Spiritual Energy

Does that title seem odd to you? It sometimes does to me, almost new-age-ish.

Let me share where I first started using that phrase.

I was the Worship Pastor at First Baptist of Lansdale, PA. We had an early, contemporary service. And people who would visit the early service from their regular late (more traditional) service would comment about how the service just seemed to have more energy. Fewer people attended at 8 am. A lot fewer. There was no 40-voice choir like the later service. No giant pipe organ like we had at 11:00. But more energy.

Yet the energy wasn't emotionalism. We weren't always laughing or crying or any such thing. We just had more of what I could only describe as God-sourced energy.

It was while I was learning to lead worship in that place that I think God awakened in me the desire to lead with passion and energy that reflected the words we were singing. The style of music helped, but as I have increasingly discovered over the last few years, the profound meaning of the text--and engaging it fully--is what has maintained my spiritual energy and passion.

Let me use a song you may not be familiar with to illustrate. I learned it from one of my mentors, Dave Bullock from Elmbrook Church in Wisconsin. Dave used to bring a group of folks to lead worship for a Kentucky Baptist Convention event called Shepherding the Shepherd. And it was there I learned "When I Was Lost," a song by Kate Simmonds:

When I was lost you came and rescued me

Reached down into the pit and lifted me

O Lord, such love: I was as far from you as I could be

You know all the things I've ever done

But Jesus' blood has canceled every one

O Lord, such grace, to qualify me as your own.

Over the last few years, as I've sung the words "I was as far from you as I could be" and remembered the multiple times and ways God has rescued me, has canceled my sin, has qualified me as his own, I can't help but sing with gratitude. No editorial note is required at the beginning of the song. My story intersected God's story and got lost--or better, found--in that Story. 

And so I sing from the deep places of my heart, my mind, my soul. 

When lots of people in the same room do this at the same time there is spiritual energy.

Or as the Psalmist translated it according to the old KJV: "Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." (Ps 22:3)

So when people talk with me about the way I lead worship that connects with them, I most often hear something like "I really believe you when you sing." My hope is that this is not only true for all who stand on a platform and leads God's people into God's presence for God's glory, but that it looks like it.


For help developing this part of you as a worship leader, I offer mentoring as part of Worship Coach consulting and I'd be honored to serve you in whatever way I can. Just shoot me a message!

RodEEllis@aol.com
www.worshipcoach.us
502.229.0114

Freedom, Freedom, Freedom

I did enjoy Braveheart quite a lot, but that's not what I'm thinking here.

It is Martin Luther King, Jr. day, and that's what prompted the timing for sure. I am so grateful for the vision MLK had for all people to be free in Christ.

And, of course, that concept comes directly from the scripture: Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. (Galatians 5:1)

Doesn't this have significant implications for our worship gatherings? Shouldn't people have a powerful sense of Godly freedom when it comes to how we express our hearts and minds? Shouldn't the Christ-oriented heart be increasingly able to demonstrate outwardly what it feels inwardly? 

I am convinced the answer is a fervent YES! 

And so on occasion, when I'm leading worship, I will encourage people to pursue that freedom. My experience has been that a set of words can so profoundly affect me that while others are standing, I have to sit under the weight of what has been sung. Conversely, there have been many times I couldn't just sit there and sing; I had to get on my feet. 

Without being defiant or antagonistic (which is why I called it Godly freedom), I encourage you to spur those you lead toward freedom in worship. According to the Apostle Paul, that's why Christ set us free--to live free!

Happy Martin Luther King day, friends!


To get some help with this dynamic, I'd love to come and serve your worship leading team--choir, praise team, tech team, planning team, etc. Just shoot me a message! RodEEllis@aol.com

Becoming Tech Savvy

I enjoy technology. I'm not obsessed with it. I don't think it is the key to a utopian world. And I don't think the church even needs technology to worship. (I did spend time in east Africa, where there was no electricity available, and we worshipped just fine.)

