Thanks to everyone who prayed and supported us on our nine-day mission tour in Guatemala this past week! My 13 year old son, Stephen, and I joined 15 college students from Northeast Junior College to do street, school and village evangelism in several cities throughout Guatemala. This trip was a great example of “next level worship,” for certainly all of us witnessed through our worship and praise before every person we met!
We presented 16 shows which consisted of puppet songs, dramas, and testimonies. In all we saw over 1000 decisions for Christ during these shows. While many of the decisions were children, we also saw several adults trust Christ as their Savior!
Ken Galyean of Call to Africa organized and led the trip. I would recommend his ministry to anyone who wants to go on a short-term mission trip! You can contact Ken via email: kgalyean@calltoafrica.org.
Below are a few pictures from our trip. Thanks again! ~Dwayne
Many had never seen puppets or skits before
Stephen giving his testimony at a boy's school
We gave away soccer balls, hats and other gifts to people who have never had such things.
Overlooking a huge crater lake in Guatemala
Pictures from Guatemala Mission Trip 2009
Do yourself a huge favor and go today, in fact right now, to www.IAmSecond.com. This is a website put together by Tony Evans. It is cutting edge in its format and presentation. It features video testimonies by famous sports stars, movie stars, and musicians, such as Darrell Waldrep, Stephen Baldwin, Brian “Head” Welch (former lead guitarist of KoRn), and several others.
This website is an awesome evangelistic tool designed for people who don’t know Christ and need hope and help. Topics covered include drug addiction, eating disorders, disillusionment from famine and hopelessness in world, rejection, physical and emotional pain, loneliness and more.
We are left on this earth to show forth God’s praises in a dark world. What better way to worship Him publically than to point those you love to a website like this where they can discover the Hope and Peace found only in Christ?
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…
Hey everyone! My discipleship group is going through the Book of Luke right now. In my quiet time a couple days ago, God used a passage in Luke to teach me a powerful principle regarding our ministry. (This profound truth also applies to local churches and church ministries.)
Next Level Worship is a young ministry started less than two years ago. I am amazed and thankful for the growth and opportunities we have already seen, to be sure. Nonetheless, our team has been brainstorming of late on how to better market ourselves and the materials we offer. We were thinking that we needed to somehow create momentum in order for more growth to occur. Boy, were we wrong! Please read my journal excerpt below to check out God’s clear and correcting word to me about that mentality! ~ Dwayne
From Quiet Times with God on January 7, 2008:
Text: Luke 4:14-30 Theme: The Holy Spirit caused people to spread the news about Jesus, though some talk wasn’t so good. Key verses: “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me.’” (v. 14-18) “All spoke well of him.” (v. 22) “Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ I tell you the truth,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is welcome in his hometown.’” (v. 23-24) “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.” (v. 28) What God said to me: Son, this is the message I want you to hear and get today. You don’t have to push and plead and prod to produce prospects. It is not up to you to market yourself. That is my job. Jesus never sent out one piece of mass mail. Read more…
