a question for you:

What is it we are asking for when we call for reform in the Church?

Let's move past ideology for a moment and speak practically. What is it we want?

I hear so many people in and around my age talking about a "different kind of church" or a "different approach to doing church"...my own voice included. But what is this "different" church we are longing for?

Often, I wonder if it doesn't have to do with our age. It seems every revolution is started by disgruntled 20-somethings trying to buck the system. Will we soon grow complacent with the Church, replacing our current idealism for the comfort of our 30's? Maybe.

I also have pondered the possibility that the issues we have with the church exist because we want it to be doing the things we know that we should be doing, but aren't. As individuals, deep down we know that we don't care enough about the poor, so we get upset with the church, as an institution, for not doing more to help them. As individuals, we sense that we don't spend enough time in fellowship with "non-christians", so we claim the church is too inwardly focused.

Maybe when we call for reform in the church the underlying truth is that we are really calling for reform in ourselves. Maybe.

But I do know one thing for sure: we are sincere in our desire to see the Church improve as the Bride of our Christ and the Pillar of Truth in our world. We are authentic in our passion. We want what is best for God, for His kingdom and for His children...and that is a healthy and effective Church.

So, I really am asking...those of you who are sensing, and even vocalizing, a need for something different in the Church...what is it you are wanting to see change? What is it that the Church is currently doing that you believe could and should be done differently?

I am struggling through all of these questions right now and am curious as to what you have to say. Because unless we move from conversation to reality, all of our zeal will be in vain and all of our dreams will fail to come to fruition.

So...what does this "different" church look like?

weekend...i live for the weekend

Will Ferrell, anybody? No? Okay.

Sorry, for not updating in a few days. Its been a busy weekend, and actually blogger has been giving me problems the last couple days. So, I'll just update you quickly on my weekend:

Thursday - I saw The Everybodyfields at Blue Cats. I went with my friend, Greg. The wives let us out of the house for the night. Good show.

Friday - Betsy and I went to see Little Miss Sunshine with a group of friends. Excellent movie. Great story, amazing acting...one of the best movies I've seen in a while.

Saturday - I played disc golf for the first time in my life and loved it. I was horrible, but I loved it. Then Betsy and I had dinner with some friends at their house.

I also had two fantasy football drafts this weekend. I did okay in both. I'm in a total of 3 leagues this year. I know, I know...I'm a dork. But hey, at least it gives some credence to my obsession with ESPN.

Also...on a weird side note...Friday night, I fell asleep with the TV on. And somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness, I swear I saw a commercial for Esteban Gone Wild: Solid Spruce Top...less in the Caribbean. So, I don't know what that was all about.

attention!

Are you a pastor? A youth minister? A christian with a passion for guitars and the unsaved?

Have you ever wondered, "How can I reach the MTV generation? How can I be relevant and cutting edge?" Well, today is your lucky day.

Hip and Holy Records presents: "The 10 Most Powerful Church Cover Songs"!

This is the greatest collection of "Secular Radio Hits Whose Lyrics Sound Vaguely Christian" ever assembled. And its not the least bit cheesy!

From Creed to U2; Vertical Horizon to R. Kelly...the best in Church Special Musics have been compiled into one easy to find CD. These are the best recordings money can buy, with performances from 7:33 in Athens, GA to Cresent City Community Christian Church of Christ (also known as CCCCCC). You will be blessed by their passion if not by their obvious and total lack of talent.

So, no more boring services with no connection to the "Real World". Buy "The 10 Most Powerful Church Cover Songs" from Hip and Holy Records today for just 6 relatively easy payments of $2.99! Call now. Operators are standing by.

note I: Any reference to an actual church or ministry is purely coincidental and no offense was intended.

note II: Please don't ask me how many of these songs I have personally performed at church. Its pretty embarrassing.

turning the big 1-0-0 and a good story

This is my 100th blog! Hip hip hooray!

I don't really have anything more to say about that.

So...on to the story:

This past Sunday, at church, a man named Wayne gave his testimony. Wayne is about 6'4", 260-270lbs...built like an ox. He is very much the strong, silent type.

Well...he was the strong, silent type.

Earlier this summer, Wayne's wife came home from work late at night and found him laying on the floor, awake but unable to move. He had a stroke and had been lying there for hours. He spent weeks in the hospital and his improvements have come very slowly.

This was Wayne's first Sunday back at church. And I noticed something different about him. It wasn't the fact that he is in a wheelchair, or that only one eye now opens. No, there was something else. His smile was bigger and he had more life in his face than I had ever remembered.

