I AM ACCESS – Week 4

Today was the last week of our I Am Access series. Last week we baptized several people in the YMCA pool just prior to our first service. This week we watched videos of them publicly professing Christ and then being baptized. It was definitely one of the best things that I’ve experienced at Access. Be sure to check out the videos for yourself. Below are some picture of the Night of Worship that we did at my house this week. I’m hoping to do that at least once a month or so. Nothing quite like a group of people really going after God.

Endlessly – Desperation Band
This Is Our God – Hillsong
Jesus Paid It All – Kristian Stanfill
Healer – Bethel Version
Rain Down – Delirious?

In his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Portman introduces the concept of the Information-Action Ratio. Portman’s ratio aimed to measure “the relationship between a piece of information and what action, if any, a consumer of that information might reasonably be expected to take once learning it.” In theory, a culture that had a low intake of information would have a high information-action ratio because they were more likely to act upon the small amount of information they received. Conversely, a culture that had access to enormous amounts of information would have a low-information action ratio. This is a result of being paralyzed by the enormous amounts of information and either not knowing where to begin or not knowing how to sort which pieces of information required action and which did not.

It goes without saying that humans today consume more information than at any other time in history. Between television, the Internet, and social networking, information is readily available at the click of a button. We can easily access news spanning the globe and get real-time updates on hundreds of friends in a matter of seconds. It would be impossible to act on all of the information one gathers in just a few minutes of surfing the internet. Thus, we live in an age of an extremely Low Information-Action Ratio (LIAR).

What does having a Low Information-Action Ratio mean for the church? For worship? If our technologically inclined culture trains us to merely consume information without acting on it, will we find ourselves complacent with not acting on the knowledge we receive of Jesus and His Gospel? If worship is a response to the revelation of who God is, will living with a Low Information-Action Ratio result apathetic worship?

First and foremost, it is important that the church resist the tendency to reduce the preaching of the Word to simply communicating information. Secondly, we must examine whether or not using overly familiar presentation methods (such as screens, media clips, etc.) actually makes it easier for people to ignore the content that they are being presented with.

I welcome and embrace many of the technologies I have alluded to in this post, but I think these are questions that are worth wrestling with. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

For further reading: Amusing Ourselves to Death, A Royal “Waste” of Time

Saw this video during the MTV Movie Awards.  What do you think?

One of the most memorable and powerful worship experiences I have had in quite sometime happened in this small room with about forty-five students from Savannah, Georgia.  A friend of mine, who is a youth pastor, invited me to come and lead worship for his summer camp in Panama City Beach, Florida.  On the fourth and final night of the camp we sang through Misty Edwards’, “You Won’t Relent”.  My friend came up toward the end of the song to say a few words and close with a prayer.  As he prayed the students began to sing out the verse of the song:

“I set you as a seal upon my heart, as a seal upon my arm
For there is love that is as strong as death,
Jealousy demanding as the grave and many waters
Cannot quench this love”

At first it was just a few young girls singing, then it swelled into the entire group singing out with absolutely no leadership from the platform.  It was beautiful. The band continued to play as the students literally worshiped together in complete unity. My prayer as a worship leader is always that I will not add to or take away from what God is doing in a group of people. I simply want to enter into the work He has already started and participate in it.

As many of you know, I resigned as worship pastor of Victory at Sarasota in June of this year.  Since then, Kristin and I have been traveling and leading worship for various churches, camps, and other ministries.  We have spoken with a lot of great churches and sought counsel from friends and family.  We are excited about the road ahead and more importantly, the people with whom we will travel it.

I recently accepted an opportunity to join my good friend Jason Burns at Access: a Church Community in Lakeland, Florida.  I began leading worship at Access today.  For the time being, Kristin and I will remain in our home here in Sarasota.  Kristin will continue to work at Starbucks and I will split time working from home and commuting to Lakeland.

In addition to working with Access, I will also be involved in some worship-related projects outside of the church. I will write more on that as it all falls into place.

I will also continue to travel and lead for other churches, special events, and nights of worship.  Feel free to email me if you’re interested in putting something together.

I decided to begin blogging again since this is such a time of transition and reflection.  I am going to try and use this as a place to communicate my thoughts about life, ministry, and worship.  Hopefully you will continue to join me here for some great stories and conversations.  I would also love to connect with you on Twitter or Facebook.

Thanks for your love and support.

Jordan.