In the Quiet - Selah

I've been doing some intense reading and study on worship recently. Looking at the old and new of worship and the different 'ways' that we have classified worship over the course of history.

As I was reading Worship Old and New by Robert Webber, I was reminded of something about our worship that I have allowed to let slip away. It wasn't intentional by any means, but I am guilty of it nonetheless.

It's the selah of worship - the silence of worship. There has been much debate about this word since we could read. Does it mean silence? Does it mean make a loud, joyful noise? Does it mean something else? In the footnotes of the NIV you'll find the statement that the meaning is unknown, possibly a musical term.

I subscribe to the idea that it means to take a moment to be still, to be silent, to reflect.

As I put this in the context of worship, both corporate and private, I see where I've gotten away from allowing the times of silence to be truly silent. I fill my study/quiet time with music. I fill the prayer time in our worship service with a nice pad or guitar background to 'set the mood' for reflection.

And then it hit me - the voices of people in churches, past and present, who have said, "I can't focus when I hear music playing while I'm praying!" (I ask for feedback and then I forget it?!)

It's not the same for everybody, I get that. But, as the lead worshipper, my job in the service is to build in time for people to be able to reflect, confess, surrender and hear from God. I don't have the option of doing anything less!

If you're a lead worshipper in your church, I challenge you to look at your order of service and see where you can build time in, where you can allow folks to be uncomfortable in the presence of a mighty God, so they can get right with Him.

What are your thoughts?

The Core of Worship

Tricky subject - worship.
We get so confused as to what it is, what it should be, how it should be done, what makes it up...
We write books, go to conferences and seminars, listen to others speak on it...

But how often do we go to the source of worship? How often do we go to the Word of God for direction, insight, guidance? I'm a worship leader and I don't feel I do it enough...can't imagine what the 'average' church goer/Christian might feel like.

I've been doing a lot of study of late on this subject, some because of an upcoming workshop I'm teaching on, but mostly because I have a real desire to do worship from the right place, with the right motives and bring as many people along with me as I can. I know I'm not going to be able to meet EVERY need. That would be foolish to think I could.

I want people who worship with us to wrestle with what God has to say about the subject - not what I have to say. I share what God has written and let the words resonate in our heads and in our hearts - then out of that I hope we can worship.

Over the next couple of weeks in our worship time, we're going to reflect on some things about worship that we, the church, have seem to gotten away from lately. Things that should help us get back to the 'core' of our worship. It's not about the music, the preaching or the other elements IN the worship that concern me. It's always been what we bring TO the worship - so we're going to 'unpack' some of this during the Beautiful series.

Hold onto something cause' it's gonna get bumpy!

See ya in church...

Priorities

No one likes them. But we need them - priorities.

We did a brief study last night on the importance of us, as worship 'ministers', to have our own priorities in the proper order, so that we can glorify God with all we have and all we are.

If we call ourselves Christians, then this issue of putting the proper order of who goes where in our lives has to get more attention than it has in the past.

We say we love God - but our lives don't show it, our words don't reflect it, and our commitments don't support it.

We say we have faith in God - but when the chips are down, we don't ask Him for help, we don't trust Him with the unknown, and then we complain that we aren't hearing from God. Actions like this tell Him you don't really care for His opinion unless it's convenient for you.

We say our families are important - but when we don't agree we find reasons to leave them, we toss them out when they aren't doing what we want, and we even disown them because of something they did to us. So much for forgiveness.

I know, these are harsh words. But listen, we are called to relationships and we are called to reconcile when and wherever we have the opportunity. The ONLY way to do this is to have things in proper order in our lives:
1. Relationship with God is rock solid and THE MOST IMPORTANT one in our lives.
2. Relationship with our spouse is grounded in Christ and is the one we treasure most in this world.
3. Relationship with our family - WE DON'T ABANDON THEM! Especially in the tough times, we love, nurture and pray for and with them so we can experience all that God intends for us.

THEN, you start focusing on getting things right with your physical body, your job and your ministry. BUT, NONE of this will work right unless you put these others in place FIRST!

Trust me, I've tried all kinds of variations to this theme. NOT ONE OF THEM WORKED! The ONLY ONE that does is God, spouse, family - at least for me.

What are your thoughts?

Service IS Worship!

Father, use my life to worship You.

Use my mouth to point others to You...to encourage the broken...to comfort the hurting...to bring a smile to a face...may my words worship You in all I do.

Use my hands to help someone up...to fix something that needs repair...to hold a crying child...to fix a special meal or treat for someone just because...may my hands honor You.

Use my feet to take me to the lost and broken...to go sit with someone who needs it...to stand in the gap for whoever needs it...to carry someone who has fallen...may my feet take me to places that You would go and where You would be praised.

Use my resources - gifts, finances, possessions, etc. - to be a blessing to those who need help...to send someone to other parts of the country/world so that You may be taught...to bless the local church I call home, so that ministry can happen when it needs to...to provide shelter for someone who has lost their home...may I realize that all I have is Yours, to be used for Your glory.

Father, may my life worship You in all areas. It doesn't have to be hard to let go, but for some of us it is. Give us strength to trust you, Lord. As the disciples prayed, "Increase our faith." As we serve You, our God, may we worship You in ALL we say, ALL we do, ALL the places we go and with ALL we have. You are worthy!

Let's worship Him!

Sunday Recap

WOW! What a day! I was tired when I finally got home, and all for good reason!

• It was a hard message, because in my head it sounded like I was whining. "We don't have enough people helping....we can't do ministry unless YOU do ministry..." Unfortunately for the church - those are all true statements! God called the CHURCH BODY to be involved in serving God, the body and the un-churched. He didn't call pastors to do ALL the work. That's why we looked so long at the passages from Ephesians 4:1-16 yesterday!
• "As each part does its work..." was a good tie-in to the movie, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. If they each hadn't done what only they could do, Ellie would have been lost along with baby Peaches. (You may have to go see the movie to understand that one!)
• When this church family does 'the parts' that each one of us has to do, it's a beautiful thing! Just look at 4th of July parade, RecoveryFest, Friend Zone, and other events like it.
• We know we have to get better at communicating what we need, so that's what I did yesterday. Including asking people who have the gift of communicating in various forms to step up and get involved!
  
• So far, we have had 30+ people talk to various leaders yesterday to begin serving. COOL! That means that more people will have the opportunity to be blessed by God as they serve Him with their gifts, abilities and skills.
  
• Several people approached me with ideas that God has been calling them to pursue, but they didn't really know how or where. It's AWESOME that we get to help point people to places where they can process and pray about what it is that God has called them to do. Keep your eyes and ears open in the future...there may be some new opportunities coming!
• We had one couple hear God's message yesterday and they both signed up to get plugged in serving Him. Why is that significant? This is only their SECOND WEEK! They found something they were interested in and got connected.
• Someone brought up the question, "What if I serve outside the church during the week, and those people are coming to church? Does that count as service?" Yes, it does. I will challenge those folks to find some place IN THE CHURCH to serve, even if it's once a month for 15 minutes. Service is connected to membership (my words).
• SEVERAL of our Middle School and High School students stepped up to serve, especially in the children's area. COOL!

WHEW! I know that we have not heard from everyone yet that heard the call to step up and serve Him. Can't wait to hear more! I had one of our leaders tell me last week that she could really use 8 new people on her team, that it would give her the depth she needed. After second service, she had 8 CARDS! You can't script this stuff! God is faithful to His people!

Get ready for some incredible stuff this fall. Don't have a clue what it is...just that it is.

See ya in church...
Karl