THOUGHTS ON WORSHIP

Hi there.
.
I want to thank all of you who were in the worship team last Sunday. There just seemed to be such a sweet spirit about things last Sunday. I know that I was definitely blessed...and I felt really free to just move in the Spirit of God. Thanks for being such an awesome worship team to create such an environment for me to do so. I really am not worried about what is going on musically because you guys hold it all together so well, even when I stray from the path of normalcy and take on the role of prophet (message from God to the church...not in the futuristic sense) right in the middle of the set. This is something that I would love to see all of you cultivate as God continues to mold and shape you into awesome worship leaders. It is one thing to get up on stage, pick up an instrument and sing a song, hoping that all goes well. It is another thing to have your heart laid wide open before the Living God who desires to communicate to His people today, sense or hear what it is that He would like to communicate, and take the risk of speaking or singing it out as a worship leader. One thing I know, is that it is with fear and trembling, along with a heart cleansed by the blood of Christ that I ever operate this way as a worship leader on Sunday mornings.
.
Thanks for lifting up Amy and her son during this tough time in their lives. Please continue to pray over that situation. This week had been nuts for many as VBS is going on along with many other things. Our cat, Denny, passed away last night. Our family has been in tears off and on since then. Thanks for your prayers, even though it seems like a weird thing to pray about. The cool thing is, that God cares about every single detail of our lives, no matter how minute we may think it is. Thanks again. Please continue to send me prayer requests as they come up. I haven't heard any more updates about Lisa's friend or Andy's nephew.
.
Please check it out as I have adjusted it since last week. Also, Bill Christina - I haven't heard from you lately. We have been praying for you at devotions on Sunday mornings. I hope things have improved for you. Please let me know if you are okay to play drums. Chris Scrivner - If you are still in town on Sunday, you are welcome to join us, too. I will just have one of you on percussion and the other on the kit. Also, please find attached the Sunday Map. Love you guys. See you this Sunday.
.
Grace and peace,
Christian

THOUGHTS ON WORSHIP

Hey guys!
.
Hope you are all well this week. I love the focus on prayer that we've been having at Whipple Creek with the "One Prayer" series. What an awesome thought: Churches everywhere, worldwide, joining together with one purpose, with one prayer. As you all know, prayer is communication with God. Worship is also communication with God...we are communicating our love FOR Him TO Him. So in a sense, much of worship is actually prayer.
.
When I was younger I used to draw quite a bit. Not long after I rededicated my life to Christ I drew a picture of Jesus. It was actually a pen and ink piece made up from tiny dots so His hair looked a bit like dreadlocks on accident, though I could definitely see Jesus having dreads. Anyway, Jesus was in heaven lying on His stomach with His legs sort of crossed it the air. He had a huge smile on His face. With one of His hands He was cupping His chin, and with that elbow on a cloud He propped up His body, like He was relaxing, lounging about in the heavenlies if you will. His other arm was reaching through space and in the palm of His hand was the earth, sort of levitated, like a softball, yet He wasn't touching it. He was actually spinning it.
.
When the body of Christ worldwide unites with one prayer, worshipping with voice, I imagine Jesus looking down and smiling as He spins the globe in His nail-scarred hand, hearing His followers adore Him as different time zones whirl by and catch His listening ear, in different languages, yet with one voice. Neat picture.
.
Love you guys. See you on Sunday morning.
.
Grace and peace,

