Thanks to TWC member Lori Biddle for sharing this book review.

As a creative I often feel almost panicked to produce what is expected of me. It can be terribly lonely. I constantly search for other creatives to learn from or connect with. And then I found Blaine Hogan.

I first met Blaine in a programming meeting at WillowCreek that I attended with Nancy Beach.

Blaine and I bantered back and forth and I was immediately fascinated by his sharp mind and creative perspective; a unique and gifted leader without doubt.

His book “Untitled” had me at the title…or lack thereof.

His frank discussion of his personal struggle to tell his story was something I immediately connected with.

The spiritual longing that drew him away from full time acting (Prison Break tv show) and ultimately to the local church was nothing short of God’s calling to become a great leader to all of us. I take Blaine’s calling very personally and benefit from his obedience.

In chapter 1 Blaine challenges us to ‘write something everyday on the blank page.’ He gives practical suggestions that help creatives produce work that only they are gifted to do.

He goes on to discuss the fact that “no one cares about our ideas – they only care if we can execute the vision.” This statement screams with truth! The ability as a creative to complete the concept is what makes one gifted in that way so vitally important!

I love his discussion about the messy creative process. He said, “I’m starting to breathe while I’m ‘doing the things’.” Creating can and will be exhausting, and we should choose the prospective of being excited about the creative opportunity and hopeful about our projects! How encouraging this is!

One of the quotes Blaine used, “Products have to have an eternal significance for producers beyond the purely instrumental utility,” caused me to realize why I feel so strongly about what I create. The disappointments related to the perceived failure of any of my projects hurt more deeply than anything in my life. He helped me realize why artists work as if eternity is at stake. Blaine reminds us our art is not just what we make, but also how we make it.

Perhaps the most encouraging portion of the book to me personally was Blaine’s description of how overwhelmed he often feels by all the “temporal junk” that floods him daily. I thought I was the only one who spends much of my life feeling the only thing I am really good at is mediocrity. He advices that we all need to consider ‘sitting’ more and that it will make us better personally, to our families and friends, as well as better artists. “To see well the artist must have slow steady eyes.”

I highly recommend “Untitled” to anyone who considers himself /herself creative, or leads any of the creative service element responsibilities in the local church.

Creativity may be the very thing that God uses to open lost eyes to see just a glimpse of eternity with the Lord… Create bravely!

Lori Biddle is the Director of Programming at Crossroads Community Church in Mansfield, Ohio.

Related posts:

1. Book Review: The Sacred Journey
2. Book Review: Lucky by Glenn Packiam
3. Book (Devotional) Review: Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study On Worship by Dwayne Moore

I was excited to receive Glenn Packiam’s latest book, Lucky: How the Kingdom Comes to Unlikely People, along with his newest project, The Kingdom Comes, earlier this year. I’ve just finished reading through the first time and let me tell you it’s a great read!

Glenn Packiam redefines the word lucky in the context of Jesus’ beatitudes in Luke’s Gospel.

Lucky uncovers how the poor, hungry, mourning and persecuted are blessed because the Kingdom of heaven—its fullness, comfort, and reward—is theirs in spite of their condition. This is Christ’s announcement: the Kingdom of God has come to unlikely people.

Like the people Jesus addressed, we are called lucky not because of our pain or brokenness but because in spite of it, we have been invited into the Kingdom. The trajectory of our lives have been altered. What’s more, we now have a part in the future that God is bringing. Like Abraham, we have been blessed to carry blessing, to live as luck-bearers to the unlikely and unlucky.

Glenn dives head first into realigning the concept of “blessed” from the Beatitudes. Using original language to paint a picture of “blessing” being more than just a religious state, we’re taken on a journey through Jesus’ words and the ideas of being fortunate or lucky.

Prepare to be challenged as Glenn tackles topics like poverty, sex trafficking, adultery, missions, and even the factory farming/agriculture system, not often talked about in Western Christian circles.

I love how he paints a beautiful picture of Christ-followers as “luck bearers” – those who bring “luck” to those around them. We are physical examples, literal bringers of good fortune to those who don’t know Christ. I was thoroughly moved and challenged by statements like: “How we treat others, where we buy our food and clothing, the way we vote, and the way we work- must be brought under God’s reign. And that may take on different hues on each individual canvas. We must not stand as anyone’s judge.  But each must raise the questions and wrestle through to answers. And then wrestle through again and again until Messiah returns.”

