The Ragamuffin Blog

Our First Baptism Service

A couple days ago we had the great opportunity of having our first ever baptism service at Mosaic! On Sunday morning, seven men and women stepped up to publicly proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ. It was awesome. Nevermind that one of our amps caught on fire last week, or that we inadvertantly flooded the back of the Bourbon Theater on Friday when we broke a water pipe retrieving Rivertree's baptismal from the rafters. (Ah, the joys of church planting.)

On Sunday, none of that mattered. Having the opportunity to baptize each person and then to hear our community cheer wildly as they emerged from the water a new creation in Christ, was one of the neatest things I have ever had the privilege of being a part of.

And when the baptisms were over and we entered into a time of worship together, the community of Mosaic worshiped like I have never seen or heard them worship before. Eyes closed, hands in the air, voices shouting praises to God, it...was...incredible. It impressed upon me once more the unequaled power of story. There is perhaps no greater testimony of God's presence and power and grace than a life changed by the gospel. In the end, what else can do we do but praise God?

Above, Erik and I hug after he comes up out of the water. You can hear his story below.

A Powerful & Moving Video

My wife and I watched this video this morning and were both wiping tears by the end.

It is to one of my favorites songs of all time - "Everything" by Lifehouse. I had always liked the song (the album is one of my favorites of all time) that is, until I heard it while serving down in New Orleans doing post-Katrina work. A group of college kids were huddled up around an acoustic guitar one night after a long day of working in the heat and they were singing it as a worship song. After that night, the song took on an entirely new meaning for me. It has remained one of my favorites ever since.

On top of that, this video reminds me of why I am so passionate about the arts. They are so intimately connected to our souls and speak to our hearts in such a way that they simply cannot be separated from our spirituality. Personally, I think this is probably one of the most powerful artistic interpretations of the gospel that I have ever seen. (Just listen to the crowd!) And it communicates visually what I could never communicate with mere words. Enjoy...

Brian McLaren On Worship

This is a great video that I recently stumbled upon. In it Brian McLaren talks about the essence of worship and the conflict that exists in trying to make it an "industry." We end up cheapening vulnerable worship that often doesn't even resolve with "pre-fabricated worship experiences" that tend to be prettied up. He also touches on the pressure that creates for "worship leaders," who are often judged by the worshiper's emotional high or low. This is definitely something that I have experienced as a worship pastor time and time again. Great thoughts.