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#4: It's Not YOUR Ministry

Some of the best lessons I've learned in life are through trying, failing, trying, failing, failing, trying and succeeding every once in awhile. I'm not foolish enough to think I've got it all figured out, but I do have some things that I hope can be an encouragement to anyone willing to read. If anything, these "Worship Leading Lessons" will be an open book journal revealing how God is molding me into a true worshiper of Christ.

Dumping of Gear = Dumping of Pride

In January, 1993 I received Christ as my savior at the age of 18 years old.  Leading up to that moment I found myself getting steeped in music. I had begun playing in bars surrounding myself with influences that would ultimately lead to a lifestyle that could be harmful to my health. Thankfully, God interceded and completely changed my heart.

It didn't happen overnight.  The salvation happened instantly...but the transformation of someone desiring to be a "rock star", center of attention....to one who knew he was a child of God didn't happen instantly.  It came over time.

Soon after I became a Christian, I realized my desires were shifting from pursuing music, to pursuing a relationship with God. I was convicted about where my affections were being drawn to and decided a radical change needed to happen.  I donated all of my electric guitar gear to my local church for a missions cause.  I believe in my walk with God, this was a huge moment of growth.

What I began to learn was nothing I did mattered if I didn't give it all to the Lord.  That meant my money, my talents, my abilities, my desires....everything.  After a year of not being involved with music, I was invited to be a part of the worship ministry in my College and Career Class I was a part of at the time.  This is where I began cutting my teeth on what it meant to do music for a completely different cause.

It's Not YOUR Ministry

I love being a part of ministry, especially being able to use the talent God has blessed me with. Every once in a while I need to be reminded that the ministry I'm a part of is not MINE...it's God's.  When I hear musicians use the term "my ministry", it makes me cringe. It's an indicator for me that communicates the heart of someone who is in it to bring their talent/skill to the team and may not give much care to the other team members or the church-wide vision.  Essentially every Christ follower needs to answer this one question:

Are you willing to give up what you love the most in order to let God make you a true worshiper?

In Psalm 51 we read the story of a repentant David who realizes it makes no difference what sacrifice he brings to the Lord, but that God is simply concerned with a broken heart.  For worship leaders and team members, you may feel that you're bringing the very best of what you have in your skill to the Lord, but if you don't have the heart of a true worshiper of God...it doesn't matter.

Many times we wrap our identities up in the things we do. Whether a job, a ministry we're a part of, a ministry we lead.  Eventually we begin to place our hope in our skills and in these roles we play.  When those roles or that job is gone, we then become hopeless.  God wants our hope and strength to rest completely and solely on Jesus Christ.

So here's a challenge to you worship leaders and team members.  Redirect your focus. It's not about YOUR skill, it's not about YOUR talent.  Are you truly worshiping Christ with your talent? Or are you deceiving yourself thinking your sacrifice has been acceptable to the Lord when all along, you've been carrying bitterness and a heart that is tainted by an attitude that this is YOUR ministry not God's?

¹⁶ For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
         You do not delight in burnt offering.
 ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
         A broken and a contrite heart—
         These, O God, You will not despise.
Psalm 51:16-17 (NKJV)

Worship Recap 4/26/09: Peeled Back Layers

Thanks all you Gracers for bringing the worship on this weekend! Very refreshing. Here's the setlist and check out the video below. Sorry for the horrible video work. Next week I'm going to try and get some other folks involved in these recaps. Visit Fred's site to see other worship recaps here.

• Happy Day by Tim Hughes
• O How I Love Jesus by Frederick Whitfield
• Here I am to Worship by Tim Hughes
• The Heart of Worship by Matt Redman
• Glory of Your Name by Watermark

Friday Fun: Got a Problem? Take a Number Please

All About Worship Podcast - Paul Baloche & Bethany Dillon Interviews

This week Ben and Wisdom are given a special introduction by Jason Henderson. During the podcast we have two special interviews with Paul Baloche and Bethany Dillon. We also had our first phone message! (A big deal for us to hear your voices) Thanks to our new friend from Minneapolis, MN for the phone call!

Special HUGE THANKS to our friend singer/songwriter/worship leader/composer extraordinaire….Mandy Thompson for the brand new intro bump for the podcast. It’s KILLER!!!

Bethany Dillon has a new album coming out in 2009.  You’ll hear her story of how she began her  worship leading/songwriting journey, her songwriting process and a nice little story involving a urinal tank, a bus and Shane Barnard of Shane&Shane.

Show Links

• Paul Baloche. Learn more about Paul’s ministry, recordings and website for worship leaders at www.LeadWorship.com

• Bethany Dillon. Visit Bethany’s website here.

• Pocket Full of Rocks. Our next interview with Michael Farren is Monday, April 27 at 9pm CST. NOTE THE ANNOUNCED TIME ON THE CAST IS WRONG. It will be at 9pm CST vs 8pm CST. (That’s 7pm for our CA friends.) Visit their website here.

• Christy Nockels. An upcoming interview with Christy on Wednesday, April 29 at 12pm CST on Talkshoe here. Visit Christy’s website here.

