Lately, a dear friend, Pastor Rodney Fouts of North Church in Edmond, OK, has been teaching on changing your life. I’ve especially enjoyed his take on friendships and choosing your friends carefully. I’ve always kept my friendships to a minimum and believe it’s one of the main reasons God has blessed me with the best friends I could ever ask for. The World would have us believe that you keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But I truly believe that Jesus taught us that you pick your friends with careful intention, while loving everyone else through acts of service. If that premise has ever been challenged, it was 100% confirmed for me when I received the following letter.

Godly Excellence. Ten things it’s NOT!

As a worship consultant, I’ve had the unique opportunity to see firsthand both the good and the bad sides worship in the local church.  I’ve seen worship teams that are at the top of their game and those that couldn’t get any worse. Churches that support their worship ministries, and churches who shun them. When you think of worship band excellence, it’s easy to point towards the larger, more talked about churches and their bands. The worship teams at churches like New Spring in Anderson, SC; Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC; Andy Stanley’s Northpoint in Atlanta; and of course, Israel Houghton’s team at Lakewood in Houston, TX.  There are also some worship teams who are just as good or better which you’ve probably never heard of before. Like Brookwood Church in Simpsonville, SC or Puyallup Foursquare Church in Puyallup, WA. All of these churches have varying styles of music and technique, but the one thing they all have in common is a clear understanding and practice of Godly excellence.

Too Busy to Fellowship? Really?

I think 1 John 1:6-7 is one of the most powerful messages to pastors today. And in today's cyber-pastor world, it's more important than ever to understand the meaning of this passage. It's a part of God's plan that we have actual fellowship with one another. It's not good enough that 20,000 Twitter users per day read your quotes. Fellowship requires an investment of time and energies, and it must be personalized one-on-one.
1 John reads: "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

Let’s look more closely to three phrases in that passage: