The Band Guy

The article below is great! I can relate to this testimony on almost every level (except being a professional musician)!! Most anyone reading this blog probably knows me, for those that don’t, I am not one that likes public attention. I started out playing acoustic guitar in worship nearly 12 years ago and I enjoyed the anonymity of the position, serving in the background. I took voice lessons at age 17/18 and had the ability to sing, but after some brief experiences of leading worship in my twenties I just didn’t want the responsibility or pressure of being in front of a large group leading worship. A little over a year ago I was asked if I would be willing to lead our congregation, our worship leader was stepping down for a time. I prayerfully considered this and my spirit was lead to accept this task. My flesh has often cringed at the task, my talents seem inadequate to lead a group of skilled musicians and many times feel inadequate to lead a congregation of worshipers seeking to enter His presence.

 

My silent prayer most every Sunday is that God will help me to not, “get in the way”, of what He wants to do.  I can honestly say my I am still not comfortable with the “leading” aspect of worship, but I pray that God will work through me in some way to help our congregation enter His presence in worship and that we would bring an offering of worship that is pleasing to Him. Many times leaders aren’t born that way, they develop into that role. God has laid the foundation in their life to enable them to meet the challenges they will face. Moses is a glaring example of this, he did not want to be a leader, but it was His time. Esther is the same, for such a time! God places us where he wants us and gives us all the abilities we need, regardless of what we see in our flesh. We must trust God and lead with His conviction.

 

Lastly, as a lead worshiper I pray that I can have the same outlook that Paul states below and be, “more focused on how we could build up and encourage others through music, prayers and scripture.” This is our medium of ministry and I pray God gives us the ability to use it creatively to edify the body of Christ.

 

In Christ,

Steven

 

Just the Band Guy

By: Paul Baloche

Posted 1/11/2011

“I’m just a band guy”. That was my attitude when I volunteered to play on the worship team at my church almost twenty years ago. I wasn’t really interested in being up front, charged with the responsibility to talk to the congregation let alone “lead” them in some way. That all seemed pretty intimidating, and quite frankly- a hassle. Yeah, that’s right, dealing with people can be a hassle. And so I was content to show up with my guitar rig and dutifully play the appropriate parts behind our Pastor who artfully encouraged worship from the platform.
That all changed the Sunday morning that my Pastor turned to me and said over the microphone so that everyone could hear, “Paul, would you come and lead us in a few songs while I pray with folks at the foot of the stage.” Yikes!! Everything in me was like “Nooooo Waaaaay” but I pretended to be OK with it as I nodded yes nervously approached the mic. I wanted to declare out loud, “I’m just a band guy thank you very much” but it was too late. I was being pulled from the sidelines to front and center, where all eyes stared back at me with profound expectation.  I think I screamed a desperate prayer under my breath like, “O God, don’t let me stink and bore people to death.”
That all seems a little silly now but at the time it was fear incarnate.

Down the Road
As weeks turned into months and months into years I began to grow in my love and concern for the people that I served each Sunday. Instead of fearing their disapproval or rejection of me, I began to realize how important our corporate gatherings were to the spiritual health of our congregation. As I became more aware of the different challenges and trials that so many of our members were facing, I began praying and asking God to give me His heart for the people I served. I prayed for wisdom and insight as to how our team could help strengthen our folks not only on Sunday mornings but also throughout the week. I became less preoccupied with striving for a flawless set list and more focused on how we could build up and encourage others through music, prayers, and scripture.

The Progression
The perception of my role went from band guy to worship leader to “lead worshipper” to finally Worship Pastor.  I started to experience a shift, in thinking of myself as a Pastor who utilizes music as the primary vehicle in helping others worship and connect with God. Previously, I saw myself as a musician first, who  “should probably get more involved in the leadership of the church”.
The church needs leaders. It’s easy for us to sit back and let someone else do it. It’s easy to analyze and criticize the decisions that our Elders or Pastors make. But I learned very quickly how difficult it is to wrestle through the endless array of problems when I stepped up to be an Elder myself. Wow! What a revelation it was.
Since then I have gained such an appreciation for those who are willing to sacrifice hours and hours for the sake of the local church. Everything from the most difficult personal issues of church members to the mundane minutia of buildings and budgets. So many times we want to walk away and leave it for someone else to figure it out, while we sanctimoniously sip our Starbucks from the sidelines and cynically point out the flaws and inconsistencies

Stepping Up
Joni Mitchell sings, “I’ve looked at life from both sides now”. Too many times I played the blame game but I’ve also felt the sting of judgment from the professional complainers. No matter.  Jesus said to Peter, “Do you love me? Feed my sheep.”  There is the command for us to love, nurture, and feed the people of God- To lay down our lives for the sake of the call. Except thankfully for most of us, these days “laying down our lives” means putting up with the inconveniences of people and leadership, as opposed to being martyred or burned at the stake.  Jesus also revealed that too often “the laborers are few”.

