Bandits and the Little Big Man

Dear Joel,

Do you remember when we were little and mom and dad bought us boys memberships to the Quad City River Bandits Kids Club Posse (or whatever it was called)? Season tickets, plus special promos at every game. We didn't go to all of the Bandits' games, but we went to a lot of them. Back then the ball park was called John O'Donnell. It was old and full of character. The Bandits weren't very popular, so a lot of times, especially on week days, it seemed like we were the biggest group of fans there. In fact, each game the Diamond Girls would walk around with a Domino's pizza to give to the loudest cheering group of fans. I'm pretty sure we won that on more than one occasion.

I am so thankful for our exposure to baseball as kids. I know that's a big reason why I love the game so much today. It might be why I'm kind of a purist, and why I'm so frustrated with the new instant replay system in the major leagues. It's also probably a big reason why I hope the new commissioner was joking when he suggested eliminating defensive shifts in baseball. My goodness, I could do a whole series of posts on each one of those! 

You asked me to tell you who my two favorite athletes are from each of three different sports. I might get to that someday, but today I'm only writing about one guy, from my favorite sport, and my favorite team. At the time, they were a pretty new favorite of mine.

March 2006, I started dating the woman who would soon become my wife. I've always loved baseball, but had never been devoted to a specific team. I liked the Cubs (still do) because we had WGN sometimes, and could watch them play. And they were the closest team to us. I liked the Braves (still do) because we also had TBS sometimes, and could watch them play, and they were successful. I also liked the Giants (still do) because you did. But then I started dating Elizabeth, and realized that if there was going to be peace in our relationship, I would need to become a fan of her life-long team, the St. Louis Cardinals - which I gladly did (she still hates that I pull for the Cubs against most teams, by the way). Fortunately for me, in my very first season of Cardinal fandom, my team won the World Series! It was really fun. There were some big names on that team. Big bats like Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Jim Edmonds, and Scott Rolen. And the manager was already pretty much a living legend - Tony LaRussa. But there was another guy on that team.

He wasn't gifted with nearly as much natural athletic ability as those other guys. He was small. After watching Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds bat, you'd look at this guy stepping up to the plate and wonder whose kid he was. A bat in his hands looked like an oak tree. He had to choke up so he could swing it properly. The opposing manager called him a "cute little kid." His name was David Eckstein, and when it was all said and done, it was Eckstein - not Pujols, Edmonds or Rolen - who was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.

Why is he my guy? Because he became World Series MVP largely due to his effort. How can you possibly be a successful major league ball player when you're 5' 7"? By working harder than everyone else. I loved to watch that guy play. His hustle, his intelligence, his preparation, his mental toughness - all of these things helped him earn one of the toughest honors to earn in the game.

But I can give you one more reason why I love that guy. As a reward for winning MVP of that series, Eckstein was gifted a brand new Corvette. When he was presented with his award after the game, and handed the keys to the Corvette, he somewhat casually mentioned that it was the first new car he'd ever owned. The guy was 31 years old and had made over $8.7 million as a professional baseball player to that point. And he'd never bought a new car!

I've got other "favorites" too, of course, but we'll have to put those on hold for now. When we talk sports, I can really fired up about certain things (how dumb the designated hitter is in the American League, how irritating, as I mentioned above, the instant replay system in baseball is, how poorly the NFL judges a catch from a non-catch). What fires you up like that? Maybe it's not even in sports. Maybe it's those drivers who don't use turn signals. I HATE THOSE GUYS!!! Go ahead, sound off on something.

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Look Both Ways

Dear Jake,

I struggle with sports.  On one hand I really enjoy them.  The primary station I listen to on the radio in the car is ESPN.  The first thing I look for when I have access to television is ESPN.  Sports Illustrated comes weekly and I devour it while letting hot water run down my back in the shower for far too long.  The Olympics seem to draw humanity peacefully toward each other for a few short weeks every 2 years.  I think I may one day actually enjoy the World Cup as well.

