Many Christians are wondering what the outcome of the election means to us, how will it affect us, what should our response be?
Well without hesitation our first duty is to pray for those in authority that we may live quiet and peaceable lives, and so that the gospel will have liberty.
Regardless of who steps into leadership we are called to support them, honor them and pray for them. Whether or not they are godly, qualified, or men and women of character has nothing to do with our response, we should pray sincerely for their success and the peace of our country.
Sounds like your dodging the question Mark, what do you really think?
here's what I really think;
Who we choose as a leader reflects on how effective we have re-presented Jesus to our culture.
In this last election we were given the choice between John McCain and Barak Obama, both men have claimed to have faith in Jesus Christ, and so in a general sense the option presented to the vast populace was the choice between a Democratic Christian and a Republican Christain, neither of which made faith a policy plank in their campaigns. For the general population what they saw was two supposed Chrisitain men slugging it out and getting dirty in a mean spirited campaign for the Oval Office.
There are quite possibly a number of people who will die thinking that these men represent the followers of Jesus, but both were powerless to unite and powerless to re-present Jesus in any meaningful way.
Obamas church suffers under Liberation theology, and cannot imagine a God who does not see life as the Black Church see's it. McCain's faith was what helped him get through Viet Nam and the captivity he suffered, but it was the faith of last resort.
I am in no way dissing either mans faith, what I am describing is how the general public must have seen faith in this election.
Faith in the 2008 election was primarily seen as a private matter and in no way a significant platform for national change.
And here is the great illusion...many including myself fasted and prayed for specific righteousness and a manifestation of Gods Kingdom in the election process, and many woke up feeling as though faith had let them down, primarily because the hot button issues that Christians focus on seem in serious jeopardy due to Obamas record of pro-abortion legislation.
But before we fall into the delusion of the devils agenda, lets not loose our confidence, nor waver in our confession.
Gods Will, will be done.
We will see the Kingdom of God manifest, and we will see the tide of abortion ended.
I have that confidence from my Father, and I know without a doubt that is His will.
So where do we go from here, and what about stuff like the economy and the far left socialistic agenda?
The Kingdom answer is now more than ever God wants to prosper His children, what a better background for the testimony of Gods provision can you have than to see your needs met while all around you are losing financial ground?
Its the perfect time for a Kingdom Manifestation of Gods ways, and His Grace, and we get to re-present Jesus to our neighbors and cities and to the general population who will soon grow tired of awesome speeches and partisan pay-offs, what they need is a government bigger than the one being represented in Washington, a government that knows no poverty, no sickness, and no selfish infighting.
The history of our family is that we shine the brightest when the governments of our world fail the worse...think about Daniel, or Joseph, think about Paul before Herod, or John the Apostle leaving the political prison of Patmos with a revelation of the King of Kings.
That is our pedigree, that is our culture, and that is the government that will see no end.
So whats the practical side of this?
Well in my spirit I see a generation of men coming out of this that will be able to speak to nations...think about it, the old prophets usually spoke to NATIONS, we can barely get on t.v., but that is fixing to change.
In my prayers I am praying for Obama, that he will become filled with the Holy ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and his inner man will be completely transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ, I am praying that he receive angelic visitation, and that the Lord himself visit him in the White House...do you really think he could destroy Gods babies once he meets God face to face?
I am dedicating to pray and fast until it happens.
So think about it...what position would your faith be in right now if you knew without a doubt that the Angel of the Lord, and major Prophets were on assignment to visit the new President? That God had a plan to bring transformation to an entire segment of our population who has sold out their hearing ear to Obama?
Frankly the idea makes me excited...is anything to hard for God?
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Our Greater Assignment
Regardless of what happens in our culture or our world we have been commissioned with the purposes of God as revealed in the gospel and our hope is not based in events of our time.
- We have the ultimate truth.
Nothing changes that. Regardless of speculation, or adversity, human achievement or calamity, we remain (as the church) Gods seedbed of truth demonstrated in the world.
“1Tim 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
We have the ultimate reality, not the kingdoms of this world, not any government or agency of man, the church is the pillar of reality, not the feds, and certainly not wall street.
- The book of Hebrews PROMISES that once more God will shake the earth and also the heavens.
“Hebrews 12:27-28
And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:”
The reason for this shaking is not to intimidate or frighten us, it must be viewed in context of the gospel of grace; that God is in process giving us something that CANNOT be shaken, so when we see turmoil in the markets, or economy our biblical response is gratitude, why? Because thru the shaking, the church (that means ME) receives the unshakable kingdom, which will remain. This means something comes out of the mess that will endure for our kids, our kid’s kids, and our generations yet to be born. That is very good news!
- God is not intimidated, worried, apprehensive, or even bothered by the current situation.
God is perfectly comfortable with who he is, and what He’s doing in the earth, His plan has not back-fired, there are no loop-holes the devil can exploit in Gods purposes and ALL His purposes are FOR GOOD AND NOT EVIL. He’s comfortable being God. He likes His job.
- Insecurity in the life of a believer is simply security in the wrong thing.
On a personal level how do you deal with the insecurity of the financial markets, the possibility of job loss, the possibility of higher taxes etc..?The first piece of equipment listed in the armor (Eph. 6:14) is the girdle of truth, if you do not approach your finances, job, gas prices and all of it in truth then you will be exposed to the enemies attacks against those very things. You have to ask yourself the truth, who do you work for? Who is your source? Where does your help come from? If you honestly get apprehensive or have insecurity clouding your attitudes then the reality (truth) is your security needs to be realigned with Gods promises and purposes for your life.
- God has never failed to provide for His purposes or assignments.
Ever, not once, it would actually be sin for God to give you an assignment and then fail to provide for it, so it is not even possible for you to lack Gods provision to accomplish what He has called you to do.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Lakeland and Beyond
So if you are much of a Charismatic, or whatever the current label is for someone who follows deeply the activity of the Holy Spirit, I'm sure you've heard about the Lakeland revival and Todd Bentley.
The obvious questions that arise from such activity is "Is this from God?" "Is it real?" "What will happen now that Todd has stepped out of it?" etc...etc...etc...
My response to these questions is simple: Yes, yes, yes.
Is it from God:
Let me ask you this;
Do you know anyone who can even bring a physical improvement for a cold by simply speaking words? Have you ever met anyone who could cause another person to fall down simply by speaking?
The only person I know who can do that is Jesus, so its not a far stretch to see it happen through people who claim a connection to him.
If you want to go and try blaming this activity on the devil or his spirits, I need to remind you that his (the devils) main operating strategy is to kill, steal, and destroy...none of which fits into the activity I've just described.
Anyone who maintains that Lakeland was the work of the devil is in major deception and needs serious deliverance from demonic strongholds rooted in unbelief...there I've said it may the truth of that sink in.
So what about all the unusual demonstrations and the "hype"?
I don't know. Really. What difference does it make?
If you suggest that the world will reject Jesus because of the weirdness of this event, I gotta say, the world has already rejected Jesus, what makes you think any activity of God would be designed to impress them anyway?
