What does God expect from us as worshippers?

As I begin writing this article for the July newsletter I realize the irony in that today is "Father's Day" and here I am writing an article about what God expects of us as worshippers. So, to begin I will take the following perspective for this article - what does a Father expect of his children? What does our heavenly Father expect his children to do for Him as they grow into men and women of Christ... as worshippers of Him?

Here are some different "worship" questions to ponder on...

Does God expect us to lift or raise our hands during worship? Does God expect us to kneel during worship? Does God demand we sing to Him in worship? Does god expect prayers during worship? Does he command us to sing "new" songs to Him? Does God desire offerings from us?

In an earlier entry, I quoted this scripture;


"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30 (NIV)

Jesus told the people that this was the most important of God's commandments to follow. So clearly, God wants our devotion to Him in all things. This really means that in everything we do in our daily lives, whether it's getting up in the morning, reading the paper and drinking our coffee to going off to work, or spending time with our children even getting ready to go to bed at night - is all to be done in devotion to the Lord. But for this moment let's just focus on our "worship" of Him what he expects of us during that special time.

Is our worship time with the Lord, to ONLY to be on Sunday mornings? Is it limited to our "corporate" worship time? (That means, when we are all together on Sunday mornings as a church congregation.) Absolutely not! However, for some folks this is what is considered worship time - so I'll start there as a frame of reference.

A believer may worship the Lord at any time he or she desires to, and that is pleasing to God. However, there is a special importance and significance in believers gathering together to worship the Lord as the Body of Christ, and He places a special significance and honor in that...

"...But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." (1 Cor. 12: 24-26 NIV)

and within that "body" of believers who are assembled, Jesus promised his presence within...

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matt. 18:20 NIV)

Well then, what does our heavenly Father want from us then?

God wants our devotion to Him in all things, all times all places and yet He gives us complete freedom in three key areas that we often try to "nail" down to our own ways of thinking -that is the what, the how and the where of our worship. Lets just focus on what God says about the "how" of our worship...

In the book of John, chapter 4, Jesus laid out the definition very clearly for us of what God expects - of what true worship should look like.

"...Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24 NIV)

So getting back to all the worship questions I asked you to ponder on earlier... The best answer I can come up with after reading several different scriptures where each of those questions has a biblical reference in scripture - the best answer I came up with was NO, God doesn't place any "rules" on the "how" of worship. BUT it is clear to see that there are things that we can do to "please" God very much. And after all - what loving child doesn't want to do things to please their Father?

Something to think about.

Blessings,

Dave

My First Worship "Epiphany"

I recall the moment many years ago, when I first accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior... It was around May of 1982 in Tucson, Arizona as I was attending college. A friend of mine (who was also in the choir with me) had invited me around the beginning of the year, to come and sing with him at his church. It seemed their young adult choir at his church were just beginning to put together a special Easter program and they needed some more baritones & basses! So naturally, I jumped right in and helped out. I enjoyed the singing of course, but I really enjoyed the fellowship (I was also going through some personal disappointment at the time) and so after we had finished the Easter program, I continued to attend and found myself curiously drawn to Christ.

One Sunday in May as the pastor was giving his usual "altar-call" something came over me, call it what you will - a voice in my head, the summoning of the spirit or perhaps it was the message that Sunday which laid heavily on my heart - whichever it was - I stood up and walked slowly forward, then gently knelt down on the front steps of the sanctuary. The one single thing I remember the most, was that as I stood up and was walking up to the front of the sanctuary - it was if everything became profoundly silent for what seemed an eternity. It's funny the things that race through your mind at a moment like that. It wasn't scary or anything like that - no, not at all - I felt completely at peace actually... but strangely also felt separated from everything for a while... Even after I was baptised a week or two later - that strange "giddy" feeling lasted for several weeks, maybe even months afterwards. I couldn't explain it. Just a feeling of "joy" and "peace" which I desperately needed at the time and would need in the months that followed as well. (My grandfather would pass away a few months later from prostate cancer just weeks before his 80th birthday... we were close and we lived just a few houses apart)

Time would continue to pass by, and eventually that "feeling" of peace and joy that I so strongly had in the first few months after my acceptance - gently waned over time. I earnestly continued in my efforts to read my bible and attend church as often as I could over the next several years, but one thing led to another and school, music, friends and work eventually won over Jesus being first in my life affairs.

Eventually, as time passed - I graduated from college, landed my first teaching job, got married and then moved to another city and my church attendance and bible reading began to slowly fade away with all the changes in my life...

