What's good boys good to see guys all again you're looking very handsome as always our current wheel amount record is two and one Three more wins. We had to the playoffs two more losses. We are booted. We have gotten an ultra bizarre team But I am very excited to share this team with you our franchise quarterback And honestly who I'm I'm planning to go to the Super Bowl with is 91 overall all madden warren moot We're rocking gift wrap gunslinger and hot route master like it's literally six months ago But he's a dog and I'm sticking to him or half back is not in the same boat We got that gold 99 Tiki barber with all the juice stats He's been incredible and so far he is not dead to me wide receivers could use a little bit of work But I love Justin Jefferson. He's got an awesome ability stack and you can never talk down on our prestige Jamar Chase You know there are gold 99 wide receivers in the game, but we don't worry about that It's 95 Jamar balls out Queen Johnston is on a roller coaster. He dropped a game winner backed it up by catchy a game Winner both were contested catches, but he came down with the second one our absolute bell cow Demons sent from the gods is Sam Laporta. I don't think I've ever seen this man drop a football. He averages 110 yards a game He's unbelievable.  That's Ray Lewis Rob Grunkowski We recently picked up Dray Greenlaw with his free lurk artist here when James always been incredible peanut Tillman's been insane Patrick Sertan's been amazing our newest prestige Bosa Jalen Carter and our gold 99 on defense is tribute Aaron Donald He's already been really really good, but we haven't seen enough of him yet He gets unstoppable force which is activated for the entire game after the first nine plays That's the team boys. You know the rules. We got three wheel spins We're gonna add to this squad and my goal is to get an awesome center We'll see if it's possible weekly wildcard top 12 it is possible But I think it's gonna be unlikely that there's gonna be a good center in here We're gonna find out we're gonna sort the entire auction house by time remaining and the weekly wildcard promo We can choose one player that appears on screen weekly wildcards top 12. Give me a center.  He's gonna be the second best player on my defense right behind Aaron Donald It's about damn time Minka got a good card, too I was wondering I almost prestige Minka. You know how mad I would have been this is the first card that Minka fits Patrick has Got since his core elite Erwin James was definitely the right call 98 make a Fitzpatrick with 97 speed 61 207 Minka and Durwin is such a nasty safety duo Steelers fans rejoice. All right abilities wise goal line stuff in deep route KO No, thank you. I'll take pick artist for free and hopefully his own KO Pick artist the thieves on KO this card is disgusting I asked for a center. I didn't get one but I got an amazing 98 free safety So maybe on this second wheel spin we can go ahead and get a center. Okay, maybe maybe maybe maybe's not correct We will get a center. The question is how good a random mini game times 10k points We did this last time it was a blast But it's really up in the hands of what mini game we get here first I'm gonna have Siri choose offense defense or special teams by going one two or three a Siri Can you pick a random number one through three? It's one.  Okay. Now. There's how many offensive drills one two three four five six seven eight nine Ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen. Hey Siri. Can you pick a random number one through fourteen? It's two rushing attack close quarters.  This is so good This version of rushing attack puts you in the red zone the field is narrowed and there are spinning hazards That might knock you down. We get one attempt. We multiply our score by ten thousand coins All right boys, we got Cal use check and then my great start man Honestly, if I'm gonna absolutely whiff it better be right at the start broke a tackle. Oh, we're going to the edge Are you? You're blocking the average black male's father down there. What are you doing use check?      It's actually why is he doing that?  We're gonna be just fine. Come on. Just shoot the gap and juke. Yep It's the move. No Straight straight middle juke left juke right. Oh, but that puts us closer. Okay Just shoot a gap.       No, you're not on the auction house He's not on the auction house dog. That's actually such a bummer.  I still get a 95 overall center. So we're gonna be just fine. Welcome to the squad, sir All right, honestly the offensive line looks great right now Russ Grimm and mackai beckon still can get replaced but they're nowhere near As important as they used to be we're gonna rock the wheel of overalls. This has been a while since I've seen this All right, we can get any single player in the game, but they must be this exact overall keep going please. Yes Oh, I would actually been so pissed if it was 90 95 is huge So any 95 overall player in the game we could take a quarterback But I'm rocking war and moon so it's not gonna happen I feel like a left outside linebacker is probably to move or a corner to get rid of brand stevens I think i'm gonna get a corner to rock for brand stevens a 98 overall corner is amazing But a 95 linebacker with lurk artist just as good as a 98 overall linebacker lurk artist for the most part O'quan smith 6194 speed 86 zone coverage 94 block shot 93 excel This might be our guy. Oh 77 man 86 zone 96. This is our guy.  I don't know if it's gonna be free, but he's gonna get lurk artists So it is one AP for his lurk artists let's find a way to make that work So 86 fred warner will come out for 96 roquan smith Look at the look at the ravens man rey lewis roquan smith roquan smith actually had 97 overall an outside linebacker So he's significantly better We need to get one AP off of somebody though enforcer supreme is a really cool ability But I don't think it's worth two AP. I get like I get a lot of nice hitsticks. That's cool But nobody's fumbling off them the fumbles come from der winds avalanche So we'll rock lurk artists and we're back to having one AP available on this defense See if rey lewis has something available for one I think he does get mid zone KO for one as an option only in this slot though Honestly, I'm fine with how we got this looks amazing. We have one AP slot available on defense But we still have one more wheel spin honestly with this wheel spin right here I think I would like a new wide receiver three Ah, what do we take quitting johnson out? He had the game winner Oh big spender on this one 250k. All right. What are 96 97s going for and now we got 250k to spend on one player Oh, yeah, we're gonna get a stud.  This is like a this is an rpo shutdown man And he comes in at a really great price of 160,000 coins He also gets pick artists for free deep rock. KO is a really good ability I just don't run enough man coverage for it to be that important We'll go pick artists deep rock KO just because we have the room He also has a stop and go motivator boosts all linebacker strong safety free safety and corner players Ed's changed the direction to everybody. Did I just do four wheel spins? No, somebody come make me take my medicine right now Somebody sent me to an old folks home, bro. I have dementia I just did all that shipper bow jackson. He's not going on this team. No, I'm done We do add an amazing minkha an amazing roquan and josh meyers Our record is two and one. I gotta get it together. Of course the challenge wheel Completing this challenge the greatest one pack from the store Of our choosing.  Oh This one is so hard. I'm serious set the edge set the edge Wait and just set wait a second. Wait a second. Wait a second. Did that pylon fall over? Knock over a pylon pat mackphee patrick willis kendall fuller today is the last day for pat mackphee I only wanted to use him for one game. It wasn't fair for me to use them all of them gun wide trips week rock pretty christian mccafrey see george kiddle here we go boys Do it do it do it. Oh Chamarie connor sub then right there. I don't know why chamarie connor's in that should be rob garnkowski every day of the week He's gonna go with a little rpo Brandon stevens and he gets a legal man downfield. Do you want a second? No third and two on third and two All right, let's play underneath this. Don't let him run the ball Oh, that was play action. Shit. He got me so good bosa in coverage fourth and one Let's get a stop what a start to a wheel amount. This would be fourth and one. Does he run it? No half back half back He's manning up jamar chase. He's gonna get torched by this whip, bro I'm just kidding. Oh my god.  Two of you. Just a cook. Can we watch that back, please? How are you gonna do my boy warren moon like that? He puts his heart and soul and blood on the line every single day For your night that just that was a two-man rush Knowing out with Brandon Stevens though Hmm definitely a pass here. I'm guessing pass. I'm scared of mccafrey. That's it Oh Ho bosa wait, what am I talking about? Why is bosa in coverage? That's why you are lurk artists right there. Shit Play action. He's got absolutely nothing and that's why we blitzed bosa second and 10 nice work I miss it will blitz bro. I miss three three. I miss dollar. It's all right. We're gonna make it work.   Oh, maybe not a little bit out of reach on that pass third and five Don't forget gentlemen. We can run the ball now. Who's he got on the line over there? Who is that mica parson's? This is your niner's theme team. Why do you have team of the your mica parson's you cuck? Doesn't matter Run game maestro might just might just throw a hot laser beam dot on you just for funsies Just kidding. That was the opposite of a hot laser beam dot, but it was 15 yards Uh, jr. Chase butt naked wide open.  That was so bad big opportunity to take a nice lead here quentin johnston This actually could be an insane touchdown for quentin johnston Oh my god, it is it is it is War moon doesn't miss those he never does. Why does this may have 99 throw on the run accuracy?  I had this exact same lead and I managed to give up two straight touchdowns Not on peanut tealman buoy definitely one of my favorite new additions to the team He wants macafer and he doesn't have it. Oh, good ball. Good ball The feds don't want me to so i'm gonna get off me got me buoy. Shit. It's such bad defense Is it is it a crime to want to pass rush with aeron donald?  I've literally never used your d-line in my life.   I don't like it.  I'm coming over here.  He's kind of dotted me up. We had gel out. No double team. Oh my god. Oh my god I got off so fast No, he's gonna throw right across right right across the middle. I gotta get to him Yep, he steps up Okay, that was actually pretty sick well played httr But uh, I got this juicy lead here that i'm not gonna give up Let's see what coach suggests coach suggests dragon spacing. Can somebody make the joke for me? I'm not gonna make it but if one of you wants to make it for me, that'd be great. Oh, do I smell a coye? Do I smell a nigerian nightmare? That's the power of all of nigeria right there.  Oh my god. Let's go jetters. Uh, this is gonna be a sammy. Oh, no, just kidding Beautiful, you know, it's funny No, it's funny. That was a drag. There's a drag that jesson jefferson just decided to sit down on but whatever He's on mac-a-fee, but I feel like leporta just goes over his head here. Yeah, he does Oh bad ball. That was a freeform though. So it's saying perfect accuracy, but it went exactly where my freeform put it So that what that is why that ball was out of reach. That was not the game's fault turn four.   It's literally just like last game. Here we go. It doesn't change. It doesn't change a thing I'm going on here and don't change is nothing Oh my god. Oh my god. I got through so fast Yo, I've never enjoyed being a user d-line man until right now Okay, so he's got a tight end here. This tight end might have a router. He might be blocking. Okay, so he actually has a route How did nobody get to me? Yo, somebody's there, right? They're like actually Somebody's there, right? What are you doing down there?  