On the other hand sports really upset me.  Not sports in general, but more what we as a society have done with them.  In less than one week the Superbowl will take center stage.  Last year over 111.5 million people watched the game.  In fact, during the NFL regular season, each game averaged 17.6 million viewers.  Assuming there were five games broadcasted in any given area in any given week 88 million people tuned into at least one NFL game.

According to Gallup figures, 118 million people say they go to church each week.  Two sociologists named Kirk Hadaway and Penny Marler thought that was a fishy number.  They thought that people probably exaggerate how often they go to church.  They did their own study in 2010 and found that only about 63 million people in the U.S. are actually in church on Sunday.  If you think that there's surely been an increase in attendance since 2010 you would be right...if you're Mormon, Jehova's Witness, Muslim, Buddhist, or Wiccan (which is the fastest growing group).  If you prefer Jesus to magic hats, Allah, Buddha, or the earth however, you're soon going to find yourself in the minority.

That's really mean to the NFL who, let's face it, is just doing what it's supposed to do.  Let me be clear, I have absolutely no problem with a business being really good at what they do.  We need that.  We really do.  I point out those numbers only to point out what I think my real, true beef with sports is; we idolize them.  You, me, and well, the majority of people in America.  I don't need the NFL, NBA, or MLB to show me that.  Each week I watch as families are torn apart by athletics.  When I write family I'm referring to the ecumenical church family.

Each week I watch as families, who without a doubt love Jesus very much, choose out of corporate worship for months at a time because their athletic schedules conflict.  I listened as one student pleaded with her mom saying, "Please let me skip my game and go tonight [to youth group]." Her mom replied, "You have to think about your team."  She doesn't see her church family as a team that's every bit as important.  She doesn't see the church's mission as being as important as the sport's team's mission.  At some point we have to call it what it is.  At some point we have to admit that sports has become a corporate idol.

I could write about how the church has largely fought against this by trying to compete with sports and outdo them with entertainment, but that's a different post.  Instead I want to tell you why I still justify my love of sports.

When I watch the video of the 2008 Olympics men's 4x100 meter freestyle relay I can't help but get a sense of deep pride.  I remember watching it live and feeling ecstatic.  Why?  It's the answer to that question that brings redemption to sports in my mind.

At first glance the pride you feel is for what?  Our four guys were faster than your four guys?  Our four guys had more spirit?  America is clearly better than France?  By the way, we didn't need a swim meet to tell us that.  To be honest, I think most of us were shocked that the French team didn't hoist a white flag after the first leg of the race.

I believe the pride you feel points to something greater.  I think it's the fact that you can be connected to something so amazing.  I'm part of a country that can produce such amazing athletes!  I'm part of the country that could come from behind in a race for the ages.  Somehow you have a stake in the outcome of that race.  Somehow by them winning, YOU have won.

Living in eastern Iowa, I still see scores from Wilton games.  I love it when they win.  Why?  For the same reason.  I have a legacy there.  Those athletes are my people.  They are my tribe.  If they are great, I am great.

Go Dutch! AmIright?

I think it's this type of community that points toward something bigger.  Community is good.  In fact, God loves community.  I think it's a real small glimpse of what's to come.  It's joy experienced because someone you are connected to is experiencing joy.

My memories of these moments in sports are many, but the ones that stick out don't have videos.  At least not videos that I have access to.

I remember throwing a touchdown pass to Will Norton in jr. high off a sweep pass.  I remember steeling an inbound pass against Tipton with 6 seconds left and scoring a layup to win the game just before time ran out.  I remember hitting my first home run in your wife's hometown.  I remember hitting my first home run in high school which also happened to be with bases loaded. 

I remember Solon having bases loaded and I was playing short-stop (don't ask).  We were up one run and there was one out.  They hit a line drive, I jumped and sno-coned it, then pegged the runner at first for a double-play.  We were in jr. high and playing at Westview.  It was the same season Wade Hagen told us we played like whale shit...the lowest thing on the planet.

