other".

So, Kara....let's get this straight...you want 10 minutes of someone belting out the big notes the entire song? That's the stupidest thing I've heard you say. What about setting the song up? What about "lower" or "softer" moments of the song to lead up to those big moments? What about the story?

I could really go on for seconds about this, but it got me thinking(insert sarcastic comment), "What if we followed Kara's advice for everything? What if there were nothing but 10 minutes of big moments and nothing else?"

• Would all roller coasters consist of 10 minutes of straight free fall plummets?
  
• Would firework shows be a 10 minute long finale?
  
• Would movies be 10 minutes filled with every emotion you could possibly fit in that time frame? (I'm sure someone would have a seizure or heart attack after viewing)
  
• Would weddings be 10 minutes? (hey, not such a bad idea)
• Would sermons be 10 minutes? (in your dreams....I'll work on that one)

It's like having a song with one long bridge and chorus, sung over and over without any story and without any verses that actually makes the song the perfect package. She, being a songwriter, should understand this more than any of the other judges. I digress.

Any other scenarios where if you take this extreme suggestion from Kara, you end up with a ridiculous/better/worse outcome? This might get very interesting. :)

"Great Worship!"

People say the weirdest things. I know that I'm probably just as guilty for saying stupid things, which is why this makes me qualified to talk about such nonsense. I've been a worship leader for a few years now and this position is not exempt from receiving weird comments. Now don't get me wrong, being a worship leader has some really good benefits like:

1. You get to choose the songs.
2. You get to decide how many times you'll repeat that chorus.
3. You get to tell people (mostly the church) what to do (like when to sit, clap and be still).
4. You get to leave your back up singers out to dry when you decide to go up an octave without them knowing (that's always fun).

But this job also has it's downside like:

1. People always point out that you messed up the words.
2. People always point out the fact that the words are misspelled on the PPT.
3. People always point out that it's too loud.
4. People always point out that your zipper is down (j/k....God forbid that ever happening).

But the absolute worse thing I'd want to hear are the dreaded words, "Great worship!" Ahhhhh! Nooooo! I must have heard that about 5 or 6 times today. Now, I don't mind when someone says the music was great or you guys sounded great, but "great worship?" I mean are we still calling music worship and worship music like they are the same thing? And I know most of these people have great hearts (well....most of them.....yes.....I know their hearts...don't be jealous), but the problem I have is the obvious. If the music was terrible, which I'm sure sometimes it is (especially when you're playing the wrong song), does that make the worship bad? I know if it was, no one would come up to me and tell me. I guess it's just one of those things. The worst was when someone actually gave us,"Two thumbs up" or better yet when they said, "You guys scored a 10 today". Why thank you Ebert and Ropert for your wonderful review and insightful rating. Or better yet maybe when we are finished with the "great worship" we should move towards the front of the stage like on Star Wars IV, bow our heads, and accept our gold medals for scoring a perfect 10 and for destroying the Death Star. I'm sure God's thinking, "Man, those guys were right. That was great worship!"

What is it that you can't stand people say to you?
How do you respond?
I would love to hear any comments, so please share.

In the beginning.....

So, it begins. I had a lot of difficulty deciding what to name this blog. I didn't want to put my name because it seemed too generic and if I break the law in some way I didn't want to be traced that easily. I'd want a good head start as I evade the authorities. I didn't want the name to be overtly "religious" as to scare away anyone who might flee like I do the sun early in the morning....or any time for that matter (I'm very anti-sun). I realize that the title is related to Psalm 8:4 (which is purposeful), but I chose it because it also has everything to do with the craziness that goes on inside my head. This blog is to help me make sense and process my thoughts, but it's also to share my opinions (although judgmental and Simon Cowell-like at times) in a light-hearted way. If there is any goal that I might have for those that might stumble across this blog (this includes those that I forced to read this under duress) it's that you'll want to come back and read again.