Cumberland Church Blog

Going Public

Christianity is not supposed to be personal and private; we are to be lights in the darkness. Our light shines best when our character is developed to reflect God. People will see that our faith is about a relationship, not a religion. Join us this Sunday for part 4 of Taking Care of Business: Going Public.

Music:

This week we're privileged to have friend Michael Spooner and the Cumberland band lead worship for us. Check with Michael for other opportunities to worship with him here in the Nashville area. He's always playing somewhere! This week, we'll be worshiping through the following set:

Faithful (Steve Fee)
Beautiful One (Tim Hughes)
How Great Thou Art (You've got to know this one, right?)

Hope to see you Sunday!

Billy

Thoughts from the Bayou...

Had a GREAT time in Baton Rouge this past weekend hangin' out with Billy, Bruce and Kevin Mawae.  Kevin was the opening speaker at Healing Place Church's 1st Men's Conference.  We had a GREAT time hangin' in the Bayou with Kevin and the incredible team at Healing Place Church.  Billy already posted his big takeaway below, but here's my takeaways from a fantastic weekend in Baton Rouge:

• LSU - Kevin gave us a "behind-the-scenes" tour of the LSU campus, Tiger Stadium (Death Valley) and the new football facilities.  All I can say is WOW!  Football is serious business at LSU.  Amazing!  It was really cool getting to meet Coach Miles and hearing him and Kevin chat.  We stayed the weekend at Kevin's in-laws and were treated like royalty.  Had the best Etouffee and Mississippi Mud Pie I've ever had.  Gained a few pounds I'm sure.
• Coach McCartney - read Billy's post below.  The guy is simply an amazing, inspiring leader.  It was really cool to be able to personally tell Coach Mac the impact of the ministry he started (Promise Keepers) played in my life.  PK was a key experience for me that help lead me towards leaving the marketplace and going into full-time ministry.  It was a very special conversation that I'll remember for a long time.  Love Coach Mac.
• Kevin -  Brother knocked it out of the park with his opening message at the Men's Conference.  He shared how as men we all are looking for the "WOW" experience from God and Kevin gave an insightful look into what He thinks that looks like for us.  WOW represents us being: (1) Willing (2) Obedient and (3) resilient to do Whatever He asks us to do.  Kevin is bringing the message here at Cumberland Church on May 18th and after hearing him this weekend, I can't wait to hear what he's going to bring for us.  Gotta love Kevin's passion for life and focus for God's Kingdom.  It's contagious.
• The guys at Healing Place Church - dudes are incredible.  Love that church.  Thanks Mike, Mark, Dino, Lee and Julio. You guys rock!  Thanks for making our time there so much fun.  We're learned a ton by hanging out with you guys.  Without a doubt, Healing Place is the best serving-minded church I've ever been around.  Look forward to the continued friendship.

Dino Rizzo (Lead Pastor at Healing Place) gave a great review of the Men's Conference you can check out here.  And Kevin gave a really good recap of our weekend as well here.  Thanks to everyone for a fun, challenging and refreshing time away.  Loved it and needed it.

A Buffalo stands and prays for Miles

Les Miles, that is. And the buffalo that's standing up and praying for him is Coach Bill McCartney - the all-time winningest coach in Colorado Buffalo history. Let me preface this post with a slight bias. I'm a huge Buff fan as well as a huge Coach Mac fan - you can't be the former and not be the latter. You may remember the National Championship in the '89 - '90 season, "the Catch" against Michigan in the '94 season, Promise Keepers, a  few books here and there, The Road to Jerusalem...but you won't likely have heard this story.

Coach Mac has the distinct honor of having 10 coaches - who coached under him - go on to become head coaches themselves. Undoubtedly, each talented on their own merit, but each benefiting from having had Coach Mac pour into their lives, as well. Not just as coaches, but as men. Care about the coach, but love the man underneath the cap. And one of these men is Coach Les Miles of the LSU Tigers.

