The following is a helpful report of how one church got really creative in how they utilized their music and arts ministry to reach their community at Christmas 2008. Great ideas as we plan toward Christmas 2009!
Guest Post by Frank Nihart, worship pastor at First Baptist Church, Deridder, LA:
As a worship leader, it was my first opportunity in a new town and a new church and ministry setting to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I knew that this church had great success in the past with their Living Christmas Tree presentations. But, I wanted to be more holistic and comprehensive in our approach.We decided to title our seasonal celebration “Christmas In DeRidder”. As part of Christmas In DeRidder we involved the Celebration Choir the first weekend with the musical “Tonight, Heaven Touches Earth” which they sang on the Living Christmas Tree. Because I wanted to do an “instrumental only” Christmas concert the next weekend, we did not use a live orchestra like they had in the past. We used the DVD accompaniment provided by the publishers of the musical. It was absolutely gorgeous.
It must have been effective since seventy people out of about 2000 who attended filled out a registration card indicating that they had prayed to receive Christ as their Savior. Read more…
As much as secular society tries to commercialize Christmas, and no matter how often we see Santa Claus at the mall and on TV, Jesus is still the reason for this season! Do yourself a favor and read the “The Great Christmas Wars” by David Loy. I just came across it today. Below is an except from the article. Click here to read the entire article. - Dwayne
“No one is going to take Christ out of Christmas, because no one can remove our King from His throne. The Great Christmas Wars are already won. God saw to that when the virgin conceived and gave birth to a son, who is God-with-us. So if your neighbor or the cashier wishes you ‘Happy Holidays,’ don’t pull out your petitions and boycotts. Instead, take the opportunity to share the good news of Immanuel, God-with-us. Reply with a joyful ‘Merry Christmas’ or say, ‘I’m celebrating the birth of Christ.’”
Courtney Beam is a member of The Church at Ross Station, where I have the privilege to lead praise. Her 8-year-old son, Tucker, has been diagnosed again with cancer. (The first time he was only 1 year old.) Courtney herself has recently been diagnosed with cancer as well. Her faith and her family’s faith through all of this will leave you speechless. Below is an excerpt from a devotion she wrote. Go here to read the entire devotional article. – Dwayne
At times I feel like we are in the fiery furnace and I allow myself to think that we are about to burn up. Unlike the three men in Daniel 3, I find myself asking God why and even feeling sorry for myself. If only I would trust that He is not going to let our hair be singed, our robes scorched, or even let us smell of the fire. In the midst of this fire I want to respond like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. I want to say, “OK, we’re in the furnace and God can save us, but even if He doesn’t I will praise him.” Even if He doesn’t answer my prayer for healing in the way I want I will praise Him. Even more so, I want to stand on the edge of the fire and say no matter what your plan is Father, I trust you. I know that you will let no harm touch me. God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
NOTE: You can read more about Tucker Beam’s cancer and his progress at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tuckerbeam.
OK, I admit I am mentally challenged and stretched every time I listen to or read anything by Ravi Zacharias. I am half-way through his book, Jesus Among Other Gods, and yet again, I find myself reading and re-reading certain paragraphs and sections in order to try to grasp the full meaning of his words. Nonetheless, this book is a powerful thesis on the supremacy of Christ and Christianity — and almost every page jumps out at me with fresh and provocative thoughts.
Below is a quote from pp. 99-100. Here Dr. Zacharias teaches a perspective on worship that I haven’t thought of or seen before. Notice the relevant and irrelevant “reversals” that he says are often involved in true worship…
“Food and health may be a relevant branch to which we hold. But the trunk that is rooted in the sacred call of God to worship is based on a reversal of that relevance. It is not that God needs to be relevant to us. It is the very counterperspective of God that beckons us to become relevant to Him. What do I mean? Read more…
The presidential election of 2008 is in the history books. We have a new President-elect and his name is Barrack Hussein Obama. Now if you voted as I did, you may very well be disappointed with that fact. But while we may be disappointed, let us not be disheartened.
