Make a Joyful Sound...No, Really!

Recently, at Highland some big announcements were made. Here was the announcement...

Earlier this year the Highland Elders announced that as a group we were discussing adding an instrumental worship service on Sunday mornings here at this building.  Our discussion was centered on 3 essential questions, which has led us through our discernment together:

1. Does Scripture allow for an instrumental worship service on Sunday mornings?

The Highland elders voted that we believed that Scripture did allow for instrumental worship on Sunday mornings.

2. We asked is an instrumental worship service missionally effective for Highland?

The Highland elders voted that we believed adding an instrumental service could remove a barrier for people in our community to come to Highland as we fulfill our purpose of calling all people to God.

3. The third question we asked was is this the right time for Highland to implement an instrumental worship service on Sunday mornings?

We spent the last 3 months inviting you, the Highland family, to spiritually discern this question with us. Thank you for your daily prayers and conversations in Bible Classes, in shepherding group meetings, in letters, emails, and in one on one conversations.

After listening to all the different feedback, after much prayer, and seeking God’s guidance, the Highland elders have decided that it is the right time for Highland to move towards implementation of an instrumental worship service on Sunday mornings as we partner with God in His great work of Restoring Highland, Abilene, and the World.

From a practical perspective, it would have been best for us to wait a few months to announce this, until we knew all the details and could answer every question. But in the spirit of being fully transparent, we wanted to tell you as soon as the decision was made.

We would like to be able to stand in front of you today and tell you all aspects of the implementation, but we do not know all of those yet. We can tell you what we do know today, and we promise to continue to communicate with you throughout this process.

So, as I stand before you today, here is what we do know:

1. We will continue to offer an acappella service. We will continue to do acapella worship at the same high level, and it will continue to be an integral part of Highland’s worship.

2. It will be 2014 before we are able to begin an instrumental service on Sunday mornings, and more than likely it will be after we complete the remodel of the auditorium. We will continue to have the instrumental worship service at our Grace campus on Sunday Nights at 5:00, and encourage you to attend that service.

3. We also want you to know that the Highland elders and staff desire to always be available to you. Please continue sharing your comments and questions.

4. Finally, we want you to know that God has faithfully provided for and blessed Highland since 1929 and we are excited about the ways he will continue to bless us in this time at Highland.

Conclusion:

2 Chronicles 5:11-14 tells the story of the worship service that took place when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to rest in the temple. The text reads,   ^“The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. ¹² All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. ¹³ The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:

He is good;his love endures forever. Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, ¹⁴ and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.”  

AND SO, the elders want to send you out today with this challenge:  let us live into our calling to be a priesthood in which divisions disappear when we see the glory of the Lord rise in worship with instruments and with voices, as we praise and honor a good God whose love endures forever.  

The ACU paper did a story on it as well...this article is helpful in describing our process too.

Highland to add instruments to worship | The Optimist

So--here's where I am... it is with great anticipation and a healthy dose of wonder at the unknown that I step into this new season. My commitment to providing resources for a cappella churches is still as strong as ever. ZOE will continue to work hard to do that.

Our prayer at Highland is that more people will be opened to story of Jesus. That's it. Will you pray that God will guide us and give us wisdom and discernment as we walk this road? These are exciting times and sometimes it feels like the Lord is leading us like 27 horses running for the barn. I just don't want to miss anything He has for us along the way. I remember that the biggest example of hearing His voice in scripture is in the still, small voice. So, please pray that I will also take the time I need to be still...to wait...to listen.

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
Be lifted up, you ancient doors
That the King of Glory may come in!
Who is He, this King of Glory?
The Lord Almighty--HE is the King of Glory!
Ps. 24: 9-10

Hold to His Hand...to God's Unchanging Hand.

My great-great grandfather (William Samuel Herndon) was a Church of Christ preacher and church planter back in the mid 1800's. He moved his family to West Texas and planted a church that would soon grow...as his family did. (They ended up with 14 kids. I mean seriously.) 

