I believe in God - By Matt Patterson

I believe in God, 

Three in one

Father, Son, Spirit

Paradox

Mystery

Elemental

I believe in a God of Justice 

Compassion, mercy, hope

And first, a God of love 

Love personified, incarnated

I believe in God

the mother of creation

God, the father of humanity

God, the lover of us all

I believe we are called:

To activity out of passivity and apathy

By the son of God, through his actions

Calling down through history

Borne on the wings of the spirit 

I believe we are called:

To community, with each other

Through Christ the thread 

Weaving us all together 

I believe that God plays no favorites

Pulls no punches

Leaves no stone unturned 

I believe that life is hard

I believe that life is beautiful

So, I believe, does God  

Praise him through the night

Praise him through the night

by Fred Hammond and Tommy Walker

The day has passed and darkness comes to settle in,
Confusion rolls in like a fog, and I can't see my way.
Now doubt believes, it can make my faith seem paper thin,
The peace and joy that I have known,has been replaced.

This time with tears and sadness, 

The midnight for the day,
Sorrow instead gladness,
But with all that is in me, I'll still say...

That I will praise Him through the night,
And I will worship in the fight.
I'll Praise Him forever, because I know that He's worthy.
Praise Him over the adversary, we'll overcome.

The wicked one, whose fury runs with anger deep,
Destruction is his only goal against our side.
With hatred strong, he demands we declare defeat
He says he's won, but we all know that he's a lie. 

When fear moves our foundation,
know that God has not forsaken.
He'll bring a brighter day,
So let me hear the people of God say...

When the battle gets too much for me to take,
When I can't see through the wind and rain,
In my darkest hour, we're gonna praise Him still.
When it's weary, dark and lifeless,
When hope seems like its almost gone,
In my darkest hour, we're gonna praise Him still. 

labels

All my life people have been trying to label me. 

First by my tribe, then by the economic status into which I was born and by the color of my skin. 

Labels have been put on me based on the country in which I grew up, the schools I went to, the jobs I have had, the things I have achieved and by my monumental failures. 

Mukiga, poor, black, Ugandan, educated, full of potential, programmer, advocate, director, immigrant, visible minority, lacking in canadian experience, brash, loud, insensitive, driven, relentless, ambitious, worship leader, pastor, musician

On one hand the labels I have received have allowed me to see myself in a positive light through the eyes of those that would assign the label and yet on the other hand, I become very aware of the limitations that are placed on me by those who would seek to label me. 

I am also very aware of the fact that I have imposed labels on myself. 

Even though we may parrot the fact that we are not defined by the labels that are assigned to us, the truth of the matter is that many of us, like myself, have allowed our identity and character to be shaped by the labels that we receive from other people, or the ones that we create ourselves. 

It is incredible to see how one person can assign a derogatory label to the same individual that another person has assigned an affirming label. And even though we may try to ignore the labels that bring us down, their negative influence on our life can be extremely hard to shake. 

And so the more we allow our identities to be defined by external labels, the more the labels become powerful, self-fulfilling prophecies - the cycle of which we may sometimes feel powerless to break out of. 

When Jesus came and poured out his life in an undeniable demonstration of love, he proved that God saw us differently than we could ever see ourselves. 

God sees enormous potential in people that society has discarded and labeled as useless. 

God saw incredible worth in each one of us that he spared no expense to save us

God’s word of affirmation to each one of us is a clear picture of how he sees us and how we should identify ourselves - not as people bound by the constraints, ideas and labels that the world places on us, but as a people for whom nothing is impossible through Christ who strengthens us. 

This morning, therefore, as we stand before the Lord in worship, let us trade any label that we may have... any label that has been assigned to us, by others or by ourselves, that is not from God. Any characterization that we have intertwined with our identity that causes us to see ourselves as less than the truly precious person that God sees. 

Let us turn a corner in our worship this morning and allow the truth of our identity in Christ to become our primary identity and not a secondary identity that would be nice to have, but we really cannot accept. 

Let us make this time more than just a song, but an acceptance of the righteousness, sanctification, and salvation that is made possible only through Jesus 

Let us approach God’s throne boldly - as his precious children grafted into his family and standing in our identity as joint heirs in His kingdom. 

You Cannot Generate Worship!

Back in the late 80’s and Early 90’s, our small university church was one of a handful that found themselves on the cutting edge of the contemporary worship music scene. There was a group of brave university students that agreed to partner with my father to create a worship service that was meaningful and filled with authentic worship, liturgy and prayer. 

The leader of this group who actually stayed on till I joined university in ‘97 used to say something to us all the time when we were on retreats building our spiritual muscle... he used to say, “You cannot generate worship!” 

What he was really trying to tell us is that you cannot transform yourself into an authentic worship facilitator on the platform in front of an audience when you are not an authentic worshipper in the privacy of your personal life. He taught me that while you may think that you are doing a good job trying to channel something that you are not familiar with, the audience that you seek to inspire in worship can see through you - either consciously or subconsciously. 

He was the first person that helped me see that I could in fact tell when I was being led in prayer by somebody that did not have a well visited prayer closet. He helped me see the times that I was being led in liturgical worship by a person for whom the liturgy held no meaning and it was through his example that I came to realize the importance of congruence between my personal worship time (if any) and the moments where I facilitated worship during the weekly services or fellowships. 

It is no secret that I place a high premium on authenticity as I seek to facilitate worship at woodvale and my prayer and hope has been that this would become a cornerstone value of all the worship facilitators at woodvale. My charge to the worship team members that have been at recent practices is to re-discover on their own their passion for worship and a desire to meet with God. This is not so that Pastor Paulo is pleased with  us and what we have done, but that the worship experience that we seek to engage the congregation in is something that flows easily from within us and not an act that we put on when we find ourselves on woodvale’s massive stage. 

About a month ago, I was having a chat with the choir and one of the guys in the choir spoke up and said that it is not right for us to be two different people; one week an expressive exuberant group when we are standing on the choir risers and another week a disinterested and sedate group when we are sitting in the pews. His charge to us that evening was a stark reminder of my team leader’s words to us back then: 

YOU CANNOT GENERATE WORSHIP! 

All of this comes into sharp perspective when you realize that God cannot be mocked by our lack of authenticity. Our worship falls flat and it is reduced to flattery,  meaningless repetition and babbling because of the disconnect between the people we are pretending to be and the people we really are. 

Let us therefore be exhorted by the words of John 4: 21 - 24. 

Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

blogus interruptus ...

... the medical sounding term that my sister who is a wordsmith coined for the dry spell that bloggers go through in which they are unmotivated to update their blogs or unable to come up with any posts that articulate anything of sense... 

Blogus Interruptus! 

The gathering 2008 - Citywide worship and prayer

I'm a firm believer in doing everything to promote the unity of the body of Christ in the National Capital Region of Canada. I have become convinced that through the local churches and congregations, God intends to do a great work in our city - Ottawa - but before we see any progress in the "natural", there must be movement in the "spiritual". This week, we get to gather with people from all around ottawa for one purpose - to worship with passion, pray with conviction and unite with purpose. 

For more information, click the banner below

Straining forward... there must be more

Philippians 3: 1 - 16

This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. There are lots of reasons why I love it, but what strikes me in particular about this passage of scripture is the honesty that Paul writes it with.

He starts out in verses 1 – 3 by pointing us all to the fact that our walk as Christians is something that we cannot do successfully on our own. Human effort, human rules and regulations just do not cut it. His reference to circumcision shows that perhaps there were those that had fallen into the trap of thinking that the Jewish laws and customs were a prerequisite to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

In verses 4 – 6, he presses this point further by making statements like, “If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!”

