Freshman Chapel Band Take 2

Well, today was the second time we played in chapel. Needless to say, it felt extremely different. But in a good way. I felt like there was a lot of pressure on us to “perform” well because it seemed that we had raised the bar and built up some high expectations of what we could do. Quite a few people even said “that was the best chapel all year” so I felt like expectations were definitely high. A lot of people expressed excitement that we were playing again and it didn’t make me worry, but like I mentioned, it gave a little pressure because people seemed to be expecting something that only God could provide. But, I trusted that He would.

Our second set consisted of “Holy Moment,” “Lead Me To The Cross,” and “Fire Fall Down.” We started off really well but I ran into some bumps during our playing. I broke a string mid song! That was super annoying. It was extremely annoying because I just put that string on last night. All 6 strings were brand new strings that I just got on Saturday. I broke the G-string (haha) the night before at rehearsal and then replaced it for the morning but it broke again on stage! I snapped my G-string in front of everyone! When that happened, I thought to myself, “Satan really doesn’t want this to be happening right now.” But I didn’t miss a beat and I just kept playing. But! I then proceeded to drop my pick while strumming a chord. Luckily, I had more so I grabbed another off my stand. Unfortunately, dropped that one too! But once again, I didn’t let it affect me. So needless to say, it had it’s share of struggles during the set, but God redeemed it.

Side note: I think it’s an important one. During “Fire Fall Down” today, I actually, while still on stage, grabbed my microphone and kneeled down and continued to worship. God really humbled me when I told him I wasn’t going to care what people thought. End side note.

Despite the fact that I broke a string and my picks were flying around, we still got some good feedback. I mentioned earlier how it was different this time; it was different in more ways that one. One way was that I didn’t have those “first time jitters.” In another way, it was different than before because I really didn’t want compliments. The first time I was okay with them because I did want to know how it came across. But this time, after all that happening, I didn’t want to hear it as much. I actually tried to avoid people for the rest of the morning (it only worked for a little while) I would’ve been fine with no one saying anything. Because I don’t care what people think. I do what I do for God, not for people. But I still have learned to smile and say “thank you.” I really do appreciate the compliments, and it’s encouraging, but sometimes I feel like people just say it to say it.

That is all.

Freshman Chapel Band Take 1

First of all, I’m very happy how it went. The first time we played, we played “Your Love Never Fails,” “Jesus Paid It All” and “The Stand” and part of “Glory to God.” I'm putting a video up of "Your Love Never Fails" just because I really like that song.

The set I think flowed extremely well together. It was crazy being up there for the first time. I remember looking out the curtain as more and more people filed in the room. I don’t know how to describe how I felt. It wasn’t anxiety, it wasn’t fear, it wasn’t being nervous. The only way I can think of describing it is by saying it was a feeling like “This is really about to happen. Everything that God has shown me over the past couple weeks and months before actually making chapel band is actually a reality. I’m on the chapel band, as one of two worship leaders, and I’m about to play in front of a lot of people. I really shouldn’t have looked up how many seats there are in the auditorium. ‘A lot’ of people is a way less intimidating number than a big number like 1,800. Oh well, that doesn’t matter. This is for God. I can’t believe this is going to happen. Well I can, because God is faithful, but it seems supernatural that I’m up here. I don’t have the best voice, and I feel like everyone is going to judge that, and I’m sure I’m not the best guitar player either, but here it is.”

Then we did it. We played all our songs and I didn’t even concern myself with what people thought. I worshipped my God. I was up there to lead people in worship but also to experience my own worship. And I did just that. The joy I had knowing that this was really happening was overwhelming, but I knew that God was looking down on us smiling. God really ordained the group of 6 we have together for a purpose. After our set was over, I felt so good. I wasn’t walking away saying, “man, I did a good job” but “man, God really showed up.” And after chapel was over as a whole, I started compliment after compliment… after compliment… after compliment… after compliment.

It was to the point where I was having a hard time believing it was possibly THAT good. But I still always smiled and said “Thank you.” I got much more enjoyment when people said that they were truly worshipping. That means way more to me than someone saying “you sounded good.” The intention isn’t to sound good, it’s to worship and to create an environment for other people to worship. So with that being my goal, hearing that other people were worshipping gave me more of a sense that I did what I set out to do. So there you have it. First time was a huge success with lots of good feedback and I’m extremely blessed.

