Those are some carefully chosen words up there, believe me. I make no bones about it, I am a baseball fan. I love the strategy, the skill, the colors, the smell of the grass, Hunter hot dogs, the crack of the bat when a home run is hit. The snap of the catcher’s mitt on strike three. I love it all. This is one of my favorite days of the year. I have been counting down the days since San Francisco won the World Series. Now it’s here and yes, yes I will be in the stands for the Opening Day ceremonies and the game with my mom. Who, if she starts going off on people at the stadium like she does at the TV at home, she’s sitting somewhere else. I love baseball. I’ve created two little baseball loving girls. Hopefully my little boy becomes a baseball lover. My New Mexico native wife only loves baseball because she wants the Cardinals to score 6 runs so we can get cheap drinks the next day. Still working on her. I have 4 fantasy baseball teams this season and I have MLB.tv for my computer so I can watch multiple games at a time (that’s mostly because we don’t have cable and this turned out to be a better deal). I played baseball in school and planned to strive for it as a profession until I broke my knee (that’s another really funny story). But the passion for the game will always burn deep and the love for my Cardinals will always be there as well. As a matter of fact, I’ll probably leave at some point this morning and go buy me a new hat because my old one has been beaten DOWN! I say all of this to say that the religion of Opening Day really is a sacred one to a lot of people. Some have lobbied in St. Louis to just make it a holiday, especially with the amount of people that won’t be at work. You obviously know where I will be this afternoon. Keith (the pastor at The Word at Shaw) will be there as well. So if you need some spiritual guidance, you’ll have to call us between innings. LOL, that was a joke. So many people live for this day, this moment where emotions are high and we celebrate our beloved home team. Hopes are riding high for a championship run, even with our ace Adam Wainwright down for the season (we didn’t have anything to do with that). We watch them longingly, hanging on every pitch and every at bat, waiting for something magical to happen…

Does your love for Christ even compare to your love for baseball? If you don’t love baseball that much, does it compare to whatever it is you love? I remember a time for me when that wasn’t the case. I have learned that if I love baseball this much, I have to love Christ that much more. In reality, that’s not that hard. Baseball hasn’t done anything for me. They don’t send me money. None of my bills get paid by them. Although baseball sparks emotion within me, it isn’t the end all for my spiritual mind. At the end of the day, baseball didn’t give it’s life for me. Therefore it should not receive more of my attention than someone who did. I’m talking more than just my Sunday mornings. Imagine what would happen in our lives if we spent half as much time working on our relationship with Christ as we do checking stats and following scandals. So my goal for this year is to do just that. I cannot be more excited about baseball than giving God the praise that He deserves. I cannot spend more time checking stats than I do reading God’s love letter to me. Does that mean I’m gonna spend less time on baseball? HA! That’s cheating! I’m gonna step my game up. Baseball is a religion, but Christianity is a life choice. So I’m choosing to live a better life.

In light of all the changes and updated looks and new pages that are coming, I thought I’d write about other new things. If any of you out there are like me, you like new things. New cars are great. There’s nothing like a new car and the smell. It works perfectly and everything is just super clean and nice. What about new clothes? New clothes always feel so much better than the ones you already have. I remember when I was little and my mom would take me to get new shoes. Once we found the ones that I liked the same thing always happened. We would put my old ones in the box and I’d wear the new ones home. There’s a confidence that builds even in a little boy when he has something new on. I’ve found that my girls do that as well. For whatever reason I thought that was just me… What about something smaller. I personally LOVE office supplies. So buying a new pen makes me jump for joy! It’s amazing the rush I get from buying a new pen and using it for the first time. It makes me so happy. But over time the ink runs out or you lose it. Or in most cases in my home in ends up in my wife’s purse (how does THAT work, btw?). Just like all these things, eventually these things become old and worn and broken down and they need to be replaced. This outcome is just a part of the world we live in. Colors fade. Tires wear. Pens lose ink. Or get stolen.

This is part of the reason that I love my relationship with Christ. He hasn’t gotten old in 2000 years. He’s still the same and still relevant in this world just like he was when he walked the Earth. We spend so much time trying to find our identities and confidence in the things that we have. That’s part of the reason that we buy new things. I have a pair of tennis shoes that I’ve had for over 2 years now and it’s time for me to get some new ones. They should be here soon and when they arrive I’ll wear those more because they will be my new ones and they will say to the people around me that I have new shoes. I’m cool. But when those get too dirty and the newness wears off then I’ll be searching for the next thing. People tend to do this with Christ as well and they keep coming up short. At the end of the day, there is nothing better. He continues to make himself new. It’s not Christ that gets old, it’s the approach we take to our lives in him and the way we present him. I was in a meeting last night and we were trying to find some fresh perspective on doing things in the church. As we sat there and started to come up with ideas, things became fresh again for us. There was a glow in the eyes of every person sitting at that table. Christ didn’t get stale. We were starting to just by sitting around doing the same things over and over again.