Oh a slip screen Damn, I really thought I got off of those good hit. I need to cover two. I think he gets this Great ball. Well, he scored really fast no clock management on it So now we can score before half and then get the ball at half. This is literally last game This is the same game as last game.   I like how this looks. What? This is too much. He says 95 speed. Oh my god screen. Oh, did he just do that? What? He's actually not I mean 95 speeds amazing, but many cards in this game have 99. How did that happen?   We know it's a pass So we guess pass to get that juicy little pass rush bonus. I got two X factors over there. Who's got their X? Oh derwin 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 He caught that right. He's all the way up on the 32. It's gonna go try the same thing. Oh, no. Yes No, Aaron Donald second attempt beauty. All right. I gotta cover that zone. Fuck. I have chmary connor Oh, no, who am I on? I'm on bossa. How do I end up on bossa? It doesn't matter No, he got it off. I think that would have knocked him out of field goal range I've been so big tell me why I might be able to get another possession out of this He probably blocks mccavry.  I wish I had my bow right now I would love him to make a mistake right now Yes, that's a mistake Brandon Stevens.  Oh, that's that's exactly what I was saying. He can go mccavry all he wants He won't have enough time. He's going for it. I love it. Hell. Yeah, bro Gotta look at mccavry over in the middle too. There it is. Yes.  Wait, that was boxed. You two guys there. Both were lurk artists. Why did nobody jump? Hey, great drive by him 21 to 22 at halftime. We have a one-point lead Hey, we score here and get the two-point conversion be massive. I think I want to score quick I want him to make mistakes his first like couple plays. I thought this game was going to be boring as hell Uh-oh, that's a bad ball.  Okay, he's going to take mccavry and he's going to go cover justin jefferson Maybe both 10 for 13 168 a tutty for our goat warren moon a huge two-point conversion here would give me a Gnarly lead, but I think I'm going to force his hand honestly Oh, he manned that up nice So he manned up with mccavry on jefferson. He knows i'm going to look at la porta here Wonder if I could get jamar chase though jefferson Oh He's doing a two-man pass rush again, though. I might be able to step up a warren moon maker play. What is this defense?  It's a touchdown not having any trouble in offense. I'm just having trouble defense right now He's killing me. All right. We take the pat and we maintain the eight-point lead We're forcing his hand at some point. He's got to go for two and when he does We got to stop and six plays 82 yards a minute 44 very well could be a run play really hasn't ran the ball much today That looks like it'd be a right side run if it was Fucking bottled now. He passes out of frustration and I'm sending a big blitz. I'm sending a six man He's got mccavry For rey louis I needed that. I needed that bad. Let's go boys gigantic play. All right. Go back to the run game Let's milk some clock here a field goal. I mean, it's not just as good. That's crazy though. He has three turners I have zero it's 29 to 21 like I have three entire more possessions than him And it's I've only got an eight point lead. I do not care at all if I settle for a field goal here like straight up.  There is it. There is a chance Oh I just put a free form to the back of the end zone to Justin Jefferson. I don't know if it would have been there I like to think it would have been but it was risky too. I definitely could have got picked off So maybe maybe that was fate telling me to take this field goal a very passive drive there But we got the ball back and we take the two-position lead. That's what I was looking for.  It's not gonna happen boys 32 to 21 high scoring game.  He usually has happened some incredible games I tried to jump over the dock to secure that I actually probably do go for this I want the 14 point lead because one more field goal Then again puts me at two possession if he were to score a touchdown So all I have to do is get in field goal range again. Honestly, you know what can he just throw another interception, bro Can you just do what you've been doing these last couple drives, please?    I get back to states to open it So it's not as impactful as it would be but I still want the 40 bomb Who doesn't want the 40 bomb and that's why you get the Nigerian nightmare go for it dog I'm going no huddle and I'm running it again. I mean he knows right, but just power through Did he just move his detackle bro? This might be a subscriber. I think he was trying to give me the 40 bomb I think he was trying to give it to me.  He moved his detackle out of that spot And I still couldn't get it Honestly, this might be for the best that I didn't get the 40 bomb because I can't open it right now Anyway, I literally can't He has absolutely nothing to throw. Oh, just kidding. Even he was shocked by that catch. I hope he tries that comeback or out again I want to jump it Oh, no, that's just a oh my god. That was a streak. He could have thrown it.  Aaron Donald over Kelsa was the call third and 20 scams all but over Heater the 40 bomb is actually possible. Do you see what I see wait a minute? Oh somebody get there. It's not possible now. I needed him to throw it if he threw it Oh, no, these are not you cannot. Oh that uses clock actually so dumb That was 22 to 21 at halftime We pulled away with three field goals and a touchdown in the second half I gotta be honest boys the 40 bomb wouldn't have mattered. I can't open that box for like three weeks What a game from war and moon though 142.0 qbr 15 for 20 to 12 two touchdowns no interceptions This is my quarterback for the rest of the season. Absolutely dude. He is showing out tiki barbers worst game by far But we just didn't need him. That was the thing. We really didn't need anybody on offense all too well It was defense who played so well two interceptions out of ray luis He had the game winner honestly minka had one derwin had one peanut tillman had one and a pick six for ray luis Early on in this game. Awesome. Awesome game. Our record moves to three and one And I think most exciting is we just don't have a lot of holes on the team anymore I'd love to get a better guy than hunter henry. That'll right tackle better left guard When johnson, I've loved you man, but you will eventually get replaced war and moon I'm going to the promise lane with him He's taking us to the bull and then defensively We just got to get brandon stephens out of here when brandon stephens is coming in and then chamari connor's coming in on These nickel sets that is really bad. These are these are huge liabilities All right boys, we are three and one new more wins are in the playoffs line season has been awesome I love you guys. I'll see you in the next one. Peace


And what a perfect way to say good morning and welcome to another Sunday here at First Unitarian Society, where independent thinkers gather in a safe, nurturing environment to explore issues of social, spiritual, and ethical significance as we try to make a difference in this world. I'm Steve Goldberg, a proud and intellectually gifted member of this congregation, and I'd like to extend a very special welcome to any guests, visitors, and newcomers. If this is your first time at First Unitarian Society, I think you'll find that it's a very special place. In a moment, you'll hear the sound of the gong, and that'll be your signal to join in a moment of centering silence so we can be fully present with each other this morning. And after that, I invite you to sit back or lean forward to enjoy today's service. I know it will touch your heart, stir your spirits, and trigger one or two new thoughts. We're glad you're here. Please remain standing for the opening words and the chalice lighting. We come together today in this room, some as friends, others as strangers, but all of us sojourners, seeking human acceptance and human warmth. Here may we discover others like us, and may the flame of love be rekindled in our midst. We come together today as teachers with visions to share, desiring to be heard and understood. Let us recognize that all men and women have something important to share, something worthwhile, a singular story to tell. May we listen to each other with respect and with compassion. We come together as seekers, our spirits impoverished from meeting the week's many demands, thirsting after the living waters of worship and fellowship. May all who have entered here be nourished in this house of free religion. Spirit of truth and goodness and community, we are thankful for the custom that brings us together, because we know that our lives would be so much poorer, our quest for understanding so much more daunting were it not for occasions such as these. So let us make the most of this opportunity for connection, edification, and renewal. Steve, if you do not light our chalice, and as he does so, please join me in reading the words printed in today's program. Come into this circle of friendship. Come with your questions. Come with your cares. Come with your sorrows, joys, fears, and yearnings. Come into this hallowed space, open and expected, seeking not to evade, but to engage life, to meet its challenges with curiosity and with courage. And in the spirit of fellowship on this fine June morning, please turn to your neighbor in exchange with him or her warm greeting. At this time, I'd like to invite any children who are in our midst to come forward for the message for all ages. So about nine years ago, I finished writing a book, and this is the book. It's called Making the Good Life Last. I'm not trying to promote it here this morning. But in this book, I identify four keys to living well in this world. And one of those keys to living well is to exercise patience. You know, in the Dalai Lama, who is a very important spiritual teacher, says that patience of all the virtues we have is the most like a muscle, because it gets stronger when you exercise it. Okay? So this is a story about patience, and it's called Remi the Rhino Learns Patience. He had taken deep breaths, and he had counted to ten. But Remi the Rhino was charging again. The zebras this time were about to get hurt because they'd eaten the grass that he had saved for dessert. It seemed there was constantly someone to charge, because that's what you do when you're angry and large. His doctor said he had issues with rage. But his daddy told him, just please act your age. Everything always made Remi upset. The dust was too dry. The rain was too wet. He hated the heat, and he hated the cold. He wouldn't put up with the young or the old. The meerkats were jumpy. The hornbills too loud. Giraffes made him grumpy. The lions were too proud. Gazelles were too timid. Baboons made him scowl. They'd better stop bothering Remi right now. One evening, he dropped for a snooze on the ground. When an aardvark came bumbling and snuffling around, hungry for insects, she searched with her nose till she tripped on a patch of rhinoceros toes. And Remi got mad, as you probably guessed. But the aardvark did something I wouldn't suggest. She stood there waiting for Remi to charge her. She stood there and watched as he got closer and larger. And at the very last moment, as quick as can be, she dodged and Remi ran into the tree. He tried to step back, but his horn had got caught. And the more Remi struggled, the stucker it got. He groaned, and he steamed, and he moaned, and he grunted. But still that old tree wouldn't do what he wanted. He screamed like a banshee, and he stopped on the ground. It sounded like thunder for miles around. Hundreds of animals fled in confusion. And the aardvark said softly, I have a solution. Remi calmed down for a moment or two, so aardvark went on. I know just what to do. What you need are some creatures to chew on this tree. I've got some connections. Leave it to me. The aardvark left Remi alone to consider what kind of beast nibbled trees for their dinner. When the aardvark came back, with a termite parade.  