To be honest I remember every home run I've ever hit.  Mark McGuire was once asked how does it feel to hit a home run and he responded, "It's better than sex."  In my experience that's not even close to true.

I remember watching you throw a rope to home plate from right field.  I think you were playing Williamsburg.  I remember the fence in center-field was painted white which was totally annoying your team.  We were sitting down the right field line and I remember thinking, "Wow.  I had no idea."  In fact, I think that was the same game you hit the ball off the top of the wall.  It was about 1 inch from being a home run.  If I remember correctly, no one on your team could hit the ball that day.

I remember Josh Petersen's first home run at Iowa City Regina.  Random?  Yes, but crystal clear in my mind.

I remember Aaron Call hitting a home run in West Liberty that no one ever saw come down.  It left the park above the lights.  This isn't a big fish story.  Honestly, the headline in the newspaper even pointed that out.  I've never seen anything like it...except for...

I remember Jeremy Weigh (can't remember how he spelled it) hit a monster out of Principal Park.  Of course this takes me to about a million memories of Jaron's undefeated season.  I could name all of them or I could just talk about the amazing play at the plate in Regina.  There was the magic pop-up dropped at PV, and Jaron's slide into first base at, among many, the state baseball tournament.

Then there's the peripheral memories.  They are there because of sports, but don't have a lot to do with the sport itself.  I remember my first MLB game at Candlestick Park.  I remember taking Gabriel to his first game at, you guessed it, AT&T Park in San Francisco.  I remember playing pickle at Cherry Dale on one of the nights someone else in my family was playing baseball.  I remember eating Cheeze-Its and drinking Gatorade from a cooler at tournaments.  I remember bus rides with the team.  I remember pealing off sweaty clothes and caked dirt that wasn't quite yet mud coming off with it.  I remember the smell of grass in the fall as we did up-downs at football practice.  I remember watching football film and laughing at the guy on the other team who was looking for the ball and forgot about the goal post.  He ran into it so hard that you could hear the loud "BONG" sound on the video being taken in the press box.  We rewound it several times.

In the future I'm going to tell you about my basketball team that I coached this year.  I'm now on a different side of sports.  I pray all the time that I can keep them in their proper place within our list of priorities as my children get older.

I love sports, and I hate them.

I think that individual athletes can be either great for a sport or horrific for it.  I would like to know who your all-time favorites are and why.  Who are your top one or two athletes in the three major sports in America; baseball, football, basketball?  Why are they your favorite?

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I remember...

Dear Joel,

I'm all too happy to talk about sports!

Sports cover the entire spectrum in their contribution to society. At their worst, sports can bring out the terrible side of humans. Sporting events cause husbands and fathers to neglect family in order to watch the big game. They persuede people to purchase huge tvs and expensive cable packages. They cause outbursts and anger when the wrong team wins or when officials miss a call. It's no better among participants. The importance placed on sports, and the corresponding money tied to it, resulted in the White Sox throwing a World Series almost a hundred years ago. Baseball players take performance enhancing drugs so they can hit more home runs. A particular NFL team has cheated by illegally spying on other teams, and that team is under investigation once again for intentionally deflating footballs to gain an advantage in the second biggest game of the year. I get to witness these negative effects first-hand too. I play rec-league softball, flag football, and basketball each season in my community, and the tantrums that grown men throw on the athletic field is incredibly embarrassing. My own co-workers and friends with whom I get along wonderfully off the court sometimes turn into completely different people when the basketball is put in play. 

So when you say, "What role do sports play in society?" one of the answers is, unfortunately, one that can have terrible effects on relationships. Given the sinful nature of mankind, we shouldn't expect any different.

