We just get too busy living and watching others live that we forget the one who gave us life. So we’ve been turning living rooms into life rooms. So, make room. -Jonathan McReynolds
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has turned life upside down around the world. Regardless of your norm, it has been impacted by the spread of the coronavirus and the pandemonium brought on by the pandemic. Believers are limited considering many if not all states are enforcing shelter in place orders that restrict gatherings of more than 10 people. To comply, churches of all sizes have resorted to streaming their weekly services. This in turn brings the church “home” as never before seen in the 20th or 21st centuries. As Jonathan McReynolds says in his “Life Room Anthem” “we’ve been turning living rooms into life rooms” indicative not only of the setup in which he recorded his critically acclaimed album, but the fellowship that takes place when worship and devotion take place outside of the church building, thus intentionally making room for the Lord in their daily lives.
The new normal for worship services. Photo by John-Mark Smith from Pexels
For believers experiencing this new normal, their connection to church as they know it is hard wired to wireless devices and telephones. While technology isn’t always heralded as ‘divine’, this interruption is perceivably so. Church as we know it and have come to know it hasn’t only changed, it’s changing. As ministries work to perfect their streaming capabilities one question lingers, will congregants run back to the church building?
Make no mistake about it, the church will never be closed, so long as ‘go ye’is still in the bible!
This season of quarantine is also one of reflection as believers may embrace the idea of watching instead of attending church. Giving is a snap regardless of church size and some ministries have even reported an increase in giving. The online access many churches have now made part of their operation has netted new viewers and congregation members. The word is going forth and reaching further than before, with little to no one actually inside a church building. Make no mistake about it, the church will never be closed, so long as ‘go ye’ (Matthew 28:19-20) is still in the bible!
Now go, be the church!
What believers are discovering during the quarantine lockdown is the unprecedented opportunity to be(come) the church Christ has always spoken of. This church not only serves as His ambassadors, but His interest. While you can imagine that ministry leaders would be more relaxed while leading from home, there is even more urgency to get the word out. Shares of weekly services are on the rise and though done digitally, “church hopping” is a thing now, and not at all chagrined. With grim news releasing each day, believers are sharing their faith more boldly and frequently as opposed to keeping it bottled up in public, yet effervescent in church gatherings.
The quarantine has also given the church a chance to purge from itself the impurities of social life that sour the weekly worship experience alluded to when choosing to skip church services. For starters, there are no cliques to make you uncomfortable and exclude you from the best experiences of the congregation. Secondly, there are no seats to claim or be kicked out of by the more seasoned or prized saints. In fact, your seat while watching church online is probably the best seat in your house! Thirdly, all the saints we’ve said need to ‘get out more’ finally have a chance to do so. This relief is beneficial even for church staff who are normally encumbered by their weekly workload. One of the greatest benefits of the lock down is the newfound perspective, when you diversify your online church viewing experience.
You’ll discover just how big the Kingdom is and how vast the Christian experience is by way of online broadcasts and social media. Other ways this quarantine has unexpected benefits to Christian living are the broadcasts, themselves. Services are stripped down, and our denominational differences are stripped away. Many of the tenets of in-person worship service aren’t applicable now (even communion and confession). Pope Francis has suggested that Catholic faithful take their sorrow directly to God in lieu of making confession to a priest during the lockdown.
The church’s connection to the world has come down to the Word and worship…simplicity is working to the saving of souls. And at least for now, solidarity is on the rise within scattered congregations. Members are looking to their leaders for instruction and direction instead of the norm of lodging complaints about what they aren’t doing or are incapable of doing. This worst-case scenario is bringing out the best in leaders some would consider to not be the best.
