Those of us who lead worship, teach, or serve in our local churches have no room to boast when it comes to the spiritual process. God is the one who gives the growth. But that doesn't mean that we don't have a place in the process or are not important to it. God, in His sovereignty, uses us to do His work no matter if it is crop dusting or something all together different.

It's an interesting experience to encounter life's flat tires that affect your outlook on future events. Sometimes we often lose our love for the things that we are currently involved. When our flame grows faint, God is near to rekindle the fire. All we need is to draw near to Him. Let's listen to John as he takes us down one of his journeys to offer us insight on not losing our flame and love for worshiping God.

Inside is the testimony of John Chisum. You may already know him by his recordings, workshops and material on PraiseCharts and PraiseCharts Live, now listen to the story of his journey, how it began, the struggles, the redemption and the awakening of faith in his quest of being used by God as a worship leader.

Star Trek (the First Generation with Captain James T. Kirk) gives us a terrific way to think about God’s position outside the realm of created time. If you remember, Captain Kirk, ever in a predicament that he must solve or else lose the Starship Enterprise and its entire crew, often spoke of the “time and space continuum"  In their sci-fi world, some interruption may occur that thrust them into a time warp and they had just one hour to resolve this problem. In this way, time can be thought of as a line, a continuum that has a beginning, middle, and an end. God, the Creator of time as we know it, stands outside or apart from this continuum and can see it all. He is equally “present" to us, to the people of centuries past, and to all peoples and time in the centuries to come. Hebrews 13:8 declares that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

Of all the months, worship may be most like January. Worship is a turning of our hearts from the staleness of our own seasons to God’s ever-springing presence. Worship is the turning of our steps from the worn paths of our sins, depression, and disease into His forgiveness, grace, and endless joy.

One of the greatest challenges for leaders of any type is to stay fresh, avoiding the pitfalls of burning out on the job. Because worship leaders operate on multiple levels, employing natural and spiritual leadership principles, the potential for burnout is much greater. Local church worship leaders must be great musicians, great politicians, great administrators, and great worshipers simultaneously. This is no small task and not one for the faint of heart!

What can a peanut butter and jelly sandwich teach us about the Trinity and about authentic worship? Maybe just that the Christian life is a life of balance and self-control perfectly blended into an active and growing faith in God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

Do you really want to connect with God? Learn how through Jesus Christ, the Ultimate ISP! In this article, worship teacher John Chisum shares with you important insights for your personal worship and corporate leadership ministry.