Drake Maye was a star, but the defense stole the show. Reporter Khari A. Thompson examines if it was a turning point for New England.

The post Watch: Is the Patriots’ win a sign of improvement? Or a fluke? appeared first on Boston.com.

"To me, the bigger thing is just where the Bears are."

The post Bill Belichick focuses more on Bears’ dysfunction than Patriots’ strides after win in Chicago appeared first on Boston.com.

"I just felt like I didn’t fit into the situation."

The post Former Pro Bowler explains why he ‘didn’t like’ playing for the Patriots  appeared first on Boston.com.

The Patriots are now 3-7 after Sunday’s win over the Bears.

The post Patriots may have a long way to go, but this win showed they are playing hard for Jerod Mayo appeared first on Boston.com.

“This is who we are.”

The post In this win over Bears, there were clear similarities to Patriots’ season-opening victory appeared first on Boston.com.

Plus: Long-snapper and Naval Reserve officer Joe Cardona joins the show to commemorate Veterans Day.

The post ‘The Quick Snap’ podcast: Rams Week brings back Super Bowl LIII memories for Patriots appeared first on Boston.com.

The former Patriots QB cited McDaniels's halftime adjustments as a major reason for the team's most recent Super Bowl title.

The post Brian Hoyer: Josh McDaniels’s quick thinking won Super Bowl LIII for the Patriots appeared first on Boston.com.

This marks the first time in the 99-game series history that it will be played in New England.

The post Gillette Stadium to host Navy-Notre Dame football game in 2026 appeared first on Boston.com.

"He's the one who took my game to a whole new level," Gronkowski said of Belichick, adding that he thinks his former coach will be "unbelievable" as a television analyst.

The post Rob Gronkowski discussed why ending up with Bill Belichick, Patriots was ‘perfect fit’ appeared first on Boston.com.

"I think it was a great play to start Jacoby Brissett, let Drake [Maye] develop."

The post Rob Gronkowski is the latest Patriots icon to defend decision to start Jacoby Brissett over Drake Maye appeared first on Boston.com.

"It will be the same old story with Drake Maye in, if he replaces Jacoby Brissett."

The post Rob Gronkowski warns Patriots fans calling for Drake Maye to start  appeared first on Boston.com.

“Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules” premiered on Tuesday.

The post Former Patriots Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman announce new podcast appeared first on Boston.com.

Jasiel López never expected to be an activist. Then he learned that the DACA programme, which allows him to stay in the US, could be rescinded.

Also: why the jarana, a guitar-like instrument from Mexico, is showing up at protests in the US; women veterans want their voices to be heard in the #MeToo movement; we remember Mathilde Krim, who played a pivotal right in the fight against AIDS; and we speak to the authors of a biography of Josephine Baker, singer, dancer, and civil rights activist.

(Image: Jasiel López is a student at Florida International University in Miami. Credit: PRI’s The World )

"I got out of the car and I looked at the people and they all looked like me… and at that moment I realised where I came from."

On the programme: A fourth-generation Chinese American travels to his ancestral village in China; two Chinese adoptees return to their orphanage to help those left behind; Reem Kassis hopes her cookbook 'The Palestinian Table' will help her kids connect to their heritage; some residents of New Mexico have received surprising news about their ancestry; plus a man in California embarks on a dangerous quest to revive Yemeni coffee.

(Image: After a long search, 64-year-old Russell Low (left) visited his great-grandfather's ancestral home in Guangdong Province in southern China in May 2016. Credit: Ariana Lai)

The American economy may be strong, but the wage gap remains a huge concern. Also: solar panel tariffs could be a boon for US producers; residents in small coastal community in Florida prepare for climate change, mostly alone; a seed company connects Japanese-Americans with their roots; smoking pot could get you deported; and Green Day shatters a myth. (Image: Personal care workers Marilyn Sorensen (left) and Candice Bateman in Denver, Colorado. Wages for American workers are ticking upwards, but the US remains one of the world’s most inequitable nations. (Photo: Jason Margolis)

It wasn’t easy for Elton John to get producers to keep all the scenes in his new fantasy-biopic, “Rocketman.” He was determined that the Paramount film not gloss over his sexuality or past drug use. Despite his efforts, Russia’s version appears to be missing about five minutes-worth of footage. .