The same Jesus who heals the sick with a "BAM" told the religious leaders of his day that in order to have life they needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood...and then he did not even bother to explain what he meant to them, he just let them get all hot and bothered and upset to the point that many of his own followers ended up leaving him.
Let me say this perfectly clear:
God owes you no explanation.
Jesus does not need to explain the whys and where-for's of his activity.
To quote from a Matrix movie " Your comprehension is not a prerequisite for your cooperation.".
So where does that leave us? Especially considering that Todd Bentley has basically resigned from the movement?
Well that's an interesting question.
There is one thing I would like to remind anyone who followed this movement about, many times I heard speakers, including Todd refer to the coming revival as the faceless nameless army, meaning that God was raising up an army not composed of superstars and headliners, but instead He was raising up something that had no particular form or comeliness that we should be attracted to it, it would be average Joe's doing the miraculous.
Once you make that declaration as a leader, you sort of volunteer yourself to become a nobody, and the difficulty with Todd's presence was that in order for him to lead the faceless, nameless army, he himself would need to become the very thing he prophesied.
Kinda tough under all that spotlight to fulfil that kind of declaration...so I do not find it even slightly unusual that in the course of this he would basically disappear from the spotlight, regardless of how it transpires.
I am not suggesting that God orchestrated the seemingly impending divorce, but what I will suggest is that God can and will use it to move Todd into a place of obscurity so that he can fulfil the next stage in the declared purpose in this movement.
Where do we go from here? Well that remains to be seen, if you consider that what happened in Lakeland was actually a "seeding" process, well that's some pretty impressive seed there and when it comes to full fruition it will be everything the hype suggested and more, I suspect we will look back at Lakeland as a spark that grew into a flame that became a fire that burned a nation and beyond.
As one of the old charismatic songs would say..."It only takes a spark..."
The obvious questions that arise from such activity is "Is this from God?" "Is it real?" "What will happen now that Todd has stepped out of it?" etc...etc...etc...
My response to these questions is simple: Yes, yes, yes.
Is it from God:
Let me ask you this;
Do you know anyone who can even bring a physical improvement for a cold by simply speaking words? Have you ever met anyone who could cause another person to fall down simply by speaking?
The only person I know who can do that is Jesus, so its not a far stretch to see it happen through people who claim a connection to him.
If you want to go and try blaming this activity on the devil or his spirits, I need to remind you that his (the devils) main operating strategy is to kill, steal, and destroy...none of which fits into the activity I've just described.
Anyone who maintains that Lakeland was the work of the devil is in major deception and needs serious deliverance from demonic strongholds rooted in unbelief...there I've said it may the truth of that sink in.
So what about all the unusual demonstrations and the "hype"?
I don't know. Really. What difference does it make?
If you suggest that the world will reject Jesus because of the weirdness of this event, I gotta say, the world has already rejected Jesus, what makes you think any activity of God would be designed to impress them anyway?
The same Jesus who heals the sick with a "BAM" told the religious leaders of his day that in order to have life they needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood...and then he did not even bother to explain what he meant to them, he just let them get all hot and bothered and upset to the point that many of his own followers ended up leaving him.
Let me say this perfectly clear:
God owes you no explanation.
Jesus does not need to explain the whys and where-for's of his activity.
To quote from a Matrix movie " Your comprehension is not a prerequisite for your cooperation.".
So where does that leave us? Especially considering that Todd Bentley has basically resigned from the movement?
Well that's an interesting question.
There is one thing I would like to remind anyone who followed this movement about, many times I heard speakers, including Todd refer to the coming revival as the faceless nameless army, meaning that God was raising up an army not composed of superstars and headliners, but instead He was raising up something that had no particular form or comeliness that we should be attracted to it, it would be average Joe's doing the miraculous.
Once you make that declaration as a leader, you sort of volunteer yourself to become a nobody, and the difficulty with Todd's presence was that in order for him to lead the faceless, nameless army, he himself would need to become the very thing he prophesied.
Kinda tough under all that spotlight to fulfil that kind of declaration...so I do not find it even slightly unusual that in the course of this he would basically disappear from the spotlight, regardless of how it transpires.
I am not suggesting that God orchestrated the seemingly impending divorce, but what I will suggest is that God can and will use it to move Todd into a place of obscurity so that he can fulfil the next stage in the declared purpose in this movement.
Where do we go from here? Well that remains to be seen, if you consider that what happened in Lakeland was actually a "seeding" process, well that's some pretty impressive seed there and when it comes to full fruition it will be everything the hype suggested and more, I suspect we will look back at Lakeland as a spark that grew into a flame that became a fire that burned a nation and beyond.
As one of the old charismatic songs would say..."It only takes a spark..."
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Ovecoming Evel with good.
Romans 12:21-"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."
I think it is prophetically significant that the man formerly known as "Evel Knievel" has come to experience the love of God as demonstrated in Jesus Christ.
You can read about his experience here in Christianity Today.
Apparently thru the testimony of Robert ("Evel"), there we about 500-800 people baptised or rededicating thier lives following his story.
I am not sure of the specific significance, but he will be 70 years old next year.
70 IS significant especially in reference to the captivity of Israel in Babylon.
Regardless, I think it is wonderful that the prayers of the saints have coincided with the destiny of Gods design in saving this man.
We should be celebrating.
Evel has been overcome by Gods goodness.
I think it is prophetically significant that the man formerly known as "Evel Knievel" has come to experience the love of God as demonstrated in Jesus Christ.
You can read about his experience here in Christianity Today.
Apparently thru the testimony of Robert ("Evel"), there we about 500-800 people baptised or rededicating thier lives following his story.
I am not sure of the specific significance, but he will be 70 years old next year.
70 IS significant especially in reference to the captivity of Israel in Babylon.
Regardless, I think it is wonderful that the prayers of the saints have coincided with the destiny of Gods design in saving this man.
We should be celebrating.
Evel has been overcome by Gods goodness.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Wonder
This post is about just being amazed at God.
[There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory. ICor. 15:41 KJV.
You can go to Hubble Space Telescope and see more of Gods amazing ability.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
What if...
I broke another string last night during our prayer and worship meeting...
It is frustrating because it breaks the flow of worship for me and as a leader I want an unbroken flow to continue...
So I paused long enough to retune the guitar... (When one string breaks the tension or lack there-of affects ALL the strings)...and continued to play minus the "d" string...
Bob asked me if I was now breaking different strings on the
So we muddled through...continuing to take ground in spite of the resistance.
When you break a guitar string, and re-tune and then continue to play it is a very strange experience because your fingers are trained to expect a certain amount of resistance from the strings, when no string is there the lack of resistance makes you think you are playing a wrong chord or that you have misplaced your fingers, which is not true.
So if you can imagine what is going on in my head, I am trying to navigate in the spirit what I see the Father doing (it was evangelism prayer last night), and I am also trying to tune into the "Song of the Lord" (a very old phrase that lacks replacement) and spontaneous worship working with the musicians and hoping we are all on the same page, all the while feeling like my left hand is in the wrong place, which it was not.
When I get to this place where things are completely out of my grasp, it is here that the heart takes the lead.
My heart will ignore my head which says the hand is being rebellious.