And so Remi experienced strange new sensations. He took a crash course in the virtue of patience. He waited through rain, and he waited through thunder. He waited through birds climbing over and under. He waited through leopards, absurd decorations. He waited through gawkers from far away nations. He waited through elephant balancing acts, until little by little to relax. There it is. Do you remember how at the beginning of the story he got mad at the zebras and was chasing them off because they were eating his grass? What are they doing now? They're all sharing. That's what happens when you learn how to be patient. So thank you for listening to the story, and now we're going to invite you to go to summer fun and have a lot of fun while we have our own fun here singing our next hymn. Please be seated. I invite you now into a few moments of meditation and intercommunion. So let us settle in and let us be serene at this time of spiritual deepening. But aside for a few moments, let us set an eye, leave behind all fretful concerns, all troubles, the torment, all inner confusion. Put away for now all the plans to be made, the things that need to be done, the plaudits to be won. Breathe deeply. Clear the mind of all its clutter. Purge the spirit of all inhospitality. After a busy morning, sit easy and be at rest and feel your body recover its balance, your mind its bearings, your spirit its strength. Feel the presence of your companions surrounding you and find reassurance in the warmth of their welcome and the support of their caring. We who have been wanderers groping for something we know not what, here is a place for us, a temporary but welcome home for every restless and weary spirit. Let us continue on in a moment to more of silent reflection. Blessed be Adam. So I'd like to offer two commentaries on parish ministry that rang true for me when I initially ran across them. The first is from Martin Copenhagen and Martin Copenhagen is a united... a UCC minister, United Church of Christ or Unitarian's Considering Christ, as they're sometimes known. And this is from a book that he co-authored and it became one of my favorite books in the last few years called This Odd and Wondrous Calling. Copenhagen writes, wisdom may be the one distinguishing quality of pastors because all people have an equal opportunity to demonstrate the same integrity and faithfulness that good ministers exhibit, but ministers have been given a unique opportunity to become wise. Of course, not all pastors are wise, God knows, and often the wisest people are not pastors. But the nature of the pastoral life is such that it gives a person an extraordinary shot at becoming wise. But then I need to pause to say a word about what I mean by wisdom. It has been called the woolly mammoth of ideas, big, shaggy, and elusive. Philosophers, theologians, and social scientists have all found wisdom notoriously difficult to define. In part, this is because wisdom is more than a single attribute. It's more like a cluster of attributes, including a clear-eyed view of human behavior coupled with keen understanding, a certain tolerance for ambiguity and what might be called the messiness of life, emotional resiliency, an ability to think clearly in circumstances of conflict or stress, a tendency to approach a crisis as an intriguing puzzle to be solved, a gift for seeing how smaller facts fit into the larger picture, a mixture of empathy and detachment, a way of suspending judgment long enough to achieve greater clarity and an ability to act coupled with a willingness to embrace judicious inaction. Again, it is not all pastors who are wise in this sense. Nevertheless, the kind of experiences one has as a pastor are just the kind of experiences that can help to nurture whatever gifts for wisdom one might have. The second reading is a bit of a meditation from a UU minister named Elizabeth Mugen, and she is a Vietnamese American and a strategist with our headquarters in Boston, the UUA, and she also happens to be a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. Elizabeth writes, This is for when you want to write the resignation letter. When you want to skip town, give up on this job, this congregation, this community, this family, this faith. When you want to start a new life slinging brunch on a beach, definitely on a beach. Specializing in sunny-side-up eggs on buttered toast and mango smoothies. Never think about justice and covenant and love and heartbreak, just about all the yellows of the sun and the egg and the mango. Spirit, give us the long view. Because we are only here because someone else refused to give up on this congregation, this community, this family, and this faith. Give us perspective, humor, a break. Give us teammates who we can tell the truth to. Give us faith and honesty and mangoes. May we dig down past the giving up and find the grit to get through. A U-Haul truck in the driveway. The day it was suddenly real. But you saw the truck, a real-life truck in your driveway. We let you sit behind the wheel. A truck that will take you to the parish in May of 1987. My predecessor, Max Gabler, provided a summation of services he had rendered to the First Unitarian Society during his distinguished 35-year pastorate. His records indicated that Max had presided at 1,112 weddings. 236 memorial services, child dedications totaled 356, and 1,789 people had been welcomed into membership. Max did not divulge in that report how many sermons he had written and delivered, but I would guess it was somewhere in the vicinity of 900. Now from my own clergy logbook and a few back-of-the-envelope calculations, I figured that around 2,800 people have joined the society during my tenure, and listeners were subjected to 750 of my sermons. I presided at fewer weddings than Max Gabler, only 540. He married half of Madison sometimes, I think. But I've also presided at far more memorial services, 347. Between us, Kelly Crocker and I have probably dedicated in the neighborhood a 450 infants and children. So these are, perhaps, who will agree, some rather impressive numbers, but they do not tell the whole story, and if they did, this would be the shortest sermon on record. In the May FUS newsletter, I listed other developments that were related to the society's financial progress, construction and restoration projects, increases in staffing and in programming, extended outreach efforts into the larger community, advanced reforms. I don't intend to repeat today what has already been published. If you are interested, you can check out this newsletter on our website. So what I prefer to share with you today is a bit more squishy, a bit more subjective, something that is less a historical overview and more of a personal testament, a summary of some of the insights that I have gained over my three decades among you, and whether they will strike you as significant insights remains to be seen, but at the very least, you will have a brief glimpse at one Unitarian Universalist minister's inner life. So at the risk of indulging in a cliché at the outset, let me begin by acknowledging that my missteps have generally proven more instructive than any successes that I enjoy. And fortunately, there have not been too many pratfalls in 30 years, because if there had, my career path probably would have unfolded a bit differently. You know, most men and women who enter the ministry do not stick with it. The drop-out rate after 10 years of service is 50%. And so it is the rare individual who enters this profession as young and as green as I was, and keeps plugging away until Social Security kicks in. Because for many people, it's very easy to get discouraged doing this kind of work. So while pondering what I wanted to share with you this morning, I returned to a file that I had been keeping from the time that I left Binghamton, New York to come here to Madison. And in that file was the last sermon I delivered to my former congregation, and the sermon was entitled Parting Shots, which gives you an indication of the ambivalence that I felt after seven years in that community. So in that discourse, I also shared some of my learnings during the seven years that I had been in Binghamton. I said back then that I had gained some really important self-knowledge, and particularly about my rough edges. A career in the parish ministry was for me something of a stretch, I confessed, a role that from a temperamental standpoint I was really not all that well suited for. From time to time I had been informed by members of my congregation in Binghamton, well usually secondhand, that I could be intimidating, standoffish, overly cerebral, lacking warmth. In other words, since coming to Madison I have undoubtedly mellowed just a bit, but as they say the leopard really doesn't change his spots. Similar comments have reached my ears here as well. And I will allow that there is some measure of truth to them. And while these may be impeccable flaws, I have gradually figured out how to compensate for most of them most of the time. And having colleagues like Kelly Crocker and Karen Gustafson and Mary Ann Macklin, that has helped me a great deal and I have appreciated them for the balance that they have brought to our clergy team. One of the secrets I think of long-term ministry is the ability to recognize your own limitations and bring on board co-workers to exhibit strength in those very departments. Of course that also means that you are obliged to share the limelight to give your colleagues encouragement, opportunities to shine. And then when they do so to offer them commendation, all of which I have tried to do. And it also helps if you do not take yourself too seriously and can make peace with your own deficiencies. The admonition of an enlightened Zen master that he once shared with his own students is one that I have also taken to heart. He told them, you are perfect just as you are and you could also stand some improvement. A second insight I have gained and one that Don Miguel Ruiz highlights in his little book The Four Agreements is not to take most things personally. Because often it's not when someone takes you to task, someone declares that you have let them down something in their own life experience or in their unspoken assumptions about you is probably contributing to their displeasure. And that's not to say that I as an object of their displeasure am always blameless. There may well be something in the complaint that deserves sober reflection. And if so, I have found that nothing does more to mollify my critics than to simply admit I missed the mark. And in fact if that has truly been the case to offer a mea culpa. And I've also learned over time that a person can do this without losing their intrinsic sense of worthiness. As Catherine Schultz points out in her book Being Wrong, which I recommend to you, in our culture most of us are terrified of public speaking, but also of making mistakes. We take the mistakes that we make too personally presuming that if we admit to being fallible we will forfeit our credibility, our trustworthiness, and the respect of others. But in fact, my experience has been just the opposite. That in dropping our defenses and owning up to our mistakes we can actually gain respect. And we can also develop greater sympathy for the world's other fallible people. And if we honestly do think that we are being seriously misjudged, well rather than go into a defensive crouch, we would do much better by pausing, listening quietly, seeking clarity through questioning. Be curious in other words, rather than argumentative. Have I always succeeded in dispelling