Also, we meet the American singer who teaches Italian kids how to sing like Beyoncé; plus the story of how Lucia Lucas became the first transgender person to sing a lead part in a standard operatic work in the US; why Lincoln, Nebraska is a great place to hear traditional Yazidi music; and Filipina-American musician Ruby Ibarra tells her family story with rap.

(Elton John (R) and David Furnish attend the "Rocketman" UK Premiere at Odeon Leicester Square in London, United Kingdom. Credit: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

With Bill Burr back hosting 'Saturday Night Live,' the 'SNL' writing staff came up with three Boston-adjacent sketches for the Canton native.

The post Watch Bill Burr play a ‘real Patriots fan’ on ‘SNL’ appeared first on Boston.com.

The post Everything you need to know about the 2024 Mass. ballot questions appeared first on Boston.com.

Plus: A new romance-only bookstore in Cambridge, a dive into SNL history, and the International Antiquarian Book Fair.

The post 8 books to soothe your Election Day jitters appeared first on Boston.com.

The Russian Embassy called the officials' announcement “baseless” in an emailed statement, saying Russia “has not interfered and does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including the United States.”

The post Federal agencies say Russia and Iran are ramping up influence campaigns targeting U.S. voters appeared first on Boston.com.

Some students of color at Stoughton High School were among those who received such messages, according to a statement from Stoughton Public Schools.

The post Racist text messages referencing slavery raise alarms, prompt investigations in Mass. and other states appeared first on Boston.com.

Plus: Holidays at the Newport Mansions, best places to visit in December, and the final Memorial Drive Recreation Sunday of the year.

The post The North End was named a hot spot for ‘authentic’ travel. Do you agree? appeared first on Boston.com.

The woman said a group of young men insulted her appearance, gloated about Trump's victory, and prevented her from driving away.

The post Woburn woman surrounded and harassed in McDonald’s parking lot by Trump supporters, she tells police appeared first on Boston.com.

<font face="Arial, Verdana" size="5"><b>Pune FC decry format change by AIFF for under-15 event</b></font><div><font face="Arial, Verdana" size="5"><b><br></b></font></div><div><span name="advenueINTEXT" id="advenueINTEXT" style="text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div class="storydiv" id="storydiv" style="color: rgb(63, 63, 63); line-height: 17px; float: left; margin-right: 20px; "><div class="Normal" style="font-size: 15px; font-family: georgia; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; ">MUMBAI: The <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Pune-FC&quot; style="color: rgb(51, 103, 151); text-decoration: none; ">Pune FC</a> Under-15 squad would not figure in this year's <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Manchester-United-Premier-Cup&quot; style="color: rgb(51, 103, 151); text-decoration: none; ">Manchester United Premier Cup</a> (MUPC) following a change in its format by the All India Football Federation. <br><br>The AIFF has restricted the tournament to one club per state. <br><br>"In a shocking development, the <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/All-India-Football-Federation&quot; style="color: rgb(51, 103, 151); text-decoration: none; ">All India Football Federation</a> (AIFF) and the sponsors of the tournament - leading sports apparel manufacturer <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Nike&quot; style="color: rgb(51, 103, 151); text-decoration: none; ">Nike</a> - decided to restrict the tournament to one club per state," a media release from Pune FC said, adding that the club to represent Maharashtra was chosen by a draw of lots in which <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Premier-International-Football-Academy&quot; style="color: rgb(51, 103, 151); text-decoration: none; ">Premier International Football Academy</a> of Mumbai got lucky. <br><br>"In the past editions of this one-of-a-kind tournament, all <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/I-League&quot; style="color: rgb(51, 103, 151); text-decoration: none; ">I-League</a> clubs received invitations in lieu of the tournament, national body and sponsors objective of promoting grassroot talent (particularly Under-15s) of I-League clubs," said the club which added the change in format was not communicated to the I-League clubs by AIFF. <br><br>"The change was not informed to clubs. At least we (Pune FC) did not receive any intimation and came to know about the change late Thursday evening. It's very disappointing on the part of the National body," said Pune FC's Head Operations, Chirag Tanna. <br><br>This year's MUPC is to be held at Jamshedpur in the last week of this month. <br><br>"As if changing the format is not enough, the selection process for Maharashtra by the state body<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Western-India-Football-Association&quot; style="color: rgb(51, 103, 151); text-decoration: none; ">Western India Football Association</a> (WIFA) was conducted by a lucky draw! Premier International Football Academy (PIFA), Mumbai got lucky and will represent the state as per the 'one-club-per-state' format," the club said, adding it had used the tournament to promote Pune city players in the last four years of MUFC. <br><br>"The tournament provided players their first touch of professionalism. Moreover, it attracted a lot many to the game with the hope of performing and showcasing talent on a national-level platform early," Tanna said. <br><br>"I can only imagine how disappointed the players feel. They have been training regularly since July 2011 and these whimsical decisions taken will only hurt the popularity of the sport," he added.</div><div class="Normal" style="font-size: 15px; font-family: georgia; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; "><br></div><div class="Normal" style="font-size: 15px; font-family: georgia; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; ">________________________________________________________________</div><div class="Normal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; "><font face="'Arial Black'">What bull****. Yet another reason why youth football will never do well. We can say "Oh we have these FIFA Academies" but what about at Indian club youth level. This tournament should be for any team that meets a criteria. No matter how many teams from each state.</font></div><div style="font-size: 15px; font-family: georgia; "><br></div></div></span></div>