On the other hand, the rush that comes from being a sports fan can be incredible. Feats of strength, skill, and pure athleticism that you and I could never perform are amazing to watch. If I were to go into the positive effects that sports have had in my life, this would be far too long of a post. From the health benefits to the camaraderie experienced from being a part of a team, I could write for a while (and perhaps I will at some point). I think there's something in all of us that wants to achieve excellence. Sports is one of the primary things that inspires us to that end. Most of us don't ever get to the big leagues, but those who do are the ones we point to as examples of the physical qualities we all had.

Here are a few of my favorite sports memories (I had a huge list here, but decided I needed to pair it down a bit).

In 1993 I remember sitting on Frosty Edkin's couch with his son, Grant, and watching John Paxson bury a 3-pointer to give the Chicago Bulls a 1-point victory over the Suns in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

A few years later the world watched an 18-year old American gymnast named Kerri Strug, who needed a strong showing in her final vault performance at the Atlanta Olympics to secure a gold medal for the U.S. women's team. The only problem was that she had an injured ankle. How do you stick a landing when you can only land on one foot? Like this:

Fast forward a bit to 2006, when my team didn't come out on top. After taking over as the starting QB mid-season, Tony Romo (whom no one had ever heard of a couple of months prior) had performed remarkably well, and helped put the Cowboys in the playoffs. All they needed in order to defeat the Seahawks in the initial playoff game was a simple, routine, chip-shot field goal. But it didn't turn out so well.

The next year the New England Patriots won every game they played all year and were 18-0, headed to the Super Bowl as huge favorites to destroy the New York Giants. With 1:15 to play, the Giants were only down 4 points, but were facing a 3rd and 5, and Giants quarterback Eli Manning had Patriots converging all around him for what would have most likely been a game-winning sack. But then Manning squirmed loose and Giants receiver David Tyree did something incredible:

If I were building up to the most epic, this one would be saved for last, but since I'm going chronologically, here it is. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the main story was that U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps was attempting to do something no one else had ever done: Win 8 gold medals in a single Games. One of those medals, however, would need to come from the Men's 4X100m Freestyle event, which meant that he and his three teammates would have to pull an upset victory over the French team. Prior to the Olympics, the French team's captain had made some trash-talk remarks about how badly he planned to crush the Americans. And as that captain dove into the pool as the anchor leg for the French, he held what in swimming would be considered a very significant lead over the American anchor, Jason Lezak. But a miracle was about to happen. (This is the longest video, but whether you remember this moment or not, it's worth watching for sure. I still tear up every time.)

I don't have videos for this one. It's really a collection of memories. The last month of the 2011 baseball season was a blast to follow, as two teams (one in each league) held significant leads, but collapsed down the stretch, while two other teams came all the way back. The final day of the season saw two teams in each league tied for the final respective Wild Card slots. Those games held so much intrigue that I can't describe it. In the end, the Cardinals had squeaked into the post season as a Wild Card team. Then, the NLDS came down to a decisive Game 5, and two of the best pitchers in the league faced off for the chance to live another day. And of course, we all remember Game 6 of the World Series that year, when the Cardinals were down to their last strike -- twice -- and managed to pull off one of the greatest post season comebacks baseball has ever seen. That game is the reason you've heard of David Freese.

I have a lot more I could say about sports, but I'll have to wait to see if that's the direction our conversation goes. What about you? What are some of the "Do you remember where you were when....?" moments from sports that jump to mind? Do sports turn you into a mad man?

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Over 7,000 Colors

Dear Jake,

I really wish you HAD named your last post "Sit in Datposition."  When I titled my last letter to you "Sit in Disposition" I wondered if anyone would understand my play on words there.  Thanks for understanding.

One of my favorite places in the world is Giant Sequoia National Park.  When you walk among those trees you start to remember that God is big beyond comprehension and you are small beyond comprehension, and somehow He calls us the pinnacle of His creation and tells us He loves us.  All that truth is overwhelming.  The places on this earth where mountains meet oceans are the places on this earth that I believe give us the closest glimpse into Heaven.