He wheeled forward at the end of the sermon and spoke about the poor state of his spiritual life before his stroke and his renewed vigor for Christ after it. There were few dry eyes in the room. I want to share with you the bit that got me:

"I was strong, healthy and in good shape. There was no reason for this to happen. And the doctors still don't have an answer for why it did. God did this to me. He did it to me because He cares more about my soul than He does my body. My body will mend. Christ will restore it when He comes back. But the soul is eternal. And for that, He needed to get my attention."

Those words, from the crooked mouth of a debilitated man in a wheelchair, were as powerful as anything I have ever heard from the pulpit.

Wayne is no longer strong. But, thank God, he's no longer silent either.

radio spotlight

SUNDAY!

This Sunday morning (August 2oth) at 8:30am, B97.5 will be spotlighting songs off of my cd-Majesty and Meekness on air. So if you live in the Knoxville area...turn off your Ipod and turn on your radio and listen in. If you don't live in Knoxville, you can go to their website by clicking the picture or the link above and listen online.

But remember: that is 8:30am Eastern Time...so plan accordingly (that means you're going to have to get up nice and early, Jake).

dane cook on catholicism

Having grown up Catholic, I think this clip is absolutely hilarious.

The part about Communion...oh my goodness. See, some people simply place their hands out in front of the them to take Communion, but others will literally stick out their tongues and let the priest lay it directly in their mouth. Now, I'm sure they have a good reason; maybe they feel unclean and don't want to desecrate the Body of Christ before they consume it. I don't know. But as a kid, I always looked at them and thought, "What? Weird."

Dane Cook is usually vulgar and horribly offensive...but he nailed it here. Enjoy.

you are there

(click here to listen or download)

When I hurt, I'll cry for You
for I know that You are there
When I break, I'll reach for You
for I know that You are there

And when I fall time and again
Still I'll have faith in my faith in You

Cause when I'm weak, You are strong
And, as always, You are there

This song is not a spectacular song by any stretch of the imagination. I just want to get that out of the way right from the start. It is short (a little over 90 sec.), very simple musically and theologically, and it doesn't say anything that hasn't been said before.

I know all of this. Yet, it is still very dear to my heart.

About 8 months ago, I got a call in the middle of the night. A friend's father had been murdered. He was out of town on a business trip and was walking back to his car with a colleague after eating out. They were mugged, and he was shot and killed.

I obviously had a hard time getting to sleep that night. I was wide awake and trying to somehow reconnect the dots between a loving, sovereign God and a world in which a good man with family and friends who dearly love him can be randomly murdered after eating dinner at Outback. It almost felt as if it had been my own father. I was so sad for my friend. I didn't know what to say or how to say it. And in that moment I wrote this song. It is a simple sentiment of faith.

I wrote it for my friend. I wrote it for myself.

Again, I know it isn't the best song in the world, but it says everything I felt that night and not a word more.

finally, it makes sense...

The upcoming movie Snakes on a Plane obviously provides me with hearty laugh everytime I think of it. However, it also greatly confuses me as to what in the heck Samuel L. Jackson is doing with his career. Deep Blue Sea, SWAT, The Man...and now this.

Come on...this guy used to be cool.

But then I read this Time Magazine article about Samuel L. Jackson being his own biggest fan. In it, I found this insightful blurb:

"I want the movies I'm in to remind me of things I spent Saturday afternoons watching as a kid and then went home and pretended to be in." The Star Wars prequels satisfied his Errol Flynn swordplay fantasies. Shaft let him be the urban John Wayne. Snakes on a Plane, out Aug. 18, fulfills his love of B-movie suspense and his endless desire to watch himself kick a**."

So...while I still think the movie sounds like a horrible idea, I can certaily appreciate a guy who just has an "endless desire to watch himself kick a**". That's just good ole, red-blooded American, right there.

ever feel this way?

God said to Ezekiel:

"My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice." (Ezekiel 33:31-32)

What preacher/worship leader/minister of any of sort hasn't felt this way before? It has to be the greatest fear of those of us who lead God's people; that we would be standing in front of a room full of nodding heads and closed hearts.

As a worship leader, I know I have felt like this from time to time. A friend of mine calls it being a "jukebox". Put a quarter in the slot and listen to the pretty songs come out. Luckily, that is not the case at my current church. But I've been to churches where that really is all they want.

"Just sing the songs and keep us happy."

"A changed heart...what? A changed life?! Get outta here!"

If you feel this way right now, I want to encourage you to remain strong. Stay the course. Because this is what God told Ezekiel next:

"When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them." (Ezekiel 33:33)

So, what did God mean by "all this"? He was referring to something He said a few lines earlier. Read here.

So, let me encourage you: if your congregation doesn't listen to you, they will either die of plagues, fall by the sword or be ravaged by wild animals. Thus saith the Lord. Amen.

my grandfather, my hero

He is one of the most passionate people you will ever meet. And because of that passion, he has never had a boring job.