• Darrell Evans Songwriting Tele-seminar. Monday, May 4, 8pm CST. Join Darrell Evans live phone seminar on songwriting. All proceeds go to NightLight Ministries to fight Human Trafficking. Learn more & register online.

• Darrell Evans Podcasts. [email protected] Send your questions for Darrell’s monthly podcasts.

• Integrity Music. Special thanks to Integrity Music for giving us permission to let you all hear two of Paul Baloche’s songs from his album “Our God Saves” Check out their website for some great resourches at www.IntegrityMusic.com

• Contact us. Visit Wisdom’s blog here. Visit Ben’s blog here.  Email the podcast at [email protected] or call us and leave a voicemail at 206.984.2441.

You can listen to this episode of the podcast online here. Or go subscribe here. And even better…subscribe on iTunes here .

#3: It's a Heart Thing

Some of the best lessons I've learned in life are through trying, failing, trying, failing, failing, trying and succeeding every once in awhile. I'm not foolish enough to think I've got it all figured out, but I do have some things that I hope can be an encouragement to anyone willing to read. If anything, these "Worship Leading Lessons" will be an open book journal revealing how God is molding me into a true worshiper of Christ.

Nowadays in the world of worship leading and ministry, it's almost a cliche'.  If it's become that to you, let's steal it back from the land of cliche' as a priority. There is a great need for every worship leader to be in a state of "coming back to the heart of worship" as the Matt Redman song states.

It's a Heart Thing
Being a part of an effort to usher people into a meaningful, worshipful time with God each week can be exhilarating.  As I mentioned previously, there's a certain amount of time spent reviewing services and tweaking the technical side of things.  At times it can feel as though this aspect of worship leading consumes all of your efforts, causing you to leave behind the most important aspect of worship leading...tuning your heart.

One thing I've heard from worship leaders like Tim Hughes, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin and many  local church worship leaders is this simple principle:

It doesn't matter how talented you may be (or think you may be). If you do not have a humble heart, a servant's heart, and have no interest in pursuing God's heart, you may find yourself becoming a cancer slowly destroying the very worship team you believe God has called you to be a part of.

At times we can become so concerned with the "sound" and "look" of our worship services.  Too many "Martha tasks" and not enough "Mary sitting" at the feet of Christ can occur. While all of the technical aspects of worship services are "good things", the most important is connecting people to the heart of God and you as a leader making sure to consistently sit at the Father's feet.  I believe the technical things need addressing and should be a part of the entire package. However, I'm not interested in those things if neglecting the heart of God, stomping on the hearts of co-laborers on a worship team and ignoring the needs of the people you lead each weekend becomes a regular occurrence.  I know I've forgotten at times what is most important.  God wants our hearts.  He doesn't care about the "sound" if our hearts are not directed towards Him.  He doesn't care about how things "look" if the "show" we put on excludes the importance of directing people to Christ. He doesn't delight in our songs if we don't live our lives in worship to Him.  Worship is more than the music.

What does it mean to live a life of worship?  It's taking it beyond the stage. In the conversations you have with people.  In the interactions you have with others. Are you a person that people look to as a worship leader off the stage as well as on?  Does that mean you have to be perfect?  No. That's impossible.  Pastors and worship leaders are all human.  A humble heart is one that knows you don't have it all figured out. When a mistake is made, you acknowledge it and grow from it. People will always come before "the work".  If you're a leader and think you need to fine tune your heart as a "servant leader", I highly recommend reading Ken Blanchard's book "The Servant Leader". Remember that people will always remember how you treat and interact with them...and this interaction has great impact on you being able to lead them from the stage.

Think of the things in your daily life that you don't talk to God about and start doing them.  Here's a challenge for you: Write to God.  A prayer, a song, a poem or a psalm.  If you don't know how to start, just begin making a list of the things you've forgotten to thank Him for.  You'll be surprised how much and how often God's hand was there and you didn't even know it!

³⁶ Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,
         And they lied to Him with their tongue;
 ³⁷ For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
         Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
Psalm 78:36-37 (NKJV)

Worship Recap 4/19/09: More Batteries Please!

Great day today!  Kicked off a new series, had a small technical glitch and we played Enough...one of my old faves. Check out Fred's list of other recaps here.  Here's the setlist. Don't forget to click the title for a link on iTunes.  Enjoy the video below.

• Here is Our King (A) by David Crowder
• Let God Arise (B) by Chris Tomlin
• Glorious One (C) by Steve Fee
• Glorious (D) by Chris Tomlin
• Enough (G) by Chris tomlin

Attention Songwriters

Interested in hearing how you can grow in your songwriting techniques?  Are you thinking about taking the plunge in songwriting?  Tired of staring at a blank sheet of paper, journal and your guitar or piano for hours on end with nothing to show for it?  Then you should be a part of the upcoming Songwriting Teleseminar with Darrell Evans hosted by the All About Worship Podcast.

Help support a great cause in Night Light Ministries which works to stop human trafficking by signing up online here.

