Could it be that diets would be rendered useless if I lived a balanced, Spirit-controlled life? Could it be that the excess weight would never appear on my hips and thighs in the first place if I exercised a little more discipline on a daily basis instead of waiting for the mirror to break into hysterical laughter at the sight of my hideous jelly rolls? Undoubtedly, yes, but I'm not entirely there yet. I'm a struggling human, a mere mortal, and I have yet to ascend to the mountain of dietary perfection (though I am determined to never stop trying).

I think we use worship like we use food, hoping to medicate ourselves with it at times. For some of us, worship is an opportunity to hide in the crowd. For others it is chance to forget all about the world and our problems and to get caught up in the exuberance and excitement of the crowd, only to exit the building and fall right back into the same sewer we crawled out of. For a select few, it seems, worship is exercised in its proper perspective as one of several major spiritual disciplines and as a reflection of how we usually conduct our lives.

If we don't watch ourselves, the trend toward performance-driven "worship" in the church is going to catch up with us like too many doughnuts. We'll look in the Biblical mirror one day and realize that we've become fat on empty carbs and sugar. When we try to flex some spiritual muscle it will all have atrophied and the enemy will trample us with silly worship wars or immorality. When we choose to use worship music as a church growth tool we're inching ever closer to the dessert bar with bowls for pudding in both hands.

The root word for discipline is disciple and a disciple is one who is disciplined. I don't know about you, but I want to fit back into my "skinny pants" not to just look good but to feel good. I want to live the kind of disciplined life in and for Jesus that makes diets an unnecessary thing of the past. I want to be ready to follow Him wherever He leads and not be so gorged on fluffy Christianity and religion that I lack the stamina and outright holy health to complete the assignments He gives me. I don't want a doughnut to divert my destiny.

After watching the presidential candidate debate, I was struck by the enormity of our ever increasing family unit issues in our country. The economic state, health care and education are the top issues we face as a nation. We also see alarming issues in the Church in view of our congregations and their family units. 

Recently, my wife and I decided to get back to the basics for our family. We enjoy watching TV during dinner, but we have realized that this environment drowns out daily discussions and quality face time. We have a set schedule every day, which includes daily exercise at the gym (as a family) before coming home. By the time dinner is over, and chores are done, we wonder where our time has gone. We are now back at the table. So how does this all affect our daily worship with God and worship in the Body?

As you may be aware the decline of church attendance and the incline of divorce/immoral rates are staggering. This is not coincidental, neither is this reality-parallel anything new. However, these findings are alarming as they do affect our outlook on God, relationships and community. As morality and the family unit shifts, so do we see the wakes in our churches and in our neighborhoods.

Maybe like you, I have seen more and more people disinterested in engaging in cooperate worship. People are not as open in discussions. People are far too busy and in a rush. Last but not least, we drive too fast and cut people off in the church parking lot. We are simply consumed by life’s responsibilities. I catch myself often when my time with God, family and/or friends ebbs away due to business. He then reminds me of what is truly important in what I value and prioritize. For example, in my relationship and engagement with my family, there is something strong and solid about coming together at the table. There is also a strongpoint of connection when I am active in my wife’s life from simple texting or facebooking to listening and asking questions about her day. There is a strongpoint of connection when we do things together as a family. We build community with one another. This is very much like our worship to God when we are engaged with Him in a sincere relationship.

In church worship, we all come from different home/time/family arrangements. I believe that our family unit shaping begins at home and needs to be encouraged by our local churches. Unfortunately, there are families who have experienced a shattering of relationships and may no longer be the unit they once were. This is sensitive to my heart, as my parents divorced when I was five. The family unit can be rekindled as our worship-relationship with God can be revitalized. It comes back to re-prioritizing our values, sincerity, relationships and responsibilities. You may have your own methods for resolve, but one thing is clear, all of our households are in need of community with God and with people.

We are living in the days of Joe the Plumber and Sixpack, but what about their families? It starts with us, our households and our communities to reclaim the significance of family rather than the focus on individualism.

There is a question that has been rattling in my brain since last week. You see, a friend of mine is in the process of creating another worship service. Currently, the attendances in both services are at 80%. The consensus was to create a service that was younger and hip, which would help identify to the new growing portions of their demographic.

In order to be different, this added service was going to be more of an alternative rock sound as apart from the 1990's contemporary and the 1920's traditional. The challenge was the selection process of band members and singers who would help create the music/style of this service.

The objective is two-fold: (1.) Auditioning members from both contemporary and traditional teams in order to create a new sound. (2.) Finding/auditioning members from outside the worship ministry and/or church to create a new sound.

The problem: is the auditioning process the best way to go, rather than picking who you want and forming the group? Because of the relational and emotional ties in the current teams, my friend explained that he was cautious in the following concerns: those who are loyal and may feel that their toes were getting stepped on; those who may experience hurt feelings if they are not chosen; those who may fear rejection because they are inferior to auditions; and those who may form the perception that the chosen group is for the elite.

If this were you, how would you handle these concerns?

What are the benifits of a Vocal Rehearsal that is seperate from all other rehearsals?

This is what we do: We start our rehearsals promptly at 7pm, whether people are there or not.   We sing a few worship songs to warm up and do vocal exercises for about 10 minutes. During those first warm up worship songs, I’m greeting people as they walk in: a smile or a “great to see you.”  Our materials are all on a table by the door for folks to pick up on their way in.  That’s our first 15 minutes: warm up.

Next, we walk through the agenda/goals for the night.  This is the list of what we need to accomplish.  This is where I teach the parts or remind people of the parts for each song.  We’ll go through each song one at a time so the singers can record them (on their own personal recorders) for practice throughout the week.  This lasts about 45 minutes.