There is nothing the brings more confident than knowing that my life is hidden in Christ. I know that the things that brought me confidence in the past can’t even compare to the newness of life that Christ brings. He completely covers the old me so when people look at me they see Him. Now, because of who I am I still try and peek through, but God ultimately prevails. However, if I keep looking for all things new from Christ, I’m sure to find them there.

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.4 When Christ who is yourt life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

Fellowship does so many things. Fellowship allows you to sit side by side with fellow Christians. It allows you to sit side by side with non-Christians. It allows you to share an experience that you would have otherwise had by yourself. Fellowship also changes the way you see that experience. One of the coolest moments of my life was sitting in my living room when Adam Wainwright struck out Brandon Inge to win the 2006 World Series. But I was at home alone because my wife was at the symphony and my girls were sleep. So that experience was amazing, but it lacked something.

Go back a year earlier when the Cardinals are playing the Astros in the NLCS. As you  may know, they lost that series. However, there was a series changing moment in Houston when Albert Pujols hit one of the best homeruns I’ve EVER seen. And I was in the park for many of Mark McGwire’s 70 homerun season and the one he hit 545 feet. But I was watching this game at Buffalo Wild Wings with like a million other people. That moment was phenomenal. But to be able to experience that with so many other like minded people just made it so much better.

Regular fellowship with the saints is similar to that. Actually, it’s better than that. There’s a joy that comes from being in the midst of other worshipers that can do something to your psyche. You can come into a worship time feeling down about any number of things and over the course of the time you can feel change. Fellowship can change your focus. When we are dealing with the things of this world, by default we look at them through the human lens that we possess. When we take time to worship the Father and we allow the surroundings to take us in our focus changes to the One who can handle the problems. It’s difficult to get that same experience from home. Can you worship alone? Yes. Can that worship be sweetened by the fellowship of other believers? Yes. Even more importantly, is fellowship something that God requires of us? Yes. It’s needed for survival. Look at Ecclesiastes 4 will tell you that. Think about it. Could you use a change of focus?

While we are speaking of change, you’ve probably noticed by now the new look of the blog. Well there’s been a lot of work behind the scenes and the massive team (2 people, mostly 1) that it takes to make this whole worship180 thing flow. So after many talks (like 3) and much deliberation with the graphic design team (Charlie), this is what we’ve come up with. I’m really happy with what they (again, just Charlie) have come up with. I will be taking the rest of the week to wrap up my thoughts and ideas for the new pages and tabs that will accompany the new look. So for this week, why don’t you read through some of the archives and catch up on some of the other posts on this site. I’m hoping that people like the new changes to the look at then later to the content. I’d love to hear your thoughts as to how to continue to make this better. The team (Charlie and I) like to read comments. Be blessed this week and talk at you later. And if you’re into that sort of thing, 2 DAYS TIL OPENING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 things. One, I’ve decided that this fellowship thing will probably go a little longer than this week. Two, for some reason it is snowing here in St. Louis and I’m sure no one asked for it. With that being said…

I was thinking a lot about fellowship needing people yesterday and then that branched off into some other things. I know that a big part of that is my A.D.D. so I won’t use this time to follow that tangent. One of the things I ran across in my mind is the need for a heart for fellowship. Fellowship, based on our definition of intimate participation, isn’t something you can just do. You have to desire it and work for it. It is sort of like this this new workout plan that I’ve started this week. That first day has caused major pain throughout my body because it is foreign and I haven’t used some of those muscles in that way for awhile. However, if it’s going to get better I have to keep working them. As  you continue to do that, you get this cool thing called muscle memory. Your muscles just know what to do and they remember. Intimate participation doesn’t just happen. You have to work at that. You’re learning how to fellowship with God so you can have deeper fellowship with those around you. You have to be intentional about building this relationship with the Father. He wants this. We should want this as well. Instead, we have acted like he’s that nerdy boy that likes us more than we like him. He keeps on loving us and giving us things even though we aren’t good at giving to him. Then when something unfavorable happens we get mad at him and wonder why he’s mad. It makes no sense.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Christianity is not a 1 player game. Also, Christianity is not a spectator sport. You need people and you have to keep moving. You have to have the heart for it otherwise you’re not going to experience all that God has in store for you. You have to put your heart into it. You have to put your life into it. I know he did…

I know this seems to be a horrendously simple fact, but for those of you who have had “the conversation” with people know how hard it is to get people to accept this fact. The conversation, you ask? It goes something like this PERSON: I’m a Christian but I don’t go to church. YOU: Why don’t you go to church? PERSON: I don’t like people. I just get what I need to learn from preachers on television and books. YOU: What if you have questions about what you’ve read or heard? What happens if you aren’t sure if you understand something? PERSON: I just let it go. I don’t need to go to a church building or sit there with other people to be a Christian. What’s the point?