From what we know about Paul, it is safe to assume that Paul was a highly educated man and had achieved a lot not only in terms of his education and scholarliness as shown through the complexity of some of the letters that he writes, but also in his zeal to follow the Jewish law to the letter. He was widely traveled and had been highly successful with planting and building churches all throughout the Roman Empire and yet he looked at all his achievements and still considered them nothing.

Verses 7 – 11 give us a little insight into his thoughts. He says that once he thought of all of these things as important and he worked hard to get them all, but when compared to what Christ had done for him, they paled in comparison.

I could spend time talking about other people and how this should challenge them, but let me make it a little more personal. I think that I’ve done a lot with my life, and one of the things I promised myself is that I would try to spare no expense to experience new things, learn new concepts, and give my time, energy and resources to my faith and profession both in my former life as an IT specialist and in my current role as a paid facilitator of worship.

As I have continued to use whatever gifts God has given me, I have seen doors open and I have seen lives be changed. I have led worship and played music for a handful of people, and I have played before thousands. I’ve been able to use my gifts on more than 2 continents and for the past 3 years I led the really large worship and prayer gathering at the scotiabank place. I have every reason to be confident in these things and boast about them…

However, Paul says something that cuts me down to shape. Compared to the priceless gain of just KNOWING Jesus, everything I can do, have done, or will ever do is nothing! Why? Because I have not yet achieved as much as he had back then; I probably never will! He counts his achievements as garbage and therefore, I MUST count mine as garbage too when compared to knowing and experiencing the fullness of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul resolves that the only way his life shall really count for something is through really knowing Christ, and EXPERIENCING the power that raised him from the dead.

The next couple of verses, 12 – 14, are equally challenging for me. These verses paint a picture of a man in a race. Not a sprint and definitely not a stroll. A marathon! They show a man who has determined that he will continually strive, and focus all his energies on being ALL that Christ Jesus saved him to be. They show a man who realizes that it will not be a short and sweet process, but a long and sometimes painful process. They show a man who is not content to bask in today’s victories and achievements until they become the stagnation and rot of past glory; they show a man who is hungry for more… a man that constantly says to himself:

“There must be more to Christianity than this and I will not stop straining forward to know and experience it! There must be more to Christianity than this and I will not stop straining forward to know and experience it!”

Thinking...

Romans 7

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Recently during a moment of private worship and reflection, I was reminded of the above-mentioned scripture. I’ve found that the more I spend time in the presence of God, and have a “no holds barred” approach to him, the more I become aware of my shortcomings, but also of his grace and forgiveness extended to me.

I’m convinced that when a person meets with God, their lives are radically transformed and as they allow the encounter with him to affect and empower their lives, they become a force to contend with. I say this pretty much every week of my life these days. The thing that I realize I have neglected to elaborate is that the encounter with God has to be one in which everything is laid bare before him. Not just because we ALLOW him to, but because God’s presence and the presence of sin in our lives are mutually exclusive. Nothing is hidden from God and when his presence manifests itself in our personal or corporate worship times, everything is laid bare before him whether we think we can hide it or not.

Perhaps this realization inspired Paul to pen the words in Romans 7 mentioned above.

Because I work at Woodvale, my thoughts concerning worship and experiencing the presence of God always come back to the congregation that I am privileged to serve. In light of this realization, can I truly say that people are convicted of sin during the services in which I am a facilitator? Am I convinced that when conviction falls, people are made aware of the forgiveness and mercy extended to them?

The freedom from transgression made possible both by faith, and a sense of God’s grace and mercy is (in my humble opinion) the ignition point of a radical life transformation in any individual.

We are constantly working, praying and believing to see God move in an unprecedented way over our congregation at woodvale... at least I think that we are all on the same page about this. Our hope for the congregation we serve is not only that we shall experience God’s power during our services, but that the experience of his presence shall start a fire that cannot be contained in our church building walls. This experience would subsequently explode us out of our apathy and make us a living, breathing and potent representation of the kingdom of God in Ottawa.

My hope and prayer has recently transformed into a supplication that God would deal with our individual and corporate sinful nature that we may be set on fire for him in light of his grace, mercy and forgiveness.

To God be the glory!

noise

Noise

noise is an unwanted sound
which is why your parents call (called) the music you like noise

but noise isn’t just about sound
it’s about information
noise is whatever drowns out or interferes with or
conceals meaningful information
sound engineers, radio engineers speak of two things, signal and noise
the signal is the message, the meaningful part of transmission
the noise is all the unwanted stuff that interferes with your
ability to hear or decipher the signal
our lives are full of noise
too many messages that don’t add up to any coherent whole
all competing for our attention we can’t find the signal or make
any sense of our lives

and so we go into the desert to escape the noise

but then we can hear our internal noise
some of which is very gross especially during silent
Prayer and some of which is subtle but more deeply
Disturbing like tinnitus which is nerve damage to the
inner ear resulting in a permanent whistling
or hissing noise inside your head
that you can never escape
and that’s just the physical noise inside us
but our heads are full of mental noise
the thoughts that won’t stop chattering that stupid song that
you can’t get out of your head that nagging worry about
something you said or didn’t say
that hurt and anger that you can’t let go of, churning inside you
when you’re supposed to be concentrating on work that dumb
joke that keeps making you giggle on the bus so that people
look at you strangely…
and when you’re alone you can’t pretend any more that any of
these were necessary
so you try and put them aside to pray
and now you become aware of spiritual noise

all those things that compete with God
distracting your attention towards selfish or worldly concerns
drowning out your attempts to hear God’s voice distorting the
message or making you lose bits like a mobile phone passing
under a bridge
sin is a kind of spiritual tinnitus
the closer we get to God’s silence the more we are aware of
the unceasing whine inside ourselves
of want and need and hurt and self
trouble is we’ve lost the volume knob and anyway we’re scared of silence because without all the activity and distractions
we’ll have to face ourselves and God and we are frightened of
what we might find
but God longs to heal us
to still the oscilloscopes of our souls
turn the noise off
and give us peace
because only then
will we be able to hear
the music of heaven

- Steve Collins

Woodvale's first ever master class

The first ever instrument and vocal master class of Woodvale's Worship Ministry



Date: October 11, 2008
Time: 10 am - 12 pm
Location: Woodvale Pentecostal Church - 205 Greenbank Road Ottawa, ON

I have a dream...

I have a dream of a church in which the presence, power and work of the Holy Spirit abounds

I carry within myself a vision of a congregation that strips itself of anything that detracts from a full and meaningful encounter with the transcendent and all-powerful God that we serve

I dream of a people that make the most of every corporate worship encounter – running to God as a response to the hunger for him that he has placed inside each one of us.

The time has come, and is upon us even at this moment, where personal preference is stripped away in the face of a desire to reach an emerging and increasingly skeptical post-modern generation, hungry for spirituality, but put off by the disunity and subsequent hypocrisy of a church divided over triviality.

I have a dream of a church that recognizes the difference between being Canadian and being Christian; a church that recognizes that although we are IN the world, we ARE NOT of the world; a people that are determined to make our corporate worship experience more than a gathering of apathetic Canadians, but rather an explosive encounter with radical Christ followers

I carry within my heart a vision of a congregation that distinguishes itself in its desire for the work and power of Jesus, so much that the churches of this city, region, nation and even of the world come to us to be inspired by what we do

I dream of a time when the most important concern of the church is whether people have met with God and not anything else of lesser importance; a time when we can truly say that we are comfortable with the implications of existing in a multigenerational, multiethnic congregation and the inevitable varying expressions of worship and corporate gathering.

I have a dream… a dream… of Woodvale pervaded by the presence of Almighty God.

