Declare War During Your Worship Service This Sunday

“The tabernacle (and temple) faced east, allowing the sun to shine directly into the complex at the beginning of the day … given the pervasiveness of sun worship, one practical side of this is that people would have to turn their back on the sun to approach the Lord.”

— Allen P. Ross, Recalling The Hope Of Glory: Biblical Worship From The Garden To The New Creation

Worship is an act of battle, and our songs are war anthems. When we worship the Lord, we are declaring war on the false gods of this earth. We’re saying that we are no longer “following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience …” (Ephesians 2:2). We are turning our back on the “sun god” and every idol.

We publicly affirm our allegiance to the one true king, in spite of all that Satan may do to us. This is not for the faint of heart. Fortunately, we know that God purifies and fortifies our hearts.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

— Ezekiel 36:25-27

Declare war this Sunday.

 

• Photo by Russell Trow, used via Creative Commons license.

 

Waiting In Faith Is A High Form Of Worship

“You’re almost there.”

This was God’s audible reply to me as I walked on my lunch hour, and precisely at the moment of my tearful prayer for His help to keep waiting in faith.  “Father, I believe you’ll do what you promised.  Please help me to wait in faith.”

There have been many times since our son Parker was stillborn last October when I felt overwhelmed by the enemy’s barrage of lies and temptations to doubt and give up hoping in God.  This was one of those moments, but more intense than all the others.  As I expressed my war-weariness and my desire for relief from the relentless assaults, I cried out to my Father to strengthen my faith and help my unbelief.

Then I remembered Jesus praying for Peter that his faith wouldn’t fail even as Satan sought to sift him and his brothers like wheat (Luke 22:31-32).  And I was encouraged as I heard Jesus say to me, “Kristen, I’ve prayed for you too, and your faith won’t fail.  I will uphold your faith.”

Just then, a cyclist came up behind me and as he passed he looked right at me and said,

“You’re almost there.”

I began to weep even more because I knew this was my Father’s reply, this was my brother Jesus cheering me on, this was my Comforter the Holy Spirit breathing encouragement into my heaving heart.

I am desperately longing for relief from the anguish of the physical labor I endured with our son Parker.  In John 16, as Jesus neared His terrible baptism of suffering at the Cross, He told his disciples that, “You will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me . . . You will grieve but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.  It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor.  When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world.”

My anguish has not yet given way to the joy of bringing a new baby into the world.  Truly, I have experienced the tremendous joy of witnessing the salvation of my firstborn son and I will always praise the Lord for the triumphant joy of being united and reunited with Parker as we are now family in Christ!  This was the answer to my greatest prayer.

And yet as I linger here, I cannot help but daily bear the anguish of laboring to bring forth a child whose cries and laughter I never heard, whose colorful eyes I never saw opened, whose breath I never felt on my skin, whose smile never warmed my countenance.  My soul is still languishing and longing for the labor to end and give way to joy, just as Jesus described.

This anguish also corresponds to the Holy Spirit’s groans within me for the promised return and reign of Christ upon the new heavens and earth.  I know that God is making all things new, and until that work is complete Jesus will languish with me, ever-present in my suffering.  He is not silent in my grief.  He is reminding me of His promises and upholding me with His unfailing Word.

His Word tells us that all of creation is languishing with labor pains, longing for the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.  And that future day will surely come when God will give us our full rights as His children, including the new bodies He has promised us.  We were given this hope when we were saved.  But if we look forward to something we don’t have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently.

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress for we don’t even know what we should pray for or how we should pray.  But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.  And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.  (Romans 8:19-28)  

We have seen God working everything together for our good when Jesus triumphed through the Cross over Satan, sin and death, and made provision for our grief to be suddenly turned to joy. His promise to return remains our hope: “So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy” (John 16:22).

Until that future day when Christ descends, the last trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ burst through the earth and we are all transformed, we must wait in faith.  This is a high form of worship as we effectively say to our Father, “We believe you are who you say you are.  We believe you will do what you have promised.  We praise you for upholding our faith as you uphold Your word and are faithful to perform it!”

