I'm in Memphis today and tomorrow for the taping of a live hymns concert at Hope Presbyterian for The Worship Network. Bruce Carroll is the worship minister here, and he and three others (including Greg Allen from Southeast and Tim Foot from Lifebridge) are leading the event. (Click here to learn more.)

I've mentioned several times on this blog that hymns are making a comeback. This morning I read an article which attributed much of this resurgence to the millennials' craving for a deeper theology than many of today's worship songs provide.

A friend of mine, the worship leader at an influential church, has a different perspective. "Young people like hymns because, to them, they're new," he says. "It's another worship fad."

As much as I'd like to think my young friends seek out hymns because of spiritual depth, I tend to agree with the worship leader--today's high school and college students grew up with the "contemporary" worship services considered so revolutionary years ago, and now they're looking for the next thing. After years of bouncy, largely happy choruses in services with slick production values, they now hunger for "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" in candlelight.

What do you think? Is this phenomenon an indicator of significant spiritual growth among the next generation, or just a predictable pendulum swing?

My latest obsession is finding classic Sesame Street clips on YouTube (classic, sadly, defined as "from Jen's childhood"). Those of you who are old like me will understand--remember the one about making orange crayons? Or the Pointer Sisters singing "one two three FOUR five, six seven eight NINE ten, eleven twe-e-e-lve" while the silver ball rolled through a psychedelic pinball machine? Or my favorite, Billy Jo Jive the crime-fighting ace?

Sometimes children's ministry, especially to preschoolers, gets labeled "babysitting." But Sesame Street's influence proves this age group not only soaks up new information but also remembers pieces of it years (and years, and years....) later. The hour or two a week we set aside to teach them about the Bible should be carefully planned, not disregarded as mere child care.

And even if none of the young children in our churches remember a Bible story fact, these early years are an important time to communicate other messages: Jesus loves you. God listens when you pray. Church is a happy place.

I'm thankful for the good people who created Sesame Street and its many moments still lingering around the edges of my brain. I'm glad the YouTube folks make it possible to access this nostalgia thirty years later. But I'm really grateful for the teachers who planned and prayed over my Bible lessons, flannel graph stories, and VBS crafts.

Sesame Street taught me to count; those very first Sunday school volunteers taught me to count on Jesus.

Living in Nashville, I've developed a new perspective on celebrity. Although it's not New York or LA, there's still a greater-than-average chance you'll eventually run into someone whose name graces a CD, book cover, movie poster, or all three. Because it's not New York or LA, there's less pretense.

Celeb-sighting opportunities abound. If you're into Christian music, you can visit several of the larger churches like Fellowship Bible (which features Christy Nockels of Watermark and the Passion conferences as an "artist in residence" and regular worship leader) or New River Fellowship (founded by Michael W. Smith). If you prefer country, swing by my Waffle House where Faith Hill is rumored to hang out.

I've seen none of these people, and therefore have had no opportunity to practice the careful nonchalance that native Nashvillians adopt when in the presence of celebrities. I have been passed on the highway by Tim McGraw (his SUV distinguishable because of the satellite TV system inside) and Ashley Judd. Choir rehearsals have included Steve Green and Point of Grace. But none of these little experiences compared to sitting in the third row of Amy Grant's book reading on Friday.

Ms. Grant does not have the best singing voice of her generation, but she has a dry wit, a huge smile, and a gracious spirit. (She's also the most beautiful 46 year-old woman I've ever seen up close. Do I sound star-struck? No, that's jealousy you hear.)

The evening, designed to promote her new book Mosaic, also included several songs (some with husband Vince Gill, wearing a sweatshirt and jeans and looking like he just woke up) and a Q&A.

The most amazing moment came when a woman near the front asked, "Have you ever called a fan in response to a letter?"

"Only once," Amy replied. "I received a letter from a young woman whose boyfriend beat her. All I had was the return address, but I had to track this girl down. There was no one speaking into this girl's life and I just felt this desperate need to get in touch with her."

The girl smiled. "That was me," she said. The crowd gasped.

"No!.....Really?" Amy said.

"Really," she said. "Thank you for calling me."

Pause.

"You're not still with that guy, are you?" Amy said.

The girl said no and the audience chuckled and clapped.

It was only one hour, and (almost) anyone can be charming and unpretentious for an hour. But Amy Grant seems like the real deal; even in this town, that's refreshing.

Each week you hear more: more ministers caught in affairs or “inappropriate conduct,” more pastors convicted of tax evasion or fraud, and more leaders damaging ministries with their own pride and ego.

Last weekend some friends and I talked about this at length—are there any leaders—especially megachurch guys—who don’t do this stuff?

Well, by the grace of God, there’s a few who have not yet cheated on their wives, stolen their church’s money, developed an addiction, or exasperated their staff. But even the remaining holdouts demonstrating character and integrity have no doubt struggled with lust, greed, or anger.

Enter this book; In Deadly Viper Character Assassins Jud Wilhite and Mike Foster write about seven major temptations leaders face—the "character assassins" lying in wait to destroy marriages, churches and the leaders themselves. Even more importantly, they describe nun-chucks and bos for defeating these opponents—things like transparency, accountability, and generosity. Popular personalities like Marcus Buckingham, Craig Groeschel, and even Dog the Bounty Hunter kick in their two cents.

Through it all Mike and Jud very honestly share their own struggles and even failures in these areas—and provide grace and encouragement for other leaders struggling to maintain or reclaim integrity despite their deadly opposition.

You, your leadership team, and probably your boss all need to read this book and get serious about character. Order it, download video and audio, and learn more at www.deadlyviper.org.