Using stories about friends and their journeys to other countries, Glenn brings the main point home even further. You’ll be stirred and challenged to redefine your notions of “blessed” and encouraged to open yourself up even more to the work of the Holy Spirit to move in and through you to bring “luck” to those around you.

Pick up your copy today!

Related posts:

1. Glenn Packiam Responds To The Worship Community Member Questions
2. Review: Glenn Packiam’s The Kingdom Comes EP
3. Winners of The Glenn Packiam EP Giveaway

The Worship Community will be giving away THREE (3) The Kingdom Comes EP prize packs this week. We will randomly draw the winners from the comments section (below) next Monday (April 11, 2011) at the end of the day. Make sure you get your comments in! All you have to do is answer the question:

Glenn Packiam is an accomplished worship songwriter, author, AND executive pastor. If you could spend 10 minutes with Glenn and pick his brain (about songwriting, being an author, balancing pastoring with leading worship, etc.), what ONE question would you ask him?

Make sure you ask a clear concise question! Only ONE question per commenter please!

Three winners of our drawing will receive:

• A The Kingdom Comes EP (8 tracks featuring new songs and a chapter from his new book)
• Lucky: How The Kingdom Comes to Unlikely People – Glenn’s latest book.

*** UPDATE ***

WINNERS HAVE BEEN SELECTED:

1. Douglas Phillips
2. Zachary Miller
3. Rodney Morton

Thanks to all who participated!

This is the second solo album from Glenn, writer of the popular modern worship songs My Savior Lives and Your Name, and a founding member of the Desperation Band with whom he recorded four albums. Previously, he released the critically-acclaimed CD Rumors and Revelations, which coincided with his book Secondhand Jesus…Trading Rumors of God for Firsthand Faith.

Glenn  is an executive pastor and a worship team member for New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and has appeared on numerous New Life projects in addition to those he recorded with the Desperation Band. His latest New Life album guest appearance is on You Hold It All, which will release on April 12, 2011.

He also authored Butterfy in Brazil: How Your Life Can Make A World of Difference.

GlennPackiam.com | NewLifeChurch.org | integritymusic.com

Russ Hutto (russhutto.com | @RussHutto)

I’ve been looking forward to hearing this solo EP from Glenn Packiam as I tend to really love anything that comes out of New Life Church and the Desperation Band. If you’re a fan, like me, you won’t be disappointed. From the first track to the last track, you get good stuff from Glenn.

Our Messiah Reigns: Tempo – fast. Themes – Praise, Worship, Adoration. This song starts off with a great simple acoustic feel and then builds to a full band arrangement. The hook is catchy and the words are powerful. This is definitely one you can immediately add into your Sunday Setlists.

All Things: Tempo – moderate. Themes – God’s Provision, Faith. All of the songs on this EP are very singable and catchy. The truth in this song is a great reminder of God’s work in and through us. Recommended for corporate worship.

Forever Forgiven: Tempo – moderate. Themes – Forgiveness, Salvation, Confession. This one begins in an acoustic finger picking style and has a bit of a compound (triple) feel to it. Glenn has a way with simple, but singable and catchy melodies. I’ll be implementing most of these songs into my repertoire.

Praise Is The Offering: Tempo – fast. Themes – Call To Worship, Praise, Shout, Greatness of God. This is a good up-tempo song that would work well in most churches with a contemporary rock edge. Could be arranged for a little more of a standard modern worship feel or taken to a really heavy rock extreme. I could hear it both ways! Good song!

Everlasting God: Tempo – slow/moderate. Themes – Worship, Adoration, Attributes of God, Faithfulness of God. I was expecting it to be a cover of another song with the same name, but as soon as it started I was surprised. Driven by a pulsing quarter note piano groove. This one is neither better or worse than the other Everlasting God, it’s just different! Some people will be bothered that it’s named the same, but I think it’s a great song that stands on its own.

At The Cross (Hallelujah): Tempo – slow. Themes – Forgiveness, Salvation, Grace, Healing. I tend to love songs that are just piano oriented. Being a piano player that leads from guitar often, I love to add in a little variety with a piano/voice ballad. This is one that I really enjoyed listening to several times. It’s simple, yet beautiful. As the song grows, layers of acoustic instruments are added in. The song has an almost modern hymn feel to it. A good one to add to the repertoire. Would be a great Easter song.

