In Which Our Church Praise Goes Crazy and I Inevitably Lose My Wits

Our first day in our new church building went well. Sort of. I was on stage with the band, banging on my jimbae like I'm trying to pulverize its very soul, mouthing along with the words and never missing a beat (OK, that's a total lie). Then, fdsjifjrieo! The sound system (which was very expensive and, in my opinion, not worth it) decides to be cute and go beserk. It sounded like those times when you're sitting at a red light and the car next to you is listening to rap music with the volume all the way up...only this was much louder. My mom, playing the pianon, wrinkles her brow; the bass player, who's amplifier is now going crazy, doesn't know what to do...even the worship leader looks confused. And what do I do?

I laugh.

It seems to me that the only proper thing to do at those such times is to shut up and go with it, which is exactly the opposite of what I did. True, you can't hear me laughing over the booming praise-gone-phsyco music, but I'm sure a few audience members were wondering why my face was spazzing out in a huge grin at the most inappropriate time.

Praise: Just Not Feelin' It

Ya know those praise songs in your church that just make you yawn? You know, the one that the praise band must have played a billion times. Yeah, our God is an awesome God. We know that because of the song that sings it over and over and over until the old lady in the pew is snoring in your ear.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s a very nice song. But there are other songs that, let’s face it, don’t get us pumped about God. The girl whispering to her friends during praise – that’s you, isn’t it? Or maybe you’re the guy standing over there, checking your watch to see if worship is running long, wondering why everyone around you is raising their hands and closing their eyes. Weird.

Songs are written from the heart, from the pen of a blind woman who’s trusting God to light her path, from the mind of a man who’s lost his family and fortune and yet is still sticking with God because he knows that he’s being cared for.

Sometimes a certain song doesn’t mean much to you, but to someone else, it hits home. People relate to songs. When your guy dumps you and you hear Taylor Swift singing about her latest breakup, you know the emotion behind those words. When you’re singing to God, the emotion is extra-strong and the words are very true. They are close to your heart.

So next time you’re the dude wondering why that man’s eyes are closed or why that woman’s hands are raised, remember that even if a song doesn’t mean much to you, it means a whole lot to someone else. It’s what they needed to hear that week. And that’s something to praise God about.

What Youth Retreat Taught Me

Yesterday my friend Hannah and I got back from a teen retreat about discipleship. During the weekend, we stayed at a church member’s house and brought soda and tons of snacks (can you say "chocolate covered Chex Mix"?). We lounged in the hot tub, jumped in the freezing pool, went bowling, ate junk food, and drove around town. We even choreographed a dance routine to Beyonce’s "Single Ladies" song and performed it by the poolside at night in front of Charles, the youth leader.
Yet I’m here to tell you what else we did, what we learned. I want to share with you what I found, and what I lost, at the retreat. I want you to feel as if you were there with us when Brittney and the girls went down to the creek for bible study. I want you to feel as inspired as I was when the speaker told us about discipleship, and how amazing it felt to be a part of a worship session that led teens to take the next step in their faith. I’m here to tell you about our service project at the nursing home and about my renewed faith.
Every teen in that room dedicated the weekend to Jesus. I want to do even more than that. I want to dedicate my ENTIRE LIFE to Jesus. The speaker, worship leader, and small-group leader really opened my eyes and made it clear to me that giving my entire life to Jesus is the only way I’ll truly be happy. Sure, I’ll get excited about youth camp, new CDs, new clothes, summer vacation. But that happiness, well, I’ve found it doesn’t really last. After a while it becomes simply a memory.
Here’s a journal entry I wrote the night that I got home from the retreat.

