Where am I and what am I doing?

I started reading the book of Revelation today and I was struck by this statement of John, the author:

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9).

I feel immense challenge in that statement. John was stranded on an island because he spoke the word of God and bore witness to Jesus Christ.

I can’t help but ask, “Where am I and what am I doing on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus?”

Has there been a significant change in the course of my life because of Jesus Christ? Am I facing opposition from the world because of my stance as a follower of Jesus Christ? Am I living everyday on account of His Word and the testimony of His death and resurrection?

Or am I simply maintaining a form of religion without a life of stepping out for Christ?

How about you?

The Album Leaf – “Until the Last”

One of my favorite artists to listen to is The Album Leaf. Particularly the instrumental tracks. I love the electronics. I love the strings. I love the rhodes. I love the emotion. This is one of my favorite tracks off the new record.

Enjoy.

DS

A Worship Leader’s Playlist

On this blog I talk a lot about the heart of a worship leader. The bottom line is we need to worship if we want to be a worship leader. Worship leading doesn’t begin with musical talent, great vocals, music knowledge, or leading a team. It starts with worship. What is your story? How are you pressing into God on a daily basis? That’s where we must begin.

However, worship leading involves music. It involves writing music, listening to music, arranging music, leading music. To focus solely on the heart at the expense of the practical is irresponsible and wrong. The music needs to serve the heart but the music cannot be ignored.

In this post I would like to ask you, what are you listening to? What inspires you? Here is my opinion as to what a worship leader should listen to. This is not found in the Bible. This is a personal suggestion and a look into what is on my playlist:

• Worship Music – a worship leader should listen to a wide variety of worship music. We need to be constantly inspired by what is happening globally in the church. This should be a mixture of studio and live albums. I recommend studio for hearing the songs and live for learning from the experience.
• Creative Music – too often we listen to the same music over and over and it is reflected in our boring sounds. Listen to music that is a bit different than what you’re used to. Experiment with using a different instrument in your services. Be inspired by some artists who are different. What I’m liking right now: Sigur Ros, Fanfarlo, The Album Leaf, Phoenix. Helps to inspire.
• Hymns – There are a lot of great modern hymn records out. Modern in the musical sense. Ancient in the lyrical sense, which is what makes it awesome. We stand on the shoulders of incredible men and women of God who have lead worship through the centuries. We would be wise to listen. Suggestions: Passion Hymns: Ancient & Modern, Keith Getty, Stuart Townend.

Anything else you would suggest?

Reading the Bible in 2010

Why is it that reading the Bible is so often a failed attempt? We start strong for a week or a month and just get too busy. Or we’re just bored to tears while reading Leviticus. I think the remedy to the situation is extremely practical. Here are some practical helps I shared at APEX last Tuesday that I am focusing on this year. Hope it helps:

#1 Choose a reading plan

• For the beginning of the year I am doing New Thru 30. For the rest of the year I am doing Discipleship Journal’s plan. Check out the free download.
• I heard Bob Kauflin say that whenever you sit down to read, read two days. This works great for the times I am inconsistent. It always keeps me ahead.
• If you choose a place and a time without a plan, you will be quickly discouraged. Spontaneity does not equal spirituality. Do yourself a favor and choose a good plan. Any is better than none.

#2 Choose a place

• Place is important because life involves thousands of distractions. Be sure to get alone so you can pray out loud, cry, sing, etc. Seeking God with someone else in the room watching TV may not be best.
• I understand that you will not be able to be at the same place every day. Still, decide on a most frequent place.

#3 Choose a time

• Treat your time with God as an important appointment. I think what keeps us from reading the Bible is that there are no immediate, visible consequences. If you choose to skip work, a mid-term, or a job interview, you will not succeed. While neglecting the Bible does not have immediate, visible consequences like that, the inward consequence of a dry spiritual life will keep you away from God and diminish your effectiveness.
• I recommend morning as the best time, but find a time that works with your schedule and keep it.

The greatest key to spiritual growth is a steady diet of God’s Word. Read it consecutively and consistently and watch your joy, passion, purpose, and love increase.

Worship Team Refresh Night

In this post I would like to share with you something we have done for the last few years as a worship team. We call it “Refresh Night”. All good things in life have the tendency to drift from special to mundane over the course of time. Think about it. If you don’t continually invest in your marriage and keep it fresh by ‘pursuing’ your spouse, it drifts into simply a ‘tolerating’ of one another. If you don’t keep in touch with friends, the relationship dies. If you are a musician and you choose to stop learning, the boredom leads to stagnation.

This is true of local church worship ministry as well. The awe-inspiring truth that we have access to approach the Holy God of all creation as a corporate body every week is truly a miraculous event. Yet often it becomes: “What musical arrangements will intrigue me this week?” or “Are we doing my favorite song?” or “Crap, I messed up that chord progression!”

With our annual ‘Refresh’ Night we have tried to breathe some vision into the beginning of our year as a worship team. We want to approach our weekend services prepared to meet with God and connect with a people on a journey with Christ. We want to be God-centered, Christ-enabled, Spirit-led, Missionary-minded, Glory-expectant, Acts-balanced, and Willfully-expressed. “Refresh” Night helps us do this. We take a normal Thursday night rehearsal, meet in a home, and spend some time in worship, prayer, vision, and fellowship. The Holy Spirit always does something very special.

What do you do to focus as a worship team?