But in our great country, and in most churches in our country, being able to navigate around worship-related technologies is sure helpful. If we're going to enlist unpaid servants to run sound, a computer, a light board, a camera, etc. then it would be good to be able to communicate using the right vocabulary, it would be even better to have a working knowledge of what the capabilities of those technologies are.

But how?

That sort of depends on where you're starting and your personality.

I have a friend who reads--cover to cover--every instruction manual on every piece of electronics he buys. I would rather visit a mad dentist having a bad day.

I have another friend who loves to share "tricks of the trade." I love hanging out with him 'cause I learn every time.

And then there's a simple sense of adventure. When we first installed a theatrical lighting system at Memorial Baptist in Frankfort, I was a sponge--watching lighting everywhere I went, paying attention to how it was used for dramatic sketches, for soloists or ensembles, for preachers, etc. I thought of it as a playground and I was the kid.

But there's also just good old fashioned research. Sometimes you have to hop online and check something out. Or contact a knowledgable friend/colleague to get an answer.

I've seen more and more people ask questions on Facebook, like my buddy Dennis Cook did recently when checking into presentation software.

And, of course, if you'd like some help with an all-around check-up, let's set up a Worship Coach session--either with you or your tech/production/media team. I'd be honored to serve any way I can!


www.worshipcoach.us
www.facebook.com/worshipcoach

Three Choices

Every day you and I are faced with three cultures from which to choose:

   a) the culture of current world trends,

   b) the culture of (church) tradition, and

   c) the culture of the Bible.

This is true in virtually every area of life. But nowhere is it more true than in our approach to worship.

I had two delightful experiences a few years ago that led me to think about that in a different way.

Experience #1 was with a couple of highly respected older men in a church I served for a long time. They invited me to lunch for an opportunity to share some of their thoughts about worship styles as “seasoned citizens” and a longing they had for unity in our congregation. I learned much from their thoughts and their perspective.

Experience #2 was at a worship concert with one of today’s biggest names in the world of Christian worship, Chris Tomlin. It was there that I joined my (retired age) friend Martha in learning to “dance in the river.” It was a grand experience and I worshipped with every song, those I liked and those I didn't like as much.

So is it a leap from these two experiences to making choices in “worship culture?” I don’t think so. Allow me to explain.

First, the two gentlemen were sharing with me their perception that a more contemporary worship style lacks reverence. I agree that modern worship tends to be less formal, subdued, and quiet than that evangelical gatherings of the last 50 years. And there's no doubt that the culture of our world is increasingly irreverent. That’s why it is essential that we do as the Psalmist declares and “…bow down [and] kneel before the Lord…” Unlike the observations of those two men, though, my experience with contemporary church services is that they do, indeed, have beautiful moments of quietude, of reverence. This is good and healthy.

Second, at the Chris Tomlin worship concert there was a great deal of borrowing from the culture of rock–n-roll. There was shouting and dancing and raising hands, much like the experience of any rock concert. But then I had to ask myself, is that is really the culture of the world or has rock music actually stolen it away from the culture of the Bible. After much consideration I believe we need to take another look into the recounting of worship in the Old Testament, and specifically the hymnbook that Jesus used. (the Psalms) As uncomfortable as my upbringing may have made me with “raising hands” in worship, it is biblical. Again, we choose, is it from the culture of the world, the church, or the Bible? I certainly think shouting is foreign to our tradition, but how many Psalms can you find that say we are to “Shout to the Lord?”

So my conclusion after these two beautiful events is simply this: Let’s work to leave behind the culture of tradition (not tradition itself; just its culture).  And let’s work to engage our world, to be “in it but not of it” so that we do not embrace the culture of the world, but we speak through it and work with Jesus to redeem it. And let’s work most intentionally toward embracing and adopting the culture of our Bible where we are instructed to:

…sing for joy to the Lord;

…shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation

AND

…bow down in worship

…kneel before the Lord our Maker.

What do you think? Leave a comment and I'll gladly respond.

Come to Me: A treatment for the hurried life

I offer this for you for use in your personal devotional time or as a reading in worship. There are some great tunes written with the "Come to Me" concept at their core, whether quoting this passage or not. (see suggestion at the end) It could be a more classic choral piece or a modern worship song. Be creative.

One note, if you are using it in a service, make sure the actors/readers spend some time getting comfortable with the "out of time" overlap of words which eventually come into alignment. It will make key moments have much greater impact.

Matthew 11:25-30 (The Message)

Reader: #1: Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer,

Reader #3 (Jesus): “Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You’ve concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that’s the way you like to work.”

Reader #2: Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. 

Reader #3 (Jesus): “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.

All three: (read in turns, overlapping by one word, so you are talking on top of each other)

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burnout out on religion?

All three: (read, overlapping at first, then slowly coming into alignment)

“Come to me.”

Reader #3 (Jesus): “Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.”

All three: (again read in turns, overlapping by one word, so you are talking on top of each other)

“Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.”

All three: (in unison) “Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.”

Reader #3 (Jesus): “I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”


Here's just one fresh example of a song that could beautifully follow this reading: Come to Me (Bethel Live). You'll find the print music here.

Not a Spectator Sport

He changed my life. Really. In fact, I don't know of very many people (outside of family and those I interact with often) that have changed it more.

And this excerpt from his book may best summarize the impetus for that change: "Worship is not something done to us or for us but by us."

Those words from the late Robert Webber now shape the way I think about everything in the worship gathering: song selection, flow, instrumentation, rehearsal, body language, fashion, screens, sound, lighting, and more.

So when one of my friends in ministry asked me to write about how people can be encouraged to join in, not just be spectators, my mind first went to this short sentence from the opening pages of Worship Is a Verb.

But then, as I've pondered over the weeks since my friend asked, I've decided to offer just three ways I try to lead in a way that gets as many people as possible "doing" worship.

First, spiritual formation. It seems to me that when I encounter someone who has a soul that is afire with the Spirit of God, their worship is expressed. It has to be. It can't not be. And that's true regardless of style of music. So the pastoral team, including the worship pastor, must invest in "fanning into flame" the faith we have received.

Second, worship education. Churches are places of learning. People learn in many ways, and sadly, we often learn things that aren't true or right. So using Biblical verses, passages, stories and concepts, I try to create an accurate understanding of what Christ-exalting worship involves. Some ways I've done this through the years include Bible Study groups, weekly emails, newsletter articles, book studies, and now--a lot of social media.

Third, platform modeling. This has been area of exciting growth for me over the last decade or so. I want to authentically look like what I'm asking the congregation to do. If I appear disinterested, I do an injustice to the goal of helping others actively "do" worship. But if I communicate the lyrics I'm singing, I can encourage others to do the same.

This is one my strengths in worship ministry. In fact, the track record I have for helping churches become active worshipers is a huge part of why I have created my Worship Coach consulting-ministry. If there is any way I could come and help your church be more participatory in her worship, I'd love to hear from you!


www.worshipcoach.us

Daily D

I had an unusual experience while praying the other day. I've been praying for a few decades, most days of those decades, and often many times in a day. And this has never happened.

God seemed to tell me to shut up.

I know. Seems heretical.

I don't mean that God was telling me to ignore Him or break fellowship or any such thing. But this particular praying was just before a key meeting, so I thought spending some time with my Father would be wise. As I prayed I sensed Him whisper to me, "be yourself." Five times I prayed, and five times the same response. And then there was just this sense that he sort of told me we were finished talking.

It was really weird.

And just like weird people, weird experiences are worth staring at.

So as I've stared.

I've pondered.

I wonder if we have over emphasized daily devotions and under emphasized daily devotion.

Let me say that another way: we may have made too much of a few minutes with God and too little of every minute with God.

(And we probably do the same with money, beating the drum of the tithe rather than looking at God's desire for a hundred percent of what we receive.)

So what if we thought of daily devotions as a part of--but not all of--daily devotion.

Returning to my bizarre prayer-experience, perhaps God was revealing to me that all of my morning was prayer, some of it talking with Him alone and more of it being with Him and others.

What do y'all think? Leave a comment, if you don't mind!