A few months ago I wrote a very personally challenging article about pursuing a life of radical holiness in an extremely unholy world. You can read the full post here. In it I explore a common theme in scripture where God is calling His people to a life set apart from the rest of the world.

Leviticus 20:26 says, “You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”

Deuteronomy 7:6 says, “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”   

1 Peter 1:14-16 says, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’.”

Just to name a few.

But how do we pull off holy living in a culture armed and ready to drag us down at the first opportunity? Well, lucky for us, we don’t serve a God who doles out commands then leaves us on our own to figure it out. He supplies us with plenty of scriptures to give us guidance as we navigate these tricky waters. Scriptures such as . . .

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.  – 2 Corinthians 7:1

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.  – Ephesians 5:3

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.  – 1 Corinthians 10:19-20

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. – Philippians 4:8

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:1-2

“It would appear that we are to do any and everything we can think of to keep our minds, hearts, eyes, ears, and bodies as pure and clean as humanly possible. It seems to be pretty clear too, that this is not something that will happen passively. It will take a proactive, aggressive, and seemingly radical effort on our part to pull it off. The reason being that not only are we called to pursue holiness, but we are called to do it while still going out and making disciples. Sure, you could hole up in some underground bunker with nothing but a supply of food and a Bible in order to avoid all worldly influence. But what good are you down there? 

The Word gives us so many reminders to pursue holiness and instructions on how to do it because in order to further the Kingdom we will be forced to be out among an unholy world – one that is growing more depraved by the minute. And no matter who you are, if you surround yourself with that which is against God, and fail to guard your heart and mind, you will undoubtedly get taken down.” (taken from earlier post)

So where do we draw the line? Many believers hide under the cloak of “staying culturally relevant” to justify their pursuit of worldly desires. And unfortunately for a lot of them, that relevance has become a full-on camouflage, making them almost unrecognizable as a Christ-follower. But how did Jesus do it? How did He manage to maintain his holiness while mixing it up with the worldliest of the worldly? I believe that his motivation is what set him apart. He didn’t hang out with tax collectors and adulterers just to understand their world better. He spent time with them in order to show them a love they’d never encountered before. He invested in them so that they would leave changed, not the other way around. He was able to do this so effectively because of his deep, intimate communion with the Father and his commitment to a bold level of purity. Is it supposed to be any different for us as believers, as spiritual influencers, as leaders in the Church?

If you’ve had time to look at your calendar as it’s flown by, you may have noticed that Lent starts next Wednesday, March 1^st. For many churchgoers, this season serves as an opportunity to sort of re-center their spiritual lives by removing something for the 6 weeks leading up to Easter. For many it’s something like caffeine or sweets. For others it’s a worldly pleasure such as television or social media. Whatever it is they choose, the purpose behind eliminating it for those 40 days is to try to emulate the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness before he began his years of earthly ministry. It’s an attempt to make a personal sacrifice so that the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made on the cross weighs a little heavier on their hearts and minds. But then what?

As I was reflecting on past years when I’ve chosen to participate in Lent and am still being challenged by what the Lord spoke to my heart when writing the post I referred to earlier, I began mulling over several questions in my spirit.

Should Lent look different for mature believers as opposed to those younger in their faith?

What about for leaders in the Church?

How could we approach Lent in such a way that the effects are lasting?