The heart will ignore the sounds which might be dissonant and will drive for worship and praise in spite of what my ears might be interpreting.
It becomes worship driven from the heart because all other elements seem to be fracturing or at best out of sync.
So...
What if every string I break represents the soul of a family that God is capturing?
What if every broken string signifies a household returning to the Lord?
I may never know for sure this side of heaven...but I'm willing to break them all if it means others come to know Him and the power of His resurrection.
Still breaking strings.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Work in progress
Ok I haven't posted in a bit so here we go.
I am currently working on a new song...about being born at the cross.
Recently the Lord kinda startled my thinking by telling me I wasn't born again in 1962 when He appeared to me, I was born when the soldier pierced the side of Jesus at Calvary. My delivery was completed when He stepped out of the tomb three days later...sort of a "Divine Ceaserian".
We are all born under the shadow of the cross and we are not simply "remade Adams" we are a completely different thing on the earth.
Think about this: The disciples could barely pray for more than an hour prior to the resurrection...ever been there?
You know you want to pray, you NEED to pray, others NEED you to pray...and you fall asleep after about an hour...consider yourself normal.
But look what happens after Jesus breathes on the disciples in John 20:22 (think about the original creation of man where God breathes on him the breath of life in Genesis 2:7)...these guys can't seem to stop praying...the book of Acts records many of their prayers and they are different somehow.
We are something completely new.
Our music and worship should reflect this.
I don't understand how in a little town up in the mountains we can participate in something eternal, but that has to be our goal.
The Tuesday nite city prayer and worship is a great place for us to experiment.
Healings and deliverances are going to become even more commonplace because it is our heritage as worshippers.
How will it sound?
New.
I dunno.
I don't mean "new" like the popular groups like the kiddos are listening to (I know the names but most of you reading would not so its sorta moot to mention them)...I'm not even sure if it would be "new" in a Peter Gabriel world music kinda new where he records with chimps playing percussion...
It will be new in that it comes from a source that is new.
One of the things I am tapping into is the incredible sound of victory and hope I hear in the spirit...the song "prophecy" has begun a new day for us to think about worship differently.
It must communicate hope and courage and victory that are the earmarks of the Kingdom of God...some of the hymns do this better than the "new" songs we sing, so the "new thing" isn't all that and a bag of chips...not if it fails to deliver the AWE and HONOR of so great a King.
"Shock and Awe" worship...theres a metaphor to wrap your mind around...the "shock" of such great love and mercy and the "awe" of such a glorious Lord...
Anyway its a work in progress...as are we all...
Prophecy
There will be silence before You and praise here in Zion
There will be silence before You and praise here in Zion
Out of the mouths of the infants and babes
Unto the Father You've perfected praise
And what was broken and cast by the side
You have redeemed and adorned as a bride
There will be silence before You and praise here in Zion
Egypt will dance with Assyria Israel will join them
Egypt will dance with Assyria Israel will join them
Where once was violence hatred and war
A highway of peace will be built to the Lord
For You are twice more than able to bring
All the children of Abraham home to one King
Egypt will dance with Assyria Israel will join them
I will be changed to Your image I will be like You
I will be changed to Your image I will be like You
Where once was sin and the darkness of doubt
You'll make it pure with the freedom to shout
And as a son I will stand by Your side
With nothing but beauty and nothing to hide
I will be changed to Your image I will be like You
I am currently working on a new song...about being born at the cross.
Recently the Lord kinda startled my thinking by telling me I wasn't born again in 1962 when He appeared to me, I was born when the soldier pierced the side of Jesus at Calvary. My delivery was completed when He stepped out of the tomb three days later...sort of a "Divine Ceaserian".
We are all born under the shadow of the cross and we are not simply "remade Adams" we are a completely different thing on the earth.
Think about this: The disciples could barely pray for more than an hour prior to the resurrection...ever been there?
You know you want to pray, you NEED to pray, others NEED you to pray...and you fall asleep after about an hour...consider yourself normal.
But look what happens after Jesus breathes on the disciples in John 20:22 (think about the original creation of man where God breathes on him the breath of life in Genesis 2:7)...these guys can't seem to stop praying...the book of Acts records many of their prayers and they are different somehow.
We are something completely new.
Our music and worship should reflect this.
I don't understand how in a little town up in the mountains we can participate in something eternal, but that has to be our goal.
The Tuesday nite city prayer and worship is a great place for us to experiment.
Healings and deliverances are going to become even more commonplace because it is our heritage as worshippers.
How will it sound?
New.
I dunno.
I don't mean "new" like the popular groups like the kiddos are listening to (I know the names but most of you reading would not so its sorta moot to mention them)...I'm not even sure if it would be "new" in a Peter Gabriel world music kinda new where he records with chimps playing percussion...
It will be new in that it comes from a source that is new.
One of the things I am tapping into is the incredible sound of victory and hope I hear in the spirit...the song "prophecy" has begun a new day for us to think about worship differently.
It must communicate hope and courage and victory that are the earmarks of the Kingdom of God...some of the hymns do this better than the "new" songs we sing, so the "new thing" isn't all that and a bag of chips...not if it fails to deliver the AWE and HONOR of so great a King.
"Shock and Awe" worship...theres a metaphor to wrap your mind around...the "shock" of such great love and mercy and the "awe" of such a glorious Lord...
Anyway its a work in progress...as are we all...
Prophecy
There will be silence before You and praise here in Zion
There will be silence before You and praise here in Zion
Out of the mouths of the infants and babes
Unto the Father You've perfected praise
And what was broken and cast by the side
You have redeemed and adorned as a bride
There will be silence before You and praise here in Zion
Egypt will dance with Assyria Israel will join them
Egypt will dance with Assyria Israel will join them
Where once was violence hatred and war
A highway of peace will be built to the Lord
For You are twice more than able to bring
All the children of Abraham home to one King
Egypt will dance with Assyria Israel will join them
I will be changed to Your image I will be like You
I will be changed to Your image I will be like You
Where once was sin and the darkness of doubt
You'll make it pure with the freedom to shout
And as a son I will stand by Your side
With nothing but beauty and nothing to hide
I will be changed to Your image I will be like You
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Still breaking things...
I do get a little tired of cliché’s.
Break-thru...
Cutting edge...
Extreme...
You know what I mean.
The phrases we borrow from scripture like "break-thru" (break-thru actually comes from "Baal-Perazim" where David proclaims that God has broke thru upon my enemies-2Sam.5:20) can get a little tired and redundant, and possibly lose motivation for us.
If you get to familiar with something you can be in danger of ignoring its potential, or worse yet you can become so familiar with something you dishonor it by neglect.
Our worship.
The prophetic.
Praying in tongues.
Lets take a quick little aside and look at a couple of very powerful things and see perhaps if we aren't motivated to stir up the gift within us again.
I just watched a DVD of one of my mentors.
CW Mitchell who is now the president/dean/chief servant of a Samoan Bible school.
His message was both incredibly simple and amazingly profound.
"Pray in tongues and read the word"
Pretty simple message, followed by some pretty radical testimonies about how God has used these simple things to impact both people and cities for the kingdom.
