April 22, 2014: Inheritance

Proverbs 13:22 - A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children.

As a young father of an infant daughter, it is difficult at times to look past next week, let alone the next 3 decades.  Life has a way of pulling our attention exclusively towards the present and away from the future.

But God clearly calls us to have a vision for the future.  He calls to us to live in a way that leaves an inheritance for our grandchildren.  An inheritance is an unearned fortune that does to the heirs.  It is intended to give the heirs a head start.

While this proverb is talking about money, an inheritance can be more than just money.  An inheritance can be a heritage or a legacy that get passed down.  Not all inheritances are blessings.  An inheritance of alcoholism or addiction can certainly be passed from generation to generation, but none would wish for that.

A better legacy to leave would be one in which the pattern of abuse or addiction is broken and no longer passed down.

Deuteronomy -7:9  Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.

The Lord himself keeps covenant for a thousand generations to those who are faithful to Him.  In other words, the spiritual investment that you make in the King and His kingdom touches a thousand generations after you.  

This is quite a legacy.  The momentum that can be generated from one lifetime of living for God ripples for a thousand generations.  This is the kind of vision that the Lord wants us to have.  He wants us to have a vision for our children's children and beyond.  He wants us to recognize that how we live now, and the choices that we make now will impacts the generations to come.

Let's plan with boldness and faith to leave a wake of blessing and hope for those who follow us.

April 19, 2014: Heart Sick

Proverbs 13:12 - Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Every time I would read this verse, I would interpret 'hope deferred' as delayed gratification.  I would understand this to mean that if the things that we hope and dream about take a season or more to arrive, we get heart sick.

This is really not the meaning of the verse.  There is a difference between the meaning of deferred and delayed.  Deferred means to pass or to yield.  In a sense 'hope deferred' means to forego the option of hope.

Imagine that you are surrounded by discouragement.  I believe that the word of God promises us that out of all the paths that can lead us to discouragement and disappointment, there is always a path of home that leads us to life.  To defer hope is to reject this path.

This means that hope is not something that we wait for, it is something that we take hold of.  Therefore it is possible to become heart sick by being passive.  If hope can be deferred then it can be beheld.  Don't expect hope to force itself upon you.  It will always be present, but we need to make the choice to wear it.

Faith is what allows us to see the tree of life on the other side of hope.  If our vision can be focused of the tree of life in every situation, we can always see hope and choose to follow its path.  Being heart sick is not the condition, it is the symptom of the real condition, which is not choosing hope.  Choose hope in every situation, for it leads to the tree of life, which is Jesus Christ.   

April 16, 2014: Rejoice in the Lord

Psalm 85:6  Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

The pinnacle of human maturity is to rejoice in the Lord; to be able to find joy and delight in Him alone.  Rejoicing in the Lord is worship. Some of the most powerful seasons of spiritual growth in my life have simply been seasons where I am constantly rejoicing in the Lord.  It feels like 24/7 worship happening in my life.  I awake in praise and go to sleep with my thoughts turned toward Him.

This should be the normal life for a worship leader.  We should not come to worship rehearsal and need to spend time "refocusing" due to the fact that the whole week has been spent unfocused on God.  The walk of a worship leader is meant to keep us in a place of worship so that when we take the stage, we can simply be authentic and still lead people in worship.

This does not mean we shouldn't have problem and life should be perfect all of the time.

Will you not revive us again...

Even in the course of a single week, enough life happens that we need to the Lord to revive us many times over.  The problem is that we often turn to other things to revive us: our thoughts, entertainment, relationships, etc.  If we allow the Lord to revive, then the outcome is us rejoicing in Him.

He can be everything for us if we allow Him to be.  He can be our joy in times of sorrow.  He can be our strength in times of weakness.

If we choose to life in a way where we can constantly find joy and delight in him, then we can life in a never-ending season of praise.  And we can lead others with complete authenticity because we live a worshiping lifestyle.

April 15, 2014: Walking Blameless

Psalm 84:11 - no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

God delights in giving good things to his children.  He does not lack in generosity; nor does He give begrudgingly.  Even more, there is no good thing that he withholds.  Anything that is good He will not withhold.

I cannot even fathom all that this statement encompasses.  Surely there are many good things.  And God does not withhold any of them.

There is only one prerequisite for becoming the target of God's goodness: Being blameless.  This can lead us to one of few possible responses.  We can try harder to sin less, hoping this is what it means to be blameless or we can give up entirely and believe that God's goodness is only for the super spiritual saints.