negativity in this way? Well of course not. Because when someone comes on to me strong and without warning or provocation I feel that surge of adrenaline and the old reptilian brain gets a jump on my better judgment. We're all familiar with that. And in such instances the outcomes are often, if not always less than ideal. That leads to a third insight, one that I had already alluded to in my message to the children. The value of patience. Early in my career this was hardly my strong suit. And by the time that I got around to writing that book, Making the Good Life Last I had kind of turned a corner in this respect. And I did not remember when I was writing that book that at the time of my departure many years earlier from Binghamton, New York my colleague and mentor up the road in Ithaca had written a letter, a kind of a farewell letter in which he offered me some pointers about succeeding here in Madison enjoying a long and prosperous ministry here in Madison. And chief among the pointers he gave me was exercise patience. He says you will encounter critics and adversaries and your best weapon for dealing with the people you want to see gone is the knowledge that your ministry is more lasting than their dissatisfaction. I call this patience Jack said. Others call it stubbornness. And so Jack described the president of his board who had gotten under his skin. But he did not let that conflict distract him from his core ministerial responsibilities. This too shall pass he reminded himself. The key to staying centered when work becomes a struggle is the exercise of patience. And as I quickly learned patience is also called for when one is stepping into a parish that has been served so well by your predecessor the distinguished Max David Gabler. You have to be tolerant of those who even after your decade of service still want to refer to you as the new minister or those who will react to something that you have done some decision that you have made and they will tell you reprovingly that is not the way Max would have done it. Patience tells us not to resent statements like that not to personalize them but rather to see them as a sign of honor for your much esteemed if you can if you can stick it out if you can perform well the congregation will in all likelihood come to embrace you on your own merits not just because you're a clone of Max Gabler. Fourth know how to claim your authority without throwing your weight around. A few years ago I was asked to deliver the sermon at the annual General Assembly Service of the Living Tradition which is a very big deal that's an honor you speak before 5,000 UUs from all over the country and the topic that I decided to speak on was the topic of clergy authority which has been in rather serious decline in recent decades the office of parish minister which in an earlier era was a source of considerable influence in the larger community today it enjoys very little prestige nevertheless despite this within any given faith community a minister can over time win the confidence of the congregation and become someone whose opinion and judgment carry considerable weight and boy was that ever true of my predecessor Max Gabler and I like to think that it's been true for me and probably it has been because one of the comments about my ministry often is that if Michael wants something to happen it is going to happen or words to that effect and frankly I don't think that there's anything terribly wrong with that to be called into leadership entails and requires the granting of a certain amount of authority the trick in a democratically governed system such as ours is to exercise that authority in a way that compliments other people's efforts and respects the influence to which they also engage for me it has always been important to recognize that there are natural and appropriate limits to any persons authority including mine and thus to use it sparingly and at times when it can produce a positive institutional outcome I like to think of it less in terms of authority which is kind of a turn off for a lot of people but rather as accumulated social capital that I can then invest in building and expansion projects in social justice initiatives in organizational realignment for most purposes however I've tried hard in these 30 years not to step on the rightful prerogatives of our leadership of the congregation as the governing body or coworkers who have been empowered within their own spheres of influence and that's what it means to exercise proper authority without becoming authoritarian a fifth point use your authority but don't over invest in outcomes for much of my ministerial career I had this bad habit of over functioning I always had the nagging feeling that I had not done enough and there was always something else that needed to be done that it was my sole responsibility to do I did not need a supervisor breathing down my neck or giving me marching orders I was pretty much my own taskmaster Parker Palmer calls this kind of behavior functional atheism the belief he says that ultimate authority for everything rests with us that if anything decent is going to happen here we are the ones I am the one who must make it happen functional atheism now the pattern for this particular behavior was set a long time ago way back when I was in undergraduate school after a less than stellar academic performance in my freshman year a year in which I spent a good deal of time on more pleasurable pursuits I decided after that disappointing year that a more disciplined approach to study was in order so what did I do as a sophomore I began taking course overloads five or six courses instead of the mandatory four today I reasoned to myself there would not be any time left over for extraneous pursuits and pleasures except visiting Trina in her campus 250 miles away and that worked my grades went up and they stayed right up through my master's program and through my doctoral program and so I became a certified workaholic always afraid that if I did not keep my nose to the grindstone I would not measure up I would not make the grade and it wasn't so much a fear as if not succeeding at the highest possible level so as a parish minister I developed this false feeling that it all rested on my shoulders and over time predictably this became an unhealthy state of affairs Trina will agree that I worked far too many hours at the expense of her and Kyle the expense of my own emotional and mental well-being the tasks that I could well have delegated to others to capable staff or volunteers I insisted on carrying out myself to ensure that they would be done just right and during all that time there was a lot of feedback there because FUS was doing very well we were thriving but it was not a sustainable proposition for any of us the harder I worked the more my people skills deteriorated then in 2005 I took a much needed sabbatical in good workaholic fashion I used those four months away to crank out the first draft of that book but that was not my most enduring achievement for the entire time that we spent in Tucson, Arizona Trina and I did not darken the door of a Unitarian Universalist Church we took a complete break from institutional engagement so as the weeks slipped by it dawned on me that I needed to stop obsessing about outcomes just let my co-worker do their jobs practice ministry in the best way I knew how and then just let the chips fall where they may and that was like getting a new lease on life and these last 12 post sabbatical years have been without a doubt the most enjoyable and the most fulfilling of my career I've weathered some choppy waters I've had interpersonal and institutional challenges these haven't gone away but as I practiced detachment it was easier to maintain a non-anxious presence even when things were not going particularly well so I kind of came to the same place as Edward Everett Hale who famously declared I am only one but I am one I cannot do everything but I can do something and I will not let what I cannot do let me from doing what I can sixth and finally and related to the previous point in the end it's really not about me the position of lead minister carries with it the occupational hazard of conflating one's own interests with those of the institution one serves over time you do become very closely identified with the church when people thought about first unitarian society during the 1970s and 1980s the first thing that came to mind even before Frank Lloyd Wright was Max Gabley before that the outspoken Kenneth Patton became the face of this congregation and whether or not Reverend Patton and Gabley in some way sought celebrity status I have no idea, I can't say but I do know that there is something very very seductive about the amount of attention that has the senior minister at First Unitarian Society it can be a real ego trip and it can also be very problematic ministers who stand on pedestals can also become lightning rods as my colleague from Schenectady Charles Slap once observed people do not join UU churches because they agree with our doctrines because we don't have any and we have no creeds we have no Book of Common Prayer we have no papal marching orders so what are we left with? Moi, the minister who then becomes the symbol of all that is right or all that is wrong with the church it can be very flattering, Slap says to be the minister but it also means that all too often our congregations polarize around their leader having been in this business for quite some time I fervently believe that our society the largest society needs strong, dynamic, generational, activist, faith congregations like First Unitarian Society of Madison we're very important in this world small as we are and I have done my best to ensure that the people of FUS have always had a sense of ownership for this establishment always given the opportunity to perform its most important work in other words I have sought these past 30 years to be a good steward of this enterprise not long ago one of our members expressed unhappiness with the decision that I had made and she reminded me that she was a member before I arrived and she was going to be around after I left just so she's right I've never pretended to have a proprietary interest in the First Unitarian Society it doesn't belong to me and I have served always at the congregation's sufferance I have however done the best I could to build upon a distinguished legacy to increase FUS's human and material assets to secure its future and to make it a more effective force for good in the world this I have tried to do as stewards the organizational consultant Peter Block writes as stewards we serve our organizations and we are accountable to them without taking control we honor what has been given to us we use power with a sense of grace we pursue purposes that transcend our own self-interest and that has been my intention and I hope that it has at least in some measure been fulfilled one last comment a few days ago Trina shared with me a recent kindness ranking of major American cities apparently it appeared originally in the Readers Digest and several different criteria were used to create this ranking on kindness and when all the scores were tabulated Madison, Wisconsin led the pack a refreshing contrast to another recent report that ranked Madison as the nation's fourth drunkest city there may be some correlation there I'm not sure my own experience generally has supported the kindness finding some of them tell Scott Walker that Madisonians are as a rule pretty darn considerate and helpful and fair-minded and appreciative and perhaps it's just a reflection of our surrounding culture because I have experienced this kindness in your midst here at First Unitarian Society and I have felt very blessed by it perhaps it is a reflection of the Madison culture but I think really that there is more to it than that but this is a very, very special community and so I have moved