Okay, so yesterday I know I talked about thinking before complaining and while this is going to sound like a justification please, understand that it isn’t. I KNOW that there are MANY, MANY folks in the world who do not have the opportunity to attend church all around the world. I feel for them, and I pray that their situation changes, as for me though, I’ve made an observation and I have to talk about it.

Why the HECK do we do church at 10:30am on a Sunday morning…or for some of us even EARLIER!?

First of all, who said we had to do church on Sunday?

Secondly, who in the world thought that doing it in the morning was a good idea!?

I’ve talked to many people who have stated that they would be more likely to consider attending a church if they didn’t have to wake up so damn early on a weekend to do it! A significant number of church leaders will say that it’s a discipline thing, and talk about the sabbath and how if it was really important to the person they would do it. Some would even go as far to say that folks aren’t right spiritually if they consider not going to church simply because of the day and time.

I’ve got news for you, I love my church, I love my church family (most of them anyway), I love my pastor (heck he is like my best friend and a mentor) but, I have a REALLY hard time getting up in time to make it to church by 10:30 in the morning. For me, it is the fact that I work until 1:15am and don’t usually make it in to bed until 2:00am so in order to get up in time to get ready for not only church but work later in the day, by showering/shaving and getting my dinner prepared it is simply not feasible for me. I try…believe me I try but, my attempts are almost always futile. Our church also spends a lot of time reaching the folks that most churches tend to forget about. A significant number of those individuals are involved in nightlife activities and I feel that this is one area that we have really failed in our efforts to reach out to them. How the heck are we suppose to show folks we love them if we make it nearly impossible to do so? The bottom line is NORMAL folks aren’t up before 12pm on the weekends. (ok, so you’re not abnormal if you’re up before noon maybe, just a bit weird)

Besides, isn’t Sunday the declared Sabbath day in the church? If we’re suppose to do jack on the Sabbath we’re lacking significantly in the category! I think some of the people that attend at least my church work a heck of a lot harder on Sunday’s than they do the rest of the week. (I know…I’ve been to their places of business during the week :-))

I know that there is a bit of a humorous tone in this post but hear me out…I think this whole Church on Sunday morning thing is more of a hindrance to ministry than anything else. Throw discipline out the window because the reality is you can be the most disciplined human being on earth but the weekend is the weekend and those are the two days that your body has been programmed to relax.

We need to seriously reconsider this 10:30 am on Sunday mornings crap because I think it’s causing us to really miss the mark.

But, what do I know?

(Ok, so that’s a pretty cheesy title)

Today, was the first preview service for Element, Tampa’s newest church plant headed up by my friend, Bobby Triplett.

Obviously, given the fact that this was the very first corporate gathering of the church there were a few snags, nothing that can’t be fixed. Overall, it was quite the gathering. Number one, the church can’t afford chairs yet, so picture, if you will 145 folks in lawn chairs, yoga balls, and picnic blankets spread out across a 5,000 square foot dimly-lit concrete floor. Then picture all 145 of those folks crying out to their creator and catching the vision of what Element Church is. It was quite the site to see.

I approached this day with a bit of trepidation. You see, Bobby and I had talked a very long time ago about the vision that God cast in him to plant this church, and what this church would be and how it would change the City of Tampa. Initially, without little thought or even an ounce of prayer I jumped on board and said “heck yes, lets do this thing!” Then, Bob brought in this guy Chris to speak to us one Monday night at Revolution (which was at the time, what I considered my church, and the ministry that Bobby was leading). For those of you that have never had the opportunity to meet him, Chris Elrod is essentially, in my opinion someone who is deeply rooted in his faith and not afraid to bring a message if he feels led by the spirit to do so. That particular night, he brought a message and I begin questioning where and what my purpose in Element was to be. In the end, I really felt like I needed to take a time out and eventually told Bobby that I wouldn’t have a part in what he was doing.

That was about 7 or 8 months ago. Through the past 7 or 8 months I have been wandering around aimlessly looking for a sense of purpose and direction. I have spent countless hours praying and literally arguing with God about what it is He wants me to do and where it is He wants me to be. You see, I’m a judgmental bastard, as are most human beings. With me though it’s not judging the clothes someone wears or the car they drive, it’s judging their character. I tare people a part and insanely over-analyze who they are and what their intentions are. (It’s a horrible character flaw that I am working diligently on overcoming) This was such a case. In talking with folks well before Element came to be I was feeling like a lot of people were involved simply because it was the cool thing to do. As, we all know I really HATE jumping on the cool train. I felt like, the intentions of a lot of the folks involved didn’t properly align with the vision that God had cast in Bobby, and subsequently he cast for Element. I was allowing my judgment of those around me to get in the way of a vision that I have stood behind, and fully supported since the beginning.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Kenny and I are talking, I had been considering the idea of getting involved in Element, solely because all my other ideas had crashed and burned and I was having a hard time finding a church family to be a part of that accepted me for who I was. I began praying about my place in the world, in the city, in my job and in God’s kingdom. I really felt as if there was a reason for me to be a part of Element church and despite my every inclination to resist I gave in. I began helping work on Element’s new space in the Clair Mel area of Tampa. What I saw really set me back. The other people there, the people pouring their sweat, their time and their lives in making this vision a reality, didn’t have false intentions. They were there for the same reason I was. They BELIEVED in and EMBRACED the vision that Bobby had been given for Element. It was quite frankly, God’s way of saying: “Hey you idiot, I TOLD YOU SO!” <-- Yes, even God says I told you so.

This morning was amazing, and it really blew me away. Perched in what over the years has become my "home" in churches ,the sound booth, high above the 145 folks who were in attendance for Element's first preview gathering I realized that a lot more folks than I initially believed were in this because they believe in and embrace the vision too.

I honestly, have found (well I knew it was there all along) a place where I can do me, and whereby doing me I can impact the world around me.

Even though, Element is not about me, and it's really not about anyone except for God, I am happy to be a part of a family, that while containing people I certainly don't care for, can put away it's differences and vivaciously live out the vision that is Element Church.

Tampa, get ready for a movement that is truly unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. (I hope)

…I’ve managed to have a decision made for me, as far as my new church home is concerned.

Over the last several months I’ve spent a significant amount of time wrestling with this decision. I’ve argued (yes ARGUED) with God on multiple occasions, even making it known that He’s not exactly as smart as people make Him out to be. I posted a couple weeks ago about how I’ve been struggling with trying to figure all this crap out.

Needless to say, from that post forward, to about a week ago I have been in one fight after another with God about the subject. Basically, I’m going to do what I should have been doing all along, and that is be a part of Element, which is the church that Bobby is planting here in Tampa. It’s also basically the church that “Revolution,” the ministry that I considered my church for about 2 years has grown in to. I’ve learned (well not really, because I pretty much knew it already) that despite every inkling in me to not be, I am one of the most judgmental human beings I know. I listened to God in the beginning, grabbed on to the vision He cast in Bobby and ran with it, only to let the judgmental bastard in me get the best of me and let me believe that I couldn’t be involved because too many people were doing it just so they could hop on the “cool train.” (That damn train, I hope it derails eventually)

Anyway, long story short, the immature side of me has spun around in circles, fought off the direction of God, as well as, several significant spiritual leaders in my life for the last several months when I knew the answer from the beginning.

STILL though, I demanded some type of confirmation, and I received it today. I spent 5.5 hours hanging out at where Element will be meeting putting furniture together, cleaning up construction mess, helping hang crap and a variety of other chores before the first preview service this Sunday. I did all of that along side some incredible individuals, people who really are on board with the vision God has cast in Bobby. I realized today that those who aren’t really on board with the mission will eventually be phased out by the large number of folks who are. I’m proud to be serving the Tampa Bay community along side these great folks who are running with the same vision that I’ve decided to run with.

This whole post is flaky, but it’s coming from deep inside me. I don’t know that I could illustrate properly the struggle that I’ve had over the last several months about all this. I do know though that I’ve come out on the other end and while I’m still uncertain of the results, I’m going to go with them. I have absolutely NO IDEA, why God feels the need for me to be involved in all of this, but I’m going to do it in spite of myself. Element is going to do some crazy shizz in the Tampa area, and why my God, who knows just how screwed up of an individual I am wants me to be apart of that, I’ll never know. What I do know is that Element will be my church home, and I’ll do whatever it is I’m told to do to ensure the vision that God has cast in Bobby is carried out.

It’ll be a journey for sure, but after today I’m quite happy going on that journey with my fellow journeyers.

Alan just posted this little diddy on his blog. Check it out…

I’ve got to be honest, that is quite the introduction.

What do you think?

I do not normally do this, however North Point has started, or is starting a new series called Letters to the Next President. They have a website to go along with it where you can “write a letter to the next president.”