But there is another way we can respond to the call to live blameless lives.  We can acknowledge that in our own strength we cannot live up to this call, therefore are undeserving of His goodness.  But profess that there is One is walk is blameless who has taken our blame upon Himself.

Jesus is the only One deserving of God's abundant goodness, yet He freely offers His life to us.

Colossians 1:22 - he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him

In Christ, we are made blameless and presented blameless before the Father.  It has nothing to do with our behavior or our actions, our perfection comes in our trusting in Christ.  If blamelessness is based on what you do, you need to live perfect to be perfect.  But if blamelessness can be transferred from one who took the punishment for our blame, then we can be perfect just by trusting in Him.

The conclusion to all of this is that all good things are found in Christ.  In Him alone is found the reconciliation that makes us blameless to God.  And in that is found the life that God does not withhold any good thing.

April 14, 2014: Increase Our Faith

Luke 17:6 - If you have faith as small as as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

Sometimes we need to be reminded that even small faith can make big things happen.  In our minds faith needs to be large to do marginal things.  But Jesus tells us that this is not the case.  This could mean a couple different things:

1) We do not really understand what faith is.

2) We do not understand how to apply faith in our lives.

In my life, both have probably been the case.  There have been times where what I thought was large faith on my part was really just works driven effort.  Not a bad thing, but also not faith.  There have also been times in my life where I think I did have faith, but I did not attempt to apply that faith in my life.

Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Faith is not supported by your circumstance or reality that you currently face.  Faith is conceived in heaven and it's born here on earth.  When a couple discovers they are pregnant, they immediate change their plans to accommodate a person who has not yet arrived.

Faith is both an assurance and a conviction.  An assurance is a guarantee that brings peace; it brings peace because the guarantee is for something that was hoped for.  It settles the uncertainty.

A conviction is meant to bring us to action or conclusion.  It leads us to a decision that requires a response on our part.  This response is based on things not seen.

The application of this verse may be different in every circumstance.  Sometimes faith may be as simple as no longer worry about a situation.  Sometimes faith may be to move into a ministry God is calling you. Sometimes it may require you to speak to the mountain to move.  In Luke, the disciples asked for increased faith in response to Jesus teaching them to forgive over and over again.  Faith is required for forgiveness.

But Jesus shows us that faith only needs to be the size of a mustard seed to accomplish great things.  Faith itself is a seed.  Faith does not need to begin as a mountain to move the mountain.  Faith is so powerful that if you can find the seed, you can overcome anything.      

April 13, 2014: Trusted With Little

Luke 16:10 - Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

Favor can be found in small venues and in small errands.  Favor comes by saying yes to the small things as if you were saying yes to the big thing.  God wants to entrust us with much, but the way that He does that is by entrusting us with little things.

Worship leading is a journey, not a destination.  It is important for us to appreciate every step in that journey.  It is good for us to learn faithfulness, commitment, and character from the earliest stages of the journey.  The principles of being trustworthy with small things are the same principles that are needed to be trustworthy with big things.  That's why if you can thrive with the small things you can thrive with much bigger things.

No good father burdens their children with the too much responsibility too soon.  A good father gives their children little things to manage and care for and over time adds more.  And our heavenly father does the same.

They way to respond to the things that we have been entrusted with as worship leaders is not to complain that we could handle a lot more, but rather see them as the opportunity for excellence.  Take pride in doing the best that you can in the little things.  If they are truly little, then it should be relatively easy to do well.  We almost always find their to be an opportunity to grow and improve.

This is how we need to pursue our destiny as worship leaders.  We need to value the responsibility that we have currently been entrusted with.  We need to serve other first rather than serve our own ambitions. Jumping from one opportunity to the next only to serve your ambitions is a manipulation of God's plan for promotion in your life.  And it usually does not end well.

God does have a promotion plan for our lives; it's not self-promotion is selfless serving.  Serving someone else's vision instead of our own creates more opportunities in our lives than pursuing self interests.  God wants to bring us to a place where we can be entrusted with much, so let us be faithful with what he has given us now.

April 10, 2014: Sheep of His Pasture

Psalm 79:13 - Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Everyone one has a pasture; a place of feeding or a place of rest.  I would suggest that the world has many pastures to offer.  It could be entertainment, it could be relationship, it could a career.  A pasture is simply a place to feed and revive your soul.