to say thank you so much you can have to do that again next week you know so we do gather each week as a community of memory and of hope and of friendship and to this time and place we bring our whole and sometimes our broken cells and we seek here a place where these might be celebrated and shared and so now we would pause to acknowledge Pamela Johnson whose brother died last week and the funeral will be held shortly in Dallas, Texas and then our hearts and prayers are with Phoebe Yancey Phoebe and her family as they await surgery for Phoebe who is 11 years old at Children's Hospital she will have this surgery on Tuesday morning to remove a mass that was found in her brain and so we send her our strength and our hopes for a successful surgery and quick healing and recovery and Jennifer and Phoebe both have sung in our choirs for quite some time so you may recognize them from now and then finally our thoughts are with Bill Wharton longtime member of FUS one of our most generous supporters Bill has been struggling with congestive heart failure and pulmonary problems he was hospitalized last week and is now receiving hospice care at the Egrace Hospice Facility in Jamesville so we wish Bill our best so in addition to those mentioned we would acknowledge any other unexpressed joys or sorrows that remain among us that as a community we hold with equal concern for our hearts let us sit silently for just a moment or two in the spirit of empathy and hope and so by virtue of our brief time together today may our burdens be lightened and our joys expanded I now invite you into the giving and receiving of our offering for the second week 100% of your gifts will be shared with the Unitarian Universalist Association it's promised and practiced campaign for the black lives of Unitarian Universalists you can read more about them in your program I'm not afraid of spiders I'm not afraid of snakes or things that gall bump in the night I don't believe in monsters under the bed I leave the closet open when I turn out the light I've made my peace with dark I never carry whistles I never carry mace what if it goes off in your purse I'm learning to love all I look for the better instead of the worse I've had my share your gifts to support the good cause also those individuals who have helped with our service today as volunteers David Brows is working on our sound this morning Steve Goldberg as you know is our lay worship associate Lois Evanson our lay minister Patty Witte and Claire Box were greeting us as you came in and Liza Monroe Dick Goldberg, Brian Chanis and Dan Bradley were ushers this morning Bissnitchke and Sandy Plisch are preparing our coffee today there will be a tour afterwards for visitors today if you would like to see our facilities meet over there by the large windows and then in terms of opportunities that are coming up there is a party today honoring our four graduating teens who have served as child care providers in recent years three of these teens will have their last day as a child care provider in the month of June this party is today begins at 1245 and is around two cake and lemonade will be served so please come and help them celebrate if you have the time and the individuals who will be graduating as child care providers are Erin Albin Gwen McKekney Josephine Putnam and Nicole Fond and we thank them for their service these years and then another opportunity unbeknownst to most folks the FUS campus now boasts a brand new feature a paved memorial path through the wooded area west of the Gabler living room plans for developing this area into a meditation and memorial garden have been ongoing more than a decade progress has been slow and finally enough memorial gifts were received to allow us to hire a paving company and the results are really quite lovely so take a walk through the woodland before or after the service today well after after but if I was speaking to the 11 o'clock people if any of you are here and playing sticking around you can do it before 11 but after the service today and if you see any of the following individuals you can thank them for pushing this project forward with an admirable assist from facilities manager Thomas Skelling so Elaine Lohr, Bob Radford, Nick Schweitzer and Bob Ault have been working diligently on this project and we owe them our thanks and so now I would invite you to rise as you are able and body and spirit for a closing hymn number 89 please be seated for the benediction on the post loop from the Dao De Ching timeless wisdom when the master governs the people are hardly aware that he exists next best is a leader who is loved next one who is feared the worst is one who is despised if you don't trust the people you make them untrustworthy so the master doesn't talk he acts and when his work is done the people say amazing we are ourselves bless it be strike a careless deception


By working alongside women colleagues, we can gain a better understanding of gender issues, diversity and inclusion. Their perspective shaped by personal experiences and backgrounds present a special opportunity to the whole organization to develop a sense of their higher emotional intelligence, better ability to collaborate and prevent conflicts. For a significant portion of my career, I have had the pleasure of working alongside female colleagues in various roles as bosses, as peers and subordinates. Through my experiences, I have come to appreciate the unique perspectives that women bring to the workplace including diverse experiences, insights and ideas. Recently our team collaborated on a major marketing activity and I was impressed by the significant contribution of our all female admin team. They managed to put together the entire project from start to finish with precision demonstrating exceptional competence and leadership.  Celebrating Women's Day is a great reminder that gender diversity always brings immense value to the workplace since women are equally capable and equipped as their male counterparts despite juggling multiple roles in their lives.


Okay, welcome once again to the praise and worship course. I hope you all are doing well. Congratulations, you have survived for so long. Before we go ahead, can I request Anitha, if you don't mind, could you just start us off with a prayer please. Father God, we praise you, we worship you a lot. And this morning we gathered here in your presence a lot. I would like to ask you to pledge each one of you, each one of us Lord. Thank you for this day Lord, thank you for everything that you have done in our lives Lord. Thank you for each one of us Lord. We are learning your word Lord, help us to understand that Lord, help us to worship you Lord and help us to glorify your holy name Lord. As we all are learning your word Lord, help us each one of us to apply that in our life Lord and walk according to that Lord. I would like to give pastor Roshan into your hand Lord as he is teaching us Lord, help him Lord. And thank you for everything Lord, in Jesus name you be Lord. Amen. Amen, thank you Anitha. Very in the previous classes we talked on completed the chapter on moving prophetically in praise and worship. If you have to just quickly recap that chapter for us before we go ahead. In the chapter we cover about the connection between music and worship and the connection between the music and the prophetic. And then we look at the music, the prophetic and the worship where all these three elements meet in the tabernacle of David. He understood a little background of the importance of the tabernacle of David. He went about setting it up. There was order, there was proper administration, it was very well planned. So we looked at that, we saw how many singers and musicians were placed, were assembled in the tabernacle of David. And how it kind of mirrors or reflects the new covenant where there is no veil for people to come in, it was available for all to see. It was beautiful, it must have been a beautiful setting. And from Acts chapter 15 we see that God mentioned that he will rebuild the tabernacle of David. And he's continuing to do so. And then we begin to study on the characteristics of a prophetic word. A characteristic of a prophetic word. I just do a quick recap. Some of them was prophetic word can come to us as an impression in our heart. A quickening of the scriptures, a knowing on the inside, pictures, a word, sentence, paragraph, physical sensations, etc. And some of you even shared your experiences on how this prophetic word came to you and what you've had, etc. So those are some of the characteristics of the prophetic word. And what a prophetic word does, it brings edification, it reveals God's plans and purposes. It stirs up and causes us to move in faith, provides motivation and strength to carry on, releases God's power, brings correction and restoration, transforms nation. And then we see that the prophetic word is released as a prophetic song in worship. It accomplishes all that the prophetic word accomplishes, all of everything that we kind of went through. The importance of the prophetic song, the importance of a new song. And basically we completed the chapter by going through some of the practical guidelines of the prophetic worship. And the most important practical guideline or the way how you can prepare yourself is spending time with the Lord, building an intimate relationship with Him. There is no substitute, there is no alternate, there is no shortcut to that. For everything in life, especially when it comes to hearing from Him moving in the prophetic, there is no substitute to it. So that's how we concluded the chapter on moving prophetically in praise and worship. I also thought I'd play another video, it's just another 30 minutes of teaching on the prophetic worship. I thought I'd play that for us. Like I mentioned, it's a 30 minute video and I will request you all to give your 100% attention to it. And please make notes to every key point that is mentioned. It's a wonderful teaching. So here we go, let me go ahead and share this screen. Is that cool? Everybody okay with that? Some of you are like, do I have a choice? Here we go. You know it's funny, I was thinking, when you make your notes late at night or during worship, you have this sound going and it's just so epic. You know what I mean? At night, everything is so epic and then you do a 3-45 session and then you look through your notes and they're not, they're different. It doesn't quite have that music backdrop and that feeling. So I'm not going to try to recreate the feeling of I felt when I wrote these out. So some of this might be amazing and some of it might not be. So we will see. But prophetic worship, I actually changed, I typically would talk about certain things related to prophetic worship but last night and today I kind of changed things up a bit. Corey touched on a bit of it which was really good, amazing communicator. And I want to, some of this might feel like a little bit of a poke, a little bit intense, some of it might feel negative but I think just for me personally, a lot of times people, communication is a big deal and as leaders and as prophetic songwriters and worshipers, communication is everything to us. You know, hearing and then being able to communicate it so it's clear. So just to set myself up, when I had my collapse or whatever, break down two years ago, I'm very passionate about being forward with things and some of you follow me on social media. I'm going to be better moving forward, I promise, because I have a reason. I want to infiltrate those worlds and blow them up from the inside out. But anyways, it's a joke but also true. But when I went through my thing, I was faced with something that comfort did not fix. Comfort didn't fix me, didn't get me out of it. It was blunt truth that the Lord himself threw my way. So I had to face things head on like a lot about what Jason talks about and pull myself up by the bootstraps and commit to things I