(Fast forward to last weekend...) I attended a men's conference in Baton Rouge at which Coach McCartney and Kevin Mawae were guest speakers. (Kevin blew it out of the water, by the way. Solid, dude.)  Little did I know how much of an investment was being made - still today - by Coach Mac into the life of friend and former assistant coach Les Miles. Coach Mac formed a group of 30 men, called Miles Men dedicated to covering Coach Miles, his family, and his program with 3 years of prayer...3 years of daily prayer! Does that kind of prayer covering exist for your school's program? How about your home? Or your church, even? Three years solid. Lip service, maybe? No. You don't get lip service from a man who's read and studied his Bible every day for 35 years. What?! We were fortunate enough on this trip to witness a prayer breakfast for Coach Miles given by the Miles Men. Say what you will about the "business" of college football, but there's another side. There are men who care more about the leaders than the victories. Who'd prefer to see those leaders covered with prayer before dollars. Who have no problem getting on their hands and knees at the feet of Les Miles and pray for all that's important to the man.  I've never been more full after a breakfast than I was that morning and I didn't eat a thing. 

I'm not necessarily an LSU fan, unless Kevin's around of course, ('Sup Kev?), but I'm a fan of Coach Miles to be sure. While standing in his office, Kevin mentioned that I was huge fan of Coach Mac's and I then pulled my Buff's cap out of my pocket. I told him out of respect for him and the LSU program, I opted not to wear it while in the building. He smiled, shook my hand, and said, "I once used to wear that cap, too."

And who would know, years and years later, now the Head Coach of the 2007 National Championship LSU Tigers, the influence of the greatest Buff would still be in his life, standing up for him, and covering him  in prayer - daily. "Love the man under the cap." Indeed.

Gaux Tigers! Go Buffs!

 

Current Economic Indicators

So here's the question for this weekend:  How do we deal with unethical practices at work? Quests for security, recognition, and progress tempt us to operate under different ethical standards at work than in our personal lives. This segregated living causes the loss of three things over time: moral authority, self-respect, and the opportunity to experience what God wants to accomplish.  This is the topic for Part 2 of Andy's Taking Care of Business series. Join us this Sunday as we explore the current economic indicators in our lives at work and home.

Music:

Our buddy Kevin Lawson, along with the Cumberland Church band, will be leading us in the musical portion of your worship experience this Sunday. Side note: Kevin and I used to play in the same "dives" that made up the Atlanta music scene in the mid 90s. Now, over 10 years later, he and I find ourselves living in the same city once again doing music together. Of course, one of us is still playing and worshiping and the other is just worshiping. But hey, I'm not bitter about it. Just because I poured 10 years of my life into guitar lessons, carrying 80lb amplifiers up 2 flights of stairs at every hole in the wall in the southeast, getting, like, ZERO hours of sleep three days a week...bitter about not playing?....not me...nope...I'm just happy to help carry Kevin's gear now. Wow. Maybe I do need to talk with someone ;)

Anyway, back to the point: The music's going to rock this weekend!  Here's the set in case you want to go to iTunes - buy the songs - and be prepared to belt them out on Sunday:

You Are (Todd Fields)
Blessed Be Your Name (Tree 63)
Holy is the Lord (Tomlin)

And here's a little tip: Being in your seats when services start guarantees you a treat!

Hope to see you Sunday!

Top 5 reasons why we pay our musicians

Lots of folks have asked me about playing and/or singing at Cumberland. And without fail, they're all surprised to learn that we pay our musicians and worship leaders. "You pay your musicians? Really?" Can't tell you how many times I've heard it. But interestingly enough, no one asks why. They may be afraid I'd change my mind, maybe? But seriously, we compensate our folks without hesitation. In fact, I actually have multiple reasons that I thought I'd share in light of all the attention it gets. So here we go:

The top 5 reasons we pay our musicians:

5) Well, because I believe they're worth it. Culture dictates that musicians can earn a wage for their talents. The compensation I offer, for what our congregation receives in a musical worship experience, is a bargain. Our guys are top notch, and I'd put them on any stage ever built.

4) There's a fairly (read "very") high standard for those we pay. Because of that payment, I can expect a lot from them - from complete and total preparation of the material, promptness at rehearsals and sound checks, to how they interact and contribute to the worship experience on Sunday. If that standard's not met, they don't come back. (To date, 99% of all who've worshiped with us are on a rotation and in superb standing. Seriously, they're all completely stand up rockers.)

3) Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. We have a pretty deep rotation at every spot. And for all those in my position, that's a nice feeling.

2) I have to spend that money in my budget or Bruce (the church Administrator) will take it away. Not really. However, we adjusted the honorarium budget once. So what happened? They're still with us. They have a pretty healthy appreciation that worship is not about them and it's not about the money.

And the number 1 reason we pay our musicians...

1) Because half the amount is in monopoly money and can't be used as legal tender. Ordinarily that would be bad, but amazingly, they're all huge monopoly geeks and have lost lots of 10s and 100s out of their games over the years. Works out great.