But just like in the natural, there is good food and there is junk food.

There is a heavenly pasture that the Lord offers to all of us.  This is the place of true refreshing and restoration.

When we keep ourselves in His pasture, the result is praise that lasts forever! 

This is more than just having a quiet time or a devotional everyday.  It includes that but it is more than just a small block of time.  Sheep do not pasture for 15 minutes a day.  This is about positioning our focus and our awareness on His presence at all time.  Keeping our awareness on him reminds us that when wolves and storms head our way, our Shepard is always near.

This empowers us to bring praise in every situation and to thrive under adversity.

April 9, 2014: One Billion Dollars

Luke 13:18-19 - Then Jesus asked, "What is the Kingdom of God like?  What shall I compare it to?  It is a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden.  It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches."

Think about a dollar bill for a second.  Think about how often we use a dollar bill.  A beverage or snack from the vending machine.  Candy at the checkout lane of a grocery store.  We never hesitate in lending out a dollar when someone needs it.

For most people a dollar bill has become relatively valueless.  We don't feel much loss in giving it away or spending it on meaningless things.

But consider this:  If you invested one dollar bill into a stock and that stock averaged an annual return of 12%, in 183 years one dollar has become one billion dollars!  That's right one dollar becomes one billion dollars in 183 years.  Now I know 183 years is a long time to wait, but consider how little a dollar is compared to a billion dollars.

Despite this mathematical marvel, I know of no one that has earmarked dollars bills for their great great great great great grand kids.  No one is eager to eliminate those trips to the vending machine to save a few dollars, and if they are, then is is to save for a new TV or a vacation.

The problem is this:  Most people see only a dollar and treat it like a dollar instead of seeing the billion dollars and treating it accordingly.

If we only see a dollar as a dollar it will never become a billion dollars for us.  We see it for its current value instead of its potential.  If we flip the script and see and treat things for their potential we will see that potential realized.  This is what the Kingdom of God is like.

In the Kingdom we see things for what they can be and not what they are.  This is called faith.  And we're called to also apply this principal to people as well.  We're called to see people as God sees them not as they currently are.  We're not called to treat the drug addict as a drug addict, we're called to treat them as a son or daughter or God.  If we do this, they are much more likely to realize that potential.

Think about our worship teams.  We all want to have the amazing musicians with the perfect heart to serve. Most people do not come into our teams as finished products, most come as raw materials.  It is our job as worship leader to pastor our teams, and one of the best ways to do this is by seeing and treating our team member as if they were the perfect addition.  As we see and treat people according to their potential, we actually begin to draw that potential out of them.  This is the kingdom of God.

April 8, 2014: Staying Ready

Luke 12:35-36 - Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.

The Lord requires that we stay ready for Him to return at any moment.  There two ways that we are to stay ready.  First, we are to be dressed for service; as if we are in the middle of a war.  The second, we are to keep our lamps burning.

Eschatology aside, there is incredible richness in these verses for us as worship leaders.  The very idea that we can open a door for the Lord is amazing.  As Christians we're more accustomed to believing that God can open doors for us than we are believing that we can open door for Him.   But in truth, this is the privilege we have as worship leader.

We can lead people in such a way that worship allows them to experience the presence of God.  We can open that door for God to come and touch a persons life and restore it.  And it's refreshing to note that while we're being described as being at war, Jesus is being described as coming from a wedding; a celebration.  In other words, no matter what we are experiencing in the battler, He comes to where we are from a place of peace, joy, and love.  Wherever a door is opened for Him, good things follow.

As worship leaders, if our goal is to open the door for Him; to lead people into His presence, then the way we do that is by being dressed for service and keeping our lamps burning.

Being dressed for service means that we are wearing armor suited for our battle.  To be without armor is to be defenseless.  And if we are defenseless, how can we be ready to open a door for him?  Being dressed is also about having the right weapons to advance.

We also need to keep our lamps burning so that we can maintain our watch.  If our lamp goes out how will we see when He's coming?  If we can continue to look out for Him we'll be ready to open a door for Him. If we stay in a lifestyle of worship we'll always be able to see through the storms.  When we let go of worship we lose our vision.

The presence of God is looking for open doors through which he can touch and transform people around you, including yourself.  Live a life of staying ready so that you can open doors for him.  Let it transform the way you lead worship.