It is true, I will not see my candidate move into the oval office but God is still on the throne and He is still in control! Jesus said in John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” As Christians our trust should never be in political candidates or worldly rulers, but our trust must be in the Supreme Ruler of the Universe – Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Presidents come and presidents go but Jesus Christ is forever and it is in God that we trust.
An extremely wise man once wrote, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7) That is what we must do today. We must trust in God and allow Him to direct our paths. Believe me when I say that God was not surprised by the outcome of the election and it did not rattle Him one bit. As I often say, “I am so glad that God knows what He is doing even when I do not.” Read more…
Kent Shaffer has highlighted a provocative list of things people hate to see worship leaders do. WARNING: This list is not for the easily offended or closed-minded or convinced-they’ve-got-it-all-figured-out people. I don’t necessarily agree with everything on the list. But I must admit I have been (still am) guilty of some of the “gripes” mentioned here.
I challenge us to read through these, carefully asking ourselves if we ever do these things in services. The point is not to change our ways just to please this one guy. The point is to evaluate why we do what we do. Are we willing to change something if it is unnecessary or if it might hinder our effectiveness to lead others?
Go to http://churchrelevance.com/top-10-pet-peeves-about-worship-leaders/ and read the list if you dare…
–Dwayne
Do yourself a favor and go to WorshipMatters.com and read Bob Kauflin’s article about American Idol and the contestants singing Shout to the Lord twice this week. This article is one of the most profound and provocative perspectives I have read on how worship causes our culture and Christianity to both compliment each other and collide with each other.
Toward the end of his post he makes this statement: “We want to do all we can to ensure that those who walk into our meetings see clearly that we’re not a local version of American Idol.” Wow. No truer words could be spoken. Thanks, Bob, for once again bringing us back to true, unadulterated worship…
Guest Post by Chris Knox:
The “good ole days” of traveling with my husband in a Christian rock band are long gone. We’ve “grown up”, had four children, and have excitedly accepted the God-given calling to build a worship culture at our church.
I describe that culture as combining the ingredients of music and art with excellence to provide an atmosphere where people can connect with God in worship. In that atmosphere, He inhabits the praises of His people! So, when we worship in spirit and truth, with hearts set solely on Him, we can experience moments where something of heaven touches earth. We get a glimpse of such heavenly moments in worship when we get so lost in the realization of who God is that it compels us to go to deeper places of expressing our love to Him in a myriad of ways. As a result, we are radically changed and/or reminded to live a lifestyle of worship that draws people closer to Him.
I suppose it’s obvious to say that creating this atmosphere requires the musicians to play with excellence rather than having musical “train wrecks” all through the worship set. Have you been in a setting where one musician is playing parts to get noticed, another is not sure what key we’re in, and the drummer is marching to his own beat, so to speak? If you’re familiar with this scenario, I thought I’d share some of the practical ways we aim to bring our team together so the people have no distractions in worship that would keep them from drawing near to the Lord with their whole heart. Read more…
Hey everyone, sorry about not posting in over a week. We changed ISPs and inadvertently knocked out our internet service for several days!
Below is a video interview with my dear friend, Rhon Carter, worship pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, GA. (Click on the words Read on… below to view the video.)
Last weekend, I had the privilege to lead a Next Level Worship Retreat with 80+ choir members from Emmanuel Baptist. Rhon had me in to kick off their study through our worship study, Praise More Powerful. Their church averages some 1100 in worship each week. They are the largest church in their 64-church association, and they were the 4th fastest growing Southern Baptist church in Georgia in 2006.
After the Friday night teaching service, Rhon and I were sitting in my hotel room chatting about music and worship and choirs and other such items. Then Rhon said a most incredible thing. He began to share his heartbeat about wanting to help smaller congregations in any way he and his music ministry can. For example, he attends as many music minister meetings in the area as he possibly can. Why? It’s not so much because he needs the materials or advice being offered (although he said he still needs to learn); rather, he goes because he wants to support the other worship leaders and get to know them. How cool is that? Read more…
Holidays and traveling are an integral part of our lives. For we Americans, this upcoming “Labor Day” will be anything but laborious as we take to the highways and waterways to celebrate a reprieve from our labors.