Several years later I would learn that God was never far away from me, even though my heart had drifted farther and farther away from Him.

That moment when I first accepted Jesus as my savior changed my life in ways I never thought of at the time. The Bible clearly says right there in 2 Corinthians 5:17

"...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Now I know, years later that that moment when I stepped forward during the music and invitation, was my first worship "epiphany." What I did not know at the time, was that it would not be my last - even though it would take nearly eleven years (and more deeply disappointing personal setbacks) before the next one would occur - The amazing thing to me was that Christ was there with me all the time.

Blessings to you,

Dave

Worship Practice

This is the one area of worship that is most easily neglected by many worship teams and/or worship leaders. When I say it's neglected, I don't mean in the actual time spent in weekly practice, but in the quality of practice and in the "focus" of the practice. A worship team could consist of many different groups; a small praise team or choir, the praise band or orchestra (if your church is large enough) or simply the worship leader alone. Either way, all must spend time in rehearsal. Most worship leaders have several favorite scripture verses that focus on God's desire for worship teams and their leaders to rehearse and be "skilled" in their leading. Here are two of my favorites;

"Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy" (Ps. 33:3 NIV)

and...

"Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people" (Col. 3:23 NLT)


Working for the Lord? Never thought of that before I'll bet.


I've just spent the last week reading over several other web pages, books and blogs on worship and rehearsal to get some ideas as to what other worship leaders consider to be important about worship rehearsals and came away with three basic ideas as to what makes up a "quality" worship rehearsal. Most of the articles I've read, focused on the "musicality" aspect of rehearsals; such as - musical theory or vocal techniques etc, which are definitely important don't get me wrong, however there were a few articles I read that focused other "non-musical" aspects that I felt were more important.


1. Make prayer important! Have a designated prayer time.
2. Have a "Plan" for your worship rehearsal time.
3. Start and end on time!


I. "Prayer Time"

Does your worship team begin their rehearsals with prayer? Do they pray for each other? How about prayer during the songs? How about closing in prayer? Each one of these times of prayer has a purpose and serves a powerful function of a well disciplined and skilled worship team.

I have experienced both sides of this one. I've been in worship rehearsals that had very little prayer time built into them and I've been in rehearsals that were "overloaded" with prayer. I'll explain that in a minute. I personally feel that a portion of the rehearsal should be set aside for prayer as this helps the team to bond together in fellowship as well as assisting them to focus on the task at hand. This is where the leadership skills of your worship leader are so important in setting the tone for rehearsals. I remember a comment I heard a few years ago during a worship conference I attended (sorry, I can't remember who it was...) but the worship leader was sharing his thoughts on leading rehearsals and said he always treated rehearsal time as an "off-hour" extension of Sunday mornings regular worship. I like that idea.

II. Have a plan for your rehearsal time.

This might seem like a given to some, but I've experienced rehearsals where there was no real plan for worship rehearsal time and things would easily slip by and time seemed to drag on and on. That is not good. If you or someone you know is a teacher, you know that teacher's have to prepare "lesson-plans" for each day. Now I'm not saying you have to go overboard and make a detailed rehearsal plan - but at least sketch out on a notepad a simple basic plan of what you want to cover for the rehearsal. (I will share examples in another blog later on)

III. Start and End on time.

What this boils down to the most is respecting the time commitment that everyone on your team has made to being at rehearsals. Yes, you will have those "dedicated" individuals on your team (Bless their hearts!) who will never complain about going past the end time of rehearsal or putting in extra time to get that song arrangement "just right" for Sunday morning. Nothing can be more frustrating for your team members than to spend a good percentage of the rehearsal time with "chit-chat" or catching up on events of the week, rather than actual practice. Even prayer time, should be kept in check as well. (although, there is much more merit to spending time in prayer - than simply wasting time catching up on the season finale of your favorite TV shows...) Save that for "After-rehearsal" for those who are able to stick around and visit - rather than having to rush off to relieve a baby sitter or spouse from childcare duty.

I hope this gives you some good ideas to consider for your worship rehearsals. Have a great worship this week!

Blessings,

Dave

Choosing the Music for Sunday Worship

It hard to believe another week has just flown by! My wife and I just completed our first full week of summer vacation and boy are we exhausted! (I'm half kidding, of course!) We live in one of those places people love to come visit from about October through May, but from June until about September they roll up the sidewalks around here and everyone goes underground! You think I'm kidding? It's supposed to reach 110 degrees this next week! Ouch!

Ever so often, someone will come up and ask me how I go about choosing songs for Sunday services. If you're a beginning worship leader, or know someone who is getting started leading worship in a church somewhere in your area, here are a couple of suggestions to help in song selection for Sunday mornings.

