Next Level Worship

The following excerpt is taken from Dwayne’s upcoming book, Heaven’s Praise: Hearing Him Say Well Done.

You’ve no doubt heard the old saying, “You are what you eat.” That may be true of our bodies, but when it comes to our minds, emotions, and spirits, we are what we think. And the most profound thoughts any human can have are thoughts about God. That is precisely why our strategy and this first week of our study begin with an emphasis on thinking right. How we relate to him and how we believe he relates to us will impact every facet of what we do and who we become. So needless to say, we had better get our thinking straight about God!

Let’s compare three distinct and common relationships Christians often associate with God:

1. He’s the Boss; we’re the worker

2. He’s the Teacher; we’re the student

3. He’s the Father; we’re his child

Let’s assume God is primarily our Boss. What does a boss expect of his employees? He expects his employees to produce, to perform, to work hard and show results for their labor. But a boss has no interest in the workers beyond what they can do for him. And those who produce the most will win his favor. Those who lag behind and don’t perform up to his expectations will be reprimanded or fired. A boss in the purest sense feels little or no obligation toward the people who work for him because he is not motivated out of love for those employees.

I’m really thankful the God that’s revealed in the Bible is not primarily a boss, aren’t you?

Let’s say God is largely our Teacher. Read more…

Excerpted from the WorshipLife Journal Small Group Leader’s Guide, Week 1, which is part of the 30 Days of Renewal church-wide worship emphasis:

Based on Deut. 6:4-5

Just before the Israelites moved into the Promised Land, Moses offered them some advice for life. Settling in Canaan exposed the Israelites to the principles and practices of many different pagan cultures. And to be honest, the Israelites struggled to stay focused on God when there were minimal external pressures. God knew that; Moses knew that. God’s instructions were simple–Love God with every aspect of your life!

Let’s analyze exactly what God said through Moses:

1. “Hear, O Israel:”>>> Moses addressed the nation challenging them to hear (shama) what God had to say. Hearing is more than passive acknowledgement that something was said; it includes the concept of obedience.
2. “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”>>> Israel had encountered polytheism before and was about to encounter it again. The blanket statement negated any polytheistic religious practices. In other words, any concept promoting multiple deities could not be true, no matter what it claimed.
3. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…”>>> In the Bible, the heart is more than the blood-pumping muscle; it is the center of the physical being. Therefore, Moses challenged the Israelites to make sure their lives were centered around God.
4. “and with all your soul…”>>> The Hebrew word for soul literally means “life” and is used to indicate the entire person. Moses’ instructions, therefore, began with being centered on God and then letting one’s commitment to God affect the entire person from inner thoughts to actions toward others.
5. “and with all your strength.”>>> The concept behind the Hebrew word for strength is “wholly.” This indicates that the heart and soul are inseparable. What a person does reveals that person’s inner thoughts. Moses emphasized that spiritual survival in Canaan would require complete devotion to God-something the Israelites hadn’t proven they could do!

• What does this passage have to do with us today? Though not technically polytheistic, our culture presents a variety of “idols” that compete for our attention.
• What are some of the things that compete for our attention?
• List responses on the board. Draw the diagram of circles on the board. Label the inner circle “heart”, the middle circle “soul”, and the outer circle “strength.”
• Point out the importance of making one’s relationship with God a top priority.
• Ask volunteers to share some practical suggestions for making worship a daily priority. List suggestions on the board.

 Excerpt from the WorshipLife Small Group Leader’s Guide, Week 1, pp. 5-6.

To download the FREE SAMPLE of the ENTIRE WEEK, please go to www.30daysofrenewal.com/samples.php.

Dwayne recently taught a powerful lesson called The Kind of Christian Satan Hates. In this 35-minute teaching session, Dwayne takes the listener through the devil’s 3-phase attack strategy as he seeks to destroy any Christian who becomes a threat to him. The kind of Christian Satan especially hates are those who have 4 specific characteristics.

This message is based on Stephen and his stoning in Acts chapters 6 and 7. Stephen had all 4 qualities of the kind of Christian Satan despises. Dwayne’s challenge to all believers is that we quit playing games with Christianity, and face the very real possibility of death in our future as we commit our entire lives to living for Jesus without reservations.

Dwayne concludes the teaching with an amazing modern-day story of martyrdom where a pastor had to watch his own family be killed because he would not deny Christ.

Please click on the arrow below to listen. Thanks!

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Click here to download the message notes (PDF)

The following article by Dwayne will be featured this fall in Lifeway’s cirriculum called YOU. YOU, LifeWay’s newest adult Sunday School curriculum, is biblically-based with culturally relevant lessons to help Christians connect, grow, serve, and ultimately be engaged in impacting the world for God. YOU is unprecedented, because it is intentionally focused on urban/multicultural believers. We are honored to contribute to this incredible new cirriculum by Lifeway, which will focus this fall on worship.

Worship in Three Directions, Part 3

So what does “three-directional worship” look like in everyday life? Is it really possible to worship God when you’re at home or school or work? How can even your simplest and most common tasks bring honor and worship to God? As you go through each day this week, determine to worship your Lord in all three directions of your life. Below are some simple and practical ideas you might try.

Ways to Worship God…
Inwardly:
• Invest time reading God’s Word and praying during a daily Quiet Time
• Check your attitudes, motives, and private actions to be sure they honor God
Outwardly:
• Give a smile and some words of encouragement to someone you meet
• Share your faith in Christ with a neighbor or co-worker
Upwardly:
• Choose to praise God every day through singing, shouting, clapping, kneeling, dancing, lifting hands, playing an instrument, or testifying
• Make a list of things you are thankful for and then verbally thank God for each

CLICK HERE to READ PART 1 of this article.

Written by Dwayne Moore. Copyright 2009. Dwayne is author of the highly acclaimed book, Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study on Worship. (Group, 2009)

The following article by Dwayne will be featured this fall in Lifeway’s cirriculum called YOU. YOU, LifeWay’s newest adult Sunday School curriculum, is biblically-based with culturally relevant lessons to help Christians connect, grow, serve, and ultimately be engaged in impacting the world for God. YOU is unprecedented, because it is intentionally focused on urban/multicultural believers. We are honored to contribute to this incredible new cirriculum by Lifeway, which will focus this fall on worship.

Worship in Three Directions, Part 2

Now let’s consider the outward direction of worship. There are actually four distinct outward ways we can bring glory to our Lord, and they all have to do with our relationships with other people.First of all, God is worshipped when we share our faith with someone or in some way play a part in a person’s coming to know Christ. In Romans 15:16, Paul says God gave him the “priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel…so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God.” What a privilege to take part in such an offering! Once we’ve helped someone become eternally transformed, we’ll be hooked on sharing our faith for life!

Second, we worship God when we help others. These days, old-fashioned neighborly help can be hard to find. And if we’re really honest, most of us are OK with that trend. We often lack the motivation to lend a hand. We build privacy fences so we don’t see our neighbors, and then we fill up our schedules so we don’t have time to notice if they need our help. But as followers of Jesus, we can’t afford not to be the good Samaritans he has called us to be (Luke 10:33). Jesus clearly taught us to give “a cup of cold water” in his name (Matthew 10:42).

In Philippians 4:18, Paul described the Philippians’ gifts as “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” Giving financial aid to those in need is a third wonderful way to express our love for God. However, it’s imperative that we be cheerful when we give, not grudging, because that represents the real motives of our hearts (2 Corinthians 9:7). Once again, God considers our willing and compassionate hearts as the source of true worship.

The fourth way we worship God outwardly is by being sensitive to our weaker brothers and sisters. The entirety of Romans 14 focuses on strong and weak Christians. According to verse 13, we are to “live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall” (NLT). Verse 18 shows God’s view of this: “If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God” (NLT).

For some reason, my father (who was not a Christian) didn’t think Christian women should wear shorts. Thus, when I was growing up, I never saw our next door neighbor wearing shorts. She chose not to wear them in front of my dad because she didn’t want to offend him. That’s the kind of selfless sensitivity God honors in us-and is honored in.

CLICK HERE to READ PART 1 of this article

Written by Dwayne Moore. Copyright 2009. Dwayne is author of the highly acclaimed book, Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study on Worship. (Group, 2009)

In one week, America has lost 3 iconic figures in the entertainment world: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. Millions of people around the world are mourning these deaths — and thinking a lot about death themselves.

