Michael's Notes - Thoughts On Worship, Leadership & Fitness

Help Me Listen in 2010

As the new year begins this morning I am praying that I can be more tuned-in to God's voice. When He speaks help me to listen.

• I will strive to keep a conversation open throughout the day with Him.
• I will set aside time each day to listen...really shut down the busyness to listen.
• I will work at becoming a better student of His Word.

The song, Speak To Me, written by Tommy Walker sums up much of what I am thinking this morning.

A Fish Story

A little boy, 5 years old, was fishing with his older cousins; everyone had caught a fish but him. That’s when he drop to his knees and loudly pleaded to God to let him catch a fish. He then stood up and put his line back in the water. He got a bite and when he pulled the line out of the water he had caught the biggest fish of the day.

 

I don’t know if the prayer of the boy had anything to do with him catching the largest fish of the day. I do know that it can be a reminder of the importance of prayer and yes talking to God even about the trivial.

 

“Let me have the simple faith like a child, willing to crawl up in the Father’s lap and just talk.”

 

Oh and about the story of the fish…it is true…it was my son who dropped to knees.

What are you dreaming?

We often dream about the future, well at least I do. I guess it has to do with my personality. Ask my assistant and she will tell you I don’t sit behind my desk for any long length of time. I have to get up and move, move on to the next thing or just get up and see what is going on.  The same is true with life in general; I am always dreaming about what is next.

 

It is okay to dream and in fact God let’s us in on stories of some great dreamers in His story the Bible.

 

One prayer that has been stuck in my head the last few weeks is: God let my dreams (desires) be Your dreams (desires.) Does God see what I am dreaming about today or the tomorrows and say: ‘that’s not quite what I want Michael’ or can He say ‘yes that’s it, that’s where I want you to go.’ In 2 Chronicles chapter 6 we find this statement from God about David, a dreamer: ‘…you have done well to have this desire.’ Now that is a pretty cool statement. In the story of my life will God be able to write a few words and include that statement. I sure hope so.

 

So what should we be dreaming about?

 

Here is a statement I heard many years ago: ‘finding God’s will for you life is not a place you arrive to, but the act of searching continually for His will.’ In the context of what I have written today that means that it is okay to dream, but I must search God’s heart and dream His dreams.

 

Isn’t it funny how God can take something that we have done over and over again and change it to help us refocus on His desires. Just recently He has been using the short prayer I mentioned earlier along with the words from the song Hosanna by Brooke Fraser:

 

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks Yours

Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause

As I walk from earth into eternity

               

That’s what I want to dream, that’s what I want to be: everything I am for Your Kingdom’s cause…whatever that may be…so I keep dreaming.

A Comparison God and You

There is a great glimpse of worship found in the book of Isaiah Chapter 6 verses 1 – 8.  The passage is an example of a conversation of worship where God is seen and then the worshipper responds. 

 

In worship services today we use songs and scriptures to see a picture of God. When we look close at His attributes and then look to ourselves for comparison there really is none. Or the comparison is so far at opposite ends of the spectrum that it is hard to compare.  That is exactly the response of the writer of Isaiah 6; he sees a vision of the Lord, Majestic and holy, and then cries out ‘woe is me.’

 

In the book Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis I found the following statement:

 

In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison – you do not know God at all. 

 

It is hard to imagine that God who is immeasurable invites us to be a part of His family.

 

It is hard to imagine that God, who is holy, invites us to stand in His presence and worship.

 

He made it so by a gift of love…His Son.

Preparing for Worship: Let it be real

“In the average church service the most real thing is the shadowy unreality of everything.” A.W. Tozer

 

When we walk into our places of worship tomorrow how can be sure the experience will be real?

 

• Make sure Sunday is not the only day of the week you have a conversation with God.
• Attend the service for the right reasons:
• Celebrate with God’s people
• Make God’s glory known
• Hear an explanation of God’s Word
• Pray for the leaders
• Pray that God will reveal Himself to you
• Pray that you are willing to respond to what you hear

 

Here are some practical things that might help you get engaged in the act of worship.

