Today, the third Monday in January, is referred to as “Blue Monday,” the most depressing day of the year. Statistics supposedly show that the gloom we feel today may be related to the passing of time since Christmas, where we stand on our New Year’s resolutions, and basically the long-haul of winter before us (This, of course, should never be confused with Major Depressive Disorder, as diagnosed and treated by a health care professional).

With some searching, I found that Blue Monday was actually a marketing ploy born in Europe six years ago to boost air travel. Americans haven’t necessarily caught on to this tradition, but it seems plausible to me that Blue Monday has some connection to reality. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD for short) is a real condition that affects Americans–especially the snow-bound in places like New England: the sun disappears and seemingly endless cold days take over until spring comes to rescue the afflicted. Seasonal mood variations are believed to be related to the lack of light. As we venture out from our frozen bungalows, we refill our serotonin deficiencies, helping to increase our sense of well being.

To get through Blue Monday, advice from professionals include: keep active, eat well, care for others, do something you are good at, ask for help, talk about your feelings, take a break, drink sensibly, and most importantly, book your next flight to Cancun.

Since it’s the end of another work week and I am afforded the time for activities that I love to do (as opposed to have to do), I put a little thought into what my guilty pleasures might be. I haven’t really listed them in one place before, but here we go! I know it’s risky to do this; blogging is risky enough, so I am taking a big chance here with the hope that you won’t cross the street to avoid me the next time our paths potentially meet. This list is in random order so don’t let #1 give you the wrong idea!

1) A hot bath: As high a temperature that our water heater can produce–scalding hot water and sauna jets help me to say goodbye to everyone for as long as it takes. No one follows me in there except Brenda when my cell phone rings (see #6).

2) Grocery shopping: I know…Brenda hates it, but I don’t mind it at all. I guess it’s a way to spend money–on necessities. Spending money on non-essentials is, for sure, a guilty pleasure, but I’m not ready to admit it yet!

3) Visiting Amazon MP3: each morning I look for a great $3.99 deal on records I otherwise wouldn’t normally buy.

4) Listening to 60s & 70s bubble gum, one-hit-wonder songs: They bring me back to my childhood. So if you hear me humming the melody to, “Julie, Julie, Julie do you love me…,” just remember, I warned you here…

5) Watching King of Queens re-runs on TBS: I love to watch the interplay between Doug and Carrie. There’s always a funny, unspoken facet of life that they seem to capture.

6) Gadgets: I love the quest for the “newest and coolest” stuff. My dad says that his father was the same way. They’ll make you poor, real quick…but gadgets also make it easy for creditors to get a hold of you.

7) Disneyland: I will visit there as often as I get to southern California. Again, I think it brings me back to being a kid. Walt Disney is a fascinating person as well as a creative inspiration.

8) Staying in my PJs all day: I can be a total recluse when the opportunity avails. I get alot done: write songs, work in my studio, do my blog, etc. You just don’t wanna see me in my super-hero outfit…it’s very sad.

9) Hamburgers: I love them, but my health suffers if I eat them too often. A couple times a month won’t kill me, though. Fries are a weakness, too! I totally love the aroma of deep-fried food as it hangs in the air above a McDonalds or a Burger King…smells like vacation to me!

10) Breakfast: I know my guilty pleasures are mostly of the food variety. This is certainly tied to my struggle with excess poundage. Nevertheless, there’s nothing like a Grand Slam at Denny’s, anytime of the day; it’s a main course and dessert in one package. When traveling, I search out a breakfast place like Cracker Barrel, Waffle House, Bob Evans, Perkins, IHOP, etc., while Brenda scouts for a Starbucks. Eggs over-easy, sausage patties, pancakes or biscuits: heaven on a plate!

There you have it–my flaws bared for all to see! I bet some of you are as passionate about some of these things as I am. Let me know…

Back in 1997, while on an American Airlines flight high above the central U.S., I ran across an article in Wired Magazine by John Geirland entitled, Go With the Flow. It illustrated how an audience can be engaged and effectively drawn into the experience of surfing the web. The person Geirland interviewed for the article was renown psychologist and educator Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced: me-HIGH chick-sent-me-HIGH-ee). He created the Theory of Flow in the 1970s while attempting to develop a better understanding of human behavior as it relates to happiness and contentment. In the Wired interview, Csikszentmihalyi described the state of flow as when: “The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved…” I was intrigued with how this theory might apply to worship and the Church.

Many regard “entertainment” as somewhat of a secular activity. I want to dispel that notion by focusing on the original definition of the word. In Middle English, “entertinen” is to maintain. Another definition of entertain is to undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind. So, entertainment, outside of a host of modern connotations of the word, can simply be to: maintain an emotional sensation or a particular state of mind. Amusement can certainly play a very important part of the experience we are maintaining. When we apply the theory of flow to our worship services, we are using successful techniques that skilled communicators have used for hundreds of years. We can learn to hold the attention of our congregations by actively designing our presentations to flow; to help draw the congregation into the musical worship experience, preaching, drama, video, etc., and maintain their full and active attention while communicating the message of the Gospel.