He suggested a rather practical approach to this instruction.
Start with praying in tongues on day 1 for 15 minutes.
Increase it to 30 minutes on day 2.
Day three pray in tongues 45 minutes.
By day 5 he promises you will be praying more than an hour on your own, and the time management issues we all face will not even be an issue.
Day six will come and go and you will be in the plural hours of prayer.
In one week if you do this your life will be RADICALLY changed.
There's one of our clichés again.
Ouch!
...
...
...
...
What’s the worse that could happen?
I mean in theory our clichés are already worn out, so a little more isn't going to do any permanent damage...and what if....
...for once the clichés were all we had to express the types of change we began to experience?
Radical Prophetic Break-thru....
...
Many of us are facing life weary challenges that have the potential of wearing out our faith.
Some simple biblical exercises might be just the ticket:
Jude 1:20 "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost."
2Tim.1:6 "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands."
I'm still breaking guitar strings.
Last Sunday was one of the hardest walls I've ever encountered in worship.
I don't really care anymore.
I bought three packs of strings today...in preparation.
I have determined that the harder worship gets, the more abased I will become.
The more resistance I encounter, the more determined and unrelenting I will be.
Clichés or no clichés we will have break thru.
Bring it.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Prophecy
If you look over at the links there is an Mp3 of Prophecy there that will load in a new window for you to listen to if you like.
Lets continue to keep Israel and the region in our prayers the lyrics "For you are twice more than able to bring all of Abrahams children home to one King" are especially pertinant in this time of violance.
Lets continue to keep Israel and the region in our prayers the lyrics "For you are twice more than able to bring all of Abrahams children home to one King" are especially pertinant in this time of violance.
Self Help-less...
Pastor Tim said during family camp that the western church has primarily made everything about "me"...just go to a christian bookstore and look on the shelves its mostly a "self-help" library.
This is unfortunate but true.
"5-Steps to Financial Freedom"
"40 days to fulfill your purpose"
"How to be free from_______"
"Etc...etc...et al"
Most of, if not all, self help materials are meant to guide the person to some form of personal freedom...nothing wrong with that...but...
What if it isn't about us?
What if freedom never was about me?
What if freedom is about Him?
Worship must be about Him.
If it isn't, well...it probably isn't worship...and it definately won't represent freedom.
I am currently studying the life of Paul, the Apostle John and the Ephesian history.
As I connect with the historical perspectives on what these men did and how they approached dethroning the powers of the Asiatic region one thing I notice is that both of these apostles were men of worship.
The book of Revelation is primarily a book on worship, those who will, and those who won't worship the Lamb and the the consequences of those decisions.
Of course we are all familiar with Paul and Silas sitting in a jail cell praising God and worshipping at midnite...
Now contrast the lifes and responses of three great men who were in some capacity in "prison"...
John the baptist...
John the Apostle...
And Paul...
John the Baptist is sitting in prison at the end of his life waiting execution...and he sends a delegation to Jesus asking "Are you the One or do I look somewhere else?"
Whats behind this question?
I think John had reached a point where he was disappointed, the revival he had been promised had came and went and things did't look much different.
Ever been there?
You know, you go to the meeting expecting some earth changing word from God only to walk out wondering if you need to look somehere else...
"Are you the one?"...
Every self help book I've opened I have opened with that attitude...is this the one thing that will change me?
But...
(here it comes)...
John the Apostle and Paul both approached the frustration of captivity a little differently...and both had radically different results than John the Baptist.
These guys made thier captivity about Him.
They worshipped.
In Pauls case an earthquake happened and many people came to know the Lord thru the event.
In Johns case, the heavens opened and he was given a perspective that radically changed the western world.
Historically Johns imprisonment on Patmos was about 18 months. When he was released he went to Ephesus and tradition has it he went into the Temple of Dianna and confronted the demonic power of that region with immediate results.
Shortly after his confrontation there was of an end to the temple worship of "Dianna of the Ephesians" (*Acts 19:28) , and a breaking of not only the demonic powers but also a release of the power of the gospel so that in 100 years the very government that was persecuting the church would be kingdomised.
I'll get to the point:
No matter what the condition of your life be it slavery or freedom, it is about Him.
If you make all about HIM and prioritise worship even while experiencing various forms of "frustrated freedom" (read jail here)...then since God is no respecter of persons...you can probably expect that things will begin to shake loose and real freedom will come to not only you but those around you.
The fastest way out of "self-help-jail" is the same as any other jail...begin to worship.
(* Artemis and Dianna are basically the same demonic power)
This is unfortunate but true.
"5-Steps to Financial Freedom"
"40 days to fulfill your purpose"
"How to be free from_______"
"Etc...etc...et al"
Most of, if not all, self help materials are meant to guide the person to some form of personal freedom...nothing wrong with that...but...
What if it isn't about us?
What if freedom never was about me?
What if freedom is about Him?
Worship must be about Him.
If it isn't, well...it probably isn't worship...and it definately won't represent freedom.
I am currently studying the life of Paul, the Apostle John and the Ephesian history.
As I connect with the historical perspectives on what these men did and how they approached dethroning the powers of the Asiatic region one thing I notice is that both of these apostles were men of worship.
The book of Revelation is primarily a book on worship, those who will, and those who won't worship the Lamb and the the consequences of those decisions.
Of course we are all familiar with Paul and Silas sitting in a jail cell praising God and worshipping at midnite...
Now contrast the lifes and responses of three great men who were in some capacity in "prison"...
John the baptist...
John the Apostle...
And Paul...
John the Baptist is sitting in prison at the end of his life waiting execution...and he sends a delegation to Jesus asking "Are you the One or do I look somewhere else?"
Whats behind this question?
I think John had reached a point where he was disappointed, the revival he had been promised had came and went and things did't look much different.
Ever been there?
You know, you go to the meeting expecting some earth changing word from God only to walk out wondering if you need to look somehere else...
"Are you the one?"...
Every self help book I've opened I have opened with that attitude...is this the one thing that will change me?
But...
(here it comes)...
John the Apostle and Paul both approached the frustration of captivity a little differently...and both had radically different results than John the Baptist.
These guys made thier captivity about Him.
They worshipped.
In Pauls case an earthquake happened and many people came to know the Lord thru the event.
In Johns case, the heavens opened and he was given a perspective that radically changed the western world.
Historically Johns imprisonment on Patmos was about 18 months. When he was released he went to Ephesus and tradition has it he went into the Temple of Dianna and confronted the demonic power of that region with immediate results.
Shortly after his confrontation there was of an end to the temple worship of "Dianna of the Ephesians" (*Acts 19:28) , and a breaking of not only the demonic powers but also a release of the power of the gospel so that in 100 years the very government that was persecuting the church would be kingdomised.
I'll get to the point:
No matter what the condition of your life be it slavery or freedom, it is about Him.
If you make all about HIM and prioritise worship even while experiencing various forms of "frustrated freedom" (read jail here)...then since God is no respecter of persons...you can probably expect that things will begin to shake loose and real freedom will come to not only you but those around you.
The fastest way out of "self-help-jail" is the same as any other jail...begin to worship.