So that could go on even longer, but that’s pretty much how that conversation goes. People have decided that they can do just fine with Christianity or life in general without being a part of any kind of community. There has been so much hurt associated with the church that people have just shied away from ever getting close to the people in it. It intrigues me very much that people completely overlook the biggest constant in Jesus’ ministry as they study the Bible. Just spent HIS entire ministry with a group of guys that he taught and shared life with. What would make us think that we can do this alone?

In this first blog this week I mentioned that the working definition for fellowship is intimate participation. There is no way to get to that point without starting with other people. Of course I know that people can be people-y, which makes this hard. But that leads us into tomorrow’s post . Speaking of posts, tomorrow was ridiculous and this was supposed to be written yesterday. So to make up for it, I’ll go through to Saturday instead of wrapping up tomorrow.

Also, before I forget, the CD that I reviewed last week was released this past Tuesday. It’s called Hymns & Spiritual Songs. You can buy it here. Please do. Thanks.

I sat thinking about what to write this week and it occurred to me to take a look back at what I had already done. It didn’t take long for me to realize where I needed to go this week. I wrote not too long ago about what it means to encourage each other. It hit me that I skipped a step. If you are going to encourage people you should already have some sort of relationship. If you don’t have that it will make it a little bit hard to encourage as that passage in Hebrews suggests. So this week I want to share some of my thoughts about fellowship and relationships and how that relates to worship. As always, your thoughts are encouraged.

I am part of a church that is just about 13 weeks in. I’m learning some real valuable lessons through this process. The biggest one is that my studying worship arts in school didn’t quite prepare me for this part. And that’s okay. Some of this has to be learned on the job. But lesson 1A would have to be that relationships take time. When you are starting from scratch, you are creating an identity and asking people to join you in that. You are submitting yourself in a particular way and hoping that people catch on. This is no different than any relationship in that fact, and because of that, I believe the same logic should be applied. There is a time period of feeling each other out that takes place, where you are trying to decipher all of the words and actions of this new person. As you work through those sometimes awkward moments you become closer and more comfortable with each other. This is the situation that we are in at The Word. We are kinda in that awkward moments stage where everyone is still sort of feeling each other out. What we are striving for is the ability to be comfortable enough with each other to fellowship.

I’m sure by now that many of you have heard the Greek work for fellowship that is koinonia (κοινωνία). The best definition of this word that I’ve seen is that it is communion by intimate participation. Over the next few days we are going to use this as our working definition of fellowship because I feel that it gets right to the heart of what we are searching for in our churches today. We will look at some of the popular passages on friendship and fellowship and see how deep we can dig in hopes that we can shed some practical light on them. I am a person who needs to see things in a tangible way so I can apply them to who I am. I’m hoping to share some of the things that have been revealed in my own brain as I’ve read and studied. Join me on this journey, won’t you?

So today didn’t work the way I would have hoped. It wasn’t the set. It wasn’t the people. Maybe there was something about the execution I guess that just made this song set feel as if it fell through. Not matter what I tried to do to fix it or compensate, it didn’t work. And that’s frustrating as a leader to do all the things and then it still doesn’t work. So what do you do when you feel like that after the worship?

Well I have a couple things that I have learned. Know that as I’m typing this I’m also telling myself these things so I can deal with it right away. 1, you have to remember that this is not about you. At the end of the day, this should not be a concert or a display of personal talent. This is all about giving God the worship He deserves. Did God receive that worship? I can’t see why He wouldn’t have. 2, It RARELY sounds like what you want it to sound like in your head unless you’re working with people to make it sound that way. If you want a particular break or a certain fill or run to be played, you have to communicate that. If you communicate that and you still don’t get it, say it again. Don’t just leave it. 3, people will hardly ever notice the intricacies and technicalities that fall through that you get so hung up on. You, the people on stage, and MAYBE 2 people who listen critically will ever notice when you mess up or something doesn’t work right. And lastly, repeat number 1. It’s not about you.

Do you ever have mornings when you get through with a worship set or a sermon or something and when it’s over you feel like it was a total train wreck? Well that’s how I felt today. But I know that God is still sovereign and will use what we have given him to bring glory to Himself. I just have to leave it in His very capable hands. Now, I’ll go and catch the rest of the sermon.