(Despite being an average musician), I've been in music for as long as I can remember and I can honestly say, as sure as I'm sitting here NOT watching Law and Order with my wife like I'm supposed to be, that these guys are the most humble group of men and women I've ever worked and worshiped with.

Auditions: By the way, we'll be having auditions in about a month's time and I'm excited about getting to know more talented individuals in our community that have a passion for worshiping and facilitating a worship experience for others. If you're living in the area and feel like you're a good fit? Stay tuned! We'll announce the date in the next week or so. And if you find yourself completely on fire about the idea of getting paid to play, try 12th and Porter; that's likely more your style.

Oh yeah, that's the other thing...call it number 1/2) They've never once asked to be paid.

I love my job.

Wanna be in the band at North Point?

Steve Fee posted this hilarious look at "playing with the band" at North Point on his blog the other day.  If you've been around North Point world at all, you can TOTALLY appreciate the humor in this.  If Billy, Bruce and I had a dollar for every conversation we've had, like the one poked fun at here, we'd probably be retired and rich right now. ;>)

This is SO hilarious!  Check it out:

[h/t: Jake and Fitz]

Kansas - Called it

With 2 minutes to go in the NCAA basketball championship game last night, I must say that I thought my pre-tournament pick of Kansas winning the national championship was looking bleak.  But...(sadly for Memphis fans) fate stepped in.  What a game last night!!  One of the best ever.  Amazing comeback by Kansas and clutch shot from Mario Chalmers.  We'll be talking about this one for a LONG time.

My bracket picks stunk this year (special thanks to Davidson and Western Kentucky for that) but ultimately, I got the final game right.  I was happy to finish well.

Congrats KU fans.  20 years in the making since Danny and the Miracles in '88.  I just hope you can keep your coach now and not see him on the sidelines at Ok. State next year.  3.5 million is going to be hard to say no to. ;>)

6 months more till the start of a new basketball season.  Can't wait!  Go Hoosiers!

Taking Care of Business

Let me introduce this series with a small disclaimer: Our new series, Taking Care of Business, is only applicable for those who meet the following criteria: you have a job, you used to have a job, you know someone who either does currently or used to have a job, or have heard the expression "job". If none of these apply to you, you don't need to come this Sunday. You're good. Otherwise, please don't miss this Andy Stanley series on finding God at work. For most people, work's a necessity. For some, it's a passion. And for others, it's a four-letter word to be avoided as much as possible. But for all of us, only one perspective  on work really matters: God's. In this six-part series, Andy Stanley addresses specific problem areas we're all familiar with - from dealing with coworkers and superiors while exemplifying Christ, to balancing our work and home life. If you meet the criteria above, you need to be Taking Care of Business - this Sunday at Cumberland Church!

Music:

Michael Spooner and the Cumberland Church band will be leading worship for us this weekend. Michael and I go way back to my tenure at Wiregrass Church in Dothan, Alabama. Michael led worship for us there (before moving his family to Nashville) and I couldn't be more excited to be worshiping alongside him once again! Oh, and we also have a special guest with us this weekend. Come check it out!

Not to Us (Chris Tomlin)
Glorious One (Steve Fee)
Help Me to Find You (Todd Fields)

Hey, and don't forget - Waumba Land (our environment for kids 6 weeks to 4 years) is now offered at both services! So if you've got friends who have kids...and either do or don't have a job :), invite 'em! See you on Sunday!

Can you play patty-cake with your video pastor?

Ok, I think I have seen the future with video church. At Cumberland Church we show our messages through standard definition. Some day we hope to move to the High Definition center screen. But what is the next step past High Definition Video? What could be more realistic?

Welcome the Cisco On-Stage TelePresence Experience. This is the world's first holographic video feed.  Check this out:  http://www.digitalillusionsllc.com/portfolio.html

If you are a local campus to your church, can you imagine being across town and “beaming up” your pastor on stage in a hologram when it was time for the message? Or if you are like us at Cumberland and are a state away, we could have a hologram of Andy Stanley on our stage walking around.

We have often wondered when this would be possible and here it is. What would be the next step past this? I do not know, maybe a live speaker……oh, the horrors!!!

H/T: Bruce Coffy (Parkside Church - Chagrin Falls, OH)

New Teaching Series Promo - Taking Care of Business

Andy's new teaching series starts this week.  Invite a friend and come on!  You will not want to miss it!