Lord, send a revival
During the lockdown, church gatherings aren’t essential, but make no mistake about it, the church is! Church is more “open” than it ever was before the COVID-19 lockdown that transformed life for everyone. It’s as if this shaking will cause the church in America to re-examine its true roots. Grassroots gospel is what revolutionized the first century church. Any rejection of an adjusted worship experience wreaks of idolatry. Perhaps ministries worship the act of worshiping together rather than the Lord, Himself. Shelter in place orders are not an ungodly affront nor are they an attack on first amendment rights. What is ungodly is the lack of wisdom that knowingly puts lives in jeopardy. Consider the collateral damage experienced by congregants and leaders who were recently affected after attending large gatherings in Louisiana, Arkansas and Michigan.
Please be advised, the American church is not being persecuted. The American church is being asked to play its part in flattening the curve, that’s all. Our counterparts in other countries are under persecution. Not even Muslims are experiencing persecution, as this futile argument would suggest. Earlier this week, footage was shared of authorities in India interrupting a service at a mosque because of the unsafe numbers. What the American church is experiencing if anything is a shaking and even a revival. This may seem implausible with much of the country sheltering in place, but the people of God that emerge from the quarantine lockdown won’t be the same believers. There’s no way they could be. Think less of the lockdown as isolation and more as incubation.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22 KJV
The focus now isn’t on our church buildings, clothes or personas. It’s in the way we reach God and allow Him to reach us. It’s about what it should have always been about, a personal relationship with Christ. How you achieve isn’t as important as where you may achieve it, right there in your living room…believers, it’s time to make room!
This weekend, lots of churchgoers are displaced. With the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, many large gatherings are forbidden citing public safety concerns. Many mega ministries have made the wise decision to comply with public health officials and their directives, and Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston was the first to announce this weekend’s closure.
It’s a wise decision and many ministries are suited to handle not only online viewership, but digital giving. But, what about the people who aren’t comfortable with watching service and just need to go somewhere? What about those who feel like they must be in service somewhere? There are even those who have quoted Hebrews 10:25 admonishing other believers to press to beyond their fears (and even health officials) to gather in the name of the Lord.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:25
New Look Friends and Family Day
The safe number has toggled between 250 and 500 leading to many cancellations this weekend and beyond. What about churches with membership and weekly attendance well beyond 250? This is a great opportunity to welcome new visitors this weekend! Not necessarily to try and gain new members, but to simply make new friends and make room for those who normally don’t or can’t come because of their obligations at their own church. While many churches have struggled to decide whether or not to remain open this weekend, they have missed out on a great opportunity for outreach in the community and even within their social networks.
As the pandemic rages on, large gatherings will continue to be affected. Smaller congregations have a unique opportunity to welcome guest and still not risk swelling beyond the safe number provisioned by local health officials.
As a precautionary measure, we do advise each ministry that remains open to become proactive in the prevention of the spread of the Coronavirus. Please be sure to have ample soap, warm water and hand sanitizer in the restrooms. Also, disinfect hard and soft surfaces which can spread the virus when touched. Next week, we will share information about how to disinfect your sanctuary’s carpet, chairs and vents.
Got Room for New Friends and Faces?
If you would like to be included in our directory of small congregations willing to welcome new faces, email us at: info@soulprospermedia.com.
Sunday December 24, 2017 marks exactly 17 years since I first sat down to play an organ as a Minister of Music. This year is also my 25th year of playing in church. By the age of 10 I was regularly playing the drums in church. I played drums until I graduated high school and moved to college. The training wheels were off and so was my logical reasoning. “How did I get here?” Why did I let them talk me into this?” Those were the questions that seemed to overshadow every minute of that service at Saints Chapel Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
17 years later, I am amazed at how good God has been to me. He’s been patient, He’s been right there the whole time and has opened more doors with my “yes” than I could have by waiting until I felt like I was ready. Six countries across three continents, countless playing opportunities and a growing media company that blows even my mind!
For me, the greatest lesson in all of this is understanding the roles people play in your life. Some of them lead you and some push you! Allow me to tell you about a few of them.
Some of the people we meet along life’s journey become destiny helpers for us. For me, I met some of my life’s greatest destiny helpers following my decision to enroll in college. Though Charles was a destiny helper as a contemporary, allow me to tell you about another destiny helper and mentor.