You’ve seen it happen before. You’re in a group of people and everyone is talking. Then someone mentions baseball and a couple of guys in the group start rattling off numbers and statistics and abbreviations and the rest of the group gets that glazed over look…

Or you’re talking to a friend that happens to be a doctor and they start talking about something that happened at work that was interesting or funny and they start using words like phalanges and flexor digitorum superficialis (thanks WebMD) and then you’re not sure if you can laugh anymore because you don’t know what they just said…

I’ve been the recipient of some of those looks when talking to people about music. It’s funny the different levels in which that happens. I can talk with some musicians who just learn their parts. That one doesn’t get too deep. I can talk to some people who have wondered what certain things mean that they have seen. That turns into a mini theory lesson. But there’s something about talking with someone that understands fully what you’re talking about without explanation. Someone that understands what a Neapolitan 6th is and understands the circle of fifths and how secondary dominants work. Music is a language within itself. Once you have an idea how this language works, you realize that there are different ‘dialects’ that have branched off, like the Nashville Number System.

Music is definitely one of those things that can get away from you in a conversation. But just medicine and statistics, there is a lot you need to know to make music work. And for those that study these things it’s hard to talk about it without some of that ‘jargon’ to slip out. I love talking about music. It’s been hard to find people who really enjoy it like I do since I left college. Mostly because I don’t live around any music majors (except for the one that I live with). I understand how my wife feels not living close to people who speak Spanish frequently. Even more, I’m thankful for having learned this language because ever since I learned how it works it has become a universal way for me to connect with all types of people. I’m thankful for this language and I know it may be based on a technicality, but I will say that I am bilingual.

This is something that popped into my head yesterday and wouldn’t leave. When I was a teenager right before I turned 16 my dad left his really good job at Anheuser-Busch to work full time at the church. It was a really crazy time in the life of a 15 year old thinking that he might at least get a beater when he turned 16. I ended up with a lawn mower that year. Oh well… One of the things I used to joke with my dad about was something that someone asked him one day while at church. “Pastor, what do you do all week? I mean, does it take that long to write a sermon?” Now, this really was a direct quote and it was hilarious on many fronts. One of them being that this particular person was infamous for calling at ALL times and dropping by to visit the church and having many issues. So the answer to that question could have easily been “dealing with you”, but that wouldn’t have helped his case or our family’s financial situation. As a result, this became a little joke in our house for awhile. I know my dad was super busy preparing for his message, looking forward and vision casting, studying, counseling, being a kick butt husband and father. The man was (is) busy. I always tend to think about that time when I have days like I did yesterday.

Yesterday was quite busy from start to finish and it didn’t finish until the evening because Wednesday is rehearsal day. I came home completely done and it popped in my head, “this is what we do all day”. I’m on my way to breakfast with my dad and I’ll share this with him before he (if he even) reads this post and we’ll laugh. Because some people will never understand exactly what it is a pastor does during the week, but they know that the pastor is there. I believe that’s what we are going for. We want people to know that we are there. We are there to lead, direct, counsel (I didn’t have a Biblical Counseling emphasis for nothing), love, plan, prepare and a WHOLE bunch of other stuff.

Pastors and leaders out there, have you ever had that question asked to you before? How did you handle it the first time? How do you handle it now? Can you laugh about it? I think it’s hilarious, but I have a but of a weird sense of humor.

This may be one of the coolest things that I’ve ever been asked to do. I, Harry Walls IV, was actually given a pre-released copy of a CD and asked to write a review about it. So even though this isn’t the end of the month, I’m going to write a middle of the month review.

Last week I received a pre-released copy of the Hymns and Spiritual Songs EP by Russ Mohr. For those of you who don’t know who he is, he is the front man for the St. Louis soul group called The Fundamental Elements. If you don’t know who they are, then click here and take a listen. But then come back. I hit play on my computer and just sat back. If you are unaware, I’m a big fan of FE and so I had a feeling that this would be good as well. I was not disappointed. Russ and FE drummer, guitarist, producer and whatever else he does Luke DeJaynes have put together a solid project that not only sounds good but lifts up the name of Jesus. This 6 track EP (5 and a reprise) has a really cool vibe to it and stays consistent throughout. The original songs, especially the song No One Like You is one that could easily be done in a worship set on a Sunday morning. I’m actually thinking of rolling it out in my church in a few weeks. Sometimes it’s hard to redo a hymn or find a way that someone else hasn’t done it before without it jumping so far off track that it’s not an attractive move. Both My Jesus I Love Thee and What a Friend We Have In Jesus stay right where they need to be. They fit right where they need to be and if you are looking for a different way to present these songs in your church then I say at least take a listen.

The other cool aspect about this project is why it was done. Russ and his wife Katie are in the process of adopting their second child. For those of you who are adopting or have adopted before understand the amazing cost that goes into making this happen. This project was created to help offset some of that cost as well as be a gift to some have already give assistance and aid toward the goal. I’m excited for my chance to help out a musician and fellow South City dweller. I gotta represent St. Louis whenever I can so those of you that don’t live here understand that not EVERYONE is going out aiding in our number 1 murder capital status. Russ is a cool guy with a great voice and I’d love it if you could help him out when this CD is released in digital copy form in about a week or so. Keep your eyes open here and once it is released I will let you all know where you can get it.