Pride Revealed

God has been revealing to me the pride that has been in my heart and the idol of excellence that I had been worshiping for far too long.  Recently I mentioned seven lessons I’m learning in worship ministry, and one of the absolute hardest, yet best, lessons I’ve needed to learn is that people are much more important than music.  Let’s take a look at what Paul says from the second half of Romans 12:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12:3-5)

The last verse of that passage sets up the next verses that specifically get into the spiritual gifts within the church, but the first two verses apply greatly here.  I have been so guilty of thinking of myself more highly than I ought to because I’ve had more opportunities to play music professionally or because I was on staff once upon a time.  I wish that wasn’t true, but it is, and to those that it might have affected, if you’re reading, I’m deeply sorry.

Yes, the Bible does command us to “play skillfully” but that does not mean play skillfully and force others to play skillfully while sacrificing relationships with them.  The writer to the Hebrews put it this way:

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Leader First, Musician Second.

I’m learning more and more that I’ve spent a lot of my time being a good musician pretending to be a leader.  I need to flip that around, and I believe all of us as worship leaders need to flip that around as well; we need to be great leaders who happen to be good musicians.  Would you do that with me?  Encourage one another.  Encourage one another without mentioning music.  Yes, encourage one another to become better musicians, but care for each other first.  Encourage each other deeply.  Care for people more than music.

(photo by Stacey Lewis)

I absolutely love what charity:water is doing.  100% of money raised for fundraising goes to the project for which the funds are being raised.  They also create phenomenal content (video, print, web) to raise awareness of the fact that so much of the world doesn’t have clean drinking water.

If you’re birthday’s in September (or any month, for that matter), would you consider giving up your birthday to raise money for this amazing cause?

By the way, if you haven’t seen or heard Scott Harrison‘s (founder of charity:water) story yet, you must check it out.  It’s an incredible testimony of the power of God.

I had heard about Seeds Family Worship and wanted to check them out for a while.  I spent some time listening through all of the songs from Seeds (listen to all their music online for free here) and I must say that overall I absolutely love what they have to offer.  And not only the music, but they’re excellent word of mouth outreach as well.  Seeds Family Worship currently offers five albums filled with Scripture put to music.

What I love:

• The fact that (99% of) all of the lyrics are taken straight out of Scripture
• Most of the songs are extremely easy to sing
• The vast variety of styles that they use (everything from rock to pop to bluegrass to African influences; even a little R&B on “Be Still”)
• How each album has a specific theme
• How some of the songs have very unique chord progressions in the melodies (If God is For us, for one)
• You basically always get buy one, get one free with your purchase, so you can pass the music along to a friend or another family!

What I don’t love so much (being picky, because there isn’t a whole lot not to love!):

• Some of the melodies get a little bit complex.  I have great confidence in children’s ability to learn music, but some songs might take longer than others
• One song is titled “Hey Man” and adds the words “Hey Man” to the lyrics.  If the rest of the lyrics weren’t straight out of each Bible verse used, this wouldn’t have bothered me, but it stood out very quickly as weaker than the rest.

Worth the Time and Money

Overall, Seeds Family Worship is awesome music with can’t-go-wrong lyrics that are great for helping kids (and grown-ups!) memorize Scripture.  Many of the songs use a repeated phrase in the chorus that makes it even more helpful to memorize the words.  I really love this resource and will be investing in it.  The other awesome thing about Seeds is that they were gracious enough to give me (and all readers of I am an Offering) a 20% discount!  Simply use the code IAMANOFFERING over at their webstore and receive 20% off your purchase.  But, if you’d rather get something for free…

Free Download and Album Giveaway!

Seeds graciously offered to give a free mp3 download to anybody reading this, so head on over.  The song is called “Follow Me,” based from Matthew 16:24-25 and Jesus’ call to his first disciples.  It starts out with a talking drum solo and has a great African-influenced, reggae flair to it.  Click here to listen to and download the song for free.  I’d also like to give away a copy of their first album, “Seeds of Courage.”  To win, simply comment below that you’d like to win.  I’d love it if you’d tweet out this post or share it on Facebook as well to let people know they can win.

(disclosure: Seeds Family Worship provided the opportunity to download the .mp3 for free.  I am personally providing the winning album by purchasing Seeds of Courage and giving away my second copy.  If you do click through and use the coupon code, enough purchases will let me win another free album from them.)

Living a life of worship expects of us that we give up ourselves and our selfish desires in every area of life.  After being married to my amazing wife for a little over seven years now, I know that I have tended to be selfish in our marriage many, many times.  What does God’s Word say about how I can be a living sacrifice in my marriage?

