Archive for God’s presence
Worship That Connects, Part 5: Like a Sloppy, Wet Kiss…
Posted by: | CommentsOk, if you don’t get the song reference from the title, you can watch the video…
I have mixed feelings about this song…
On the one hand, the verses are virtually impossible to sing the first several times that you hear it. It’s lyrically poetic, maybe too poetic for the average midwestern Joe that we meet in our church, but rhythmically awkward. The first three or four times that different worship leaders pitched this on to our church, it struck out. No one sang along…
On the other hand, the chorus is so strong and connects with people’s hearts so poignantly that it gets very emotional responses, particularly as it builds in intensity towards the end.
In fact, the emotive aspect of the song is SO powerful that it completely hijacks the visually bland performance on the video… If you can stand to watch it long enough to get to the chorus, without getting bored watching the Kim sway and stagger around with her eyes closed, you’ll see what I mean…
The truth is that a LOT of the modern worship songs that connect are ME-focused… Like this one: it’s kinda about God and the intimate aspect of his nature, but it’s mostly about how much we are loved by God.
Introduce that idea in an emotive way to a group of people who haven’t been still since they sat in the same spot at church last Sunday… It’s bound to connect at a very visceral level with a few of them.
But is it really worship? Or is it just a sloppy, wet sentiment?
A pastor-friend of mine derides this kind of music as “Jesus-is-my-boyfriend” songs…
And then there’s the en vogue idea, out there in worship-leader-land, that emotive songs don’t connect with the manly blokes…
I don’t mean to endorse either of these ideas… They just represent the other extreme on the continuum…
There certainly is a place in the life of the church for sloppy, wet worship… because it does CONNECT with people who live in a world where intimate relationships are ended via text-message. The message that God loves them intimately is life-giving and true.
But, I fear, if that’s all we have, we end up with men and women in church that connect with a sugary, milk-toast god (small “g”) that falls pathetically short of being the real and powerful One that they desperately need…
So… mix it up…
Next time: God-Centered worship songs connect too…
Worship That Connects, Part 4: Communitcating From The Platform
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Is this thing on?
I wanted to come back and talk more about the benefit of using performance tools to connect with audiences in worship… I think this is important, and it’s not just because I’m comfortable on stage with a microphone in my hand…
It’s important because it is one of the primary tools in bridge building…
Leaders (read: the entire worship team) have the responsibility to bridge the gap between God’s presence and the people in the audience. It’s not enough to just play songs or even play them well…
The Audience is Ignorant…
If you read my blog much at all, you’ll be aware that I’m a big fan of Tom Jackson, a live-music producer. He does the circuit of artist development conferences and I try to catch him whenever I can.
Tom teaches that audiences are ignorant… They don’t understand music or audio or that yellow box on the floor that your guitar player keeps stomping on.
Here’s an example: As I have been increasing my leadership role in worship at my church, I’ve received a lot of (mostly unsolicited) input from people in the church. The musicians among them like to give me tips on audio equipment that will revolutionize our sound by adding nuances and tone.
The non-musicians have a different perspective. They tell me that no matter who is leading, everything sounds the same to them…
Being an insider, I know that the previous leader spent a huge amount of time, energy and money on equipment to nuance the tone. He is very good at that and very committed to it. Every guitar effect was carefully crafted, meticulously dialed-in, for the expressed purpose of adding variety to the sound. The past and current leaders (myself included) spend a lot of time in rehearsal working on dynamics within songs and throughout sets… There is absolutely no way that any 2 songs sound the same on a given Sunday…
So, why is that the perception of the non-musicians?
What the Audience Knows…
Tom says that if all the songs look the same, the audience will perceive that they all sound the same…
A guitar player understands his nuanced tonal differences, the musician understands subtle dynamics and the audiophile understands a good EQ… a soccer-mom just sees a band that never moves while playing songs that all look the same… She’s becomes easily distracted and starts wondering where she can buy Gatorade on sale this week…
It doesn’t help in our church at all that the platform is small and the center area is devoted to the pastor’s MacBook.