April 6, 2014: Doing Dishes

Luke 11:39-41 - Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

Confession…doing dishes is one of my least favorite chores. I somehow always manage to get water on the floor leaving me with wet socks. I don’t like the smell of dishwater and I don’t like the feeling of pruned hands. It’s just an unpleasant job.

But when I do clean dishes, I make sure of one thing..the inside of a dish will be clean. That is what is important. If the inside of a dish is clean, then the whole dish is clean because the inside is what holds the food or drink.

Jesus scolds the Pharisees because they are concerned with keeping the outside clean but do nothing to guard the inside. In truth, they cannot do anything about the uncleanliness inside, Jesus himself is our dishwasher, cleansing us from the inside out through the cross.

Notice that Jesus never implies that we could clean our own dish. He says that “everything will be clean for you“. Jesus will clean everything for us. But the Pharisees are concerned about being contaminated from the outside in. They are concerned because Jesus did not wash before he ate. This was not a concern about sanitation or germs, it was a concern about spiritual contamination.

Jesus had just spent time with the crowds, whom we can assume were the sinners, the poor, the tax collectors, etc. These people were considered unclean and by spending time with them, it was believed that a righteous person could contaminated from the outside in.

Jesus gives us insight for how we can stay clean in any environment. ”But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you”. The secret for staying clean is to give! In other words, keep flowing from the inside outward. Don’t feed the inside with what is outside!

The pipes that bring freshwater into a house are laid through mud and dirt, yet as long as the water is under constant pressure from the source, it is impossible for the water the be contaminated. The pipes can have cracks and leaks, but dirt will never contaminate the water inside as long as a pressure is maintained from the source.






So with us as worship leaders, if we ensure that we have a constant source of God’s love, His Spirit, and His power flowing to us and through us, it is impossible for anything unclean to come in and penetrate us. We must constantly receive and give. And one of the best ways to practice this style of living is to worship. In worship we receive from God and we give back to Him. And when we live in this constant worship and love to others, everything will be clean for us.

April 4: 2014: Casting Busyness Aside

Luke 10:41-42 -  "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered , "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is need.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

There are few things that make for a productive day more than having a planned schedule.  Planning is essential for life, it is essential for pursuing a vision.  But you can also measure the importance of something in your life by its ability to disrupt your planned schedule.

We make plans because we decide in advance what the most important things are to accomplish in a given day.  But when something unexpected comes up, we evaluate its importance based on our plans.  If it is more important, we change our schedule.  If it's not, we keep our schedule.

Mary and Martha both had things to be doing.  Both apparently were supposed to be handling the preparations.  But it Mary's mind, Jesus' arrival rose above all other things and she let go of her 'to-do list'. Martha kept on with the preparations and was bitter about Mary's change of plans.  To Martha, Jesus was just another distinguished guest to come into their home, nothing more.  If Martha had valued Jesus' presence the same way Mary did, no doubt she would have been found at Jesus' feet as well.

As worship leaders, we also need keep our values in front of us.  We need to remember that we lead people into God's presence and when those moments happen, whether they fit our plan or not, it deserves to be the focal point.

When we come face to face with people's brokenness, let's not pass by because we don't have the time. Let's be willing to deviate from our schedule to meet with Jesus, whether it's when we're leading worship or going through our daily tasks.  Because as Jesus said, "whatever you do unto the least of these, you have done unto me"

April 3, 2014: Revealed to Children

Luke 10:21 - At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said "I praise you, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father for this was your good pleasure."

Jesus was not referring to literal children, he was referring to the 72 disciples who had just returned after Jesus sent them out.  They had returned to Jesus full of excitement because they were successful in the assignment that Jesus had given them, to heal the sick and cast out demons.

Jesus told them to rejoice not because the evil spirits obey them, but rather because there names were written in the book of life.

Jesus reveals this one simple truth to them:  It's not what you do, it's where you belong that matters.

God desires to reveal things to us as children rather than students. It seems counter intuitive that in order to know more we need to study less, but the reality is that God is a person and He teaches through relationship. He wants us to stay in awe of him like children in awe of their parents.

How do children learn? They understand first that they belong, and therefore have access.  We need to become like children again, believe that we belong to our heavenly Father.  When we live with that daily reality, we then will recognize that we always have access.