We’re almost there, dear friends.  Let us continue to worship the Faithful One as we wait in faith.

Photo by Dino amad ali, used via Creative Commons license

A Telling Tale: What If Connect Servants Thought Like Worship Leaders?

Connect servants — those wonderful people who serve our church each Sunday in a variety of ways. They help us park, they greet us at the door, show us how to navigate the building and even perhaps make coffee for us. Then they give us Sunday bulletins and even help us get to our seats.

But what if we could get our worship teams to mentor them? You know, so we could take the Connect Ministry up to the next level. It might look something like this:

Parking Attendant Paul, influenced by Vocalist Veronica:

I love directing cars as they enter our parking lot. It used to get boring though — all I was doing was helping people get into and out of parking spaces in an orderly fashion. A trained monkey could do that.

Now, I bring a lot of sizzle with my steak. I turn cartwheels and do backflips. Also, I wear happening clothes. I was going for a grunge look for awhile but recently I’ve been dressing more like a hipster. Next month, who knows — whatever the craze is, I’ll be sporting it. The point is, people will be more likely to park correctly if they think I look cool, and if I put on an impressive display of acrobatics.

Door Man David, influenced by Guitar Master Gary:

So, I hold the door open for people. Blah, blah, blah. The door is so light — I could do this in my sleep. I wish the door was heavier, so it would be more like a workout. Now, I feel like my muscles are shriveling as I stand here. But with a really heavy door, I could get a great workout in while I serve Jesus. Also, people would see how strong I am. I don’t want them to think that this light glass door is the heaviest thing I can lift! How embarrassing.

It should be a mighty castle-like door, so its like I’m guarding the kingdom. Every time someone knocks on the heavy, sculpted door knocker, I would pull with all my might and usher them into the presence of our king.

Bulletin Betty, influenced by Worship Pastor Will:

I hand out our Sunday bulletin to people as they enter the auditorium. The bulletin includes sermon notes and other announcements. Very cut-and-dried if you ask me. Announcements like, “Community Groups meet throughout the week. Visit the Welcome Table or sojournchurch.com/groups to find one close to you.” And sermon note questions for reflection like, “Why does Jesus describe himself as the temple of God? What was the temple’s purpose?”

Not very artsy. I think all announcements should be written in iambic pentameter, and we could use a font that will really stand out, like Comic Sans. Better yet, we could have our volunteer team write them out, in calligraphy. None of our volunteers can write calligraphy, but how hard can it be?

And let’s spruce up the content of these notes and announcements, too. Each one should have a hilarious punch line. But also lots of literary motifs and poetic devices. And a full presentation of the gospel. Each and every one. Is that too much to ask?

Okay, okay; maybe I’m being a little facetious. And yet, there might be some lessons here …

Photo above by Sarah Horrar, from Sojourn J-Town.

First Update On Our Forthcoming Full Length Worship Record

Our son Parker David Gilles was born and died on October 21, 2012. We have grieved deeply, but God has also shown us the depth and riches of His love through His Word and Spirit. He also poured out His love upon us through our families, through everyone at Sojourn Community Church, and through people around the world.

Last, He gave us new songs to express our heart’s cry, and the Holy Spirit’s work in us. Just as God has assured us that He has saved Parker, He asked us to share these songs of faith, lament, comfort, healing and mission with all God’s people. We’ve been working on arrangements with our friend Jonatan Barahona, a fabulous arranger, Sojourn Music intern, Southern Seminary student (and teacher), and pianist for Christine D’Clario, Ingrid Rosario, Sovereign Grace, the Norton Hall Band and Sojourn. Jonatan will lead a band of musician friends who will help bring these songs to life, so we can share them with you next spring.

Bobby and I will dedicate this album to the universal Church, to all who are hurting and all who are on mission for Christ, and most of all, to our good and gracious God who has brought our Parker to His glorious presence, forever. We’ll make it available on CD and in all the major digital stores like iTunes and Amazon.

