Oct
16
Teamwork
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If you’re a baseball fan, you know that the Colorado Rockies, after barely qualifying for post-season play, have swept their way into the World Series, winning three straight over the Chicago Cubs and four straight from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Since mid- September, they have won an unprecedented 21 out of 22 games, mystifying baseball gurus across the land.
Over and over the Rockies manager and team members are being asked, “How do you explain your recent success?” Over and over their first answer is “I don’t really know.” Certainly their winning percentage defies the odds. But as they continue talking
it becomes obvious that their success has come the same way it does for any winning baseball team - the right combination of great pitching, stellar defense, and timely hitting. What is truly amazing about this incredible winning streak, however, is that on any given day it could be anyone on the Rockies 25 man roster who makes the big play that propels them to victory. Their formula for success has been “Anyone, anytime.” There are some excellent ball players on the Rockies, the names Holliday and Helton come to mind, but most of them are not well known. They’re a humble bunch of guys beginning with their manager, Clint Hurdle, who said the other day “There’s only two kinds of baseball players, those who have been humbled by the game and those who are going to be.” Read more
Oct
9
Worship Is More Than the Music
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Recently Tim Mathiesen introduced me to a magazine entitled RELEVANT (Relevantmagazine.com). One of the articles in the October issue included responses from church visionaries who were asked the question, “What trends in worship styles do you see coming?” I was intrigued and pleased with the responses of two visionaries in particular. One was Rob Bell who said, “I believe the old polarities (traditional vs. contemporary) are fading.” He went on to suggest that the church focus on worship that changes lives more than on issues of style. In the same article, Erwin McManus said, “What do we mean by worship styles? Why do we still equate singing and even what we are doing on Sunday with the whole of worship? There is something powerful about singing to God as an act of worship, but it is time to re-frame our perspective and our language to genuinely encompass all of life as worship.” Read more