The woman to your right in this picture is my great-great-great grandmother...born in the early 1800s.) My great grandmother is the one over William's left shoulder. She learned to love Jesus from her parents and she passed it down to my grandmother and then my mother. I'll bet things looked different back in the 1800s, don't you? 

This past Sunday we did an exercise in nostalgia and actually took out the hymnals and turned to #613 and sang "Hold to God's Unchanging Hand". It's a song my mother, grandmother and even great grandmother would have sung, written in 1904. Funny how songs with good theology form us. Those lyrics...verse one and chorus especially...are important. Funny to think that words sung so long ago could help us...help all of us...as we move into the church of the future. 

The song says, "Time is filled with swift transition...keep your hopes on things eternal. Hold to God's unchanging hand." Forms will come and forms will go. But the love of Jesus is everlasting. It is an everlasting love and his power is never ending. 

In her later years, my great grandmother went to Central Church of Christ here in Abilene. It later dwindled out and the building was given to Highland and it now serves as our Grace Fellowship campus. Interestingly, I remember walking in one day to rehearse with the worship band for our service that Sunday and stopped in my tracks. I looked around at the red carpet and the wooden ceiling and realized....this was my great grandmother's church. This is where she worshiped. And now, 150 years after William Herndon planted a church near Anson and then exploded the population with his own offspring, his great-great grandson is leading worship...instrumental worship...at the church his daughter attended well into her 90s. 

So, what is eternal? Buildings? Song books? Red carpet? Certain hymns or styles of worship? No. Jesus. The same yesterday, today and forever. The Alpha and Omega. And I hope that William Herndon's love for Jesus will live on in his great-great-great grandchildren and beyond...as Maddie is already leading worship with the youth band every Sunday morning at Highland in the middle school class. 

I pray that, as Psalm 145 says, "One generation will commend His works to another...and tell of His surpassing greatness." Keep your hopes on things ETERNAL. Hold to God's unchanging hand.

Highland at Grace

Last night marked the kick-off to our new Highland Sunday service at our Grace Fellowship campus. We've been working and planning for weeks and were so pleased with the opening night. Earlier this semester, the leadership at Highland gave the green light to move to one service at our main campus and add a service at the Grace campus. The Grace campus would include instrumental worship, the same sermon that Jonathan preached on Sunday morning and communion.

It was a special and holy moment for me. The Grace Fellowship campus was formerly the Central Church of Christ where my great grandmother and great aunt went to church many years ago. As I sat listening to Jonathan speak last night, it occurred to me that I was sitting on the same row I sat in for my great grandmother's funeral when I was just a little boy. I wonder what she would have thought last night. Would she have marveled at the amount of people there? Would she have stroked out to see the instruments on stage? Would she have loved the singing, so loud it could have lifted the rafters?

Last night was just incredible. The energy and excitement in the room were palpable. It almost felt like a herd of wild horses waiting behind a gate and then being released. Once the music kicked in and the first song began, the singing was almost deafening. There were beautiful expressions of worship happening all over that room through the evening as people sang and prayed and went to communion stations to partake with their friends and families...and others they'd never met.

I'm so grateful to an amazing team of people who helped us pull off this beginning. Alex Howard is a beast! What a heart! He leads with such courage and boldness before the Lord. Thank you, Alex! Thank you to Amy Sheasby (who also played keys), Trey Wrape and Christine Pinson for the incredible vocals. Thank you to the band--Amy, Nathan Sheasby, Matt Roberson, and Claire Warlick. You all lead us with grace, skill and heart!

Thank you to Matt Pinson and Jim Etheridge who put in countless hours of time. Thanks to Dickie Porche, Virgil (our homeless friend who helps regularly at Grace), and Ben Strizu for getting us to this day.

Here are some pics and video of set up, rehearsal and then of our first service.

Communion Stations were set up all over the room

Jack Pinson and Virgil played cards to pass the time while the band rehearsed

Matt Pinson and Mike Wiggins did an awesome job on the chalk sign in the lobby!