Friday Fun: If Star Wars were a TV Show

What if Star Wars was simply a 1980's TV show with the theme from Dallas? Hmmmm..... Enjoy the video.  HT: @jamesedwards via Twitter

#2: Failing Forward

Some of the best lessons I've learned in life are through trying, failing, trying, failing, failing, trying and succeeding every once in awhile. I'm not foolish enough to think I've got it all figured out, but I do have some things that I hope can be an encouragement to anyone willing to read. If anything, these "Worship Leading Lessons" will be an open book journal revealing how God is molding me into a true worshiper of Christ.

Recently I attended a fantastic conference put together by WorshipTogether.com.  It was a "mini-conference" with the intention of pumping vision back into the worship leader and members of worship teams.  While it was very brief...it was something I needed personally and really came at an integral time for me.  The conversations there brought back to remembrance the cause I have been called to as a Worship Pastor.  There were great insights and reminders for me, one of them being the need to remember every leader must allow space and openness for failure.

Failing Forward
Since taking on the role of worship leader at our local church some seven - eight years ago, I've learned that some things will always be.  There will always be a desire to achieve perfection...and there will always be failure.   Balancing these two certainties in ministry can be quite an act. There are a few principles that can help.

Each week there is a review of our weekly services between our Senior Pastor and myself.  We sit down and walk through the most recent worship service talking about anything from reviewing the time, the flow, the technical, the spiritual, the good, the bad, ugly and amazing.  We've been doing this for many years now and find it very helpful in our desire to continually improve the worship experience at Grace Church.  One of the factors we understand as being important, is the need to fail.

I've had conversations with fellow worship team members, fellow ministry leaders, fellow worship leaders and leaders in general about this topic.  It's difficult to grasp the importance of allowing failure to happen during a weekend service.  Some folks are of the belief that there should NEVER be a mistake made...and if there is one...heads must role. Not exactly the best environment to thrive in. There are others who believe, "Hey...it's just the church man....let it ride...it's not a rock concert".  This one is not helpful and will ensure disaster week in and week out.  While it's true church is not a "rock concert", the attitude of letting the same failure happen each week is not bringing your best before the Lord.  Really both attitudes can be cancerous to any team environment.

A principal that I've adopted and truly believe in, is the need to allow team members to "Fail Forward".  Taking a risk by letting a "green" musician step up and fill a gap, even if conventional wisdom might tell you to NEVER allow that person onstage is creating an attitude of "failing forward".  Taking a risk by allowing a unique stage setting be implemented...even if it means the band will have to readjust how it sees the other band members is creating a culture of "failing forward".  Or perhaps adding an element to a worship service that might seem out of the ordinary or completely unorthodox to what your church body is used to.  Whatever the case, I've learned that an environment of being open to failure is critical.  If you don't take those risks, you might be missing out on something amazing that could become an integral part of your worship time.  Allowing a younger/newer musician on the team to play that solo, or lead that song, gives them that one additional step in their ministry service journey which molds them into a more mature musician...and more importantly, a more mature Christ follower.

When you adopt an attitude of openness to failure, you begin to create an environment on your team that allows people to take risks without the fear of rejection.  I've tried hard to communicate to people on our Weekend Service Team (lighting, audio, video, band, stage etc) that it's ok to fail...just make sure you're learning from the failure. Make note of the environment surrounding the moment the failure happened.  Asking questions like these:

1. Where did the preperation breakdown happen?
2. What ways can I change the environment around me to influence a more positive experience?
3. What ways can I respond differently to the failure?

I'm sure we could each come up with our own list of questions...these are just a few.  Whatever your questions are, make sure you're asking yourself something in order to ensure you and your team are "Failing Forward". If we aren't failing...we aren't taking enough risks to improve ourselves and the ministries we lead.

For a righteous man may fall seven times
      And rise again,
      But the wicked shall fall by calamity.
(Proverbs 24:16)

Worship Recap 4/11-12: Resurrection Sunday!

Brought to you once again by the Flip Mino HD quality video! Amazing weekend at Grace Church.  We had a record attendance of 1885 people crossing the doors to the church and 100 people professing to have received Christ. HUGE answers to prayer. 

This weekend we were without Gary on keyboards.  Our team was saddened to learn Saturday afternoon that he and his wife Melissa would be taking their daughter in for emergency surgery.  It's been a rough week for their family filled with ups and downs, promises of recovery and then ultimately learning emergency surgery was necessary. Gary worked hard at learning the new Tomlin tune, "I Will Rise", so I'm sure he was a little disappointed...but in the scheme of things....when your baby needs you...you have no choice.  Please continue to pray for their family. Kudos to the band for rolling with it and filling in the gaps.

The Grace Weekend Service Team knocked it out of the park this weekend.  Everything from lights, to video, to audio, to stage, to set design and direction....GREAT JOB TEAM!!! God used each of you to share the glory of Jesus Christ.

More recaps on Fred's site here. Here's the setlist:

• Happy Day (C) by Tim Hughes
• Salvation is Here (B) by Hillsong United
• Revelation (D) by Kari Jobe
• I Will Rise (A) by Chris Tomlin
• True Love (C) by Phil Wickham

Check out the message on the resurrection here. Here's the video recap: