The Advantage

For the last three Sundays my pastor has spoken on the benefits of prayer and fasting. (click to listen or watch) The concept is that fasting and prayer are like steroids for your spirit (in a good way); they give you an advantage. In every area of life we are always looking for an advantage; that thing that will put you over the top. Prayer and fasting might very well be the advantage you are looking for in your music ministry.

Prayer and fasting are vital when…
1. you lack vision (Pr. 29:18)
2. you lack spiritual fervor (Rev 3:15-16)
3. you need an answer from God (Dan 10)
4. you need a miracle / breakthrough (Matt 17:14-21)
5. you lack spiritual maturity (Heb 6:1)

Obviously this is not an all-inclusive list. However, I see these 5 things as major deterrents to a successful music ministry. For those of you who are trying to revitalize, restore, reinvent, rediscover or create music in your church, fast and pray! It will give you an advantage that good administration or a new electric guitar player cannot do. Don’t be the “music” people and let the pastor be the “Bible” person. Grow. Be spiritually mature. Fast and pray.

Own It!

Worship leaders have many challenges. One challenge I hear over and over again is the challenge of getting more people involved. One of the reasons there is limited involvement is because most of us manage our teams instead of own them. Owners take responsibility for success and failures, come up with new ideas, instigate change and go the extra mile. Managers maintain and only do what the boss asks of them. Here are some tips on how to own your worship team and get people involved. (note: I am in the middle of this right now)

3 ways to own it:
1. owners take responsibility; managers blame shift
- First and foremost you must recognize that it is your responsibility to grow and mature your team. It is not the responsibility of your senior pastor or your best musician; you must own it.

2. owners recruit; managers expect people to come to them
- Too many worship leaders expect people to just show up, gear in hand and be ready to play. The reality is that if you want people to be involved you must ask them.
- Most people will not come up to you begging to be involved, most of them subconsciously expect an invitation from the leader; so invite away.

3. owners train for excellence; managers maintain status quo
- “He wants to be involved, he’s just not at the level I’m looking for.” So…….train him. If you have a young drummer who is always off tempo, go to his/her house over and over again, buy them a metronome, constantly play music with them and they will get better.
- Especially in smaller churches you cannot expect people to show up as skilled as you desire. Owners constantly sacrifice time and money in order to see their goals accomplished.

Clean Water

This is a video that we put together for one of our youth services.

Setting Goals

Here are some helpful tips when setting yearly goals for your worship team.

1. Make it measurable
- Nothing is more frustrating then having open-ended goals. Make sure that when you set a goal you can know if you have accomplished it or not.

2. Make it spiritual and practical
- Some of our goals can only be accomplished by a sovereign act or visit from God. These goals are only obtained by continual prayer and sometimes fasting. However, there are some other goals that can be met by practical means. Make sure your goals have a blend of only things that God can accomplish (this keeps you in a place of continued prayer) and things that you can accomplish (this keeps you from becoming stagnant).

3. Make it clear
- Your goals should be concise and easy to memorize. In a matter of one meeting your whole team should be able to know exactly what the goals are for this year and be able to articulate them on their own. Too many goals make things confusing and makes accomplishing any goals much more complicated.

Thoughts on Grace

THROUGH GRACE
I have received salvation
Eph 2:8 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

I have received the free gift of righteousness
Rom 5:17 17For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:21 21so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 11:6 6And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.

I can be who God wants me to be
1 Cor 15:10 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

I can overcome weakness
2 Cor 12:8-9 8Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

I am justified through Christ’s redemption
Rom 3:24 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

We must learn to be strong in grace
2 Tim 2:1 1You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,

Paul understood that if his young disciple did not grasp the magnitude of grace he would fail to accomplish all that God had for him. Likewise if you and I do not understand, live in and offer grace we will not accomplish all that God has intended for us. Grace is vital to the success of the Christian walk because “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” Mark 10:27

In order to accomplish all that God has for us to do we must constantly live in a state of grace.

As we live in grace and become who God wants us to be the church then becomes what she is supposed to be and does what she is supposed to do. Live with a greater perspective. Understand that the grace freely given to you is for the betterment of the bride of Christ that His will can be accomplished on this globe.

Take a Nap

Things that make leading worship difficult:
1. Spiritually unprepared
2. Physically tired
3. Mentally unprepared

Solutions:
1. Consistency in devotions and other spiritual disciplines is vital for spiritual leadership. This is first and primary in your “to do” list.
2. Get plenty of rest the night before your morning service(s) and a nap (if possible) before your evening service(s).
3. Practice, practice, practice. Know where you are going and what you are doing at all times.

If you do these three simple things, you will find yourself being more alert and successful as ever. However, if you fail to accomplish these three things you are greatly decreasing your chances at operating at a high level.

- PN