Russ Hutto is the editor of The Worship Community, volunteers in worship leadership at St. Simons Community Church in St. Simons Island, GA, and also travels to worship with congregations throughout the Southeast.

Gary Durbin (garydurbin.blogspot.com | @garydurbin)

I met Glenn a couple years ago at a conference. I was really excited to talk with him, because I was just finishing up his book at the time. The vibe I got from him was refreshing. This guy isn’t just a songwriter/recording artist or mega church rock star. He exudes a pastor’s heart, and I have a feeling that’s what he desires people to see.

Thanks to Integrity, I now have the privilege to review his new EP called The Kingdom Comes. In a broad sense, what I love about this album is the tangibility of the songs for the Church. In short, these are songs for churches to sing, and that reaches me immediately.

The opening tracks, “Our Messiah Reigns” and “All Things” are infectious and has me wanting to work them up for our church. “Forgiven Forever” and “At the Cross (Hallelujah)” are beautiful, deep ballads as well. “At the Cross” (Hallelujah)” will be a great song for Easter time.

My only critique is “Everlasting God”. This has nothing to do with worship in the church. From a songwriter’s perspective, I try to come up with new ways to say the same things, and “Everlasting God” is definitely a title I would stay away from. I love the song, but I probably would have tried something like “Never-ending God” or something else. It’s easy for me to critique it, not being involved in the process, because “everlasting” is definitely a fitting term for the message of the song.

My goal in writing songs for the church is to write something that’s simple, yet fresh, which is no easy task. Glenn’s definitely done that on The Kingdom Comes. Great job, Glenn!

Gary is a Christian, father, husband, worship leader, songwriter who is striving for genuineness as much as possible.

Related posts:

1. Book Review: Lucky by Glenn Packiam
2. Glenn Packiam Responds To The Worship Community Member Questions
3. Winners of The Glenn Packiam EP Giveaway

Thanks to Lori Biddle for providing this book review for The Worship Community.

This is a Book Review on the book The Sacred Journey by Charles Foster. I liked it, I liked it very much!

Never had I considered that we were perhaps created to wander.

As I began to read, I realized there is example after example of wandering people favored by God over those who built large empires or business. It is so easy as an American to assume bigger means better. I came to realize that is not necessarily true.

“The accounts of Jesus’ life are geographically very explicit.” He had said, “Follow me.” I just had never taken this as literally as the book challenged me to.

Charles wrote the following, “The penalty for wanting to be a settler is that you become one.” How profound! We settle – in so many ways.

It was ironic that I read this book right before going to Cambodia where I will have the privilege of serving orphans, I have never been out of the country except on a cruise ship. Shame on me. My son recently said to me, “prepare to have your American bubble broken”… This book was the first step in that process.

I would recommend this book to anyone willing to consider that the ‘American Dream’ is the very thing keeping all of us from really making the impact on our world that God desires from us.

The Sacred Journey on Amazon.com

Related posts:

1. Book Review: Lucky by Glenn Packiam
2. Book Review: Untitled by Blaine Hogan
3. Review/Interview: Hymns & Sacred Songs by Leigh Nash

Thanks to Melanie Siewert, Tom Kline, Kim Castro and Barry Westman for providing their thoughts and insights after participating in The Worship Community’s online study group. We went through Dwayne Moore’s Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study On Worship together.

It’s a 9-week devotional geared towards worship leaders, worship teams, bands, musicians, pastors, and worshipers in general.

MELANIE SIEWERT

During this nine-week study, the Lord moved my heart in some powerful ways! Admittedly, I am not currently a part of a worship team. The reason why I decided to join the study is because I heard so many good things about it, and I also heard it applies to congregant worshipers. Indeed it does! The title of Pure Praise is so appropriate. Even church attendees can benefit from this study, and that’s where I got the most out of it – from that perspective. My desire is to please the Lord and one way of doing that is ensuring my praise is pure before Him! With that said, here are my 6 noteworthy take-aways from the study.

1. The Daily Praise/Daily Surrender portions were very effective to me. I was daily reminded to remain focused on my praise for the Lord (even those elements of praise I still consider uncomfortable), and encouraged to allow the Lord to reveal those deep, dark crevices in my spirit where I need to seek his forgiveness and recalibrate my thinking.
2. My spirit desires more physical worship, but my flesh likes to put up a fight. Although physical worship is very biblical (throughout all of scripture), I’m still uncomfortable with certain expressions. Clapping and raising hands are no big deal, but I still struggle with the others to varying degrees. So, I’ve opened myself up more to the Lord in this area. I’m still maturing.
3. I love the anchor story of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30. There is so much worship in that one story! No wonder Dwayne Moore centered the study on that one amazing event! I’m still impressed with how much about praise and worship we can draw from 30 verses that demonstrate obedience, faith, and the glory of God!
4. About halfway through the study, Moore encouraged participants to listen to the Lord’s voice more. The Lord gave me more than I expected! I heard the Lord speak to me in ways he never has before. My life is more centered on his ways, his timing, and his authority. Glory to his name!
5. The Lord revealed to me that my “awe” of him remains somewhat superficial. There remains a degree of mysticism in my worship. I want to see more of God so that I may revere him, as I should. He is King over all the earth!
6. The mountain analogy seemed so appropriate to me. By the end of the study, I felt tired and frustrated. The very last week about finishing strong allowed me to breathe easy as I continue on my journey in a much better stride. Time will tell how the Lord uses this study through me for his kingdom.

I pray the Lord will use what I have learned, and help me apply it in a manner holy and acceptable to Him. If anyone is interested in developing a pure praise for the Lord whose love endures forever, this study is a MUST. Thank you, Dwayne Moore, for being sensitive to the Holy Spirit while writing this study. I’m truly blessed! Blessings to you and your family!

Melanie is a Christ follower, wife to a wonderful man of God, and mother of two incredible boys. She has several years experience mentoring high school worship bands, and desires to continually write music for the Lord’s church.

TOM KLINE

I have just completed Pure Praise, a Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship by Dwayne Moore.
Below, I have listed some reasons why you should consider Pure Praise for yourself.

You will learn how much you don’t know about worship.

I have spent several years reading all the books about biblical worship that I could get my hands on. I have learned and profited more in the 9 weeks of Pure Praise than in all of the other books I have read. However much you already know about biblical worship will be enlarged and strengthened by the time invested in Pure Praise.

You will be challenged to have a deeper walk with God From Day 1, right up until the end, each day’s study challenged me to re-think a lot of my ideas about worship. It is not just about what we do on Sunday morning, but it is all about who we are when no one is looking. Each day consists of Bible-based teaching, followed by creative praise, and a time of surrender.

Do this study with others.

There will be benefit for you to do the study on your own, but you will benefit much more if you go through Pure Praise with others. A small group of us have just completed the journey together, and each day, posted what the lesson meant to us on a Pure Praise blog page here on TWC. And each of us will attest to the truth that we have benefitted greatly from reading what the others have posted. It always amazes me how God speaks to each of us in a slightly different way as we study the same thing.

This is a great study to do with your band, praise team, choir. Study individually, then meet once a week and share what you have learned. You will be amazed at how the unity and vision of your team will improve.

I have made several new friends through the online study on TWC, and we will continue to encourage one another on FaceBook for a long time to come.

Do it more than once.

If you have done Pure Praise already, consider doing it again. This was my second time through,
and I found myself being kicked in the behind nearly every day, because I had stopped doing
what I learned the first time through. Just as repetition helps us learn other important things, so revisiting Pure Praise has helped some of the vital truths I uncovered there to sink in deeper this time.

Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat!

You will learn about King Jehoshaphat’s greatest moment, and what made him jump.
(Actually, scripture doesn’t say he jumped, but I bet he did!)

Tom Kline is a life-long lover of Christian music of all kinds; has served two churches as Worship Leader, is a songwriter (mostly on TWC’s Songwriter’s Forum,) watercolor artist, and grandfather of 11.

KIM CASTRO

I have never experienced a Bible study that has affected me like Dwayne Moore’s Pure Praise. I believe part of the reason God directed me to The Worship Community was so that I could participate in this extraordinary event. I have learned so much-and at such a timely point in my life. I am at a place where I am just beginning to be a lead worshipper after years of being on a worship team. My goal is to bring God to people as a minister through music. This study has helped me on that path.

I thought the best way to share what I’ve learned is to go back to the heart of the study-the daily posts. These lesson reflections have helped me to understand what God wanted me to take away. Some lessons were exciting; some concepts were completely new to me, and some lessons shed light on otherwise well known ideas. Here are a few of the lessons that, for me, were life changing.

Week 4, Day 4…”Fine Tuning Our Ears”

“When I tried to concentrate on God’s voice for a full minute (!) I did okay. It helps me to put word pictures in my mind…Christ on the cross or on the throne, the ocean…I do try to have my ears tuned to him throughout the day but for really being still and listening…sometimes it takes a real sense of purpose.
I really appreciate yesterday’s lesson. Very practical. Really the first time someone has taken the time to really explain the why and how of listening to God’s voice. Imagine how much more we can do when we’re truly in his will.”

Week 5, Day 4…”The Power of the Spirit”

“Another “ah ha!” moment for me. I do tend to overlook the Holy Spirit when I’m trying to serve Him. I try to do things of my own accord. Now, looking back, especially with music, I’ve realized I’ve had the willingness, the prayer…I’ve been listening for His voice but completely neglected asking to be filled with the Spirit.
I was playing the piano earlier and going over some of my songs. I was kind of rushing, because I wanted to get through a few before we left. But I came to one and took my time and remembered to have HIM in my mind as I sang. Since this was before the lesson, I didn’t think to ask the Spirit to come into me, but from now on I’ll pray for the Spirit whenever I do ANY music. Or anyTHING! I’m so excited!”

Week 6, Day 3…”The Law of Divine Elevation”

“It’s nice to know that all of us here have struggled in some way or another with pride or frustration when it comes to serving in music ministry…it’s also nice to know that it’s God’s timing, and that we can stop the stressing and anxiousness as to WHEN things will ‘happen’ for us. ‘Such knowledge takes away the stress of feeling we have to ‘fight’ to maintain our position.’ I think this takes a lot of practice but it’s something to remember. HE’S in charge, not us.”

Week 8…”Impress, Inspire, Instruct, Influence, Illumine”

This week was an amazing week. At the heart of my goal as worship leader is to bring God into the presence of the people-to shine for Him as we worship Him.

“Lord, help me to impress people in a mighty, moving way when I lead. I pray for my church, for other leaders, also, that we may impress those who hear. May our words be yours. May our music glorify you. May we make a lasting, authentic impression…not about how we played, or sang, or ‘rocked’ onstage, but about your power and your glory. Amen.”

Again, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this study. I’m also grateful to Russ for organizing it and for Melanie, Tom, Barry, and all the others who participated. May God be with us in our personal journeys as we worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Kim Castro is a lover of Christ and family. She is a worship leader and songwriter hailing from central California. Her heart is to obey the Great Commission and to serve others as God leads.

BARRY WESTMAN

I just finished going through a tremendous Bible study on worship entitled Pure Praise, written by Dwayne Moore. I’ve heard so much about this book from so many people that I just had to read it for myself. I saw that there was a group of people at The Worship Community, a popular website for worship leaders, who were going to go through the study together online, and I thought that would be a great opportunity to do it, so I signed up and began going through this nine-week study back in November.

One of the main reasons I wanted to go through this study was to see if it would be a good resource to use with our team here at Bethel. I wanted to go through it first, myself, before I led our team through it. Now, after completing it, I know for sure this is something I would like to do with our team. In fact, as we learned on the last day of the study “we are now required to live out what we learned and to tell what we have experienced – through praise that is more pure and more powerful.”

This 9 week study is written for worship teams to go through together, with special group discussion questions included at the end of each week’s lessons. There are five lessons each week, and each lesson included teaching on worship, a time for daily praise and surrender.  The central passage that this study draws from is found in 2 Chronicles 20, and I found it amazing how much detail Dwayne was able to draw from one passage! Of course, he uses texts from the whole of Scripture to support his teaching. It was amazing to dig deep into God’s Word and see all that He has to say to worship leaders in this area of worship.

This study is perfect for people of all stages in their role as a worship leader, whether it’s for a vocalist, band member, worship tech, the worship leader or pastor.  It starts with general teachings on praise, and then draws you up the mountain of learning to the peak, as you strive deeper and deeper in what it means to be a worshiper and worship leader.  I have been involved with worship ministry for over 18 years, and I learned so much in this study, it was incredible! God used this study to point some things out to me that I have read so many times, but have either overlooked, or looked at in a completely new way! I was challenged daily to surrender all to Him. The week on learning how to hear God’s voice was so powerful! I also really enjoyed the week about style, and the one about how we can have the greatest impact on the congregation through our worship.

