Archive for the ‘articles’ Category

3 Questions To Ask Yourself About Worship Ministry (if you dare)

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

As 2010 rolls into 2011, the online ministry of DevelopingWorship moves into its fourth year.  It’s been a great ride so far, and I cannot wait for all that 2011 holds.

I’ve been giving lots of thought to five questions that I am going to try to ask myself on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis as I go about leading the worship ministry at my church and in helping others to do the same.  These questions are helpful to ask for the sake of your own heart and for clarifying why you do what you do.  They’re not easy questions, that is, if you’re willing to open yourself fully to them.

Question #1 - Which do I spend more time thinking about - glorifying God, or impressing others? Look at where you’ve spent your ministry’s money in the last 90 days or so.  How much of it was for “wow” factor (as if God can be impressed), and how much of it was spent in an earnest effort to see the name of Jesus communicated more clearly and worshipped more passionately?

Question #2 - Which do you focus more on - the musical offering you give, or WHO you are giving your offering to? At the end of the day, there is no guitar tone, no keyboard sound, no drum beat or vocal harmony that honors the Lord more than the other.  So, when it comes to worship ministry, where is your focus, and where are you asking others to focus?

Question #3 - What should a worship team look like? - I’m not going to add anything to this, except that self-control and joy are both fruits of the Spirit, and they are a powerful combination in worship ministry.

Give it some thought.

What I use for worship leading…

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Over the past year, I’ve left behind my acoustic guitar roots and have began playing electric guitar almost exclusively.  In the process, I’ve been putting together a pedalboard that can cover just about anything I need.  I’ve learned a lot over the years from some really great people, so to Mike Theriault, Adam Grant, Matt Woll, Trey Johnson, Russ Roosma, Nate Beede, Jamie Miller, Jeff Cowden, Don Fast, Chris Powell, and Bob Womack, you have my thanks.

Here is what I play through, it has already been nicknamed “Mission Control”.

THIS IS BEST EXPERIENCED IN 720p HD

A New Kind of Churchgoer?

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Over the past four or five years, I’ve repeatedly heard a comment similar to this one…

“I only come to church for the community.  My best worship experiences come from [cd/dvd/ipod/youtube], and the best sermons are on podcast”. The person making the comment tends to go on to say how much they just love the person leading worship or the pastor who is teaching, but they’ve been “spoiled” by engaging with the latest Jesus Culture DVD or by hearing Francis Chan’s latest podcast or webcast.  I can honestly say that I get it.  I am able to fully immerse myself in worship with a quality recording.  I am able to be moved deep in my mind, heart, and spirit by a passionate pastor or teacher over the internet.

With media becoming more and more a part of the daily life of our culture, is this any surprise?

I’m curious about this.  Are you?  We’re talking about this over on the forum.  Join us.

The Truth, part 2

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

As we talked about last week, it is important to speak the truth in love to each other.  As we grow in our ability to do this, we need to also grow in our ability to HEAR the truth when it is spoken to us.  Here’s part two of this series to start our discussion.  Leave a comment here, drop me an email, or better yet, start a thread on the FORUM and let us know what you’re thinking.

The Truth (1 of 2)

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

The Bible says that we are to “speak the truth in love” to each other.  One of the things that we as the Church are getting better at as a whole is the second half of this idea. We are (thankfully) improving at loving each other.  What we’re still needing to improve on, myself included, is in speaking the truth.  This is especially CRUCIAL in worship ministry.

Worship ministries are comprised of artists, and typically led by artists.  The classic artist mentality is one that does not see black and white, and rarely aligns itself with the lines, rules, and boxes that the rest of the world does.  It’s not that we’re unaware of reality, we just see reality a little differently.  We tend to see things to extremes.  When others are joyful, we see the reason behind the joy and want to capture it in song, word, dance, poetry, paint, or media art.  When others are mournful, we feel deeply along with them and want to give others a vehicle for expressing their sorrow with our art.

While we go about the ministry of worship as artists, centering our lives around the truth is our highest calling.  As we lead others in expressions of praise, adoration, worship, joy, lament, and contemplation, we need to be firmly grounding ourselves in the Word so that what we lead others in is not simply an emotion, but rather a timeless truth that seats Jesus on the throne of our lives.

This is no more true than in our interactions with each other.

With all that said, here’s the latest DW video installment, called “The Truth”, part 1 of 2.

Limo Drivers

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Imagine the President comes to your town.  He pulls up outside of the event location in the luxurious armored limo, steps out, and walks “the line” greeting people, shaking hands, and speaking with the citizens and press that are gathered at the event.

You, however, miss all of this.

You run straight to the driver’s side of the car, and try to speak to limo driver.  As he rolls down the window, you ask questions…

“DUDE!  That was the best slow-driving I’ve ever seen!  The way you turned that corner without ever topping 4 MPH was amazing!!!  Hey, what kind of hat are you wearing?  Are those driving gloves leather?!?  Do you have any tips for me as I drive my car?  Are you using 92 octane, or is this thing diesel?  Do you ever have a hard time getting the car to go in reverse?  I want to drive just like you!”

The problem with this is that while you’ve gotten to know the limo driver and asked him some questions about his job, the President of the United States made himself available to you, and missed it.

Worship Leaders are a LOT like limo drivers.

We live in a strange time where worship leaders get a lot of attention.  They play well, sing well, inspire us, lead us in worship, and they are a gift from the Lord.  When we see them as the main attraction, though, we miss the entire point.

The Strength of Weakness

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

One of the most potentially gifted worship leaders I’ve ever met struggles with addiction. He lives in Houston, TX, and was a part of a worship ministry that I used to lead. He regularly attends AA meetings, and wishes he didn’t smoke so much. He loves sweets and caffeine, and laments that, too. He spends most of his days burdened so heavily by the things that he doesn’t like about himself that he talks himself into a dizzying state of guilt – one which he believes causes God to not love him…

Click to continue reading “The Strength of Weakness”

Worship In The Ordinary

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

I have discovered that God doesn’t need me to “get away from it all” to find Him, because He is already where I am.

Click to continue reading “Worship In The Ordinary”

Worship As A Priority

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

There is a lesson that every one of us can learn from the woman that Luke chapter seven tells us about. She came to worship the Lord in an intimate way, but in a public setting.

Click to continue reading “Worship As A Priority”

Hope Bandits

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

My Senior Pastor led us through an excerpt from a book that John Ortberg wrote, and in that book, he talks about the concept of “Hope Bandits”. They exist in every church, and I would submit to you that also exist in every worship ministry.

Click to continue reading “Hope Bandits”