1st - I pray about it. Pretty simple huh? But believe me, it helps get your thoughts focused in the right direction at least. (I usually start my planning for Sunday morning services about a week or maybe even two weeks before...)

2nd - Make a list (write it down or type it up) of all the praise/worship/hymn songs you know and can play on your given instrument and the keys y0u sing them in comfortably. The more you lead worship, the better you'll get at this, but start with a list. (do this right now!)

3rd - Make a list of the praise/worship/hymn songs your congregation knows. If your new in the church, ask the pastor or take a survey or both! If you know everyone well and have been leading them for a while, making a list should be easy, however you might still want to do a little survey - you might be surprised at the results you get! (do this ASAP)

4th - Consult with your pastor. This is perhaps the single most crucial part of your "job" and if you know each other it makes planning a whole lot easier - however, if your just starting out at a new church you will want to develop the relationship between you and your pastor. That's about all I will say for now on this - This is a topic that really is a book in itself. (see side note below)

(side note) There is a great book that has been out for a few years titled "The New Worship" by Barry Liesch, and this book covers a lot of this sort of stuff - so go get it if you don't have it and read it! (try Amazon or Barnes and Noble)

5th - "The Nitty Grit"
I have several notebooks of songs in my office that I have collected over the years and organized them alphabetically in three large 3 ring binders. Sometimes, I will just plop myself down on the floor and look through them all! When a song will sometimes "pop" out at me, I pull it out and make a "Must do soon" pile. I like to organize songs this way (but everybody has different ways of doing this so really it's about what works for you) I have a pile of songs for "Openers" a pile for "Go together" and "Closers"

"Openers" - These might be something like - "Forever," "Open the Eyes of My Heart," "Joyful, Joyful, We adore thee," "Come, Now is the Time to Worship" or even "To God Be the Glory" etc.

"Go Together" - These might be; "My Jesus, I Love Thee" and "Here I am to Worship" or "Great is thy Faithfulness" and "Amazing Love (You Are My King)" I usually like to groups certain songs by "Themes" and/or Keys etc. If I start with a song in the key of D, I may keep it there, or if I modulate for the next song, I want it to go smoothly so I might choose a song that is in a "relative" key to D (like G or B minor) or I may go up a step to E. I generally don't like to go down in keys (like D to C) and try to avoid it. Moving upward in keys, helps keep the momentum moving and generally feels smoother in transitions.

"Closers" - These might be; "Higher Ground" "Come Just as You Are" "One Thing" or "Enough" or any song that maybe you feel might add a little extra at the end of your pastor's message - it really all depends on several factors and this is where the "prayer" time I talked about earlier helps you focus on the needs of the day and the calling of the Lord in helping you shape the entire worship service.

Finally and most importantly, keep in mind your congregation (what songs they know or don't know well, their "learning" curve) and what songs you are comfortable with playing and singing with your instrument...

And practice! practice! practice!

Got to run for now (It's practice time for me too now!)

Blessings,

Dave

Singing to God gives you a free "face lift?"

Okay, okay I know what you're thinking... I couldn't believe it either when I first read it myself. But it's right there in the opening line of Psalm 33 verse 1;

"Sing for Joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright." (NIV)

As one reads this passage it would seem that singing makes us beautiful in God's eyes (or "becoming" as the NIV translation reads - and "comely" in the King James) and therefore he looks upon us in a different way - it makes us pure and holy in his eyes... a spiritual "face-lift" you could even say. (Wow, I'll bet if I shared that scripture this week, it might get a few of my folks singing even louder and stronger on Sunday morning don't you think?)

God loves for us to sing to him. God even takes great pleasure in our devotion of singing, so much so, that he leads us by example - In the book of Zephaniah it says - "…He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. "

What, God sings to us? Doesn't that just blow your mind? It's like driving down the freeway and seeing a sign on the side of the road that causes you to do a "double-take." Did I really read that correctly? Could that be true? God loves to sing over us? Absolutely!

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (Zeph. 3:17 NIV)

There is a song I've been teaching my church to sing the last few months - It's called "Mighty to Save" (Hillsongs)

I recall the line from the bridge of the song that goes like this;

"Shine your light and
let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory
of the risen King"

I guess that really sums it all up right there... the what, how and why we sing on Sunday mornings. We're singing for HIS glory! Now, to be honest with you - you will always have a few "fuddy-duds" who are in your church every week - great and wonderful folks bless their hearts - BUT they are just determined and stubborn to NOT learn any "new songs." (Dealing with them will have to be another future chapter in my blog I suppose!) They will only want to sing the songs "they already know." Some will even refuse to try... (Oh, if they only knew - some of those "old favorite hymns" of theirs are actually HARDER to sing than many of the newer songs and require some rather extraordinary singing skills! - but that's another blog too I suppose!)

