Gary Trobee

Dec

2010

The Love of God

Recently I’ve been struck by the love of God.

I’ve always known He loves me but the last couple of weeks as I’ve meditated on it I realize not only that He loves me but how much He loves you.

Again not that this is a great revelation it’s just that I’ve been thinking about how much He loves you and what that should mean for me.

I can get so frustrated with people. There are times when I’m behind someone on the on ramp to I-25 and they’re trying to merge with 75 mph traffic at 45 mph while talking on their cell phone and I just want to scream. Sorry if that shatters your opinion of me it’s just the truth.

However as I’ve been thinking about how much God loves all people and how He longs for everyone to know Him and walk in close intimate fellowship with Him it changes my reaction. I also realize He is my rear guard and I don’t have to worry about being crushed by the 75 mph traffic coming behind me.

C.S. Lewis in his sermon “The Weight of Glory” says we have never met a mere mortal. It is impossible to think too much about the potential glory of our neighbor and the weight of their glory should be placed upon my back. A load so heavy only humility can carry it and the backs of the proud will be broken. Everyone on earth is either an everlasting splendor or an immortal horror and all day long we are helping each other to become one or the other of these.

Everyone has a story. They are coming from somewhere and going somewhere. Before we make any judgments we need to understand their story and make sure we are helping everyone become and everlasting splendor not an immortal horror.

Nov

2010

Pastor

What do you think of when you hear the word pastor?

Do you think preacher, counselor, leader, shepherd, or any number of other descriptors?

Since standing in the office of pastor for the last 2 1/2 months it’s something very different than what I thought it would be. I’ve preached before, given "pastoral care" before, but never stood in the office of pastor until being invited to be the interim Sr. Pastor of Life in Christ Church in Limon CO.

It’s been amazing. Amazingly hard but an amazing blessing as well. I’ve always known God has a special place in His heart for those who shepherd the people of God but have never experienced the love God has for His people in such a personal powerful way.

Standing in front those who He bought with His own blood every week has caused me to see people in a very different way. My heart breaks sometimes as I sit in the evening with my family knowing the very real challenges those God has entrusted to me are facing. It’s also been amazing to see God working in peoples lives. I routinely get emails thanking me for what I’ve done when most often I just happened to be present when God has moved.

I don’t know what the future holds for me but I will always be grateful for the opportunity to serve the people in Limon for this season.

Please remember to pray for your pastor. It matters.

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Oct

2010

Healthy Things Grow

This morning I ran across an article in response to the question “What do you think of the Purpose Driven model?”.

To their credit they didn’t attack Rick Warren or Saddleback rather they chose to outline from their perspective what a “Biblical local church” looks like. Here it is in part:

First and foremost, a Biblically successful church has zero to do with the size or growth of the congregation. The Bible does not implore pastors to grow their churches. Rather, it is God who adds to the Body of Christ (Acts 2:47). If a pastor waters down what he teaches, or avoids teaching certain things like sin and repentance, regardless of his sincerity or motivation, it is called “tickling the ears” and is wrong (2Tim. 4:3). It would be far better for a Believer to attend a small church where a humble pastor knows everyone’s name and spiritual gifts while making it his priority to nurture individual’s spiritual growth and formation. On Judgment Day (Rom. 14:11) pastors will not be judged according to how large their churches were, but for how well they Biblically armored His flock for service (2Tim. 4:2)

Therefore, regardless of the size, the purpose of the local Church is:

To equip Believers for service (2Tim. 3:16; Eph. 4:12)

Armoring Believers, not evangelism of non-believers, is to be the focal point of the local church. Individual Believers are instructed to exhibit God’s love and be used by the Holy Spirit to evangelize the community (2Tim. 4:5 ). All examples of early church activities have believers doing the evangelizing (Acts 4:1-2, 13:5, 17:2). Therefore, the focus of the pastor and his number one priority should be the equipping of those the Lord has put under his ministry. From the Sunday sermon, youth activities, home Bible studies, to miscellaneous activities, ALL should be focused on the Believer and his/her spiritual armor and growth in God’s love. It is not the church’s purpose to attract non-Believers for evangelism and growth.