(* Artemis and Dianna are basically the same demonic power)
Saturday, February 04, 2006
The End of the Spear
I just took Courtney to see "The end of the Spear"
If you are unfamiliar with the story it is based upon the actual real events written about in "Thru Gates of Splendor"
You should see it.
What struck me most about the story is that currently there is a huge amount of culture on our planet that is in the same cycle of violence.
The Muslim radicals striking out in desperation to please Allah.
The street gangs here in America striking out to "Jump the Great Boa" (a metaphor for overcoming death from the film) and prove their strength.
So what does a movie about missionaries and worship have in common?
Well I believe that we are created to worship.
Watch the crowds at a sporting event (the upcoming Superbowl comes to mind) or a rock concert and what you see is is an innate desire to be part of something much larger than yourself.
Have you ever thought about that from a purely biological perspective?
Ever see a fish try to be part of something bigger than itself?
How about a bird?
Creation is kinda settled on its own place, but mankind seems to be driven to expand, to conquer, to step outside of its current position and participate in a larger world.
This I believe is one of the main ingredients in mankinds worship mechanism.
We gotta get bigger...And we wanna worship something bigger than ourselves.
So worship starts with a vacuum...a vacuum for God.
Which is exactly where missions start.
You cannot evangelise the complacent.
You shouldn't even try. (I know this may get me scolded from the higher ups but its the truth)
When I was in New Covenant Commission the primary missions strategy was to find the most war-torn or disaster ridden country and go there...the miracles and results would follow because the hearts of that country had been "plowed up".
The Bible says that "God will not share His Glory with another"...meaning that He will not be room-mates with whatever else is living in our hearts.
And as Matt Redmond has said "Worship is the heart of missions flame"...
Our worship must put on a "missions-garment" to be complete.
Oh yeah I know we need to worship in the quiet of our own chamber, but the innate desire to be part of something larger is as much a part of our worship motor as what we do in private, hence the tandem emphasis on worship AND missions.
Every tribe should join as we humans worship...and what we worship should be powerful, larger than us, and glorious in all its expression...and only One can fit that description.
On a final note...you cannot force someone to worship God and you shouldn't even think about doing so (parents this especially applies to you), it violates the human/divine relational structure, it is something I believe God hates...and one of the primary tools of the adversary...we should instead be drawing people by our worship and our lives.
Lets think of ways that our worship experience can go beyond what we are part of now...Lets figure out a good "Go ye into all the world" expression that will truly touch the most desperate among us in our own little Jerusalem here in the mountains.
If you are unfamiliar with the story it is based upon the actual real events written about in "Thru Gates of Splendor"
You should see it.
What struck me most about the story is that currently there is a huge amount of culture on our planet that is in the same cycle of violence.
The Muslim radicals striking out in desperation to please Allah.
The street gangs here in America striking out to "Jump the Great Boa" (a metaphor for overcoming death from the film) and prove their strength.
So what does a movie about missionaries and worship have in common?
Well I believe that we are created to worship.
Watch the crowds at a sporting event (the upcoming Superbowl comes to mind) or a rock concert and what you see is is an innate desire to be part of something much larger than yourself.
Have you ever thought about that from a purely biological perspective?
Ever see a fish try to be part of something bigger than itself?
How about a bird?
Creation is kinda settled on its own place, but mankind seems to be driven to expand, to conquer, to step outside of its current position and participate in a larger world.
This I believe is one of the main ingredients in mankinds worship mechanism.
We gotta get bigger...And we wanna worship something bigger than ourselves.
So worship starts with a vacuum...a vacuum for God.
Which is exactly where missions start.
You cannot evangelise the complacent.
You shouldn't even try. (I know this may get me scolded from the higher ups but its the truth)
When I was in New Covenant Commission the primary missions strategy was to find the most war-torn or disaster ridden country and go there...the miracles and results would follow because the hearts of that country had been "plowed up".
The Bible says that "God will not share His Glory with another"...meaning that He will not be room-mates with whatever else is living in our hearts.
And as Matt Redmond has said "Worship is the heart of missions flame"...
Our worship must put on a "missions-garment" to be complete.
Oh yeah I know we need to worship in the quiet of our own chamber, but the innate desire to be part of something larger is as much a part of our worship motor as what we do in private, hence the tandem emphasis on worship AND missions.
Every tribe should join as we humans worship...and what we worship should be powerful, larger than us, and glorious in all its expression...and only One can fit that description.
On a final note...you cannot force someone to worship God and you shouldn't even think about doing so (parents this especially applies to you), it violates the human/divine relational structure, it is something I believe God hates...and one of the primary tools of the adversary...we should instead be drawing people by our worship and our lives.
Lets think of ways that our worship experience can go beyond what we are part of now...Lets figure out a good "Go ye into all the world" expression that will truly touch the most desperate among us in our own little Jerusalem here in the mountains.
Friday, November 25, 2005
A Kingdom of Kids
A Kingdom of Kids
We have a bunch of kids. Sometimes it’s really cool and fun, other times it’s just this side of insanity.
Sunday I nearly lost it as I stood to close the service with more worship and glanced over and saw Faith walking around in her big brothers shoes and socks...but I also recognised it was a moment when God was making a point to us.
We allow the kids to participate in worship at many levels. They gather at the front and dance, and run and take things away from one another.
Are they worshipping?
How would we know?
Believe it or not kids figure pretty highly in the kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed.
I could quote the relevant passages, but instead you should look them up.
When I start down the path to Christmas and understanding the incarnation where God invades by His own version of “Operation Freedom” I am struck by the innuendo and position that children play in the drama.
First there is the whole baby Jesus thing.
If you haven’t thought about the fact that the Creator of the universe who spoke entire worlds into existence went thru a period where he could make no intelligible speech (think Faith and her incessant talking which apparently is words, just words no one knows), then you need to think about it.
It is preposterous to imagine that the God of all has so much faith in us that he trusted his development and birth to a “maiden” named Miriam (Mary) somewhere in the neighborhood of 13-15 years of age.
Let that sink in for a moment...imagine God turning to someone like Ariel,or Alex, or Emily...you know a teenage girl, and entrusting them with the care and welfare of the Savior of all mankind.
Then there’s the whole insanity of Caesar when he orders the death of all the baby males from the time he heard from the wise men.
A little studious digging will uncover the huge possibility that the shepherds watching their flocks by night were actually young boys relegated to the menial task as lowest on the totem pole in the priesthood.
<teaching break>
Migdal Eder was the place of Rachel's tomb, near Bethlehem, but it was also the place where they would keep the sheep for Passover. So these kids were temple shepherds who kept the thousands of sheep that had to be brought up to Jerusalem. Their job was to inspect the sheep to make sure they were perfect and appropriate for the sacrifice. So Migdal Eder happens to be next to the little village where Jesus is born. And the shepherds nearby come inspect the Lamb to see if it's worthy and then go out proclaiming.
<end teaching>
Anyway the point I’m trying to make is that God sees kids differently than we do.
He seems to have no problem letting them become part of His salvation program, and if we want to participate fully with what He’s doing, we need to allow the kids to step up and involve themselves as much as possible.
