Worship Confessional - sort of

A friend, who is currently some distance away, reminded me of how it used to be. He reminded me of a time when posting up thoughts and ideas on here was a bit like breathing in and out. He also reminded me that I miss him.

I used to need a place to bring my thoughts to reflect on and I used to think of this blog, and my private "My Eyes Only" blog, as a pensieve.

I don' t really know what changed. I'm aware that I don't think like that any more. I know that life is so very different now. And yet, I still feel as challenged and stretched as I did then. I guess the stretching has made some difference then ;)

So, apart from a bit of house-keeping that I need to do around here, I think I'm back. I have some thoughts and ideas that I would like to share and refine.

Just to update the background, I am back to drumming in church and we are just entering a new phase; we have formed 3 bands and are going to focus on how we can get better, together.

We'll also be looking at each discipline in it's own right, and I'm really looking forward to sharing with my fellow drummers, learning from their experience and planning how we approach bringing music to our home at gatewayvineyardnorwich.co.uk

You never know, you may see them on here.

I'm even going back to writing, so you may get some more of that too!

Dear Worship Dude

Just linking back to a post on Ragamuffin Soul about the relevance of leading Worship - Dear Worship Dude

The gist is that it's no good to be passionate in worship yourself if you don't teach others how to do it; that's the difference between Leading Worship and Leading the band.

It's taken me an age to figure that out.

Yet I remain convinced that when we meet together, any non-christian or 'seeker' should be slightly uncomfortable; or at least require an amount of learning. Otherwise we assume that they understand about God whereas neither we, nor they, really do.

Hence the need to teach...

Re-evaluate Church

So, I wouldn't be the first to suggest that we should re-evaluate church.

How we see church and what we think church should be, should be in line with what we believe, but how many of us have really thought about it?

Especially those of us who believe we should be living for God beyond the end of the Sunday morning church service.

I struggle with leading Worship. Initially it was because I was exploring the whole 'Worship is a lifestyle' thing (yes, back to that again) and I needed to break out of the 'Worship = Music = Worship' trap. Beyond that there will (and should) be issues of worthiness and rightness before God. I'd flip around and keep coming back to the priviledge and responsibility that being a Lead Worshipper is. I knew I was missing something but I was caught in a thought process that was never going to change until I actually [i]thought[/i] about it. I am reminded of something Marcus Buckingham talked about at the GLS; the importance of asking the right question (that's a real learing point; if you are struggling with a question and you just can't seem to get an answer, make sure that you are asking the right quetion.)

Today it hit me.

I need to re-evaluate where church fits in to my theology and I haven't yet. Not that I want to discard church; not in the least. The implication though, is that if Worship, or as I'd prefer to phrase it 'following Jesus' is more than just church, then I can't move on fully to everything else God has for me until I downgrade or move my 'Sunday Service' to where it should be.

I don't think I have very far to go. I don't think it has anything to do with the church I go to either. Just, in the same way that my understanding of prayer has changed radically in the last week, that my thinking needs to shift. I couldn't even tell you what I need to change, just that I need to let God expand my thinking.

I'm getting very 'Big Picture' these days. I don't know where that's leading.

What it takes to be a Worship Leader

As usual for me, I'm talking about leading sung or musical worship to God. So, what does it take? and almost more importantly, what does it not take? What does God require, and what could he take or leave?

John 4:23

23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

Ok, so He want's us, our very spirits. No lies, no pretence. We all know that pretence doesn't work with God, don't we...

1 Samuel 16:7

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Right at the Heart. Even in ways that we don't understand. This is speaking generally, not just about leading worship, it's about our whole lives. If we turn that around, then, can we say that that is all he wants?

What would be the benefit?

Matthew5:8

8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

I would suggest that God is all about training our Hearts, and therefore our very beings. If we seek to meet with him and express our feelings and thoughts to him through music, then surely the music we use, the style we use, the instrumentation we have and the arrangements we use are all very secondary to this foremeost purpose.

Compare this to your experience of being in church and leading or participating in sung worship. does it look the same? or different?

Why?

Is it too easy to miss the point and pursue these distractions in the name of giving our best to God? I think so. We can chase excellence in music, but isn't that a subtle form of idolotry if we let it get that far? That's not to ignore the gifts God has given us, and the responsibility that goes with it, but we should not let them get between us and God. Afterall, isn't that what sin is? a barrier between us and God?

For me I want to lead from a place of truth; that may be messy and broken, or joyful and strong. Quite possibly changing every five minutes to and fro! but it cannot be false. It's not good enough, and I don't believe that God wants it or wants His church exposed to it.

Then again, that's all true for every aspect of our lives.