The Two Pillars

Over the past few years there are 2 key ingredients that have come to transform the way I approach worship ministry and my life.  I view these things as the "pillars" of living lives of worship.  They are the "Presence" of God and "Excellence" in whatever we do.
I emphasize these two things with the worship team (band & vocals) frequently.  My stance is this: "If all we have is excellence and no presence, we're just another skilled band.  And if all we have is presence and no excellence, we're a group of people who pursue God and make noise for Him.  As Christ followers, 'Presence & Excellence' are inseparable.  We're ineffective for the Kingdom if these aren't active in our lives at home, work place, in worship, etc."  (Just to be clear, Excellence is not perfection, but Excellence is perfected by Presence.  We are not perfect, but we can be excellent in whatever we do and when accompanied by the presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit it is made perfect.) 
A really great example of all this is David (read 1 Samuel 16:14-23; 17:32-50).  I made a few observations from these passages.
1. David, an excellent musician carried the presence of God and was used to bless the king.
2. King Saul said David was too young and inexperienced to fight Goliath, but David was an experienced, excellent shepherd who had killed lions & bears.  David knew that God would make him victorious.
3. David didn't use the armor & sword of the king, but used his staff & slingshot to defeat Goliath.  God used him where he was most proficient.
4. When David fought Goliath, his faith & assurance was not in his own skill/proficiency, but in the Lord.  But God was able to use David because he was proficient/excellent with a sling.  God's presence perfected his excellent skills.
Father, help us all to live in Your presence and live lives of excellence for Your glory and honor.  Amen

Discipline

Wow, could this be any harder?  I find that this has to be one of the most difficult areas in my life to master.  Whether it is praying, reading my Bible, practicing guitar or working out, the art of discipline can be frustrating.  They say "you do want you want to do", but that is easier said than done.  Recently though, I started working out with some guys doing "Insanity" (it is truly INSANE, check it out) and have found that the accountability has helped me stay disciplined.  Though our group has dwindled from 5 to 2, it helps me to know someone is waiting on me, someone is depending on me.  I want to encourage you, if you struggle with being disciplined in any area of your life, partner with someone who can help you stay accountable.  It is working for me, maybe it will work for you.

Who's In Your Network?

 

While in prayer one day I was dealing with some fear issues and I felt God ask me "who's in your network?"  Huh, what's Verizon have to do with anything?  Pretty much immediately God reminded me of a great story in the Old Testament (2 Kings 6:8-23).  

Elisha was surrounded by the Syrian army when his servant began to fear and asked, "What are we going to do?"  Elisha said, "Do not fear, those that are with us are more than those who are with them."  He had to have been thinking, "what is this guy (Elisha) on?  There's 2 of us and thousands of them."  Elisha then prayed that God would open the servants eyes to see what he could see.  In that moment, the servant saw an army of fire in the heavens surrounding Elisha.  

God wants us to know that He's in our network!  He's got our back and we don't need to fear. Remember, "If God is for us, then who can be against us". 

The Volcano Within

While praying one day I saw both a dormant & erupting volcano. I began to ponder what it meant. Dormant volcanoes have great potential deep inside, but it usually takes a shift in the atmosphere, a great shaking to wake it up. Unless that "shaking" happens, it will not be able to release the power that exists within.
We as Christians have that power & potential inside us through the Holy Spirit, but unless something shifts in the atmosphere that power/potential will not be released. What is the key? Prayer. When we pray, the atmosphere begins to change and a great shaking begins to happen in the Spirit causing the volcano in us to wake up. The pressure builds & builds until finally "KABOOM". When that happens, nothing can stop it. Spiritually speaking, the enemy has to evacuate if it doesn't want to be destroyed. If we will pray, I mean really pray, the Spirit of God will burst forth through our lives like nothing we've ever seen or imagined and when that happens, watch out. So, start to pray and wake up the volcano within!

Communication In Worship

Leading worship can be somewhat tricky. It carries a lot of responsibility.  I have been in multiple venues of worship and have made some observations regarding how we communicate and the misconceptions many have. Many think, "Well, since I'm a worship leader and I have a mic, I should share what I'm feeling and help motivate the people to worship." Though there are times for this, this couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm not saying we don't ever share anything, but more often than not, our good intentions become a hindrance and distraction to peoples worship experience, especially when we over do it. The goal is to facilitate a worship experience with God.  The most powerful experiences that I've had in worship had a few notable similarities. 1. The presence of the Holy Spirit; 2. Excellence in musicianship; 3. Minimal (if any) talking/sharing during the worship set.  Be careful to not take liberties because you have a mic. If you are going to share, prepare ahead of time (if it's worth saying, it's worth preparing for), discern the moment and let your words be few.
Suggestions: A short passage of scripture (on screen); a quick thought (in transition or in the midst of a song); a simple direction (lift you hands to God, give a shout, etc).