Created in the image of God we too cannot help but to create.  I remember walking into the St. Louis Basilica Cathedral for the first time when I was a freshman in college.  I will never forget the feeling of awe that I felt immediately upon entry.  That sense grew greater as I walked through the place.  According to Wikipedia: "The mosaics collectively contain 41.5 million glass tesserae pieces in more than 7,000 colors. Covering 83,000 square feet, it is the largest mosaic collection in the world." That said, it's also one of the most beautiful man-made places I've ever been.

A picture truly can not do it justice.
  When people work together,
we can make some pretty awesome things.

Isn't all of art sort of that way though?  Can't we look at art and ask, what value does that really have?  Sometimes we get really confused about what actually has value.  Remember when Jesus was eating at Simon the Leper's house just before Passover and this woman comes and breaks an alabaster jar of perfume and anoints him with it?  The people that were there immediately began to rebuke her saying that the jar could have been sold for over a years wages and the money given to the poor.  Jesus then explains that she understood something they did not.  Ultimately you can't waste your life, your valuables, your goods, your money, your self if you pour it out for Jesus.  To most, Jesus' body broken and blood spilled out for us seems like an extravagant waste.

We've been talking a lot about worship, the church, and theology.  I'm good with that, but I'm going to ask you some questions that seem a bit off topic.  Go with it where you please.

What role do you think sports plays in society today?  What role do you think sports should play in society?  What should define a catch in the NFL?

I look forward to hearing from you on Thursday.

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Cathedrals

Dear Joel,

It's interesting the way culture evolves. One of the things that strikes me is how much we as a culture have lost a sense of the Sacred. Take our church buildings, for example. It's not at all uncommon in our country for churches to operate out of strip malls, community centers, high schools, and even within the homes of its members. We do this because we have what I believe to be a mostly healthy emphasis on the fact that a "church" is a people - not a place. When we say we "go to church," even though we do mean a certain location, we really mean that we're joining with other believers for the reading of the Word and the worship of our Lord, and that can happen whether in a coffee shop or at the former Econo-Foods.

Sometimes the flip side of that gets a little lost, though. I've heard over and over again about the unnecessary extravagances of (especially) the European church in centuries past; about the wasted resources spent on building huge elaborate cathedrals that could have been spent alleviating the suffering of the poor. Even today large churches who construct buildings to support their congregations are often considered wasteful. When I was new to Colorado I was asking directions to a very large church in the area and a seminary classmate described the route I needed to take, and then told me that I would go around the corner and see a "monument to bad Christian stewardship."

I have no problem with churches meeting in strip malls. I agree that Christians are not always the best stewards. Christians are sinners too, and I have no doubt that there have been Christian churches built by people who, unfortunately, care too deeply about having a luxurious worship space. However, I also don't think we should automatically assume that big church buildings are too indulgent or extravagant. We far too rarely consider that the cathedrals of old were built to demonstrate the greatness not of the priest, but of the God he served. Even today when worshipers walk through the doors of a great, old cathedral, they can't help but wonder at the magnificence of the one it was built to exalt. What things cause you to step back and marvel at the holiness of God?

(I really wanted to title this post, "Sit in Datposition" because I thought it'd be funny. Didn't work out, though.)

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Sit in Disposition

Dear Jake,

     I am not your normal worship leader.  I don't wear plaid (often), I can't grow a beard for the life of me, Starbucks is way too expensive, and I wear torn jean UNironically.  Do you remember Smokey Row?  Now THAT was a coffee house.  Talk about atmosphere.
     I have a secret.  On the rare chance that I get to go somewhere and just worship without actually leading, I almost never raise my hands.  It's not like I never do, but it's not a natural thing for me.  I wouldn't dream of telling people that raising their hands in worship is in any way more glorifying to God.  Nor would I ever say that you need to do exactly what you're singing.  I do encourage people to raise their hands, clap, move, dance, etc... though.  I'm not good at doing it.  Most people aren't.  I do think that it has some importance though.
     I think our culture has devalued the importance of posture.  Remember when we were kids and we would bow our heads, fold our hands, and close our eyes when we prayed?   I don't know about you, but when I learned that God still heard my prayers even if my eyes were open I felt scandalized.  The first time I prayed with my eyes open I felt like I had just gotten away with stealing candy from Jake's Supermarket.

Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a little of the glory of, well time slips away
and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days

  It's important to be able to pray with your head up and eyes open and hand free.  I would have crashed my car a million times over and run into quite a few trees while walking if I bowed my head all the time.  Yet, I still think that it is good to stop what you are doing, fold your hands, bow your head, close your eyes, and pray every once in awhile.  That posture puts you in a position of humility and the act of taking that posture reminds you that God is one who deserves our attention, our praise, we are inferior to Him, we submit to Him, and He is Lord, not us.
     Posture during worship is important as well.  Think of raising your hands as reminding yourself that you surrender to Him.  Maybe it reminds you that you are a child that just needs to be picked up by your Father in heaven.  Maybe your hands are in front of you and open upwards in a position of receiving as if you are receiving a blessing from Him.
     You can worship with your arms crossed, in your pockets, while eating a burrito from Taco Bell, or pretty much anywhere/way.  Sometimes it's good to stop, lift your arms, and remind yourself who is deserving of the praise.
     I think our culture has devalued a lot of things.  Language being one of them.  C.S. Lewis talks about how some words really lose their meaning because we start to use them too freely.  What are some other things that you see our culture really moving away from or "devaluing" that maybe we should be careful of or at least aware of?

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Worship correctly... or else!

Dear Joel,

I used to do volunteer-type work for a church we attended a few years ago, except it was part of my job so I got paid for it. I didn't like it.

I liked getting paid, of course, I just didn't think it was the kind of work that the church needed to be paying someone to do. Expecting members to contribute to the service of the church body is not just a way to save money. It's an important way to teach servant leadership like that which Jesus himself exhibited. The work I spent around 10 hours per week doing myself could have been done in less than one hour (total) by asking members of the groups who used the facility to set up and tear down their own equipment. Those members would be more invested in setting things up correctly, since they would be the ones using them. They would also immediately see the benefit and contribution of their work, and would be more likely to feel valued.

When I saw the title of your post on Monday I thought you were going for something more along the lines of the Tim Hawkins video.

I don't often raise my hands in church, because it's way outside my comfort zone. I was once worshiping in a congregation and the worship leader told us all that if we sang this particular song (it had lyrics about "we lift up our hands" or something similar) without raising our hands, we were being dishonest with God. Either out of obedience to the worship leader, to God, or out of guilt, everyone raised their hands as we continued singing that song. I puzzled about that, though. I'm a rule follower, so if the worship leader was correct, I was going to obey. But I'm not sure it's that absolute.
If the song says, "I lift my hands to you," for example, I don't know where exactly I need to lift my hands in order to be compliant. I don't think God is any more present 18 inches above my head than he is in my pockets. But maybe I should at least "lift" my hands from their current position. So hands on my hips might keep me within the rules.

But I continued puzzling because it seems like this logic would need to be applied across the board. I join with Casting Crowns when they sing, "I lift my eyes up to the hills." But I live in Iowa. We do have some hills, but they're not visible from everywhere. Or what if I sing that song in the shower? There are no hills to which I can "lift my eyes up." Is Jesus angry with my singing? If I sing, "I run to you," do I have to physically take off running? And where, exactly, is our non corporeal God to whom I should be running? I fear that I'm breaking a lot of rules when I try to worship through song. Perhaps I should stop.

As Tim Hawkins says in that video, there are all kinds of churches with different practices regarding raising their hands in worship. What, if anything, do you think hand-raising (or lack thereof) says about a church body's identity?

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If You Raise Your Hand...