Perhaps you’ve observed Lent for as long as you can remember or maybe this is the first year you are considering participating. Whatever the case, I wonder what it would look like for us to prepare for that holy season with a healthier portion of intentionality and purpose. What if, as leaders of God’s people, we decided to amp things up and instead of just choosing something to get rid of for a few weeks, we did a full scale inventory of our lives and began pruning out all of those things that distract us, that are not God-honoring, and that hold us back from pursuing the holiness we are called to? Can you imagine the eternal reverberations that might cause?

Maybe this year we still choose that one thing to eliminate for March 1^st – April 16^th, but instead of going about our daily lives for those 47 days (did you know that you don’t include Sundays in the day count?) we pray fervently for God to reveal to us those things that just don’t belong in our lives – those things that take up way too much of our time, attention, money, conversation, and preoccupation - and we begin purging and clearing out those hidden places. What a beautiful Easter morning that would be! What a glorious offering! That, my friends, is NOT your grandma’s Lent! That, brothers and sisters, is the makings of a revival!

This is the first of a three-part series on team building. The ideas are simple, but the why behind the what is the secret sauce to growing a solid team. Like most people reading this, I’ve made mistakes. And those disasters have forged the conviction that we can’t be in ministry without being radically committed to loving Jesus and his church more, and on a daily basis.

Keep Jesus close, make sure that your family always takes the right priority (more on that in the future) and be willing to make your church better.  Notice I said better, not different. 

Better, Not Different

One of the biggest complaints I hear from worship pastors/leaders is that somehow, they have found themselves in a church that they really don’t like. 

They don’t feel appreciated by their lead pastors. 

They don’t like the weekend worship experience. 

They don’t like the people. 

At the end of the day, there is so much complaining that I am left scratching my head wondering if they even love Jesus.  If this is you, take some time to pray if you can make your lead pastors vision for your church come alive. If you aren’t in agreement, you may be in the wrong place.  Do yourself, your family and your people a favor and get connected with someone or something that is complimenting to your convictions and your philosophy.  God created you to be you, but we are servants before leading anything. Some of us carry the responsibility to make things different.  Most of us don’t.  Know your place.  Is it your burden to change things? …or is it your job to make things better.  Talk to your teams about this.  This is a fantastic “clarity” question that will free up your bandwidth.

Is it your burden to change things? …or is it your job to make things better.

OK, that is my soap box! ☺  As I give you these three helpful tips, it’s important for you to know that these are just tools.  You can’t fake or replace strong spiritual foundations of ministry leadership.  Love Jesus and use tools and resources to LOVE His PEOPLE better.  We try to change people or churches.  But what I’ve found is that when you develop people, things change. 

But what I’ve found is that when you develop people, things change. 

So, if it’s our job to make things better, what are some ideas that we can do to commit to improving? 

1. Develop a leadership pipeline

Developing a leadership pipeline is a helpful tool to bring clarity to “who’s responsible for who and who’s responsible for what”.  It’s really difficult for a worship pastor to carry the burden of a ministry on their shoulders alone…and they shouldn’t. I don’t have to tell you that the apostle Paul makes it clear that we are called to empower people to do the work of the Kingdom, not do it all on our own! (Ephesians 4:11-13) We also get a peek into Moses' anxiety in Numbers chapter 11, where he's at his wit’s end and well over his capacity. The Lord tells him to gather 70 of his most trusted and responsible people. Moses brings them to the "tent of meetings" and the Spirit of the Lord pours over them.

God helped Moses build his team. He will help you build yours.

A leadership pipeline helps you identify your 70 (or even 7 figuratively speaking). This is the pipeline our church utilizes.  

How this works:

In this chart, we document how responsibility falls within a team.

• An assistant is the first place in which we invite someone to be developed as a leader.
• A leader is the first level in which a person is responsible for a team.
• A coach is the first level in which a leader is overseeing other leaders.
• A director is responsible for directing a particular team.
• A pastor is responsible for care, culture and vision.

My favorite area to develop is our coaches. In worship ministry, I am so lucky to have some of the best coaches.

Here's how this role works:

Jordan Hicks is my guitar coach. He is responsible for developing all guitar leaders, recruitment and assimilating guitarists for all of our campuses, adult, youth and kids’ teams. He's responsible for all communication and administration for this group as well. Because Jordan is the leader I've poured into, he completely understands my values, our church’s values and culture, and our end goal. He's a volunteer, but he brings a priceless value of leadership and excellence to our church. Our worship leaders never should worry about who they are leading with. We are spoiled because of warriors like Jordan. He's just one example of Ephesians 4 coming to life in our ministry.