Therefore…

We must always strive to have a worship encounter that pays tribute to our heritage while at the same time refusing to create sacred cows out of expressions of worship that have run their course and are no longer useful or meaningful in worship except for nostalgic reasons

We can never settle for the lack of excellence and preparation that leads to a sacrifice of worship that does anything but honor God

We must never be satisfied to attend weekly services and ministry meetings that are devoid of the work, power and pervading presence of the Holy Spirit

We can never be satisfied with an apathetic approach to experiencing God and his power

We have to continue the relentless pursuit of God’s picture for our preferred future and always remember that each one of us holds within us a piece of what it looks like and is vital to the completion of his vision for Woodvale.

Revelation 5: 11 - 13

11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"

respectfully ripped...

... from Reverendfun.com



Hilarious!

So... what level are you at?

self examination

I’ve been thinking about Jesus’ triumphal-looking entry to Jerusalem as recorded in the gospels when people who had heard about Lazarus’ resurrection from the dead went nuts about his entry to their city.

The things that people said and sang about Jesus were actually true, but the perspective that they had about him in that day was most definitely different than we have come to understand it as a church that has been grafted in by his death and resurrection. This was because at this point in the history of the Israelites, there was an oppressive imperial power, which had bred seeds of rebellion and dissention in the region in Palestine. The history of the region shortly after Jesus’ death, and resurrection shows an active rebellion against the imperial powers of that day confirming the fact that Israel was brewing an active rebellion against Rome and looking for somebody to spearhead it.

I’m inclined to believe that the reason why the crowds then got so mad with him and called for his crucifixion was because he did not live up to their expectations and proceeded to rub salt into a sore spot with his teachings about giving to Caesar what belongs to him and tearing down the temple which was not only a worship venue, but a relic from a time when Israel was the dominant military and imperial force in the region.

Jesus was trying to help them understand that his kingdom was not of this world… and though a few eventually understood what he was talking about, he must have dashed the hopes of hundreds of people that were probably looking to rally behind him in an active revolt.

I’ve been through a period of self-examination and thinking about my role as a facilitator of an encounter with Jesus and have had to come to the realization that sometimes I create an impression about Jesus that is not entirely accurate. All too often I have stressed the fact that he is all powerful and all knowing – which he is and make no mistake about it – but I have neglected to put that message hand in hand with his own thoughts and teachings about taking up my cross and following him or being yoked with him… It may be an EASY yoke and a LIGHT burden, but it still is a yoke AND a burden. Following Jesus and living for him as an individual and as a community is no simple task!

It would be like describing one dear friend (lets call him Sam) that I would like another (who we shall call Russ) to meet and talking a lot about Sam all the while forgetting to mention his ethnicity or some other distinguishing characteristic. The most obvious outcome of the meeting that I would have tried to facilitate would be that Russ would absolutely not recognize Sam. Or perhaps Russ would be put off that I would forget to mention something about Sam especially if the characteristic could be construed as offensive. Or as a less drastic outcome of the meeting, it would be an awkward encounter in which Russ would be trying to verify whether Sam was who I really said he was.

In retrospect (and I may be wrong), I think that sometimes I have been trying to facilitate a meeting between people and Jesus and it is completely botched because I misrepresent him - Jesus. I’ve had to return to re-examining the things I say in order to build the expectation of the congregation as we gather on a weekly basis so that I am painting an accurate picture of the savior that rebukes, chastises, but also revives, loves and restores me. Jesus that challenges me to live in the world, but not controlled by the worlds systems, desires and inclinations. Jesus who DEMANDS my soul, my life, my all and who rejects the notion that I should come to him as a miracle and gift-giving dispensing machine.

My prayer is that moving forward, God would help me (and us) to paint a more accurate picture of who he is so that his people will recognize him, long for him and run to him.

-----------------------------
Psalm 97

1 The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.

4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.

7 All who worship images are put to shame,
those who boast in idols—
worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion hears and rejoices
and the villages of Judah are glad
because of your judgments, O LORD.

9 For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil,
for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is shed upon the righteous
and joy on the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous,
and praise his holy name.

Prayer life...

I do not know about you, but I have struggled with my prayer life frequently. It goes without saying, though, that through prayer we build our relationship with God and our expectation of what he can do through us and in us.

How is your prayer life?

Be blessed!

Back again...

I felt that as I attempt to restart the weekly blogs, I would go back to the vision that I believe God has for the worship ministry at woodvale. For some of you this might be new information, but I am sure that I have shared it either in totality or in bits and pieces with most of you.

I am convinced that God is calling the worship ministry at woodvale to have a rather large vision. I condensed my thoughts into the phrase "connecting people with God", but this is birthed out of my conviction that as we connect people to God at woodvale and as he pours out his blessing and presence in an unprecedented way, what will happen at Woodvale shall become so potent that we shall not be able to contain it inside our four walls (or hexagon-shaped worship center).

I am convinced that God has placed in us and in our hands resources that he intends to use at the local congregation level, but also at a city, regional, national and international level/stage. However I have come to learn that before we see things happen at a large scale - the kind of scale I am persuaded that we have been called to - we have to be faithfully diligent to be excellent stewards of what he has placed in our hands.

I believe that God is calling us to demonstrate that our first and only agenda as a ministry is facilitating a weekly encounter with God and the people that he draws to our services.

Jesus says that to whom much is given, much is also expected. Because I have worked and served in quite a few churches, my perspective is that Woodvale has been blessed with an enormous amount of talent and resources. It may not seem like we have been given much because we are constantly occupied in our small world of woodvale PC, but if we took the time to look around at other fellowships, we would come to understand that God has made an incredible investment in us.

This week, I would like you to ask yourself this question:
If God has called us to be faithful with little before he can entrust us with a lot, what implication does that have for you as an individual serving on the worship team at woodvale?

The most important function of the worship team at woodvale is to connect people with God.

A person that comes in contact with the God that we serve and worship - a person that allows his presence and power to touch his or her life - can become an unstoppable force to reckon with.

We have the privilege of facilitating encounters with God... let us not take our responsibility lightly at all.

Have a great week!

Luke 12: 35 - 48

Luke 16: 1 - 12

Acts 24: 24

Understanding Worship as Spiritual Warfare (4)

As a final installation to this discussion about worship and it’s spiritual significance, allow me to ask this question:

What does singing a bunch of songs have to do with winning a war?

If you ask a guy called Jehoshaphat, he would tell you that he came to learn that it had EVERYTHING to do with winning a war. A simple act of obedience and worship won a war for him that he and his people did not have the natural capacity to win.

2 Chronicles 20: 1 – 20

If you ask a guy called Joshua, he will tell you the most incredible story about how singing a bunch of songs and marching round a huge fortified city laid the foundation for a resounding victory.

Joshua 6

Throughout the past few blogs, I am sure that it is abundantly clear to you that my persuasion is that we live and move in a world in which there is no demilitarized zone. There is a real and present enemy out to destroy all of God’s creation and we that engage in the process of connecting people with God put ourselves on the frontline of this war, but also put ourselves in position to see the great victories that God does among his people.

Imagine the stories that the worship leaders told after the great victories mentioned above. Imagine how much more impassioned and meaningful their worship services became after being a witness to the power of God. Wow!

Singing in and of itself has no power to do anything except for evoke an emotional response. However if the singing becomes more than just execution of notes, but grows into an outpouring of worship to God, something more potent is unleashed. Why? The bible is clear that God inhabits – he sets up camp and dwells in the midst of – the praises of his people.

- Because our Lord is a mighty warrior, his arrival spells the exit of the enemy and his work to destroy us

- Because our Lord is a deliverer, his arrival spells the deliverance from bondage and spiritual oppression of his people

- Because our Lord is a strong tower, his arrival means that the righteous can run to him and they are safe

- Because the Lord is our defender, his arrival means that our defense against the physical and spiritual attack of the enemy is iron clad and impenetrable

- Because the Lord is our healer, his arrival means that freedom from mental and physical disease is ours for the taking

- Because the Lord is our banner, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord lifts up a standard against him

- Because the Lord is our protector, his arrival means that those that seek to attack us shall be confounded and dispersed.

