Categotry Archives: changing mindsets

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Lessons In Perspective

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Categories: changing mindsets, moments of truth

Sometimes, your entire perspective can change in a moment. One event. One unexpected situation.

For my family, this happened twelve days ago, on March 21.

For those waiting with baited breath for me to release those long-promised posts about Trump and the church, I haven’t forgotten. Things keep happening so fast that it’s difficult to keep the drafts current, but eventually I’ll start a conversation here about that. For now, this is more important.

Perspective.

On Tuesday, March 21, at about 6:30 a.m., I had just arrived at my co-working space to start the day’s writing assignments. My phone rang; it was my wife, the Wild One.

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The Gift Is the Ministry

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Categories: changing mindsets

I know this is ground I’ve covered before at some point on this here blog, but if you will indulge me…

A few years ago, during the height of our deconstruction, our family had a very serious conversation together. This conversation led to a paradigm shift for me, one that has informed my path ever since. Essentially, I was lamenting the fact that I had built my entire musical identity around the platform of institutional church, and now that we were feeling disenfranchised from the institution, I found myself having something of an identity crisis.  How does a worship leader function with no platform from which to lead? What do I do now with these gifts?  In the course of the conversation, I started to say, “We’ve spent our whole lives trying to fit our gifts into this box we call ‘the ministry’…”

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“In” or “Out”

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Categories: changing mindsets, moments of truth

Robin WilliamsLike so many, I was shocked and devastated to hear the news this week that comedy icon Robin Williams had died, apparently by his own hand. What a loss.  The first question that popped into so many of our heads was Why?  How could someone who made so many people happy be in such despair?  As the reports began filtering in afterward–news about his struggle with depression, and his recent diagnosis with Parkinson’s, some of the blanks were filled in for us, and even though we still grieve the loss–and even though he should still be with us today–we at least begin to get a glimpse of what this man was going through in his personal life, and what those closest to him were seeing as to his private struggles.

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Re-thinking Calling (Again)

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Categories: changing mindsets

Every once in awhile, Matt over at The Church of No People writes something that rocks my world.  A couple of weeks ago, he posted this gem about “The Poisonous Myth of Finding the Highest Calling.” It’s worth going over there to read it before continuing here.

I related to this post on so many levels: the whole idea that a perceived “high calling” makes a martyr of you, or even imprisons you. Then there’s the pitfall of getting your whole identity wrapped up in some aspect or expression of your calling, or simply feeling like you have so much to live up to.

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A Changing Sense of Mission (part 2)

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Categories: changing mindsets

So this morning, I was all like, do I write a post about chicken sandwiches, or do I try and finish this two-part blog post I started a few weeks ago that got interrupted? When I saw that Matt over at The Church of No People wrote a pretty cool one about chicken–and considering that Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sunday, anyhow, so there’s nothing you can do about it today–I had my answer. 🙂

Besides–perhaps getting back to a discussion about mission is the best response I could give to the Great Fast Food Chicken Sandwich National Controversy: a way to re-focus on the important stuff.  (Oops, maybe that statement was too chicken-sandwich-post oriented. Sorry.)

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A Changing Sense of Mission (part 1)

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Categories: changing mindsets, General, missional

My friend Kathy recently posted about why the word “missional” bothers her. One of several reasons she cited was: “It feels pretty cruddy to be someone’s mission.”

True dat.

The other reasons she gives are pretty valid, too, but this one really resonated with me because since my journey of deconstruction from institutional Christianity began, I’ve found myself on the radar of some well-meaning Christians, as well, and felt like I had become part of their personal “mission” as they tried subtly (or so they thought) to steer me back to the fold. (Assuming, of course, that I’d actually left said fold.) I’m saying I know what it’s like to be targeted in that way, and Kathy’s right–it feels pretty cruddy.

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Faith, Trust, and Doing the Math

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Categories: changing mindsets

I had an interesting conversation this week with a band I was interviewing–a friendly young husband/wife duo. The guy had mentioned church roots a couple of times in prior conversations, and it came up again during our interview. My curiosity was piqued, so at the end of the interview I turned off the recorder (so he wouldn’t feel he was on the record) and asked him about his faith.

“I’m actually an atheist,” he replied.

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My Paradigm Shift Regarding Worship

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Categories: changing mindsets

So here I am, on a Sunday morning, blogging. For those who have been tracking with me, I haven’t been blogging much here lately because I have been helping out a congregation with their worship music while they are in between leaders, occupying my Sunday mornings for awhile (which is when I usually blog here). But today they are trying out a new candidate, so I have the morning off. Sweet. 🙂

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Gearing Up for God?

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Categories: changing mindsets, Tags: , ,

I always get just a little bit amused when I check my Facebook on Sunday mornings. So many of my friends who are believers (no offense to them whatsoever–I hold them in the highest respect) put out these little updates about getting ready for church gatherings. They range from the understated (ex., “Getting ready for church”) to the uber-caffeinated (“Hey everyone! Let’s all get ready for CHUURCCHH!”). One common thread goes something like this: “Getting my worship on.” Or “Let’s get our praise on this morning!”

I guess my first impulse (though I never act on it) is to ask: “What was your praise doing ‘off” in the first place?” 🙂

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