That is all.

"Is Chapel at Christian Colleges a Good Idea?"

Note: I'm borrowing this blog from a friend of mine from his blog: http://livegenerously.wordpress.com/

That being said, here it is (and my response will follow)

“I didn’t really go to church much in college because we had chapel three times per week.”

I’ve heard that statement from people who have attended just about every major Christian college in Southern California. I’ve been told that going to church on the weekend was the last thing they wanted to do because of mandatory chapel attendance. More often that not these were students who were walking with God and were serious about their faith, but they simply had enough “church” during the week.

I’ve also heard plenty of stories of chapel simply being a time when students who didn’t care would sit in the back and do their homework, leading me to believe it’s not a time that is making that much of a positive difference in their lives.

I didn’t go to a Christian college, so I can’t speak to this subject with even a hint of expertise.

However, the aforementioned conversations lead me to question the value of chapel. At best, it seems that chapel is like a parachurch ministry that takes up so much of a student’s time that they are not involved in church. Nearly all parachurch ministries I know encourage local church involvement, and that is part of what makes them work as well as they do. Chapel, on the other hand, serves as a full-on church substitute.

As a result, churches are deprived of the important contributions that college students can make in their congregation, college students are deprived of the opportunity to be in church fellowship with multiple generations of people, and I can only imagine that the mandatory nature of chapel makes it seem like an obligation rather than a blessing for many students. I simply don’t believe that spiritual growth can be promoted through mandatory programs. Such programs can promote religious observance, but as Christians that’s not really what we’re after. I can imagine this would also have the effect of dulling a student’s desire to become a part of a church either during the summer or after graduation.

These all seem like major issues. Frankly, I believe the list of “things that are a good idea even though they discourage church involvement” is really, really, really, really low. And mandatory chapel isn’t on the list.

However, I am aware that there are many good reasons to have chapel on college campuses.

So, my question is simply, is chapel at Christian colleges a good idea?

I’d love to hear from any of you, particularly those of you who have attended or are currently attending a Christian college."

Here was my response:

"Brian, I was immediately intrigued when I saw the title of your post. When a title catches my eye I’ll usually read your blog. So, since I go to a “Christian” college, I feel like I could offer something here.

It is definetly true that some students sit in the back and do homework so for them it’s not much of an experience, but usually, they wouldn’t go to church otherwise, so it can expose them to something they wouldn’t choose to experience. At Point Loma, it’s been made aware that people just do homework and they’ve made a few comments on it this year that they respectfully ask that the students give attention to the service. During worship specifically, everyone stands (at least for the most part) so during the worship part of the service, the majority of the people are at least somewhat engaged.

Some people I know definitely fit in to the “I only go because I have to and I won’t go when I’ve met all the requirements” but it still exposes them to something and there may be that one song or that one speaker that God can use to finally grab their attention.

But, there also is the opposite end. I know, personally as well as from meeting people, that chapel is a great help. It’s a time where you can get away from school and focus on God in the day. I find that our chapel services can be enriching (but there are also the dull ones as well) spiritually as well as mentally. Certain speakers know how to challenge and intrigue us while others know how to lull us to sleep.

As far as church involvement goes, once again, there are both sides. Some people, like myself, can’t get enough and they see the importance of meeting in a congregation on a Sunday. But there are still others, both that take chapel seriously and that don’t that already have enough and commit the weekend to homework and social events.

So in conclusion, there is the good and the bad. I don’t think it should change because I believe that even when a certain amount of chapels are mandatory, God can still grab the attention of even the most spiritually dead person and use whatever is going on for His glory in whatever way He does.

Hope this helped."

And I'll also pose the question to you all, whoever you may be. It may just be one of you. I don't know who reads this. Maybe someone will comment.

Side note: Random shout out to Tyler who I met today as he was visiting Point Loma for a Preview Day. He said he read my blog. So I thought I'd mention him. He just got 50 points. End side note.

That is all.