i am an offering

As I was recently re-listening to Come Weary Saints I couldn’t help but notice an interesting choice of instrumentation on the title track.  I’m not sure exactly because I purchased the mp3 set and don’t have the pdf handy to check instrumentation, but I’m pretty sure they are using a harp at the end of the song.  It very well could be a nylon stringed guitar - but I think it’s a harp.  I had never thought of using harp as a worship team instrument before, but now I think I could definitely find some ways to do it - which leads me to my question:

Apart from David Crowder’s crazy rigging of a Guitar Hero© controller, what is the most different or unusual instrument you’ve seen used by a worship team? I’d love to hear it all - even if you’re from another country and think that using a guitar is unusual!

Let’s hear it!

Scripture will never cease to amaze me.  It truly is “living and active” as the book of Hebrews says.  So often I will come across a verse that I’m sure I’ve read before but all of a sudden it will become alive and breathe amazing new life into me.  It is also amazing that God chose to use Greek as the primary language of the New Testament.  More on that in a minute.

Hebrews 10:14

One of the verse that has jumped out at me lately and spoken to me over and over again is Hebrews 10:14.  Let’s take a look:

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

At first glance this might not look like a particularly amazing verse of Scripture - but it is so packed full of truth that it is mind-blowing.  The part I want to take a quick look at now is the phrase “perfected for all time.”

Greek’s Perfect Tense

Unlike the English language, Greek has a lot more ways of saying things just by switching to a different tense.  We English-speaking folks think of past tense, present tense, and future tense.  In Greek there is the perfect tense, combining all three tenses into one, signifying that:

1. Something happened in the past.
2. Even though it already happened, the results of what happened are continually happening in the present.
3. The results of what happened will continue to happen forever in the future.

The phrase “perfected for all time” is in the perfect tense in Greek.  So what’s amazing is, Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross not only happened - it happened with lasting results. And these lasting results won’t fade.  In fact, they’re eternal.  Do you realize what that means for us?  We change daily.  We can’t rely on ourselves.  We will not go a day in our lives without sinning.  But if we trust in the Cross and what Jesus did there, the power of what happened didn’t stop! It is continually applied to us if we are trusting in the blood of Christ!  Even though we waver and fall, our status in Christ doesn’t! Even though we offer imperfect offerings because of our sin - Jesus has made them perfect forever through His blood!

What an amazing promise!

Hello all!  Friday is here and the weekend is almost upon us!  I wanted to share a couple of random things:

Music Theory at The Worship Community

My first article at The Worship Community has been published.  Check it out, especially if you’re wondering why it’s important to know music theory as a worship leader.

Gravatars

Secondly - do you wonder how some people get cool little images next to there comments in the comments section and some don’t?  I wondered about that for a long time as I was visiting other blogs as well and as I was designing the new theme for this one I figured out the secret - Gravatar.com! What this site does is allow you to register email addresses and assign an image to them or, a globally recognized avatar.  Every time you sign in somewhere to post a comment or something similar, if the website is set up properly, it will automatically grab your gravatar and post your image.  Pretty nifty!

Have a great weekend!

Fred McKinnon just shared a link to his answers to five questions on worship he was asked by The Worship Journals and asked that we comment on his post with the answers to our questions.  I thought this would make a better blog post than a comment so here we go:

Five Questions on Worship

1. What does Worship Mean to You?

Worship means exalting something greater than we currently or previously have exalted it in our own mind.  We could worship a situation.  We could worship an experience.  We could worship a thing.  To me, I try above all else to worship God.  This means surrending myself, my thoughts, whatever I might be exalting at any given moment in time and exalting Him above it all.  This means letting myself decrease and Him increase.  This means letting God be the object of my worship every minute of each day.

2. What Causes You to Worship?

Ultimately - the Holy Spirit.  I can’t worship without the power of God prompting me to do so.  It’s impossible, so the Holy Spirit is what causes me to worship.  But as far as what the Holy Spirit uses to prompt me to worship:  music is a given for me.  So many types of music are used to prompt me to worship.  It helps immensely if the music directs my thoughts toward God and who He is, but I can also be prompted by the beauty and design of orchestral music or the spontaneity and skill of jazz music.  I can see the Creator’s hand in the creativity and complexity of both of these types of music.  I am also prompted by seeing people honor and glorify God in decisions they make and situations they’re in.  Mountains also prompt me to worship.  They show me how puny I am and how amazingly huge God is.  If the mountains are that majestic - how much more the One who Created them!

3. How is Worship Displayed in Your Life?

I hope that it is displayed in the way I live it.  I desire to live a life that exalts God every day and puts to death everything that doesn’t.  I want to offer my life as a living sacrifice to Him.  I hope that worship is displayed in my marriage, my relationship with my daughter, my relationship with my church and pastor, my relationship with my co-workers and through every interaction I have with people.

4. What is Your Favorite Song and Why?

Can it be the top 50? :-)  I think at the moment the song that the Holy Spirit is using most to speak to me would be “Let Your Kingdom Come” by Sovereign Grace Music off of the Valley of Vision album. I keep coming back to it and it keeps replaying in my mind.  It is such a good declaration to lift God’s cause higher than our own and to get my priorities out of the way and make my life about His priorites.

How would you answer these four questions?  (You can be brief, if you like!)

I’ve been realizing lately just how amazing it is to actually get paid to be on staff as a worship leader - because I don’t anymore.  After four and a half years of being paid to lead worship, organize volunteers, plan services, pick music and live and breathe all things music and worship and after working a new job and volunteering to do many of those things now, I’ve come to realize just how much I took my last job for granted.

I never realized the time and effort and dedication that volunteer worship leaders who oversee an entire ministry put in.  As I’ve begun to balance planning and vision in the local church with working a job and making sure I honor and put my family first, I’ve come to realize how amazing volunteer worship leaders really are.  So the purpose of this post is two-fold.

First - Thank You Volunteers

Thank you for working an entire day at your “real” job and still giving the energy to pick music and lead a rehearsal all night long for church.

Thank you for having vision to see what needs to be done in two places (both at work and in the church.)

Thank you for supporting your pastor and your team members even though you are probably running out of energy.

Thank you for your selflessness in deciding to make time available to the church instead of your own pursuits.

Thank you Jordan Volk, for your tireless passion at Abiding Savior.  Thank you Paul Stigge, for the time and effort you spent developing a worship and music ministry at Lord of Life.  If you know a volunteer worship leader that you’ve never thanked for their time, stop right now and figure out a way to do so.

One word of caution - however, as someone just mentioned to me the other day - it’s easy to burnout if you are working full time and leading a worship ministry as a volunteer.  Be careful, prayerful and intentional about keeping yourself healthy and epsecially keeping your family healthy.  I need to remember to heed those words as well.

Second - An Encouragement to Paid Staff

Those of you who are privileged to be on a staff as worship leaders - don’t ever forget that is what it is - a privilege and an honor.  You are given the privilege to:

• Plan services so that there will be minimal distraction so that God will be exalted
• Pick and suggest music for the local church
• Love on, encourage and recruit volunteers for the team
• Serve God completely as your profession
• Help others live lives that glorify Jesus Christ

The best privilege of all is that we, staff and volunteer alike, get to honor and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ - together.