I am an Offering | Living a Life of Worship

What are the Habits of a Highly Effective Worship Leader?

Ryan Egan — March 8, 2011 — 2 Comments

Worship leader and blogger Chris Kuti wrote a fantastic article yesterday entitled 22 Habits of a Highly Effective Worship Leader. I’m in full agreement with all of them. Here are some highlights:

1. Hang Out With Your Pastor God is using your Pastor to lead your church somewhere, and picking up on this direction is only going to come by spending time together. So often Worship leaders get their marching orders and hide till Sunday. Don’t. Your effectiveness, in the context God has you in, is in the balance.

3. Encourage Your Musicians Call them, get them gifts, have a monthly fun night. Don’t talk about music when you’re spending time together, get to know them and what interests they have besides music. Do whatever it takes to let them know they’re appreciated.

8. Fast and Pray I always remind myself that “you can’t worship a God you don’t know.” This needs to be your most guarded habit of the day.

13. Watch Yourself Record every service and watch yourself back. You are your best critic. Don’t just watch yourself, this is a great time to assess your other players and vocalists.

20. Memorize You cannot lead people effectively staring at a music stand the entire set. I often use small “cheat sheets” on the ground to help me remember verses to new songs, but I’ve even noticed the negative effect they have on my confidence.

21. Lead Another Leader to Lead Your effectiveness is not measured by how much the music ministry needs you. Rather, how are you equipping younger worship leaders to do what you do better than you? Your goal should be to go on vacation and not have to book a guest worship leader if you don’t want to.

I’m in full agreement with his whole list with one addition: I would change number 15 to “Read and Study.” It is so important to read. Read all you can. Read the Bible especially, and read books on philosophy, theology, leadership, and more. But don’t just stop at reading the Bible. Study it. Memorize it. Meditate on it. By doing so God’s Word will naturally pour out of you as often as you lead worship.

What habits have you formed as a worship leader or church leader that have had lasting, positive impact in your ministry?

In For Worship Leaders, Leadership, Training

Digging Into Rosenius: God’s Faithfulness and My Conscience

Ryan Egan — March 3, 2011 — 2 Comments

An accurate balance between Law and Gospel is at the forefront of many Lutherans’ minds. And, although we might not realize it, that same balance exists in our hearts every day.

I’ve recently been reading the thin but power-packed book, “The Believer Free from the Law” by Carl Olaf Rosenius, a man of great heritage within the Free Lutheran history. It has both challenged and convicted me regarding the constant struggle I have with judgement and grace. This summary of the juxtaposition of my unfaithfulness and God’s never-changing character is fantastic:

In the heart of God there is an eternal satisfaction with the merit of the Son alone, an eternal grace, an eternal good pleasure in what the only begotten Son has done; but in my heart there is a continual variation and strife between faith and unbelief, a continual alternating of light and darkness. In heaven there is an everlasting song of praise to the victory of the Lamb, but here below on earth only brief moments of increased light, joy, and songs of praise.

In God’s great book my account is forever balanced, but my little passbook, my conscience, seldom corresponds with God’s account, for we have an enemy who continually makes new entries of debt against us in order to disturb and terrify us. But praised be God, that the covenant of grace is in His heart perfect, firm and undisturbed; that He does not count our sins against us; and that He does not judge us according to the law, although we ourselves do.

My conscience indeed seldom corresponds with God’s account. Jesus, help me understand Grace more and more, so I can apply it to both myself and others.

What have you been reading lately that has challenged and encouraged you? How has God shown a clearer picture of Grace to you in your life?

(photo from the Wikimedia Commons)

In Theology

How To Be An Offering: Living Life as an Offering of Worship

Ryan Egan — March 2, 2011 — 2 Comments

Every day we make choices. We chose this over that. We chose to spend or save. What do our choices say about us?

The subheading of this blog, and the theme of my life and ministry, has become “Living a Life of Worship.” Throughout my life I’ve made many choices that have definitely not accurately reflected that sentence in my life. I’ve used “how to be an offering” off and on for quite a while while never being consistent. So, it’s time for a change, and a challenge.

Starting today, and continuing every Wednesday, I’d love for you to join me in proclaiming ways that we offer our lives as living sacrifices to our amazing and gracious God.

Read and meditate on Romans 12:1-2.
Write a blog post and link back here or
record a quick video with some thoughts or
Tweet a sentence about it or
Post a Facebook status update with your sentence and include a link back here.
Be sure to tag whatever you do with #livingsacrifice.
If you can’t do any of these things, at least leave a comment.

Would you join me in this challenge of really starting to think about the choices we make, and shifting our thinking into becoming living sacrifices for our worthy Creator?

(photo by Justin Knight)

In For Worship Leaders, How to be an Offering

I Have Worshiped…

Ryan Egan — March 1, 2011 — 4 Comments

I’m stepping out in confession today to confess that I have worshiped other things in place of my God. I have worshiped…

The thrill from a tightly-arranged song
The emotional surge during a corporate worship setting
Musicians and worship leaders who are better than I am
My own musical skill
My reputation among my own congregation
My reputation among fellow worship leaders and church leaders
The teaching, planning, and preparation that goes into worship ministry
Music
Technology and shiny new gadgets

When I really stop and ask the question of what do we worship, I realize that there have been many times where I have placed someone or something as more important than God. I give it more worth at the time, effectively making it the object of my worship instead of my amazing God.

I have worshiped worship itself, and I need to worship Jesus.

In For Worship Leaders, Leadership

Dan Cogan Does a Sunday Worship Service Without Music, Can You?

Ryan Egan — February 25, 2011 — Leave a comment

What do worship leaders do most of the day was the question from last week and one of the items I mentioned was memorizing music. I’ve always been a firm believer of the importance of memorizing music to move us to be less distracting during worship (not having our faces buried in our music stand and being able to smile, etc.) but had forgotten about the flip side of actually becoming a distraction if we’ve attempted to memorize the music but haven’t been thorough about it.

Worship leader and songwriter Dan Cogan has posted two articles in a series on leading worship without music over at Worship Ministry that I think are definitely worth checking out. He mentions how his pastor wanted to make sure that the congregation came first in the situation:

His focus was the same as mine: removing as many distractions as possible. That goal has a twin–not BECOMING a distraction! And if I got too far ahead of myself with the memorization project I could quickly become just the thing I’m trying to remove: a distraction.

This seems obvious to me now, but I had never thought about it that way! I’d definitely recommend reading the rest of both of his articles; some good insight to be found there.

What have you done, with the intention of minimizing distraction, that has actually become a distraction?

(photo by billaday)