- Because the Lord is a creator, his arrival means that life and breath can appear in situations that we thought were as impossible as the dirt from which we were all formed.

- Because the Lord is a way-maker, his arrival means that we can stand in the assurance that he will make a way where there seems to be no way.

- Because the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever, his arrival means that what we have heard and read about his work is ours to experience because he has no favorites and we all have access to him through the grace and power of the cross.

Last week’s message by Pastor Mark was an incredible confirmation to what I had said earlier in the week through this blog. We need to take up the charge to worship before the storm comes, during the storm, and even after the storm. Our victory is constantly, firmly seated in our praise – not in whining, complaining, or anything else, BUT in our praise.

I think that letting the understanding that your victory lies in your worship penetrate your understanding and become a part of your worldview is key to graduating to the next level of worship. Then worship does not become confined to the Sunday morning service, but it becomes a “lifestyle” because victory over the enemy and circumstances in our lives is not only needed on Sunday morning, but on every day of the week. Deliverance is not just to be had on Sunday morning, but on every day of the week. Breakthrough is not just for Sunday morning, but for every hour of our lives.

I believe that God is calling all of us into a season of fearless, heartfelt worship and praise. Understand that if we take up this charge, we are going to become a huge blip on the enemy’s radar, but thanks be to God that the battle is not ours but his and all we have to do is usher in his presence and watch the enemy scatter right before our eyes.

I hope that you are encouraged by this as I am!

Understanding Worship as Spiritual Warfare (3)

My limited knowledge of church history points to the fact that throughout its history, the church has split along lines of doctrine primarily. More recently, the understanding of worship coupled with issues with doctrine and leadership has played a larger role in some church splits.

The argument over which genre of music to use in church – “worship wars” as we have come to call them – has been and continues to be a sticking point in the birth, life and death of many churches. The reason for this is that music through which congregations choose to worship has been reduced to the style that best evokes an emotional response and many of us that engage in this argument fail to see it as a tool for worship.

Technically, technically, any genre of music can be a tool for worship of worth is given to the Lordship of Jesus through the execution of that genre of music. I am pretty sure that in ancient times, the genre of music through which people worshipped God sounded NOTHING like the plethora of genre’s available to us.

What the enemy does, though, is cause us to adopt a myopic view of worship in an attempt to drive a wedge between people that should be in the same fellowship. Remembering that his agenda is to destroy that which God has set up is key to seeing through the fog of arguments over which genre of music is better to employ in our worship services.

(A side note: Because we live in an exceedingly self-centered society, we need to realize that self-centeredness is NOT a fruit of the spirit, but a fruit of the enemy. Why? Because self-centeredness and selfishness breed the cancer that causes ruin in families, societies and fellowships. If through ego and pride your preference becomes elevated to the point that you are intolerant or disdainful of other people’s preferences, you allow yourself to become a tool in the hand of the enemy wreaking havoc as you mock, slash and tear down preferences and opinions that you do not share. REAL tolerance is the tree that grows from the seed of patience and understanding which IS a fruit of the spirit. Intolerance that leads to divisiveness and dissent is the tree that sprouts from the seed of selfishness and narcissism)

The reason I make mention of this is that one day the songs and style that we use right now is going to be obsolete. It is evident in the fact that in the last 20 years, we have seen so much change and movement happen in the genre’s and expression of worship. The notion that the pop-rock-urban sound that we primarily use right now shall be trendy/useful in the next 10 years is laughable.

We must guard against being agents of change in one era and agents of destruction and dissent in another. We must guard against creating a monument of what we have become comfortable with and realize that God is not bound by genre or time.

When I first moved to Canada, I found that I was really unimpressed with the worship that I heard at most multicultural churches. I had come from a church where we took just about every song we heard on CD and “Africanized” it. Our style was very rhythmic and it blended African rhythms with soca, reggae, and a slight spice of urban gospel so you can imagine my shock at sitting through a service that had little-to-nothing in common with my Ugandan church experience except for the words sang. Our style had the strong presence of a beat and drumming – which (here we go!) would explain the increased prominence of drumming at Woodvale… heh! Heh!

Because I can be a vocal and outwardly opinionated person, I made it quite clear that I was unimpressed with the style of worship being used at the church I was attending then. However, the more I spoke, the more God started to reveal to me that I was allowing myself to be an agent of divisiveness and I was allowing the enemy to use my biting criticism to demoralize the worship teams. I also came to realize that I was no different than the people I was quick to criticize who were more comfortable with a genre of music that utilized pipe organs or those that were more at home with a 70-s southern gospel flavor of music. I realized that the hurt feelings and sideways energy that was wasted in trying to work such situations through was exactly what the enemy had planned for the church and he was succeeding in fracturing the fellowship to the point that we could no longer see eye to eye.

The fact of the matter is that God’s church is multicultural and multi-generational and it should make sense that when we are all together we make quite the casserole! The trick of the enemy is to break our unity by making us focus on ourselves and blind to the fact that there are those that we are in fellowship with that might have deferring opinions from ours but are not making the same amount of noise.

Ultimately, because worship is an act of spiritual warfare, it makes sense that the enemy will do everything he can to turn what should be a powerful potent moment of connection with God into a wedge that bitterly divides God’s people. So the church of God has to be alert and on guard even as the times, seasons and genres change.

Even right now, we are in a season of change because your African grown and bred worship pastor is becoming more comfortable with his job. Previously, you had very Canadian worship pastors and leaders. It is not a bad thing and do not misquote me on this one. However, it therefore makes sense that my influences are going to make their way into the song selection and execution and our corporate worship sound is going to go through a metamorphosis. My temperament and aggressiveness (or lack thereof) is obviously different from what we have had in the past and as I become more comfortable as your leader, it makes sense that this will make it’s way into the flavor of what we do.

My love for Indian music has been quietly growing and for the past several years I have been on a salsa and samba trip…

What then?

Shall we embrace it or fight it?

Shall we pull out our hammers and wedges to drive things apart or pour on the lubricant of patience and mutual understanding in order that we may fit together and continue to move forward without grating on each other?

When we recognize the work of the enemy in driving us apart, we are able to better understand that tearing each other up is “wrestling against flesh and blood”. Anybody’s struggle with the change in genre has nothing to do with God’s move among his people and what better way for the enemy to sneak in through the back door than through my discomfort with the way things are changing. Recognizing this disarms the enemy’s disguise and helps us to realize that our war is not against each other (even though we sometimes make it that), but against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6: 12

AMEN!

Understanding worship as Spiritual Warfare (2)

Every time I read the story about Paul and Silas in jail, I am impressed by the manifestation of a physical occurrence as a result of a spiritual act. If you are not familiar with the story I am referencing, please read through Acts 16: 16 – the end of the chapter.

The story bears no mention of the fact that Paul and Silas were asking God to bail them out of jail. I’m actually more inclined to think that they were “giving thanks in every circumstance” in keeping with Paul’s stance on worshipping no matter what the situation.

I cannot imagine that their worship was particularly melodious. I think it sounded more like an out-of-tune, halting noise by 2 guys. Considering they had just been beaten and thrown in jail for saving a girl from demonic torment, my guess is that they must have been battling the desire to be negative and outraged at the injustice. I know for sure that if it had been Paulo Mugarura in that situation, the atmosphere in the jail cell would have been far more toxic than a bunch of men singing hymns.

The fact of the matter is that on the face of it, there were no ingredients leading up to the massive move of God an evangelistic worship service.

Grumpy beat up men… check!

Jail cell… check!

Injustice … check!

Hymns of praise… what?

