Worship Leaders Workshop {sold out}

I am very excited to be hosting a worship leaders workshop for young worship leaders in mid January sponsored by a patron who cares about developing young leaders in his church. Speaking of passions, I love encouraging young (and older) worship leaders to really dig in and continually improve at what they do. God deserves to be worshipped, and we as leaders have to encourage and raise up as many amazing, gifted passionate worship leaders as we can.

If you are interested in seeing how such an event could be put together for your church, you can get me through my contact page.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Christmas Eve Worship

I am very excited to be leading worship at our home church Forestview this Friday.  It has been several years since I have done that anywhere. One of the biggest challenges, of course, is to bring some level of interest to songs that have been done so much. Although we are doing a couple of newer songs, the vast majority will be the standards. Nevertheless, I think we will have some fun and infuse our spin on these classics.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Harnessing Passion

I have always associated the word passion with something positive. Far more linked to a calling, or something that really drives me. But the word is far more powerful than that. {definition} Maybe most importantly historically is that is refers to the Passion of Christ, his sufferings before His death..and subsequent resurrection. But the word is really an intensifier. A crime of passion is referring as much to the love that drives one to an inappropriate act, as it is to the in-saneness that has accompanied the break from reality that allowed the person to commit the crime.

I have heard it said that any passion that leads you towards positive work is valuable. For instance, hatred of injustice could spark the start of a charity as easily as a passion for performing could ignite an acting career. As I continue down this journey I am on, I am starting to realize that acting on some of my negative passions might be the pathway to growth and improvement not only in me but in life. I am passionate about music, I consider that a positive thing. But I am passionate about a great many things, many of which I would put in the negative category. My goal is to identify the useful ones and turn them into something positive.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Integrity - Be the Change

Integrity is really being consistent and honest about who you are and what you do. When people lack integrity, they create an environment of  derision. That environment might be their workplace, their friendship community, church or home, but if one lacks integrity whether one knows it or not, their reputation will disintegrate with those in their various spheres.

There is an interesting point here though. If one is a self-centred, unkind person, but is honest about who they are, there is generally less tension in all of their environments. In fact, a jerk who acknowledges their own narcissism generally manages which environments they will even participate in based on the fact that they have no interest in true friendships or family or church, they have interest in themselves and create environments around themselves that serve their interests. It is a sad state, but an honest one, and ironically people at least respect their integrity in representing their true self.

The tension filled spaces are created by those who are trying to portray a life of love, honesty, and "goodness", but are in fact not living up to the facade and not admitting their own short-comings. {Note:admitting one's shortcomings, apologizing, and trying and succeeding at improving actually creates a state of integrity} When one holds oneself up as a leader of anything, organization, church, family or business, it is vitally important that they check their actions against their pronouncements - daily. Without it, one will travel down the slippery slope of hypocrisy  unaware, or worse.....with some level of awareness.

How to read this? With yourself in mind. Although this may be a post that brings another to your consciousness, the best way to process this is in self-judgment. After all, we can only change the world one person at a time, if we are the change. (Cheesy but true)

Posted via email from Cliff Cline