Mental Musings

No, I am not actually speaking about a state of mind...although that could help. This is more about the 20-80 rule. You know, 20% of the people do 80% of the work. However, I am convinced that the numbers need to be updated some because it seems that the correct number is closer to 15-100. On a typical Sunday, we have a need for about 7 people to help with our Multimedia Ministry (sound, lights, projection, video). That is less than 1% of our worship attendance. Now I understand that some of those who attend worship are also involved in other ministries: Bible Study leaders, ushers, greeters, counters, baptismal workers, instrumentalists, choir, praise team, nursery, etc. (I use the etc. to include all of those areas I left out because I am sure somebody will remind me of their ministry area). I am sure that there are some sound people out there just waiting to be used, but we have not been successful in finding them through the normal channels: announcements, begging, word of mouth, p...

In a speech given on January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." As we are approaching the fiftieth anniversary of this famous speech I have been looking at what impact that speech had in America other than to serve as a detrimental political ad against Kennedy's own party in current times. In fifty short years, America has become the nation of entitlements. This was not accomplished over night, but has come about through decades of re-educating our children through the public school systems to believe that they have rights beyond what is promised in the original Constitution or the Amendments to the Constitution. No longer are we a nation of people who ask what we can do to help make our country better, but rather a nation of people who ask what our country is going to do for us. I have no idea if this photo is real or Photoshopped, but it is indicative of the beliefs of many current Ameri...

My dad used to tell us about going to the movies when he was a kid. It was an all Saturday morning event that cost only 25¢ for pre-show cartoons, Hollywood newsreel, the movie, a soda, a hot dog and popcorn. Twenty-five years later, during my childhood, movies cost $1.50 and that included your previews and movie. Movie theaters had already learned that they could make their money on the snacks by charging twice what you would pay at a grocery store. A few years later when I was dating and actually paying for myself and a date, movies cost $3.00. That is also about the time that the Dollar Movie theaters started to pop up for the frugal movie goer who didn't mind waiting 3-4 months to see that blockbuster movie. It is almost impossible to imagine a 25¢ movie when we were paying $5.00 for matinee movies just a few years ago. That is when we quit going to the movies. When a family of four can purchase a DVD for $15-20 at Walmart, then why would we spend $20 for tickets and another $2...

Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby and Claude King We are currently going through this incredible Bible study in our Friday evening small group. This will be more 4th or 5th time to do this study. I have lost track. I have served as the facilitator for the study three previous times. Facilitator is a fancy word for a teacher who uses the teachers guide to lead the discussion. I would highly recommend this study. It remains the best discipleship study that I have ever encountered. Senior Pastors Why is it that Senior Pastors are always the pastor who preaches most at the church? I remember reading about a church plant in Kansas City (Missouri, not Kansas) that was started by two men who were both talented musically. Therefore, they took turns preaching and leading worship. It made me wonder how they decided which was the Senior Pastor and then I wondered why did the Senior Pastor have to be the preaching pastor. What if the Senior Pastor was the Education Pastor because he worked with...

I have had several people ask me about how they can get published. I guess they assume that I am an expert in this area because I am a Music Minister. My first question for them usually is why do they want to get their item published: is it for educational purposes; to make money or for fame; or just to share with others? I have had over a dozen various things published with LifeWay (part of the Southern Baptist Convention ), but all of these except one were things that I had written for use in a local church. My intention when writing them was not to get money or fame, and I certainly did not. My skits, articles and one song were published just because I already had them and thought "why not send them in and see what happens." I have probably had more than 100 refused and just over a dozen accepted. Again we come back to the reason for wanting to be published. While in college I realized that professors would willingly share with you from the vast storehouse of knowledge ...

During our vacation we visited our relatives' churches for worship. Both churches are about the same size as the church where I serve. One was a country church in Mississippi and the other was a church in Branson, Missouri. I thought I would outline their worship styles and some observations that I made while there. Wade Baptist Church in Mississippi has two identical morning worship services using a blend of contemporary praise and worship music and traditional hymns. They had a small orchestra of about five wind instruments along with a bass player, organist, pianist and acoustic drums. They projected the lyrics of the songs on three screens (two at front and one for the worship team). They used a choir and soloists with the worship leader standing behind the pulpit leading the congregation. The choir was able to sing without folders during the congregational singing because of the rear screen projecting lyrics for them. The congregational singing was not very strong, but most ...

There is an old saying, "There is always tomorrow." Procrastinators love to put things off until tomorrow. Financial gurus tell us to put aside a nest egg for tomorrow. Forecasters try to tell us what the weather will be like tomorrow. There is another old saying, "Tomorrow never comes." Life coaches want you to understand Carpe diem, seize the day; friends may encourage you to eat drink and be merry for tomorrow may never come; or parents may be telling you to never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. I guess it depends on your outlook on life. Some people are longing for tomorrow because they are in the middle of a storm in their lives. Others are dreading tomorrow because of some impending doom that they perceive. And while I find the time to "live in the moment" of life and believe that God teaches us to live day by day, I also think it is foolish for us not to prepare ourselves for the future. If we were only concerned about the here and now,...