didn't want to. You know what I mean? So a lot of what I'm going to say today is just it's not, it's not coming from a place of like harshness from my heart, it would be coming from a place of like I really feel like this is true and I really feel like this is going to be helpful if we do this. So just to be clear, but you can look bored and you can look tired and not totally it's fine. I'm not going to need you to just engage. I'm just going to read a bunch and then try to fill in the blanks in between, okay? Now that I wasted four minutes, I'll start with this. It is our responsibility as worship leaders or prophetic worship leaders to posture ourselves like pastors and prophets to the people. A pastor-prophet can see a destination, which is a prophetic role, and also how to lead the people to that destination. A pastor-prophet can see a destination, but that's not enough. God's called us to be prophet pastors, but to know how to communicate, to know how to lead people to that destination. Prophetic worship is, at its foundational level, spirit directed and spirit empowered. John 4-23-24 talks about that. Praise is prophetic when it is directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish God's now purpose for our lives or a particular meeting. I feel like the Lord wants us to go from thermometers to thermostats. Now a lot of you have heard this before, it's a great picture of what we are called to be. Thermometer is what? It's something that takes the temperature of a room, right? In our culture and our day, it's easy to be a thermometer and just go, yep, it sucks, or it's good, or like Chris the other day was so funny, he goes, that guy that just goes on there and goes, disappointed. That's so good, because it's easy to take that route and just go, I give it a five or whatever, and just become the judge of all things. And those of you who know me, that's like my default, is to become the judge of all things. There's kind of a joke there. But the Lord, but I feel like, you know, there comes a point in time in each one of our lives where we get so tired of that that God calls us to step out and become the thermostat. And what's a thermostat do? You actually set the temperature in the room. You actually take on the responsibility as a leader, submitted under his rule, and you take on the responsibility of setting the temperature in the room. And I feel like as prophet, pastor, musicians, that's what God, that's why you're here at the school. God's called you to take on that responsibility. And it's really important.  Feelings, let's talk about feelings. Feelings are your best friend and also your worst enemy. Feelings are your best friend and also your worst enemy. Feelings are what gives us insight into a reality, but not necessarily the reality. A reality, but not necessarily the reality. Feelings can give us a heads up, but not always the truth. Feeling out a room and singing a prophetic song is what we do as prophet musicians. But taking the pulse of a room or your own heart and stating the obvious is not the way to beat the devil. We should take the pulse, and if needed, speak the opposite over arching truth that trumps the smaller truth. It's stating the eternal truth, not the temporal truth. Just like in prophecy, you combat the darkness over someone by speaking the opposite. You speak the greater reality versus the lesser reality. Yes, you might have cancer, but it is not the will of the Lord. So the greater reality is to speak out His reality. Prophecy, as Cory was saying, prophecy is to edify, exhort, and comfort, not just to state the obvious, feeling in a room. If someone is depressed, it's not enough to say, I feel like the Lord is saying you're depressed. Yet we do this all the time when it comes to worship and prophetic song. What is God saying or singing about the depression? Sing that, that is what prophecy is. You see where I'm going with this? So we're caught in a thing where, and I love it because I love it when, like they said, I just want to rewrite that a little bit. His reality. Prophecy, as Cory was saying, prophecy is to edify, exhort, and comfort, not just to state the obvious, feeling in a room. If someone is depressed, it's not enough to say, I feel like the Lord is saying you're depressed. Yet we do this all the time when it comes to worship and prophetic song. What is God saying or singing about the depression? Sing that, that is what prophecy is. You see where I'm going with this? So we're caught in a thing where, and I love it because I love it when, like they said, put your intent up. When you're intent up and you're, for me, you're leading worship and you get something, right?  It just makes you feel like you're in tune. God is showing you something. It's why we're alive.  It's our best friend. It is our best friend. And we need to hunger for it. We need to learn how to feel out of room.  The only reason I'm saying all this is because we've all done this. I've done this. I probably did it the other day. It is what we have to work against from where I was at. Let's take it a step further. Singing out what your issue is over a crowd will cause a connection. Now here's, this is interesting. I've been kind of thinking about this for years, just kind of trying to figure this out. Even with me when I step out in prophetic song or what I would think these prophetic song, singing out what my issue is over a crowd will cause a connection in the people in the room who have the same issues. That doesn't mean it's right or it's prophetic. For instance, there's a massive need for significance in the world right now. So if we sing about our feelings of insignificance, we will automatically have a large group of people in the audience right there with us. Or even better, on the floor crying with us or hugging each other and crying. Everyone connecting over the same issues in the room isn't the goal of the prophetic song. The reality of what is happening is they are just connecting with your pain and you to theirs. Now, I'll stop there because I want to kind of explain that a little bit more. And it's not a bad thing but sometimes I feel like in our prophetic feeling is we feel something in the room. We feel a weight or we feel whatever. We feel like right now, tired, you know that feeling. And we just, we aid that thing and we almost give encouragement to that thing because I feel it too and you feel it. So therefore we're both feeling it together so it must be, you know what I'm saying? And it's not that it's bad but prophetic is something that always births spiritual victory in the Bible. When you read the Bible, all throughout the Bible the prophetic song is that thing which births spiritual victory. Every prophetic song in the Bible caused breakthrough. It got people from point A to point Z. It got people's heads from down to up. It celebrated the God in people. When he was talking about Nathaniel, I love that story. How God views a cynic.  I love that story. We cannot keep people in their same patterns with our prophetic songs. We must give answers in truth if we open up those types of issues or cans of worms with our prophetic songs. We've got to give them an out. We've got to give them, I look at it like this. Like every song, every prophetic moment it's like an anchor or like a life raft. Like a life raft. So with you write a song and you sing on a prophetic song think of it from that pastoral type of perspective.  We've all been there. We've all been in places in our lives where if we don't get a word from God, man, we're done, right? And there's nothing wrong with saying like Jason's saying. There's nothing wrong with admitting it and just being open. So a lot of our prophetic is that giving someone a life raft. And a lot of our prophetic too is just the spark that ignites an already existing flame into like a furnace of more passion. God's destiny for our lives is so much bigger and greater than what we perceive or even know. So prophetic is always that pastoral like throwing out life raft throwing out another spark. Encouragement to the people in the room or listening to your albums or whatever. This is an interesting one. Favor allows a person the people's ears, the people's heart, the people's trust whether we speak truth or not. This is a scary thing. So like me, let's say I'm up here and I've gained enough favor in your eyes enough authority to where you believe I'm believable. Maybe my anointing over arches my ability to communicate truth. You know what I'm talking about? You ever seen someone they're so anointed but actually listen to what they're saying.   They have a charisma about them, a God-given charisma that is bigger than actually their character or their biblical or their theology. We all know what we're talking about, right? Coffee shop theology. It's words without actually standing up to live is what's going on there.  That's kind of what happens. I know this happened for me. People are attracted to passion but not necessarily truth. Passion can be mistaken as freedom which is what everyone wants in their lives. Everyone wants to feel free to be who they're called to be, therefore causing people to think what you're saying or seeing is truth. It's just a scary place to be which is why like Cory was talking about a lot of biblical roots, biblical foundation about what the prophetic song is for, how it originated. It's important that we're reading the word and we're being filled up the right way. Social media threads don't count as reading the word in my opinion. I'm telling myself that. I'm on day three of no social media. It's wonderful. It's great. I'm like, I don't know if I'll ever go back. A generation that wants answers and solutions that don't involve faith is part of our issue. Our entire existence, everything we're built on, everything we are is built on faith and so should our prophetic songs be. I think our prophetic songs at the core need to build faith. They need to not only build faith in the people but cause people to have to step out in faith. Everything we believe in this life is cause of faith. The enemy fights against our faith in confidence full-time. Believing your beliefs and doubting your doubts. Leo Aleska said that and I love that. Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts. We need to get a backbone. Us leaders need to be intentional in fighting against the thing that causes... Us leaders need to be intentional and fight against the thing that people are listening to. Sorry, I didn't quite write that out right, but whatever. I kind of made it work, I guess. I believe one of the enemy's greatest tactics against profit musicians is confidence. I feel like if he could steal your confidence he's somewhat won the battle. And therefore I think it's important that we spend the majority of our time as prophetic musicians, creative artists who are bent towards sensitivity. Sensitivity can be amazing, a strength of yours, but it also can be your greatest weakness. Being sensitive, being a sensitive person sometimes can be looked at as weaker or feminine. Sensitive. Oh, that guy's sensitive. You know what I mean? Or that girl's sensitive. It's almost... And I joke around about it, to be honest with you. And I joke around about it because I try not to... I don't want to give into the negative part of what that is. Sensitive is our greatest ally. It's that thing in us that allows us to walk into a room and be able to feel a room out like we were talking about. It allows us to receive and then respond to the Holy Spirit. It allows us to create. You realize that we create because of what we receive. We can't worship. We can't even begin to worship God unless we get a revelation of God. So our sensitivity is everything to us. But if the enemy can come against our confidence, make us feel insecure, make us feel unsure, I feel like half that battle's won, especially when it comes to us singing out the Word of God prophetic song over his people. If you're singing out from a root of insecurity, you're not only doing yourself injustice, but you're doing the body of Christ injustice. You're doing the church injustice. It sounds like really intense, I know. It's downer. We need to be intentional and fight against that. Intimacy with God fixes insecurity. I really feel that our time with the Lord is so important. Not that it's more important than the normal average person. And I don't even like that we do that. We say, oh, they're just a normal average person and I'm a creative artist. So therefore I can be this way. I don't even like how we do that. It just kind of happens. But as someone whose job is to somehow feel what God's saying and put it in a poetic song form, that is a reality.  