Who is right and who is wrong?

There has been a dialogue (debate) about the state of the church and the massive exodus by millennials. I am not sure if you have been privy to the numerous blog entries or articles written about this, but it seems to be a huge topic and rightly so. If the millennials are exiting the church in droves, then we, the church leaders, need to pay attention. We need to be asking questions and we confronting the situation.

My problem with this is that many of the reasons cited as to way this mass exodus is happening can be contradictory. For example some articles explain that millennials are looking for a more traditional or rather a less contemporary church atmosphere. An article wrote –

“Barna Group and Cornerstone Knowledge Network has found that in reality, 67% of millienials say a quiet church is more ideal than a loud one; 67% say classic is more ideal than trendy; 77% would chose a sanctuary over an auditorium.”

While this can be true, I wonder why many of the biggest/more prominent churches have a trendier feel to their approach. Where there is a barista available to make you a drink before you go and worship to a band that sounds and plays like Newsboys or The Crowder Band. Where your senses are engage through special lighting, large tv screens, smoke machines and a state of the art sound system. Why is it that millennials can be found flipping through their iPhone or iPad as they take notes or fact check the pastor’s message (and hopefully not texting, Instagraming or trolling Facebook).

Why aren’t our more quieter churches, the one’s with acoustic guitars and piano are not full of millennials? Why aren’t the churches that have not gimmicks, no apps, no high-tech sound systems and no lattes being inundating by millennials?

These are just questions. I am not saying that the study is wrong or the these type of articles are wrong or right. To me, it just does not add up. There has to be more. When other churches are going “Hollywood” and command the attention and following of hundreds of millennials then I have to wonder what attracts them to this church. When I visit a church were there are a handful of millennials who are worshipping to an acoustic guitar and/or a piano and nothing else. Then I have to wonder why this church is not full of millennials.

What are your thoughts?

Finding my voice in the middle of transitions and lost in translation.

I feel like the last 15 plus years I have live in transition and lost in translation.
Let me explain.

I moved to California about 15 years ago. I was newly married and had to navigate this new life changing status while readjusting to a different culture. Musically, I was coming from the hard, gritty, raw and intense New York scene to a more relaxed, creative and personal way of expression. Career wise, I went from “I needed it yesterday so work through lunchtime” to “let’s go out to lunch and finish when we get back” job culture.

A few years after 9/11 the dot com bubble burst and I lost my job. I went from an Art Director in Wilshire (ritzy side of LA) to an after school program director in the most impoverish section of Orange County– Santa Ana.

I moved back to New York 6 years after arriving in California, and once again I had to adjust to a culture change. Musically I felt out of place, feeling the brunt of the East Coast/West Coast artistic rift. I did not have the classic east coast sound and was accused of not having “enough Jesus” in my music. Spiritually, my doctrine was stretched and challenged, things that I deemed important where more cultural. While all this is happening, moving from place to place has become common.

I worked as a web/graphic designer up until 4 years ago, when I left it all behind to go into full time ministry. I spent 3 years as a full time seminary student. Once again, many of my notions and ideologies where tested. Some were broken or reshaped, while others were reaffirmed. Musically, I became disappointed and frustrated feeling like a fish out of water. Until I picked up the pen and wrote about my experience The Call. In the midst of my most challenging and transitional time in my life, God gave me the voice that I was looking for all this time.

As I look back at my other CD’s I can hear how unsure, lost in translation and missing in transition I was. From my voice to my delivery. Aside from my first release, The Call is the first time that I have felt that I have found my voice, my sound and my confidence.

If you have never heard it before, I am proud to introduce you to aTone (me) –

Please take time to listen and share with others.

Enjoy, and I welcome any comments.