I am open to suggestions...but ultimately I would like to see our children so involved that the world has to once again stop and listen to the perfect praise coming from the mouths of babes.
We have a bunch of kids. Sometimes it’s really cool and fun, other times it’s just this side of insanity.
Sunday I nearly lost it as I stood to close the service with more worship and glanced over and saw Faith walking around in her big brothers shoes and socks...but I also recognised it was a moment when God was making a point to us.
We allow the kids to participate in worship at many levels. They gather at the front and dance, and run and take things away from one another.
Are they worshipping?
How would we know?
Believe it or not kids figure pretty highly in the kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed.
I could quote the relevant passages, but instead you should look them up.
When I start down the path to Christmas and understanding the incarnation where God invades by His own version of “Operation Freedom” I am struck by the innuendo and position that children play in the drama.
First there is the whole baby Jesus thing.
If you haven’t thought about the fact that the Creator of the universe who spoke entire worlds into existence went thru a period where he could make no intelligible speech (think Faith and her incessant talking which apparently is words, just words no one knows), then you need to think about it.
It is preposterous to imagine that the God of all has so much faith in us that he trusted his development and birth to a “maiden” named Miriam (Mary) somewhere in the neighborhood of 13-15 years of age.
Let that sink in for a moment...imagine God turning to someone like Ariel,or Alex, or Emily...you know a teenage girl, and entrusting them with the care and welfare of the Savior of all mankind.
Then there’s the whole insanity of Caesar when he orders the death of all the baby males from the time he heard from the wise men.
A little studious digging will uncover the huge possibility that the shepherds watching their flocks by night were actually young boys relegated to the menial task as lowest on the totem pole in the priesthood.
<teaching break>
Migdal Eder was the place of Rachel's tomb, near Bethlehem, but it was also the place where they would keep the sheep for Passover. So these kids were temple shepherds who kept the thousands of sheep that had to be brought up to Jerusalem. Their job was to inspect the sheep to make sure they were perfect and appropriate for the sacrifice. So Migdal Eder happens to be next to the little village where Jesus is born. And the shepherds nearby come inspect the Lamb to see if it's worthy and then go out proclaiming.
<end teaching>
Anyway the point I’m trying to make is that God sees kids differently than we do.
He seems to have no problem letting them become part of His salvation program, and if we want to participate fully with what He’s doing, we need to allow the kids to step up and involve themselves as much as possible.
I am open to suggestions...but ultimately I would like to see our children so involved that the world has to once again stop and listen to the perfect praise coming from the mouths of babes.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
OVO
As you might read in my profile I am a big Peter Gabriel fan. You might know his music thru such songs as “Sledgehammer” or “Solsbury Hill”, or perhaps even “Red Rain”…Mr. Gabriel released an album back in 2000 (I believe) called “OVO”…
I can almost bet none of you have heard it.
Its not “Christian music”…in fact its not even mainstream music, it’s a weird kind of artistic exercise that centers around a story Peter Gabriel made up.
The name OVO is given to a child in the story because as his father gazes at him in his sleep he sees the eyebrows and two eyes form together to make an “OVO”…it’s a pretty interesting story and the music I find quite good, especially “Downside Up”, which could very well be used to explain what happens to people when they get converted or God invades their worldview…it is in fact a “conversion song” in the musical production itself.
So what’s this got to do with church and worship?
Good question, I’ll get to it.
When I go to the Bible to get definitions for worship and a template for what we’re doing, I am struck by the fact that in the New Testament I don’t get a liturgy, or a ritual, what I mainly get is stories. Read it you’ll see what I’m talking about.
You’ve got the Gospels which is primarily the story of God invading Israel’s model and then you get to Acts and the epistles and you get another series of stories about early church life and perhaps some doctrinal exercises that seem to deal with the transition between the Gospels and Acts…oh yeah you get the Apocalypse which is about how the world would not worship God or turn from their wickedness, and in the midst of it all God always wins and then theres a big wedding then it ends.
But what you don’t get is a set of rules about how to run a worship team or organize our Sunday morning encounters (or whatever day we choose since the entire early template seems to be “old and fading away”).
If I apply the Bible in a strict authoritative rulebook kind of way, I basically have the simple rules laid out by James in Acts (since we are all basically the Gentile believers)
“That they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood”-Acts 15:20…
That’s really about all the Jewish Apostles laid on us.
Yeah, yeah I know the church comes round and there are some general rules about leadership and order, but you don’t find Paul telling Timothy:
“Hey Timothy, make sure the tithe envelopes are out, and lets keep the bathrooms clean, and oh yeah you should do three fast songs and maybe four slow songs, but do it in that order since people need to wake up before they can really worship, services should start around 10:30”…
So what’s this got to do with OVO?
Well Peter Gabriel recorded a story, he used all sorts of different musicians and singers, if you buy the CD he even uses cartoons to tell his story, but the bottom line is he told a story thru a community.
THAT’S what I’m talking about.
As we continue to explore what “worship” means and as we continue to create “refrigerator art” for God every Sunday, lets also be aware that we are telling a story thru our worship experience. The characters in the story are you and I and the church in general, but the main theme of the story is that just like the Gospels, we too have had God invade our model and our liturgy, our lives are now “Downside Up” because of the grace of Jesus.
And since we’re the ones telling the story, we have the opportunity to tell it in all sorts of creative ways, basically we are telling back to God what He has already done, and what He is doing…we are in fact telling Gods story thru our lives.
God uses all sorts of things and languages to tell His story…I mean for crying out loud He’s using US…. that ought to be enough to get us out of our boxes and thinking of new ways to express His story.
Lets not be afraid to get out the glue and buttons and pipe cleaners for the next piece of refrigerator art we call worship, it is after all for His Glory…what’s the worse that could happen, we get a little glitter on the living room carpet?
I can almost bet none of you have heard it.
Its not “Christian music”…in fact its not even mainstream music, it’s a weird kind of artistic exercise that centers around a story Peter Gabriel made up.
The name OVO is given to a child in the story because as his father gazes at him in his sleep he sees the eyebrows and two eyes form together to make an “OVO”…it’s a pretty interesting story and the music I find quite good, especially “Downside Up”, which could very well be used to explain what happens to people when they get converted or God invades their worldview…it is in fact a “conversion song” in the musical production itself.
So what’s this got to do with church and worship?
Good question, I’ll get to it.
When I go to the Bible to get definitions for worship and a template for what we’re doing, I am struck by the fact that in the New Testament I don’t get a liturgy, or a ritual, what I mainly get is stories. Read it you’ll see what I’m talking about.
You’ve got the Gospels which is primarily the story of God invading Israel’s model and then you get to Acts and the epistles and you get another series of stories about early church life and perhaps some doctrinal exercises that seem to deal with the transition between the Gospels and Acts…oh yeah you get the Apocalypse which is about how the world would not worship God or turn from their wickedness, and in the midst of it all God always wins and then theres a big wedding then it ends.
But what you don’t get is a set of rules about how to run a worship team or organize our Sunday morning encounters (or whatever day we choose since the entire early template seems to be “old and fading away”).