It’s a fairly lengthy post. I don’t disagree with all of it. Mostly the foundational premise that “a Biblically successful church has zero to do with the size or growth of the congregation.” and how that translates into Sunday morning should be “focused on the Believer and his/her spiritual armor and growth in God’s love.”

I’ll post a rebuttal in the comments later but wanted to hear your thoughts on the bit above. You can tell by the title of the post a little bit about my response and the angle I’m coming from.

Thanks for commenting, I appreciate this community.

Aug

2010

The Prodigal

This morning I ran across a video written by the brother/sister team of Ryan and Meghan Baird on Bob Kauflin’s blog Worship Matters. As I watched I was reminded of something God showed me last year.

Before you watch the video let me share some thoughts:

We’ve all read the story of the prodigal son and heard it preached many times. When I was first walking with the Father it was easy to identify with the story. Even though I hadn’t said to my father “I wish you were dead, now give me my inheritance” it was easy to see how God had been reaching out to me and how I had, many times, walked away.

Having walked with the Father for over 25 years it became harder to identify with the story and I tended to listen passively and move on. But a truth remains in the story for we who have been walking with the Father a long time.

We all have seasons of spending our inheritance outside of relationship with the Father.

If you have applied, by faith, Jesus sacrifice for your sin you are, by grace through faith, made righteous and a child of God. Ephesians tells us it was the Fathers idea from the very beginning to adopt us as sons (inheritors) and give us an inheritance. To the extent we spend that inheritance outside of relationship with the Father we are prodigals. With that in mind watch the video:

Here are the lyrics:

You held out Your arms, I walked away
Insolent I spurned Your face
Squandering the gifts You gave to me
Holding close forbidden things
Destitute a rebel still, a fool in all my pride
The world I once enjoyed is death to me
No joy, no hope, no life

Where now are the friends, that I had bought
Gone with every penny lost
What hope could there be for such as I
Sold out to a world of lies
Oh, to see Your face again, it seems so distant now
Could it be that You would take me back
A servant in Your house

You held out Your arms, I see them still
You never left, You never will
Running to embrace me, now I know
Your cords of love will always hold
Mercy’s robe, a ring of grace
Such favor undeserved
You sing over me and celebrate
The rebel now Your child
© 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP).

Deuteronomy 30:2-3 promises us if we will:

return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you. Deut 30:2-3

The Robe speaks of welcoming into the family and removing sin. We are clothed with His righteousness, made righteous. The ring is a sign of sonship (inheritors) being sealed by the Holy Spirit with second inheritance of wealth, dominion, and rulership. Sandals differentiate us from a servant. The feast declares to the world the Joy of the Father. Freedom and honor are restored in perfect reconciliation and all the son did was return.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:10-14

Don’t wait. Relationship with the Father is to be valued more than our inheritance from Him. He wants to spend it with us. Wherever you are right now be purposeful. Don’t rehearse a speech. Just return, I’m going to do that right now.

Jul

2010

I’m One Of A Kind

I have always said “if you meet another Trobee were related”. Although I have been introduced to some Trobee’s in Florida that my Aunt, who has done much research tells me are not related.

Now a website howmanyofme.com will tell you if your unique. According to the U.S. census.

Although Gary is the 41st most popular name in the U.S. with 1.009.545 people sharing my first name there are only 115 Trobee’s. The end result is I am the only Gary Trobee in America. Pretty cool I think.

Check it out.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are

or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Jul

2010

Building The Bench

Rick Muchow is the worship pastor at Saddleback in California. I don’t know much about him and the style at Saddleback is not one I am particularly fond of myself. Today however I became a fan a Rick Muchow.

He answers a question from Kelly Gabriele serving in Little River, SC that points up a very common misconception in churches that once we have our ministry teams set were done and we can just operate in our gifts:

Our Praise Team is fully stocked at this time. What do I do about other musicians and singers who might be interested? While I want to reach out to new talent that may be in our church, at the same time we have a worshipping, wonderful, dedicated team with all the players and singers we need right now. Our service is growing by leaps and bounds… we are SO blessed. I think I am afraid of looking closed minded and closed hearted toward others who might be interested in joining. And if you tell me to start a Praise Choir I’m going to run away– that really frightens me! But then again, it may be time to “build a bench”–or should I leave well enough alone?

