No Actual Pigs Were Injured in the Making of This Service ...

But lots of porcelain piggies got smashed.

This past Sunday, we started a three-week series called "$ign Here." Money is something that churches need to talk about. But nobody likes a financial series. It's boring. It's convicting. It makes churches look greedy and needy. And it's totally necessary.

Jesus talked about money more than any other subject. He made it quite clear: you cannot love both God and money. It's an either/or proposition. Not both/and.

This past week Vince preached on the idol that we make of money. Money will take everything that we have and give nothing in return. It consumes us. It grips us. Yet we put our trust in it; we find our comfort, security, and identity in it. We lust for more of it. It is an idol.

So in order to give some tangibility to the message -- to "bring it home" for people -- we smashed piggy banks. Not actual idols. But a symbol that represents the high-and-exalted idol in our lives that is money. After the message, we invited people forward to take a hammer and smash an actual piggy bank.

I believe it not only gave some fresh life to a sermon on money, but also served as a powerful exercise in faith for those who participated.


Check out more Creative Chaos over at Ragamuffin Soul.

You Decide 2008

This post has nothing to do with a presidential election.
But it is an election, nonetheless. A musical election, of course.
I am the excited owner of a $15 iTunes giftcard.
I love new music and it's burning a hole in my pocket.
I am in need of recommendations from you, my readers.
Songs. Albums. Artists. Whatever.
What will delight my eardrums and stir my heart?
Or maybe just cause the head to nod?
You decide.

What I'm Reading Right Now

You'll notice that I've updated my reading list.
Few activities encourage, challenge, stimulate and stretch my thinking like reading books.
The current roster includes:

-Pop Goes the Church (Stevens)
-Orthodoxy (G.K. Chesterton)
-The Holy Longing (Rolhesier)
-Searching For God Knows What (Miller)
-The One Thing You Need To Know (Buckingham)
-The Starbucks Experience (Michelli)

What are you reading these days?

God Told Me to Run Him Down

I'm not sure what to make of the Florida Revival and Todd Bentley.
I'm skeptical of these things, but try to resist my tendency to be judgmental.
And then I saw this video of Todd Bentley from one of the Revival meetings.

"The Holy Spirit spoke to me ... He said, 'kick her in the face ... with your biker boot.'"

Seriously?! I don't know if I should laugh or cry...

Jazz Music in Worship

In my opinion, jazz is one of the most expressive musical forms. It engages a broad range of instrumental colors and emotions. Yet we rarely find jazz music in corporate worship, at least in its purest form. This is probably due to 1) a lack of truly competent, skilled jazz musicians in the church, and 2) musical complexity, which can be difficult for non-musicians in the congregation to follow.

At St. Paul's, however, we've recently embarked on an experiment, making one of our services' musical worship entirely jazz-oriented. Not just "jazz-style." It is serious jazz.

Musically, it's outstanding. We're blessed to have incredibly gifted jazz musicians in our church (including Earl MacDonald, Kris Allen, and Jen Allen). They've top-notch, and have been inviting talented friends from outside the church to join them. Spiritually, it's stretching. It's unique and fresh.

It's probably not for everyone, but our hope is that, for some, it will serve as a meaningful worship experience. I also believe that, given the caliber of our musicians, it will attract fans of jazz music who might not otherwise attend our church.

You can hear a few recordings from one of the jazz services at the group's MySpace page. (Not great quality, sound-wise, but it will give you an idea of the musical style.)

What are you doing at your church to experiment, get out of the box, and push the limits to stretch people and reach the unreached?

Worship Confessional - May 11 (Pentecost)

Interesting Sunday.

Instead of a sermon, actor Hunter Barnes delivered a first-person dramatization of the gospel of Mark. It was a fresh take on scripture, and probably resembled the way that stories of Jesus would have been taught and transferred before the printing press.

We experienced some bizarre technical glitches. During rehearsal, monitors were feeding back, mics were popping and instruments were breaking. Just minutes into the evening service, our electric guitarist's monitor started screeching. Not hissing. Not making fuzzy noises. Screeching violently. One of our tech leaders, Evan, responded with lightning speed.

