Rich Kirkpatrick, Author at Rich Kirkpatrick

The Dangers of Binary Thinking: When a 2D thought meets a 3D universe

Rich KirkpatrickAugust 15, 20160825 views

Mystery cannot be contained by two dimensions. We seem to escape mystery within the walls of our binary reality. If life was as simple as a switch, we could simply turn off or turn on solutions. In fact, we do that very act every day to choose hot or cold water out of the faucet. We change the channel or swipe to the next stream of content on our smartphones with ease. Choices, no matter how full of first-world sophistication all reduce themselves to a binary question. With thousands of TV shows, hundreds of thousands of songs, and millions of click-bait articles to peruse, the choice is either a yes or a no. The muscle that might have once been used on imagination and wonder is now occupied to manage the firehose torrent of information and entertainment headed in our direction. [tweet]We call on simple magic to solve our problems…

Worship CD Review: Songs in the Key of the Congregation by Rick Muchow

Rich KirkpatrickJune 16, 20160435 views

From time to time I indulge in sharing music that many of you might not hear about in the main industry. Indie worship projects are as good or better than anything produced by major labels. Here is an example of a recent release. I have to say I love the new album Songs in the Key of the Congregation by Rick Muchow, worship coach, songwriter, and former worship pastor at Saddleback Community Church. Rick’s music company is named appropriately “Encouraging Music”–a label easily attached to the years of encouragement dished out by Rick to worship leaders and congregations all over the hemisphere. Encouragement isn’t always the easy words one gives. Rick pulls us deeper with this project just as he does in his mentoring. Beyond all that Rick brings to the table, it is musically produced with excellence and the tones and sounds are as modern as anything out there.…

Five BAD ideas that will make your worship services FAKE!

Rich KirkpatrickApril 18, 2016141.2K views

We have all been there. Everything may sound fantastic, look attractive, and planned with purposeful intent. But, something just doesn’t seem right. You feel fake vibes when hoping for authentic ones. Regardless, what makes a worship service fake might be boiled down to a few things even though there may be many things we can put on a list. Here are five ideas that promote the “fake factor” in church worship services. The worship team is performing like they are in a stadium and only 200 people are in the worship center. Just means over-scaling your team, sound and presentation might not be helping you. The energy put into production shouldn’t outweigh the value of building relationships with the people in the congregation you serve. Your haze machine cannot fill that gap. There is no context of God’s character, just our experience. We can sing “we worship You” all we want, but who…

Hype, Manipulation and Other Unseemly Ministry Tactics

Rich KirkpatrickApril 12, 20166627 views

Photo Credit Sophia Louise Creative Commons It was repeated several times in a church staff meeting, so it was nothing new this time. The pastor instructed us to essentially be his “amen corner” during the sermon and exuberant charismatics during the musical time of the service. Laugh, visibly take notes, and clearly “leading” the crowd around you to respond to the platform. Of course, if the staff were lazy slobs and sleeping during the sermon and eye-rolling at the worship leader I might expect a reprimand. But, it was clear the goal was to create a more charismatic response through manipulation rather than instruction. Might the congregation say amen if the sermon was better delivered? Might the church sing louder if they were invited rather than coaxed into it? Authoritarianism Versus Egalitarianism In 2015, a movie called The Experimenter told the story of famous social psychologist Stanley Milgram. His experiments…

A Random True Story for Holy Week – “Lost and Found”

Rich KirkpatrickMarch 22, 20160320 views

We take it for granted that God is at work all around us, and even in us. Let me tell you a little story about this. You see, the random, chaotic, and uncertain world we live appears to meet us with coldness most of the time. Life is not fair. That is a fact. There are some who are disadvantaged while others have fortune smiling on them. All the while, it is not their fault for the circumstances they are born into. Indeed, we can also crash and descend with our own efforts as well. But, we can pull ourselves up and even more so we can pull up those around us. In between saving the world and just making it through the day are stories like these.