I say this A LOT – it is easy to come to a worship service and approach it as a same-old, same-old gathering of lukewarm believers… a gathering that is devoid of passion, energy and above all, the work of the hand of God. The experience of Paul and Silas in their jail cell should be a constant reminder about the fact that no matter how small and insignificant our act of worship may seem, it is a platform for an awesome move of God.

As facilitators of worship, we are in charge of overseeing times that have the potential to be incredible encounters with God. It makes sense that we should approach the times that we have the privilege to facilitate worship with great expectation that a simple act of singing a bunch of songs in the natural can have a tremendous impact on the lives of those that bear witness and even on the physical facility in which we worship. If you think about it, as the worship team, through our worship we could have saved the church a lot of money through the demolition of our old facility! Heh!

I think that the fact that their chains were loosed was a natural manifestation of a greater spiritual loosening:

- The injustice that had been served
- The jailer’s family coming to know God
- The prisoners that were touched – possibly transformed – by the experience
- The slave girl getting freed from demonic oppression
- Possibly other things that are not recorded in this story

2 weeks ago I made mention of David in my first entry on this topic of spiritual warfare. Early on in his life, there is evidence that he too experienced first hand the fact that worship had tremendous power in the spirit real that would then manifest itself in the physical. All he had to do was simply playing his harp and his king - Saul was able to experience release from spiritual oppression.

Looking at illustrations like this throughout scripture convince me more and more that what we do is more than simply providing a good stepping stone/atmosphere for the messages that are preached. Many worship leaders and pastors fall into the trap of making worship just that. It is much more than making church relevant and attractive to people that are on a spiritually seeking journey. Many more people – leaders and facilitators alike – also have this misconception. It is SO MUCH MORE than performing a bunch of well-executed songs. I confess that I have been guilty of this a lot. What we engage in on a week-by-week basis has implications far bigger and greater than we can ever imagine and reach well beyond the natural into the spiritual to loose bonds and bring about a change in people’s hearts and lives.

I do not know whether you know this, but in practically every culture and religion in the world, in order to invoke spiritual power, people engage in worship – specifically music – of the being that they are invoking. It is interesting that even on the other side of the field – the enemy’s side – the same rules apply. Worship allows them too to tap into the spiritual in an attempt to affect what happens in the natural.

Whether you acknowledge it or not is another thing, but the fact of the matter is that we live in a world that starts and ends in the spiritual and what happens on the spiritual playing field has direct influence and implications on what happens in the natural. (Genesis 1: 26, 3:22, Exodus 17, 1 Samuel 16, Revelation 5: 8, etc…) Prayer, praise and worship allow us to reach into, and operate in more than a natural/physical playing field and this is why we talk about “approaching the throne of God” because it is not just a figure of speech, but an actual occurrence. I think that this is the reason why the times of prayer at the end of the service have historically been accompanied by worship and praise because in and of itself, it has the power to break bonds, loose chains and bring about divine intervention in a physical/natural circumstance.

My hope is that it becomes more clear and plain to all of us that what we do has implications far beyond anything that we could even begin to fathom with our puny minds. Praise and worship is an essential and powerful weapon whose use we have the privilege of facilitating. Understanding this even more allows us to operate at a level that we may not have known before because it allows us to come to grips with the fact that we have not even scratched the surface of what is possible when we praise.

Understanding worship as Spiritual Warfare (1)

During last evening’s service, pastor Dorothy was given an opportunity to give a report about the alpha weekend that some of the alpha participants had been on. She made mention of the fact that leading up to the weekend a rather large number of the group faced various challenges – mostly physical.

It got me thinking about the numerous times I had been a table leader at the alpha course and how we always seemed to face such things leading up to the alpha weekend. For those of you that might be reading this blog and not be familiar with the “Alpha weekend”, it is a pivotal point in the course where the facilitators lead the participants deeper in their journey of knowing who God is and coming in touch with the Holy Spirit and the power that he has to touch and transform a life.

Most intriguing about this weekend was the fact that every time we returned from the retreat filled with joy and wonder at how God had touched his people, I found myself right in the middle of a firestorm. Something would always be wrong at work; random ugly fights would flare up between the people I lived with, worked with, served with and myself. There always seemed to be a tremendous amount of opposition to just about everything that I did or put my hand to as soon as I came back from the weekend.

The reason I was able to see a trend was because I was an alpha facilitator – table leader and eventual teacher – for six years and over those six years, I went to almost 18 alpha weekends because we ran the course all year round.

Three years ago I agreed to volunteer as one of the facilitators of worship at citywide worship and prayer and eventually had the privilege of serving on the servant leadership team. It was only last year when I realized that a similar trend – similar to the one I mentioned above - was happening around the weekends that I was scheduled to lead worship and prayer. It seemed that I would walk through a battle zone during the days leading up to the event and the days leading out of the event.

I am not one to read into spiritual things all the time because I have been in too many situations where there is an unhealthy fascination with the work and power of evil spirits…

More to that, many of you know that my personal experiences with people claiming to be “under the influence of the spirit” have been negative and so my tendency is to be skeptical about such things unless the evidence is undeniable.

So even though I noticed a trend in the events that were happening in my life, my first response was not to think about the happenings in a spiritual-physical sense, but in a rational, spirit-less sense. However, the more I thought about it, the more I began to face the truth of the fact that because I was putting myself in positions that made me a facilitator of people meeting with God, I was walking into territory that the enemy – the devil – fights the hardest.

The enemy’s agenda is really simple and we all know it from John 10: 10 – it is to steal, kill and destroy.

If you put yourself in a position to lead people to the will of Christ for their lives – that they might have life more abundantly – you put yourself up in direct opposition to the destroyer of all that God has created and called good – the enemy. This makes you a target and I think that this is why Pastor Mark’s first point to us during yesterday’s morning service sermon was that if you are walking under the anointing, you should naturally expect opposition because as much as God wants the best for you, there is an enemy that prowls like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour… and he wants to destroy you.

I have come to understand even more that there is a special vendetta against people like myself who make connecting people with God their highest priority. The enemy works doubly hard to put us under fire because we are right on the front line reclaiming what he has stolen from the kingdom of God. I believe that every worship leader and worship facilitator has to come to this realization and operate with this knowledge. You may think that you are just standing on stage singing a bunch of songs, or tweaking knobs in the sound booth area, but we all need to realize that because what you do leads people to connect with God, you are standing in dead center in a very volatile part of a spiritual battle between the advancement of the kingdom of God and the agenda of the devil. Whether you acknowledge it or not, by being on a worship team whose goal is to connect people with God, you put yourself in a war zone with no demilitarized area.

The battle is not heated and dangerous from the plush cushions of the church pews. It is hottest among the areas of service that bring people into a deeper relationship with Jesus and the knowledge of his transforming power.

The books of Samuel, Chronicles and Kings record the ascent to power of a shepherd boy who became both an incredible warrior and one of the most prolific poetry and songwriters of all history. Who says you cannot be an uber-macho jock and be into poetry and song writing at the same time? Heh!

The story of David is one of the best examples that I know of that helps us see the picture of an incredible worship leader under tremendous attack. His master, the king, tried to kill him… his sons tried to steal his kingdom… his family was majorly MESSED UP… and he had moral failure. David’s transparency with God is evident through his psalms and his psalms were definitely anointed; all you need to do is search through scripture and find all the times psalm 134 is sang and God shows up in battle, or in worship. But even in the face of all that transparency, and closeness with God, the agenda of the enemy to destroy him is always present in his story.

I am no theologian or spiritual guru, so I may be way off course here, but my take on his story is that after the enemy failed to destroy him through his moral failure, he decided to attack him through his family. If you track his story, you shall find that some pretty messed up stuff happened in his family.

