Brian Spahr :: Blog

Well… if you have been waiting for the “Christian” version of Guitar Hero it is finally here for your mac and pc.  http://www.guitarpraise.com  I’m not opposed to stuff like this, although some may just dismiss it as derivative junk.  I can respect that some people want to play a fun game like Guitar Hero without having to listen to 80’s hard rock songs.  Let’s be honest, some of the content of those songs isn’t exactly kid friendly.  Stuff like this, however, always makes me think about missional living.  How do we effectively guard against things in this world that fill our eyes and ears with words and images that aren’t healthy for the soul while truly maintaining missional posture.  There are “Christian” movies, music, TV shows, board games, theme parks, etc.  We have created this whole Christian subculture that, while maybe well intentioned, could also end up isolating us from the very people we are called to reach with the message of the gospel in the nme of staying safe.  How do we really follow the old adage, “be in the world, not of the world?”  There is stuff out here that is toxic for our hearts and minds and souls, but then Jesus comes to us, not after we have left all that stuff behind. He comes to us as we are…where we are.  How do we follow his lead and stay safe?  Or maybe following Jesus isn’t safe at all.  Hmmmmm…

As we prepare for the launch of this new church, I think a lot about how we want to present ourselves to the community.  One of the primary entry points for the community is our worship gathering… which leads to the challenge of effective musical leadership.  Came across this list of “Worship Leadership Pet Peeves” that, I think, highlights some common challenges/barriers we can create through the way we lead.

http://churchrelevance.com/top-10-pet-peeves-about-worship-leaders/

I’d love to know what you have experienced that has caused stumbling blocks in your worship experience.

Tonight I saw something I never thought I would see…actually I’m not sure anyone could have ever dreamed of seeing what I saw tonight.  What was this spectacle beyond spectacles you might ask?  Tonight I saw an Elvis impersonator singing “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera.  The crazy thing is, it was actually really good.  He did an amazing job on a really difficult song, but I’m not sure how to describe what it was like watching his performance.  I just couldn’t ignore that he was “Elvis”.  All I could think about was what kind of commitment it takes to be an impersonator of Elvis or anyone else for that matter.  I mean, if you are going to impersonate Elvis…I mean really do it, you have to go all in.  You can’t just stick on a wig and a shiny shirt when you have a gig.  You have to have the hair and the pork chop sideburns all the time.

Is there anything that you are committed ot with such fervor?

As I consider what it means to be a leader in this new Church venture I think one of my biggest challenges is to try to be intentional about defining us by WHO WE ARE without painting a direct contrast with other churches.  It is much easier to say who we are NOT, and sometimes the distinction is helpful, but I would much rather be known as Graceway Church, the church who is… rather than Graceway Church, the church who isn’t.

Continuing my reflections on baptism and grace from yesterday…

Praise God there were around 600 baptisms yesterday.  That truly is something to celebrate, so I hate to follow it with a but, but…  my concern is that baptism, in this case, was presented solely as a public declaration of inner change… a public demonstration of our obedience to God by following his commands.  This is certainly part of what baptism is, but there was no talk of what GOD DOES, or what GOD PROMISES in baptism, and from my perspective, this is the problem.  First and foremost, Baptism is a gift from God.  The fancy way to say it is that baptism is a “means of God’s grace.”  It is not the only way God conveys his grace upon his people, but it is one way that we are assured he does.  The talk yesterday was about being “biblically baptized”, but here are few “biblical” things that were never mentioned… and I think all of these are pretty important:

In Baptism, God promises to:

1) make you a child of God, for you are baptized in God’s name (Matthew 28:19)

2) wash you clean of sin (Acts 22:16)

3) give you the Holy Spirit, which will enable

you to call upon Jesus as Lord (Titus 3:5),

4) make you a member of the body of Christ,

the Church (Romans 6:5), and

5) grant you child eternal life (Mark 16:16)

Because there was so much emphasis on why YOU should be baptized TODAY, there was no mention of any of this…and I think that was a pretty important omission.  Because Jesus is truly present in this mysterious fusion of water and word (don’t ask me how it works…I’ll never know how God does what God does)we are assured all of these things.  Forgiveness, healing, wholeness, are all given to us free… not because of my obedience or good behavior or anything else I can do. It is only by God’s grace that we have all been given these things, and again, baptism is one way that God has chosen to convey these gifts to us… to offer us a means of assurance that we have received these gifts.  To me, this is much more important to consider when we talk about “biblical baptism” then whether I was a baby or an adult, sprinkled or dunked.  What is most important , in my opinion, is not as much the HOW, but the WHO.  YOU are not irrelevant in all of this, but YOU are also not the primary actor in your baptism, GOD is.

I am so thankful for the ministry of this local pastor and this local church.  They truly are making a significant impact on the community where my family lives.  Please do not misinterpret these posts as just me being critical.  That is not my intention at all.  As the people of God we are all in this thing together…I really believe that.  It was an experience, however, to which I could not help but respond.  I pray that the live of those baptized yesterday will forever be changed, and that our community and the world will never be the same because of God’s power taking hold of their lives.

Grace and peace,

Brian