#heavenmeetsearth

Fait du Bruit

5 Feb ’12 By Christopher Hopper 5 Comments

Our first three meetings here in Switzerland have been joy-filled and boisterous. Or maybe I’ve just been boisterous. Either way, as the Swiss say, I like to “Fait du bruit,” or make noise.

This shot, care of Fredo Bovigny, is from last night’s worship event in Escale. As expected I soaked through my shirt within the first two songs.

Right now I’m sitting on a couch tucked amongst some mountains in Sion recovering from an amazing post-church meal (merci Pastor Sandy and Laureline!) and hoping this espresso buzz kicks in soon. Tonight Jennifer and I will be playing with our band for a regional night of worship.

Thanks for all your prayers! ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, travel, worship Tagged With: music, noise, switzerland, worship

Life-Themes and Leadership Tips

22 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 3 Comments

While it seems the subjects of “age” and “getting older” are the brunt of many jokes, we would be remiss if we didn’t reflect on the fact that God invented the process. As such, there are some incredible benefits.

One of which is seeing life-themes emerge.

Although Jennifer and I have certainly had some highlights leading worship for thousands of people, that’s not the context God places us in most often. Rather, it’s is ministering to rural churches that are on the verge of “epoch” change.

A life-theme emerges: encouraging people that the idea that God likes to do big things in seemingly small places.

It’s a joy to fly home from a trip utterly spent. And my time here at Hope Community Church in Marlette, MI will be no exception. This place is in the midst of transforming their town for Jesus, and further, their county. In one year they’ve already moved from one building to a bigger building, and are transitioning to two services in less than a month.

Two tips to seeing a local church have a massive impact through word of mouth:

1.) Love your community. Every person on a church’s leadership team must be sold-out, head-over-heels in love with their region. If they’re not, they need to get the Father’s heart, step out of leadership, or move. People in a region can smell hirelings that are not 100% committed to a locale, and as a result the church will never grow. As my Senior Pastor once asked me, “Are your feet planted?”

2.) Love whoever God sends you, and whoever God sends you to. I just heard a story last night where a church leader did a mailing but told his secretary not to include the addresses of a trailer park. That is so anti-Christ it made me sick to my stomach. Yet we all have a little if that in us and it needs to be confronted. Loving the unlovely will spark revival every time: it’s what Jesus did for each of us.

Hope Community’s people clearly love their community and are walking testimonies of Jesus’ tangible love. I’m thrilled to be here for their one year anniversary weekend. My sincere congratulations to Pastors Paul & Erin Rohling. I’m behind you 100%.

So if you’re ever in Michigan’s thumb, you’ll be blessed to visit a powerful church touching God’s heart. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, leadership, marketing, travel, worship Tagged With: Church, church growth, development, Erin Rohling, Hope Community Church, Marlette MI, paul rohling, strategy

Intimacy Not Ethics

15 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 15 Comments

Two types of Christians stand out to me, both for opposing reasons.

The first are those whose faith is based upon ethics. Their adherence to the Bible and a code of stringent morality most often sets them apart from others who do not encompass the same value set. The result is a cloistered lifestyle, and making anyone who lives to the contrary feel uncomfortable and judged.

While this often starts with good intentions, it quickly becomes a breeding ground for a religious spirit cloaked in the guise of purity if not challenged to maturity. It is birthed in self-righteousness, and if left unaddressed it kills the Christian and those around them.

The second are those who base their faith upon relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit. While certainly pursuing an understanding of God through classic forms of reading, prayer, and meditation, they emphasize a keen and dominant interest in knowing the Lord intimately, choosing Jesus Christ’s righteousness to be their morality through impartation.

The result is an individual who actually attracts those living outside of a pursuit of Christ, and in fact makes them jealous for it, often without being able to articulate it. This Christian thinks nothing of the public association with the wayward, and feels most alive when loving them selflessly.

Unbelievers loved being with Jesus. The dirty, the drunken, the destitute, the broken, the orphaned. And he loved being around them, to the point that observers thought he might actually be drunk in the bars and cavorting with the prostitutes.

Yet he was without sin.

Everywhere Jennifer and I go we desire to be attractive. Loving. Open. Full of Jesus. But sometimes we try and sneak into a restaurant for a date unnoticed.

Only one problem:

You can’t hide a light under a basket.

Our server Friday night, Christina, couldn’t put Levi down. And though her speech was more Mandarin than English, one thing was clear: she loved being around us at dinner. So did the restaurant manager. And the rest of the servers. There was something contagious in the air. The smell of Jesus. And they wouldn’t leave us alone.