JOURNAL ENTRY - FEBUARY 8, 2009
"Hands were stretched to the sky. The hard rock music slowed into a faint whisper of sound. Bodies swayed, eyes closed, heads bent, lips formed inaudible prayers.
I felt self-conscious, as I always do, yet there were moments when I felt completely consumed by Jesus. I wanted to give God my outstretched hands as well, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
I stood there, a lowly, sinful 7th grader with such small faith. Yet I was a part of this thing, this wonderful thing that was bigger than all of us. We were all one, all God’s children. And we all knew that we were meant to change the world.
I was on a spiritual high worshipping God with al I had. I felt renewed purpose. Yet I was somehow afraid of the world outside the church walls. I was afraid to return to that world and to my own old self. I wanted nothing more than to stay there forever. At that time, I was wrapped in Jesus and wrapped in love, purpose, life. I was terrified that when I went back home it would all unravel. Would I truly be the disciple we were all called to be? How, Lord, can I not return to Melissa the Jesus Groupie? Lord, please help me to be the true disciple of Christ that I am called to be! Help me to conquer my sin and use my experiences to teach others about your love. Help me to be me.
Amen."

Simply Praising Him

This morning, during praise at church, a man in the back row spread his hands out and, throughout the whole worship time, he mumbled prayers to God. I tried to catch bits here and there, but his voice, though confident, was quiet and I felt as if I was eavesdropping (which usually wouldn’t bother me, except the fact that this was church). Was he asking God to give him money so that he could serve God better? No. Was he asking God to make him well-liked? No. Was he asking anything for himself? No! The man was simply thanking God – praising him – for God’s greatness.
Maybe I need to be more like that. Instead of writing off a list of complaints and requests right away, maybe I should praise God first, THEN requests can come.
Why praise God? He made you! And he saved you! He let his only son die so that you could be with him. How cool is that? If someone gave you the greatest gift EVER, would you then ask him for something else, something more? Hopefully not! Hopefully you would thank him and give him all the gratitude you had to give.
God gave you the greatest gift of all. This month, would you like to join me in simply praising God’s awesomeness?

Can you say "please"?

"BUT I WANT IT!"
I looked at my little sister whose face was as red as a tomato.
"I want that toy!" she yelled.
My other sister, the youngest, held a baby doll in her hands.
"Jessie, you can’t get that toy by screaming," I told her.
"But I want it!" Jessie wailed.
"No. You can’t have it. Wait until she’s done playing with it."

Later that night, I sat in my bed. I always pray at night, so I can talk to God about my day. I found myself asking and asking for countless things. I stopped. While it was good to be praying, all I was doing was basically TELLING God to do it. "Dear God, please help me do well in school tomorrow, please help me do well with my riding lesson, please bless my family tomorrow, please…." I noticed that if I took out the word "please", I was just demanding that God do it. Hopefully demanding. Please really doesn’t mean anything unless you are sincere.

So, when you pray this week, focus on praising God instead of telling him what you want.

Gimme a G-O-D!

If you play sports or have ever been to a game, you’ve probably heard the cheerleaders leading the crowd with their little songs, doing little cartwheels across the field.
And maybe, if you’ve ever won the game, you’ve heard people cheering for you, because they think you’re so great!

Well, God is great, too. Fans cheer for their team and we can cheer for God. That’s right. Praising God is a lot like cheering. We’re thanking him for being so amazingly awesome, so cool, maybe even "gnarly", if anyone ever says that anymore.
So, before you pray or read your bible or do your daily devotions, cheer for God. Because he’s gnarly.

Journal Jot: Write down a special cheer, just for God. It can be a praise song or a poem. Share your cheer in the Chat section.

Praising God with your iPod

Do you have an iPod (or an mp3 player)? If so, iTunes and other places have lots of legal downloadable music. But don’t listen to just anything. Why not actually enjoy worshipping God for once, and listen to some cool, upbeat praise songs? I mean, it’s not like you’ll hear Relient K or Britt Nicole at your church in praise time.

Jeremy Camp and Bethany Dillon also make worshipping God cool. I love Bethany Dillon’s song, “Top of the World”. Her songs can be upbeat or slow, but the music is excellent, the meaning clear, and her voice is very sweet sounding.

Jeremy Camp’s music is great for teen boys and girls – and even adults! His voice is also clear, his music great and it has a good beat. He brings life to praise songs that you normally wouldn’t really want to listen to.