I’m not a fan of those types of things, as most of you know however, I am a fan of politics and enjoyed reading what people have posted thus far. As we go deeper into the election season it is beneficial to the candidates and those involved in campaigning for them to know what it is people are desiring out of the next leader of their country.

So go check it out.

Recently a church that I am loosely affiliated with started a social network service. Initially I joined in part to keep in touch with people who, since the beginning of this church’s whole ‘planting process’ have seemingly forgot I exist, merely because I’ve chosen to not be fully involved in the church. Of course, and with little surprise to me most of them have still forgotten I exist even while I am a part of their “social network.” I’ve had to tell myself the folks who haven’t kept in touch do not matter, and be content with the few that have (who coincidently, have actually kept in touch outside of the realm of the social network, if that says anything).

It has been very interesting to me to see the ghetto that this church has created through their social-network. They have in many ways, whether intentionally or not isolated themselves from that which is reality. To me this is somewhat expected since the church is in the birthing stage, and the network is being used primarily as their bulletin in many ways. It’s going to be interesting to see how this social network service develops and adapts as the church develops and adapts.

I have a few concerns about a church sponsoring a social network.

First, let me just say that I’m an strong advocate of open forums that entice discussion and the exchange of ideas. I believe that any society that list the freedom of speech and expression as the first amendment to their constitution demands a certain level of open discussion in all arenas. So you would think then, that I’d advocate a church sponsored social network site for the sole purpose of it’s ability to provide an open forum for the church and the community to hold discussion. However, in my experience in dealing with Christians, or the church I’ve found that open discussion is not something that the church is entirely too comfortable with. Actually, in all truthfulness I’ve found that the church is not very open to discussion at all in most instances. So, I feel that if a church is going to sponsor a social network service then they need to be clear on the fact that it is going to in part be used to create an open forum for civilized discourse and discussion, not just talking about your favorite movie, restaurant, book or Christian musician. The church has to understand that this forum has to exist for the community outside the church to be able to create discourse and discussion too, and has to respond appropriately to that discourse and discussion. They have to realize that discussion is not limited to the social network sites bulletin boards, or forums. On occasion a member of the site may post a blog entry, or make a change to their profile page that might create discussion. The church has to be prepared for this, and respond in a manner that’s not confrontational, or assume that the party inciting the discussion is making an attempt at confrontation either. I can tell you, as a member of the community served by the church whose social networking site I’m a part of they have not been prepared for discourse or discussion. It’s almost as if they thought they were creating themselves a fantasy land to talk about stuff that is really insignificant. Sure, they’ve got threads on their forums for prayers and praises and needs of members of the church and community, but conversation outside of the realm of “church talk” is sort of unheard of.

That brings me to my second point. There would be no problem with just having “church talk” on your social network site, if you marketed it as simply a virtual fellowship hall. This particular church certainly doesn’t market their social network service as that, and I’m fairly certain the leadership of the church does not want it to be that. Take for instance this scenario: I’ve been engaged in conversation with an individual based on a blog entry they wrote (of which I do not have permission to reproduce, so please do not ask for it). This particular individual made a statement that I felt needed to have some sort of concrete evidence. It was, in my opinion, a very loaded, over generalized, judgmental statement about a topic that I had a vague understanding of. So, to better understand the topic I asked for some sort of research or evidence to back up their statement. Well, good night folks, you’d think I asked the individual to step outside so I could kick their ass, at least that is what they’d have you to believe. It turned into a mud-slinging contest, and for a moment, I thought I was on a campaign trail. I was not harassing, rude, insulting or derogatory in my requests. Nor was I any of those things in the many comments that followed my initial request. I simply wanted information that backed up what the individual was saying. They eventually provided some evidence, most of which wouldn’t even be considered valid in even a high-school research paper, but I digress. However, they didn’t provide those resources until they took a few personal jabs at me, including calling my manhood in to question and referring to me as a coward. The individual did eventually apologize however, I’m sure if you ask them they’d tell you that I’m no different then the six girls who beat up the girl in Polk County then posted it online for the world to see. All because I wanted what many of you have asked me for in the past: PROOF. The point of all that was that the individual assumed that I was making an attempt at some sort of confrontation. I would assume that they thought since we were both part of a church sponsored social network service that holding intelligent, civil discourse that wasn’t some how related to God, Jesus, the Bible, or the Church was inappropriate. My conversation, the words that I typed, and the thoughts that I provided were all well within the social network service terms of service and in my opinion well within the two paragraph blurb on the main page about why the church created their social network service.