I grew up as a jazz musician—tenor sax. I loved John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Thelonius Monk. C’mon somebody!  I was in high school when I first played in combos with some older pro musicians in our city. We started playing a blues tune when one of the guys stopped me and said, “In the words of Miles Davis, man…you can’t play blues because you haven’t hurt enough yet.”  Apparently, I lacked any sense of emotive playing ability as a teenager. And I hadn’t hurt enough yet. 

If playing jazz and blues is an expression of pain and hurt that we’ve experienced, then singing worship music is an expression of the HOPE we know. We can’t and shouldn’t do this alone. Lean on your team. Empower them. 

I am excited to share with you the next two tips over the next few months. You’ll be able to find them right here at allaboutworship.com.  If you have questions about developing your leadership pipeline, you can email me at mike@worship.coach.

For free development resources, check out www.worship.coach.

I am a Father of four beautiful children. I remember the moment that each child took its first breath. I was right there waiting with expectation for this important moment of life. My last two children are twin girls. It was amazing to experience the incredible miracle of their first breaths one right after the other. It was almost overwhelming.

I often wonder what it was like for God after making creation. He made the sun, the moon, the stars, the oceans, and the trees. All of this creation was on the simple power of His Word, but when He created man something was different. The rest of creation was created by the power of His words but man received His breath. The Bible says that “He breathed into . . .”

 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being" Genesis 2:6-7 (NKJV) 

It is from the very breath of God that we actually get our life.  Understanding the linkage of how we were created opens my heart to receive the great love of God.

I can imagine the pure delight God must have felt as the breath of His life began to flow through man. To see His image, His delight, His passion in front of Him with His breath inside of mankind was to see His beloved creation move beyond a vision into reality.

In the New Testament, the disciples are in a place of wonder trying to figure out how they are going to continue the mission when Jesus leaves them. The answer comes when God sends the Holy Spirit to breathe upon them. In the Gospel of John Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit to the disciples in the same manner that God gave life to humankind. Scripture tells us that Jesus breathed on them to receive the Holy Spirit.

"'Peace to you! As the Father sent me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'"  20:21-22 (NKJV) 

His very breath was breathed upon them and later in Acts was poured out through the Spirit of God. As believers we live as part of a greater Kingdom. There are realities that exist for us that seem contrary to the things we see. His breath is that which brings life.  

Now my children are a little older and aren’t at the first breath stage. Something else has changed. They have figured out the pantry and the refrigerator that belongs to me also belongs to them. For some crazy reason my kids think that because they are my children and they are living in my house that my food is theirs. They do not think twice to drink the milk or have some bread. They do not question whether they are entitled to it or not. They do not come to me and say, “Dad I wasn’t so good this morning so I don’t think I should be able to eat of your food today.” They could have been horrible earlier but they still come to me in freedom and boldness. Why? Because they know who they are and what is theirs. They know their first breath marked them as my children. The truth is I love giving to them. I love providing for them.

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Luke 11:9 (NKJV?)

Jesus' instructions to “ask, seek, and knock” contain a combination which is intended to unlock the shackles of hopelessness. 

When you know who you are and what Kingdom you are a part of, you have no problem asking. It is not hard to worship when you know that the very breath you are worshiping from is His. It is not hard to seek and knock when you know that your Father delights to give you good things.

I once heard Pastor Jack Hayford say regarding the Holy Spirit, “Without me, you cannot. But without you, I will not.”  He chooses to use us. We will accomplish the impossible things and even menial things set before us because the breath of God is our source.

The starting place is to ask and then in doing that, to draw on the energy and power of the Holy Spirit to go beyond anything we can pray on our own.  We need the breath of God to live in the fullest and to walk in the supernatural element. The breath of the Almighty God is what empowers us to move from the natural to the supernatural.

It is the very breath of God that distinguishes us from the rest of creation. Ask, seek and you will find the promise of God. May the reality of the breath of God in you move you to purpose and lift you higher.

Get the song now!

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Over the last few months we’ve tackled the topic of TEAM BUILDING.  As much as I would love to feel as if we have this one nailed, we don’t.  TEAM BUILDING is a muscle that every leader needs to continue to develop.  It’s easy to let this one slip away from us! Just when we start to feel like we are getting on top of this, something changes.  A vital team member leaves.  A leader needs to take on the responsibility of a different area.  Your best guitar player gets hired as the worship pastor at another church.  These are all real-life situations that happen in even the best teams.  They will happen to yours as well.