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

The above passage from Ephesians 5: 25-29 is so profound.  Jesus “gave himself up for” the church.  Do we give ourselves up for our brides?  Do we let go of our selfish desires in order to love her above all?  I have been so guilty of not doing that very thing.  Do we “nourish and cherish” our wives as we do our own flesh?  Perhaps we cherish often, but truly nourish, both physically and spiritually?  If you do nourish her in both ways how can you do it better?  If you don’t how can you start?  Perhaps you’re like me and seldom prayed with your wife apart from meal times.  Now is the perfect time to decide to pray whenever and wherever.

If we, as worship leaders, are called to reveal God’s truths to those who come to worship corporately and magnify His greatness, helping those we lead to see a more accurate picture of who He is our lives must reflect His character as well.  We must, especially as husbands, be like God in His amazing sacrifice of “giving himself up for” the church.  Your wife is worth even more than that.

I’ve struggled in this area, have you?  Would you pray for me as I desire to live my life as a living sacrifice to God by giving up my pride and selfishness in my marriage?

(heart illustration from Jeremy Newton)

• Care for people more than music.
• Train, train, train.
• Organize.
• Prioritize.
• Spellcheck and proofread.
• Be in the Word. <– This one’s the most important.
• Lead, with grace.

I’d love to hear your lessons learned as we go through my own journey as well, so please feel free to leave a comment!

Thursday I’ll share an in-depth review and overview of each of the albums from Seeds Family Worship but I wanted to give everyone a heads up to another solid option for children’s music.  Head on over and check it out!

1. Give direction.  People under your authority need to know what to do next.  They need a goal to reach.  Give both to them.
2. Encourage.  It’s tempting to always want to fix things, look at the big picture and wonder why it’s not happening yet.  Instead, give encouragement for little things you see happening along the way.
3. Follow through.  This one is a constant struggle for me but one I desperately need to discipline.  Do what you say you’re going to do.  Period.
4. Respect others’ time.  Do not waste other people’s time because of scheduling decisions or “things that came up last minute.”  If you have to cancel something, give a good explanation as to why.
5. Care.  Ask people how they’re doing.  Listen, really listen, to people.  Don’t just listen because it’s what you have to do.  Listen with empathy.

What are some lessons you’ve learned that you can add?

(not sure why this particular wordpress theme shows ordered lists as A, B, C, etc. instead of 1, 2, 3.  I’ll have to look into that)

He listens, learns, and knows the words now. He can’t read yet, learning by hearing is his way. He gently raises his hands, the air accepts them, and he closes his eyes. He is mouthing the words now, no sound.  Not yet. Halleluia! Sweet tiny sound breezes through my ears.  A wee voice with a big heart.  I open my own eyes to look. He is worshiping.

So, what do you do?  What have you done?  What has worked?  And I’m not talking about just teaching your kids to sing and do actions with Sunday School songs.  While that’s great and is a good starting point, I’m wondering how you teach children to be worshipers. I want to know how you’ve developed lasting results.  Will you leave me a comment and let me know?

Something I would love to do more often is to integrate more younger players and singers into our worship team.  Watch this video of veteran worship leader and musician Paul Baloche as he shares some good thoughts about how to do it.  Also, I’ve been listening to Paul’s new album, Glorious, and it’s good stuff.  Be looking forward to a review.

I think, as well, what made the morning so meaningful for me is that I was finally able to let my guard down a little bit.  God has definitely been working on some things in my life and the words from the call to worship from Psalm 34 (which was also the message text) really struck me.  They were almost overwhelming and I wish I would have let even more emotion show through.  However, the next day I received an incredibly encouraging email from some regular visitors to our church.  It was mentioned that

the Spirit was alive and moving in church today and that [this person] was moved to tears during the song about how great our God is.

To me, if nothing happens in the service except God being glorified in this way, I can be satisfied that He was moving in this one person’s life through the music.  I’m so thankful that they took the time to write.  Here was our song set:

• I Exalt Thee (classic)
• Come, Christians, Join to Sing (Covenant Life Arrangement)
• I Sing the Mighty Power of God (Hymncharts Arrangement)
• How Great is Our God (Tomlin – Looks like Chris from Canada was right after all)
• Jesus Paid it All (Traditional)
• I Exalt Thee

I’m so looking forward to worshiping again next week.

*This post is part of the Sunday Setlists community at The Worship Community.com.