Don’t substitute you’re pursuit of ethics for divine relationship. Intimacy with God will always produce morality, whereas ethics never produced heaven.

Souls are waiting for your personal freedom. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture Tagged With: attraction, christianity, ethics, evangelical, intimacy, Jesus, Mandarin, sushi, the Holy Spirit, witnessing

The Snowflake Conundrum

6 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 13 Comments

What was your most recent “it will never be exactly like this again” moment?

I had the distinct pleasure of playing drums for a very talented and anointed worship leader this week, Miss Janelle Gmitter. Playing drums is the most lucid, natural musical expression of worship for me even though most people see me behind a guitar or piano. It’s effortless, and therefore lends itself to a spiritual connection that’s different than leading from the stage-center position.

As I was getting lost in the flow that Janelle was leading us in, it dawned on me: this moment of worshipping the Lord will never happen again. Sure, other opportunities will present themselves, but never precisely like this one.

My snowflake moments in life are becoming my most precious. How many snowflakes fall from the sky in northern New York in one storm alone? Untold billions, if not more. Yet it’s statistically impossible for any two to ever be the same structurally.

The common occurrence of rare moments is one of God’s most intentional conundrums.

By default we’re creatures of habit. As people our efficiency excels with repetition. Yet without the infinite possibility of the random we’d be bound to the torture of the mundane.

No two people are the same, nor are the relationships we’ll have with them.

No two works of art are exactly the same, nor are two work projects, two trips to the same destination, two dinners with friends, two encounters with God, with your spouse, or with your children.

I see my kids everyday, yet by virtue of their rapid growth I’ll never have again what I have at the present.

Snowflakes may be common, but that single one over there is one of a kind.

Make sure you take time to savor the rare moments of your common day. You’ll never have them again in quite the same way. By doing so we pay homage to the brilliance of God in giving us a mystery that simply falls from the sky. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, leadership Tagged With: common, drumming, Janelle Gmitter, moments, opportunity, perception, rare, relationships, snowflakes, value, worship

For Those Who’re Watching

2 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 18 Comments

Yesterday Judah and I worshipped together during third service at New Life. He’s often distracted by his older brother and sister, but since they were en route from Rochester with their mom, Judah’s singular focus was pretty neat to watch.

He would look up at me and do what I was doing.

It started with clapping.

Then some hopping.

Soon he was squinting his eyes, looking up at me to see what hand I was raising. I couldn’t figure out why he was squinting – honestly, it was super cute – until I realized I was squinting.

I couldn’t stand it any more and knelt down to hug him and tell him how good of a little worshipper he was being.

If you’ve felt convicted lately about not doing something you know you should be, please consider this: our deliberate efforts are often more about someone else’s gateway to success than our own.

While your actions may very well benefit you in some meaningful ways – financial, emotional, physical, or spiritual – they probably will benefit someone else far more profoundly.

So whether it’s the way you worship in church to that book you’ve always been getting around to writing to that exercise routine you’ve been delaying to that friend you’ve always said you’ll visit, do the people watching you a favor and start.

The best motivation is realizing some things we can’t do for ourselves. We can only do them for others. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, leadership, The Hopper Kids, worship Tagged With: actions, commitment, deliberate, dreams, judah, motivation, new year's resolutions, worship

He’s Prepared for You

1 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 5 Comments

Giving my readers a free go at Athera’s Dawn after almost five years of waiting was not only a great excuse to take a 38-day break from blogging daily, but it also let me focus more on my family during the holidays, as well as a few other big projects that needed my attention.

All that to say ‘thanks’ to you, my faithful readers, for coming back in this new year. I so appreciate your support and encouragement in continuing this blogging venture. I write intentionally for my audience every day. You’re the best.

My older two children spent a majority of their Christmas Vacation with their grandparents, leaving Judah (2.5 yrs) basically to fend for himself. And he’s enjoyed it immensely, having the house and all the toys to himself.

Yet as parents we realized one of the things the older two children provided was a bit of stability, a but of “normal.” And without that, some of the household habits needed to be amended.

One of those was the morning routine. Typically all the kids get up together and play, or make cereal if Dad’s not up yet. It’s kinda’ cute and it’s become a part of their culture. But in the absence of Eva and Luik being in the house, and given the opportunity for Dad and Mom to sleep in a little more with school out of session, we had to make plans for Judah.

Like setting a bottle out for him. Which he’d see, take, and go back to bed without knocking on our door at 5:30am.

In the Boy Scouts, we call that being prepared.