• Get things ready the night before
• Arrive at the church campus early
• Make it your mission to get to the worship center early
• As a worship leader I know how distracting late-comers are to the people who arrive on time and to the leaders on stage.
• Participate in the acts of worship as if you are the only one in the room.
• Bring a bible to the service
• Take notes

 

How real a worship experience is to you is often how well you are prepared not how well the leaders are prepared.  It is Saturday night and not too late to get things ready so you can meet God in the conversation of worship.

 

Related Links

Worship Is It Rote To Us?

Worship Does It Matter What Other People Think?

Preparing for Worship: a Saturday Night to-do list

Here is a to-do list that I will work through before going to bed tonight that I hope will make me better prepared for worship tomorrow.

 

1. think through my early Sunday morning routine, making sure everything is ready
2. read through the scripture passages of the last few weeks’ sermons, remembering the last sermons and what God said to me during those study times.
3. read ahead in the book of the bible we are studying (Genesis) asking God to speak to me as I read
4. pray and ask God to prepare my heart to be ready to receive what He has for me in service tomorrow.
5. look over the worship outline, praying for everyone who will participate
6. pray that God will use me to help lead those who attend into a worship conversation
7. pray specifically for my pastor that God will continue to give him clear direction about tomorrow’s sermon
8. pray for everyone who will attend the service that they will come ready to meet God
9. pray for those who may come to service tomorrow who do not have a personal relationship with God, that their heart would be open to hearing from Him.

 

Do you have a Saturday night routine? How do you prepare for Sunday worship?

Preparing for Worship: Am I too Comfortable?

It is Saturday again and in just a few more hours many will gather in buildings around this country for worship services.

 

I have to admit I live a very comfortable life. God has graciously provided for my needs and a multitude of my wants. The same can be said for most Americans. A quick inventory reveals we have much more than the majority of the Earth’s population.

 

With that said I raise the question: does our comfortable lifestyle and things make it hard for us to cry out to God in worship?

 

In the book The Hole In Our Gospel, the author Richard Stearns, president of World Vision describes an African church:

·         A small congregation of fifty that meets under a large shade tree because they have no building.

·         They work the land to provide the food they need to survive.

·         They rely on God for every mouthful.

·         They have endured two decades of civil war, every family has suffered loss

·         Clean water is not available

·         Most live on barely a dollar a day.

 

In the midst of this hardship the author goes on to describe their worship:

·         There is great joy in their worship as these people cry out to the Lord and feel His comfort in the midst of their need.

·         This small community comes together to worship and to celebrate the gospel.

 

As Americans what will be our attitude as we enter places of worship tomorrow? More importantly what will be my attitude?  Am I truly grateful for the reality of a relationship with the One who has forgiven me? Am I so comfortable with my life that I minimize the gift of grace?

 

God help me that I don’t become too comfortable with the things you have provided to loose sight of the salvation You have given by Your sacrifice.

Worship is it rote to us?

Isaiah 29:13  These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. And their worship of me amounts to nothing more than human laws learned by rote.

 

Oh, my, could God be looking down on me and making the same statement. 

 

I have been leading congregations in the Sunday act of Worship for 28 years; if I have led an average of two services a week that puts me somewhere around 3000 services. Yes, there have been times it has become rote.  God could have very easily written Isaiah 29:13 about me.

 

I can put services together.  I can construct a service with songs that flow and challenge us by their content. Just following what I have learned over the years about putting services together doesn’t mean that is what God wants. I can find fun stuff to add, whether that is music, dramas, film clips or creative light displays…but is that what God wanted.  Does putting stuff in a service thrill God or is even that creativity rote; is that mere human elements (laws)?

 

I can easily settle in on the familiar and safe order of the elements of the service, but is that what God wants?