The other thing that the aforementioned soccer-mom understands is human behavior…
If the worship leader and all of the musicians are focused on their printed music, or their equipment, or even their own experience of worship, it sends a non-verbal message to her that they’re not interested in connecting with her. It may just mean be that they’re nervous or afraid of making a mistake or that the suffer from the misguided ideas that we talked about in Part 1 or Part 2… And so she doesn’t connect with them…
An effective leader can alter the dynamic in a number of ways, but the simplest way is to unchain himself from the instrument… Even if it’s just for one song in a set. He can make eye contact, encourage people to clap, raise hands, smile… just by doing those things himself… The other members of the team can do the same thing… It brings freedom to the audience when the leaders are free.
Toll Bridge or Troll Bridge…
Worship leaders (and again: every member of the team is a worship leader) bridge the gap between God’s presence and the people in the pews… but building bridges is an expensive undertaking. And leaders pay the price of transit for the church they lead.
Purposeful connection (which is the goal of good leadership and performance) by the leaders is required to get people over the bridge. When we refuse or neglect to be purposeful, we end up being road blocks… Metaphorically, we stand in the middle of the bridge and declare, “None shall pass.”
Reach out to the church you lead, with your eyes, with your hands, with a smile, or by taking a step toward them… you can call it “ministry” instead of “performance” if it makes you feel better, but it’s really both and that’s the balance that makes all the difference…
Worship That Connects, Part 3: Dealing with Disconnects…
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We had a guest band at our church last Sunday… I’ll talk more about them later… It gave me an opportunity to watch people worship, to observe how they connect and don’t connect, and I made a startling discovery:
Most people in our church don’t connect in worship.
And we’re a Vineyard church, for cryin’ out loud… We’re a part of the denomination most widely known for it’s worship music…
And I’m not talking about first-time visitors… Many of the Disconnects are leaders of ministries.
My observation is that Disconnects fall into three categories:
The Bored…
A.W. Tozer says, “The church that can’t worship must be entertained and men who can’t lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment.” Our generation (and by that I mean everyone I know under 50) is overstimulated. We are bombarded with information in the form of TV, advertising, social media and numerous forms of messaging… I carry a device that is half the size of my first mobile phone and connects me to my phone, email, text messaging, as well as instant access to my accounts at Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, etc. If church isn’t engaging all of my senses the way my life engages them, I will be bored, check out and start people-watching… And I’m not the only one.
Bored Disconnects need to be drawn into worship personally. There are ways to connect from the platform that will help them stay engaged… I’ll talk more about that tomorrow.
The Confused…
Some people just don’t have a frame of reference for what’s going on. We have a guy in our church that came from a Catholic tradition… Expressive worship, with the raised hands and the getting loud, is foreign to him. Sometimes, the expression on his face is laughable. He wants to connect, but lacks the practice with the methodology.
The seeker-movement of the 80’s and 90’s focused the most attention on the Confused Disconnects… Many of these churches had regular meetings to assess the friendliness of their methods and language to unchurched individuals… The danger here is the potential for removing any real content from songs and messages…
The Confused Disconnect doesn’t need the Christian message dumbed-down, he needs the methodology explained… regularly. Worship leaders that teach about worship in the midst of worship will have a lot of success in connecting with these people.
The Broken…
People come into church from some devastating backgrounds. When these past issues aren’t handled lovingly by the church, the people end up being Disconnects. I watched a young man who has the background to understand the methodology, has the focus to keep his attention on what’s happening, but doesn’t have the heart to connect…
Broken Disconnects need the attention of teachers and leaders apart from what the worship leaders do on Sunday; and real relationships in the church that don’t make things worse. But don’t underestimate the power of worship to bring healing to brokenness. We’ll talk about that later too.
Ultimately, it’s up to the leaders to identify and deal with Disconnects in the most loving and effective ways possible, always remembering that we have to build the bridge from God’s heart to theirs.
Worship That Connects, Part 2: The Big “P”…
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untitled by Cas Smith (artycas on Flickr)
Performance.
There… I said it… Go ahead and judge me… I know you want to…
I saw a post on Twitter a few weeks ago: “It makes me sad to hear someone talk about their Sunday morning ‘performance’… It makes God sad.”
Really?!