If you have been on worship teams for a long time, you know that there is no end to tensions and dissention. There seems to be no end to backbiting and backstabbing and people on worship teams say some of the most hurtful things that I have ever heard in church to one another. I think it speaks to the fact that the enemy’s plans for the worship team are to destroy it and make it ineffective… make the worship team members focus on killing each other than on the more important task of facilitating an encounter between God and his people.

This is the reason why I said that I would not (and for future reference WILL NOT) tolerate negative politicking on any of my teams. I think that it is the single most widespread cancer in churches and communities of faith that follow Jesus. It causes us to be ineffective and useless – wasting sideways energy trying to kill each other or put out fires when we should be focused on the more important task of bringing people to God. Soldiers fighting in the same army – the army of God – cannot be caught striking at each other… that sort of thing is reserved for the armies that are against God (2 Chronicles 20, Judges 7, etc…).

What encourages me in my journey as a worship leader and facilitator is that this is not a battle I should be afraid of being a part of because I am on the winning side. The battle has already been won and all we need to do is claim that victory for ourselves and walk in the knowledge and conviction of this fact. Does this mean that the enemy is not going to try to get at us? No it does not, but we stand in the power and authority that Jesus gives to us through his triumph over sin, satan and death.

When I used to play rugby, I was on the same team as two of the most muscular men I have ever known – my buddy Michael and his brother Andrew. A few years back we were playing against a team that we were beating quite severely and one of the guys in frustration yelled out at me

“If you touch me again, I’ll kill you!”

Michael yelled back,

“If you touch him, I’ll kill you!”

And that was the end of that! I have never felt so powerful in my life! Heh! Michael’s presence on the field ensured that even though I received threats and sometimes hidden jabs, nothing could really happen to destroy me because I had a full-time protector.

Michael’s presence on the field is a fitting illustration to God’s presence and power at work in our lives. Even though we are standing in a battlefield, we can rest in the confidence that the battle has been won.

We must, though, always remember that we are not frolicking in a field of flowers, but we are down in the trenches of the Lord’s army reclaiming the territory that the enemy had previously claimed as his sovereign territory – the hearts and minds of people.

My friends, leading worship is serious spiritual warfare and grabbing a hold of this concept and incorporating it in our understanding of what we do is key to getting to places that we have not experienced before. We must be wise, therefore, and do all we can to prepare for battle through prayer, meditation on God’s word and sharpening one another through meaningful and healthy fellowship.

We shall continue with this theme of worship as warfare next week.

Not anything too profound...

Several of you have written personally or on this blog stating your sympathies for me during this difficult time which I shared about in last week's blog. I thank you for your kind words.

There are also some in our team that are currently walking through the difficult time of losing somebody that they deeply care about and I would challenge us all to rise to support, and encourage them as well. I know that we are very good at doing this, but I would still like to encourage us to not grow weary in doing good to each other and supporting each other through tough times.

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I love the Holy Week and Easter part of the church calendar much more than the Christmas part of the church calendar. I especially like it because we do not have the empty festivities, and misplaced attention that is so obviously present around the Christmas/Holiday season. Easter is a church celebration that has not yet completely lost it's meaning and even though it is threatened by the presence of the eggs and the bunny, it is relatively easier to find meaning in this season without the fluff, pomp and commercialization of Christmas.

Jesus' life, death and resurrection are the reason for the existence of Christianity and it is through him that we gain access to our almighty father. Writing this to the worship team at woodvale is pretty much stating the obvious.

Because I have been asking all of us on the team to place much emphasis on the role that we have to play - to connect people with God - I am particularly happy to be walking through this season with you all. It is a time in which we throw light on the immense sacrifice, the satisfaction of Justice against sin and the mercy and relationship that is extended to us by Jesus on the cross. It is a time through which we can better illuminate Jesus' victory over death and the grave by his resurrection and most encouraging of all, it is a time for us to focus on the hope that he shall return again JUST AS HE SAID HE WOULD!

The role that we are called to fulfill as facilitators of worship on a week-by-week basis is to take people on a journey that leads them from ALIENATION from God to INTIMACY with him. This is the journey that we have simply called "Connecting People With God"

Those of you that know me a little better than most know that I have a weekly date with my wife that we try extremely hard to never miss. Normally we are busy getting by from day to day with our busy jobs, and numerous commitments that pull us in every direction and so our dates are a way for us to create uninterrupted time where our focus is us and not anything else. Our dates usually start with the two of us passing the time with small talk about work and the people that we are mad with, etc.. Our body language is very telling at this point in the date because we are sort of leaning away from each other and focused more on the menu than on eye contact and intimacy. However as we become more relaxed and less stressed about what we needed to vent about, the conversation moves to more intimate conversation. If there was a difficult situation in our relationship that we had to discuss at the beginning of the date, by the end of our date (after we have fought about it), it is quite remarkable how I am able to cease to see her as my adversary through the fog of my annoyance and in forgiveness, restoration of intimacy, and humility start to see the beautiful, lovely, sexy woman that I married. By the end of our date evening we really do resemble a pair of giddy, giggly teenagers who (PG moment coming up!) cannot keep their hands off each other.

It is at times like these (the easter season we are in) that I think of God's letter to the church in Ephesus found at the beginning of the second chapter of the book of Revelation of John. God's charge against the church is that they have forsaken their first love. His instructions to the church are really simple: in order to return to their first love, they need to resume the things that brought about intimacy between God and his church. Just like my weekly routine that I have candidly shared that helps to restore intimacy between my wife and myself, I think that we are at one such significant moment in the church calendar where we need to realize our need to constantly restore our intimacy with Jesus.

How I pray that this Easter season shall be a chance for each one of us to fall in love again with Jesus who spared no expense to show us how much he loves us. How I pray that our worship shall be energized even more this weekend as we stand in his presence and thank him for the numerous times he has stepped in between us and certain danger and kept us safe. I sincerely pray that our recognition of God as our sustainer, provider, healer, redeemer and savior shall lead us back to the place of our first fearless and expressive love for him. My prayer is that in realizing again what an awesome Lord we serve, we shall be part of a journey (participating and facilitating) from alienation to a place of intimacy with God that we never experienced prior to this week.

A man after God's heart

I apologize in advance for the weight of this week’s entry.

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know that I talk about personal circumstances and this week’s entry is no different.

Last week my cousin who incidentally was also my first boss after I completed my undergraduate studies passed away. He had been living in Johannesburg, South Africa for the past couple of years and had been battling leukemia. Because he was more than just a blood relation and a workmate, I have been really deeply affected by his passing.

I remember that early on in my journey as his assistant, a missions group in a secondary city in Uganda took a chance on us and asked us to help them set up an Internet Service Provider to help them raise a sustainable source of income for their missions. Because neither of us wanted to live in that city, we decided that we would commute to and from the city and this would take anywhere from an hour to several hours depending on the traffic. It was during those times sitting in our little company car that he challenged me about my understanding of how God works, how he communicates with his people, the charge he has for his people to advance the kingdom of God on this earth… but mostly about my intimacy with God.

These talks in the car about intimacy with God really spurred me into a time of accelerated growth in my relationship with Jesus because prior to our talks, I had not realized that I had made myself so busy ministering, evangelizing and serving that I had substituted my relationship with God with the things that I did in his service.

Since moving to Canada a few years ago, I did not have the chance to visit him at all or talk with him as much as I would have liked, but he always held a special place in my heart and mind as a mentor and good friend that had come alongside me and helped me to grow immensely in my walk with the Lord.

Even though I have been deeply saddened by the news of his death, I know that he is where he truly wanted to be – at the feet of Jesus. More to that, I am once again challenged about my intimacy with God…

I know that it is slightly morbid to speak like this in our sheltered society, but I’ll say it anyway: I would like that when my time comes, it shall be said about me as I say about Andrew that he was a man after God’s heart. I would like my story to be that I passionately pursued an intimate relationship with God and held absolutely nothing back from him. I can say confidently that my cousin, Andrew, was a man that worshipped not just through a bunch of songs on Sunday morning, but through the life that he led day-to-day… I hope that I can live up to his standard.