I attended Weatherford College on a drums scholarship in the jazz band though I played trumpet and low brass instruments from the sixth to twelfth grades in school. I never formally studied drums until my senior year in high school coupling my music reading skills with the natural talent I developed playing the drums at church. I performed well in the jazz band but as a church kid, I was naturally drawn to the gospel choir that met on Monday nights on campus. The choir wasn’t in need of a drummer so I found a quaint place behind the piano learning to play gospel music in real time. All I knew of the piano was what I learned while watching my sister in her piano lessons.
I did what I could which was much of nothing while Leo Vaughns played and directed the choir. At some point during rehearsals, I stopped playing along with Leo and started watching him play the organ. I would spend the week trying to emulate what he did on Hammond B-3 and try to prepare for the next week’s rehearsal. Each week came and went and I grew a little more fond of the organ and piano. By winter break, I could perform a decent impression of a Billy Preston glissando on the organ and piece together sections of the choir’s warmup songs. Because I was away from home, I played drums at a local church in Weatherford whenever I could fill in. That church had a main drummer so I used the Sundays he was in town to play the organ. I was prepping for the next semester in the gospel choir, or so I thought.
Out of nowhere, my phone rang and it was Renee Callins. Her husband Anthony was a Pastor and their church needed a musician. I was incredulous and couldn’t believe that she even called. I asked how she got my number and she told me that I was recommended to them by Leo. “But you haven’t even heard me play!” She wouldn’t take no for an answer and I knew it was time to do some serious praying.
I couldn’t believe it. “Just wait til I see Leo again…” I said as I plotted some serious revenge, but all that changed when the Lord told me to go. I was back in Fort Worth playing for a church on the south side I had never ever seen or heard of. Rather reluctantly, I began my playing career at the Saints Chapel Church on Christmas Eve of 2000. This scenario is the epitome of the moment in life that I would actually confess to wrestling with God. I basically told God “if I fail, this is all your fault!” I meant it, too. I told God “I’m nobody, why are these people pestering me about playing for them?”
Moments like these helped me truly discern the voice of God for myself. I learned in this process that God doesn’t speak to me in the old English we read in the Bible, he speaks to me in my language-the way I hear it. I heard Him that day in my dorm room and began a journey that has taken me to six countries across three continents playing the music I love.
All thanks to one, Leo Vaughns. He kept me close to him and made sure that I learned as much about the organ and church as I could. He made sure to provide for me as a mentor what he never had coming up as a young musician. Over the course of many candid conversations, I learned just how difficult his journey was. Locked organs, drawbars cleared out and left helpless and hapless all during church service.
He made sure that I knew at least the standard settings for the Hammond organ for church service. Being around Leo was always a learning experience for me. I played keyboard for his group and would somehow always end up finishing his song “Wounded for Me” when they would sing it. It never failed, I would always have to jump on the organ to finish the song because he was off somewhere shouting!
Sink or swim…it was during these moments on the organ that I learned my greatest musical lessons. I followed Leo almost everywhere as his protégé. At a musical, we both played, I was approached by a Pastor to help out their new church. In less than a year, I was playing both an early service and a main service while still learning to play. I still can’t really explain it all because well, it all just happened. Talk about the power of yes!
More than a destiny helper, Leo was a guide. He guided my transition from drums to the piano and organ and mentored my early steps leading a music a music ministry. In life, we need destiny helpers and guides to not only clear a path but to show us the way.
I don’t talk to Leo as much as I used to but what he did made possible what another destiny helper the late Steven Montgomery spoke over me years ago concerning music. Today and everyday take time to thank God for the people that cleared a path for you and brought you along to experience greater in your life.
On the eve of this anniversary, I pause to say thank you to those who ushered in my life’s greatest season and experiences. As we celebrate this season of the greatest love of all, make time to celebrate and honor those instrumental people in your life!