Hitting the Bulls Eye

In recent days I have been pondering on this image of the "Bulls Eye". I believe there are some great spiritual applications that we can gain from this image. Here are a few thoughts:
I heard a story of a man in the Olympics a few years ago whose sport was target shooting. This man was destroying the competition. He had hit the 'bulls eye' on every target. As he came to the last target of the Olympics, he was so far ahead of the competition that all he had to do to win the Gold was hit the target. He lifted his gun, focused in on the target and...'BULLS EYE'. He was filled with such excitement & accomplishment only to discover that he had shot the wrong target. Instead of winning the Gold, he placed 6th. What a tragic story. After hearing this, I realized how easy it could be to shoot at the wrong target, to aim at the wrong things in life.
When I play darts or shoot the bow & arrow, I always aim for the 'bulls eye'. I don't have to think about it, I just focus in on the red dot in the middle. Though I usually miss, my every intent is to hit the mark. On the other hand, just hitting the target is pretty simple and doesn't take much effort. The more I try to hit the 'bulls eye', the more successful I will be. I believe the presence of the Lord is the 'Bulls Eye' for us spiritually, by means of the Holy Spirit. There is a big target with lots of great and wonderful things to accomplish, but they are not at the center, they are not the 'Bulls Eye'! Do I focus/fix my eyes on the Lord like I do the 'bulls eye', or am I content with just hitting the target? Honestly, much of the time I'm content with just hitting the target. I am convinced though that if I will focus on my relationship with the Lord and hit the 'Bulls Eye', all the things on the target will be taken care of.
So, as we live out this journey with the Lord, let's make sure we're shooting at the right target and then shoot to hit the 'Bulls Eye'.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

In recent days I have had some interesting discussions & heard some encouraging & disturbing statements in regards to this terrible conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. I am in no way, shape or form an expert on this dilemma, but I do have some thoughts that I would like to share.
First: Both Carolina and I are very saddened by the conflict and the lives that have been lost as a result. War is a terrible thing and we hope there will be a truce soon.
One of the comments I have heard recently is that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. That has to be one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever heard. Consider this:
1. If Israel was trying to commit “genocide” against the Palestinians, why have they been trying to send in relief convoys/trucks with water, food, generators for electricity, medicine, etc into Gaza to help the people there??? FACT
2. If Israel was trying to commit “genocide” against the Palestinians, why have they always opened their hospitals to Palestinians who are in need of care??? FACT
3. Why does Hamas, a recognized terroist organization, elected by the people who happens to hold the majority of the parliamentary seats in their government, continue to hinder the Israeli convoy trucks from entering with supplies to help the injured Palestinians (men, women & children) in Gaza??? FACT
(Hamas obviously hates Israel more than they love/care about their own people.)
Could it be possible that Hamas is trying to gain support from the Islamic countries, who by the way want to commit genocide against Israel (FACT!!!); and for that reason will not receive aid from Israel?
In another article I read it made a big deal about the “bomb shelters” that the Israelis have and the Palestinians have none. Take a moment to ask yourself why they have bomb shelters?? Could it be because the threat from Hamas is the least of their worries? They are surrounded by countries that want to destroy them. At any given moment they know they could be heavily attacked. Israel doesn’t want to fight against the Palestinians, but what choice do they have if they are continually attacked by Hamas. Listen, both Israel and the Palestinian government have made bad decisions along the way, no one argues that. But this all started because of a secret tunnel that was being built from Gaza into Israel and 6 Hamas gunmen were killed. Do you realize close to 100 rockets were fired in response into Israel before Israel launched Operation Oferet Yetzuka ("Cast Lead'). I would say they were asking for a fight. The Palestinian people should hold Hamas, their elected officials, responsible for all that has taken place. The fact that there are 1.5 million+ people in Gaza means there will be un-targeted casualties, but Hamas brought this upon their own people. Israel is not the enemy, it is Hamas. They don’t love/care about their people. They allow their women and children to suffer because of their hatred. They are so driven by hate that all they care about is destroying Israel. When hate is the predominant force in any person or society it eliminates the possibility of having a sound mind. Love is not even possible.
I encourage us all to pray for the Palestinians & Israelis through this difficult time, even Hamas. God loves them all, as should we. Let us pray that the love of Jesus would somehow be manifested to them, change/fill their hearts and allow them to live in peace and love once and for all...after all, the love of Jesus is their only hope/answer.