Rick hits it out of the park. The bottom line is we are not called to operate in our gift for a season and then hand it off to someone else. As Rick so eloquently and gracefully points out according to Romans 12 when someone has a gift in the church we are to LET THEM use it. Here are his remarks in total:

Many churches would love to have this “problem.” This is a great time. You must feel very encouraged. The question here is really about stewardship.

Why is God giving us all this talent? This is a common predicament for those who find themselves in a position of great wealth. Believe it or not, there are some people who don’t want to steward great wealth. With it comes great responsibility. It takes a lot of work and effort to manage great resources of any kind.

In my position as my church’s Worship Leader, I’ve always thought of myself as the manager of God’s musical resources within this church. I take this responsibility very seriously, realizing that all these people belong to God. He created them for a purpose. There is a fine line between our perceived needs and the church’s needs. My goal is to help people fulfill their place in ministry. I am not familiar with your exact situation or season, but I would encourage you to examine your paradigm here.

Let’s look at Romans 12-1:8 (NIV.) Every believer in the church has a contribution to make in the body of Christ. Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” This verse is about the life of worship and about using our gifts. Everyone needs to worship with their life. Part of that worship is using our gifts for the glory of God, to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

Verses 4-5 tell us, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

In verses 6-8, we are told 7 times to “let him.” Starting with verse 4, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

When I try to put myself in your place, I think God would be asking me to “build the bench.”

Let’s talk about building the bench. The bench is not the place where people never play. The bench is the place where they are ready to use their gifts at a moment’s notice. The bench has great benefits. For the inexperienced player, the bench allows them to train with the rest of the team. The bench also allows the team to share the load, avoiding burnout and injury. Finally, the bench provides a sense of teamwork, community and family.

Romans 12 is an example of how God wants us to include everyone into active service. God created each of us to use our gifts for Him. As a leader, our task is to try to figure out the puzzle and make a place in which each gifted person can serve.

If your team is “full”, here are some ideas. As we teach Biblical principles of teamwork, servanthood, and family, we are reminded that there is a place for everyone to serve in the ministry of the church. We willingly let another person use their gifts even when it means we have to share opportunities and responsibilities.

Start a new service time or form a team who can help other churches which have a smaller talent pool than yours does. Increase the number of people you use at a given service, for example start an orchestra or choir. (It’s not as scary as you might think!) Try a new rotation that allows more teams to serve in your existing services, for example each team serves every other week while rehearsing every week with the whole team together. Another idea is to promote existing team members to leadership positions allowing new leadership to take on the added responsibility of expanding your team.

How many musicians do we need at the church? According to Romans 12, when someone has a gift in the church we are to LET THEM use it. It is our responsibility to create the ministry climate that allows every member to incorporate their unique contribution to the body of Christ. This approach takes more work up front but is absolutely worth the investment.

Most churches don’t have this problem and I think the reason is we are not stewarding well that which has been entrusted to us. Those people He has bought with His own blood and given gifts. If we do not steward His resources He will send them to a place where they will be stewarded well.

Thanks Rick.

EncouragingMusic.Com

H.T. The Worship Community

Jul

2010

Working Yourself Out of a Job

Just watched a video from a very prominent worship leader, Someone I highly respect. I have been mentored by this person in a lot of ways so I don’t mean to throw stones at them necessarily.

The video started with him saying I have been leading worship at my church for a long time but I don’t want to do it forever so over the last couple of years I’ve tried to be more purposeful in bringing up the next generation. The video ended with him saying so if your in your 40’s or 50’s it’s time to start raising up the next generation.

This is a mindset in the church that must be broken.

Yes we need to bring up the next generation but as leaders our responsibility is so much broader. If your still doing the same thing in ministry you were doing 5 years ago there may be a problem. Our job as leaders is to equip the saints for works of service and the edification of the body. We must be not only looking for the next young and upcoming gifting and talent; we must be constantly evaluating those God has entrusted to us regardless of age. Our primary responsibility as leaders is to be the driving force behind allowing those entrusted to us to step into the fullness of their calling. We must not only look to those who are younger but those who have recently come into the family and those who for whatever reason were called 15 years ago but have finally started to walk in obedience to that call. When we look to the “younger” generation only we miss out on so much and may be causing a brother to stumble.