That means this is a great time to share our faith about eternal LIFE in Jesus Christ.

Look for an opportunity to witness to someone today. Simply bring up the subject of any one of these famous people’s passing — then say “I’m glad I know where I am going when I die. What about you?”

The following article by Dwayne will be featured this fall in Lifeway’s cirriculum called YOU. YOU, LifeWay’s newest adult Sunday School curriculum, is biblically-based with culturally relevant lessons to help Christians connect, grow, serve, and ultimately be engaged in impacting the world for God. YOU is unprecedented, because it is intentionally focused on urban/multicultural believers. We are honored to contribute to this incredible new cirriculum by Lifeway, which will focus this fall on worship.

Worship in Three Directions, Part 1

by Dwayne Moore

At some point in your life, you may have been as I was (and so many in our pews still are!). Anytime you heard the word worship, you assumed that word mostly referred to singing, clapping, and talking to God. However, worship is not just something we do on Sundays at church. And it’s certainly more than singing or attending a service, although those are included. Worship is a lifestyle. It involves everything we do and think and are. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul wrote, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Paul chose the examples of eating and drinking to illustrate how our most common and everyday activities can and should bring glory and honor to Christ.

In his book The Ultimate Priority, John MacArthur Jr. explains that for our worship to be “whole-life” it must include three aspects or directions. Most certainly, we worship God when we focus directly on him, pointing our worship upward (as we normally think of worship). However, we should also worship God inwardly. The third direction we should worship him is outwardly, to those around us.

You might think of three-directional worship like this: Imagine you say to your boss, “You are the greatest boss to ever walk the face of the earth. Furthermore, this is the best job I’ve ever had or ever will have. In fact, I practically worship at your feet for just letting me do this job every day.” (Am I laying it on thick enough yet?) OK, having said such a mouthful upwardly toward your boss, how should you behave when no one’s looking? If you really meant what you said, you’ll talk well of your boss and your job when your boss isn’t around, and you’ll work hard and enthusiastically for him or her even when no one’s watching you. Why? Because inwardly you really do love your boss and you want to please him or her.

Now let’s take this idea a step further. Let’s say you’re in the service industry, and your job involves assisting other people. Every time you cheerfully seek to help someone, every time you go out of your way to meet someone’s needs, you are outwardly honoring your employer and saying by your actions how much you appreciate working for him or her. In much the same way, our God is honored-or worshipped-not only by what we say to him, but also by how much we love him on the inside and by how we respond to those he died for.

The inward direction of our worship refers to who I am when no one is looking. It’s not really difficult to lift up praises to God when we’re at church or around other Christians. In those environments we’re encouraged, even expected, to do so. But what about when we’re in the privacy of our own homes, browsing the Internet, or glancing through a magazine on the newsstands? Are we being careful to please God with our private thoughts, with the things we see, with the places we visit? (Ouch!)

Worshipping inwardly by being good is perhaps the litmus test for all of worship. If our hearts’ desire is to please God, we can no longer enjoy our former sins. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” This refers to a change inside of us. According to Psalm 51:16-17, God wants a broken and contrite heart more than our outward sacrifices. He knows that if our hearts are purely devoted to him, that can’t help but affect our outward behavior.

CLICK HERE to READ PART 2 of this article.

Written by Dwayne Moore. Copyright 2009. Dwayne is author of the highly acclaimed book, Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study on Worship. (Group, 2009)

I am reading a thought-provoking book by Gary Wright, who is a member of my church’s praise team. It’s called Worship Awakening. At the end of chapter 2, he pulls an insightful quote from John Piper about worship and missions.

I have not found a better statement on missions and worship than this one by John Piper:

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

Worship, therefore, it the fuel and goal in mission. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God.”

Missions is not the goal — worship is! You can’t neglect worship and expect to be truly fruitful in missions. It’s impossible. The road to missions is paved with worship.

Worship is THE purpose, and if that purpose is being lived out, the fruit will result in ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship. If we mistakenly view worship as one of the purposes of the Church, instead of THE purpose, we can be headed for trouble. Everything flows out of worship. Ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship are things you do. Worship is who you are. The others are about doing, worship is about being. I am certainly not claiming that ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship are not important, but they must flow out of being GOD-WOPSHIPERS.