This is how God reveals things to us and teaches us.  We worship by acknowledging that we belong to Him. And as we more fully embrace that reality, we can more effectively lead people into that reality.  We can actually lead worship in a way that brings people into an understanding that they belong as well.  Worship is meant to be a refuge for the weary, a place of strength for the weak.

April 2, 2014: Working Our Land

Proverbs 12:11 - Those who work their land will have abundant food,
but those who chase fantasies have no sense.


They key to this proverb is learning how to work our land. Especially as a worship leader, we want to work the land of others. We see worship leaders who lead thousands or bands that play for stadiums and it becomes easy for us to want that to be our land. But the proverb says that this is chasing fantasies because this is not our land.

God has given each of us our own spiritual land. It is territory that has been put in our charge to steward for Him. It is our responsibility to work that territory and the bible promises we will have more than enough if we do.

As worship leaders we need to recognize where we have favor and commit to grow and serving in those areas. Sometimes we overlook the areas in our life where we have favor and pursue ambitions where we have not yet found favor. It is better to take ownership of the areas of our lives where there is fruit and press forward.

All of us as worship leaders have different gifting and abilities. We're all unique. Lead people in worship in a way that is yours! Not someone else's. Step into to your place and your calling by working your land.

April 1, 2014: The Sanctuary of God

Psalm 73:16-17  - When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me, till I entered the sanctuary of God.

In the midst of life circumstances we often seek clarity and perspective to help us deal with the challenges.  The way we naturally seek these things is through our thoughts.  Thinking on a matter until we can understand the situation.

But consider the difference between roads and destinations.  A road leads us to a destination and not the other way around.  If peace and clarity are the destination, then understanding that comes from our thinking is not right road to take.  It becomes oppressive to us.

We cannot think ourselves into a lifestyle of faith.  We cannot rationalize peace into our lives.  We need to take a different road.  And the psalmist has discovered it.  It was when he abandoned the road that leads to understanding to take the road that leads to the sanctuary of God that he found relief.

I would call the sanctuary of God the presence of God because it is the place where God dwells.  It is when we stop seeking understanding that I can find peace in His presence.    I can find everlasting joy and freedom.

Then the very thing that was troubling to me no longer has power over me.  Though I may not have understanding I have a peace that surpasses understanding.  To worship God in the middle of confusion is to take the road that leads to his presence, to his sanctuary.  It takes me of the road that leads to oppression and puts me on the road that leads to life.

March 29, 2014: Who is this?

When the disciples and Jesus where in the boat crossing the sea of Galilee, they were not strangers.  Jesus had already been teaching with them, healing with them, and even raised someone from the dead.  They ate with him, they traveled with him, lodged with them.  Jesus was not a stranger to the disciples.

And yet, when they encountered a storm on the sea, Jesus did something that revealed a whole new aspect of himself to them.  He calmed the winds and the waves.  With just a simple word the storms rage left in an instant.  The response of the disciples describe their amazement:

"Who is this?"

They knew who Jesus was...or did they?  They had already seen Him heal the sick, raise the dead, and do miracles.  But now they've seen something in him they did not see before.  And now they need to question who they thought He was to understand who he really is.

We need to stay attentive to Jesus today.  The reality is that God may want to do something in our lives today that reveal an aspect of his character that we have either not seen before or understood before. We've only really scratched the surface of understanding when it comes to knowing who He is.  Sure, we know the major concepts, but something amazing happens when we see a concept of His character become a reality in our lives.

It makes us realize that while we thought we knew who He was, there is way more to Him than we ever thought.  The revelation of who He is goes deeper than we ever thought.

They way we stay attentive to Jesus is quite simple.  All we need to do is stay in His boat.  Remember Jesus was the one who said they should travel to other side of the lake.  The disciples simply agreed with His will; they agreed to go with Him.  Just by staying in His will; going where He is going, we are bound to see Him in deeper and more profound ways than we have known him.

Worship is the natural response that comes from finding out the answer to 'Who is this?'.  When we see a new or deeper layer of His character worship always follows.

Interestingly, when Jesus calms the storm, he asks the disciples why they had no faith.  What was Jesus implying?  Was he implying that the disciples could have calmed the storm themselves?  Here is the real kicker...when you see something about Jesus that you've never seen before, you have also just discovered something new about who you are meant to be.

When I see more clearly how amazing He is and couple that with the understanding that 'as He is, so also are we in this world' (1 John 4:17) then our worship becomes and overwhelming response of gratitude and gratefulness.