I am a pastor. People expect pastors to say certain things. To be “optimistic,” or – more accurately – to point people towards hope. So, instead of my words today, let’s hear from a doctor – Dr. Frederick Loomis, written in the years following the Great Depression and World War II.
“I am a doctor, not a preacher; but a doctor, too, must try to understand the joys and sorrows of those who come to him…Moaning over what cannot be helped is a confession of futility and fear, or emotional stagnation – in fact, of selfishness and cowardice. The best way to break this vicious, morbid circle – to “snap out of it” – is to stop thinking about yourself, and start thinking about other people. You can lighten your own load by doing something for someone else… As a doctor, I have seen it tried many, many times and nearly always it has been a far more successful prescription than anything that I could have ordered from the drugstore.”
I agree. Serving others is what we need to do – in fact, it’s what we were specifically designed to do. And, as I said at the beginning, I am a pastor – part of my job is to point people towards hope. That is indeed what we pastors do, except it is Hope, not hope…
Hmmm - well, let's see...
I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
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