If you aren’t yet familiar with her, the name to be looking out for in the coming year without a doubt is Dara Maclean. With two studio records behind her, the Lord is paving a fresh path for her ministry that hearts everywhere are sure to resonate with.
 
She’s been singing and doing music and ministry since she was seven years old. In her words, “it was not good sounding by any means. I remember at seven, I ran into my dad’s office and I had a walls of Jericho type song, and he applauded me because he’s a really good dad, but I’m sure it was really rough. But I felt called to the industry from a very young age and that has been everything for me.”

Having grown up in the church, she experienced first-hand that church really can be what you need regarding your maturing as a believer, a worshiper, and a leader. In her community she had “the opportunity to really fail forward in the sense of what not to do as a worship leader or youth leader. That was school for me in a lot of ways. God just knows how He uniquely creates us. I had to learn by doing and was forced into situations where experience didn’t get me there, but only the Lord could do it.”
 
“My parents looked at me and did NOT say, ‘You can be anything when you grow up.’ They said ‘there’s a specific calling on your life, and until you learn to hear from the Lord yourself, we’re going to help you.’ It has never been a question as I’ve pursued that calling.”
 
Some of Dara’s musical influences include Crystal Lewis, Martha Munizzi, CeCe Winans, and Brian & Jenn Johnson. These influences combined with her own experience in the recording industry served as the inspiration behind her and her husband’s heart to be a safe place for creatives to grow and learn and get tools to pursue their passions without having to step outside of the church.
 
Right now Dara is in the process of writing for a live worship record. It’s something that she is taking her time with in order to make it the very best it can possibly be. “For me personally I had to get off of the pump-out-a-record-every-two-years train. I could never take away from what the Lord had done on my journey, but I just had to stop and say ‘this project is worth it, I want more, I want another level, and that just takes time.’” Also around that same time, Dara married her husband Donnie Petty, so her life focus began shifting dramatically.
 
Leading up to the live recording, they have been and will continue to release one single at a time as a build up to the full project. Blameless was released in the fall of 2016 and then her latest song, Ashes, hit the scene just in time for Easter this year.

Along with being a songwriter and recording artist, Dara and her husband serve at a church in Fort Worth, TX. When it comes to balancing a music career and pastoring in the local church context, Dara says that it’s not something she did very well for a long time. “I became very overwhelmed. In the past I’ve been an all-or-nothing person and the Lord has helped me tremendously. I had to learn to not be a perfectionist when I didn’t need to be, and to stop carrying the weight of things I didn’t need to carry. I was putting all of that pressure on myself, so the balance began to come when I sort of ‘got over myself.’ God is perfectly faithful and fit and He has qualified us for what He has called us to do. Not by might and not by power, but by the Spirit. When working in the first two only, you grow weary in well-doing.”
 
The story behind her most recent release, Ashes, is a very personal one. Dara takes songwriting very seriously and carries the full weight and responsibility of her name being attached to anything. So when she walks into a co-write, nine times out of ten she already has a theme in mind, if not a full set of bones for an idea. But this particular session with Travis Ryan (We Believe) happened to be the last of a week straight of two co-writes per day. “I walked in and Travis had this concept of Ashes, and we knew immediately ‘God You just have just given us a gift.’ We definitely should not be focusing on this just for Easter, because victory of death, what a revelation! There are definitely areas of my life that have died . . . full on valley of dry bones. Jesus did not die so that things in me would remain dead. He longs to show off in the marriage that is dying. For those who struggle with self-harm issues, fill in the blank . . . we need Jesus. The goal is to prophetically proclaim this over people because I’ve needed it myself. The reality is, there is stuff in our past that needs to remain dead. But shame and condemnation is trying to keep dead that which God said ‘I gave that to you as a gift of life’. I believe those things, through the power of revelation, can be resurrected and that will lead people to the Lord. That’s huge!”
 
One thing is for sure; this sister has a gifting and a message from the Lord that will not easily go unheard. And the soul in her voice only solidifies the power behind the words she is singing. So if you haven’t already, check out her music today.
You can get Ashes here and keep up with what Dara is up to here.

Over the last few months we’ve tackled the topic of TEAM BUILDING.  As much as I would love to feel as if we have this one nailed, we don’t.  TEAM BUILDING is a muscle that every leader needs to continue to develop.  It’s easy to let this one slip away from us! Just when we start to feel like we are getting on top of this, something changes.  A vital team member leaves.  A leader needs to take on the responsibility of a different area.  Your best guitar player gets hired as the worship pastor at another church.  These are all real-life situations that happen in even the best teams.  They will happen to yours as well.

In our “Month One” blog on team building we presented the IDEA of developing a Leadership Pipeline within your worship ministry.  This IDEA helped support that idea that building an EMPOWERED TEAM is a powerful Kingdom tool.  “Who’s responsible for who?” and “Who’s responsible for what?” are two of the most important questions that needs to be answered in any team environment.  When you lead a team with clarity and spread out the responsibility for others to own your team, you ignite growth opportunities that might have went unnoticed. 

In “Month Two” we presented the idea of “Making Recruitment and Assimilation a Normal for Everyone”.  So many times, I bump into Worship Leaders and Pastors that feel the very unfair burden of building ALONE.  With this IDEA, we present the notion that every team can build better and faster when the team members who are on the teams are your best recruiters.  Make this a normal practice.  At my church, we practice asking new team members to “bring one” with you.  We have found that by making this a standard practice at ground level, we never have to ask for participation from the 10,000-foot level.  Whatever is visible is what replicates.  Empower your best leaders to build.

So here we are. Month Three.

Idea #3. Clearly Identify and Communicate Simple On-Ramps.

I love my city.  I live in Lincoln, Ne.  Home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  I love the youthful spirit and progressive nature of our city.  I have even grown to love and cherish the special college football atmosphere that engulfs our city on game day.  It’s addictive to say the least.  But one thing that I am not a big fan of is traffic on game day.  There is one primary road that leads into Lincoln and over 90,000 fans make the trek to our city on game day.  There are probable more if you include tailgaters.  THIS IS A BIG PROBLEM: The roads infrastructure needs to be able to support the traffic flow to the desired destination.  If there are too many confusing pieces of communication, it would put our city into emergency mode and have catastrophic effects.  I mean, the world might come to an end if people missed a Cornhusker Football Game! (No, but seriously) ;)

Having clear and simple communication about “what to DO next” can make or break your teams culture. 

Every month I host a worship leaders round table in Omaha Ne.  At this round table, Worship leaders from multiple different denominations gather for friendship and peer coaching.  These leaders have become family and they are amazing.  We discuss a wide range of worship ministry issues.  One topic that comes up regularly is “attracting the right volunteers”.  If a leader starts to pour their heart out to me about how they can’t get enough volunteers, I always ask one question to start the conversation.  “Can you tell me about your on-ramp?” This might sound overly simplistic, but what I have found is that sometimes we make it more complicated than it needs to be or we haven’t identified the answer to the most important question at all.  Every leader on your team, in unity, needs to be able to answer this question with clarity and simplicity.

 THIS IS THE QUESTION

“Where do I go and What do I do?”

 Having clear and simple communication about “what to DO next” can make or break your teams culture. 

 Here are a few suggestions when it comes to identifying your onramp into your ministry:

       1.     KEEP IT SIMPLE-

Keep it simple in language and communication.  Your “on-ramp” shouldn’t be riddled with complex forms, interviews and assessments.  Not yet anyways.  Create an “on-ramp’ that just answers the question, “where do I go and what do I do?”.  Worry about next steps later.  But for now, getting a “willing one” to show up is your biggest win. Make it simple for them.

For example, I person asks about playing guitar on the worship team.  Any leader in your department should be able to have the same simple answer. ”I am so glad you are interested!  We host all our new volunteers on Monday Nights at 6:30pm!  Would you be my guest?!”

       2.     USE WHATS ALREADY WORKING AS YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD-

­What is already working in your church?  Do you have a rehearsal process that is spot on?  USE IT!  Is God’s presence so thick in your weekend worship services that lives are being transformed?  USE IT! I’ve made the mistake of overthinking and over programming.  I’ve launched the “extra” visitor’s night or the quarterly worship night with the intentions of attracting new people.  Sometimes those things work.  But the problem is that even though they may be effective, it takes a long time for those events to represent the culture and team that we want people to be attracted to. 

Identify what’s already working and utilize those moments to “on-ramp” your team.