Anyway, I tried to "google" and find out just how many times the Bible uses the phrase "Sing a new song" or "Sing unto the Lord a new song" is written and the only number I could find (although I think the actual number has to be higher!) was 61 times. (418 times for the word "Sing" - please let me know if you find a different number...)

God wants us to sing, and He wants us to sing to HIM and to glorify HIM. It makes HIM happy and pleases HIM!

I close with a simple thought to ponder... How would YOU feel as a father, mother, grandfather, grandmother - if your children or grandchildren just suddenly decided to start singing to you for no other reason but just to make you happy? How would you see them? How would they look in YOUR eyes?

Pray about that.

Blessings,

Dave

Molding a worship leader...

There are some people you will meet in your lifetime who seem to have "just the right" mix of qualities to be where they are. In ministry it's referred to as "a calling" - in education it's often looked upon as a "calling" as well. Whether your duty or calling is to be a worship leader, pastor, teacher or office secretary - each requires certain abilities or qualifications to be effective at it. As a full time educator for nearly 25 years, I've served on many committee's charged with putting together evaluative instruments for educators both in music as well as other curricular areas. But when it comes to choosing or evaluating effective worship leaders, they are a "quirky" bunch indeed! I have to laugh at the thought of this... Being involved for so long in music education as well as the music business, I understand too well the mind of musicians. Really... You could write a couple of books on this subject and never really explain it well enough. You'd only scratch the surface! One of my favorite "pop" singers; Billy Joel, makes a comment in one of his music videos about his feeling that most musicians (including himself) are inherently "manic depressive" by nature. It's all in the way musicians minds are hard-wired together (by God of course).

Getting back to the topic now of molding a musician into a worship leader, it will give you great insight into the difficulty of the task when you realize the very nature of how musicians are "hard-wired" by God.

Here are the three common "traits" of most good musicians;
1. They are Creative!
2. They are an Extrovert.
3. They are Egotistical.

Okay, take a good long look at those three traits again... One of those three traits is the one that gives most worship leaders the greatest trouble. It's the trait that runs head-long into what worship is all about, in fact - it runs counter to Christ's very message of servanthood and self-lessness, vs. selfishness. Can you guess which one it is then? That's right, number three - Egotistical. The first two traits generally aren't bad, and in fact - important to have. They can even be positive to have in a worship leader! Creativity can be a positive trait to have in worship planning, inspiration in the use of scriptural ideas and musical skills in combination with each other. An extrovert can be a positive trait to have, in being able to meet new people, build worship teams, and work and minister to others!

But oh boy, when we get to the ego part - yikes! We run into so many problems don't we?

Ego really has no place in worship! None at all.

I'm going to be honest for a moment (really!) - back when I was 21 years old (a few years ago) the world was all about ME. I did some strange things back then to bring attention to myself when I was playing music in public places or well, most anywhere I wanted to impress people. I went through these "phases" you might say. It's kind of funny now to think of it - but I was serious about it then don't you know! Having to have the newest hair styles, the "coolest" hair color (I grew my hair long and had my mom dye my hair "bleach blond" one summer so I would look like a "surfer", had to have the newest clothing styles, had to have just the right brand names on my shirts and pants AND had to have the "coolest" electric guitars and gear to play, not some cheap knock-offs... The list goes on and on! LOL.

The bottom line is - I was a long way from being an effective worship leader back then, I had a lot (a lot!) of molding to go through first! Some people go through traumatic events as young children or teenagers that humble them and tear down and tear away many of the egocentricity's that plague many younger musicians. This explains why so many young rock musicians over the last 50 years have succumbed to drug or sex addictions. It's the ego problem, and getting over that is paramount to growing into an effective worship leader.

Age has absolutely nothing to do with this. I've met many young worship leaders who have absolutely NO ego at all. They are humble before others, confident in Christ and yet have a heart of true servanthood. On the other hand, I've seen older worship leaders who still struggle with this... God molds us all in different ways and in different times it would seem.

It all boils down to getting rid of the childish EGO thing. This is the first step in molding a worship leader (or ANY leader for that matter)

Here is what Paul teaches about this;

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." (1 Cor. 13 TNIV)

Blessings in Christ,

Dave