 

The only way I know to avoid worship becoming rote is to make everyday an act of worship…an open conversation with God. When I keep that conversation alive, the blank piece of paper I face each week becomes much easier to fill, and not be filled, with the rote elements of ritual.

Preparing for Worship, what do you do to get ready?

I often wonder what the people, in the congregation where I serve, do to get ready for church. Growing up in a pastor’s home Sunday was a big deal, nothing kept us from church and not just once but two times on Sunday. As part of the preparation we laid out the ‘church clothes’ the night before; if the shoes needed polishing we did so; we went to bed early and most Saturday nights mom started preparing for Sunday dinner (lunch). I also remember my dad spending time in his bedroom or office going over his notes for the sermon he would deliver the next day. We were preparing to go to church.

Those are great memories but that is not the preparation that I am talking about.

Do people who attend worship services on Sundays come to worship prepared to meet God in a conversation of worship? Or is it just something they do to make them feel better and push the guilt aside for a few more days?

It is hard for me to start a meaningful conversation with anyone who I don’t know, who I haven’t had previous conversations. But it is much easier when I know the person.

The only way I know to prepare for the worship services on Sunday is having a conversation with God on a daily basis. Being in any type of relationship implies that there is this on-going conversation taking place where words are exchanged and actions noticed.

How do you prepare for church on Sunday? There is no better time to start than now!

Christ Follower + Worship + Leader Part 4

A great majority of who I am can be summed up in the words of the title of this post. Here is part four of an article that was published in the latest edition of Creator Magazine. This section lays out some of my thoughts about being a leader of people both staff and ministry volunteers.

Leading People

 

When you separate the term ‘Worship Leader’ you do end up with two words, one that is hopefully focused fully on God and the other on people.

 

Over the past few years I have been made keenly aware of how much of my job is not about performance but about leading others.  That is almost strange for a musician to state.

 

I have said for many years that when I come to the end of my career I would love for people to be able to say:

1. he was faithful to a call on his life by God

2. he performed the tasks of his job with integrity

 

If those two statements are made then I have been successful and I have been accountable to both God and the people around me.

 

I am aware more now than ever before that the major responsibility of any minister is not the task but the people. Putting performance before people…that was me…I stand guilty. Too often I sacrificed the people instead of pointing the people toward the ultimate sacrifice.

 

One of the greatest leaders recorded in scripture is King David. It was only through his journey to the throne that led him to be a good leader. His training to be a leader came from leading sheep; an animal with little brain power, a big smell, the innate ability to run from danger unless led by a strong shepherd. It is scary to think that we as followers of Christ are often referred to as sheep. What does that say about us or the people we are trying to lead? It is clear, just something we don’t think about in the terms just described.

 

I look back over my years in ministry and realize the events I have witnessed and been a part of have been preparing me for where I am today. The greatest challenge and blessing in my ministry now is the people I serve with and lead.

 

Have you ever caught yourself saying:  “I wish my boss was more like...” “I wish he wouldn’t talk to us that way.” “I wish…(you fill in the blank.) Today I reverse that question and ask “what are the people I lead saying about me?”  Then I ask “what do I want them to say?”

 

Recently I invested in some leadership training by engaging the services of a “Job Coach.” The purpose was to help me evaluate my leadership skills and find ways to improve on them.  I enjoyed the process and gained some helpful information about leading people. One of the tasks that the ‘Job Coach’ asked me to complete was to write out a list of leadership behaviors that I want to model for my team.  Here is the list:

1. Good planning: see the big picture and be prepared
2. Open communication: often and honestly, the big picture and the details
3. Dependability: I will be there, I will do my job, I will support them
4. Accept Instruction: always willing to learn from others
5. Invest in others: take time for others
6. Seek God: no other way to find wisdom and strength
7. Know my leader: do I know where he is going, are we on the same page?

 

Each person who is involved in ministry has answered a call. Somewhere, sometime you said yes to an invitation to serve. What keeps your ministry on track? And…what are the words that describe your role in life or in ministry? For me: Christ Follower + Worship + Leader.