Unfortunately, far too many otherwise church-going Christians likewise take a hiatus from church while they are on vacation. While apparently they (OK, we) assume we have earned some sort of right to vacation from God’s house, the fact is we cannot vacate from God’s presence (see Psalm 139!). Thus as believers, we should never, never, excuse our hearts from worshiping and honoring God.
My good friend, Michael Moore, has put together some powerful and creative messages on this very topic. The sermon titles include:
- Williamsburg: Worship God who Designed History
- The Outer Banks: Worship God who Offers Peace
- Busch Gardens: Worship God who Provides Joy
- Water Country USA: Worship God who Gives Living Water
- Camping: Worship God who Created All
- Road Trip: Worship God who is Everywhere
Click here to download the PDF of these messages. Enjoy! – Dwayne
Hey everybody! Heads up on some great ideas and tips for leading worship that I just ran across. Go to http://www.kuesterlaw.com/worship/tips.htm and check them out. Well worth your time to read! Thanks to Kelly Sparks for his work on gathering these thoughts into one location! - Dwayne
My friend, Bob Kauflin, has written a strong review of a very strong, new resource by Greg Scheer. Bob calls Greg’s new book published by Baker, “one of the best practical guides for those who lead congregational worship with a band.” I am presently reading this new and helpful book, The Art of Worship: A Musician’s Guide to Leading Modern Worship, and I fully concur with Bob’s review. You will want to go to Bob’s website to read the review in its entirety, but below is an excerpt from Bob’s blogsite, Worship Matters. (Thanks, Bob, for your continued dedication to helping worship leaders navigate the waters and make a greater impact in the Kingdom!)
Review excerpt by Bob Kauflin: Read more…
OK, an article in this week’s edition of Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox hit me hard. Our ministry is right now in the midst of launching a major church-wide emphasis on worship (called 30 Days of Praise). At the heart of its purpose is to get people to slow down and make time daily to focus on God and His Word and to deliberately worship Him.
Yet, I’ve been so “busy” doing this good thing that I have neglected the best thing: making time for God myself! Oh God, please forgive my weak justifications and ill-founded excuses for not investing time every day with You! - Dwayne
Below is an excerpt from the article by Michael Ireland. Go here to read the entire and convicting piece. Read more…
The following is a guest post by Dr. Terry Hadaway. He has just written an amazing Bible 
study called “Where’d the Army Go?” which is timed perfectly as churches are looking now for volunteers to fill much needed positions this fall. Be sure to go his ministry’s website (www.EquipBibleStudy.com) and consider downloading this entire study for your church or for yourself!
Here is an excerpt from “Where’d the Army Go?” Bible study:
It’s that time of year again… the time of year when church leaders everywhere desperately search for volunteers to fill a growing number of leadership positions. The optimism of the spring in which church staff members declared God’s sure provision of leaders has wilted in the summer heat. Now, with days to go before the new year begins, the problem persists. The vacancies remain unfilled and there aren’t enough new leaders to fill the void.
The problem isn’t confined to smaller churches. One church leader said that he usually has to replace 20% of his volunteer leaders. In his church, 20% translates into 18 new leaders needed for the student ministry in a church that regularly runs 4,000 in attendance each week. Read more…
Guest Post by John Martin:
Often times doesn’t it seem that we find the most difficult of solutions to the simplest of problems? Let me give you an example. At the height of the space race during the 1960’s, NASA took on the arduous job of finding a way to write in space. Normal pens wouldn’t work due to the zero gravity the astronauts would face in the space capsules. So scientists embarked on a way to solve the problem. They came up with the Astronaut Pen, after months of research and development, and at a cost of about $1 million. But after all that time and money had been invested NASA’s hard work paid off and they had a means of writing in space.
The Soviet Union also faced the task of writing in space. To solve this weighty problem, they used a pencil.
How often do we as Christians face a problem and we seek out the most difficult of solutions for said problem? Read more…
