RussHutto.com

This is a GREAT way to introduce people who are not plugged in to a church family to church that may live far away from your home church, or that might live right where you do but aren’t “into” going to a church building.

I’m all for leveraging any and every form of technology we can to expose people to truth and NPO is doing a great job at that. There are many who believe that this is just wasted effort because they can’t grasp the impact that this might have as a gateway for someone to enter into local church family. I see it as a starting point, a doorway.

This isn’t the main course, but an appetizer of sorts.

And depending on the season of life someone is in, this might be the ONLY faith family that they can plug into. Deployed. Away from home. Moving to a new town. Etc.

Check out the upcoming series, Losing Your Religion at NPCC. They’ll be inaugurating NPO (northpointonline.tv) with this series. Follow the project on the NPO blog.

Promo: “Losing Your Religion” from North Point Media on Vimeo.

1) Serve them.

Make it your purpose and intention to serve them through every rehearsal, through every note sung, played, or written. When you “lead” worship, it’s not for you, it’s for GOD and for them. When you plan and sing songs that are singable, catchy, rich in truth, encouraging, moving, inspiring, and memorable you are serving them. Don’t view Sunday mornings as your personal “dive into the depths of abandoned worship” moment. View it as a moment to show them you love them by serving them [have your deep dive in moments in smaller groups or in your prayer/worship times during the week].

2) Teach them.

Take opportunities to teach about worship. I don’t mean a 12 point sermon on what worship is. I don’t mean an hour long teaching on Hebrew Words for worship. I mean teach them by your actions. Live a worship life before you ever speak on “what worship is.” THEN, take opportunities to share periodically about worship activities: clapping, singing, kneeling, lifting hands, etc.

3) Lead them.

Building on the above. People in your faith family need to SEE YOU worshiping. Obviously, Sunday mornings are a great time for them to see you worshiping through singing/playing. I’m talking about more than that. They should see you serving OUTSIDE of the music team. They should see you participating in the life of your church! They should see you at community events. They should see you serving (which IS worship).

4) Write for them.

Let them know you care by sharing your songwriting with them. I know sometimes it seems like it’s hard to compete with the quality production and songwriting coming from the latest modern worship chart toppers, but that’s not the point. The point is (from #1) that we serve them by writing for them. And when you do write something for them, don’t be afraid to tell them. When my congregation knows we’re singing a song I wrote it’s an opportunity for them to SEE that I love them and care about them enough to write FOR them.

5) Be transparent.

I fail in ALL of these areas. My worship team knows it. My closest friends know it. And now you do too. And you know what, the world doesn’t end when I admit my shortcomings. In fact, the world seems to make more sense when I SHARE my weaknesses and lock arms with those around me to tackle those areas. You don’t always have to appear to have it all together. Sometimes you need to cry in front of your people. Sometimes you need to laugh. Sometimes you need to say you had a hard week, and that you’re excited to come in and focus on Jesus WITH your people. Be real.

Well, as some of you have probably seen in the news as of late, things are pretty tumultuous in Honduras.

The President, Zelaya, was ousted in a so called coup in the last few days. The Congress and Supreme Court of Honduras ousted him basically for trying to rewrite the Constitution of the nation to allow him to occupy the presidency indefinitely (the current law gives a president one term of 4 years).

Our sources on the ground in Honduras, are saying that Hugo Chavez, the leftist dictator of Venezuela, basically is pulling Zelaya’s strings, and that most of the nation 80-90 percent actually support his ousting. Of course, from the American media you will only see Obama and most of the International Community denouncing the “coup.” Chavez is threatening to bring the Venezuelan Army into the mix to try and reinstate Zelaya.

Our Honduran brothers and sisters in Christ are saying that Zelaya is not good for the country and that they actually support Zelaya’s ousting. One of our pastor friends says in an email:

“It looks like an uncertain situation, and I believe it will take time and a lot of work to really know what the future of Honduras will be, what we really need now is the intervention of our Sovereign GOD making a miracle in favor of Honduras bringing peace, prosperity and security toward our country. Please pray for that.

So for us, we’ve been coached by the team there inTegulcigalpa that it might not be the best time for us to make this trip. Taking into consideration the U.S. State Department’s advisory not to travel to Honduras, and the safety of our team, we’ve decided to postpone our trip to Honduras until later this year or early next year.

To those who have donated so generously to this ministry trip, fret not, we’ll be setting aside EVERY PENNY of the money raised to make the trip happen at a later date. We have up to a year to re-schedule our non-refundable airline tickets.

So if you don’t mind, please lift a prayer for our friends in Tegucigalpa at the Iglesia Filadelfia Bautista (church). And I’ll keep you posted as things happen and as we reschedule this trip.

As life rolls along around us, I wanted to pause today and ask a simple question:

WHO ARE YOU LIVING WITH?

And by living, I don’t mean shacking up with, or married to, or sharing a roof with.

I mean LIVING. Doing life.

Who do you pursue fun with?

Who do you chase after God with?

Who do you paint pictures with?

Who do you break bread with?

Who do you write songs with?

Who do you devour Scripture with?

Who do you worship our Creator with?

Who do you defend the defenseless with?

Who do you exercise with?

Who do you cook dinner with?

Who do you share the Gospel with?

Who do you share bedtime stories with?

Who do you listen to music with?

Together-ness

Who do you SHARE with?

Who do you EXPERIENCE with?

Who do you JOURNEY with?

Who do you ADVENTURE with?

WHO DO YOU LIVE WITH?

HONDURAS 09

My wife and I, Lydia, and Jonathan and Carrie Chick are representing our church, House of Joy, and joining the team from The Sanctuary Church, in Jefferson, GA on a mission/ministry trip to Tegucigalpa, Honduras this July. The four of us are raising funds together (independently from the Sanctuary team).

We have been yardsale-ing, cookie baking, jewelery making, original photo print taking, and music making for a few months now in an attempt to raise funds without just asking people in a simple letter. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But we wanted to raise funds with our skill sets. And ALL proceeds are going directly to the trip.

ONLINE FAMILY?

I wanted to call on you, my online friends and family, and ask if you would prayerfully consider donating to our trip. I have seen the power of online connection and how we band together in times of need and lift one another up in prayer and encouragement and celebrate life victories, so I thought it would only be reasonable to give you the opportunity to “go” with me and the team to Honduras and make an impact with your prayers and donations.

Donate & Get 10 Original Russ Hutto Songs!

Personally, I’m making available a downloadable digital album* with some of my newer tunes from my 50 Songs challenge and some older originals (10 songs total) with my desktop wallpapers included to those who donate $15 or more. I’m not just begging for money here. I do want you to prayerfully consider, and above all, I’d love to know that you are praying with and for us in July as we travel and minister.

If you’d like more details, I’ve set up a donation page (paypal) and have ALL the necessary information about the trip.

* I’ll shoot you the link to the downloadable album goodness after donations are confirmed.