Worship

Excellence is not an end in itself, rather a means to an end. God gave us His best and gave us a world created with excellence in every way. Our end as believers is the ministry of reconciliation. II Corinthians 5:18.

When we steward our gift and master our medium it allows us to offer our best to God and communicate the excellence of God and His kingdom to the world in a way worthy of the Kingdom. God never said “that’s close enough” and neither should we.

Mastering Our Medium

A.W. Tozer

God has honored human speech by using it as a medium through which to express His message of salvation, first in the inspired Scriptures and afterwards in a thousand languages and dialects among the nations of mankind. Language is the mighty organ upon which may be played the joyous oratorio of redemption for the blessing of men and for the high honor of God.

Among the countless gifts of God, one of the most precious to us is our beautiful, expressive English tongue. That such a gift should be neglected by busy men and women in their wild race to make a living is at least understandable, if unfortunate; but that it should be neglected as well by the ministers of the sanctuary is not only impossible to understand but completely inexcusable.

For the very reason that God has committed His saving truth to the receptacle of human language, the man who preaches that truth should be more than ordinarily skillful in the use of language. It is necessary that every artist master his medium, every musician his instrument. For a man calling himself a concert pianist to appear before an audience with but a beginner’s acquaintance with the keyboard would be no more absurd than for a minister of the gospel to appear before his congregation without a thorough knowledge of the language in which he expects to preach.

Tozer Devotional :: The Alliance

When I used to lead worship every Sunday I would often have people say to me “I just don’t worship that way” meaning outward and enthusiastic. They would say I have a heart of worship or I’m just a quiet person.

The question I always struggled with was can we say “I just don’t worship that way”? This is a great response from Gloria Copeland. I would love your thoughts.

Created to Praise Gloria Copeland

Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.– Psalm 150:6

We’re created to praise God. Some people don’t know that. When the praise service starts, they sit back and say, “I’m not comfortable with all that singing and shouting. I guess praise is just not my thing.

“Yes it is! According to the Bible, if you breathe, you were meant to praise.

And don’t try to slip by with saying, “Well, I have praise in my heart.” That’s not enough. The Word says you need to have it in your mouth as well! (Ps. 34:1) Psalm 132:9 says, “Let thy saints shout for joy.” You can’t shout and be quiet at the same time.

When you first begin to truly praise, it may seem awkward to you, but if you’ll keep it up, it will become a way of life. Why? Because praise causes the glory of God to manifest in your life. It causes you to walk in the light of His countenance (Ps. 89:15). It will start a revival inside of you!

“But, Gloria, if I start to praise like that, people will think I’m some kind of fanatic.”

Well, good! Did you know that every revival in history has been started by people the world considered absolute fanatics? God does things differently than the world. So when you set aside your inhibitions and start letting His Spirit operate through you, you’re going to look strange to those who are strangers to His ways…but you’re going to look wonderful to the Lord!

And, by the way, don’t just think of praising Him in the congregation. Praise Him in your own private prayer time and throughout your day. Learn to maintain an attitude of praise and thanksgiving. When praise becomes natural to you in your own private life, it won’t be difficult to praise Him in the midst of the congregation.

Are you longing for a revival of God’s presence in your life? Are you tired of just hearing about the glorious manifestations of His power in the past? Then open your mouth and your heart and do what God has created you to do. Praise!

Scripture Reading: Psalm 150

Kenneth Copeland Ministries | From Faith to Faith Daily Devotional

Wow, God is so good.

I had a great time in Kansas City helping to lead worship for the Stonecroft Ministries Impact 08 conference. The speakers were excellent Sara Groves was excellent and the women who attended were so gracious.

The team was very talented, full of love for God, HIs presence, and His people. What a privilege to be a part of it. Here are a few pictures:

Counting On God official E-Card

Check it out.

Counting On God

What an amazing God we serve. This is a bit of a sermon entitled “How Great is our God”.

It’s a must see on God Tube. Wow!

http://tinyurl.com/3ukxhq

This is a really fun site and full of funny stuff but this one really nailed it I thought.

Enjoy.

#185. Good enough for the church (or God’s love letter to artists)