Rehearsal Last Night for "Here With Us"

We had our final rehearsal last night before moving into the Paramount on Sunday. It was great. Here's a little teaser of the kids and Sheryl on Joy Williams's song "Here With Us"

Restoration Vision

Yesterday was Celebration Sunday at Highland where we found out how much we raised in our campaign to fund the vision. It was an INCREDIBLE day! This is the video Matt made which revealed the total amount at the end. Applause and cheers broke out. I love Highland!

Called - God is at Work, we're joining Him from Highland Church on Vimeo.

It's Coming!!

Here are some scenes from last year's "Here With Us" at the Paramount. This year's celebration is only ONE month from today!!! I'm getting excited! I hope these will be a nice teaser for what is coming this year... (photo cred to Debbie Riggs at Pure Photography)

Here With Us 2012

Hey everyone--make plans now to be at the Paramount Theater on December 2nd at 6:30! Be sure to bring your friends and arrive early for seats! This will be an incredible evening of worship with the worship choir, band, Jonathan Storment and guest artists "The Light Parade". Don't miss it!

Restoration

Some very exciting things are happening at Highland and in Abilene. Recently the leadership brought a new vision statement to the church for the next 20 years. It all revolves around restoration...restoration of Highland (people's hearts, marriages, community, even physical remodeling), restoration of Abilene (ending systemic homelessness through a "housing first" model, growing our satellite campuses Freedom Fellowship and Grace Fellowship, adopting a school, etc.), and restoring the world (partnering with Eternal Threads in helping girls get out of sex trafficking in Napal and other areas, building water wells in Africa, and supporting ministries like CenterPeace which help broken hearts heal).

We are currently in the middle of a 40 Days of Prayer initiative which began last Wednesday night as members of Highland spread out all over Abilene to pray together for this city. Our Director of Communication (Matt Pinson) took some of the video footage from those prayer locations (including our two satellite campuses, Grace and Freedom) and used a prayer written by one of our Highland members, Lauren Cunningham, to tie it all together. We showed this on Sunday and I absolutely loved it! I wanted to share it with all of you...

This is my prayer for Highland from Highland Church on Vimeo.

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning had to have been one of the coolest experiences I've had in a while. The worship center was packed with ACU Homecoming guests but there was an intimacy about the morning that could have only come from the Lord. From the moment we began you could feel it in the room. And the Spirit just blessed us with an abundance of power that day. There was a transparency on the praise team that moved me to tears...scriptures being read through tears, songs being sung boldly, hearts being laid before Him. It was a wonderful day. Our friend Amanda Vickers from Nashville was in town and sang with us. She sang Hallowed...completely awesome. Sheryl sang Redeemer...it was just one of those days...a day I'll remember.

Jonathan Storment, our preacher, is great at using visuals as he preaches...props and other creative elements. This Sunday was no exception. Here's a picture of Jonathan during his sermon...

He confessed that he might look a little like "Fonzie's nerdy nephew". HA! Loved that!

Another thing I love about Highland is that Our children's minister Suzetta Nutt has taught the kids at Highland to "pray in color". It is one of the most formative things I've seen. Brilliant! (praying in color is drawing what you see and hear in your head and heart as you pray) Sunday as the story of Joshua was being read, one of the 4th graders drew this picture. This is incredible...from a 4th grader! Landry Bonneau (one of Maddie's good buddies) drew this and explained...the wall represents our struggles and the horn is the word of the Lord. When His truth is spoken, it tears down our walls. I love that Suzetta and others are giving our children the freedom and mentoring to pray in such creative and abstract ways. Check out what Landry wrote on the wall...just such a powerful image! I love this!

Highland has been deep in prayer for Liam and Tatum, two Highland children struggling with cancer. At a prayer service for them, Ella drew this while praying in color. I loved this too. I praise God for the children's ministry at Highland...one of the big reasons we love it here so much!

