My friend, Alan Knox,  who will not be named in this post, told me about a new seminar being offered by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina called, Worship Leader Boot Camp: Special Edition (Leading Worship with Limited Resources). Which purportedly “takes the popular Worship Leader Boot Camptraining event, offered throughout North Carolina last year, and changes the direct application of the biblical and leadership principles through practically helping churches with limited resources to engage technology and new ways of thinking to lead worship with only one or two, or perhaps no instrumentalists.” (1) — whatever that means.

By the way, since the seminar is 30$/person plus hotel, “Limited Resources” does not mean limited funds but zero to a few talentless instrumentalists (though one probably begets the other).

I have decided that I am going to be a good Christian and undercut my brothers and sisters in North Carolina. For the low price of 20$/person, I will teach you how you can truly worship with limited resource in just 4 simple verses. But wait! That’s not all, if you read this post now, I’ll throw in an extra Scripture verse that proves my bias! Speaking of scripture, let’s see if we can glean some wisdom in its pages on how to Worship with a few talentless instrumentalists.

1. Consider killing your son, but don’t (Abraham and Isaac – Genesis 22)
2. Learn to program a PERL array of hashes (Holy Array – 1 Chronicles 16:29)
3. Make a footstool (Holy Footstool – Psalm 132:7)
4. Be IN God’s spirit (True Worshiper – John 4:23)

And finally, the extra Scripture I promised you comes from Song of Solomon 8:8. Commonly referred to as the “proves everything and anything verse”. Since this is only a 20$ seminar, you’ll have to look it up on your own.

I trust you found this exciting course in Leading Worship with Limited Resources helpful. Be sure to check out my next course, How to Kill Your Enemies and Still Love Them.

In Romans 14:15-16 Paul writes, “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.”

I generally fall in line with the “regards every day alike” category. Sunday is no more special to me than Saturday or Tuesday or Friday. If you think Sunday is a special day, than that is fine with me. However, one thing has me perturbed about our Sunday tradition as Christians. From my experience, there is usually a pretty high emphasis on attending Sunday morning church meetings. A lot of Christians believe it is wrong to work on Sunday because it interferes with meeting on Sunday mornings. These same people often times attribute the command to rest on the Sabbath (Saturday) with resting on Sunday (not the Sabbath). But many of these same people have a tradition of going out to eat after their church meetings on Sunday. Of course this means that they are in essence supporting the working class on a day that they feel it is wrong to work on.

So, if you believe it is wrong to work on Sunday, do you support other people working on Sunday? If so, how do you justify this?

I recently had a wonderful conversation with one of my co-workers. She came into my office to give me something and noticed my digital picture frame displaying on my desk. Then I showed her a picture of my wife and we spent a few minutes looking on Facebook and MySpace to see if my wife had any pictures up of the kittens. While browsing through the pictures she saw one that Kati had of me at my graduation. My co-worker asked where I graduated from and I told her, “Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.”

She said, “WOW! I’ve gotta stop cussing in front of you…”

I explained to her that I didn’t want her to censor herself in front of me. Then we started talking about “church” life. She and her husband aren’t really church people. They both went to Methodist churches from time-to-time growing up though. Recently her husband expressed interest in going to a local Methodist church. He wants to go somewhere that he can hear the word preached without feeling pressured into anything weird. She said that she wasn’t really into the idea, but wanted to go with her husband anyway.

Up to this point in our conversation, I had already explained that I am a heretic and defined the word for her, as “a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.” I explained a little bit about my history, what I believe, what I don’t believe, etc. Basically just enough to let her know what I am all about.

Knowing this, and having her recent church experience, she had some questions/concerns for me. This is what they were (in her words).

1) During one songs, they sang about Immanuel… who is Immanuel? I thought they were suppose to worship God?

2) When it was time for prayer, everyone bowed really low with their heads down. Why did they do that?

3) After the community prayer, instead of everyone saying “Amen” they all started to say their own little personal prayers – is that normal?

4) After the service a couple cornered us and asked if we were saved, it was really ackward.

5) The husband of the other couple convinced her husband to fill out a vistor’s card. Then they received a call that afternoon asking if they were going to visit that night.

6) They had “children’s church” during which they took up an offering/tithe. Our little girl felt bad because they were trying to build a new church building and gave 10.00$ to the offering. I feel like that’s wrong, that should be up to the parents, not pressured little kids.

Hearing some of these questions and concerns, I had the feeling that I knew exactly what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthins 14, “Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?” Granted, this is about “tongues” not about Christian Music, Childrens Church, Prayer Stance, etc. I think it still relates though.

Somehow we have been taught to feel holier when we are in “the house of God” and have inherited a pathological dependency upon an edifice to carry out our worship to God. At bottom, the church building has taught us badly about what church is and what it does. It is a contradiction of the very nature of the ekklesia – which is a countercultural community. The Church building impedes our understanding and experience that the church is Christ’s functing body that lives and breaths under His direct headship. – Page 42

God,

You are so Holy, I hope for the day when you make the Earth like Heaven. I desire so much to do your will and I ask that you feed us and protect me, my family, and The Family from the temptations of the devil. Help us all forgive, just as you forgave us, are forgiving us, and will forgive us.

As you know, I have a problem – I just don’t believe, period. I don’t believe that Sundays are any more important than Tuesdays or Fridays. I don’t believe that Worship Services are the same as Worship. I don’t believe that G.R.O.W. is worth a hoot or A.W.A.N.A. or any other program for that matter. Sure they’re not bad, they even have good things about them, but I just don’t care for them. I don’t believe that the church’s buildings are important. In fact, I’ve come to find them to be a waste of money, even laughable. Please, help me understand, why don’t I believe like the others?

Lord, you know that I believe in your people. You know that I love them, that I want to grow with them, in you. How can I do this, if I don’t believe in these other things? They don’t understand me… they don’t want to understand me. Why can’t you make me want to be in the Building? Why can’t you teach me to love Sunday more than Tuesday or Friday? What should I do? What can I do? I ask that you help me understand, please.