It makes GOD sad?!
I want to clarify something about the Bible… There is absolutely NO prohibition of performance relative to worship in the Bible… Not one passage that indicates that producing a quality worship experience will sadden the Almighty.
There are, however, several references to the skill that is expected of musicians and other artisans in their service to God and His people:
“All the skilled men among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman.” -The Bible, Exodus 36:8
In fact, this same reference to “skilled men” is made with regard to every item in the Tabernacle and all of the priests’ clothes.
“Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him 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 artistic craftsmanship. And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them master craftsmen and designers.” -The Bible, Exodus 35:30
“David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals…. Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD—they numbered 288.” – The Bible, 1 Chron. 25: 1-7
“Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.” – The Bible, Psalm 33:3
Skill is the basis for performance. The prerequisites of skill are talent and practice. Skill has absolutely nothing to do with the heart-condition of the artist. Skill has absolutely nothing to do with spirituality or maturity. A person far-from-God can (and many do) perform with a very high level of skill.
Yet, it is absolutely required to lead God’s people in worship.
The Heart of Leadership…
Performance is amoral. There is nothing intrinsically good or evil about performing. There is nothing intrinsically sacred or secular about it either. The key difference for the worship leader is the inclination of his heart…
Heart inclined to serve God and the Church through performance = good … Heart inclined to promote or serve self = bad
Notice that the Sons of Asaph (et al) in the 1 Chronicles passage above were set apart for the ministry of “prophesying” musically… This is really key:
Prophesy is the act of declaring God’s heart to the hearts of people… Different theological traditions will describe the means by which this happens in different ways, but this is the essence of prophecy.
After Peter delivers his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) which was inspired by the Holy Spirit (a prophetic message) the Bible says that people were “cut to the quick” which is to say that they took the message to heart…
A Bridge to Nowhere…
When the hearts of leaders are inclined toward the people they are leading, God speaks His heart to the people through the leaders… A bridge is built that connects people to God’s presence.
But when worship leaders focus solely on touching God themselves, the bridge doesn’t necessarily extend to the people in the pews. In essence, they build a bridge to nowhere… No one connects and people will find this kind of worship dry and boring.
Perfecting our craft, pursuing excellence and using performance tools to connect with the people that we lead are essential to creating a worship experience that connects people to God’s presence.
Tomorrow: Dealing with Disconnects…
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Chapter 24
The Divisions of Priests
1These were the divisions of the sons of Aaron: 2But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as the priests.
3With the help of Zadok a descendant of Eleazar and Ahimelech a descendant of Ithamar, David separated them into divisions for their appointed order of ministering.
4A larger number of leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than among Ithamar’s, and they were divided accordingly: sixteen heads of families from Eleazar’s descendants and eight heads of families from Ithamar’s descendants.
5They divided them impartially by drawing lots, for there were officials of the sanctuary and officials of God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.
6The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the king and of the officials: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites—one family being taken from Eleazar and then one from Ithamar.
7The first lot fell to Jehoiarib,
the second to Jedaiah, 8the third to Harim,
the fourth to Seorim, 9the fifth to Malkijah,
the sixth to Mijamin, 10the seventh to Hakkoz,
the eighth to Abijah, 11the ninth to Jeshua,
the tenth to Shecaniah, 12the eleventh to Eliashib,
the twelfth to Jakim, 13the thirteenth to Huppah,
the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, 14the fifteenth to Bilgah,
the sixteenth to Immer, 15the seventeenth to Hezir,
the eighteenth to Happizzez, 16the nineteenth to Pethahiah,
the twentieth to Jehezkel, 17the twenty-first to Jakin,
the twenty-second to Gamul, 18the twenty-third to Delaiah
and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. 19This was their appointed order of ministering when they entered the temple of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their forefather Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.
The Rest of the Levites
20As for the rest of the descendants of Levi: 21As for Rehabiah, from his sons:
Isshiah was the first. 22From the Izharites: Shelomoth;
from the sons of Shelomoth: Jahath. 23The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first,† Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.