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I feel I should digress a little bit right here and say this:

I know that some of us in the choir have recently lost loved ones or there are people (family and friends) that we deeply care about who are going through difficult health situations. I would like you to know that my heart and prayers go out to you during these times and that I feel WITH you because I myself have walked through such difficulty several times. My prayer is that peace and joy that can only be explained by an intimate relationship with Jesus shall guard your heart and mind in these times and that the strength of the Lord shall carry you.
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My constant prayer lately is that what we do in service for the kingdom of God on this earth in these days that we live shall be more than just routine. My prayer is that we shall transcend the limits and boundaries of what we have ever thought or imagined in our walk with God – as individuals and as a congregation – as we obey him and put our lives in his hand. My desire is that people will look back at us one day and know without a shadow of doubt that we were a people that hungered and thirsted for God and refused to let anything stand in the way of us and the experience of his glory, power and work among us.

Week 12 - a life yielded

12 weeks since I started this blog. Who knew I had so much to say? Heh!

I thought that I should include a word of encouragement to the team this week... this is it:

I am pleased with the progress that we are making as a unit. So much has improved since I first started working here - the attitude to worship (perhaps because we've reduced the load on the teams), the preparation, the execution, and the expectancy about what God is doing and can do through us when we put our lives in his hand and allow him to use us as a conduit.

I especially want to thank the choir that have scheduled weekly practices and have done an exceptional job every single time since coming back in the fall of 2007

Encouragement like the one above is not meant to signal that the push to make things better is about to cease... the task of becoming a hotbed of worship and the experience of God's presence and power is still a work in progress - both in myself and in us as a team. The kind of worship that is so contagious that it spills outside the walls/confines of our local congregation into the streets and churches of ottawa is still a vision and not yet a reality. God has brought each one of us to this team for such a time as this to be a part of his plan and work at woodvale and so along with the encouragement is a charge to keep being faithful with the gifts, time, talent, and resources that God has given us in order that we may achieve greater levels of worship and communion with God and that through us, he may be glorified and worshipped like woodvale has never seen or experienced before.

There IS more than this!

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In the fall of 2004, I was visiting a small baptist church that I eventually worked at and I was quite struck by the sermon that sunday morning and it served as one of the pivotal moments in my life and walk with Jesus. My buddy Rick Eby spent some time talking about the life of Stephen - the first recorded Christian Martyr in Acts chapter 6 and 7.

Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith, filled with God's grace and walking in the power and authority of his relationship with Jesus. The bible says that through him, there were unmistakable signs that God was among them and yet in spite of every incredible thing that happened in his life and the obvious evidence of God's hand on him, he was martyred. However, if you track the story of the early church, Stephen's martyrdom started the era of the persecution of Christians and their scattering from Jerusalem, but their scattering was a good thing because it meant that they took the Gospel out of Jerusalem and even out of Israel and eventually to the ends of the earth as Jesus had originally charged them. God used Stephen powerfully in life and even more powerfully through his death because Stephen was a man full of faith that was yielded completely to Him.

*I have become convinced that the reason the influence, control, and evidence of the work of the spirit varies from person to person among those that follow Jesus is because we have varying levels of "yieldedness" to Him.

*I have also come to learn more and more that for many Christians, it is not that we do not know or even believe at some level, it is just that we don't live in the reality of our knowledge and belief or act like we believe what we say we believe.

The gist of Rick's message was boiled down to one tough question:
Are you willing to yield your life to God for whatever purpose he chooses... even if it means losing your life?

The obvious threat of physical martyrdom does not exist in Ottawa, but definitely social martyrdom exists in our post-christian society. Social martyrdom is not as terrifying as physical martyrdom... but it can be just as paralyzing because we all struggle with feeling like would rather be dead than admit we know Jesus... much less, have a relationship with him.

So I guess the re-phrased Ottawa version of the question becomes:
Are you willing to yield your life to God for whatever purpose he chooses... even if it means social martyrdom?

As a worship team, it is easy for us to walk around saying that we have yielded our life to God's purposes because we operate most of our ministry within the sterilized, christian friendly environment of our churches and Christian subculture, but things take on a whole different perspective when we are challenged to establish congruence between the people we are outside of our churchy-church communities and the people that we morph into in a hostile post-christian society.

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I do everything I do here at woodvale with the strong belief and conviction that one day in the not too distant future, the work that God has already started in this church will reach boiling point... and it will start to overflow and affect the communities and churches in this city. But before God entrusts us with that great responsibility of being a part of the revival of his people and his church, our yieldedness will be tested.

I do not presume to speak the mind of God, but I have come to understand in increasing measure that God is not interested using me when I insist on being in the drivers seat of my life and that leads to numerous Jonah-type situations. If you do not know what I am talking about, read the book of Jonah (in the bible... heh!) and you'll get the analogy. Yielding my life to him means allowing him to take control of my life, take me where he wants me to go (even to COOOOOOLD canada disregarding my deep dislike for cold and snow... :) ) and allowing him to SPEND my life as he sees fit.

A life yielded to God

A life spent as God sees fit

A life poured out in service to God

Isn't that the heart of worship?

Vibrant worship - Vibrant Church (Part 3)

At the heart of a vibrant church is a people characterized by vibrant worship

If you have not been walking this journey of discussing some of the aspects to the path of becoming a vibrant worshipper that is part of the heart of a vibrant church, perhaps it might be useful to you to look at the two previous posts and subsequent discussion comments on this blog-sermon-teaching thing so that you come on the page with where I am at today.

My whole journey recently as a worshipper has been driven in part by a question that sits at the back of my mind constantly: "Is there more than this?"

Part of discovering whether there is more is looking back at scripture and at the testimony of those gone before us to determine whether their experiences show a deeper level of connection with God and the acceptance of his work in their lives... which we have done over the past several weeks. The other is to look at obstacles and barriers that we have knowingly or unknowingly placed in between God and us.

Here are some of the barriers that I have found in my life as I journey in discovering a deeper place of worship... maybe you might relate to some or all of them.

Dishonesty
In speaking about worship being a lifestyle, I mentioned the fact that if we stand before God and offer up to him a sacrifice of worship and praise and yet our lives do not embody that sacrifice, our "worship" is reduced to flattery and mocks us. Your life has to line up with your words and the only way that happens is by keeping short records with God through repentance, through your relationship with him, and through your fellowship with believers like yourself who challenge you and spur you on in growth with Jesus. Please do not catch yourself in worship one day singing "you're all I want" and yet your life says anything but... 1 Samuel 16: 17.

We have settled for so little
Some of you know that for a long time I struggled with the prayer for people that led to a "slaying in the spirit" which manifests as falling backwards as somebody lays their hands on you. Partly because I was once forcefully pushed to the ground, but also as I grew up in Christianity, it seemed like a very uni-dimensional expression of the power of the holy Spirit. All around me, it seemed that all the intercessors and ministers were interested in was making sure that you hit the floor... I do not know what it was like for you, but it certainly felt like that for me. My skepticism was further exacerbated by the TV evangelists that made their way into my living room via my TV screen.

The same argument could be made about the worship services that I have attended over the years. The worship leaders, facilitators, and pastors had settled either for NOTHING happening in their services lest the boat is rocked too much, or a specific response (or list of responses) to worship. Worship had not happened until A, B, C, and D had been physically seen. Some people had gone so far as to arrogantly reduce worship to a genre of music that they loved without which worship had not happened... didn't you know that the only way to connect with God is through a power ballad?