Which swings me into my third concern. If the intent of your social network site is to be a virtual fellowship hall, or church lobby then there will be a need for an extensive terms of service notice as well as, policing. Quite frankly I’m a HUGE fan of social networking services. I am probably connected to the majority of the services that are readily available. I comply to each services terms of service, and expect those who use the service with me to do the same. If a blurb that states “We’re here to connect, and share about yada yada yada” is all you are planning to use to guide the use of your network, then there will be folks who will come along and push the boundaries. You must clearly define what those boundaries are or you can not be surprised when they’re pushed to the limit or if they are even crossed.

In closing, I have a feeling that as a result of this latest incident I’m probably going to be asked to not use the network any more. Which won’t bother me that much, since like I said the entire reason I’m a part of it has sort of been in vain.

I’m interested in what you think though.

• Do you think that churches should have social network services? What about corporations? As that seems to be the latest trend in the business world too.
• What should a church or corporations social network service terms of service look like? What are some key elements you’d be sure to include in it?
• What would you do for the folks in your church who do not have internet access, thus eliminating their ability to be a part of this vital part of your ministry?
• What other feedback do you have to provide on this subject?

If you’re uncomfortable commenting publicly please feel free to shoot me a line at will|at|willyoungband|dot|com, as I am really interested in what your opinion is on this subject.

Kenny has been for the last several weeks doing some extensive research on the origins of this “new” revival taking place in Lakeland that has been named The Florida Outpouring.

He has posted Part One of a 4 part series that will put in as simple of terms possible the origins, the people behind, as well as some other interesting information as it relates to the Florida Outpouring. His research has been exhaustive, and everything he is writing is completely factual. PLEASE NOTE: His series is not an opinion piece, it is strictly factual information that he is passing along so that you may be better informed of what this “revival” really is all about.

What’s your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Roman Catholic You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you. Roman Catholic 89% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 64% Neo orthodox 64% Emergent/Postmodern 61% Classical Liberal 54% Charismatic/Pentecostal 46% Modern Liberal 43% Fundamentalist 39% Reformed Evangelical 36%

I vaguely remember taking this quiz a long time ago, and the results were Emergent/Postmodern then Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan and Roman Catholic came in 3rd. I saw Bobby had posted the results of his quiz on his blog so I decided to do it again. Of course this is not in anyway scientific, I mean answering a bunch of statements with varying levels of agreeableness or disagreeableness is going to inevitably mean that the results are going to be skewed to your current belief system. Then again, perhaps it is a fairly accurate representation of who you are.

It’s fairly safe to assume that my recent revelations while studying Catholicism, and attending Catholic mass have probably led to it’s moving up on the list. It’s also VERY safe to say that the same studies combined with insightful wisdom from various sources have led to Emergent/Postmodern theology moving down the list.

Anyway, just thought I’d share that, because it made me grin.

Pope Benedict XVI is in the United States. He began his apostolic journey earlier this week.

The Vatican is posting transcripts from all of the Holy Father’s speaking engagements, as well as his homily’s and any other speeches he is giving.

You can view those transcripts all online at the special section devoted to his US journey.

Listen, I don’t care who you are, what you believe, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Muslim whatever the heck you believe this man has more wisdom in his small finger then most of us have in our entire body. If you don’t believe me, go check out some of his past homily’s and the transcripts of his speeches while he is here.

For those of you with cable, EWTN is covering the Pope’s visit the entire time he is here, so you can tune in pretty much whenever and get caught up on whatever he’s doing.

“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.”

—Chinese proverb

Learn something today.

My weekends have turned into a time to think, reflect and relax. While they have the normal “chores” and “fun times” attached to them, I really try to take it as easy as possible during my weekends.

This weekend was no exception.

Friday evening Amy and I enjoyed dinner at Cody’s. It was a a very welcomed, and much appreciated close to a horrible week. The only problem is, my week was one of incredible turmoil and lots of CRAP, and as a result I’m fairly confident I was still on an “anger high” during our dinner which resulted in me probably using a significant amount of language that I would not otherwise use. Actually that’s only one of multiple things I didn’t do right Friday evening. I pretty much suck when it comes to situations where I care about what the person thinks about me. Only, she’s one of just a handful of people I know who are not uber judgmental and so it makes no sense for me to be so worried about what she thinks. It’s strange, and I haven’t the slightest idea why I’m writing this, knowing that she will at some point in time read it. Good thing she’s not judgmental.