24The son of Uzziel: Micah;
from the sons of Micah: Shamir. 25The brother of Micah: Isshiah;
from the sons of Isshiah: Zechariah. 26The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
The son of Jaaziah: Beno. 27The sons of Merari:
from Jaaziah: Beno, Shoham, Zaccur and Ibri. 28From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.
29From Kish: the son of Kish:
Jerahmeel. 30And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth.
These were the Levites, according to their families. 31They also cast lots, just as their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites. The families of the oldest brother were treated the same as those of the youngest.
Chapter 25
The Singers
1David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals. Here is the list of the men who performed this service: 2From the sons of Asaph:
Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of Asaph, who prophesied under the king’s supervision. 3As for Jeduthun, from his sons:
Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei,† Hashabiah and Mattithiah, six in all, under the supervision of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied, using the harp in thanking and praising the LORD. 4As for Heman, from his sons:
Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael and Jerimoth; Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-Ezer; Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth. 5All these were sons of Heman the king’s seer. They were given him through the promises of God to exalt him.† God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
6All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king.
7Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD—they numbered 288.
8Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties.
9The first lot, which was for Asaph, fell to Joseph,
his sons and relatives,†12† the second to Gedaliah, he and his relatives and sons,12 10the third to Zaccur,
his sons and relatives,12 11the fourth to Izri,†
his sons and relatives,12 12the fifth to Nethaniah,
his sons and relatives,12 13the sixth to Bukkiah,
his sons and relatives,12 14the seventh to Jesarelah,†
his sons and relatives,12 15the eighth to Jeshaiah,
his sons and relatives,12 16the ninth to Mattaniah,
his sons and relatives,12 17the tenth to Shimei,
his sons and relatives,12 18the eleventh to Azarel,†
his sons and relatives,12 19the twelfth to Hashabiah,
his sons and relatives,12 20the thirteenth to Shubael,
his sons and relatives,12 21the fourteenth to Mattithiah,
his sons and relatives,12 22the fifteenth to Jerimoth,
his sons and relatives,12 23the sixteenth to Hananiah,
his sons and relatives,12 24the seventeenth to Joshbekashah,
his sons and relatives,12 25the eighteenth to Hanani,
his sons and relatives,12 26the nineteenth to Mallothi,
his sons and relatives,12 27the twentieth to Eliathah,
his sons and relatives,12 28the twenty-first to Hothir,
his sons and relatives,12 29the twenty-second to Giddalti,
his sons and relatives,12 30the twenty-third to Mahazioth,
his sons and relatives,12 31the twenty-fourth to Romamti-Ezer,
his sons and relatives,12 Chapter 26
The Gatekeepers
1The divisions of the gatekeepers: 2Meshelemiah had sons:
Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, 3Elam the fifth,
Jehohanan the sixth and Eliehoenai the seventh. 4Obed-Edom also had sons:
Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, 5Ammiel the sixth,
Issachar the seventh and Peullethai the eighth. (For God had blessed Obed-Edom.) 6His son Shemaiah also had sons, who were leaders in their father’s family because they were very capable men.
7The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad; his relatives Elihu and Semakiah were also able men.
8All these were descendants of Obed-Edom; they and their sons and their relatives were capable men with the strength to do the work—descendants of Obed-Edom, 62 in all.
9Meshelemiah had sons and relatives, who were able men—18 in all.
10Hosah the Merarite had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father had appointed him the first),
11Hilkiah the second, Tabaliah the third and Zechariah the fourth. The sons and relatives of Hosah were 13 in all.
12These divisions of the gatekeepers, through their chief men, had duties for ministering in the temple of the LORD, just as their relatives had.
13Lots were cast for each gate, according to their families, young and old alike.
14The lot for the East Gate fell to Shelemiah.† Then lots were cast for his son Zechariah, a wise counselor, and the lot for the North Gate fell to him.
15The lot for the South Gate fell to Obed-Edom, and the lot for the storehouse fell to his sons.
16The lots for the West Gate and the Shalleketh Gate on the upper road fell to Shuppim and Hosah.
Guard was alongside of guard: 17There were six Levites a day on the east, four a day on the north, four a day on the south and two at a time at the storehouse.
18As for the court to the west, there were four at the road and two at the court itself.
19These were the divisions of the gatekeepers who were descendants of Korah and Merari.