If I apply the Bible in a strict authoritative rulebook kind of way, I basically have the simple rules laid out by James in Acts (since we are all basically the Gentile believers)
“That they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood”-Acts 15:20…
That’s really about all the Jewish Apostles laid on us.
Yeah, yeah I know the church comes round and there are some general rules about leadership and order, but you don’t find Paul telling Timothy:
“Hey Timothy, make sure the tithe envelopes are out, and lets keep the bathrooms clean, and oh yeah you should do three fast songs and maybe four slow songs, but do it in that order since people need to wake up before they can really worship, services should start around 10:30”…
So what’s this got to do with OVO?
Well Peter Gabriel recorded a story, he used all sorts of different musicians and singers, if you buy the CD he even uses cartoons to tell his story, but the bottom line is he told a story thru a community.
THAT’S what I’m talking about.
As we continue to explore what “worship” means and as we continue to create “refrigerator art” for God every Sunday, lets also be aware that we are telling a story thru our worship experience. The characters in the story are you and I and the church in general, but the main theme of the story is that just like the Gospels, we too have had God invade our model and our liturgy, our lives are now “Downside Up” because of the grace of Jesus.
And since we’re the ones telling the story, we have the opportunity to tell it in all sorts of creative ways, basically we are telling back to God what He has already done, and what He is doing…we are in fact telling Gods story thru our lives.
God uses all sorts of things and languages to tell His story…I mean for crying out loud He’s using US…. that ought to be enough to get us out of our boxes and thinking of new ways to express His story.
Lets not be afraid to get out the glue and buttons and pipe cleaners for the next piece of refrigerator art we call worship, it is after all for His Glory…what’s the worse that could happen, we get a little glitter on the living room carpet?
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Inexpressible
Inexpressible.
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago-whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows-such a man was caught up to the third heaven.
And I know such a man-whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows-
Was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. (2 Cor. 12:2-4 NAS)
I got to thinking about Linda’s word Sunday, pertaining to the Lord being pleased with us and showing that thru the prophetic drumming of Brent…
It was kind of obvious that there was something unique and prophetic happening amongst all the musicians, I think we all felt it and all responded to it, but especially Brent as he played the drums.
This is starting to happen more and more.
Which brings up the question (as did Linda this Tuesday during worship practice) “What does it mean when they prophesy on the instruments?”
Again we are working without a net here, I simply do not know.
I know it when it happens.
I’ve been in services where I heard it…
I know when it happens TO me, and the prophetic seems to play THRU me…
But as Linda asked, “What does the prophecy mean?”
What does it mean when the Lord moves upon a musician and they begin to improvise or launch out musically where they did not intentionally plan to go?
One of the songs on our “to learn” list is Chris Tomlins "Indescribable"…and the song details the inability we have to communicate all that God is…
Do you suppose that in some way God has the same problem we do?
Oh yeah I know He’s omnipotent and all, I’m not suggesting the circular logic of the Simpson’s where Homer ask "Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot He couldn’t eat it?”
I’m not playing word games with Gods ability, but the reality exist that God has limited the way He communicates with us (my theory is that its for our own good He has placed limits on Himself) to some rather simple protocols and process’s that we still manage to mangle and misuse.
Has it occurred to anyone else that God may simply be trying to use each and every aspect of our environment to show His fondness and profound love, so much so that He will invade our culture and even our own worship to DEMONSTRATE His reach?
At this point I really don’t know if we need to know what the prophesy might say thru the instrumentalist as long as we start hearing the message that God is invading “our” worship time and sitting in on drums…or keys…or guitar…
Think about it a minute…. the guy that invented sound itself…sat in on drums Sunday.
That is enough for me, He don’t gotta say anything else….just showing up at our little gathering and picking up a set of drumsticks while we were searching for Him in our singing should set out hearts quivering…
It’s kind of inexpressible.
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago-whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows-such a man was caught up to the third heaven.
And I know such a man-whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows-
Was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. (2 Cor. 12:2-4 NAS)
I got to thinking about Linda’s word Sunday, pertaining to the Lord being pleased with us and showing that thru the prophetic drumming of Brent…
It was kind of obvious that there was something unique and prophetic happening amongst all the musicians, I think we all felt it and all responded to it, but especially Brent as he played the drums.
This is starting to happen more and more.
Which brings up the question (as did Linda this Tuesday during worship practice) “What does it mean when they prophesy on the instruments?”
Again we are working without a net here, I simply do not know.
I know it when it happens.
I’ve been in services where I heard it…
I know when it happens TO me, and the prophetic seems to play THRU me…
But as Linda asked, “What does the prophecy mean?”
What does it mean when the Lord moves upon a musician and they begin to improvise or launch out musically where they did not intentionally plan to go?
One of the songs on our “to learn” list is Chris Tomlins "Indescribable"…and the song details the inability we have to communicate all that God is…
Do you suppose that in some way God has the same problem we do?
Oh yeah I know He’s omnipotent and all, I’m not suggesting the circular logic of the Simpson’s where Homer ask "Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot He couldn’t eat it?”
I’m not playing word games with Gods ability, but the reality exist that God has limited the way He communicates with us (my theory is that its for our own good He has placed limits on Himself) to some rather simple protocols and process’s that we still manage to mangle and misuse.
Has it occurred to anyone else that God may simply be trying to use each and every aspect of our environment to show His fondness and profound love, so much so that He will invade our culture and even our own worship to DEMONSTRATE His reach?
At this point I really don’t know if we need to know what the prophesy might say thru the instrumentalist as long as we start hearing the message that God is invading “our” worship time and sitting in on drums…or keys…or guitar…
Think about it a minute…. the guy that invented sound itself…sat in on drums Sunday.
That is enough for me, He don’t gotta say anything else….just showing up at our little gathering and picking up a set of drumsticks while we were searching for Him in our singing should set out hearts quivering…
It’s kind of inexpressible.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Glorious, Wondrous, Dangerous
Well let’s talk about last Sunday.
We have currently been working on a Hillsongs United song (All for Love) that we intend to introduce to the congregation.
Last Tuesdays worship practice I felt we needed to simply “worship” with the song as a team and forget about the technical aspects for a change…. we did and had a profound worship meeting…sooooo…I said we would just go ahead and do the song regardless of our abilities…
On Saturday that all changed.
As I prepared for Sundays worship I felt quite strongly that we were not ready as a team “spiritually” to introduce the song…the song has become a very powerful template and many on the team have seen or felt prophetic significance surrounding the song as we prepare for it, but as I prayed and prepared for Sunday I saw that we would not be doing the song.
Now mind you the first thing I thought about when I made the decision to wait was how do I deal with disappointing our worship team? And to add insult to injury I needed to be honest when I explained why I felt we needed to wait…we weren’t ready “spiritually”...talk about bumming down a pre-service worship team…man I was apprehensive about how to communicate this and keep a positive vibe going.
As I prayed about Sunday’s service I also felt that we needed to “worship” more, and I in turn chose a more subdued worship list…BESIDES the fact that I had decided to introduce a new song THAT very Sunday…without telling anyone else.
Sounds like a recipe for a disaster, and I’m cooking.
