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The Hour Before Church; Is it Lovely or Ludicrous?

July 25, 2011 in For Worship Leaders with 3 Comments

Image of the hour before - what happens the hour before a worship service

For many church leaders, the hour before a worship service can be lovely or ludicrous. For me, the hour before depends on the week before.

If the week before has gone well (that is, communication was efficient, people prepared their part for the service, and my heart has been regularly fed in God’s word) then the hour before is always lovely; a time to get ready for corporate worship, enjoy the company of my fellow church members, and look forward to the Spirit of God moving in worship. Continue Reading…

How to be an Offering – Banishing Pride in Position

July 20, 2011 in Leadership with 6 Comments

Anyone who is on some type of “platform”; being a pastor, worship leader, or even having a lot of social media followers, can quickly and easily run into a problem:

“Wow.  Look at this, I have some influence.  People listen to me.  This is pretty amazing.”

Now, the problem isn’t with people listening to that person, or even that they have influence.  The problem lies with how that influenced is used.  Will it be used for God’s glory or for personal gain? A new worship leader and blogging friend of mine says today that it’s possible and quite clear from Scripture that it could be used for both (think Moses, David, Solomon, the Apostle Paul), but there will always be a danger to take pride in the position we’ve been allowed to be placed into and forget about our call to magnify the greatness of God. Continue Reading…

Come and Drink, a Declaration for our Generation from Matthew Reed (Review)

July 1, 2011 in For Worship Leaders, Music with 5 Comments

Cover art for Matthew Reed's Come and Drink EP

First, you should know that I feel incredibly inadequate to do album reviews.  I have no experience recording or producing an entire album.  Yet, I keep getting blessed by several folks asking me to review their recording.  I hope someday I’ll be the one asking for the review, but until then, I’ll give my honest and raw opinion about what I hear. Continue Reading…

How (and Why) You Can (and Must) Encourage Your Spouse

June 30, 2011 in Family with 6 Comments

Couple holding hands for an engagement photo session

You remember it, don’t you?  You were head-over-heels in love with someone.  He or she was all you could think about and you wanted to do everything you could to make that special person feel incredibly loved.  You loved them so much that you took it to the point of marrying them.  Then life came.  Jobs came.  Kids came.  Arguments about this or that came.  The flame that was present dwindled into a spark and you’ve found yourself wondering how to start that fire again. Continue Reading…

3 Ways to Work with Musicians Who Aren’t Familiar With You

June 22, 2011 in For Worship Leaders, Leadership with 2 Comments

This past week was the culmination of an opportunity I was presented with to organize a team to lead worship for several events dealing with our Free Lutheran association’s annual conference.

For the most part things went extremely well and I have no doubt that God was honored and glorified though it.  Planning, however, presented a slight challenge. Continue Reading…

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