        3.     KEEP IT CONSISTENT-

Nothing can steal the wind out of the sails of progress like a good dose of inconsistency.  If you “welcome” new team members on Monday nights, keep that consistent for a season.  If you “welcome” new people to your choir rehearsal and you celebrate leaders that brought them, don’t change that unless you are communicating change.  Consistency, on this point, allows us the opportunity to get buy in from our team! Consistency builds reliability. Consistency gives our leaders tools to build with.  (Side note:  We will be talking about “embracing change” and reinvention in the upcoming months.)

Consistency tells our teams that we aren’t building a kingdom that only serves us, but we are leading an army that can fight battles when we share the burden.

Identifying your “on-ramps” could be a simple strategy that could help you engage people better.  Below is a sample of an “on-ramps” document that I created for our kid’s ministry at our church.  This idea isn’t just for worship/creative teams, but for everyone.

It is essential that you clearly communicate the “WHERE/HOW” to START whenever you are building teams.  Keep your communication clear and simple.  Try utilizing opportunities that your church is already doing well to interact with potential volunteers.  Lastly, be consistent.  Everyone should know the answer to this question: “Where do I go and What do I do?”.

 Having clear and simple communication about “what to DO next” can make or break your teams culture. 

Jesus, I pray today for the burden and stress that our worship leaders and pastors feel daily. We pray that you would continue to grow our capacity to shepherd well.  Thank you for entrusting us with big things.  We are honored to pastor your people.

Please feel free to use this resource or any that you find at worship.coach. Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions about these three helpful tips.  I am always glad to help. 

Michael King @michaelkingjr
free resources available at www.worship.coach

Our brand new host, Michael King, makes his introduction into the AllAboutWorship Community!  He's spoken at the conferences, but now you'll get to hang out a few times a month on the podcast!

On this episode, you'll hear from a familiar face, Dustin Smith.  You'll hear them chat about the new focus of AAW and some of the vision for the future.  We're majoring on the core values, the power of God's Presence, the power of His People, and the power of a Sound.

We want to continue the practical teaching, new music, artist interviews and worship teaching & coaching moments.  Come along as AAW takes off into a brand new season - it's gonna be great and we are excited to be on this journey with YOU!  We're back!!!! 

Stay connected with us

twitter.com/allaboutworship
facebook.com/allaboutworship
instagram.com/allaboutworship
podcast[at]allaboutworship.com

We are stoked to bring you this edition of the podcast! These gems will be released throughout the year in addition to our normally scheduled releases. We appreciate the voice that all of our worship pastors, leaders and artists bring to the table. We hope that you enjoy this as much as we do!

On this episode, Michael King gets a chance to talk to Matt Maher. Matt is currently promoting his new release, Echoes, and is on tour with Chris Tomlin. Matt shares his heart on the meaning behind “Echoes” and some great perspective that we have, as worship leaders, to lead with authority and with great burden. Check out more on Matt Maher by doing the following:

• Visit his website to learn more about him as an artist, his music & traveling dates
• Check Out "Echoes" on iTunes
• Follow Matt as an Artist on Spotify
• Subscribe on YouTube for even more content & music

A special thank you to Matt Maher for joining us. Next week we will pick back up on Part 2 of the Dustin Smith/Michael King discussion on the future of AAW. You won’t want to miss it ...

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

We continue the values conversation with Michael King and Dustin Smith.

This week, we recap the power of HIS presence, the power of his people and the power of the sound. We spend a significant amount of time on the POWER OF HIS PRESENCE, because that’s what defines us. We are really excited for you to hear this conversation. And to James, the Uber driver … thank you for the lyric contribution

Michael King and Michael Farren continue the discussion on the main focus areas for All About Worship - Power of His Presence, Power of His People, and the Power of a Sound.  King catches up with Farren in the middle of the KINGDOM SONGS BOOT CAMP and there are some amazing takeaways.

“Stop leading songs and start pastoring people” - Michael Farren.

Today, we're excited to introduce you to someone on the front lines of worship every single week at a local church, just like you!  He's a worship leader, pastor, husband, father and a good friend of the ministry: Jordan Merritt.

Jordan is currently serving as Worship Pastor at Embrace Church in Sioux Falls, SD, one of the fastest-growing churches in the country.  In addition to leading worship, he is a gifted songwriter. He co-wrote the Newsboys single, “You Hold It All,” and he has written songs for multiple projects with artists including Newsboys, Selah, Travis Ryan, and others. Jordan’s desire is to see the Church equipped, refreshed, and reminded of God’s promises through worship.

Thank you to Jordan for taking the time to sit down with us!  We hope you are encouraged by a "fellow soldier in the fight", who is leading worship in a local church every week.  Be encouraged and be confident that God has put you on mission as a worshipper in your church ... to restore the honor of God, to restore the People of God and to bring His presence into your services each and every week. 

Have a great week!

Rigs, Gear and the Pursuit of Happiness.

[ALL ABOUT WORSHIP GEAR TALK]

CASEY MOORE from the band called Leeland, lives in Nashville living the dream with his family. He is an accomplished musician, writer and overall cool guy. He's recorded for artists/producers such as: Michael W. Smith, Bethel Music, Jason Upton, Fleurie, Phil Wickham, Audrey, Normies, Ed Cash and Vertical Worship to name a few.

Mastermind PBC \ http://bit.ly/2CfI7Eo
Walrus Audio Deep Six Compressor \ http://amzn.to/2nUbFTO
Klon Centaur Gold \ http://bit.ly/2BpFNOq
JHS Kilt \ http://amzn.to/2EmC171
JHS Prestige \ http://amzn.to/2EnO603
Micro Pog (not modded) \ http://amzn.to/2Ez0YQ1
Strymon Mobius \ https://www.strymon.net/
Strymon Timeline \ https://www.strymon.net/
JHS Emperor \ http://amzn.to/2BWwfeM
Strymon Big Sky \ https://www.strymon.net/
Strymon El Capistan \ https://www.strymon.net/
Boss RV-5 \ http://amzn.to/2F1uXhD
Hilton Pro Guitar Volume \ https://hiltonelectronics.com/
Strymon Zuma Power \ https://www.strymon.net/

Pro Tip #1 (Do I Need All That Gear?):

Pro Tip #2 (How Do I Record on a Budget?):

“What is the Sound the of Heaven? Its the people of God. Us. It is our calling, in whatever arena, to be His light, His hands and feet to a lost world. These songs are a declaration of the desire to walk in the identity of Christ and be the audible and visible Sound of Heaven.” 

-- Brad + Rebekah

This is the mission statement from the newest album released by our friends, Brad & Rebekah Bichsel!!  We had the chance to sit down and talk with this awesome couple, who both lead worship together, and have such a great heart for the Church.  Take a moment and listen in!  Brad & Rebekah share some personal things that they are walking through, and how this album is really a declaration of faith. And speaking of that album, check it out:

Also, take some time and head over to their website at Brad + Rebekah Music.  Make sure to check out the "About" section and read up on their story.  There's even some images and stories behind a few of the songs on this album - many times we write songs out of real experiences.  This album, and their stories, are no exception, and you'll be impacted by it.  If you're looking to get the album ( YOU SHOULD! ), there's a few ways to do that:

• Buy it on iTunes
• Listen on Apple Music
• Listen on Spotify
• Download on Amazon Music
• Download on Google Play

There's plenty of options there for you, there's no excuse!  Last but not least, Brad + Rebekah have even released multi tracks, chord charts & videos along with everything.  You can find that under the "Music" section of their website here.  We pray that these songs would minister powerfully both to you & to your church! 

We are excited for you to meet our guests on the AAW podcast, Clinton Allen & Ryan Williams from River Valley Worship! They both lead worship at their church in Minneapolis, MN.  

In today’s interview, we’re talking with Ryan & Clinton specifically about their story as worship leaders and as songwriters. They talk to us about their current roles in their local church as worship leaders and leading teams. They also have some great insights about how they approach writing new songs for their church - considering the people that will be singing those songs and even their senior pastor - It starts with relationship!  They share experiences from leading REAL people in REAL ministry week to week, so we really believe this will speak to many of you listening that are also leading worship week in & week out.  You have authority as a pastoral musician. 

Last but certainly not least - you can find out more about River Valley Worship's brand new album!  Head on over to rivervalleyworship.org and find ways to listen below:

• Buy it on iTunes
• Listen on Apple Music
• Listen on Spotify
• Download on Amazon Music
• Download on Google Play
• Watch on YouTube

There's plenty of options there for you, there's no excuse!  Be blessed, and be sure to check out their new album —- “MILLION LIFETIMES”! 

All About Worship talks with The Belonging Co. worship leader, Hope Darst about leading teams and showing true character through hard times.

She voices the story about writing the song “Peace Be Still”, as it evolved into one of the breakthrough worship songs of 2018.  Enjoy this week's sit down with Hope Darst!