The body of Christ must constantly be moving. Search committees are the absolute worst way to fill ministry positions. We must recognize, call out, equip, and release the gifting in those entrusted to us. Not do our job for 20 years and then hand it off to an 18 year old.

Youth is not a qualifier and age is not a dis qualifier it’s about calling, gifting, character, servanthood, love for the house. Not necessarily in that order.

And finally if your the only one or the one who most often stands on the platform in leadership in any capacity and you’ve been there more than 5 years it’s time to start asking yourself some very serious questions.

Jun

2010

20 Years Ago Today…

It’s been over 90 days since my last post. It’s been a season of busyness and reflection, in that order. My focus has been to try to evaluate fruit and determine where I need to focus going forward. I have much to say on the subject but today I have a bigger purpose.

20 years ago today, 6:00 Central time to be exact, Kimberly Burger and I started a new life together.

As I sit here it seems amazing to me that it’s been 20 years. So much has happened not all of it good but all of it profitable because in the midst of it all we have followed the one who designed marriage. We haven’t always done it well but we have always done it.

Many men say “I am married to the most amazing woman on earth” I’m sure they are sincere but I really am, let me explain.

Our first date never happened.

It was my Sr. year and just prior to the Sadie Hawkins dance my long term girlfriend and I had “broken up”. I decided I would not go to the dance and had already declined a couple invitations. Then along comes Kim. She was, and is, always so full of life and joy and is impossible to ignore, why would I try anyway :-). After a school function the two of us were cruising main and talking and when I dropped her off at her house the conversation continued sitting on the trunk of my 1970 Pontiac LeMans leaning on the back glass which curved in like a lounge chair.

It was, and is, comfortable to be with her she made me laugh but was never “silly” or “a dumb girl”. There was, and is, substance to her something that draws you in. She still possesses that today and is one of the reasons she is so successful at everything she does. During the conversation she asked me to go with her to the dance and I accepted.

Later that week my old girlfriend came to me and said she had decided not to go to the dance with someone else and asked me to go with her. Being the loyal golden retriever that I am I went to Kim as she was on the stairs on her way to class and told her the situation. I went to the dance and Kim stayed home. I know what your thinking, what a jerk, and you would be right.

We remained friends and I still always loved being around her. After graduation I was home for the weekend we drove to the Pepper Mill steak house in a neighboring town about an hour away. We had a great time but I never called her again.

Fast forward a couple of Christmases. I ran into her again in our hometown and invited her to my parents house to catch up. When she arrived she knocked my socks off. It was the late 80’s and she was wearing a sweater dress looking like a million bucks. I had never looked at her that way before but suddenly I had a completely different view and it was good. So why didn’t I call her later? I don’t know.

The next summer was my parents 25 year anniversary I was playing in the band at the reception and Kim came and sat there the whole night so she could talk to me at the breaks between sets. I was still oblivious. On the way home my cousin said “You better call that girl”. I said “you think so”. I know I’m a slow learner. I did call and she came to the state fair where we saw Clint Black, Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Joe Diffy and again had a great time. We continued to talk, a lot, on the phone and I would make the trip home as often as possible. One night sitting on her back porch she said to me “you know I really like you” I think in the back of my mind I knew and hoped that was the case but in my zeal to not come on too strong I didn’t come on at all. I still do that a bit today.

Sorry to ramble so much but this is my blog 🙂 Back to the title of the post:

20 years ago today at about this time my dad and I were standing in my back yard in the rain wondering what to do. It was an outside wedding and we needed to make a decision. The rehearsal had been rained out and our family’s ended up in different places not doing what normally happens at a wedding rehearsal.

We woke to more rain, cloudy skies, and dim weather forecasts. My dad who I love dearly would not be described as a church person said to me. “If God gave you the girl, the date, and the place, what makes you think he will rain you out. So off we went to the city hall to pick up folding chairs and set them up in the rain having faith God would work it out.

That night was absolutely beautiful. Thunderstorms, tornado warnings, and rain all around us but in Ainsworth Nebraska on the corner of North Osborne and 3rd street was absolutely perfect.