We will keep you updated on the progress of this record, and we ask for your prayers during this process.

How To Give A Testimony Using This Simple Model From The Psalms

“… the Psalms provided the pattern for people to express their own thanksgiving, and the structure … is not complicated. The opening declaration (“I will give thanks to the Lord”) contains the reason for the praise (“because he is faithful”); then there is a report of the dilemma that was faced (“I was surrounded by enemies”) and the deliverance (“he heard my prayer” and “he delivered me”); this is followed by the full declaration of praise (“God is faithful to those who love him”); and finally, the conclusion offers a word of encouragement to others (“Seek the LORD while he may be found”). It is not difficult to train folks to construct their own thanksgiving with such a pattern.”

— Recalling The Hope Of Glory, Allen P. Ross

Many people feel uncomfortable giving a testimony. They say, “The minute I open my mouth, I forget what to say. I either ramble on for too long or I don’t say anything. Teach them how to give an effective but short testimony using the psalmic template described above. For example:

• Opening declaration: “I want to thank the Lord today”
• Reason for the praise: “He is so good to me.”
• Dilemma that was faced: “I had open heart surgery to unblock three arteries.”
• Deliverance: “God guided the hand of the doctor. It was a long surgery but I came through.”
• Full declaration of praise: “God has kept me all these years. He’s prolonged my days here, and I want to use whatever time I have left to magnify His name.
• Word of encouragement: “Don’t waste your life on foolish things. You don’t know how much time you have. Seek the Lord’s will for your life, and tell everyone you know about Him.

New Articles On Biblical Lament And Growing As A Worship Leader

Kristen and I are guest bloggers at two of our favorite websites today.

Kristen has written 3 Key Ways To Grow As A Worship Leader at ChristianMusicBlog.com. An excerpt:

“Being faithful to grow as worship leaders and musical servants doesn’t mean we all start in the same place or are expected to make the same progress. We can’t all be Chris Tomlin or Matt Redman. And God doesn’t want us to be! Our God richly and variously entrusts His people with gifts and opportunities which are to be stewarded for His glory.”

Meanwhile, I wrote Recovering The Lost Practice Of Lament in the worship blog at TheGospelCoalition.org. An excerpt:

“Can you imagine that, at your church, in any given service, there might be a marriage or two in trouble? What about someone who has been struggling with sexual temptation in the workplace? Teens who are drifting away from the family and from the faith?”

If you are a worship leader or pastor, we hope you’ll find these articles useful for ministry. And we hope that all of you, regardless of your place in the body of Christ, will find them encouraging.

Shattered iPhone, Shattered Life, Shiny Penny And Sacred Promise

Ask me what you can purchase for a penny and I’ll tell you about my new iPhone. That’s right, I got it for a single penny.  One cent.  You can’t even get a piece of gum for that price anymore!

Ask me what my God can do with the shattered ruins of your life and I’ll also tell you about my new iPhone.

Recently, while heading to my garage with keys, sunglasses and phone in hand, I fumbled my phone and it fell facedown onto our concrete sidewalk.  When I picked it up the glass screen was completely shattered.  The broken glass was still in place, but it was split with a hundred lines like a brilliant lighting-lit sky.  It stopped me in my tracks as I wondered if I’d still be able to use my phone until I could get a replacement, and as I speculated about the expense of such a replacement.

I was thankful that Bobby, who witnessed the phone-shattering trauma, didn’t give me a disappointed look or even tell me I should have been more careful.  He just smiled and said, “Well, that happens sometimes.”  We carried my distressed phone to the car and when we returned home later that evening, I wrapped it with clear packing tape.

I told Bobby that the sudden phone-shattering was much like the sudden shattering of our lives when our son Parker was stillborn last October.  But as we marveled at my shattered phone screen still in place and now securely held together by the strong tape, we also saw a picture of how God had been firmly holding together our shattered life and dreams, and we trusted again in His promise to make everything new.  We remembered again that our God has not failed.

