Monday, October 19, 2009
mp3 of the week
Cody Wiesen led us in the song "Your Love Never Fails" by Jesus Culture.
Such a fantastic song that speaks about God's unfailing love based on the scriptures Romans 8:28, 38
Check them out at: http://www.jesusculturemusic.org/
They are truly an anointed group of worship leaders!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Before Coffee Was Cool
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
A Whole Life
Monday, October 12, 2009
Weekly MP3's
This weeks mp3 is from a worship service at our Young Adult gathering, Sanctuary, that meets every Sunday night. The song is "Speak to Me" by Dave Lubben.
If you're a young adult in the bay area looking for a place to worship with people in your same demographic you should check Sanctuary out!
timothydavid
Friday, October 9, 2009
worship: words from our heroes
I understand true worship to be when one’s spirit adores & connects with the Spirit of God, when the very core of one’s being is found loving Him, lost in Him. -Darlene Zschech
God first seeks devotion to Him in the hidden place–worship when no one else is watching. -Matt Redman
A sense of God’s supernatural presence is the first essential of real worship . . . Unfortunately, we humans have the ability to shut God out of our lives. As R.C. Sproul concludes, we put on blindfolds & go through our days as if God did not exist. Even as Christians we need to be reawakened to the ‘presence of God’s majesty & glory.’ -Sally Morgenthaler
…”spiritual songs” are most likely unrehearsed and improvised, perhaps short melodies or choruses extolling the beauty of Christ. They aren’t prepared in advance but are prompted by the Spirit and thus are uniquely and especially appropriate to the occasion or the emphasis of the moment. -Dr. Sam Storms on Colossians 3:16
A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell. -C.S. Lewis
We sing in worship to engage and express our affections. There is no other reason to sing. If we aren’t dealing with our affections in worship, we might as well just read the lines of the songs dryly together in paragraph form without any music. We worship with music to because God has created music with a certain nature where it tends to move our affections deeply. -Jonathan Edwards
Worship rises or falls with our concept of God. -A. W. Tozer
Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are – mind, emotions, will, body – to what God is and says and does. -Warren Wiersbe
…regardless of how magnificent the musical moments are, unless one’s heart is fully engaged in the worship being expressed, it is still only music. -Darlene Zschech
Thursday, October 8, 2009
my dad always told me...
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
"It takes one to break rank"
This guy is awesome.
"Be radical in your service to God, in your expression of love and devotion to Him. If you are radical, people around you will want to be radical too. It just takes one to break rank and it gives everyone else permission. You be the one to break rank, don't wait for someone else...you lead it."
- Darlene Zchech, extravagant worship
Of course, this dude isn't worshiping God--but he is embodying the principle of these words from Darlene. Word.
timothydavid
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
sleepy disappointment
To my sleepy disappointment I awoke at about 5am, feeling stirred by the Spirit of God, to get up and spend some time with Him. goody. I can't tell you how enthused I was about losing precious sleep. So I reluctantly peeled myself out of bed in order to follow this prompt.
I tiptoed into our pitch dark office and set my Bible open faced on the floor and proceeded to close the door and turn on the light. When I came back to my bible this is what lay before me:
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you."
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow...
As a worship minister (I'm not officially ordained--but in the active sense of the word) I spend much of my week racking my brains about what cool, new elements we can add to our services to bring in a "wow" factor for the congregation that might tickle their artistic fancies just right and leave a lasting impression on them throughout the week. However, as I read and re-read this passage I am reminded very deeply that we don't come to church for a good show...at least we shouldn't. We come to church to meet, learn about, experience the living, all powerful, uncontainable God--and when that happens, when "he comes" so to speak--then the real stuff starts happening--not the cool lights and videos. I mean the REAL stuff like "the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert." Can you imagine what that would be like on a Sunday morning? Uncontainable.
So I am extremely grateful that God continues to remind me that it's not newer, cooler services that will bring people to Him--it's HIM that will bring people to Him. And it's just our job to lift Him up. Not just mine as a "worship leader"--ALL of us.
Now, don't get me wrong--I am 110% behind releasing the creative gifts of God's people for His glory and fame to be spread and known in this dry and thirsty land. If that looks like a sweet video, an amazing light show, a fantastic new or old song or I don't know...a kid break dancing for Jesus then bring it on! Let's go for it! But it's only when our hearts are aligned with the core of why we come to church that we are free to celebrate all the expressions of cool, new stuff and allow those things to fulfill there intended purpose. Yeah?
timothydavid