At approximately 8pm, I stop teaching parts and shift to a devotional that lasts 10-15 minutes.  Sometimes we pray here, most of the time we pray at the end in small prayer teams.  Then we’ll sing again, but worship through the songs rather than examining the individual parts.  By worship through them, I mean not “performing” the songs but using them as tools to worship.  Let the songs soak into the hearts of your leaders.

Because we are rehearsing for 3 different services with 3 different orders of worship, at 8:30pm we separate into individual worship service teams.  This gives the individual teams a chance to polish their sound, learn any songs specifically for their services and work through worship flow and segues. Some vocal teams will spend time with their band while others rehearse on their own.   All of the teams will pray together for the services and personal concerns.   Rehearsal concludes about 9:15pm.

Have you ever wished you could find THE song that would make everyone sing along? If you're like me you've actually thought that you had found it a time or two in songs like SHOUT TO THE LORD, or HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD. Then one day a well-meaning soul in your church comes up after service and asks, "Do we HAVE to sing that song again?" One person actually told me once that they would scream if they had to sing a certain song again. So is there a perfect song out there to be had? The song to end all songs? The answer is YES.

Like the shock we experienced in adding drums in a worship service (for the first time) is similar to the shock of introducing a secular tune on Sunday morning. How far we have come in church music from singing Awesome God and The Battle Belongs to the Lord (Those born before 1980 or those who were pre-exposed - remember these?)

Some say that the Church has gone too far in the direction of contemporary music by using secular songs. Others say that we have not gone far enough in order to be relevant with culture. There is a fine line between remaining relevant and remaining biblical; but sometimes these lines are blurred leaving mixed signals to those in Christ and those seeking Christ. Assuming that there is a point and context for delivering these songs, when is it helpful, when is it hurtful? Where is the biblical foundation that can support the use of secular songs in a worship service? What say you?

Eugene Peterson has this to say:

Viewer Blog Question:
How does one have a balance in how they worship on stage when others are really watching? I am a singer in a choir and I am having a hard time with looking at the congregation when I am singing a song that leads to a personal time towards God, yet I want others to know that this is a message to them that they to can have this personal time with Him as well it is not just for those on the stage leading them into a realm of worship. I love to close my eyes when I am singing. I can block out all the distractions and focus on Him, however it looks like I am ignoring the congregation, or that I am lazy, or tired even though I have joy on my face.

Rick Muchow:
Simply put, when I am singing a lyric to God like “I love you Lord,” I don’t look into the eyes of other people. I look up or close my eyes. When I’m singing a song about “when we worship” for example the song Shine by Matt Redman that says “we will shine like stars in the universe,” I will thoughtfully, sincerely look at other worshippers to acknowledge we’re all in this together as the body of Christ. We serve and love a wonderful God.

It is important when leading worship to remember that the goal is to connect others to God in worship. The worship leader’s most intimate worship experience is mostly done when we are NOT leading others: in a quiet time, private worship, or when we take part in a corporate worship services as a member of the congregation.

In Psalm 69:1-4 David writes out of his anguish (and I'm sure stinky bad breath because he had to hide in caves a lot):

David had some very real enemies. His own son, Absolom, wanted to cut his head off. He was a warrior-king who felt things at a very deep emotional level, like me, and he wasn't afraid to wear a tunic and play a harp. He kicked butt and wrote songs. So far my worst enemies are in my head and my teen-aged daughter still wants me to drive her to the mall. I don't own a tunic or an ephod but I do have some baggy jeans. I'm just learning that it's okay to sing a lament or two along with the happy-clappy praise stuff that can momentarily lift any of us out of the doldrums.

Maybe that's the real lesson here. God is big enough to hear the praise and take the complaints. He doesn't love us more when we're happy than when we're sad. He is with us in the good and the bad, when we want to love Him and when we can't understand why He doesn't seem to be listening. He sees us when we're on the mountaintop and when we're hiding in a cave somewhere fearing for our lives. Maybe it's just okay to feel what we feel and remember that Jesus was well acquainted with our weaknesses. Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin."

Honesty is hard to find in the Church. Honesty is hard to find in people. Honesty is even harder to find within ourselves. Over the past 3 days I have encountered numerous discussions on this topic among worship leaders. It seems that there is a fear within and outside the Church of being honest. We are not only afraid to admit truth, but even more so, how to confront what is false and speak the truth. Being free is not without its price. Where truth is found lies in the arms of freedom, in which this cost Christ everything. If we can muster up any honesty it is found in the freedom of Christ as he gives us strength to be true. So what keeps us from being honest? Hurt. Pain from rejection, brokenness, loss, grief and the like covered over years and decades can mar and impair our deep emotions. Damage prevents us from trusting others, ourselves and God. There is more pain in the Church than what surfaces on Sunday morning or in a Bible study. How do we cope? How are we to be honest with ourselves before we can help others? It begins with Christ healing us from the inside out. Dennis Jernigan addresses this concern in this clip. May his words stir your heart to crave Christ's healing and freedom right where you sit.

Approached from any angle, our God is glorious, majestic, loving and holy. You can search as long as you like but You will find no gaps in His greatness or goodness. He is steadfast, constant and perfect.

When we study a person for a while, before long we will find some kind of ‘chink’ in their armour – some kind of inconsistency perhaps. For although we may each have admirable qualities, none of us are as steadfast, faithful or unflawed as we would hope to be. God, however, is different. He tells us He is holy, and it is the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He tells us He is love, and everywhere you look you will find His love. He tells us He is faithful, and as we investigate we discover that He is absolutely true to His word. He is the perfect and unfailing King of glory. He is the incomparable God of holiness – set apart to be worshipped and adored. Constantly He shines with splendour. Moment after moment He radiates grace, peace and love. There is no lapse in His character or inconsistency in His nature. Our God is everything he says He is… for now and all eternity.