The Treasurers and Other Officials
20Their fellow Levites were† in charge of the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries for the dedicated things. 21The descendants of Ladan, who were Gershonites through Ladan and who were heads of families belonging to Ladan the Gershonite, were Jehieli,
22the sons of Jehieli, Zetham and his brother Joel. They were in charge of the treasuries of the temple of the LORD.
23From the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites and the Uzzielites:
24Shubael, a descendant of Gershom son of Moses, was the officer in charge of the treasuries.
25His relatives through Eliezer: Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zicri his son and Shelomith his son.
26Shelomith and his relatives were in charge of all the treasuries for the things dedicated by King David, by the heads of families who were the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and by the other army commanders.
27Some of the plunder taken in battle they dedicated for the repair of the temple of the LORD.
28And everything dedicated by Samuel the seer and by Saul son of Kish, Abner son of Ner and Joab son of Zeruiah, and all the other dedicated things were in the care of Shelomith and his relatives.
29From the Izharites: Kenaniah and his sons were assigned duties away from the temple, as officials and judges over Israel.
30From the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his relatives—seventeen hundred able men—were responsible in Israel west of the Jordan for all the work of the LORD and for the king’s service.
31As for the Hebronites, Jeriah was their chief according to the genealogical records of their families. In the fortieth year of David’s reign a search was made in the records, and capable men among the Hebronites were found at Jazer in Gilead.
32Jeriah had twenty-seven hundred relatives, who were able men and heads of families, and King David put them in charge of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh for every matter pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.
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Worship That Connects Part 1: The Leaders’ Role…
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Photo credit: TMP7 by Jonathan Sloan (jonathansloan on Flickr)
I’ve been leading worship at my church… And since I tend to be one of those cerebral guys that likes to think about things, I’ve been thinking a lot about leading worship… Why do some things work and others don’t? What is it about certain songs that really get people worked up? Why are some people completely unmoved while others weep? What do I need to do as a worship leader to help those disconnected people engage?
And I thought that I’d share my observations (insightful and otherwise) with all of you good people…
God is in the House…
I’m really weary of hearing people beg for God’s presence. Jesus said, that “wherever two or three gather” in His name, He’s there. Whether we experience His presence is not about begging Him to come… It’s about showing up ourselves. In general, the act of worship is essentially unnatural… maybe supernatural is a better description… either way, it is outside of our natural inclinations to sing, shout, dance, clap, whatever…
The Worship Team is a Bridge…
My team has heard me beat this drum on a weekly basis: When we lead worship, we have to put the needs of the church ahead of our own desire to “enter in.” We have to watch their response and adjust what we’re doing. We have to connect with them. Since the act of worship is something that has to be learned and practiced, people need a bridge to the presence of God.
Somewhere along the way, the “presence-based” traditions (pentecostal and charismatic traditions especially) got this idea that leading worship was connected to the leaders’ own worship… I’ve heard people say that we (worship leaders) can’t lead others to a place that we’re not. Which is only true in part: We certainly can’t lead people into the presence of God if we’ve never been there, but that’s where the analogy falls apart.
I’m not leading anybody if I stand inert, hands raised, eyes closed and try with all my being to touch God. As if I could then , “channel” this experience to the rest of the tribe (read: voodoo). This “all about me” approach also runs afoul or the essentially selfless nature of leadership… It’s all about the people being led… I got this Idea from Jesus:
The First will be last…
Rather than thinking of ourselves as a conduit of God’s presence (which is kinda arrogant, when you think about it) we have to see ourselves as God’s doormen (or doorwomen, as the case may be). It’s the job of the worship leaders to throw open the doors to God’s presence and invite people to come in.
When my wife was pregnant with out daughter, I used to drop her off at the door when we’d go shopping. I remember one occasion when I parked the car and walked up to the door to find her still holding it open for a seemingly endless stream of people who didn’t say “thanks” or acknowledge that she was even there… And while this is a horrible example of how we should interact with people, it’s exactly what worship leaders should do as they serve the church:
Hold open the doors to allow others to enter in.
Tomorrow: What that looks like and the much-maligned “P” word…