324 year old words that can change your life

What do you devote your time to? What do you spend your extra time doing? Where do you go, what do you see? What holds your attention? Whatever holds our undivided attention surely becomes something that can end up being our devotion. For some it might be work, a hobby, money, a car, children or numerous other things. Brother Lawrence understands this and wrote:

“We should put life in our faith. We should give ourselves utterly to God in pure abandonment, in temporal and spiritual matters alike, and find contentment in the doing of His will, whether he takes us through sufferings or consolations.”

He urges that our devotion should be targeted towards God no matter the consequences. This devotion should be a complete abandonment to Him.

What holds your attention? What consumes your time? Who or what has your devotion?

324 year old words that will change your life.

In the last 5 years the art of conversation has diminished through the used of Social media tools and apps. Many young christians struggle to have a consistent prayer life and thus struggle to truly know who God is. Nevertheless, we are encourage to have constant prayer life. Brother Lawrence writes:

“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God; those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it.”

In order to experience this sweet and delightful life, we need to have a continual conversation with God. Have you spoken to him today?

324 words that can change your life.

James 1 begs us to consider it a pure joy when we encounter painful and unpleasant circumstances. It continues by stating that through the endurance of these circumstances, our faith will grow. Once this perseverance is finished, it will make us mature and complete, not lacking anything. Bother Lawrence puts it this way:

“I did not pray for any relief, but I prayed for strength to suffer with courage, humility and love.”

Let’s pray to have the same resolve – to allow painful and uncomfortable situations to help us grow in faith and to draw us closer to God.

324 year old words can change your life

“The more we know Him, the more we will desire to know Him. As love increases with knowledge, the more we know God, the more we will truly love Him. We will learn to love Him equally in times of distress or in times of great joy.”

Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

Knowledge begets knowledge. When this knowledge is centered on God then this knowledge is transformed to love, genuine love. This love is not swayed by time, or situations. It is a constant love. After all, God love. The more we know about God, the more we know about love and the more we know about love the more we understand the type of love God has for us.

324 year old words that can change your life

324 years ago, on Feb. 12 Brother Lawrence, a former soldier who had a dramatic religious conversion, died. He devoted his life to follow God. After joining a monastery he became Brother Lawrence and spent the rest of his life serving others. During this time he discover a profound truth – God presences can and should be experienced everywhere.

Brother Lawrence never wrote a book, but one was created using some of his letters and discussions with his peers.

For the next 10 days I will be posting one quote a day by Brother Lawrence.

“The King, full of mercy and goodness, very far from chastising me, embraces me with love, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the key of His treasures; He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways, and treats me in all respects as His favorite. It is thus I consider myself from time to time in His holy presence.

Nostalgia to the fullest

If you grew up in the 90’s then you are well aware of The Fresh Prince, Will Smith’s sitcom that brought him into the homes of millions of viewers and made him a house hold name. Jimmy Fallon recently made a tribute to the show as The Tonight Show will be filmed in LA for a week.

Enjoy and sign along!

Why should we forgive?

There is a lot written in the Bible about forgiveness, a lot. One verse speaks of not letting the sun go down while still angry at your brother. Another speaks of forgiving just as God forgave us while another explains the amount of times we need to forgive someone (seventy seven times seven, in other words countless times).

Many have a hard time forgiving for past offenses and carry the weight of resentment for a life time. This weight can manifest itself in physical, emotional or psychological symptoms. Nevertheless there are some real benefits of choosing to forgive rather than living with a life long grudge.

What do you guys think – Why do you think is hard to forgive? And, can forgiveness have a physical and psychological affect on our lives?

The link below is a story of two brothers that took to different paths after their mother was murder during a robbery. One chose to forgive, while the other was not able to let go.

The Forgiveness Boost

A New York Minute

It has been said that many things can happen in a New York minute, but what about in an internet minute?

Since the start of the internet up until now the volume and traffic has increased exponentially every year. There are more Facebook logins, more Instagram photos uploaded, more tweets sent, etc. I suspect that in years to come and as technology advances, these numbers will continue to grow.

Below is an infographic of just how much the internet has increase in the last year.