The Humble Leader

I recently finished reading the book, “The Living Church” by John Stott. Quite a powerful read. John has been a pastor for more years than I can count. He is deeply in touch with the past as well as what is currently happening in the church. So much wisdom here. At the end of his book he quotes from Michael Ramsey on the topic of humility. Don’t miss this:

• Thank God, often and always…Thank God, carefully and wonderingly, for your continuing privileges… Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow.
• Take care about confession of your sins… Be sure to criticize yourself in God’s presence: that is your self-examination. And put yourself under the divine criticism: that is your confession…
• Be ready to accept humiliations. They can hurt terribly, but they help you to be humble. There can be the trivial humiliations. Accept them. There can be the bigger humiliations… all these can be so many chances to be a little nearer to our humble and crucified Lord.
• Do not worry about status… there is only one status that our Lord bids us be concerned with, and that is the status of proximity to himself…
• Use your sense of humor. Laugh about things, laugh at the absurdities of life, laugh about yourself, and about your own absurdity. We are all of us infinitesimally small and ludicrous creatures within God’s universe. You have to be serious, but never solemn, because if you are solemn about anything there is the risk of becoming solemn about yourself.

“Revolutionaries” by Matt Brown

I am extremely grateful for Matt Brown’s new book, “Revolutionaries”. Something that I’ve noticed among young adults today is that we don’t know church history very well. And we don’t have much of an interest. This is sad, and may contribute much to the lack of spiritual vibrancy we see today.

That’s why I’m grateful this book has been written. I don’t know another one like it. Beginning with Jesus Christ all the way to the modern day, Matt gives us brief biographical sketches of men and women in every century who advanced Christianity. Men and women who “took up their cross and followed Christ”. Men and women who “did not love their lives unto death” and gave it all for the greatest mission on earth. Soul stirring.

I challenge you to get this book. It’s a brief, easy to read book that will teach you things you didn’t know and stir your soul in the process. Each chapter left me wanting to make sure the story I was living would be worth writing about after I die.

Order your copy of Revolutionaries at RevolutionariesBook.com or get the Stocking Stuffer Special (2 books for price of 1) through midnight Christmas Day. You can also buy the book on Amazon.com and download a free chapter or the whole book for the Amazon Kindle or through the free Kindle app on the iPod Touch and iPhone. The book was provided for review by Skyline Book Publishers.

Buy “Near” for Christmas this Year

Did you guys catch the rhyme in the title? It is that holiday season and I’m just spreading the cheer.

But seriously, you are in need of Christmas presents for family/friends this year and I have a great idea. Many of you have probably heard my album “Near” but I’m sure you know many that haven’t. If you would like to give my album as a Christmas gift this year, CD Baby is offering a 20% discount if you buy 2 or more.

This could be a great way to reach out to someone who may not be a Christian. Or you could just give it to someone who is. Either way, good music just makes life a little bit better, in my opinion.

Thanks so much for your support!

DS

Worship Leader, Do You Study?

This is the fifth and final post on “What Makes a Good Worship Leader?”

One of the worst mistakes you can make as a worship leader is to think you know it all. Even if you are Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Paul Baloche, and you are reading this, it applies to you too.

Now the word “study” is a very broad term. What to study? We’ve already covered that we need to be students of the Word of God. That is of premier importance. In this post I am answering the questions, “Who are your ‘unofficial’ mentors?” And, “How are you improving the practicalities that make you more effective?”

Mentors. I have many mentors that I have never met. Even mentors that are dead. Listen to great worship leaders. Study the songs they write. Study the way they lead worship. Study how they interact with a congregation. Study how the drummer and bass player connect. Study how the band has trained themselves to ‘play less’ to contribute to an overall sound. Also, read great books. When you stop reading, you stop growing. I’ve found that some books dedicated to ‘worship leading’ can be a bit unhelpful, but books dedicated to exploring the wonder of God are wonderful for growing in your leadership.

Also, how are you improving your practical skills? I once heard Don Potter say, “The reason we practice our instruments is so that when the Holy Spirit decides to use us, there is less resistance.” Do you practice your vocals so that when the Holy Spirit wants to speak through your singing, you aren’t out of breath? Do you practice your instrument so that when the Holy Spirit wants to prophesy through you, you aren’t trying to figure out what key you’re in? Do you study/memorize the Word of God so that when the Holy Spirit wants you to speak into the moment, you’re not trying to figure out what Scripture to say?

The more you study, work, and sweat behind the scenes of a worship service, the more the Holy Spirit can use you. Our preparation and His sovereign intervention go hand in hand.

Are you ready?

Worship Leader, Do You Like People?

This is the fourth post in a series on “What Makes a Good Worship Leader?”

There have been many weekends that I’ve led worship where I’ve poured every ounce of my strength into the set list. Impeccable arrangements, great guitar tone, a kickin’ mix, well placed scripture reading, etc. I’ve done this only to find no one was really worshipping with me. Crap. Not a good feeling. I feel like saying, “Can’t you see all the work I’ve put into this? At least pretend you like what’s happening!”

A good worship leader is someone who connects well with people.

I mean, think about it. Random people are stepping into a room – some old, some young, some brand new, some having just lost their temper during the morning family commute. Some really wanting to be there, others just thinking about pajamas, pizza, and football.

We invest so much energy in the programming that we forget about the people. Worship leader, you are not a performer. You are asking people to join you in declaring the greatness of God. If you are depressed, impatient, mean, or insensitive to who you are leading, you will have a hard time. But a passionate, sensitive, likable personality can go a long way!

Invest time, prayer, and energy into relating with your band and congregation. Pray for them. Joke with them. Genuinely care for them. People in a congregation are there to meet with God. I’m not saying ignore excellence. I’m saying pursue excellent programming and excellent people skills. It’s that important.

People don’t really care about your guitar solo. They want to connect with a leader who loves God and loves to be WITH them.