Plus, I was on a string-breaking spree. I broke one during rehearsal. Two between the end of rehearsal and start of service. Thankfully, all 6 strings stayed in tact during the service. But the earlier string incident had me a bit flustered. Those suckers aren't cheap.

And then worship went well. The team acted professionally and wasn't phased by tech issues. The congregation responded to the craziness graciously and followed us into a time of pretty powerful worship.

Things came together well, but I'd consider it a bit of an "off" Sunday. Thankfully, it's not about us, and God is much bigger than a few loose monitor wires.

Our setlist from Sunday included:

Gathering Worship:
Love the Lord (E) - Lincoln BrewsterSalvation is Here (G) - Hillsong
Consuming Fire (G) - Tim Hughes

Reflection to Word:
Wonderful Maker (G) - Tim Hughes

Table (Communion):
Wonderful Maker (reprise)

Sending Worship:
Fire Fall Down (D) - Matt Crocker
Holy, Holy, Holy (D)

How was Sunday from where you stood?

Sunny Saturdays are Super

This is what we're doing right now.
Sitting in the backyard in big green lawn chairs.
In an hour, we'll be heading to a couple of our friends' BBQ.
Summer is near and life is good.
What are you up to this weekend?

You've Gotta Try This Stuff

It's called MonaVie. It's juice. Amazing juice.
Heard about through another Pastor and loved it.
Made from 19 raw fruit juices, including the acai berry.
The acai berry grows in Brazil and contains crazy amounts of antioxidants.

One 4 oz. serving of MonaVie contains 15-20 times as many antioxidants as you entire daily intake of fruits and vegetables. That's like a shot glass. It's good for your joints. It fights off free radical, cancer-causing cells. It boosts energy and increases memory capacity.

Did some research on it. The juice is legitimate.
Oprah named it the Superfood of the Year.
It was featured in the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal and Vogue Magazine.
Oh. And don't forget the Rachel Ray Show. That's right. Big time.
I drank it for a few weeks and felt great. It's awesome stuff.

Then I found out that it costs $40 per bottle (bottle lasts about 2 weeks). Relative to the money some of us spend on other health products, this isn't a crazy amount. But it wasn't fitting into the Barry budget.

So, in order to fund our MonaVie habit, and hopefully in order to pay off some debt, Kelly and I have registered as independent distributors.

Mona Vie's motto is: DRINK IT. FEEL IT. SHARE IT.
We drank it.
We felt it.
Now we're sharing it.

Check out www.mymonavie.com/officialstore to learn more, to buy a bottle, or to become a distributor. (If you want to do the latter, I can give you more info.)

Let me know if you try it/what you think.

Fact: I Am A Typing Machine

94 words

My fingers are en fuego. And only one word incorrect.
I beat Matt. One shy of Joshua.
How fast can your ten little digits go? Find out here.
And let me know how you fared.

The Bible Can Be Confusing

Do you ever have those, "hmmm, I know this is the Holy, infallible word of God, but I'm not exactly why this is in here" moments? I've had them. In fact, I had one today, when I read this in 2 Kings:

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

Let's review the facts. Elisha is walking. Kids make fun of him for his hair deficiency. He curses them. Bears maul 42 of the kids. Yes, bears.

I don't see the moral of the story. Don't make fun of bald guys?

In all seriousness, the Bible can be confusing. It's a complex piece of literature. And it's God's word to His people for all time.

What passages of Scripture do you find confusing?

If You Haven't Seen This Yet...

Close your eyes.
And enjoy Phil Wickham's musical wonders.

Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's

I know I'm gonna get mine.
Don't miss out, it comes but once a year.
Free cones at Ben & Jerry's.
All day today (April 29)!
Find a location near you.


Thanks for the tip, Los.



What's your favorite pint of Ben & Jerry's?
I go Phish Food or Chubby Hubby. So good.

Oh, Happy Day, Happy Day!

I'll Never Be the Same.

Forever I am Changed.

Yep.  I went Mac.  Got the newest generation of the Macbook.

It's pretty sweet, though I haven't the slightest idea how to use it (yet).

To those who chimed in on the discussion -- thanks for all of the advice.

Now I need someone to teach me tricks.