 

 

Breaking the Sound Barrier in Worship

I read this article today and it really struck a chord with me. As a worship leader in my church, as with all our worship leaders, I desire for our congregation to “enter in” to worship. Entering in worship takes many outward forms; reverent silence, dancing, loud singing, lifting hands, swaying, clapping, laughing, etc. One thing is common through all of these and that is the sense of connection with the One whom we worship.

 

The connection with the Holy Spirit during worship is undeniable. There is no questioning when the Holy Spirit takes control of the service, whether music or preaching. It is powerful, overwhelming, exuberant, humbling, uplifting, and on and on I could go. The greatest joy I can experience in worship is the congregation being moved in worship by the same Holy Spirit that moves on me in worship. That is to say when I feel God’s presence during worship and I look up and see that the congregation is experiencing the same presence I am. It’s a cyclical encouragement, if that is even a term, when the congregation senses that I am being moved by the Spirit it frees them to worship more as it is doing the same for me and for the other worshipers that are in the service.

 

We all worship differently, but I really believe that we should all experience all forms of worship at one time or another in our time with the Lord. He is not one dimensional and did not create us to be one dimensional, He delights in our creativity and diversity as much as he does in our commonality. I challenge each person that would read this today to explore worshiping God outside of your comfort zone with abandon. You may desire to do this while you are alone, as I do from time to time. Going out of your “zone” may mean worshiping without music, or with a different style of music, or lifting your hands, maybe shouting, maybe dancing, spinning, or just being still and knowing that He is God.

 

Worship with abandon, however you do it. Enjoy the article:

 

 

By: Dr. Tim Smith

Posted 11/10/2010

Not many people know about the 3000 islands of Lake Victoria in Uganda. Fewer people have visited them, and even fewer go out to share the gospel with the thousands of people out there. There are lots of good reasons for this: polluted water, hippos, crocodiles, not many can swim and years ago thousands of people afflicted with AIDS were sent out there apparently to die. When they died they left behind hundreds and thousands of orphans and widows throughout the islands. But in the middle of this sad scenario, a bold evangelist built an orphanage on one of the islands – with the help of a great missions group out of Hood River, Oregon. He built 16 homes and put 10 AIDS orphans in each house with an AIDS widow over each house. In one year’s time, all the kids (ages 3-14) got saved and filled with the Spirit! Jesus showed up on this remote island of Uganda.

Maryl and I were privileged to boat out to this island in 2007 with our nephew, Brent Earwicker, a young missionary who, along with his wife and two children, has now given his life to the islands of Uganda. We boated up to the island in the early evening. Though it was too dark to see anybody, we could hear 160 young voices singing a beautiful song of welcome to us from the beach. Once we landed we were surrounded by sweet children who eagerly escorted us in the dark to our huts for the night. We hunkered down under mosquito nets and the noise of bats overhead, for our first sleep on the island. The song floated through my head ‘help me make it through the night’ as I thought ‘if I can just make it to the morning’. I fell asleep.

But before the sun came up, I heard the drums. Hundreds of yards away but as clear as if they were right outside our hut, I heard the voices. Amazing, crystal-clear, young and exuberant voices, singing praise to Jesus with total abandon. It was 5:30 in the morning, not an adult in sight, and these children were singing the loudest praise I have ever heard in my whole life (without a sound system!). The first morning I laid in my cot and wept as their voices came like refreshing waves of joy over and over me. I remember thinking ‘This is it. This is heaven. Pure unadulterated worship. Pure joy. Pure abandonment to Jesus.’ Like a little child…

Later I walked among them during these morning times, and they were so intent on their worship of Jesus, that they didn’t even to seem to notice me. Such focus, delight, devotion – I was humbled. Children getting up on their own accord before the sun, before breakfast, before their chores, no one telling them to do it, singing wholeheartedly, loudly and joyfully! I tried to think of one scenario back in the US where this might occur. Sadly, I was unable to envision it back home. This one moment on a remote island of Uganda has ruined me for life. I came to ‘bring Jesus’ to the island, but He was already there, singing, laughing and dancing with His kids, beckoning me to join in the dance. The story goes on as these children are now evangelists to the other surrounding islands, singing, preaching and living out the Gospel everyday to the poor and needy. The song goes on.

Then we came back to ‘reality’ in the US. The worship leader was amazing to watch as he sang, laughed, and even twirled in delight, worshiping his Lord and Savior for twenty-five minutes before an appreciative congregation. The band was tight and played with exquisite excellence. All the elements of a successful worship experience were there, including great lighting, good song choice and mix, sharp video images, vibrant worship team. You could walk away that day thinking ‘what a great time of worship’, unless you happened to look anywhere besides the platform. Out in the congregation of hundreds of people, a few were singing quietly, many were sipping lattes, most were smiling approvingly, some standing, some sitting.