The belonging Co worship leader Andrew Holt sits with us this week to talk about dealing with transition and celebration.

Andrew talks about his story and his transition into leading worship. Also, can we take celebration too far in church?  Some people may think we go too far ... how about you?  Listen in!

This is it ... a new beginning with the merging of two super-podcasts into one! The Worship Podcast is here, powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Wisdom Moon & Morgan Shirey). On today's pilot episode, all four hosts sit down to discuss the transition, as well as the resources and teaching they hope to provide to our listeners.  Listen in, and welcome to our brand new show!

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

We have such a tendency to water down words. Lessening their impact through casual use: awesome, love, and worship were the three that came to mind. 

Worship? You might ask, “How has worship been watered down?” As I took time to think about the word, I began to realize something. Just as we have lessened the impact of words such as awesome and love through overuse, we have done much the same with the word worship through underuse.

We have so narrowed its scope until – in our current Christian culture – we often relegate it to just another music genre or a segment of time in our church services. Though from the first welcome to the benediction our services are designed to engage our congregations in worship; worship is so much more. Worship is an attitude, an action, a way of life.

As I reflected on the hundreds and hundreds of times I have had the privilege of leading congregations in worship through music, James 1:27 came to mind. 

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

I began to recall several settings in which I have lead worship; large churches, small churches, conferences, and festivals, in many states and denominational traditions. However, the two venues which most stood out were not of leading large congregations in worship, but they were found in the small church basement where I first lead worship with children from 2-10 years old, and the nursing homes where I, and often my family have lead these old dear saints in the singing of hymns and praise choruses. Each representing the opposite end of the age spectrum and both reflecting the childlike faith Jesus referred to in Matthew 18:3. 

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

I believe we refuse to let the world corrupt us when we use our gifts to serve others including those who have nothing to give us in return – the children, the elderly, the sick. Yes, as I look back the most impactful worship experiences I have had are seeing these little children sing with reckless abandon, and the elderly – whom often could not even accurately communicate where they were or what day it was – with tears streaming down their face singing every word to every hymn along with me. 

For vocational artists it is certainly necessary that we are able to pay our bills. However, I am realizing more and more that our church salary or concert honorarium is not payment for services rendered, but rather an effort by those who write the checks to redeem the time we would otherwise need to use provide for ourselves and our families so that we can fully use our gift of music to freely serve the body, no matter whether it gathers in church basements, nursing homes, living rooms, soup kitchens, or auditoriums.

James & Dustin had a chance to sit down with Jonathan Brown - President of Integrity Music - to discuss unity and division among the people of God, and among worshipers in the church.

JB (Jonathan Brown) and Dustin both had the chance to be part of a tour with WeAreWorship, where they visited multiple church leaders in multiple cities.  There were so many great things experienced and along with that, there were so many things learned.  At the end of the day, we want unity in the the people of God and especially among the leaders of God's Church, and we need to have inspired conversation on this topic. 

Enjoy!

-----

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Wisdom Moon & Morgan Shirey).

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Why don’t we dream?

Now I’m not talking about while you sleep, or letting your mind wander during the sermon on Sunday (you know who you are), I’m talking about the ideas and follow through that can shape an entire generation’s future. After all, this is one of the greatest ages of all to dream big. There has been no better time in history to be able to spread news, media and information quickly and efficiently, than today.

Sure, we live in an age of fake news and misinformation, but have we looked at the endless possibilities of what we can accomplish in this information age for the gospel, or for your own families and communities? Have you ever dreamed beyond your current capabilities?

I was visiting Europe recently and asked the locals what they thought of the west (dangerous question, I know) and the difference between our cultures. The answer surprised me. It wasn’t negative or biased, it was actually thought provoking and interesting. They said:

“Western cultures breed dreamers. They don’t have to be experts to do something. They can go out, and do it. No-one tells them they can’t, therefore...they can. Europeans typically don’t work this way. If you are not a master of your craft you have no business creating anything in that field. That’s a big difference.”

Now, that can be eye opening. How many times have we told ourselves we can’t do something because we were too inexperienced, or we lack the necessary skills. Trust me, God loves ideas. He loves for His people to dream beyond their capabilities. Why? Because that’s when we truly HAVE to rely on Him. He gets all the glory, as He should.

Remember, God IS the creator of all things. ALL THINGS. So you can sit there reading this and nonchalantly nod your head and say “Well, duh. Of course”, but don’t you realize that means we can connect with Him directly? We can dream along with Him and get His ideas for our lives??

Church Life

For some, it may seem like the only way to achieve the greatness for God is to endlessly try to regurgitate something that the “world” does so well, when in reality, we should go to the creator of all things and access something new, or something fresh for your local, national or global church body! You were destined to change the world’s thinking!

The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.  Ephesians 1:23 (MSG)

For me, I totally understand the battle of my own mind to either copy a new trend or fad because it’s relevant or cool. But, what if I could establish new trends by talking to the Father who can out-create anything anyone could think or imagine? What could you accomplish then?

So, in saying all that, let’s dream again. Let’s revive those dreams you slowly let fade away. Who said you can’t write that blog/song/screenplay, start that business, preach the gospel, innovate ideas and send those ideas around the world? Pray that God will download His ideas and strategies into your life. Love Him and trust that He will come through on every occasion. Then the easy part is just to be obedient...

...but that’s for another blog.

The lovers of God who chase after righteousness will find all their dreams come true: an abundant life drenched with favor and a fountain that overflows with satisfaction. Proverbs 21:21 (TPT)

Pray and ask the Father for new, fresh ideas, or ways to follow through with your current ones. God wants them. The church wants them, and you know what? I need them.  

On today's podcast, we wanted to cover a very important topic. It's forefront in our culture, yes, but it's also important in the church, too. Specifically, in worship and songwriting.  That topic is ... women in ministry. 

We here at The Worship Podcast (All About Worship & WeAreWorship) completely affirm and believe in the ability, anointing and commission of women to minister to the church body, and of course, to others around them. In a way, it's strange to even feel the need to type that sentence.  But as society and culture is starting to have some real confusion and controversy over this gender topic, we believe as Christians we should lead the way in freedom!  We should set the example in empowerment, equal contribution in the Kingdom of God and a general attitude of preferring one another.

Now, this is a huge topic!  So we wanted to sit down with someone who is making a real difference in this world.  Her name is Krissy Nordhoff.  She leads a ministry called "Brave Worship".  She's also an accomplished songwriter, anointed worship leader, wife, mother, and lucky for us, a friend of The Worship Podcast ministry!  It doesn't matter what "side of the aisle" you believe you are on when it comes to this topic - we can all benefit from having genuine conversation and even more important, listening.  

Find out more about Brave Worship and make sure to check out their podcast, as well!

And oh yeah, last (and certainly least in this case), Dustin & James don't mince words about their travels to India ... stomach issues and all.  Enjoy!

--------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Wisdom Moon & Morgan Shirey).

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

From the moment you read the title of this blog you probably started to formulate what you thought it meant. This is something that we all do on a regular basis without much effort… it just happens naturally. We see a title or just a snip-it of something and automatically start drawing conclusions as to what the context is. This is a habit that I am personally trying to break in my life and I hope that we (the church at large) can get better at this as well. But with that said… it is pretty natural to do so. 

This blog is not so much about the theological contradictions that we sing or write. It’s not about the actions we sing about and don’t do. (Like singing, “I lift my hands” while I play guitar and can’t. Or something like, “I bow down” while I am literally standing. Or even making grandiose declarations of what we are going to do for God but have no intention of really doing them.) I can think of a bunch of these but nevertheless… I digress. 