Excerpt from Worship Awakening (WinePress, 2007) pp. 53-54. Used by permission.

Hey everyone, I thought you might enjoy this entry in my Quiet Time Journal from my devotion this morning. I am going through 1 Corinthians. Today’s passage was 12:4-6.  The theme of today’s quiet time study is that the same God works through each of our individual gifts to accomplish His purpose.  An excerpt is below. Thanks! ~ Dwayne

What God said to me: You cannot please me more than to do what I have gifted you and intended for you to do. Man looks at various ministries and automatically assumes one is more important and more blessed than another. An evangelist may see thousands come to Christ while a faithful missionary may only see a few respond to his message. One pastor may see hundreds added to his congregation while another pastor – who is just as creative and full of faith – may see a fraction of that numerical growth. Jesus expressed this principle and reality in the parable of the sower. Some who sowed seeds saw a harvest of a hundredfold, but others saw only sixty or even thirtyfold. You see, Dwayne, in my economy, I do not determine your success based on your success in human terms of results. Click here to read this entire devotional entry.

This website is about Biblical worship. And sometimes we just need to make clear exactly who the real God is that we are worshiping!  

Last week, my thirteen-year-old son told me something that stopped me in my tracks. He said, “Dad, did you know that our God and Allah are really the same god?” He had watched a film at his middle school that day called Three Religions: One God. If my child — who is daily being taught Christian values from the Bible — could believe such a lie, how easily can children and youth in non-Christian homes think that Allah is the same as the Christian God?

The very next night during our family devotion, we compared Allah and Yahweh (YHWH) according to the Quran and the Holy Bible. I encourage all parents to sit down with their children and go through these important points below. Our God is the only true God. Allah and all other so-called gods are false and cannot begin to compare to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. – Dwayne

The Bible vs. The Quran

• YHWH is God’s name ‘forever’. (Exodus 3:13-15)
  Allah is God’s name. (The Quran)

Read more…

The following article by Dwayne appears in Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox, Issue #371. This is an excerpt from Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study on Worship. Specifically, this is taken from Day 1 of Week 9 called Finishing Well.

If we are to finish well the mission God has given us on this earth, one very important principle we must employ is to keep fighting.

“I could still hold my weapon. I could still walk. My legs weren’t blown off. I wanted to finish the mission.” That was Lance Cpl. Jaime M. Magallanes’ attitude when he was wounded by an enemy sniper while on a patrol in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, March 23, 2003. Amazingly, the young warrior ignored his injury and turned his concerns toward his fellow Marines and their mission. “We wiped his wound down and dressed it,” said a Navy lieutenant. “We also listened to his lungs to see if he was breathing fine. He was cool and calm and said he wanted to return to the fight.”

Well has it been said that all Christ followers must recognize that the Christian life is not a playground but a battlefield where conflicts are won and lost in real spiritual battles. No matter how difficult the fighting becomes for us, as Christians we must never quit. Alfred Plummer observed that “Military service is either perpetual warfare or perpetual preparation for it…The soldier, so long as he remains in the service, can never say, ‘I may lay aside my arms and my drill; all enemies are conquered. There will never be another war.’”

Recognizing the battlefield Read more…

The following article by Dwayne Moore appears this week in Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox, Issue #370. This is an excerpt from Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study on Worship.

In worship services, we should plan as much as possible and then allow for spontaneity. But what happens when spontaneous worship actually occurs? How should we respond when our plans are suddenly changed? An important element that is necessary for a worship service to be effective is the willingness to be flexible.During a major citywide festival in Oklahoma City, I had no choice but to be flexible. It was six hours before the opening night. I had planned the service in detail two months earlier. The festival choir was prepared and expecting to sing a certain number of songs, the praise band had rehearsed, and the lyrics in their exact order had been given to our video operators. Then I got the call. The lieutenant governor of Oklahoma wanted to speak about her relationship with Christ during the festival. The only night she could be there was that very same night. Of course, you don’t say no to such a great opportunity – even with just six hours notice. So we reworked two months of planning in a matter of minutes.

Here’s the best news: The service flowed extremely well, and there was a sense of God’s anointing on everything that took place that night. In fact, hundreds placed their faith in Christ as their Savior that evening!