Sailor. Printer. Fireman. Photographer. Preacher.

He has never had a job that didn’t consume him; a job he didn’t live for; a job about which he wasn’t borderline fanatical; a job he didn’t wear my grandmother’s ears out by talking about constantly.

He never had a job that…well, was just a job. It seems to me, if that happened…he moved on. Packed up his bags, handed the keys to guy behind him, and walked away. He could never exist just to earn a paycheck. He could never spend 45 years of his life working, so that he could retire for the last 20. No. Cause see, my grandfather figured something out: that if you find a way to get paid to do what you love, then you never have to work…and you’ll never want to retire.

Sailor. Printer. Fireman. Photographer. Preacher.

But that list of job titles is one short; the job that, at age 79, he currently holds. That job: a McDonald’s busboy (although, he calls it "Lobby Host"). Not quite as glamorous as the first five is it?

Yeah? Well, try to tell him that.

He is just as passionate about his current employment as he has been about any other job he has ever held. He picks up other people’s trash. Cleans their tables and chairs. Makes sure the ketchup dispenser is full. Sweeps the floor. Empties the trash. But more than that, he greets people as the come in. Talks to them as he wipes off tables. Laughs with them and makes them feel important. He serves them by taking up their trays and emptying them into the trash. He also jokes with and encourages the pimple-faced kids working behind the counter and at the drive-thru. Everyone loves and respects my grandfather at his McDonald’s…and technically, he is the lowest man on the totem pole.

While most people his age worked their whole lives and saved up a nice little nest egg for themselves, moved to Florida upon retirement, and are spending their remaining days walking the beach and picking up seashells. My grandfather always worked at jobs he was passionate about, provided for his family, and never worried about a “nest egg” down the road. Now, to make ends meet, he works as a McDonald’s busboy, serving and brightening the days of everyone who walks in just wanting a quick, cheap meal. And because of (not in spite of) that, he is every bit as happy, every bit as proud, and every bit as passionate as he has ever been. And also because of that…there is a McDonald’s in Bloomington, Il that looks awful lot like the Kingdom of God.

When I think of my grandfather, I don’t associate him with any of those other jobs. He’s not a sailor anymore. Nor is he a printer, a fireman or a photographer. And you know what, I don’t even think of him as a preacher, now. No. In my mind, he is a McDonald’s busboy. Cause to me…that is what makes him most like Jesus.

seriously?

I stumbled upon this CD last night at Best Buy.

The Best of Nelson? Come on.

Can someone explain to me how the same band can be in VH1's Top 40 Greatest One-Hit Wonders countdown AND have a "Best of" CD??

I think this means the ole 20th Century Millenium Collection has officially hit the bottom of the barrel.

Good news, though. If Nelson has a "Best of" CD than that means you and I can't be too far behind.

let's stop the madness

There is a trend that is happening in music today. At first I thought it was just worship leaders who were doing this. But as I looked around, I realized that it is happening in almost every genre of music. It is sometimes subtle, and sometimes not. But regardless it needs to stop. Right now. What am I referring to?

The faux British accent.

Please. You know who you are. Just stop. It doesn't make you sound hip or cool. All it does is make you sound like you are singing in a British accent. And that is just weird, if you think about it.

I heard a CD this past weekend with a worship leader who I know is from down here in the South, and if you didn't know any better you would think he was straight out of Liverpool. I literally laughed out-loud. It was that absurd.

Listen guys, I understand where you are coming from. Chris Martin, Jamie Cullum, Matt Redman, Paul McCartney, the guy from Keane, Thom York, Mr. Belvedere, Martin Smith...they all sound cooler than us. Believe me, I know. I wish I was from England as much as the next guy. Something about that accent makes their melodies seem catchier, their lyrics seem more profound and (most remarkably) their appearance seem more attractive to women. I agree, its not fair. But pretending that you sing with an accent you don't have, is just plain silly. So, don't do it. At least not from stage. If you are singing along to the Elephant Love Medley from Moulin Rouge in your car...than by all means, lay that puppy on thick. Just don't do it from stage.

As a worship leader, as a musician, and as a human being...I motion that we put an end to this goofy and pretentious fad.

Who's with me?

billwolfworship.com

Click HERE and check out my new and improved website.

(My friend Rob Laliberte designed the website and did an absolutely amazing job. Rob is in the band Standing Small. Check their site out and go see them if they are playing anywhere near you. And after the show, find Rob and ask him to design a website for you. You won't be disappointed. Ooo...and after that, call your mom and tell her that you love her, thats always a good thing to do.)