This weekend some good friends came to visit and I planned to give them my bed and sleep on the couch. One of the friends is quite allergic to Louie the Wonder Cat and as I changed the sheets I found myself praying, “God, please don’t let the cat hair bother him.”

It was an almost automatic prayer, conditioned by years of being told that God acts on such details. “No prayer is too small,” Sunday school teachers exhorted. “He counts the hairs on your head and cares about everything.”

I would like to think that’s true, and many days I do. Paul did, after all, remind the Philippians to “in everything…present your requests to God.” Other days I question it---not his care for my life, exactly, but his preoccupation with its minutia.

As an outgrowth of the popular Jesus-as-best-friend/boyfriend theology (“I am so in love with you” goes one popular chorus), we assume He is waiting with bated breath to hear the details of our days, the small annoyances and happy moments. We pray for parking spaces to appear, for headaches to fade, for missing keys and homework to be found.

And yet. I return again to the familiar “Lord’s Prayer,” in which Jesus prays for bigger-ticket items: the glory of God’s name, the manifestation of His kingdom and His will, the provision for basic needs, the rescue from sin and temptation.

Perhaps the allergy attack, the trek across the parking lot, or the nagging headache would provide more exercise for our patience and perseverance muscles, and thereby serve more kingdom-building purpose, than the answer we seek. Maybe our focus needs to shift from the momentary to the eternal. And just possibly God is more concerned with our character than our convenience.

I suspect that, like so many things of God, the answer cannot be fully known in this life. I believe the prayer of a small child for what seems (to his parent) a meaningless trifle may carry great weight with God, who knows the child’s faith. I believe the same prayer uttered by the parent, who is called to put aside childish ways and think as an adult (1 Cor. 13), may be viewed quite differently.

So I’ll acknowledge that small is relative. But recently I’ve been embarrassed to pray those prayers, myself, when bigger, thy-kingdom-come prayers aren’t crossing my lips. I’m an adopted daughter of the king and called to active participation in the kingdom bringing, the sin forgiving, the temptation avoiding. That’s plenty to keep me busy. So while God may know the number of hairs on my head, I won’t be praying about my next haircut.

Wisdom for Wednesday.....

.....from Elisabeth Elliot. Ms. Elliot (now Mrs. Gren) is one of my role models, someone whose faith, character, and graciousness inspire me. I'd like to be like her, except I don't want to suffer for years in Ecuador translating the Bible into an obscure language only to have it destroyed, wait for years to marry my first husband only to have him speared to death by tribesmen, or nurse my second husband through a slow death from cancer. Do you think I could just fast forward to the character and faith part without undergoing the hardships? Ah well.

There is a philosophy of secular education which holds that the student ought to be allowed to assemble his own curriculum according to his preferences. Few students have a strong basis for making these choices, not knowing how little they know. Ideas of what they need to learn are not only greatly limited but greatly distorted. What they need is help from those who know more than they do.

Mercifully, God does not leave us to choose our own curriculum. His wisdom is perfect, His knowledge embraces not only all worlds but the individual hearts and minds of each of His loved children. With intimate understanding of our deepest needs and individual capacities, He chooses our curriculum. We need only ask, 'Give us this day our daily bread, our daily lessons, our homework.'....... 

God's curriculum for all who sincerely want to know Him and do His will will always include lessons we wish we could skip.

Last week The Zoe Group held its annual leadership and worship conference right here in Nashville, at my own church, and I missed it! Caught up in the chaos otherwise known as my recent existence, I didn't get to attend any of the sessions, and now I'm kicking myself.

The Zoe Group is a Restoration Movement-affiliated "nonprofit ministry of Christian Renewal." They publish Wineskins magazine, an online journal which explores issues of contemporary culture and faith, and also develop video projects and other resources. 

This year's "Look to the Hills" Conference, with the theme "Overflow," marked Zoe's tenth anniversary.  In addition to the pre-conference designed to "take the discussion to a deeper level"  with professional and lay leaders, the general conference "attempts to illustrate, educate and provide experiences to our attendees which will empower their personal and congregational life of worship."

Oh, enough with the quoting from their website. Check it out yourself here, as well as the wonderful conference schedule which included several sessions with Brian McLaren and Lynn Anderson. I'm going next year.

A few weeks ago I successfully auditioned for The Nashville Choir and next weekend we have a major show at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center downtown. In addition to several songs on our own, we will sing with Steve Green, Point of Grace, Landon Pigg, and some other area choirs. 

The group is high-caliber and full of people that partly or solely make their living from music---as well as a lot of regular folks like me who just sing for fun. And every one is a believer; together we represent more than 50 churches in the area, from Pentecostal to Presbyterian. (Our prayer times are a kick.)

I'm looking forward to the upcoming shows, although I am WAY behind on memorizing the music. If you're down this way next weekend, join us.

OOMFITYSK--#2

This edition of "One of my friends I think you should know" features a very new friend--in fact, a guy I just got acquainted with at the NACC meetings today.

Matt Schantz is the leader of His House Christian Fellowship, a campus ministry at Central Michigan University. After serving together in a working group this afternoon we ended up having a great conversation about writing, four year olds, Catholic monasteries, and growing up in the church.

Besides his warmth and spirit of humility, I also like Matt because he's working toward a doctorate, writing a paper on Machiavelli, and raising four kids including a preschooler who gets scared of the dark and wants Matt--not mom--to tuck him in at night because Matt's "the powerfullest."

Visit www.hhcf.org to read more about his ministry to college students. Thanks for a great chat today, "Sanchez."