Out of the Blue

In an earlier blog I mentioned that I'd fill you in on how God "launched" us. Better late than never, eh?

THE BACK STORY

God brought Tom Kozanecki and I together at Faith Bible Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan back around 1998. We played together on several rotating worship teams (The Old Guys Band, The Koz Krew, Mighty Mike & the Midgets, The Remnants, etc).

As Tom and I grew closer, God gave us a vision to raise the bar on how we approached worship leading, and we thought it would be a great idea to consolidate several of these disparate worship teams into a single band that could lead worship, provide original skits and drama, perform original music, and even take it outside the four walls of the church. We were GEEKED.

Unfortunately, our desire didn't necessarily match the direction the pastor and elders were taking the congregation, and we regretfully tried to force a cultural changes on the church whenever we had a chance to perform. We were wrong. And it ultimately led to me needing to leave that church for its sake and for mine.

THE TRANSITION

A year before we left that church, we started to see the importance of working with the congregation where they were rather than where we'd like them to be (each church is different, after all). Our focus shifted from pushing our agenda to serving the church as worship leaders. It was a major step, but God wasn't done.

Now, I happened to be the only person left in the group who attended that church regularly; everyone else went elsewhere but joined me there monthly. All of the other guys said they believed in what were now doing and wanted to keep it up wherever God led. And, of course, I had no idea where He was leading.

I had kind of an "exit review" with the elders on a Monday, and then proceeded to bump into an elder on Wednesday and the pastor on Thursday. I admit I still had some deep feelings, but I did my best to let my words be full of grace and love. Well, that Thursday when I got home, a dear old friend who had moved on to another church in Plymouth, Michigan called and asked if we'd be willing to lead worship. I spoke with their pastor that night and we scheduled a date. Coincidental timing, eh? I think not…

Then four days later my wife Joyce was chatting with another homeschool mom at a swimming class for the kids, and this lady mentioned how her husband pastors a church and is having a hard time finding someone who can blend old songs with new. Joyce mentioned that I do that very kind of thing, and within a day or two we had a date at that church as well. Coincindence? Nuh uh…

THE DISCOVERY

As we served at these churches, similar and dissimilar in many ways, we developed a relationship with the pastors that led us to frame our song selection not only around the church culture, but also around the topic for the day. This may sound simple, but it was revolutionary for us because it took away the temptation to do songs we liked (or that the congregation liked) and instead put the focus where it should have been all along – on the message being proclaimed that day.

Since that time, we have worked hard to insure that every worship service is a complete package that reinforces what God has led the pastor to present. It has given us unimaginable freedom to choose good songs from any point in church history and weave them together to serve God, the pastor, and the congregation, while still staying true to ourselves artistically so we can play from our hearts.

And God didn't stop there; he opened up new doors and gave us new opportunities. One of the most mutually-fulfilling has been leading worship periodically at the Detroit Rescue Mission for their Sunday night service. Not only are we on the "front lines" where Satan seems to be more active, we have complete musical freedom in that culture to do anything from the classic "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" to the popular "Friend of God" and anything in-between. They appreciate when we cut loose, and when we bring it down. It's a joy. And to see people there make decisions for Christ… it's priceless.

THE FUTURE

And now it seems a new door is opening up as we near the release of our latest CD that we've labored so hard on for the last year or so. My longtime friend Paul Edwards has asked us to join him on his daily radio show, The Paul Edwards Program. Tom and I are scheduled to join him on Friday October 27, 2006 for his 5:00pm show. We'll do a few acoustic numbers, play some of the new songs from our CD, and chat about God, worship, music, and maybe even our common love for the Detroit Tigers.

I have no idea what God is doing with this, and maybe it's just an opportunity to sit down and share with a good friend. But we'd appreciate your prayers for wisdom and either courage or restraint as appropriate should God be leading us to or away from something. He has provided all of our needs, fitted us for ministry, and given us ample opportunities to serve. We just want to be sure that we keep serving Him as He wants us to, and that never ever neglect our families for the sake of "ministry", because God gave us our families as our first ministry.