Kim has always been my greatest cheerleader, always believed in me, even when I haven’t believed in myself, and has always been my closest and best friend. I would not be the man I am today without her and I don’t want to do the next 50 or more without her.

Kimberly as long as I live I will always remember you this way. I love you.

Mar

2010

Leading Worship

As I head down this road please understand I am not attacking anyone. Many of you who read this have made these statements either to me or in my presence. I hope to clarify words and intents. Please know I have the utmost respect for you, your ministry, and your calling.

Several years ago Andy Park wrote an excellent book called “To Know You More“. It’s written to worship leaders not to the congregation. In it he makes the Biblical case for the title “Worship Leader”. I strongly recommend you get a copy if you feel called to the office of worship leader.

I first heard Jack Hayford use the term “Lead Worshiper” in his book “Worship the Pattern of Things in Heaven” now I’m hearing the term “Lead Follower”. It’s not that I have a particular problem with any of these terms. I just want to make sure were not missing the point when we use them.

Recently I came across an article on HigherPraise.com with this paragraph at the beginning:

As worship leaders (each member is a worship leader, not just the lead singer), you need to remember that leading worship is NOT trying to get people to sing, It is WORSHIPING GOD yourselves, SO THAT others will FOLLOW your LEAD!! !! Instead of concentrating on worship leading, focus on being a lead worshiper.

There’s that term again,

I don’t totally disagree with this statement however it leaves out some critical elements of standing on the platform in the position of leader.

Eddie Espinosa writer of amazing songs like “Change my Heart Oh God”, and “Most of all”, said:

Worship leading is not worshiping God while others watch. I liken this to eating in front of hungry people.

Leading worship begins well before we stand on the platform on Sunday It begins in our ongoing prayer life and individual worship times. We must be asking God what He wants to say to His people. Taking into consideration everything God is speaking to us to evaluate if it’s for us, for the team, or for the congregation. All in submission to the leadership of the Church or event.

When we stand on the platform we must have already received direction from the Holy Spirit and given Him every opportunity to change what we think we heard. The reason we stand on that platform should be because we have been affirmed in our calling and gifting by Elders and been delegated authority over that part of the service.

Walking in that authority we must then engage those God has entrusted to us and lead them to where we have already been with the creativity God has given us. I agree our job is not to “get people to sing”. It is also not to “Worship God myself so that others will follow my lead”. We must lead them gently, humbly, and confidently, as many as will come, into the secret place.

Leading worship always begins where the people are. If you miss where they are spiritually you will miss them entirely. Very few people will run to catch up once you’ve begun. Getting a large group of people to walk aimlessly down the street is much different than leading a marching band. Leading is not directing from the front or being a cheerleader. It does however require actively meeting the people where they are and taking them with you.

If we merely show up and worship through the 20 or so minutes given to us we may have, but most likely have not, “lead worship”.

would love your thoughts on this.

Mar

2010

Frontier School of the Bible, Closure

Got this awhile ago and haven’t had time to post it. Here is the conclusion:

Dear Alumni and Friends of FSB,

In October of 2008, Frontier School of the Bible discovered that a state statute, designed to deal with diploma mills, inadvertently affected legitimate schools and led to all religious schools in Wyoming losing their religious exemption. The consequences of this action could have caused us to relocate to another state.

Some of the effects of that statute were negated by Frontier School of the Bible being granted a Leadership School exemption by the Department of Education. We appreciated their help with our dilemma. In order to deal with all of the unintended negative aspects of losing our religious exemption, Representative Ed Buchanan submitted House Bill 16 on behalf of Frontier School of the Bible and all other religious schools in Wyoming. In February, this bill was passed with nearly unanimous support by the Wyoming Legislature and signed by the Governor on March 3, 2010. The passing of this bill has restored our religious exemption!

The prayer support for this situation has been astounding and humbling. We clearly saw the hand of God work in numerous ways and many blessings came to Frontier in the midst of this situation. Every time we encountered difficult obstacles, God provided direction and assistance from wonderful people and organizations.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Yours In Christ,

Frontier School of the Bible

God is good.

We all have seasons of spending our inheritance outside of relationship with the Father.

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