A few years ago I was prepping to speak at a worship school. It was in the early morning and I was asking the Holy Spirit what direction we should go. I had my Evernote App full of great ideas to speak on but then I heard the Spirit say something I wasn’t expecting… 1 Corinthians 13. To be honest, I kind of rolled my eyes. I was like, “The love stuff? Why? This in not a wedding or even Valentine’s Day. Why this passage for the worship school?” I open up my bible and read this: 

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. - 1 Corinthians 13:1 NIV

I immediately felt the Spirit overwhelm me with a thousand different thoughts, verses, experiences, and revelation. Through the tears the Holy Spirit connected the dots for me. Jesus boiled down most of his theology and teaching on the law to this: 

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  - Matthew 22:34-40 NIV

These few verses bring together the simplicity of living out a pure Christian life. I want to highlight them briefly for the sake of context. “Loving your neighbor AS yourself” begins with YOURSELF. This portion of the verse shows that you can only love someone else to the extent that you have learned to love yourself. If your love for yourself is conditional then your love for others will be conditional. If you cannot love the image of God in you… you will have a really hard time loving or even appreciating the image of God in someone else. This is reflected in 1 John 4:20 NIV 

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

 About 8 years ago I had an encounter with Lord that shook me. I was in the middle of a meeting somewhere that I won’t mention. I ended up leading worship in a service where the speaker was a very public figure that had a very public failure. As I stood in judgment over this man I heard these very clear words from the Father: “Who are you to judge the extent of My redemption? If you can’t love him… then there is a lot about Me you don’t love. No matter what he looks like to you now… he was created in my image. If you can’t love him, a man created in my image, then there is a piece of Me you are choosing not to love. It also shows that you’re ashamed of what you see in yourself somewhere deep down and haven’t learned to love yourself fully because you feel he deserves punishment. Deep down you feel you deserve punishment. Your view on this man is a reflection of your view of Me and yourself.” As I heard this I wept and repented. There was more said but for the sake of this blog you get the picture. 

So getting back to “The Contradictions in our Worship.” In 1 Corinthians 13:1 Paul uses the illustration of a cymbal or gong. This illustration stuck out to me that morning as I was studying for the Worship School. A cymbal or gong creates a crashing sound. We have all heard it before. They can be powerful and even beautiful in the right context surrounded by melody and song. Alone they can be hard, brash, and abrasive. As someone who spent many years drumming I knew this first hand. Scientifically a cymbal’s frequencies look like a big crash when viewed on a live monitor. These are contradicting frequencies that create something called dissonance. As I pondered the science of cymbals I began to question how many contradicting frequencies were in my worship? How much contradiction was in the Love I portrayed publicly and privately? How much contradiction is coming from the body of Christ in general? 

It’s like our body language is off. It’s like when someone tells you that they love you with no expression on their face or body to back it up. It’s harder to believe because the body language is not in line with what is being communicated. Jesus is the head saying and being the truth but we, His body, are doing a poor job at communicating his true intentions for the earth and people. Our actions are not lining up with our words. I could write another whole blog just about this but for the sake of staying focused… I digress again. 

So imagine this with me… I have a drummer come to the stage, sit down, and tell him, “When we start singing I want you to bang those cymbals as hard as you can.” I have the sound man cut up the overhead mics as loud as possible and ask the crowd to sing a worship song with me. As we begin to sing, a crash of cymbals hits the air! It is so loud that it drowns us out completely. We do this for about 30 seconds then stop. I turn to them and say: “This is what our Worship sounds like to heaven if we can’t love. If our love for ourselves, the people we’re leading, and Him don’t start coming together… the melody of our life is drowned out in our contradiction. It’s not that heaven doesn’t want to hear you… there is just a sound that is louder than your love in that moment and it sounds like the crash and dissonance of contradiction.” As I said all of this I began to hear people weep. It was so powerful. We all repented together for the contradictions in our worship and to this day it remains one of my favorite moments.  

Since this blog is directed mainly towards “Worship Leaders,” hear me on this. I believe some of the most powerful worship leaders I have ever heard have been the ones who learned to fall madly in love with the people they are leading (the Body of Christ.) Like really love them. Not just tolerate them. I believe that this is the doorway to the purest worship, heaven’s sound, or whatever metaphor you want to use. The sound we all long to hear and be a part of is found through some of the simplest teachings of Jesus. Love Him fully, love yourself fully, and love your neighbor fully. I don’t care how talented you are. If you’re doing these simple steps that Jesus lays out… your worship WILL be pure. Your worship and life will start to be free of contradiction. 

My challenge to you is this: Let’s get better at loving. I’ve done multiple albums… of course I care about excellence and writing great songs… but all of the most perfect worship sets and songs in the world could not compare to the sound of a people who have learned to love. Love well so that it keeps your motives pure. Love well so that heaven can hear the melodies/worship of your heart. Love well so that His body language is being communicated to the earth. Love well until the earth looks like heaven. 

On today's podcast: What do you believe? 

That's the question we discuss with Gabe Finocchio (The Royal Royal) as we dive into the, sometimes complex, worlds of doctrine & worship.  As worship leaders, we can easily neglect God's word & focus more on the songs themselves or our own church services.  Well today, we talk with Gabe about that journey between theology & our song.

We think what comes out could surprise you. Enjoy!

-----

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Wisdom Moon & Morgan Shirey).

Subscribe to the podcast and find the show notes:
https://linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Malcolm du Plessis has quite an incredible resumé when it comes to worship.  He talks about his background in this episode of The Worship Podcast.  However, he also talks about something - we believe - that is critical for every worship pastor, leader and song writer to understand.

And that is the evolution of worship over the past few decades.  Malcolm has experience and studied knowledge in this area, like few others do.  Listen in today with a close ear, and you may just find some answers to the question, "Why do we do things that way?", you've been asking.

-----

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Wisdom Moon & Morgan Shirey).

Subscribe to the podcast and find the show notes:
https://linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Practical time. Yep, this will be short and sweet but it changed the way I view people and how I now develop teams that can actively work together no matter their background, age or race. How? Here’s how:

John 13:34 - A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Whaaaat? It’s that simple? Oh yeah. That simple. Let me explain.

When I first started playing on worship teams, I was all about the production, the glitz, and the glamour. Now, I’m not saying any of that is bad, because it all can be quite good, if the motives are right. My biggest problem was that I didn’t care about anyone else on that stage, or in the congregation. My focus was on myself. That sounds vain and narcissistic for sure, and it was, but I soon learned that without knowing the people around me, the people that the above scripture was commanding me to love, I would never change.

Fortunately, I had a pastor in my life who knew the power of community and the power of this scripture.  As a worship team we were already spending a lot of time together (four services a week plus a practice night), yet we didn’t really know much about each other. Weird right? You can spend hours and hours with others and not know them at all. How much do you really know about your team? At times we can become so involved with our personal lives, we forget about those around us. THAT is not Kingdom.

The change started out easy for our team. Every once in a while instead of our practice nights, we would all go out for coffee. It was a simple gesture but it was super effective. We began to talk to each other, find out about job situations and families, likes and dislikes. Then, wouldn’t you know it? We began to like each other, prefer each other, LOVE each other. Now, it didn’t happen overnight. Not even in a month. But little by little we saw our lives begin to intertwine together. We had dinners, birthdays and special events together. And the more we began to care for each other, the more powerful our services became. Our worship began to come alive! God began to pour Himself out through our congregation and our community.

I know there is power in loving one another and it’s proven itself over and over in my life, in any circumstance. Maybe it’s something we always hear, but never consider? Perhaps making this lesson a season in your worship team could turn the tides for whatever breakthrough you are needing today.

The wonderful thing is, once it begins showing itself through your worship team it will naturally begin to reach into your congregations and communities.

Let love be the power that unifies your team today.

Worship in a vibrant Christian community was not anything new to me. I grew up in a church that had powerful worship experiences. I started leading worship when I was 15 years old.  I always had a passion and a love for worship but when I was 17 years old I had an experience that changed everything for me. 

I was at a conference that had extremely powerful worship. I was standing right in front of the platform. One of the worship leaders was a young woman close in age to me who was cute, passionate in worship and had a beautiful voice. For a young single Christian man, that was a huge catch. 

I was standing right in front of her during the worship time singing songs to Jesus and about Jesus but found myself gazing at her. My attention was clearly not on worshipping the God of the universe. In this moment I was more interested in His creation. It was pretty early on during the worship time that I had a nudge from the Holy Spirit to dance before Him. 

My response was an immediate “no way.” I may be a musician but I am a musician with 2 left feet.  The only dancing I knew how to do was jump up and down. I knew the Lord was drawing me to more. He was drawing me to something undignified. He was drawing me to Himself. He was trying to lead me to a place of freedom. How could I dance undignified when there was a cute girl in front of me? The truth is most don’t want to be undignified whether someone is around or not for the sake of feeling awkward. 

I kept superficially worshipping the Lord with words but not in obedience. As the worship time kept going, my nudge to dance before the Lord got stronger and stronger until it got to a point of such clarity that it was as if the Holy Spirit was standing face to face talking to me. I knew He was wanting my attention. By now the worship set had moved from fast songs to intimate songs, but my disobedience to the Spirit’s prompting was deeply bothering to me. 

Partial obedience is still disobedience!

I had always believed and been taught that anything but complete obedience was disobedience. So in the midst of a slow intimate worship song I finally submitted and danced before the Lord with full abandon. The best way I can describe it was I danced like a ballerina twirling before the Lord with full abandonment. I’m sure if there was a video camera on me at the time it would have made for a viral social media craze. Even right now I am sure you have a picture of this that is somewhat disturbing. The truth is nobody probably even noticed but what happened in me changed my life. 