And to further prove this to us, the next day He provided a replacement iPhone for the ridiculously low price of a penny. He even threw in free overnight shipping! I know it wasn’t a coincidence that I was eligible for an upgraded phone and that the only one available was refurbished and cost just a penny. I know I didn’t randomly get transferred to the rep who compassionately offered me free overnight shipping (a $15 value).  God was working everything together for my good.  God is working everything together for our good.

This providential event isn’t just about getting a new and better phone.  It’s about gaining understanding of God’s ways.  It’s about knowing Him and His heart for me.  It’s about us being inspired by His goodness and generosity to worship and celebrate His name.  It’s about realizing again that this is what God can do with shattered dreams and circumstances.  He holds everything (it’s all broken) together with His Word.  He IS making everything new.  What does it cost us but to trust His Word, cling to His promises and lean on His love?

Since this is our reality in Christ who has secured our redemption, and since we have these very great and precious promises from our Father, let us worship Him by waiting in faith for Him to do what He said He would do.  We honor Him by waiting patiently, signifying our trust in His flawless character and Word.  We love Him by obediently waiting in hope for Him to come and save us, just as He promised.

The Two Biggest Music Industry Challenges For New And Indie Artists

Challenge #1: Streaming

This fall, Apple will launch iTunes Music – their Pandora-like streaming service. Why are they so late to the game, when Pandora, Spotify, Rdio and other services have been growing for years? Because in 2007, Steve Jobs said,

“People don’t care about streaming – they want to own music.”

This was Jobs’ philosophy, and conveniently so because Apple has made tons of money on iTunes downloads. But even if it was true then, it isn’t true for many people now. And it will be true for less people with each passing year. To many of today’s teenagers and young adults, the very notion of “owning” (and having to store) music is foreign. It’s like storing hundreds of gallons of water in your house, instead of just turning on the faucet when you want to drink, shower or wash your hands.

It’s not hard to envision a future when everyone will stream music for free or for a set amount per month (like $10). A future when only audiophiles and each band’s hardcore fans will buy music. Many people today (including me) have downloaded so much music already into our iTunes that we can’t remember what we own. We have tens, hundreds or thousands of records that we don’t listen to – including a few records we downloaded but have only listened to once, or never.

Even the “free music download” model faces a challenge. After awhile the consumer thinks, “Do I really want to download one more thing to my hard drive?” And if they move their library to the Cloud, that’s just one step from saying, “You know what? Why do I even need to mess with Cloud storage? Let Spotify, Apple, YouTube, etc. mess with Cloud storage. I can stream anytime I want, from all my devices.”

And as has been reported in numerous places, streaming services don’t pay nearly as much as digital downloads, let alone physical CD purchases.

Challenge #2: The Law Of Supply And Demand

Technological advances and social media have brought many more bands and vocalists to the game. There are over 10,000 music releases each week. In this new “Attention Economy” we battle a “paradox of choice” – too many choices often lead to consumers making no choice because it’s overwhelming.

And if they do make a choice, they’re less likely to be satisfied with their choice (because in a land of infinite choices, how can you really be sure you made the right one?). This applies to everything from “Which record should I buy” to “Which flavor of jam should I buy”.

The field is crowded more than ever before, no matter what “soundscape” we inhabit or what lyrical style/depth/breadth we employ. This may actually be a bigger challenge than the digital streaming challenge. While anti-Spotify statements are all the rage in the blogosphere, a simple fact remains – when anyone can record music on their computer and upload it to internet stores through Tunecore, CDBaby and other companies, it creates a huge supply of new music, a land of nearly infinite choice.

The result is a music-making climate in which it’s easier than ever to release music and distribute it worldwide, but it’s no more likely (and it’s perhaps less likely) to “make it to the big time” than it was in the 1970s.

Songwriting Workshop: Who Are We Singing To, Anyway?