Like a lot of things on this site, you’ll probably never hear someone deem something, “good enough for the church.” But if you’ve spent any amount of time in the church, chances are you’ve bumped up against this. One of the top worship leaders in the country drove this home for me when he recently said the reason people liked his work was that he was “from the recording industry and had never believed something was good enough for the church.”
I think this happens for a number of reasons. Sometimes it is financial. Not everyone has the budget of a mega church. So they’ll ask for the “ministry rate” when it comes to work. But often that means, “we’d like your B- quality work.” Sometimes it’s a matter of resources. If volunteers are tithing their time it’s hard to do a massive musical with just 10% of someone’s commitment. Other times it’s a product of having the right person in the wrong ministry. Like the example I gave of the church that didn’t want to hurt the unskilled guitar player’s feelings so they just kept turning his speaker down lower and lower. Sometimes we misinterpret our gifts and end up serving in a way we’re not supposed to.
Those are all symptoms though and don’t get at the core issue. (Core issue is such a counseling term.) At the heart of it, the reason the church is not known as being a global leader in creativity and excellence is pretty simple. We missed God’s love letter to artists.
I missed it about a dozen times myself. But while doing a two-year walk through of a one year read the whole Bible study plan, I stumbled upon it in Exodus.
There are two parts and both are pretty subtle though I’ve written about them before. The first takes place in Exodus 30 and 31. In 30, God anoints Aaron and consecrates the priests. It’s a big deal, with fragrant spices, sacred oil and a sense of the holy that is almost tangible through the pages. And after it’s over, do you know who God focuses on next? Do you know who comes second? The artists.
I had to read that a few times until I believed. There in the desert, as God establishes His people, as He sets into motion His very heart, the artists fall directly after the priests. Maybe that’s mindblowing only to me, but I find that stunning. Of all the professions, of all the people in the desert, it is the artists He speaks to next. Is there a more beautiful reflection of the importance He places on art and creativity?
We’ve made God military in a lot of our culture. We march in God’s army. We have men’s groups that are based on battle, but He doesn’t focus on the warriors after the priests. He doesn’t say the strength and might are most important after Aaron and the priests. He says creativity is.
Here is what 31:3 says:
“and I have filled him (Bezalel) with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.”
This is not a cold, boring, vanilla God speaking. This is the first and ultimate patron of the arts sounding a gong for anyone that has a scrap of creativity in them. But I said this love letter to artists has two parts.
The second part continues in chapter 36. As they prepare to build the ark, God issues a call to the artists in the desert. Verse 2 says:
“Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work.”
That verse punched me in the stomach. If you read it, you realize there were only two conditions to building the ark as an artist. You had to have the skill and you had to be willing. That means that some people refused the call and sat on their hands in the desert instead. They could have built God’s ark, His temple, but instead chose to sit in the desert and waste their talent.
When I prayed about that, I felt like God told me I had the same opportunity to build his temple everyday. I replied, “what are you talking about? You’re crazy.” (He’s big enough for me to say honest things like that.) But then He reminded me that in 1 Corinthians 6:19 it says the body is the temple. He reminded me that every time I use my skills to help someone, I am helping rebuild their temple.
Foof. That’s big. That’s scary. That’s why I am writing today. I’ve sat in the desert for years wasting what meager writing skills I have. I’ve sat in a pile of sand, while the people in my life are broken and hurting, hoping someone will help them rebuild their temple. And I just can’t sit in the desert anymore.
I might never get a book published. This might all be a fad. People might stop reading this site tomorrow and disappear. I might not go on tour to churches and conferences and all that. I want to, I really do, but ultimately it’s not about that. It’s about rebuilding temples. And as long as I keep doing that, as long as I keep reading and responding to God’s love letter to artists, everything else is going to take care of itself.

Posted by Prodigal Jon at 4:02 AM

Stuff Christians Like: #185. Good enough for the church (or God’s love letter to artists)

I told you I would be more diligent in my posting so here I am keeping my promise.

The front range covered in snow at 6:30 this morning was beautiful. I am so blessed to be able to live here. I never tire of looking at Pikes Peak and the front range. Some days it’s purple, some days orange, and others green and brown.

After living in Australia and going to the beach as often as possible I will never sing about the ocean the same way again and now I will never sing about the mountains the same again.

I remember sitting on my balcony one Saturday morning with my guitar. Kim had placed flower boxes on the railing and I was sitting there watching a bee buzz around the flowers. After a few minutes I felt God ask me “why do you think I made the flowers?” When God asks a question He is not looking for information so I said “I don’t know” and He said to me “for your enjoyment”.

I was overwhelmed with His goodness. The flowers don’t exist for the bee but for the enjoyment of His children. Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden for the purpose of fellowship with God and the enjoyment of the surroundings. Yes they were tasked with tending the garden but before the fall it wasn’t work.

Jesus came to restore all things. God’s original plan was fellowship with those made in His image. Don’t take for granted the glory of God in His creation. Take time to take it in and give Him praise because the heavens declare the glory of God and the if we don’t praise Him the rocks will cry out.

Notice him in His creation today. He is good!

Blessings,

I have been struck by the unity in the church I saw while in Salt Lake City and what can happen when we all come together for a common purpose.

I believe that now more than ever we need to be kingdom minded. I am more and more convinced that a great move of God is right before our eyes and that God is putting people and resources in place to make it happen.

Pray Colossians 1:9-11 over yourself and make sure that you are in the will of God. you don’t want to miss it.

This clip will get your heart pounding and give you a vision for the global church. 

http://hillsong.com/newsletter/images/video/fullopener.mov

Thanks for the heads up Chuck. I love you.