It was in this moment of surrender that something broke in me. I had taken my eyes from a glance to gaze upon the King of Kings. This was not about a charismatic expression. This was about the Creator of the universe trying to get my attention and lead me into a place of complete freedom. I had moved from heart worship to all-in worship. It was no longer about my comforts, but about full obedience and a full gaze. What happened in me was freedom! It broke off fear of man, it broke off complacency, it broke off a partial worship mindset and moved me into a place of freedom! 

Freedom is not the absence of something but the presence of someone. Jesus! 

This moment of complete surrender in my worship lead me down a path that has forged the rest of my life. It moved me to deeper biblical study, to further intimacy with God and to walking in a place of freedom with the Lord that moved beyond my personality.  It led me to discover that my worship is more than a song, it’s a weapon. It led me to discover something special in the worship of King David that is meant for today. 

Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!  - Hebrews 12: 28-29 (Message)

 Worship changes our view. In my case I moved from a glimpse to a gaze. I got my attention in the right place. 

Worship is so much more than a service. How many of us come for the singing and completely forget what the first part of our service is about? There can be 2 people standing beside each other during service. One can be in the Holy of Holies and the other can be thinking about the business meeting he has next week. One person can have an encounter with God and the other person say it’s ok. The difference is what they are looking at. 

If you are not very interested, you will look somewhere else

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 3:18 

 The veil is taken off in Christ. When you look in a mirror, most of the time you look intently because you are trying to change the reflection of what you see to what you want to see. When we look at the Glory or manifest presence of God we literally will be changed. The Glory and the Word are a mirror. When you look intently at the word in worship you are changed.  

Pastor Jack Hayford states:

Worship changes you into the likeness of the one you are worshipping.

 Make sure your gaze is on Him!  

On today's podcast, we're sitting down with some powerful women in the faith - Krissy Nordhoff and Amanda Blankenship.  We're talking about an important subject for church leaders in general, but especially Worship Leaders, the motivation of ministry.  Enjoy!

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Wisdom Moon & Morgan Shirey).

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Today's podcast is a sit down with the hosts of All About Worship, Dustin Smith & James Galbraith, talking about the important of valuing people, over the titles or positions we hold.  God has asked us to be responsible - able to gauge a response - for the people we lead.  Enjoy!

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Wisdom Moon & Morgan Shirey).

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

In a world where people chase fads, originality is hard to come by. Whether it’s music, fashion, or even the words we say, people are always chasing things to remain relevant.

This is visible in churches. You can see it on our stages. Gone are the days of the huge wooden pulpits. They’ve been replaced by tall tables you’d see at a coffee shop. There is nothing wrong with this. I have no problem with it. It’s just a visual representation of what our culture is like.

Our clothing has changed. Worship leaders, both men and women, are wearing tighter and tighter clothes. It’s interesting because when I was growing up, men wore suits and ties. If you were on stage you had to look presentable. From my understating it came from an idea of dressing your best for the Lord. Again, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this either. There’s actually a lot of honor for God at the heart of it. However, with the motivation of trying to reach young people, we’ve changed our dress code to make them feel more comfortable. 

Slowly but surely, we’ve made church more about making people feel comfortable than to establish a heart in the people to honor God. It’s a fine line though. How do we remain relevant and still honor God without being legalistic? It’s pretty tough but there is a way, I believe.

We as worship leaders must look at what we’re chasing. For me, even in songwriting, I have to take a step back sometimes and look at what I’m chasing. Am I chasing God or the things he’s created? Chasing God or the gifts he’s given? Church leaders get burned out by chasing the wrong things. 

The bible says in Isaiah 40 NLT . . .

Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings of eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. 

 We get burned out by running after things we think people want us to be. What has God called you to be? To do? Are we giving God what He desires with our life? 

I’ll leave you with a scripture that has both inspired and convicted me. 

I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me?  - Amos 5:21

Let that sink in. When’s the last time you sang to him? Chase him and chase His righteousness. Everything else will come after that. You will run and not grow faint.

Today's podcast is a car ride talk with one of our favorite people in the world - Michael Farren.  We're talking about the dangers of isolation ... it's a sneaky weapon of the enemy uses (many times) against creatives and leaders alike.  When you don't know you're isolating yourself from people and relationships, you need an answer; A shift.  Listen in to find out what that shift was for these guys, and what it might be for you too. Enjoy!

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Wisdom Moon & Morgan Shirey).

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

On this episode of The Worship Podcast, Dustin & James talk funny stories from leading worship, break down what community really means in a team environment, and do we really know how to do it effectively?  Worship leaders have to care about people.   Not unlike .... well you'll just have to listen.  Enjoy!

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Morgan Shirey).

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

On this episode of The Worship Podcast, Dustin and James talk about their experience in revival movements, as well as lessons learned and things to consider for your worship experience.  What's the new sound?  Where is the sound of worship headed?  You might be surprised at their answer.

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

One of the battles that every worship leader faces, and will face until their time in ministry comes to an end, is that of valuing and expressing said value to the members of their worship teams. I know some of you are probably thinking, “Battle seems like a strong word,” but trust me, I used it for a reason. The battle is not whether it is essential and vital to the growth and strengthening of a ministry, rather the struggle lies in being intentional on a week-to-week basis when every moment of your day is already spoken for. There’s no doubt that the vast majority of you hold a deep appreciation for those who serve on your teams, but let’s face it, sometimes demonstrating that appreciation can start to feel like a chore when time is limited and funds are even more scarce. 

The people on our teams give and give of themselves and their resources, most often uncompensated - sometimes once or twice a month, sometimes weekly, and sometimes multiple times a week. We get our systems in place for how things operate so that hopefully no one is stretched too thin, then before we know it, it’s been 3 months since we displayed any form of gratitude. So how do we approach valuing our team members in a way that is genuine and effective, but doesn’t take up so much of our time and energy that we start to lose the heart behind it?

I’d like to put 5 ideas and strategies on the table. Some of them at first glance might not seem like a direct form of appreciation, but the result is still a well-valued team member with a desire to serve as faithfully as ever. Some of these systems, once they’re in place, still have the same punch of esteem but don’t require as much from you as you might think, which makes for a win-win if you ask me. Let’s dive in . . .

Foster Community

This is the single-most important thing you could do for your team in order to produce longevity and an all-in attitude. There is only so much bonding and knitting-of-hearts that can happen in a 1-hour rehearsal and 30-minute sound check. But creating opportunities outside of a Sunday morning for your team members to be together and get to know each other can cultivate a depth of relationship that will translate onto the stage in a powerful way. And what’s great is that it doesn’t have to be a lot of work on your part. It could be a family meet-up at a local park one Saturday afternoon, a potluck at the church one evening, or reserving a big room at a restaurant where everyone goes dutch. Maybe planning things like that aren’t in your wheelhouse - that’s okay - tap a couple of team members or their spouses and let them run with it. They’ll love owning a special piece of the ministry and you just get to enjoy loving on your people. Another great way to foster community is to do projects together. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a recording project either. It could be a special Christmas or Easter production. Some of the most memorable and team building times for the worship ministry I served on staff with for 12 years before moving to Nashville were our productions and live projects. You’re all there working together, rehearsing, fine tuning, tweaking . . . then the day comes where all your hard work pays off. And what you’re left with is a new depth of relationship and trust that wasn’t there before. The old saying is true . . . “the family that plays together, stays together.” You’ll be amazed at how far such a small investment will take your team.

Dive Deeper

While relational community within your team is critical, the other side of that coin is depth of spiritual community. If you are relying on the lyrics to the songs you lead each week being the sole source of spiritual development, you will be left sorely disappointed. As their worship pastor, you are not just their team lead, you are a shepherd. It is imperative that you seize or create opportunities to pour into their spiritual well-beings on a regular basis. This doesn’t have to be super time-consuming. it can be as simple as a 5-10 minute devotional at the start of rehearsal or a once-a-quarter time of worship and prayer together. Whatever it might look like, just make it intentional. The return on investment will be a team of people who are not just helping lead songs on Sundays, but are actually living them out daily. This will undoubtedly take the effectiveness of your ministry and its influence to the next level. 

