What is your philosophy of worship?
The "short" answer is as follows:
Everyone worships something. Humans were created to worship. God intended us to "be to the praise of His glory" (Eph 1:12), but when we were separated from God by sin, our worship was redirected to any number of things. For Christ-followers, our goal is to be constantly worshiping God: the act of submission whereby we express to God the glory due His name and honor Him in all our words, actions, and attitudes because of who He is and what He has done-His person and His providence. God intends that we should worship Him constantly in everything we do, and the gathering of corporate worship becomes an extension and outflow of our individual God-worship. We join together in an intentional time of silence and singing, listening and speaking, praying and rejoicing, and watching and moving--and a myriad of other ways that we can actively converge our worship--for the greater glory of God and the greater edification of other Christ-followers. As a lead worshiper, my goal is to invite others to join with me as I worship God.
If you want, you can read or download a more detailed version on my essays page.
When and how did you become a follower of Jesus Christ?
I began to follow Christ at five years old when my mom explained the Gospel to me. I realized that I was incapable of pleasing God in my own strength and I believed that because of Jesus' sacrifice God forgave me. I knew I would spend eternity with Him, but what I don't think I understood at that point was that eternal life doesn't start when I die. It starts as soon as I choose, because of God's sovereign grace, to follow Christ and live the eternal kind of life now--a life not only eternal in length, but also eternal in depth and purpose. In early high school I realized that while I was doing the things a Christian would do, I had very little active relationship with God. At that critical time, God brought two people into my life--my high school Bible teacher and my youth pastor--to help guide me into a love for His Word and a passion to know Him and serve Him.
How did you know God was calling you to be a creative arts pastor?
Originally, I wanted to be an acoustical engineer, but over a period of several months during my junior year of high school, three different men I respected at my home church approached me on separate occasions and told me that someday I would be in full-time vocational ministry. One of them went as far as to say that during the time of the early church, God almost exclusively used the apostles and elders of the church to call people as leaders, and he said he was doing that to me. At first I struggled against this idea, but later I recognized that God's hand was in it, and He gradually changed my desires until I truly wanted with all my heart to serve Him in that way. Looking back, I can see that God has gifted me for creative arts ministry, especially in the area of music. It is where my gifts and my calling intersect.
What books have challenged or influenced you the most?
Disclaimer: The contents of these books are the authors' own opinions, and just because a book or an author is on my list doesn't mean I agree with everything he/she/it says. That ought to go without saying, but sometimes people are alarmist about book titles.
1. Probably Desiring God by John Piper is the human-written book that has most deeply influenced me. As I began to understand the foundational importance of God's passion for His glory and our pursuit of joy in Him, these concepts suddenly appeared everywhere in Scripture, and my "theological big picture" suddenly made more sense. If you haven't read this, you need to.
2. The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard: Willard's insights into the Gospels and Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom are fascinating. He deeply challenged my ideas of what it means to be a Christ follower, and he reemphasized to me the critical importance of one-on-one discipleship.
I'm currently reading Unceasing Worship by Harold Best - another author I highly
recommend. Other authors I enjoy are C.S. Lewis and Brian McLaren (again, see above
disclaimer). On the fiction end, I love J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton, and
Lewis, among others.
What are your hobbies?
I enjoy martial arts - my wife and I are both brown belts in Tae Kwon Do. I also like collecting old hymnals, writing music, reading, grilling, and photography. I like playing nearly any sport, although I wouldn't say I'm necessarily good at most of them. :) Soccer is probably my favorite because I played in high school. Other games - I love euchre, Settlers of Catan, Rook, etc.
What music do you listen to?
Just about anything I can get my hands on, or ears on, as the case may be. Some of my favorites at the moment are David Crowder Band, anyone related to the Passion movement (Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, etc.), Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (newgrass/jazz/eclectic), Switchfoot (rock), Dave Matthews Band (rock/alternative), anything by composers Sergei Rachmaninoff or Aaron Copland (classical), Kurt Elling (jazz), and Chris Rice.
What are you doing now?
Sharon and I recently moved to DeKalb, IL, where she is attending Northern Illinois University and pursuing a two-year M.A. in Philosophy. I'm keeping myself busy applying for jobs, going to interviews, and working on this website, among other things.
What do you think about seeker-sensitive churches?
People have varying ideas of what being "seeker sensitive" actually means. When I use it here, "seeker sensitivity" means structuring services in a way that expects that unsaved seekers and brand-new Christians will be present and holds as its priorities not "making them feel comfortable," but instead helping them understand God's truth, helping them feel welcome, and intentionally involving them in appropriate ways, all with the goal of their ultimately coming to know and worship the God we love. For years churches have gradually lapsed into cultural irrelevance by ignoring or condemning what is happening outside their walls, and when a pre-Christian attends those services, he is likely to feel excluded, confused, and even condemned. Especially with the renewed interest people have shown in all things spiritual, we ought to assume that there are unbelievers ("pre-Christians") who attend each Sunday. We should intentionally include them while holding the following things as our highest priorities: 1) We desire people to be participating worshipers, not uninvolved spectators, and we structure services that way; 2) We recognize that spiritual seekers have changed over time, and so must we - what younger people are looking for today is authenticity and community, often regardless of style; 3) We recognize that ultimately, our services are meant for God, not people, and our primary goal should be to see Him honored in the fullest way possible. So I'm all for seeker sensitivity, as long as it is characterized by depth, authenticity, community, and intentional God-focus.
If you could choose to work in any ministry/staff environment, what would it be?
I want to serve in an environment where everyone's goal is to work as part of a creative ministry team seeking to bring God the greatest glory possible; where people are excited and fun-loving, but serious about ministry; where a God-sized vision is passionately cast and pursued; where expectations are clearly communicated and accountability is the norm; where diversity and unity are pursued as parallel goals; and where the staff seek to encourage and facilitate the unique gifts and ministry abilities of each member of the congregation.
What is your personality type / leadership style?
A few years have passed since I've taken a personality test, but when I took the DISC profile, it said I was an "IC" with some "S." DISC is an acronym for the four major personality types the profile explores: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. I scored high on Influence, mid-high on Conscientiousness, mid on Steadiness, and low on Dominance.
More info on the DISC profile is available at http://www.discprofile.com/whatisdisc.htm.
My leadership style is "high-I" on the DISC chart. By this I mean that my goal is to inspire others by casting a vision for what we want to accomplish. Then I will work with a team to determine how to achieve that end, delegate tasks to specific people based on their gifts, and follow up to make sure we are meeting our goals. I think this style of leadership tends to provide the most creative and balanced results.
Addendum: Some people have asked if my style changes under stress. I think it does - My tendency under pressure is to become more "D" in my leadership style. So if I am pressed for time, I tend to bypass some of the creative team decision-making in favor of making fast, efficient decisions, assigning work, and achieving results. I think the results of this style tend not to be as creative or balanced, but it definitely tends to be more efficient, and therefore more effective in a time crunch.