In the past few weeks our worship services have been a mix of shouting, jumping, dancing, and occasionally screaming, but the bottom line is they have been very up-tempo and I have been breaking strings every week (believe it or not this is an indicator to us that some kind of break-thru is happening, I go to a lot of trouble to avoid this but when we are breaking thru the density of spiritual walls things happen in the physical and one of these things is I break guitar strings).
So I feel a more “subdued” kind of awe-struck list is in order, and choose songs that I felt suggested that.
What I did not know was that God was doing His thing and stretching my understanding of worship.
We did three songs.
We introduced one of them.
We had people shouting, spinning, RUNNING, and dancing…. all with my “subdued” list…
I have no template for this.
I have no idea what it means.
But what I had challenged the team with that morning was that we should be trying to get to a place where our worship was Glorious, Wondrous, and Dangerous.
Ultimately I have decided that we should be asking ourselves…not was it good, or did it go well, not even “did the people respond”, but we should find a baseline to understand and see if God was pleased…
Again, I don’t know but I have some theories…
-Mark
We have currently been working on a Hillsongs United song (All for Love) that we intend to introduce to the congregation.
Last Tuesdays worship practice I felt we needed to simply “worship” with the song as a team and forget about the technical aspects for a change…. we did and had a profound worship meeting…sooooo…I said we would just go ahead and do the song regardless of our abilities…
On Saturday that all changed.
As I prepared for Sundays worship I felt quite strongly that we were not ready as a team “spiritually” to introduce the song…the song has become a very powerful template and many on the team have seen or felt prophetic significance surrounding the song as we prepare for it, but as I prayed and prepared for Sunday I saw that we would not be doing the song.
Now mind you the first thing I thought about when I made the decision to wait was how do I deal with disappointing our worship team? And to add insult to injury I needed to be honest when I explained why I felt we needed to wait…we weren’t ready “spiritually”...talk about bumming down a pre-service worship team…man I was apprehensive about how to communicate this and keep a positive vibe going.
As I prayed about Sunday’s service I also felt that we needed to “worship” more, and I in turn chose a more subdued worship list…BESIDES the fact that I had decided to introduce a new song THAT very Sunday…without telling anyone else.
Sounds like a recipe for a disaster, and I’m cooking.
In the past few weeks our worship services have been a mix of shouting, jumping, dancing, and occasionally screaming, but the bottom line is they have been very up-tempo and I have been breaking strings every week (believe it or not this is an indicator to us that some kind of break-thru is happening, I go to a lot of trouble to avoid this but when we are breaking thru the density of spiritual walls things happen in the physical and one of these things is I break guitar strings).
So I feel a more “subdued” kind of awe-struck list is in order, and choose songs that I felt suggested that.
What I did not know was that God was doing His thing and stretching my understanding of worship.
We did three songs.
We introduced one of them.
We had people shouting, spinning, RUNNING, and dancing…. all with my “subdued” list…
I have no template for this.
I have no idea what it means.
But what I had challenged the team with that morning was that we should be trying to get to a place where our worship was Glorious, Wondrous, and Dangerous.
Ultimately I have decided that we should be asking ourselves…not was it good, or did it go well, not even “did the people respond”, but we should find a baseline to understand and see if God was pleased…
Again, I don’t know but I have some theories…
-Mark
Friday, October 14, 2005
If it ain't broke, fix it til it is.
This is a journal.
A journal of a journey with a group of worshippers from a small congregation in Northern Arizona.
The title of this blog comes from a word I felt the Lord gave me several months back.
I lead worship for our church, and one of the frustrating events I often encounter is when during worship I break a guitar string (I lead from behind a guitar).
It has actually become so commonplace we laugh about my guitar string bill.
In my frustration with this the Lord simply said to me ...
"Break thru with broken strings"...
Recently I saw a bumpersticker that said "if it ain't broke, we'll fix it til it is!"... and this has become the title of this first thread...see our worship was not broke when I took over, it was good, it was consistant, and it was growing.
The reason I took over was mainly because the Lord "graduated" the former worship leaders into full time positions as the Pastors they already were, and the decision to move me into "lead worshipper" was both inspired, and practical I'm sure...I wasn't the one who made the decision, I simply agreed and suddenly found the joys and frustrations immersing me into the reality that I know very little about what and Whom I love.
At any rate my newfound responsibility began to weigh on me and as I sought the Lord, He kept reminding me in many ways that one of my "beginning" duties was to help our congregation break thru to new levels in worship.
I have no idea what break thru means (I have a religous idea, but thats a little shallow) but I do feel the call to "get thru" the muck and mammon of routine life into the open air of heavens design.
So I/we will journal the journey and see where it takes us.
Maybe we'll discover break-thru, maybe we won't, and if we don't at the very least we'll have a record of what we did wrong (well, besides the obvious).
There are a ton of good resources available for any leader, so why do a blog?
Well mainly I felt God suggested it, and second, there are not a lot of resources for "small" churches, and frankly I've never visited a site where the worship encounter was "blogged" so I decided it was time to obey, and today this will start the process.
Hopefully the worshippers from Canyon Chapel will join, and I hope that if you happen to find this site you will at minimium encounter what we encounter...an awe of the living God.
I do love Jesus....but better yet, He do love me more.
-Mark
A journal of a journey with a group of worshippers from a small congregation in Northern Arizona.
The title of this blog comes from a word I felt the Lord gave me several months back.
I lead worship for our church, and one of the frustrating events I often encounter is when during worship I break a guitar string (I lead from behind a guitar).
It has actually become so commonplace we laugh about my guitar string bill.
In my frustration with this the Lord simply said to me ...
"Break thru with broken strings"...
Recently I saw a bumpersticker that said "if it ain't broke, we'll fix it til it is!"... and this has become the title of this first thread...see our worship was not broke when I took over, it was good, it was consistant, and it was growing.
The reason I took over was mainly because the Lord "graduated" the former worship leaders into full time positions as the Pastors they already were, and the decision to move me into "lead worshipper" was both inspired, and practical I'm sure...I wasn't the one who made the decision, I simply agreed and suddenly found the joys and frustrations immersing me into the reality that I know very little about what and Whom I love.
At any rate my newfound responsibility began to weigh on me and as I sought the Lord, He kept reminding me in many ways that one of my "beginning" duties was to help our congregation break thru to new levels in worship.
I have no idea what break thru means (I have a religous idea, but thats a little shallow) but I do feel the call to "get thru" the muck and mammon of routine life into the open air of heavens design.
So I/we will journal the journey and see where it takes us.
Maybe we'll discover break-thru, maybe we won't, and if we don't at the very least we'll have a record of what we did wrong (well, besides the obvious).
There are a ton of good resources available for any leader, so why do a blog?
Well mainly I felt God suggested it, and second, there are not a lot of resources for "small" churches, and frankly I've never visited a site where the worship encounter was "blogged" so I decided it was time to obey, and today this will start the process.
Hopefully the worshippers from Canyon Chapel will join, and I hope that if you happen to find this site you will at minimium encounter what we encounter...an awe of the living God.
I do love Jesus....but better yet, He do love me more.
-Mark
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