In our “Month One” blog on team building we presented the IDEA of developing a Leadership Pipeline within your worship ministry.  This IDEA helped support that idea that building an EMPOWERED TEAM is a powerful Kingdom tool.  “Who’s responsible for who?” and “Who’s responsible for what?” are two of the most important questions that needs to be answered in any team environment.  When you lead a team with clarity and spread out the responsibility for others to own your team, you ignite growth opportunities that might have went unnoticed. 

In “Month Two” we presented the idea of “Making Recruitment and Assimilation a Normal for Everyone”.  So many times, I bump into Worship Leaders and Pastors that feel the very unfair burden of building ALONE.  With this IDEA, we present the notion that every team can build better and faster when the team members who are on the teams are your best recruiters.  Make this a normal practice.  At my church, we practice asking new team members to “bring one” with you.  We have found that by making this a standard practice at ground level, we never have to ask for participation from the 10,000-foot level.  Whatever is visible is what replicates.  Empower your best leaders to build.

So here we are. Month Three.

Idea #3. Clearly Identify and Communicate Simple On-Ramps.

I love my city.  I live in Lincoln, Ne.  Home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  I love the youthful spirit and progressive nature of our city.  I have even grown to love and cherish the special college football atmosphere that engulfs our city on game day.  It’s addictive to say the least.  But one thing that I am not a big fan of is traffic on game day.  There is one primary road that leads into Lincoln and over 90,000 fans make the trek to our city on game day.  There are probable more if you include tailgaters.  THIS IS A BIG PROBLEM: The roads infrastructure needs to be able to support the traffic flow to the desired destination.  If there are too many confusing pieces of communication, it would put our city into emergency mode and have catastrophic effects.  I mean, the world might come to an end if people missed a Cornhusker Football Game! (No, but seriously) ;)

Having clear and simple communication about “what to DO next” can make or break your teams culture. 

Every month I host a worship leaders round table in Omaha Ne.  At this round table, Worship leaders from multiple different denominations gather for friendship and peer coaching.  These leaders have become family and they are amazing.  We discuss a wide range of worship ministry issues.  One topic that comes up regularly is “attracting the right volunteers”.  If a leader starts to pour their heart out to me about how they can’t get enough volunteers, I always ask one question to start the conversation.  “Can you tell me about your on-ramp?” This might sound overly simplistic, but what I have found is that sometimes we make it more complicated than it needs to be or we haven’t identified the answer to the most important question at all.  Every leader on your team, in unity, needs to be able to answer this question with clarity and simplicity.

 THIS IS THE QUESTION

“Where do I go and What do I do?”

 Having clear and simple communication about “what to DO next” can make or break your teams culture. 

 Here are a few suggestions when it comes to identifying your onramp into your ministry:

       1.     KEEP IT SIMPLE-

Keep it simple in language and communication.  Your “on-ramp” shouldn’t be riddled with complex forms, interviews and assessments.  Not yet anyways.  Create an “on-ramp’ that just answers the question, “where do I go and what do I do?”.  Worry about next steps later.  But for now, getting a “willing one” to show up is your biggest win. Make it simple for them.

For example, I person asks about playing guitar on the worship team.  Any leader in your department should be able to have the same simple answer. ”I am so glad you are interested!  We host all our new volunteers on Monday Nights at 6:30pm!  Would you be my guest?!”

       2.     USE WHATS ALREADY WORKING AS YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD-

­What is already working in your church?  Do you have a rehearsal process that is spot on?  USE IT!  Is God’s presence so thick in your weekend worship services that lives are being transformed?  USE IT! I’ve made the mistake of overthinking and over programming.  I’ve launched the “extra” visitor’s night or the quarterly worship night with the intentions of attracting new people.  Sometimes those things work.  But the problem is that even though they may be effective, it takes a long time for those events to represent the culture and team that we want people to be attracted to. 

Identify what’s already working and utilize those moments to “on-ramp” your team.

        3.     KEEP IT CONSISTENT-

Nothing can steal the wind out of the sails of progress like a good dose of inconsistency.  If you “welcome” new team members on Monday nights, keep that consistent for a season.  If you “welcome” new people to your choir rehearsal and you celebrate leaders that brought them, don’t change that unless you are communicating change.  Consistency, on this point, allows us the opportunity to get buy in from our team! Consistency builds reliability. Consistency gives our leaders tools to build with.  (Side note:  We will be talking about “embracing change” and reinvention in the upcoming months.)