God loves it when we sing to Him, and He loves it when we sing about Him, to each other. But while God always knows the intent of our hearts, our congregations don’t. If we give them a song that illogically switches the object/audience around (the person to whom we’re singing), we will make it harder for them to enter into worship.

If your song is about God, to the congregation, then make that clear throughout the song. Don’t switch from

• “His love is strong” to
• “You own the cattle on a thousand hills,”

or they will think you’re saying they own the cattle on a thousand hills. Which might be true if you’re singing to Wyoming ranchers, but not many other folk.

Your song can have more than one audience, but you must make the switch obvious. For instance, your verses can say, “Let’s sing to the Lord,” and then your chorus says, “We sing to you Lord, we love you.

Can you think of a song that switches audiences, in a way that isn’t confusing? Why does it work, even with the switch?

Hope For Worship Leaders Who Feel Overlooked Or Forgotten

“For God is not unjust. He will not forget [overlook] how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent [sluggish or lazy].  Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance” (Heb. 6:10-12).

Weariness and sluggishness are two great enemies of worship leaders (and any other servants of God).  From time to time, we all grow spiritually fatigued.  We probably feel overlooked.  We might even experience a lack of joy in gathering to worship, and apathy in preparing to lead and serve others.

And yet the Holy Spirit in us inspires us to serve others.  It has not always been this way.  Remember that while we were still God’s enemies, Christ died to save us from our sin to know and belong to God.  Now saved, we have been made servants of God and one another for the rest of our lives.  God’s Word encourages us to fight fatigue and fan into flame a greater passion to persevere in faithful service of our Lord and other believers:

1) Know that God sees your faithful service.  Many times, people will overlook your faithful service, but God will not and does not.  Satan seeks to keep us from the great joy of knowing God’s favor on our daily activities by lying about the value of our work in God’s sight.  He tells us that God doesn’t care about us or our labors of love.  Don’t believe the lie that God is not delighted in your faithful service for His sake.  Know that our Father can see some beauty in everything you do from a desire to please Him.  He doesn’t forget your labor of love for His sake no matter how the world may disregard it.  Rejoice and be thankful because God sees, delights in, and will reward your faithful service in His name.

2) Value the true marks of faithful service.  God doesn’t care most about musical skills or production quality.  He values our faithful service exhibited by hard work and earnest love for Him and His people. We should value these things too.  Hard work can include sacrifice, practice, punctuality, and pursuing excellence in musicianship.  And it’s not enough to love to serve if we don’t love those whom we are serving.  Do you love those you are serving? Carry people on your heart as you serve by cultivating tenderness and compassion for those you’re leading.  Refuse to be discouraged by their lack of response; refuse to be critical and bitter.  Seek to help your people sing by valuing the hard work and love you show in serving them.

3) Remember the Goal: THAT GOD BE GLORIFIED.  We serve others for the fame of God’s name, for the glory of our great God.  Our service then should be grounded in our greater love for God’s glory.  God has also commanded, “If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 4:11).  You serve for God’s glory with the strength God provides. And He never fails to reward His servants to the full extent of His promises.

4) Imitate Examples of Faithful Service. The writer of Hebrews lists a cloud of witnesses, great examples of the faithful for us to follow (Hebrews 11).  Most of all, we should seek to imitate Christ.  “Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith.  Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame” (Heb. 12:1-2).  The best thing the weary can do is look to and follow Jesus.

Fellow servants, are you weary? Have you grown sluggish in your service? Do you feel overlooked and forgotten? Do not lose heart. Your Father sees you. He appreciates you. He is pleased with your hard work done with earnest love for His sake.  Remember to serve with the strength God provides, so in all things He would be glorified.  Look to Jesus, our faithful and perfect Worship Leader who never tires in His service of the saints for the sake of His own name.

This post was inspired by a sermon titled “Faithful to Serve” recently preached by Jared Mellinger at WorshipGod 2013, a conference hosted by Sovereign Grace Ministries.