Post-Church Ritual

Just finished our third and final service of the day.
24 minutes ago to be quite exact.
So I'm heading home to partake in my weekly post-church ritual.
Me. My lovely wife. Tostitos tortilla chips and hot salsa.
Maybe a Blue Ribbon brewski.
Sit on the couch. Feet on the coffee table. Recap the day.
Seriously. Every Sunday. Tortilla chips. We love 'em.


First, though, I'll spend a few minutes in my office, door closed, just thanking God for today. It was a very good day.

What's your post-church/Sunday evening ritual?

Saturday Fun: Bizzarre Keywords

There are 3 basic ways that people find your website:

1) Direct Traffic - A person enters your web address in their browser.

2) Referring Sites - A person clicks through via a link on another site.

3) Search Engines - A person's search terms in google, yahoo, etc., correspond with words that appear somewhere on your site; your site comes up in the search results.

The search engine visits can be quite amusing. Thanks to Google Analytics, you can track what "keywords" a visitor searched for that brought them to your site.

Here are a few actual search keywords that have recently brought visitors to Thoughts of Worshiper (I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried):

1) amazing meatballs
2) andre leblanc saskatoon
3) breath odor evaluator - how much money
4) depressing easter songs
5) double dose of boom boom
6) flatulence smell-reduction underwear
7) give wife 1000 bucks
8) gods travel in light years
9) late for church excuses
10) macho worship songs
11) maurice the pants man
12) pat yrself
13) prom songs for jesus
14) pronounce baloche
15) smell songs for easter
16) stephen barry married?
17) the q in q-tips means
18) things to say as a worship leader
19) tree worshiper leader
20) uconn church sucks posters

...and my personal favorite:

21) steven pray excessive flatulence

So yes. Everyone pray for Steven.
And his excessive flatulence.

What interesting search terms do you get on your website/blog?

22 Qualifications: Church Sound Engineers

One of the most important people in your Sunday service is the "Sound Guy."

Sound engineers have their work cut out for them, and their performance can greatly affect the worship experience. Because no matter how well the band plays, and regardless of how passionately and articulately the preacher speaks, the sound guy has the final say on what actually reaches the ears of the congregation.

In a book on church sound that I've been perusing, the author lays out 22 qualifications for making a great church sound operator:

1) Listens to music
2) Loves music
3) Is a proven advocate of the church and its leadership
4) Agrees with church theology
5) Is a church member, committed to church mission/vision
6) Understands the style and spirit of worship music desired by leadership
7) Is servant-hearted
8) Has a positive outlook
9) Does not have an ego problem
10) Has a consistent spiritual life
11) Is ministry-minded
12) Is a lifelong learner
13) Is a hard worker
14) Has a long attention span
15) Has a stable family life
16) Pursues excellence
17) Is technically gifted
18) Has good people skills
19) Has a mature perspective
20) Likes to help others succeed
21) Does not participate in gossip
22) Is determined to become an excellent sound operator

I think it's a very thorough and accurate list. Some of these qualifications we already incorporate naturally in our recruitment of sound engineers at SPCC, but I'll be passing along the list to our tech leaders as they continue to build up their team.

Is there anything you would add to this list?
Anything you disagree with or find interesting?

HELP! I Need Your Input (For Real)

A good soldier has fallen.
It's big. It's clunky.
13 pounds clunky, I believe.
It's the size of your high school math textbook.
It's slow as molasses.
It makes loud, startling noises.
Lots of whirring sounds.
It's been called "vintage," "retro" & "old school." (Kids say the darndest things.)
A terrible computer. But a good friend.
I will miss my Toshiba (2003-2008).

BUT, the good news: I'm getting a new laptop! So, here's where I NEED YOUR HELP (I'm not just saying that, I really have no idea what I'm doing).

What kind of laptop should I get? I'm overwhelmed by the options.

• I'm looking to spend $800-$1400.
• I've checked out HP, Toshiba, Sony, and Apple (MacBook).
  
• I'll be using it mostly for word processing, powerpoint presentations, spreadsheets, surfing the web, listening to music, watching movies, and some amateur music editing.

Perhaps the biggest question is: Mac or PC?

I know some of you are computer-savvy. Help a brother out!

What laptop(s) should I check out and why?

_______