Consistency tells our teams that we aren’t building a kingdom that only serves us, but we are leading an army that can fight battles when we share the burden.

Identifying your “on-ramps” could be a simple strategy that could help you engage people better.  Below is a sample of an “on-ramps” document that I created for our kid’s ministry at our church.  This idea isn’t just for worship/creative teams, but for everyone.

It is essential that you clearly communicate the “WHERE/HOW” to START whenever you are building teams.  Keep your communication clear and simple.  Try utilizing opportunities that your church is already doing well to interact with potential volunteers.  Lastly, be consistent.  Everyone should know the answer to this question: “Where do I go and What do I do?”.

 Having clear and simple communication about “what to DO next” can make or break your teams culture. 

Jesus, I pray today for the burden and stress that our worship leaders and pastors feel daily. We pray that you would continue to grow our capacity to shepherd well.  Thank you for entrusting us with big things.  We are honored to pastor your people.

Please feel free to use this resource or any that you find at worship.coach. Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions about these three helpful tips.  I am always glad to help. 

Michael King @michaelkingjr
free resources available at www.worship.coach

We are stoked to bring you this edition of the podcast! These gems will be released throughout the year in addition to our normally scheduled releases. We appreciate the voice that all of our worship pastors, leaders and artists bring to the table. We hope that you enjoy this as much as we do!

On this episode, Michael King gets a chance to talk to Matt Maher. Matt is currently promoting his new release, Echoes, and is on tour with Chris Tomlin. Matt shares his heart on the meaning behind “Echoes” and some great perspective that we have, as worship leaders, to lead with authority and with great burden. Check out more on Matt Maher by doing the following:

• Visit his website to learn more about him as an artist, his music & traveling dates
• Check Out "Echoes" on iTunes
• Follow Matt as an Artist on Spotify
• Subscribe on YouTube for even more content & music

A special thank you to Matt Maher for joining us. Next week we will pick back up on Part 2 of the Dustin Smith/Michael King discussion on the future of AAW. You won’t want to miss it ...

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Raise you’re hand if, like me, you went straight from your mother’s womb to a saved seat in the sanctuary of your local church. Now keep your hand raised if you knew from an early age that music was going to play an important role in your future. Keep your hand up, still, if you began singing on your youth group worship team the minute you reached the allowed age and continued all the way through high school and even through college as part of your respective campus ministries. One final round . . . keep it raised if, at some point during your time as a maturing worshiper, you had a seasoned leader intentionally pouring into you, helping you fully understand what it means to step into the role of a worship pastor. If your hand is still raised, you and the person or people who discipled you deserve as many rounds of applause as one might hear during the annual State of the Union. 

Why? 

Because somehow over the years, this incredibly important piece has gotten lost in all the stage fog and bright lights, and much of the Church has been left with a whole bunch of good song leaders and musicians with no pastoral legs to stand on. There’s been a universal confusion placed between the role of worship pastor/leader and worship artist or song leader. My friends, would you agree that these are vastly different roles? 

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. - John 4:23

If the people in our congregations only see the experiential (Spirit) side of worship, and don’t leave having been filled with truth as well, we have missed the mark. Don’t get me wrong, I love a well-executed version of this month’s top CCLI songs as much as the next gal, but where appreciation turns to disappointment is when it becomes abundantly evident that the person leading us has nothing else to offer besides a good voice. Do I believe that the Lord can use a song with or without a teaching moment stuck in there to expound on the message of the lyrics . . . absolutely. But I also believe that on the whole, those charged with leading our congregations in worship, week-in and week-out, are to be just as called, equipped, and anointed to shepherd His people as the other church leaders.

Indulge me for just a minute. 

Say you start hearing strange sounds coming from your car. You take it to the nearest auto shop and you’re greeted warmly by one of the mechanics. He seems perfectly nice and seems to know a lot of the lingo, as he throws around words like carburetor and fuel pump, but as you get further into the conversation it starts becoming clear that perhaps this guy doesn’t understand quite as fully as he’s letting on. You ask him, “So exactly how much experience do you have in fixing cars?” His reply is something like, “Well I’ve been hanging out here for several years observing these other mechanics fixing cars and I’ve watched several YouTube videos about it. They even let me turn a wrench every now and then when they need a bathroom break.” Something tells me you’d be hightailing it out of there to find a more experienced technician.