Because two things will happen. You'll overcompensate to try to fight against that thing and it can come across as arrogance. Or you will, I would say, undercompensate and you'll cower and you won't step out when God's wanting you to step out. Two things happen. Imagine the church at large, the body of Christ. Imagine the church singing over themselves every week or learning to sing over themselves every week. So in leading I think it's important to train the church to sing themselves into freedom. A lot of times we take on the posture of we are the prophetic voices. We are the prophetic musicians that our job is to sing freedom over the people. We're the saviors. But I think as leaders we need to be training the church to sing themselves into freedom, creating moments in our worship sets where it's just a one and a four, or maybe a six, four, one, five, or maybe a one sus, back to the one. And you allow moments and you encourage the people to sing out your own song or your own prophetic song or even better, sing out in the spirit. Sometimes I try that, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  Sing out in the spirit or sing out your own song. Put his name on your lips. And what will happen is people need to learn how to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. And unless we create an intentional space for that in our worship times where people can actually like sing over themselves and actually feel the effects of what that does to their lives, a lot of times they'll always wait for you to sing for them. And the pressure that that puts on us on the stage is I don't think it's right. I think it puts an unhealthy pressure. God's yoke is easy as burden is light, but I'm telling you man's yoke is not easy and it's not light. He's the only one that could take the weight of the world on his shoulders to the cross. We are not meant to be able to carry that. So it is our job to train each of the church to sing themselves out of their own funks, out of their own depression, out of their own delusion. Reminding themselves who God is, that's a lot of what we're supposed to do in prophetic worship. Reminding themselves and ourselves who God is, singing out in the spirit or whatever comes to their mind in that atmosphere. Imagine a church that knows how to sing over themselves. Prophetic worship is one way that you can have a face-to-face meeting with God or provide a means for others to encounter him. Prophetic praise and worship enables God's message to be brought or his purpose to be accomplished. In a worship setting, there's a strength in that we should strive for. A face-to-face encounter with God, it doesn't actually say presence in the Bible. Did you guys know that? It says face-to-face. Every time presence is there, it actually means face-to-face. Our prophetic worship should bring people into face-to-face encounter with God. So much happens when a face-to-face encounter with God happens in a meeting.  Jason was talking about that. It can break off in a moment, and that's what the prophetic song is for. It's not just a nice sound. It's not just something we do if we can sing really good or we can play really good or we can make up words on the spot really quick. It's not what a prophetic song is or for, but this is what it's for. Before he was talking about it, it's to bring people into breakthrough, the face-to-face encounter with God. I thought of this the other day, and when leading worship, if I can't shake it, I sing it. Last Heaven Come conference, I remember in the middle of worship set, I was just leading and the word epilepsy just kind of popped up on the screen, you know? And I couldn't shake it, so I just started saying about it in the worship set. As a lot of times like we do, you just sing out something and take a risk and then something happens great and nothing and whatever. And one year later, this was just on the last tour, a guy came up to me, a 21-year-old kid came up to me and he said, hey, when you sang out that epilepsy thing at the Heaven Come conference, God healed me. So a year later, I got to see what that one little step. So if I can't shake it, I sing it. If you're going in a worship set with an idea or you woke up in the morning with a thought in your head, pay attention. Pay attention to everything that surrounds a worship set because I feel like God's wanting to speak to you and through you more than you even realize. And a lot of times I miss it because I'm just not vulnerable to His presence. My antenna's not up like Corey was saying. And it's really that simple. Pleasing God usually feels vulnerable and humbling in the moment when it comes to stepping out in prophetic worship. We must become confident in God more than our gifting, whether big or small. Most of us rely on God for what we think we are weak in and not so much what we think we are gifted in. So if I can come up with melodies or lyrics on the spot, the temptation is to push cruise control on and rely on my gift to carry me through the moment. But the prophetic song the Lord has for us is the kind that comes when we partner our gifting with His. It goes from good to otherworldly and that is what a broken world needs. God wants to partner with us. I think it's important that we realize it has nothing to do with our gift, whether big or small. It's just partnering with Him. Some of the greatest men and women of God that we would look at and say they got the greatest gifting didn't start there. It started as a weak little offering and God turned it into a massive strength. Prophets need to be the most confident people around. People who know how to partner with God, people who know their place in God. Are we building faith in God's people with our prophetic songs? Or are we feeding their unbelief?  They should feel the sense that the sky is the limit with God in every one of our worship sets. Wouldn't that be good? Faith should always be the backbone, the foundation, the cornerstone of our songs. Prophetic praise celebrates the fulfillment of God's promises before they are manifested in the natural realm. Prophetic praise penetrates the atmosphere and pushes back oppression, apathy, fear, and all other effects of spiritual warfare. For seeing the tin, one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible, it says, Saul turned into another man in prophetic praise. I think he was turned into the man God intended him to be. And this is what our prophetic songs should be doing in our churches and gatherings. Turning and shaping his church into who God originally intended them to be. We have that power, that authority, that mantle that God's given us, prophet, pastor, musicians to sing people into existence. With each passing of our songs, it would be like a flame that ignites the thing in them that God is wanting to be ignited. Let me just look through here. Make sure I didn't miss anything. You guys did good, by the way. You didn't look too tired, but... So I think just the heart behind this as I'm wrapping up is viewing prophetic as not just a nice little song that we sing in a worship set, but also from a pastor perspective equipping the church to sing over themselves, creating space for them to step out and sing. And it less being about me coming up with something in front of people and more stewarding a moment like Cory was singing together collectively, hearing what's going on in the crowd and coming into some of the best moments in worship are that which we stop singing and we just start playing and people just start singing or responding to God with nothing on the screen and no leader leading them the further we get into a worship set the less we should actually have to lead people. And they just start erupting in that tequila song of praise the song with the breath of the spirit on it starts to just come out of this one by one of the people and then eventually everyone in the room is singing out their own song to God and I don't know about you, but those moments those are what we live for as worship leaders, as prophetic musicians we live for those moments. It's the empowering moments for the church. And I always hear feedback when those moments happen those are the moments where Bob Jones says that's when the angels come that tequila the high praise of God that's when the angels come that's the praise that God promises in Psalms to inhabit it's the prophetic praise that he promises to inhabit so as you go and you write your songs and you're leading and as we're leading up here just remembering what is prophetic worship it's not just a song or spontaneous moment there's so much more to it prophetic worship there's a result, there's breakthrough there's victory that follows the prophetic song All right Lord, thank you this time Amen So simple and straightforward Look, I realize that he made a lot of points and pretty fast as well but what's good is this is recorded and it will be out there so if you want to watch it again it's available for you to watch it so that's a good thing but was there something that you could take off that video learn from the video some points that you made a note of yeah too much to take your one go yes but then something on the fly you caught this is not available on YouTube but what this recorded because it's I mean this session is recorded and it will be reposted in the stream section so you can watch it a couple of years ago like most of you all are doing I did an online course yeah yeah but quickly I want to share some of the one liners that anything go ahead I think obviously like I said there was too much and I wish we could go back I wanted to tell you like rewind rewind it's few things I think apart from what he said one of the main things that kind of was really spoke to me was where he said people are attracted to passion and your favor can actually cause people to go astray which is of course he phrased it differently but I noted it down here which is scary to think about like when you depend so much on just you just go leaning on your flesh not in the spirit and that is something I definitely learnt and I want to teach to others as well yeah that is one of the main things I took back yeah there is too deep and profound isn't it just think and meditate and re-meditate on it cause passion is so misleading anybody else yeah Divya thank you for sharing yes Divya that's Brian Johnson thermostat versus thermometer yeah that's awesome that's calling us to be a thermostat as in we call to set the temperature in the room change the atmosphere in the room as worshippers our worship should change the atmosphere isn't it a little bit like what we saw the woman that the alabaster jar does is when she breaks her act of worship she fills the room with the fragrance of worship so you know what happened is the atmosphere changed everything changes in the atmosphere so we are called to be something like that yeah yeah sure Divya go ahead I think it might help somebody who who would have missed out at some point yeah thank you Divya has pasted some of her notes I feel free to take it anybody else let me just review what Divya has made prophetic songs birth victory every prophetic songs like the jacket we need to go after the truth and not only passion our