I love baseball.  It is a real passion for me.  The strategy, physical mechanics, teamwork and life lessons are all an intricate part of this incredible game.  I played for years until all that was left for me was softball.  Then I discovered coaching!  What a tremendous opportunity that has been.  There is an amazing satisfaction that comes when a kid learns something you have taught him.  Sometimes it's about baseball and sometimes it's about life.  

Baseball is such a team sport.  When nine players come together and see the big picture of how they all need each other success is almost inevitable. One of the things I drill into my players is the importance of having a plan when they step into the batters box.  They know to look where their baserunners are, where the defense is playing, what signals the coaches are giving them, what the pitcher has been throwing so far, how many outs there are, what pitch counts are going to determine the next pitch they see...the list can seem endless and they have about 5 seconds to take it all in.  At first it can be pretty tough processing all of that information and making the right choices, but as they work at it, as they develop their plan they get better at it and then begin to really enjoy the experience.  When a kid starts to enjoy the experience they can move on to see the finer points of the game and the overall big picture.  They are getting more out of it.

So what's your plan when you come to church to worship God with your church family?  There are some real parallels here.  How often do we come to church without a worship plan?  Take a look around:  Your church family is there, one of your spiritual leaders is sharing what they have studied that week, the music is designed to help you praise God, we are praying together, we are giving back to God a tenth of what He has blessed and entrusted us with...all of the elements are there for a great corporate worship experience.  When you go to church planning on worshiping, expecting God to meet you there, taking advantage of everything that is there you can begin to really enjoy the experience.  When a worshiper starts to enjoy the experience they can move on to the deeper parts of the relationship and understand their part in the overall big picture.  They are getting more out of it.

What if you don't come with a plan?  What if you don't have any expectations?  What if you just take it for granted all that is going to happen?  For the most part you know what is going to happen in a Liberty Bible worship service before you ever get there.  What you don't know is what God is going to do in you and with everyone around you.  But then again, if you don't have any expectations, if you don't plan to worship then there is every possibility you will miss it anyway.  

More to come....

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

How many times have we heard that phrase?  Is it really true?  I'm not so sure. 

For the last 12 years I have had the best dog a person could hope for.  His name is Max.  He is a Lab/Newfoundland mix.  From the time we brought him home at 8 weeks until today he has overflowed with personality. 

He has a few quirks and habits that make me smile every time I see them.  One of them is that he will not look directly at you when you are eating.  He will sit there with his head facing away from you, but if you look at his eyes he is straining them to make sure you don't need his assistance.  Another one is that he likes to talk to you and loves it even more if you "talk" back to him.  We have had some great conversations.  One of my favorites is when he backs up to the couch and sits down while his front feet continue to touch the floor.  He won't lay down on his bed unless the blanket is smooth.  He gets up every school day and goes to the door at 2:25 and 3:20 to wait for AJ and Emma.  Their bus gets there at 2:30 and 3:25.  My all-time favorite is when you look at him, sniff the air and say his full name, Maxwell.  He puts his head down and goes to his room thinking he has committed some indiscretion.  We love that one!  Yep!  Max has some quirks and habits.

But can he learn new things?  Of course he can!  With the proper motivation.

So why is the music pastor talking about his dog?  Well, it's because sometimes the congregation is like an old dog!  We can be guilty of doing the same things over and over again when it comes to worship.  We know when to stand and when to sit.  We know what is coming so we anticipate it.  We are comfortable.  Content.  We do the things we do because that's what we always do!  It doesn't require much thought or even effort.  It's routine.

So what happens when I mess with Max's routine?  That's pretty funny too!  Sometimes I mess with Max a little bit.  Maybe I get up to smooth out the blanket but all I do is pick it up and put it back down.  He really whines at me about that one.  Instead of throwing the ball for him I will put it in a place he can see it but can't get to.  Talk about freaking out!  When he is sitting next to me I will blow on his ears - over and over again!  He licks me at first but then he barks at me. 

So what happens when I mess with the worship routine?  Whining?  Freaking out?  Barking?  Sure!  People don't like their routine disturbed! (Fortunately, no one has tried to lick me yet!)  How we worship is pretty personal.  We don't like it when somebody comes along and tries to change it. 

Whenever we want to teach Max a new trick we use the biggest motivator we have - lots of praise and attention!  No, that's the second one.  Food!  We use food.  One of the last tricks we tried to teach him involved not eating food until we said it was okay.  Normally he handles that pretty good, but this time the food was placed on his nose.  It didn't go so well.  I think there was some confusion between the expectation and the motivation. 

So what is the expection when it comes to worship?  What is the motivation?  Now those are great questions!  Maybe some of you have some ideas?  I am going to end this blog with those two questions.  We'll come back to it in a little while after I see what you are thinking!

By the way, sometimes Max does commit the occasional indiscretion.  We know it initially because he leaves the room on his own.  Silly dog!