TXT3

So a couple of us went to the AC/DC concert in San Antonio the other night and it got me thinking about the effects of a worship environment.  Sounds strange, right?  Why do 20,000 people pack the AT&T Center in San Antonio and sing at the top of their lungs while the very next day thousands of people will fill a local church and stand with their hands in their pockets during worship? 

How much does the environment pull a person into the moment?  Smoke, lights, and staging let’s you know that you are at a big event (of course the $100 ticket could have told you that, too).  Obviously, those things aren’t needed to experience God.  All you need is the Holy Spirit, but are we conditioned to connect and give everything when we are at the “event.”

How much time, effort, and money do you put into the visual, audio, and emotive expereince for worship . . . especially when you only need the Holy Spirit?  Great questions to think about.  At TXT3, we’ll have some elements that help bring people into worship, but more than anything we want the Holy Spirit to show up and blow people away.

20,000 people singing “Highway to Hell” with Brian Johnson . . . how many of them are really on that path, while the church sits complacently by and offers them nothing else?

Kelly gave this to me the other day:

Appropriate?
We hope so.
Although we’re only up to 16 “facebook fans” right now.
Wanna join?

February 22nd…..say that 50 times in a row as fast as you can.   That’s how I fall asleep at night, that and 2 Tylenol PM (I am not advocating sleep aids!). 

TXT3 will be here before you know it.  Our creative arts team is working at light speed to get things ready for the launch date.  Someone called it our “birth” date.  I like to think of it as a scheduled C-section.

Stay tuned for more blogs and info.  It’s going to be AWESOME!

I’ve changed the way I’m using conference time this year.  Instead of going to pre-programmed conferences, I’m using my time to go to individual churches to interview them and talk to them one on one.  I was doing just that in the big city of Waxahachie, Texas, this week.  One of the reasons I chose The Avenue was the fact that they recently renamed their church (it was formerly Ferris Avenue Baptist Church).  Talking to their staff left me reflecting on discussions I’ve had with people about what the term “baptist” says to people.  Unfortunately, it tends to say more negative things than positive things.  I’d love to drop the word “baptist” out of my church so that we could start fresh with people who are already jaded.

That’s why I’m getting more and more excited about the TXT3 Experience.  We are going to be able to redefine the church!  We’ll be able to worship and be a part of a community that shatters the negative sterotypes that people have of what it means to be a Christian.

I’m going to admit that I’m a bit nervous about the Txt3 Experience.  I know that it is going to be incredible.  I know that it’s a type of worship service that I would be drawn to . . . but what about everyone else?  We’ve asked people to commit to the service, but most people don’t even know what they are committing to (so that doesn’t make much sense).  Instead, we simply want people to come try it out.  To “kick the tires”, if you will.  I’m ready for it to get here already!