“I been trying to get down to the heart of the matter. But my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter…” Ladies and Gentlemen, Don Henley. Modern day prophet. (said with tongue in cheek)

I had a friend call me this week with a worship team issue this week and there were so many things swirling around that it seemed like there were 15-20 issues happening at once. Generally when I’ve seen this happen with my teams, or individuals on my teams, there is one thing causing most of the other things happening. The “heart of the matter” either personally or corporately.

It is easy as a leader to diagnose and treat symptoms, but it takes guts to cut through the junk and find what is really causing the issues. Someone may ask why someone else gets to lead the band for a week or someone else leads a song. Why didn’t I get asked to do a solo? Why did you feel like you had to bring in a guest leader while you were away? Sometimes you may never hear those questions at all and someone will just become a little passive-aggressive in rehearsal and you won’t know where it came from.

This is where having relationships with those on your team is key. Let’s say that “Johnny” starts fuming that he didn’t get a guitar solo this week. What’s the root issue? The closer I am to “Johnny”, the better I’ll be able to diagnose the “heart of the matter”. It could be pride. It could be a lack of self confidence and the need for the approval of others. Maybe the last worship leader he served under didn’t appreciate his gifts. It could be any number of things ranging from private sin to a crummy day at work. Those are all very different issues with different solutions, but if I only react to the surface thing then I’ll miss the opportunity to lead “Johnny” well.

We all want to grow together as believers and sometimes that takes a willingness to dig past the surface. It doesn’t mean that it will be easier. It’s easier to tell “Johnny” you shouldn’t react that way, than it is to tell “Johnny” that God is trying to deal with him about pride or asking him to join you in prayer to figure out what triggers this in him.

One of my passions is to see God release destiny in others. If I’m to be a true agent of change and release in others, then I have to push pass my “will gets weak and my thoughts start to scatter” and ask the Holy Spirit for His discernment and clarity to help the “Johnnies” in my world and myself get down to the “heart of the matter”.

I had a great chance to worship with two great friends this weekend. Tony Sutherland and I were at my boy Mike Craig’s church. My friends Wayne and Jaron showed up as well and it was nice to just have some free worship time with friends. Mike and I have literally known each other our whole lives. We are a month and a day apart and our parents attended church together when we were born. Relationships with that depth are rare and I’m very thankful for him and what his family and friendship mean to me.

During one of our worship times I felt the Lord tell me to just seek Him for who He is. I so often find myself seeking the Lord for specific things. Some direction here. How to handle a situation with a worship team member there. Here an issue, there an issue, everywhere a issue, issue. I felt a distinct sense of needing to lay some of that down (although there is nothing wrong with praying for/through issues) and just spend more time seeking Him just to know Him more.

So tonight in my office, I was praying for some of our worship team, for some friends and also just talking to the Lord asking Him more about Him. I was specifically trying to understand a certain aspect of what He is doing in my life that I don’t understand. I heard this in my heart; “Sometimes you just need to embrace the mystery. Don’t get so caught up in trying to “figure” Me out. My ways are higher than yours. My thoughts are higher than yours.”

There are so many things I may never understand. Why the God of all the universe would love and choose me. Why He would come and die. Why He would create us in the first place knowing that that was the eventual outcome. Why He speaks through people like me when several people are more qualified. Eternity? How does it work?

I’m glad to serve a God that I can’t figure out and am going to take more time to “embrace the mystery” of who He is and just enjoy Him.

I’ve been a little under the weather this weekend. This gave me a lot of couch time which I used to watch B-Ball, finish reading a book, pray, snuggle with my kids and watch the Travel Channel. They have a show, “Living with the Mek”, that is just fascinating. It’s about two westerners who live with this ancient tribe in West Papua. As I was watching it, it dawned on me that these people only had their families, fields and hunting to occupy their time. I wondered what I would do if there was no 9-5. No email, no cell phone, no church building, no keyboard, no basketball.

It’s so easy to find meaning and value in the things that in the final analysis can be distractions from the main things in life. Not saying that any of these things are bad, but when all the peripherals are swept away we are left with our God, our family, our food, our shelter and our friends. I need to place more priority on those things and less on the distractions my comparatively modern life has to offer.

I had the chance to baptize my son a couple of weeks ago. What a blessing! Check it out! Peace…adam

I had this thought that struck me the other day while I was on the road to lead worship at a friend’s church. “What am I telling my kids with my non-verbal actions that life is about?” I was thinking about everything that I place priority on in my life and how, when I’m gone and they’re grown, they are going to take cues on how life should be lived from me. I can leave them at home while I go and do the work God has called me to and they will most likely grow up and do the same with their kids. I could sit at home and only watch TV and they will probably do the same. You get the idea.

I thought I would challenge myself, and some of my friends, on this idea. I would say that I am most passionate about Jesus, my wife, my kids, others and then everything else. But, the actions that my kids see might portray a different set of priorities. They see me after I’m done praying/worshiping/leading/mentoring/studying etc. They don’t get to see a lot of the more “spiritual” things that I do. So as I took an honest inventory of what they do see, I felt like my kids would know a few things if I were gone tomorrow.

1. Jesus is the most important thing.
2. We should worship with passion.
3. I love their Mom more than anyone else. (so far so good)
4. Tarheel Basketball is VERY important.
5. The TV can stay on most of the time. (uh-oh)
6. Having fun with friends is one of the most important things in life.
7. Daddy’s PlayStation is a lot of fun and I should definitely learn how to play it.
8. The computer and cell phone trump most things.

1-3 are pretty good, but the rest of the list isn’t reflective of my true priorities (at least in my heart) but it is probably what they see. That last one hurts especially bad. I thought about how I read and I pray, but rarely in front of my kids. Don’t get me wrong, we bless our kids every night. We talk about God. What His Word says. How its principles should affect how we live our everyday lives. But they don’t see me pounding it down, working it through, talking about it with friends, asking the Holy Spirit for wisdom.

When I’m gone, I want my kids to be able to know how they should live. I want them to say, “I saw my Dad and Mom live it; now it’s my turn and my turn to teach my kids the same.” I am sending this out to a few friends and asking them, “What is my life telling my kids?” and “What do I want it to be telling them?” If they allow me, I’ll post some of their thoughts here.

I, for one, intend to start being a little more intentional with what my non-verbal communications say to my kids. I want them to know that a relationship with God changes who we are, prioritizes our life and gives us an eternal perspective. I want them to know God is alive and well, not just by what they hear, but by what they see.