We’ve come up with rules and regulations, which are fittingly called by many of us, a box, and not realized that God far supercedes our limited vision and tradition-prone nature. We actually live in a culture full of expression, art, poetry, and music that reflect the incredible creativity of the God of the universe. The ways in which God touches his people and reveals himself to them in worship cannot be reduced to a preset list of things that we have become comfortable with in our denomination and to approach worship individually or corporately with this attitude is to rob ourselves of the vast expanse of the riches of what God can do. Any wonder that our worship becomes programmed, stagnant and non-vibrant?

Authentic relationship
Is it possible that some of us did not have an authentic relationship with God in the first place? Perhaps it is one that we simply inherited by being brought into this earth in a christian home... but not really one that we have found for ourselves...

Could it be that we've been sucked into the culture of christianity so long that we've began to confuse religiosity, christian subculture, and christianese with an authentic relationship with Jesus?

Fear
Those of us that have walked with God and perhaps walked away from him may be very much aware about how being in his presence exposes all in us. Not that he cannot see it right now because nothing is hidden from him... but just like Isaiah in the 6th chapter of his book, we may find ourselves really aware of our uncleanness. Obviously if your relationship with him is anything but healthy, feeling exposed before him - the estranged lover of your soul - ignites fear and this may cause us to hold back from pressing in to his presence or leading those that we have been charged to lead.

It is possible that some of us do not know what will happen if we were to allow ourselves to completely, unashamedly worship and enter into God's presence. It is a very human response to the unknown... and truth be told, there are not too many good reports of what might happen... it always seems to dissolve into chaos and cacophony. Not a very popular thing in our reserved canadian culture, eh?

If we are completely honest, many of us are also very afraid of what the person in our house listening to us worship or the person in the pew sitting next to us, or looking at us on stage might think. What happens is that we then project this fear of what people might think on to the people that we lead in worship and we choke whatever God might have in store for us because everybody spends more time focusing on outward appearances than on connecting with God. I have come to realize more and more that the enemy has used this fear or apprehension to maximum effect in many of our lives and we need to break free of it in Jesus name.

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Removing the restraints that cause us to be dispassionate worshippers reluctant to experience the presence of God individually and corporately is key in transforming us into the vibrant worshippers that lie at the heart of a vibrant church.

So I say it again for the millionth time: At the heart of a vibrant church is a people characterized by vibrant worship. A person that truly comes in contact with Jesus has no option but to be radically transformed – the bible is FULL of examples of this – and realizing this has made me even more convinced that “Connecting people with Jesus” has to become the mission of the worship facilitation teams - the choir, the singers, the band, and the production team.

As we we journey forward together and as we look to God for vision and direction, lets all come before him with a slate that is wiped clean and allow him to take us on a wonderful journey of experiencing his presence and power. I have a strong sense that Woodvale is supposed to grow into a church or a community that is a wonderful representation of what unrestrained, uncontained worship is to be and I hope that for many of us, this journey starts today.

Vibrant worship - Vibrant Church (Part 2)

At the heart of a vibrant church is a people characterized by vibrant worship

Today, we talk about the second answer that I came to when trying to figure out why there was a marked disparity between the services I led and the accounts of worship in scripture.

As I was thinking about this week's posting, I felt that I should mention this week that all my thoughts and ideas are exactly that. I speak out of my personal experience and what I have found to be true in my journey as a worship leader and facilitator... Wrestle (if that is what you do) with what I have to say, think about it, discuss it, but also arrive at your God-guided and inspired truth for your journey as a worshipper. My hope is that as we all seek for God's best for Woodvale, we shall arrive at the same place because we serve a God that wants to reveal his will to us for our lives and for our church.

Ok...

So my discussions with lots of people and my own reading led me to another revelation as to why it seemed like scripture offered one thing and yet our experiences seemed to tell a different story. It can be simply encapsulated by the phrase "Worship is a lifestyle". If you have been a Christian as long as I have or even longer, I am sure that you have heard this phrase tossed quite a bit. "Worship is a lifestyle", "worship is a lifestyle", "worship is...

The problem with overly used and recycled christianese catch phrases is that the truth that they so succinctly encapsulated at one point is lost and all that is left is the phrase minus the truth that we set out to find.

Now that the rant is over, let me further unpack what worship as a lifestyle means to me.

It starts with realizing that all creation - that includes you - exists for God's pleasure and that your whole purpose on this earth is to bring him glory. Just as an amazing painting brings glory to the painter, if our lives are patterned after what God wants and we allow his transforming power to refine us into what he wants, our lives become wonderful masterpieces that bring glory to God. This means that our worship breaks beyond the constraints of the Sunday worship services and reaches far beyond into our jobs, homes, and every other aspect of our lives.

I am a firm believer that God cannot be mocked and so if our lives do not "worship", our corporate act of worship is shallow and empty because our lives contradict the words that we sing or speak.

Romans 1: 20
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made

Sometimes finding worship within yourself is a next-to-impossible task and so it helps to look at God's creation around us (people, animals, plants, etc...) as a source of inspiration for your worship. Sometimes worship can flow out of us (perhaps it should do so more often) out of our recognition of God's hand at work in his creation...

I used to go to an annual christian camp in Uganda at the most beautiful and picturesque place that I have ever been to. Every morning as the sun rose over the calm waters of Lake Victoria, without a doubt, there would be one or several people so amazed by the sight that they would burst into a discordant version of "great is thy faithfulness". Every year, every morning, every camp without fail! I always laughed at it when it happened, but I think that it was one of those situations where worship ceases to be about navel gazing and becomes about creation inspiring us to worship God.

Another small story...

My Dad used to occasionally drag us to one of the most boring (it's boring in my memory because I was turned away from God) fellowships ever. Most times, instead of having a preacher or teacher, the greatest chunk of time was spent giving testimonies about what God had done in peoples lives. I particularly remember one fellowship where a moving testimony was given and almost after every account of God's hand at work, the whole group (with the exception of skeptical me) burst into a song of praise. I've often looked back at that point in time and wished that the church would find inspiration to worship corporately based on the account of what God is doing in somebody's life in spite of the personal circumstances that one may be going through.

This worship as a lifestyle - a life that brings glory to God, and worship that is birthed out of God's work in creation then becomes a weekly, monthly, or annual journey that has it's peaks when we gather together to worship corporately. Last week's reference to the psalms of ascent is a beautiful illustration of this journey. David's worship was not confined to the temple, but was a part of his daily journey. It comes as no surprise therefore, that lifestyle of worship birthed some of the most meaningful songs of worship that the world has ever seen.

I do not know whether I have shared this with you guys before... forgive the repetition if I have. I think of every service as a part of the journey of worship that people are on (whether they realize it or not) before they get into the service and after they have left. However, I cannot take people on a journey into the presence of God if I have not walked that journey on my own.

A people characterized by vibrant worship are not a people for whom worship is confined to the church building walls and restricted to a 20-minute time slot on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. Vibrant worshippers are better described as people that are living a life that first and foremost brings glory to God, and secondly embark on a journey of worship that is inspired by what God is doing in their personal lives and in creation around them.

A people that walk the journey of an authentic and growing relationship with God that brings him glory learn to grow in their expectation of what God can do and this energizes the times of corporate worship. Therefore for us as facilitators and leaders of worship, before we even stand before the congregation and attempt to engage them in a journey into the presence of God, we must first ask whether worship is a central part of our lifestyle before anything else. If it is not, we are wasting time trying to take people on a journey that we ourselves have never been on and do not have the roadmap for.

I am glad to be a part of what God is doing here at woodvale... even more pumped about the fact that all around me I see people that have a passion to connect people with God. Let us therefore spur each other on further in our understanding of worship as a lifestyle and go deeper than we have ever been before as individuals and as a church in our journey of worship.

Have a great week!