Create Accountability

This falls into that category of “how exactly does this show value?” But I promise it will set your team up for success you didn’t know was possible. Within a worship ministry this can look several different ways. It can be as simple as having a set of requirements regarding church attendance and membership, small group participation, or reliability. Beyond that it can look like expecting continued growth in skill, willingness to serve where needed versus where preferred, and expectations regarding behavior outside of church. I know that it can seem sticky when you’re dealing with a team of volunteers because if you’re not paying them, it feels awkward imposing and enforcing a list of requirements and expectations.  BUT it is hard-wired into our DNA that when we are held to a high standard, we will work harder to rise to the occasion and do so with pride. In my experience, a huge shift took place within our ministry when we began setting up systems of expectations and disciplines for not meeting them. Our team members began stepping up and serving in ways we didn’t know they could. Musicians began growing, vocalists became more confident, tech volunteers started serving with a deeper since of honor. Why? Because they had an understanding that they were part of a team that not just anyone can walk onto. They were part of something that, if accepted, means you have something important to bring to the table. So as their leaders, we should have no qualms with holding them up to that standard. 

Expect Excellence

Excellence does not equate to perfection. I realize that seems like an obvious statement, but sometimes we can unknowingly heap undue pressure onto our team members rather than push them toward a new level of mastery in their particular skill. That’s where expecting versus demanding comes into play. To demand excellence communicates that 1) they’re playing for you and not for the Lord and 2) their place the table is contingent solely on their performance. To expect excellence from your team members forces us as the leaders to share in bearing the responsibility. If there is a certain standard of skill you need on the stage each week, then it’s your job to make sure your audition process is streamlined in such a way that only certain levels of players and singers make the team. ** Side note - if this is the case, then it will behoove you to make sure you have other opportunities for those not quite ready for the main stage to serve. This will set your worship ministry up for years of success. ** Once your team is in place, it’s also up to you to make sure that your set lists each week are in step with the skill level of your band. I’m not saying to dumb down songs for certain players and save the big ones for others. But I think there is a fine line between challenging your band and setting them up for failure. If we are going to expect excellence of our teams, then it is our job to make sure that the songs we choose are able to be executed well and with confidence. When we hold up our end of that bargain, then we should be able to expect nothing less than excellence. In return, your team members will feel valued because it will be clear that much thought and consideration has gone into the preparation and choices for that week. 

Communicate Appreciation

I specifically chose the word communicate here because this gives us a blank canvas to work with when it comes to conveying how we value our team members. Most of what we’ve talked about up until now have been passive means to show your appreciation. This piece is a proactive, intentional effort to express your gratitude and regard for the work your volunteers put in weekly. It can be as simple as we follow up email to those who served that week letting them know how much you appreciate the time and energy they gave or as personal as a phone call expressing something specific you value in that volunteer. Even as personal a touch as a hug on Sunday morning followed by a specific word of encouragement will fill up a volunteer’s tank for weeks. If you’re part of a church that has a decent budget, then putting your money where your mouth is speaks volumes as well. Again, the range for how this looks is wide. It could be anything from donuts and kolaches before sound check on Sunday morning to a quarterly dinner with the whole ministry team where you take the chance to express how thankful you are for each of them. However you approach it, the only essential key is communication. Our words are powerful and directing them toward building up our teams will bear immeasurable fruit.

At the end of the day, valuing and expressing that value to your worship team will set your ministry apart in the best way. It can seem daunting to some, but it doesn’t have to be. Eventually, after some practice and with a little creativity, it becomes a natural overflow because you see the effects of it almost immediately. Not to mention the fact that in just about every case, that same value and appreciation will be reciprocated back to you from your volunteers, so everyone wins! 

Last weekend I went camping. Yep, tents, fires and axes. Now, I am FAR from a camping guy, but a certain ministry called Be Fierce was needing some worship and I filled the void.  Be fierce is a ministry that is, right now, dedicated for men. So I went and did what we all think men love...camp. It was three days of seventy-plus guys getting together and seeing what God would do among them. What happened next surprised me.

Now, you may ask, what does this have to do with worship? Or leading worship? Well, nothing really, except through that weekend I began to realize the power of brotherhood and how that can impact our families and communities.

You see there is power when we all get together and worship. The power of all. This is especially impacting when it is men functioning in this activity. Hmmm, in this day and age that may sound sexist, but Be Fierce has a mission and passion to see fathers turning back to their sons, and sons to their fathers. Also, for men to be handed the right tools to better take their honorable positions in their local churches. So, it’s not something that is sexist, but it is addressing the issue that has allowed men to sit back and watch their wives, sisters and daughters take positions that shouldn’t be theirs to have to take on.

The weekend was soon filled with voices raised and a fight in the spirit. I saw men come alive with the presence of God. It wasn’t through super hyped church services (only me and a guitar) or an overwhelmingly good sermon,  but through continued service to each other, shoulder to shoulder through activity and common union. There was brotherhood, and for many reasons that has been hard to come by. Be Fierce as a ministry had hit the nail on the head and saw a need for Fathers and sons alike to experience God, not through a good church service, but through each other - even if that was around a campfire or even in a tent. In this, they became stronger. They worshipped harder. They laughed louder and they helped disciple each other.

I can imagine the cave times with David and his soon-to-be mighty men looked similar. Men that talked and listened, worshiped and fought together through the best and worst times of their lives.

So, we shouldn’t neglect the need for men to stand strong together. Be Fierce encourages that, and they are seeing stronger families and churches because of it.

Today Dustin and James talk about all those pesky little distractions during worship. Is flag waving, pottery and painting true expressions of worship? I mean…really? Can someone be too loud during our praise and worship sets? Are these really distractions to us? Take a listen and let’s find out.

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Have you ever had a worship team member that just goes too far?  We have.  And one of them may be on this show!

Join Dustin, James and special guest, Erica, as we talk about how to best manage your worship teams in the most dire situations. Being a worship leader means working with people and people aren't always perfect! How do you handle those issues?  How do you keep things right on your team with God, but also care about the individuals?  We talk through hypotheticals, but for some of you listening, these circumstances might not be hypothetical.  Have a listen and see if you can relate.

We'd love to hear from some of our listeners about situations you've found yourselves in, and how you handled them with your team!

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

If you’ve been attending a church with a contemporary bent for any length of time, then you’ve likely sung songs on a regular basis written by a gentleman named Jesse Reeves. Jesse has co-written on some of the most widely known worship songs of our generation such as How Great It Our God, Lord I Need You, and Our God - just to name a few. 

Growing up in the Bible Memory Association, Jesse’s spiritual life consisted mostly of rules and regulations, until September 23, 1990 when he met Jesus at the ages of 15 and his life was changed forever. A rancher’s son, his love for playing music left his father stumped, but he continued following his passion and played with a band all the way through college. Then in 1997, Jesse met a country boy from Grand Saline, TX named Chris Tomlin who asked him if he’d like to lead worship, to which Jesse responded in all sincerity that he didn’t know what that was. At this point in the contemporary worship movement, the term “worship leader” hadn’t really caught on. There were music ministers, and that definitely was not the route Jesse wanted to go. But the two had lunch and the rest was history. 

I, myself, was raised in the church as the daughter of a Baptist youth minister (or student pastor as they’re called these days), and I was finishing up my high school years in youth group right about the time all of this was taking place. In fact, much of the soundtrack to the season in my life when God called me to ministry and began shaping and forming my passion for leading worship was penned and recorded by these two Texas boys. So to find myself today sitting in an 8,000 sq. ft. mountain lodge at a writing camp with the likes of Jesse Reeves is a full-circle, what-even-is-my-life moment to say the least. 

Nevertheless, you better believe I took full advantage of the opportunity to sit down with Jesse and talk about his heart for worship, the worship leader, and this next generation that God is raising up. I asked him first about the role that worship has had in his life growing up and how it has evolved throughout his time in ministry. 

“If you’re talking about the expression of worship through music, growing up it was just hymns and they didn’t mean anything to me. But now looking back, I have a huge appreciation for my childhood and learning those songs, because I learned what it means to teach theology through lyrics. It’s a lost art and so I’m very passionate about trying to revive some of that. And I’ve done this long enough to see that everything is on a pendulum. When I first started playing, everything sounded like U2, and then everything sounded like Coldplay, and then everything sounded like Mumford & Sons, and now it’s probably like Chainsmokers. And I just always come back to the question of ‘If the Spirit of the living God lives inside of us, why aren’t we creating things that are original and better than what the world is doing, instead of trying to chase what they’re doing?’ I do understand the context of being relevant and playing stuff that’s going to resonate with people, but I always want to come back to what the Spirit of the living God wants to hear, not what we want to play.”

Over his 20+ years in the worship leading world, Jesse has stood on every platform and stage imaginable and in front of every crowd size imaginable. I would venture to guess that making that mental shift from event to event and church to church had to require some form of finesse and adaptability. So I asked him what it looked like for him to make that adjustment, especially as it relates to transitioning out of touring and back into the local church setting.

“I would say that I’ve worked my way all the way to the bottom, and I think it’s kind of where I want to be. I didn’t always want to be there and it wasn’t an easy journey. I have been to the mountain top of Christian music and definitely want to honor that, but I very specifically was called out of that. It was through a sermon that I heard from Tommy Nelson. He was preaching on the anointing of David as king. If you go back and read 1 Samuel 16, they are looking to anoint the next king of Israel. Samuel shows up and they have this parade of all of Jesse’s sons . . . this is Eliab, this is Abinadab, this is Shammah . . . they went through seven sons, to which Samuel’s response was that none of these are the king, do you have any others?  Jesse says that yes, he has one other son but that he was in the field tending the sheep. Now when I was listening to this sermon, I was on a run training for a marathon, so I was a good 15 miles from my house. Tommy Nelson said one statement and it was this. “What God is looking for in a man is a man that more concerned about the sheep than the parade.” And I don’t know why, but that’s when the Holy Spirit wrecked me and I literally started weeping. I was still running, but now I’m running with my hands in the air and I’m saying “Jesus, I’m listening.” On a public path by the way. People are passing me thinking that this guy has lost his mind. But that was a moment in my life when Jesus started trying to get my attention. Hear me say this, there is nothing wrong with the parade. God sent Samuel to the parade. There’s a time and a place for the parade. But our generation lives for the parade and there’s not enough people who care about the sheep. I feel like that’s my mission in life going forward, to simply care for sheep. The parade will take care of itself. So to bring it back around to the question, yes I’ve been in megachurches to now I have a house church of about 20 people that meets in my home and it’s awesome. And right now, my favorite worship leader on the planet is the girl who leads worship in my house, because she has an anointing on her, and to get 20 people to sing in a living room is actually way harder than getting 10,000 people to sing because it’s awkward, but it’s beautifully awkward. And she has an authority on her that she can pull this out of people and turn people’s eyes on Jesus in such a way that you forget there’s only 20 people in the room. That’s something I haven’t seen in a long time.”

Reeves has a strong passion for pouring into worship leaders and songwriters and has done so in different ways over the past several years since settling back down with his family in Austin, TX. We discussed the fact that it seems like every generation of worship leaders has something that really marks them. For our particular generation, we were a part of that group that sort of stepped in right as that transition from traditional to blended to contemporary was really gaining its momentum, and so maturing as a worship leader looked very different from what it does now. I asked Jesse what he thinks the “mark” is for this current generation of worship leaders taking up roles in the church and coming into their own as leaders, and what it might look like for them to reach their full potential. 

“While I don’t want to make a blanket statement about it, I do feel like we have a generation of people who looked at my generation and saw what we did and thought, “That’s really cool, I want to do that.” And so we have a large percent of churches with people filling the platform that wanted to do that because it was cool, instead of because they have a calling on their life from God. So honestly I think what’s marking this generation is that, but I’m also not a doomsday-er. I don’t think all is lost. I think what God is calling people to right now, and you can see it across the nation, God is calling people out who are authentic. And that is who is rising to the top. I read a book called The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch and he says that this next generation wants three things . . . they want authenticity, they want community, and they want social justice. And if they don’t find those things in the church, they’re just not going to go. My generation will go to church just to check a box. Not this next generation. I think what is going to have to mark this generation is for true worship leaders to figure out how to reach them because they’re not going to come to us. Which means we’re going to have to lead worship not with just songs. We’re going to have to lead worship with our actions. So maybe God is raising up a new generation of worship leaders that has very little to do with music. Look at Romans 12:1.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.

That’s our definition. That definition doesn’t say anything about music, it doesn’t say anything about songs. We’ve had a whole generation that defines worship by our songs. God defines our worship by the degree to which we present our bodies as a living sacrifice. So what I pray is that the next generation will lead the charge in that. That’s something I would be willing to follow.”

As you can imagine, there’s not a whole lot to say after that, except this . . . where are you pouring out? Where are you investing your resources and energy? Is it into the parade or is it into the sheep? This is probably a question that we as worship leaders need to ask and re-ask ourselves on a regular basis. Like Jesse said, neither is right or wrong and there is a time and place for both. But it is always worth checking in periodically to make sure we are spending ourselves where He wants us spending ourselves. The alternatively will leave us simply exhausted. 

It's been said that, "change is a part of life."  Why, then, do we tend to struggle with it?  Whether in your personal life, your professional life or anywhere else, change can be uncomfortable.  In today's episode, Dustin and James talk about change from the perspective of worship teams, and how to not only get through it, but to grow through it.  GASP!

We'd love to hear from some of our listeners about situations that have changed in your world of worship, and how you handled that - both good and bad!  How did your team handle the change, and how did God help you lead them through it?

And of course, we hope everyone has an awesome & restful Thanksgiving with friends & family.  Until next time!

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Over the years I have found myself in the midst of teams, as well as leading them. Here are some of my thoughts around qualities that make a great worship team member. 

1.  THEY UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE AND POWER OF UNITY

They champion the vision of the church, team and leaders, and they are responsive and vocal about it.

They esteem others! They celebrate the wins of the team and individuals.

They always speak well of church, team, and leadership. 

2.  THEY ALWAYS COME PREPARED AND READY

They learn the songs. They know the repertoire.

They maintain their instruments and gear at a professional level.

They always bring their best to the platform, and they understand that this is a part of their worship. 

3.  THEY ARE TEACHABLE

They are willing and eager to learn.

They don’t just wait to be told, they are pro-active in asking ‘what can I do better?’.

They have the maturity and humility to handle correction, even when it is something that they may find hard to hear.

4.  THEY ARE CONSISTENT

They always have an attitude of excellence.

They live, not without, but above their emotions.

They are always warm, friendly and kind. They are approachable and relational.

They are loyal, reliable and faithful.

5.  THEY PRAY AND READ THEIR BIBLE

They have a devotional life of their own.

They prioritise their relationship with Jesus.

They are regularly in prayer and the word of God

They are a worshiper!

For more articles by Dan and the C3 staff, visit www.c3music.com/blog/. 

Dustin and James answer YOUR most pressing questions. On this episode we cover everything from distractions to multiple services, being the authority to playing at the back of the church. You won’t want to miss these tips on living a better church life!

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship providing weekly worship resources.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Anyone who has been serving in the local church long enough knows that ministry is a 24/7 - 365 gig. There is no off-season. There are no slow months. And there definitely is no such thing as part-time. In fact, those times of the year when everyone else is enjoying extra time with family and friends, church leadership is usually pulling overtime like it’s a lifeline.

As I type these words, we are waist deep in the Christmas season. Trees are up and decorated. Garland is strung on anything that will sit still. Sales are in full bloom. On the church front children’s Christmas programs are wrapping up, Christmas Eve service times are being blasted all over social media, and worship leaders all over the world are trying to figure out the perfect set lists. 

That all sounds so simple, doesn’t it? 

If only that were the case. But for most people in church leadership, the Christmas season is anything but simple. I don’t know about you, but this year in particular seems uncharacteristically heavy. It feels like every time I turn around, I learn about someone else in my little corner of the world who is walking through something tragic . . . a death, job loss, divorce, a diagnosis, and the list goes on. Sure, there are plenty of wonderful things happening in the midst, but the fight every single day is to not let those wonderful things get overshadowed by the not-so-wonderful. And I have a feeling that until Jesus comes, that fight is going to get tougher every year. 

So as worship leaders, what role do we play in helping both our worship team members and the people we serve navigate a season that at times can feel more joyless than joyful? Unfortunately there is no secret formula, but I do have a few tips that might resonate with some of you who are entering into Christmas surrounded by people who are suffering, or even walking a tough road yourself.

1. Acknowledge the hurt.

A precious friend of mine lost her 2 1/2 year old little boy unexpectedly right before Thanksgiving this year. Not terribly long after his death, she posted a quote that basically said not to avoid mentioning him out of fear of somehow reminding her that he was gone. She hasn’t forgotten, and never will. Instead what you’re reminding her of is that he lived. The people around us who are hurting don’t wake up some days having forgotten what is going on. They don’t walk through the doors of our churches and suddenly feel all better. So what good does it do for us to tip toe and pretend like nothing is going on, whether face to face or from the stage? When the Bible tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep, it doesn’t say anything about holidays being exceptions or saving it for certain settings. The church operates at her best when she comes around those hurting especially at times like these. So call it for what it is - painful - and you might be amazed at the new level of freedom that is felt in the room.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. - Romans 12:15

1. Give a reason to celebrate.

When everything is on the table and there is a rich sense of acceptance for everyone regardless of their mental, emotional, or spiritual state, the door to authentic celebration tends to open a little easier. It may not look the same as the person sitting next to them, but reminding them of the truths of who God is, what He’s done, and what He’s still doing will always prove fruitful - even if it’s just one more layer of doubt being broken off. At their lowest points, those who are hurting need to be reminded that there are still things in their lives to find joy in. Then once they are tapping into that joy that only comes from the Lord, they begin to experience a renewed strength they might not have thought was possible.

Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. - Nehemiah 8:10

1. Root it all in HOPE.

The most important piece to the puzzle of loving well those who are hurting is to keep everything established and fixed on HOPE. Nothing you say or do is going to make things all better for them or take their pain away, but the HOPE of Christ can and will move the needle. If a hurting person leaves your presence or your church service knowing and believing that things will not always feel this way and that Jesus is able to replace their suffering with victory, their pain with joy, and their grief with peace, then you’ve done your job well. So keep HOPE as your North Star. Center it all around the fact that a baby was born to change everything, that our current sufferings are not in vain, that He wastes nothing. 

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

Whether it’s someone on your team walking through the most painful time of his or her life or a family in your congregation experiencing a tragedy, you have been given the opportunity to breathe life back into a place where death has begun settling in. Pray for open eyes to see the hurt around you. Ask the Lord to open doors for you to speak into those lives. Make the most of those chances and watch the Holy Spirit do what He does best. 

Christmas, a time for reflection and awe for the upcoming…PRESENTS!! Wait, what? Just kidding, its for Jesus. Right? Join James and Dustin as we talk about the stresses of the Christmas season and how best to overcome it.

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Welcome to 2019!!

Today we're talking about the top New Year's Resolutions!  And guess what?  They're very similar to 2018 :)  Which begs the question, are we doing ourselves any favors with making new resolutions?  But it is still good to set goals ... hmmm ...

Listen in and see where it all ends up!

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Dustin and James talk about the current worship culture. Big topic right? They talk through image and what the culture of worship looks like, and maybe what it should (and could) look like.

You won’t want to miss the insights here from some of the best worship leaders in the world. OK, that's highly debatable, but they’ve been around for ages, at least ...

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Is it just me, or does it seem like every time things start to look up in your world, it’s almost immediately followed by a big, proverbial waah-waah? 

Like literally yesterday, after a phenomenal weekend of celebrating my 40th birthday, my boys started back to school and when my oldest (who is in 6th grade - aka THE WORST) came home, he brought with him a load of homework that should’ve taken an hour or less. But instead, I spent the hours between 4:00pm and 7:00pm working overtime to not say all the worst cuss words out loud in front of my child, because he had decided that everything else on planet earth was more important than his homework - “everything” meaning our dog, the smudges on the wall behind him, where the light in the window was coming from, and whether it’s been long enough since his last pack of fruit snacks to get another one. 

Why is it that just when we enter into what feels like a season of good news, lurking just around the corner is some sort of bad news. Sometimes it’s silly, insignificant things like my situation yesterday. But other times it’s not so silly. 

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas this past year, things in my own personal world experienced an enormous shift that would leave me in a place vocationally that I’ve dreamed of for as long as I can remember dreaming. However, in the other corner of the ring that is my life, my sweet husband is enduring the most trying season of work that he’s ever had to deal with and for the most part, it is succeeding at robbing every ounce of joy and peace in our home that it can. 

For some other friends of ours, in the midst of celebrating and gearing up for the birth of their 2nd baby later this spring, they suddenly lost their two year old son. So for them, excitement and expectation has been replaced with devastation and grief. Yet each day they fight. They fight for hope and joy and love and the future. 

I think that part of this strange cycle can be chalked up to life just being life. But I also can’t help but wonder if some of it has to do with the unseen, spiritual battle waging around us every single day specifically against those of us who serve the local church and strive to abide in the kingdom. 

Paul reminds us:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  - Ephesians 6:12

But Jesus also said:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. - John 16.33

So while I would love to tell you that this piece is full of tips on how to avoid the bad news so that you can relish the good, alas it is not. But what I would like to do is encourage you, my brothers and sisters in ministry, to remember and bank on a few things.

1. You are not alone! Not only do you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, giving you the power to endure it all, you are surrounded by a host of others who are experiencing the same dichotomy of good and bad, victory and loss, rejoicing and mourning. You have not somehow been singled out to be forgotten by the Father.
2. Leaning is not weakness! Even Moses had to rely on Aaron and Hur when his arms grew weak. God gives us people to press into so that we don’t have to carry our burdens alone. We at All About Worship would love to be that for those of you out there on the front lines where perhaps there isn’t a ready stock of support. 
3. There is an “other side”! Jesus’ promise to us holds all the weight that we need to endure the days that seem riddled with bad news. When we take each circumstance to Him, His response is “Done! I’ve overcome it!” That doesn’t mean we immediately feel relief and things are resolved. But sometimes, knowing that truth helps us take the next breath, gives us what we need to press forward, and believe that He’s still in control.
4. Rejoicing and mourning can coexist! When something good is followed by something not-so-good, don’t overlook the victory. The enemy would love to see us move right past celebrating and acknowledging something God provided or did for us into dwelling on the negative. But it’s important that we delight in and make much of the moments when God shows his faithfulness and favor. Sometimes, those moments are what will carry us through the hard ones.

As long as we are on this side of heaven, good news and bad news will always live next door to one another and there really is nothing we can do about that. What we can do though is steady our hearts to be ready for both at any given moment. We do that by arming ourselves with the truths and promises in His Word, by surrounding ourselves with others to fight alongside, by worshiping even when it doesn’t make sense, and by praying first in every situation.

If there is ever a way that All About Worship can come alongside you as you make your way through the up and down seasons of ministry life, never hesitate to reach out on here, email us at info@allaboutworship.com, or find us on social media. We are for you and will do whatever we can to support you in your various places. Feel free to comment below specific ways we can be praying for you in the coming weeks.

This episode we went LIVE! With special guest Michael Farren, we discuss working with different leaders, and different personalities and strengths those people have in leadership.  It begs a big question, "how can you best communicate with those in leadership over you?"  Sometimes it's best to ask those questions to people who have had years of experience, in the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.

Listen in and find out!

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

This week James and Dustin talk through the importance of discipleship and how it can strengthen our day lives. Do we really need it? How does true discipleship function? See what the guys have to say in this weeks episode. 

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Over the years many scriptures have come alive to me as I sought out what it means to be a worshipper of God.  Not all scriptures that have made an impact on me were nice little encouragements. I am not sure how God speaks to you, but He is usually pretty straightforward with me.  One of the more straightforward scriptures that have molded my worship is found in Amos 5:21-24(MSG),

“I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans, and goals.  I’m sick of your fundraising schemes, your public relations, and image making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.”

Ouch!  Yep. That definitely cuts to the chase.  This is a great reminder to take a step back from all of the activity and the noise and realize it is easy to lose focus of what and who really matters.  We can sing our songs, say our prayers, amen through every sermon and when it is all said and done, never really put into practice the things we just heard and declared.  A.W Tozer said it best when he said, “Christians don’t tell lies, they just go to church and sing them.”

We speak of hope but ignore the hopeless. We sing about healing but never reach out our hands to the sick. We cry out for prosperity, but mostly for self-preservation. We ask God to give us the nations, but don't speak out against racial injustice in our own communities.  There is such a thing as worthless worship. It is worship that has words but no action. It is worship that has sound but no heart. Jesus defines it in Mark 7:6-7, when he quotes the prophet Isaiah saying,

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’"

Those two phrases, “Their hearts are far from me” and “They worship me in vain”, shake me to my core.  I don’t want to be that type of worshipper. I refuse to just go through the motions. I have been a part of the church for a long time, and many times it has felt like we were saying all the right things, but doing nothing.  We have made powerful declarations, sung all of the songs, prayed the prayers, but God is asking us to take action. He doesn’t want to hear us just talk about love; He wants to see it lived out. He is not only asking us to sing about justice; He wants to see us fight for it.  He doesn’t want us to just dream of every nation, tribe and tongue worshipping; He wants us to facilitate it. May we be a people whose hearts burn for God and may our worship become justice that flows like a river and mercy that runs like a stream!!

Managing creatives can be a tough job, throw in the element of youthfulness and it can be downright chaotic! So, how should we managing those wanting to be all they can for God without all the wild and crazy, or is the wild and crazy a good thing?

So many questions! Take a listen as James and Dustin tackle this important but needed topic.

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

Chicago set the post-1900 record for losses in a season, going 41-121.