Then Saturday I met up with my former roommates and long time friends for lunch at Campbell’s Dairyland. We had lunch and reflecting on times past. Reminiscing on what was is always interesting, for me anyway. It can lead to either depression because you’re sad things aren’t the way they were, or it could lead you to a greater appreciation for how things are now. That’s what Saturday’s lunch lead to for me. While it was nice to reflect on and reminisce on what once was, and where I came from, I am grateful for those experiences and what they’ve led me to. Later in the evening some other friends who I haven’t seen in awhile picked me up for dinner. I’m fairly confident they were trying to hook me up with someone. The evening, which I was anticipating immensely, turned into an extremely awkward situation that left me feeling like I was squirming to get out of all evening. It was however, still good to see my friends.

Saturday evening I also went to my very first Catholic Mass and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Grant it there were several times during the evening that I had no clue what was going on or why, but I still felt like I walked away with something. It reminded me of a season in my life when I was being fed weekly and feeling like I was making a deeper connection with the Savior. The whole thing was sort of surreal (surreal may not be the word I’m looking for), in that here I was a complete outsider who clearly had no idea what was going on, why it was going on, or even how to “properly” do it, and yet I felt more warmly welcomed then I ever had upon visiting a protestant church. Above the Liturgy, above the prayers and above the Priests’ homily there was this feeling of connectedness that I hadn’t experienced in quite a while. There was a time during the service when EVERYONE in the entire room joined hands and recited the Lord’s Prayer. I know many folks down play the significance of the Lord’s prayer. It’s hard for me to downplay one of the most powerful prayers ever written, furthermore a prayer that we are directed to pray. Upon reflecting upon it, I realized that in the course of my “Christian Life” I’ve only recited the Lord’s prayer like 10 times in a Church, last night included, and the majority of those times were part of my house church community in Lakeland. That was rather alarming to me for some reason.
All this time I’ve heard all the goings on about the up-down-up-down movement in a Catholic Mass, but for me it was great. It really made me feel like I was participating in something more, and was actually a part of a true worship experience. An experience that went further than some songs and a prayer. To me, it felt like actual worship. At any rate, I think Kenny and I are going to visit a different parish this coming weekend. Being that I’m semi-logical in my approach to things (some would say that I simply think way to much about things) I want to check out a couple parish’s so that I can see if what I felt this time was a one time thing, or if it’s a true connection that runs across the board despite where I worship.

I’m sure as I continue on this journey and learn new things I’ll post my reflections.

One thing that I’m really thankful for is that in the last several weeks I have been able to connect in ways I haven’t connected with God in a long time. I’ve started practicing the act of repentance. I mean I’ve prayed for forgiveness before, but praying to be forgiven and repentance are different, in ways that are far to complicated for me to type out. Essentially repentance is a realization that you have sinned and fallen way short of the glory of God, you recognize this, you pray for forgiveness, but not only pray for forgiveness, you pray for the strength to continue without committing the sin again. Something like that.

I want to touch on something that has resulted in a few e-mails. A couple entries ago I talked about how I got in the habit of slapping God’s name on “good” things that seemed right, telling myself and others that they have to be a God thing, when in all actuality they were a Will thing. I stated that to me that was using God’s name in vain, and that I couldn’t really bring myself to do that any more, which resulted in a change of heart about several important matters, and several decisions that I had committed to. I got an e-mail that asked me if it was possible that they were God things and I simply refused to believe they were. Here’s the thing, I’ve cleared my mind of a significant amount of garbage over the last few weeks. I’ve had a lot of “knee” time, and I’ve sat in silence and just listened. While I’ve still not heard the voice of God, I can honestly say that the realization that I’ve done things solely for the sake of me, and called them God things is quite frightening. Good thing I’m a human and screwing up is some what expected. The bottom line is this: I just know. I don’t really have to answer anyone, and don’t plan on trying to do so. I can tell you that now I’m on a major journey and have several “changes” taking place in my life all of which are good, and rather than dropping one of the “o’s” and capitalizing the “G” and making them God things, I’m truly praying them through and waiting for the end result.
I’m slowly realizing that when you truly commit to this lifestyle of utter reliance on someone you can not see, and do not necessarily hear audibly, life is in no way easy, but it is definitely filled with a peace I have never truly experienced.
It’s quite nice.

If you’re the praying type, I’m on the hunt for a new career path. Well not necessarily a new career, I want to get back into clerical/office administration. I am not cut out for sales. I’ve got my resume out to a multitude of places and am just prayerfully waiting on the right opportunity to come along.

Ex animo,

Will