My scriptural basis for flow in worship is found in Isaiah’s call to the exiles in Babylon to go forth and return to their own land:

Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations. Isa. 62:10

Isaiah asserts that the gates be thrown open; to eliminate obstacles that get in the way of the destination. As facilitators of worship, we are encouraged to clear modern-day distractions. I want to offer some simple, inexpensive suggestions to improve any worship environment:

1) Maintain a pleasing stage area (hide wires, remove trash, remove stage clutter, etc.)
2) Maintain a comfortable room temperature
3) Maintain clean, modest, attractive and professional attire on stage (I think it’s important that those leading the service be, at least, one step above the attire of the audience!)
4) Encourage use of the nursery–nothing like a screaming baby to interrupt flow
5) Make use of greeters, ushers and other “people-flow” volunteers to insure that each “people-moving” process is streamlined and pleasant
6) Maintain clean and well-composed restroom facilities, classrooms and hallways
7) Provide clean, safe and secure nursery and childcare facilities (nothing ruins a service for parents more than feeling unsure of their child’s welfare)

In time, a congregation must invest in a suitable sound, video and lighting system commensurate with the size of the worship space, audience and delivery style of the message. Here are some basic suggestions for creating a seamless flow on stage:

1) In advance, plan and rehearse the stage moves involved in each service (how and when each person or item comes on and off stage). Avoid “dead space” by making sure each participant on stage knows how and to whom they will hand off their segment. A full run-through of stage moves before the service is always helpful.
2) When changing segments, try to match the emotion from the preceding to create an appropriate, seamless transition into the following one (i.e.: worship into announcements; prayer into closing, etc.). Decide what you are going to say in advance. Knee-jerk transitions are flow-killers.
3) Check that each microphone, video player, music track player and lighting instrument to be used in the segments are working before the service starts; don’t assume!
4) The pulpit is a sacred place. Make sure and coach whoever takes the stage to speak clearly; to know what they are going to say, and to save spontaneity for those with more experience. Avoid the the temptation to open up the pulpit indiscriminately to anyone. Unfortunate results cause an audience to feel “held captive,” and can destroy an otherwise pleasant experience as well as any trust in the future.

To realize an effective worship service that flows, amuses, enlightens, inspires and changes people, we must spend time in advance to make sure that each segment is meeting the goal of our intended purpose. God is in control. Even so, we as leaders are facilitators in the process. We can use the aforementioned techniques to maintain an audiences’ attention to our great benefit. Once we have removed the stones from the people’s way, they have a better chance of seeing Christ high and lifted up. Our ultimate aim in our services must be to help facilitate a one-on-one encounter between the participant and God.

Look for Creating Great Moments in Worship, Part 4, in the coming weeks. Any comments, questions or suggestions can be directed to: jamie@jamieharvill.com. Also, ask how Jamie can help your church realize a more effective worship experience.

I guess if one can re-tweet, one can also re-post! The following entry is from my son Josh’s blog. I am proud of him in so many ways. I am thankful that he is off to a great start with 6 months of marriage. Blessings to both Josh and Amber!

Half A Year Of Marriage

This morning, Amber and I looked out the window and saw a white winter wonderland. She had the day off so we took our time waking up. After a Bible study time together (which isn’t easy for us to schedule on weekday mornings) we bundled up and played in the snow for a while. At one point, my wife looked at me with her pretty smile and said “Happy 6-month anniversary!”

Amber and I got married on July 10 and we were the first (and currently the only) couple to be wed in a newly-constructed area of our church called Fellowship Square. The whole thing went by so fast…literally. It was a Saturday and our church had to prepare for its regularly scheduled evening services so we were given a total of about 4 hours for the ceremony, reception and clean-up! After Amber and I drove away in my ’95 Ford Taurus getaway car, we went to Taco Bell. (We hadn’t had much time to stop and enjoy the food at our own reception.) The reaction from the lady at the drive-thru window was priceless. “Ahhhh, congratulations!” Smiling, we said thanks and I secretly hoped the woman would give us the food for free. No señor. Our first purchase as man and wife was a bean burrito and a large drink.

That was a great day. Today was also a great day and we spent every moment together. I believe God made us for each other and He’s greatly blessed us. After half a year of marriage, I’m glad I married Amber.

I love working in my studio producing music–taking a song from conception to completion. I also enjoy it when my songs make their way onto other people’s recordings. I equally love to produce my own projects every couple of years. Gary Sadler and I are getting real close to completing a project that we have been working on for some time. People often call on me to produce their projects for them. When in the negotiation stage of a project, I try to communicate to the client a very simple concept. It is applicable in a host of other industries and helps to illustrate three aspects of the production process.

I use a triangle to show the distinctions between quality, time and money. Most clients have a limited budget to put toward the end result they desire. Some have a very short turnaround time for which they need it done. Everyone, of course, wants quality. My theory is you can have only two sides of that triangle, not all three. You can have quality with little money and the turnaround time will suffer. You can get it cheap and fast but the quality will suffer. And the point I end up making to most clients: you can have quality in a quick manner, but its gonna cost you!

Quality is always a premium in any economy. Excellent work is my best calling card. This quote says it all in a nutshell:

Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence. ~Author Unknown