To my fellow ladies . . . if you walked into a beauty salon for a cut and color and the beautician available next is completely disheveled and her hair looks like a 3 year old styled it, how likely would you be to trust her with your coif? 

And yet, week after week, the hearts of many church goers are being entrusted to people with no pastoral training, no teaching experience, and a Biblical knowledge that is shaky at best. But whose fault is that? Is it theirs? They’re simply operating out of the amount of knowledge and equipping that they’ve been handed. I’m inclined to believe that it is we who have failed this forgotten generation of disciples and left them unprepared to carry this mantle to its fullest extent. Something desperately needs to change, wouldn’t you agree? 

Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. - 2 Timothy 2:2b

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up… - Ephesians 4:11-12

We clearly have been tasked not just with leading songs, but with discipling those who will one day fill our shoes.

But how? 

It starts with you, right where you are in your local context, finding those worshipers who you believe have been set apart to usher God’s people into His presence through music; who have the gifts that it takes to pastor the men, women, students, and children of your church; who desire to know God’s Word in such a way that they are ready to wield it from the stage in a manner that supports the songs they are leading; and who have the humble, teachable spirit necessary to step into this role. That could be a handful of high school and college students, green but eager. It could also be a few men and women who have already been serving on your team, but have never been poured into in this way. It may not even be members in your local church. It may be 3 or 4 people just a little younger than you who you know could really flourish with a little mentorship. Whoever it may be, find them. Reach out to them. Lead and guide them through more than just the “glamorous” and visible sides of worship leading. Dig into scripture together. Talk about what it looks like to really pastor and shepherd a church . . . the good, the bad, the ugly, and the uglier. 

My boss and dear friend, Michael Farren, says “a true worship pastor will have muddy boots and bloody knuckles.” Our job is not to stand up each week, sing some songs, quote a couple Bible verses, and give emotional cues in hopes of people experiencing an encounter with God. Our responsibility, to both the Church and her future leaders, is first to LOVE these people well, to TEACH them about His presence, to DEMONSTRATE what it looks like to worship Him both on the stage and off, and to LEAD them into a deeper relationship with the Lord.  Let’s not forget any longer that we are not the last generation of worship leaders. We are setting the bride of Christ up for failure if we don’t do our part in loving, teaching, demonstrating, and leading those coming up behind us.

To those of you already in the depths of discipling, bravo and keep at it. You are positioning your churches well. Thank you!

Maybe you’re reading this and you feel like perhaps you’re one of the very people talked about here who were thrusted into a position of leadership with little to no equipping. Don’t be afraid to ask another worship pastor to mentor you. We will never “have it down” this side of heaven. There is always more to learn.

If you’re a worship pastor out there who knows this is something that needs to be happening in your church, don’t wait. It’s never too late and you can never start too early.  Our team here at All About Worship is for you in ways you can’t imagine! We are cheering you on as you step into this crucial role! We’d love to know what kinds of resources and tools would be helpful to you as you start your journey. Feel free to comment below with questions or with things that have helped you in your experience.

The Boston Red Sox reportedly are “in” on free agent Teoscar Hernández. ESPN's Jeff Passan on Tuesday published a wide-ranging MLB offseason preview and reported the Red Sox, while not the favorite to sign the outfielder, are among teams interested. “The Dodgers are the favorites to bring him back where he thrived in 2024,” Passan wrote.

The Boston Red Sox have lost two of their three catchers to free agency this offseason. Reese McGuire and Danny Jansen will hit the market, and the Red Sox aren't expected to sign them back because the organization can do better. Boston's top catching prospect, Kyle Teel, may not be major-league-ready out of spring training. Like Jansen and McGuire, the Red Sox also need to hit the catching market.

Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers and outfielder Jarren Duran were both finalists for AL Silver Slugger awards but neither won. Guardians' José Ramírez won for AL third basemen. Yankees sluggers Aaron Judge and Juan Soto as well as Orioles' Anthony Santander were the three AL outfield winners. BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide , where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts. Duran, who was a finalist for the first time, led the majors in doubles with 48. He also tied with Arizona's Corbin Carroll for the major league lead in triples (14). He batted .285 with a .342 on-base percentage, .492 slugging

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