will grubbs

End of an Era

grubbsw1 — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:26:24 +0000

Aaaaannnnndddddd I’m back…

Last night was our one BIG Gathering at Midtown, and it was amazing. Our big Gatherings are usually awkward, overwhelming, and finished before you really know what’s going on. Last night was no exception. The amount of time setting up and breaking down far exceeds the amount of time of the actual service. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll do whatever it takes to create an empty seat so that more people can hear the amazing truth of Christ, but huge Gatherings don’t always feel like “us”.

One thing always feels constant when we venture away from the museum…our musicians. I’ve had the privilege to play with an amazing group of musicians over the last year and a half or so, and I’m sad to say that our core group has come to and end. I’m extremely happy to say that our split is a result of the growth in Christ’s church in Columbia. Last night was one of the last times that Travis, Jeff, Dan, and I will play together for a Midtown service. There will be youth conferences and quarterly big Gatherings, but our season of regular Midtown Sundays has reached its end.

It’s a little overwhelming to think about, and has yet to fully set in. We were strangers to playing music together, and we had our hiccups and growing pains to push through. We eventually grew accustom to one another’s styles and strengths, and developed an appreciation for one another. Our hiccups never left and we found a way to use those to keep each other grounded. Jeff is always going to hit wrong notes, Dan isn’t going to stay on tempo, Travis is going to forget words, and I will always drop out early and leave everyone hanging…it’s what we do. It might be weird, but that’s how we say I love you to one another.

A new era is about to begin. Dan and I will be at one site, while Travis and Jeff will be at the other. Our new additions to the bands already fit in perfectly, and I’m excited to see how the 2 bands will grow and come together throughout the next season at Midtown. It might be sappy, but I’m still going to miss leading worship with the guys that pushed me to be better because of how talented they are. Thank you for being my brothers in Christ and showing me grace and forgiveness in my mistakes. I love you guys.

Have We Missed the Point this Week?

grubbsw1 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:15:24 +0000

This has been an interesting week to say the least. Jon & Kate divorce, Mark Sanford admits infidelity, and Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson pass away. But why is everybody freaking out? I think sometimes we wear blinders that make us forget these things happen everyday to “ordinary” people. I see Twitter updates and Facebook updates about the rapture and what the world is coming to, and it makes me mad and sad at the same time. I hate to see that solid Christians around the world really think that “Thriller” has anything to do with God’s master plan of a new Heaven. Revelation is a very mysterious and confusing read, but I’m pretty confident that we don’t get an image of Jesus returning to earth with “Smooth Criminal” in the back round.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not here to take away from the heartbreak and pain that is felt in all of these situations. I am saying that we need to take a step back and remember that these are people. All of these public icons were given special gifts and talents to be able to do and accomplish what they did. Our problem is that we glorify and worship these people instead of glorifying and worshiping God for being so incredible in creating these gifts. Michael Jackson will go down as the most talented artist of my life time, and rightfully so, but I shouldn’t stand in awe of Michael Jackson. I should instead stand in awe of The Creator of all things, whom made all of that possible.

Earlier I highlighted “ordinary” people. Our definition of extraordinary is off kilter with what Jesus calls extraordinary. When you take Jesus out of people, we become less than ordinary…we become wretched and disgusting. So, I hope we will come to understand that the king of pop can not hold a candle to the King of Kings.

So I ask if we missed the point. Well what was the point? The point is that we live in a messed up world because we are messed up people. People divorce and cheat on their spouses everyday, and people die everyday. This is the grim reality of our world and we don’t need to freak out just because high profile people experience death or reveal their sin in public. We need to be freaking out because we know there are unreached people in the world that need to hear the Gospel and find salvation through Christ.

So enjoy all of your Michael Jackson albums and delight in his talents…but I hope we remember that we’re in awe and delight in the talents given and created by God and not a man.

To Blog or not to Blog?

grubbsw1 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:20:34 +0000

So, I’ve been hesitant for a while to jump on the blogging bandwagon. I didn’t think I was too cool, but rather too late to make a blog that was interesting or relevant. So, as you can see, I’ve decided that putting things in to text is a great way to gather and organize my thoughts. If nothing else, this will be a thought pad for my crazy thoughts and infinite amounts of random facts and knowledge. A couple of disclaimers before we start:

1) I’m going to make grammatical and punctuational errors…A LOT.

2) My theme and picture are not as cool as my friend’s and I know it may look lame.

I hope this will be a place where people read about truth, but I also hope that it will a place where people speak truth back to me if I’ve written some heinous garbage that I know nothing about.

So let’s go…