Big News for the Thomas Family!

For those of you who know me well, you know that for almost 14 of the 16 years I've lived in Nashville I've had a "Texas room". Texans have a way of being completely obnoxious about their state. I mean seriously...I remember getting grilled in Texas History at an early age in school. And while other school aged children drew maps of the United States, we drew maps of the U.S. AND Texas. I am, for better or worse, a Texan by birth. And now, after many years, I will become a resident of the Lone Star State once more!

I am excited to announce that we will soon be headed to Abilene where I will be the Minister of Worship and Arts at the Highland Church! I grew up in Abilene. And while I haven't lived there in 20 years, I still have a great love for that place. Highland is a wonderful church--rich in the Spirit and deep in the ways of Christ. I get to partner with an INCREDIBLE team there! Jonathan Storment (preaching minister) and Ben Siburt (executive minister) are relatively new to Highland as well. I am so excited about partnering with those guys...along with Matt Pinson, Beth Reeves, Michael Mercer, Sarah Campbell, Gina Lewis, Joe Almanza, Mary Lee Mattis, Suzetta Nut and Dickie Porche. The Shepherds at Highland are simply incredible. These men are iconic in my life. Men like Ronnie Lorenz, John Willis, Ed Allred, Roland Orr, David Wray, and so many more...helped shape me. These are the men who will now shepherd my family and me. I cannot tell you what that means to me. There just aren't words!

We have bathed this decision in prayer and it has been confirmed in our hearts over and over. I was trying to explain to someone today that it is the weirdest thing to have both incredible JOY and incredible SADNESS happening at the same time in our hearts. The sadness comes from leaving Nashville...and all it holds. Our friends here mean the world to us. Our family here is irreplaceable. How will we make it without Kiki and Kevin? Gail and Chris? Lauren Gingles? Jeff and Anna Berry? The Williamsons? The Batsons? The Westermans, Hensleys, McArthurs, Englands, Kirbys, Vickers, Musicks...the list goes on and on. There will be a lot of tears shed over the next month. I began that over the weekend by starting my goodbyes to the Gary Musick Staff and leading an emotional morning at Otter Creek with the ZOE team.

But, the JOY comes in knowing we are heading to a place that is also very dear to us...and to a work we believe without a doubt that God has prepared for us. We are so excited! Interestingly, Sheryl and I both have history at Highland. It was at Highland that we both (individually) discovered our passion for leading worship. And now, God is calling us back for a new season! What a treasure! And to be able to run that race with such gifted men and women on that Highland staff? Incredible! What a blast Storment and I will have on Sunday mornings!

Nashville will always be special to us...we married here. We had all our kids here. The big stuff in life has happened for us HERE. ZOE was established here.

Some have asked what we will do about ZOE. We will continue to minister with ZOE and look forward to the ways that our new partners at Highland will be able to contribute ideas and energy to that ministry. I see it only getting better!

While we are leaving a huge slice of our hearts here in Nashville, we will get to be in the same town with some of our favorite people on Earth! Craig and Beth Ann Fisher! WOO-HOO!! Amy and Grant Boone! Ronnie and Darla Lorenz! Kyle and Camille Dickson! The Lipfords, Perkins, Chranes, Millers...and so many more! And...it's so cool to think that when I left Abilene I had just lost a Sam Thomas who was so special to me. Now, I'm bringing one back! This Sam Thomas definitely has the fire and spirit of his grandfather (as do his two older sisters)!

We ask for your prayers as we make this important transition. I specifically ask that you'd pray that God will grant us peace and wisdom at every turn. And please pray that we can sell our house. We want to be able to begin without that hanging over our heads. Please pray for my mom as well. She will be joining us in the move. Her good buddy Dorris drove her to Abilene over the weekend to look at houses! She does NOT waste time, people. You know her.

So, let the excitement begin! We're coming back, Abilene...and bringing the Thomas family circus! Yee-HAW!