prophetic songs should be built out of faith and the prophetic songs would inspire faith being sensitive allows us to be receptive to the Holy Spirit the enemy tries to come against our faith against our confidence we need to be intentional where is that we need to be intentional to fight against this our time with the Lord the Spirit we can train ourselves to sing over a night based on the word of God encourage people to sing out in the Spirit yeah okay yeah thanks Divya yes Divya so I just had a question if I can ask a question sure regarding to I think most of the time I am not a worship leader I have just been playing music which I enjoy in the background but playing with quite a few worship leaders I see there is a lot of difference in their leading yeah and I just wanted to get an idea of like I personally feel that when people start off with a setlist and then go into prophetic prayers my point of view it always seems like the congregation flows better with that versus I see some worship leaders which just go straight into prophetic prayers but they are sometimes standing alone and I could never figure that out because I am not leading of course I trust the worship leader on what they are doing but could you shed some light on that on why that happens or is there something to it sure yeah I mean there is two aspects to it at least from my experience I mean it could be one of the negative aspects of it could be a lack of experience or exposure critical thinking critical decision making I understand what you are talking about so here is the thing experience so there is a house of prayer you know face to face in Bangalore where I lead worship a lot so the atmosphere there is very different for example you know like the audience are different but the band members are different so everything is different right there is this different sense of freedom there are different I mean different people that you are catering to that you are ministering to so you have the liberty and you are not again going for example if I am leading worship at face to face in the house of prayer I am not going to start off with something like unplanned for the sake of starting off with something that is unplanned you know but if I do feel led start off with something that we did not plan because of the atmosphere because of the place the audience and the team that I have I have the liberty to go that way like take risk and go that way but I would not do that in a church setting like APC and in a church setting this is where I would like to like you said what I would also prefer is your plan and then you know move into the prophetic happy midway through the set and what not so at a church like APC or any church for that matter unless I gauge the audience I would not start off with something that is not planned maybe a small chorus in the beginning like for example last Sunday the first song was more upbeat which I had to lead but then I just sang a chorus or you know like couple of times before we went into the first song I think that is okay not because I led I think that's okay because it's a familiar chorus and you know not everybody was playing it was just very simple chords so that was that is okay so and I think it's very important and I say maturity and experience and exposure comes with you understanding the people that you are ministering that you are serving to you know in a church like again like APC there are young people there are middle-aged people there are older people there are people from different backgrounds Methodist, Baptist some Pentecostals etc that's the history of our churches and so knowing the history of the congregation that you are ministering to is very important that's in my opinion so you're not going full-on prophetic for the sake of going prophetic you know but like Brian Johnson he said that it is our responsibility to teach the church about the prophetic as well so they know what you are doing exactly yeah and this I'm not sure if you know this worship leader called Jeremy Riddle and I quote this to my team all the time he said prepare like it depends on you but lead like it depends on God and so we prepare as a team put the song together we are just being sensitive to what God is doing in the room thank you yeah I mean I've also been in places where I have to I feel like starting up with completely different song even in places like a house of prayer but then I also know my musicians and if I know that their year is not good musical skill is is not at the level where that you know if they're not able to handle that particular song I would not do it because it would the whole point of the prophetic or going spontaneous is to serve better isn't it and and if we don't serve better by playing the wrong chords it's just no point isn't it so yeah thanks for the question okay guys thanks for anything else anybody else before we take a break alright as mentioned guys so this video again will be available for you to watch it again so feel free to do that make points yeah and yeah we can go ahead sorry first to interrupt I was just thinking about that video in which he was telling about a particular word came to his mind like epilepsy and maybe one year after he got to hear the you know testimony so I was just curious to know like had you ever had such an experience like while you were leading the worship you had because past rashes would always do the yeah I mean not so for me it's been more of this word intimacy has come that's what I could think of like during moments of worship leading worship I felt that very strongly so these were two words intimacy and deeper is so and I released this it was calling someone it was actually in a life group it was leading worship and I felt like calling someone to a deeper levels of intimacy and I released that and you know just went on so it was later during the week midweek my life group leader message me saying that hey there was this person who actually said that when you released that word it was for him and God's been calling that person to deeper levels of intimacy so yeah that's there's been moments like that not necessarily in terms of healing that's actually it's never happened to me like you know in the middle of worship said for praying for someone with pain and whatnot but I have seen other worship leaders release that yeah it just happened to me okay okay Vastu thank you that's what you're saying yeah but I felt like last time was it the last week when the past rashes was seen you were telling about a pain in the leg oh yeah that was it's amazing how I forgot about it so there was this warmth in my feet you know when during the ministry time it was the end it was very unusual things like that just don't happen to me and you know there's this thing called the risk factor you know there's something unusual that doesn't just happen and you just take the risk be obedient okay just release it as you know I just went ahead and released that word and I was not even sure like if it was something to do with the ankle or just the feet and whatnot I haven't received any testimony back but yeah that was first time sorry to interrupt this week there was a testimony about the pain getting healed there was a testimony about calf muscle pain oh yeah I got that email yeah I saw that they would have pain all through the night and yeah I got okay yeah you got it and you were talking also about an addiction which later on past rashish confirmed like somebody was taking sleeping pills yeah that was amazing too yeah yeah awesome yeah please boy yeah I mean like everything that we've learned in the previous chapters you know every now and then kind of happens in it and the thing is look I just quickly share with this and I let go for a break so I have this friend of mine okay who happens to be a very best friend if still anybody has that he has unusual encounters with the Lord like unusual and I've known him since I was 17 years old and I'm 34 I just confessed my age and on the recording I've known him for a long time that's the point but for the time that I've known him he's had super nice encounters with the Lord like he sees things he sees the angels and throne room and whatnot and I'd be right next to him where is it why am I not seeing anything you know and he would release certain prophetic words that I'd be like what is happening you know I pray with him too I but there was a season where you know I would hunger and thirst for encounters like that you know to be used by God like that but there was also very slightly a chance of me getting offended is like why am I not getting you know do you understand what I'm talking about like like there was this part of me is like why is it not happening to me Lord is there something wrong that I am doing but I never forget this moment okay there was a worship team that came from the US from International House of Prayer to one of the meetings and they were praying for people and I went forward and there was this person who was playing the guitar he laid his hands on me and he said you know God is pleased with you don't be offended by the fact don't be offended that's all these I'm like so if God is releasing certain words certain encounters to certain people and if it's not happening to you through you don't be offended by the fact there's nothing wrong with you or God he wants to use you more than you know you ever know but just keep your heart in check and keep pursuing him you know because we don't pursue him only for the gifts we pursue him because he's a good father and you want to love him so just love on him just continue to love on him and that's one of the most important lessons I've ever learned in my life is not to be offended by the fact that God is not using you or you're not having the supernatural encounters it's okay our job as worshippers is to just love on him just to continually break our alabaster jar at this feet the rest is up to him okay that's the end of my rant I'll stop the recording for now and we can all go for a break


Notes and bonds, a 10-year note down 6 ticks, trading $1.30, $18, a 30-year off a full point plus 10 ticks at $158.09 and $Kingdala, $Kingdala is down 222 ticks, trading out at $93.31, Euro out here at $1.16, the yen is out here at $114.30 and the British pound is at $137 to $1.00 US. Let's go take a look at the spy, we deal with the spy folks is that over the swing point we took, we first off, we took the swing point out yesterday from the trading day of the 23rd of September, you're basically right into some heavy resistance, but the bottom line is that this is holding price, we're up $275 right now at $449.92, contraction and volume is huge, so that's saying that I guess what, you have more sellers than buyers. We go into the NDX100, this one's going to get interesting because you could get a failure inside the NDX100 today, the queues would have to pull back another $0.74, what the queues have done is this, the queues have gone into the same swing point, the S&P had taken this out yesterday and we can see right from the chart that the S&P is much stronger than the NDX100, $374.04 is the number, right now you're over it, you're over it by $0.64, we'll see whether it can stick, the contraction is huge, right now you're doing 21 million shares, you're going to $44, we'll do like 30 million, something like that. We'll see how this shakes out, what we did do is that, this is all the way from yesterday by the way, from yesterday up until literally, well you had at the beginning of the day you had a little down draft, but the bottom line is that you just went one way yesterday, straight all the way up, we went sideways, you had a little down draft at the open out here this morning, you went all the way up and now what we just did get is you just got the first sell down, so we'll see if this baby is going to sell it down to the $343 area, right now you're at $380, stay right there folks, you can come right back.