Christian

THOUGHTS ON WORSHIP

Hello friends!
.
How are you all this week? I am doing well and I hope that you all are the same. Thanks to all of you who served on the worship team last Sunday. To be honest it was kind of a weird Sunday, at least to me. I think the reason I feel that way is because it didn't seem like the congregation was engaging in worship. Which leads me to a couple of very important questions: (1) What does it look like when the congregation really IS connecting with God during the time of worship? (2) How do we determine whether a Sunday morning time of worship was successful or not? I believe that the key in answering these questions has to do with balance. Follow me if you will.
.
(1) What does it look like when the congregation really IS connecting with God during the time of worship? I think that different people express worship in different ways. Some people will stand up and clap their hands. Others will sit in their seat with their head buried in their hands as they meditate on the words being sung. Some raise one of their hands and yet others have both raised. Some eyes are closed while others are open. As worship leaders, we cannot look into the hearts of people while we are on the stage. Only God can do this. Yet we know from Scripture that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." So at least for the most part, Spirit-filled times of worship will move people who are worshipping God from their hearts to some sort of response.
.
I don't know if it was just me, but last week it felt a bit more like I was performing at a rock show. Not because I wasn't worshipping God from my heart, but because of the response of the congregation. On most Sundays I don't really have to ask people to stand up or sit down. Most of the time this happens naturally. But last Sunday, at least from what I was seeing or sensing, people were listening as spectators, and then applauding at the end of a song. Does this mean that everyone there was not really worshipping God? Of course not, but I have to at least ask the question as to why the response that would normally manifest itself physically in a person didn't seem to be there? Is it song selection? Maybe a couple of new songs throws people as they are just learning them. Yet there was only one new song last week. Is it that everybody woke up on the wrong side of the bed on the same morning? I don't think so. I greeted people before the worship set who seemed rather chipper. Couple of things I would like to explore with you all more and more.
.
Do you remember in the Wizard Of Oz when Glinda, the "good witch" of the North caused a deep sleep to fall on Dorothy and her companions in that field? Sometimes I feel as though there is a huge spirit of apathy, or maybe spiritual laziness and sleepiness that seems to take a hold of large groups of people. I mentioned earlier that I "sensed" what was happening with the people. I believe that Christ-followers can develop this spiritual "sense" by more and more experience in ministering to groups of people, marking certain familiarities as they arise, and asking God about them. Is this even possible for a group of Christ-followers to fall under some kind of "spell?" If you don't think so, why do you think people, at times, get so tired while reading the Bible or praying. Maybe there is something to this. Maybe Satan really doesn't want people to engage in worship, because he knows that the fruit of such an engagement will result in damage to his kingdom. How can we, as worship leaders fight against such things that would keep the people we are longing to usher into God's presence through worship?
.
Maybe there are times when people will only venture out to stand, sing out, clap or raise their hands if they see other people doing so. Once somebody breaks the ice and begins to worship freely in the congregation, as they feel prompted to, others seem to follow suit. Until then, many people feel self-conscious, as though people might think such and such about them if they are standing when no one else does. How can we, as worship leaders teach the congregation that there is complete freedom to worship as they feel led? Can we model this from on stage?
.
(2) How do we determine whether a Sunday morning time of worship was successful or not? This is where I would like to talk about having a balance. I get the feeling at times, by comments that I hear, that playing every note perfectly or singing every song flawlessly is the standard by which we judge a successful time of worship. I disagree. I am stoked when everything does sound that way, but this isn't the standard. It goes even further. I have even heard it said that if we get better musicians to play, better singers to sing and newer songs in the repertoire we will have a "bigger draw." Is this what we are after? More people to listen to good music? Many mega-churches have this way of thinking. If you don't meet their requirements of a seasoned musician or singer, and I mean the bar is raised really high, there's no way you can be a part of their worship team.
.
Now I am not saying that we should let just anyone be in the worship team. If someone can't stay on key or is playing something wrong all the time or is just not far enough along in learning their instrument, they should not be asked to be a leader in the worship team as they would not be leading people in worship but distracting them from worshipping the Lord. This can happen through a screening process. But if someone can play pretty well or sing pretty good and there heart is in the right place, why shouldn't they be given a shot to continue to develop as worship leaders, whether singing, or playing an instrument. Let me camp here for a minute on the heart. In my opinion, some of the most gifted and anointed worship leaders would be guys like Martyn Smith from Delirious, Chris Tomlin and Phil Wickham. What is it about them that draws people in? A good voice? Good playing? A good band behind them? These are all helpful in creating an environment where people can worship God, and all of the above mentioned have these things. But I believe that it is the heart of these guys that draws people to God. Their heart for Jesus is so evident. Believe me, there are much more talented people in the world...Martyn Smith goes flat (even on recordings), Chris Tomlin is a bit breathy and Phil Wickham has vibrato galore, a bit too much if you ask me, but they have hearts of gold. I will follow them to the feet of Jesus because of their heart, not their skill set.
.
In the Old Testament, those who had any physical deformity or mixed blood in their ancestry were disqualified from being priests. When Jesus died on the cross, He became our High Priest and the veil in the temple was torn in two. We are all priests in the kingdom of God and should all have the opportunity to be used as such. I see the worship team at Whipple Creek Church as a place where those who have some talent and a heart to lead people to Jesus can serve. How about you? We'll take all of the greats as well. But we will not exalt one person over another because they sing better, play better or look better than someone else. I am looking for faithful, teachable people to serve alongside of me. As long as we are doing our best. No one is expected to give more than their best. If someone in the worship team is being a distraction to the congregation by something they are doing or not doing, we will deal with that as we are made aware of it. Balance. Balance. Balance.
.
Back to the original question. A successful time of worship on Sunday morning can be determined, not by how good the sound was, or even if people had a good feeling (again, these are not bad things), but by the fruit that comes out of the lives of those who have truly had an intimate encounter with the Father. What do you think? Let's talk more on this subject at devotions this Sunday.
.
Sorry for the discourse. This has just been on my heart lately. This Sunday is another acoustic Sunday (Yeah! I love those!).
Love you guys.
.
Grace and peace to you all,
Christian