Dear Jake,

     As you know our church sets up in a gymnasium every Sunday.  The process starts at about 6am.  There are good things about setting up church every week.  We have a really cool ministry made up of men who talk about football, work, and what's going on in their lives as they line up chairs, stand up curtains, construct a stage, plug in cables, and stretch out giant screens.  There are two teams of men and they rotate setting up by month.  Overall, we have always felt that it is a blessing to be able to do a worship service this way and involve so many people that might not otherwise be involved.
     Every Friday morning I create a map for the setup crew so that on Sunday morning, when they arrive, they can see how the stage should be assembled.  This week while I was etching out directions I suddenly remembered that we would have "Team A" setting up and I let out a joyous "YES!".  When Pastor Doug asked what I was excited about I told him, "We have a new setup crew." He joined me in celebrating.  A short time later Doug retired to his office and I sat back and felt a tinge of guilt that I was so excited that Team B was being replaced by Team A.
     Each team operates a little bit differently and it changes everything.  Team B doesn't really have a leader.  This means that it is Pastor Doug that shows up at 6am and starts unpacking and moving equipment into the gymnasium.  It isn't until 7:00 when team members start to meander in.  They start putting things together, and the stage gets assembled, but it remains empty, free of any sound equipment.  It isn't until everything else is set up, and the worship team has arrived that the monitors, speakers, cables, and instruments, begin to get set up.  Most of that work is being done by the worship team.
     The worship team is supposed to be at church to do sound checks at 8:00 which means they are expected to get there early to get plugged in and tuned up.  When Team B is on setup the worship team has never been doing sound checks by 8am.  Instead they are setting up the stage at that time.
     It's not Team B's fault, they only have one person who knows how to plug everything in and he is only there about 50% of the time. While they are great at taking directions, the rest of the team can't really take the initiative to get it done.
     Let me tell you about Team A.  Doug doesn't arrive for setup at all.  He doesn't need to.  They have a team leader who carpools with a couple other guys.  By the time the rest of the team starts rolling in around 6:45 the work is half done.  The rest of the guys show up and everyone has a job and immediately gets to it.  Everyone working in their place.  By 7:35 they are hanging around their cars chatting and joking with each other before they head out to help their wives get their families ready for church.  When the worship team arrives near 7:45 there isn't a single person from Team A there.
     The effects that trickle down from the two teams change the entire worship service.  When Team B is on, sound checks and rehearsals tend to be rushed and everyone is on edge.  The worship team gets started late.  There is a break of 25 minutes between when the worship team is supposed to be done so that video and other microphones can be tested.  During that time the worship team gathers, prays, goes through the order of worship, and I take prayer requests from the team so that I can pray for them during the week.  When Team B is on we have very little time to do that and usually I quickly pray and run through the order of worship.  We've even noticed that during worship things go differently too.  Little mishaps or sound bugs are much more likely when Team B is on.
    When Team A is on we have noticed that people are more willing to give feedback on things during the service.  We hear more "I really was touched by..." or "God really spoke to me when..." comments.  The staff (all of them, including the church administrator who has nothing to do with setup) have noticed a significant increase in energy after a service that Team A set up.
     So why do I tell you this?  What does it matter?
     The things that you do have way more of an impact than you realize.  Volunteering for anything is a risky thing.  It can take a lot out of you.  It's easy to push it down on your list of priorities.  Sometimes we don't see the many ways our actions trickle down and have a great affect on outcomes.  At a church (and likely anywhere you volunteer) you are incredibly important.
     So whatever you raise your hand to do be it taking out the trash or operating a sound board, I beg you, do it with all your heart.  Make it joyful and do it well.  Make it your ministry.  Learn about it, get better at it, lead in it.  You could be involved in the work of the Holy Spirit moving in people.  You could be a witness to life change.
     Do you volunteer anywhere?  What do you volunteer for?  Have you ever thought about how important your volunteering really is?  I look forward to hearing from you on Thursday.

Sincerely,
Joel

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