This whole scenario has given me grave concern for the state of worship especially in the United States.  While there are some churches who are experiencing a full worship experience with total involvement in the congregation, they seem to be the exception today rather than the rule. Historically, the church has always gone through periods of time when the music and worship was left to the ‘professionals’ and the average congregant would observe from afar. Now there seems to be a cultural barrier arising in America that many people have gotten comfortable with in their worship experience – I call it ‘vicarious worship’ or allowing others to worship for you and feeling good about yourself because others had a great worship time with Jesus.

Read the rest of the article here

 

In Christ,

Steven Singleton

Responsible Worship - Reasonable Surrender

We have been studying worship in our Sunday morning  small group. The topic is familiar territory and I have taught the material before. However, two Sunday’s ago we reached the topic of surrendering the past, present and future to God. It hit home and became very personal to me. I began to think of all the responsibilities I have now that I didn’t have when I was younger and all of the fears that I have for the future, most notably my future in Christ!  It’s not that I am afraid to lose my salvation at any given moment and it has nothing to do with being afraid to try something new, I love a new challenge.

 

During our discussion of the topic several of the class members expressed how hard it is for them looking to the future and what God has called them too because their families do not accept their faith in Christ or their Calling respectively. This really touched on a deep rooted fear and it still didn’t dawn on me. The next Sunday night the topic was overcoming fear. It dawned on me during that discussion that my fear of the future has more to do with rejection of people than of Christ. To go further the fear is rooted in my distrust of myself and my past failures. My fear is that if I step out in faith following Christ that I may do something or have done something in the past that will bring dishonor to His name!  What a revelation for me personally this has been, I don’t know how to overcome this fear, yet. But I do know this is part of my life that I must surrender completely to move forward in Christ calling on my life.

 

This brings me to the title of this writing, “Responsible Worship – Reasonable Surrender”. These go hand in hand when you think about it. What is Responsible Worship? Offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, wholly and pleasing to our Lord. So what is Reasonable Surrender in light of Responsible Worship? Giving everything to Christ as your sacrifice to Him. So the sum of this is a complete abandonment of ourselves to Christ, even our fears of the future or fears of our past.

 

I truly believe if we can learn to do this, we can experience true freedom in Christ. After all how can He carry our burdens if we don’t give them too him?

 

In Christ,

Steven

Great Services/Amazing God

Yesterday’s services were awesome! God moved in a powerful way during Sunday school, Worship, Preaching and Communion. It was  powerful service the way only God can do, Praise him!!

 

It started with our College/Career Sunday school for me which we talked about surrendering our past as an act of total surrender to Christ (talking about all aspects of worship). This was a very insightful discussion time about how our past and relationships can hinder our full surrender to Him and even how fully surrendering these things can cause us to be discarded or shunned by friends, family  and co-worders. We have some awesome young people who are stepping out in faith to pursue the calling of God on their lives!

 

Next, was our worship service. We were nervous about introducing a new song in this set, but all nerves went aside as it was obvious that God was in control! He moved through the worship and revealed himself through tongues and interpretation in the service. He showed us just how great a God He is and reassured us of His love.

 

Then the message by Pastor Dylan was very powerful. Amazingly, only as God can, this message lined up with our Sunday School discussion perfectly. We must accept the forgiveness that Christ offers and move forward to what He has called us to.

 

Then we took communion together which is always a special time as we reflect on His sacrifice of Love for us.

 

All in all Great Services!!! God moved from beginning to end and orchestrated the entire thing. He is truly amazing!!!

 

In Christ,

 

Steven

My Prayer

Renew me oh God, set my feet upon a right path.

Guide me by your holy spirit to the life only found in you.

Replace my sinful thoughts and mind with thoughts of You.

Help me to live devoted in all my ways to You.

Father I want to worship You with every action, word, thought and attitude.

I can only do this by Your grace and the power of your Holy Spirit.

Consume all my desire for worldly pursuits

Draw me into who You are that “I” may be lost

I lay myself and all that I represent before you as a sacrifice on an alter

Yet I know that even in giving myself I not even a worthy sacrifice

I am not spotless and without blemish, yet you said you desire for me.

I give what I am, in all of its awkwardness, sinfulness and waywardness

I give it all into the hands of You, my Creator and Sustainer

Wholly surrendered, that is how I must live in order to live

I cannot do it on my own, that is quite clear looking back

You can do it, that is clear looking back

By Your grace I am here, by Your grace only

Lord I don’t want to hinder Your moving in my life any longer

Today, take what I have so selfishly held back from You

Remove my selfish ambition and desires

Replace my heart with Yours