All of us who have planned services probably could tell stories similar to this – times that God got the glory even though our plans got the boot! Of course, it’s one thing to be forced into flexibility (as we go kicking and screaming), but it’s quite another to willingly allow our plans to be thwarted right before our eyes. That requires trust. Read more…

God took me to the “woodshed” of chastisement today during my personal time with Him. I had never seen my sinful acts in this way before. Below is an excerpt from my quiet time journal this morning. ~Dwayne

Text: 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 Theme: Participating in sin is worshiping the devil. Key verses: “Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.” (v. 14) “And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? (v. 16b) “Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?” (v. 18b) “…the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealously? Are we stronger than he?” (v. 20-22) What God said to me: Dwayne, your sin angers me. I am a jealous God and will have no other gods before me. Yet, everytime you indulge in your petty sin (that so easily besets you), you in reality worship Satan. When you worship Satan, you turn your back on me completely. Like you read in Matthew Henry’s Commentary: “What a manifest self-contradiction must that man’s conduct be that would partake of the Lord’s table, and yet partake of the table of demons!

To read the rest of this entry from Dwayne’s quiet time journal, please go here: http://quiettimejournal.praisemorepowerful.com/2009/01/22/dangerous-worship/

The following article is featured in the Summer 09 edition of Neue. Neue is a quarterly bookzine produced by Relevant Magazine for emerging ministry leaders.

How To Develop Your Worship Team to Be Ministers through Music

By Dwayne Moore 

The goal for church musicians and assistants should be that they become ministers through music. Ministers through music have some very distinguishing characteristics. They are passionate about what they are doing. They have a sense of calling. They are disciplined. They are full of integrity, and they clearly exhibit a servant heart toward God and others. What worship pastor wouldn’t want a stage full of people who fit that description! Conveniently, every one of these qualities comes along quite naturally as a result of one all-important process called spiritual growth.

So, how do we help our worship team members become ministers through music? There are four practical steps we can take. But before we delve into what we can do, we need to understand what God will do.

I know how easy it is to become frustrated and impatient with members of our team when we don’t see them growing and developing like we think they should. When they grumble and complain, when they are late for rehearsals and don’t take their responsibilities seriously, when they seem to want the spotlight all to themselves – all these attitudes and actions are realities every seasoned worship pastor has had to deal with at some point. “What am I going to do with these people?” we say in exasperation. The answer is simple: We need to fervently and consistently pray for them. The good news is that it’s not up to us to change them. That is God’s job. The powerful message of 2 Corinthians 3:18 can be boiled down to six words: “Gaze on him and be transformed.” According to Hebrews 12:2, Jesus is both the author and the finisher of our faith. Our responsibility then, first and foremost, is to intercede for those in our worship ministries, asking our great Gardener to grow them and transform them in his time and in his way.

Beyond praying for them, there are some specific things we as leaders can do to help the growth process. First of all, we need to personally exemplify the qualities and characteristics we hope to see in those we lead. For example, if we want to see passion in others we need to show some ourselves. Are we enthusiastic as we lead from stage? Do we show up with a smile and an upbeat attitude each week for rehearsals? Can others sense our passion for God and for those he loves? Augustine of Hippo said, “The Christian should be an alleluia from head to foot!” That kind of passion will contagiously “rub off” on your ministry team if they see it first in you. Read more…

This article by Dwayne was the feature article at WorshipLeader.com and in Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox two Christmases ago. With the war against Christmas raging, we thought we needed to bring this one back to remind us of God’s perspective on the subject…

Let’s start with a question: What is the one thing God made sure Jesus got the best of when He first came to earth? Was it our riches? No, He was born in a stall with barn animals and hay. Was it our royalty? No. His parents were a shepherd boy and a hand-maiden. They were not kings and queens. Was it our 5-star resorts? Absolutely not. In fact, the hotel in Bethlehem didn’t even have room for Him and His family.

No, it wasn’t any of the things that we tend to think are important and valuable. However, there was one thing God made sure we gave our best of to His infant Son. When Jesus was born into this world, He got showered by our praise. The entire event of Jesus’ birth was literally wrapped in powerful and prominent praise. Think about it: Ten different times people and angels offered joyful, spontaneous praise to God because of Jesus’ arrival to this ball of sin-cursed humanity we call planet Earth. Read more…