Heart Matters

I recently had a team member text me on a Saturday nite to tell me that they wouldn't be able to play the following Sunday. Stuff in their life was a little chaotic and their heart would certainly be divided and not in a 'worshipful' place. I acknowledged the situation and thanked this person for taking this step early and before trying to 'force' something that would not bring worship or honor to God.

It's an understanding that we have as a team. If there is an issue that is going to get in the way of complete and total worship to and for God, then we need to reevaluate whether we should be on stage. If need be, we sit it out. That goes for any one of us that's on. And I can tell you that in the few times that we've had to adjust, the worship has been amazing. I truly believe that God honors this kind of attention to the heart.

Please understand me - I'm not boasting or bragging, unless I'm bragging on God! 

I just personally know that God honors an undivided heart - in worship, in life, in leadership, in service, in following, in parenting - ALL of life. As a leader, it's our job to keep that as our top priority in the arena of worship and to instill that into our teams.

So how's your heart today? Is there something that's dividing your attention, your worship, your devotion to God? Are you being pulled in so many directions you don't know which way to go?

Let me encourage you to find a place TODAY, alone, and spend time in prayer with the Master Day-planner. Give Him your schedule, family, finances, job or need for a job, home, resources - all of it and ask Him for direction and guidance with all of it. How does He want you to live your life? How does He want you to spend your time? Where does He want you to serve? What can He do with your specific situation that you're struggling with? Be open and honest before Him and watch Him bless your life. 

Trust me...it's an amazing ride that I plan to continue enjoying until the day I go home!

What Songs Are Missing?

I am in the process of getting ready to create some new music for the church and was hit with this very stark reality - there are a lot of songs about certain topics missing from our music today.

And I'm not just talking about worship songs. Look in any hymnal and see how many songs there aren't on certain topics. For example, we know that prayer is vital in our relationship with God. And yet, there really aren't that many songs referring to prayer - what it is, how to pray, when to pray, etc.

So I have posed the above question to my worship team and now am posing it to you.

What songs do YOU need? What topic of our Christian walk is not really 'covered' in our worship songs? Besides prayer, what other areas would you like to hear and sing about in order to make worship more personal to you?

Share your ideas, thoughts, etc. here so I can put together a team to help write the songs that the church truly needs to worship with today...

Aiding the Church in Asia - good or bad?

I've been getting some interesting feedback about my helping the church in Asia with learning more about worship - what it is, why it's so important for the church to understand it, how to develop personal skills to better present it and more in the context of that culture. I find it curious, frustrating, encouraging all at the same time.

This group I am working with , who shall remain nameless and non-specific about location, has had some exposure to different musical styles from not only the western world, but their own environment and culture as well. What they are asking is for ways to improve their skill, their passion/drive toward worship. What they are NOT asking for is our music. Period. They have their own music...they have their style...they have their target congregation and understand what they want to worship to. Have I mentioned we're NOT giving them OUR music?

And yet, the debate has begun about whether we should or should not help churches in other countries with regards to worship music. Does us working in another country somehow 'poorly' influence the worship in other places? Can we do more harm than good? Understand me on this - I prefer to encourage any culture to use their indigenous music, instruments, structure, etc. to enhance their own worship experience. I would never impose MY style, MY likes, MY preferences on another culture. To me that's just stupid and selfish.

What is it that God is instructing me/us to share? What is it that THEY specifically are asking for? What can we do to assist THAT request?

And so I have begun the journey of translating some training/teaching tools into another language, looking for other resources to assist them in music skills such as chord charts, keyboard charts, instructions on skill, etc. 

Countless hours have been spent in conversation with the leaders ON THE GROUND, trying to fully understand the what, why and how of this request. I've been very aggressive in asking key questions, posing different scenarios, asking questions in different ways to make sure there is clarity and understanding. This is not something any of my team or the team in country is taking lightly. I believe we fully understand the impact this can have - from both the good and the bad. 

I am curious what some of those who follow this blog think about this endeavor...I won't share my philosophy on this just yet, as I'd really like to hear your take on this kind of ministry. 

Share your thoughts here...

Putting It All Together

I have a lot of conversation with people, almost every week, about what it takes to create a worship service. 
And I'm never surprised that almost everyone - a very large majority - has no clue as to what it takes.
Gone are the days when churches can 'throw' together a song set for church, sometimes on Sunday morning. I've always struggled with that approach. If it's supposed to be creative, if it's supposed to help us connect with God through worship music, if it's supposed to move us to a place where we can hear from God - then how does throwing it together leave room for the Spirit to lead, guide and direct us who have been called to this task?
The answer is short and simple - it doesn't. 
Here's what I've observed about this way of doing worship:
1. The singers are so focused on still learning the music that they don't have the opportunity to freely worship.
2. The instruments are so focused on timing, transitions, fills, modulation, solos - they can't worship. 
In short, everyone that's working on the music is WORKING on the music, not worshiping. 
I had a guitar player years ago who really brought this to light for me. I was introducing new songs each week and trying to bring them the  following Sunday, hoping to keep music fresh. (That's a blog for another day.) I expected that, because he was so good, he would be able to pick it up right away and go with it. 
After a few months of this he finally told me, "Karl, I love that we're trying to introduce new music. But I'm having a hard time worshiping with my guitar because I'm still learning it." DUH!
What we have to realize, leaders, is that the guitar for him IS his worship voice. The keyboard for the keyboardist, the drums for the drummer, the bass for the bassist, the sax for the saxophonist - those instruments are the VOICE of the instrumentalist.
So if we're asking them to just throw together music that is supposed to lead people in worship, when they aren't doing so themselves, it's just practice, not worship.

So all of this to say that we take the time to work on music together well ahead of each weeks service. Sometimes new music doesn't come for weeks, simply because we aren't ready to worship with it together.
It takes time to get the chords, progressions, transitions, key changes, etc. to flow and connect seamlessly. And that's just the instruments. Vocals have to get the lyrics and the meaning, the melody line, add the harmony, intonation, expressions, etc. to communicate it to the body in such a way that they can join in.

Our culture actually lowers their expectations for worship (music). They have come to expect that we don't give it the attention it deserves, and for them that seems to be okay. 
Well not for me or the team.
We take what GOD has called us to very seriously. We understand that we have a responsibility to lead worship first for ourselves, and then for the congregation. We listen for God to lead us in the midst of the service and try to follow as He leads. We come prepared for whatever may be asked of us for the King.

So it takes time, energy, effort and commitment to do it. I believe that God honors that far above just winging it week in and week out. We'll take the time to invest in not only the people that God brings, but more importantly the ministry He calls us to.

We don't always get everything right each week. That's how we learn. And why we keep coming back week after week to try and present worship that honors the King!

See ya in church...