As adults, we call that planning ahead.

And as parents, we call that buying time.

But if that’s what we as earthly, imperfect parents do to plan for a little part of just one of our children’s days, imagine how much more the Lord has prepared for you and I in 2012.

He’s got your back. He’s has a plan for when you walk out of the door. Everything’s set, and he has your best interests in mind.

So for 2012, start it off right by throwing off anxiety and putting on comfort. Jesus knows what he’s doing on your behalf. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, The Hopper Kids Tagged With: 2012, happy new year, judah, preparation

Operation Christmas Child Warehouse

1 Dec ’11 By Christopher Hopper 4 Comments

My sister Natalie just sent me pics and video of her and her husband Joe working at the OCC processing plant in North Carolina.

Given how much our church participates in this program every Fall, you’d think I’d know the stats on how many boxes go through this place. All I can tell you is, it’s a lot.

So here’s to the generous people who’ve donated time and money to make this venture what it is to millions of children each year. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, leadership, pictures Tagged With: children, giving, Joe, Natalie, NC, OCC

When You Look

29 Nov ’11 By Christopher Hopper 1 Comment

Jenny and I were driving into church Sunday morning when I snapped this pic from behind the wheel. We had views like this pretty much the entire drive in.

Jenny was especially impressed because her natural sleep patterns (ie, “not a morning person”) don’t allow her to catch many sunrises.

So often the most beautiful things in life are happening all the time without us even knowing. Change when you’re looking is as equally important as where you’re looking.

“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.’” -Gen. 28:16

ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, pictures, worship Tagged With: advice, cars, Church, headlights, sunrise, timing

Heaven Meets Earth Hits Noisetrade

27 Nov ’11 By Christopher Hopper 6 Comments

If you haven’t taken the plunge to buy Heaven Meets Earth over the last year, I’ve put it up on Noisetrade for free. In return, you can help promote the album through your social networks, chose to give me a “tip,” or both. Whatever it means to you.

Man, I’m giving away all sorts of stuff!

You’re welcome. Merry Christmas! ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, music, news, worship Tagged With: CHB, free music, heaven meets earth, hme, noisetrade

To My Queen (from Napoleon)

21 Nov ’11 By Christopher Hopper 12 Comments

She was homecoming queen.

I inspired the role of Napoleon Dynamite.

She had nerdy boys offering to carry her backpack between periods.

I was in the science club.

One day, I’ll be as amazing as her. But for now, I still can’t believe I get to celebrate her birthday as “husband.”

Here’s to a sensitive, bold, fearless, selfless woman of the Spirit; here’s to the single girl I once told a friend I wanted my daughter to be like; and here’s to a woman who still takes my breath away when she walks in the room.

Happy 28th birthday my love. Here’s to your grand adventure. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, geek, hopper clan, news Tagged With: birthdays, Jennifer

God Doesn’t Need Our Worship

17 Nov ’11 By Christopher Hopper 10 Comments

God doesn’t need our worship.

We do.

God’s not suffering from an identity crisis in which He needs constant reminding of his attributes or character.

But we do.

God doesn’t benefit from the hundreds of Biblical commands outlining demonstrative, physical expressions of exuberant worship.

But we sure do.

Last night as I watched 33 Live’s worship team lead teens into passionate praise of Jesus, I was impressed with the simple fact that, of all the things this young generation needs – and all generations, for that matter – they need to worship a living God and experience His presence.

My father raised me with a powerful saying: “The worst place to be is where the Holy Spirit was.” I want to be where He is.

Exciting things are happening in Jefferson County, NY, and the Holy Spirit is here. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, leadership, music Tagged With: dance, music, obedience, praise, singing, teenagers, worship

Man Overboard!

16 Nov ’11 By Christopher Hopper 1 Comment

In the end, it’s all about people. Whether sending them on ahead of us, or leaving a legacy they can benefit from and follow in our footsteps, people are the only thing we can take with us. Because they’re the only thing on the planet that will last forever.

Understanding this does not diminish the need for natural excellence – like how our church carpets are groomed, how are ministries are run, or how the community thinks about our organizations – but actually increases the importance of our behaviors, as they ultimately equate to affecting people.

All that being said, however, it’s imperative we keep majoring on – well – the majors.

Tonight I get to help baptize over thirty new Christians.

Thirty.

No matter how times I see it, I never get sick of it. And with the myriad of activities going on at and around New Life, I consider it one of my greatest honors to help usher people into the way of following Jesus.

Man overboard! ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, leadership Tagged With: baptism, discipleship, obedience, priorities