Each week was worthwhile, and I’m so looking forward to figuring out how I’m going to take our team through this study. I know I need to!  Thanks, Dwayne, for such an amazing study!!

Barry serves as the Worship Pastor at Bethel Baptist Church in Janesville, WI.

Related posts:

1. Online Group Study: Heaven’s Praise by Dwayne Moore (Begins February 6, 2012)
2. November Praise Portions FREE Worship Team Devotionals by Dwayne Moore
3. Reminder: Heaven’s Praise Online Bible Study Begins Today!

Excerpts taken from Pure Praise: A Heart Focused Bible Study on Worship with permission from the author, Dwayne Moore.

I was so ministered to by today’s devotion (week 8, day 1) that I emailed Dwayne to ask him if I could use some excerpts from the devotional to write today’s article for The Worship Community. He graciously granted me permission to do so. I have put the excerpts in blockquote form so you can distinguish my thoughts from the devotional.

At the risk of being misunderstood, both he and I want to make clear that the definition of IMPRESS that we are using has nothing to do with impressing people to seek glory and credit for ourselves. It has nothing to do with puffing ourselves up with pride and patting ourselves on the back after a great “show.”

For too long the church has equated trying to impress with trying to dazzle people… I certainly agree that we must be careful not to fall into that trap. When we hear thunderous applause at the end of one of our songs, it’s easy to believe people are clapping for us. And perhaps at first they are. However, our responsibility as [worship leaders] is to point people’s attention away from us and toward the God who deserves all the attention and applause.

Impress, according to The American Heritage Dictionary means:

1. to affect deeply or strongly in mind or feelings; influence in opinion.
2. to fix deeply or firmly on the mind or memory, as ideas, facts, etc.

People come into our worship gatherings with many barriers to worship.

Some are discouraged and defeated. Many are distracted by a plethora of activities. Some are disillusioned with religion and the church. Others are uninterested, even defiant about the idea of entering into a time of worship and praise. And there are always a few individuals who are simply misdirected. These individuals tend to judge the service and the leaders based on their own ideas of how the worship and praise should be done.

If possible, I think it’s a great thing when we as leaders can IMPRESS upon our people the goodness, faithfulness, bigness, and even nearness of our God. Not necessarily by our physical and literal performance, per se, but by our overflow.

I’m a musician and a composer by formal training and life experience. I was groomed to perform and to write for performance. I think there IS a place in our worship gatherings for performance. But not performance in the sense that wows people and drives them to applause for me.

My musicianship, my vocal capabilities, my leadership confidence, my stage presence, all of these things, can come together to make a great performance that is worthy of applause, but does NOTHING to impress upon people anything GOD-oriented.

So the challenge then is to bathe all the tools that God has so graciously given me as a musician, composer, or artist and to bathe them in HIS direction. To keep them immersed in HIS inspiration.

Our goal isn’t to impress people so that they glorify us. Our goal is to IMPRESS people to a better understanding of GOD Himself!

Scripture is filled with people who used what they had when they had it under the direction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit to make undeniable impressions upon people who heard them.

Both Paul and Stephen spoke with great wisdom that came from the Holy Spirit. They had obviously studied the Scriptures and invested much time alone with God to have such spiritual understanding and divine favor. They were neither sloppy, unprepared, nor apathetic; their passion and supernatural empowering demanded that people listen.

The point of this encouragement today is to get you to ponder your “impressions” on people. Obviously, as a musician/singer/worship leader you have a set of skills and tools that you could use to build your own kingdom. But the wonderful thing, is that God will use us and our skills to build His Kingdom!

I’m not advocating a performance based “show” culture. We see too much of that already. What I am advocating is an attitude of willingness to impress upon people the qualities and atributes of God with what God Himself has given us.

Take a look at 2 Chronicles 20:18-22. Here’s a list of 5 things that we can see that the people of Judah did that would leave an impression upon others.

Their humility and sincerity – they bowed and gave all glory to God. Even the most cynical of bystanders are often disarmed when we choose not to take any credit for ourselves.

Their passion and enthusiasm – Notice how they praised “with very loud voice” (verse 19). Also, the way the Jadeite choir apparently did not even hesitate “as they began to sing and praise” on the front lines gives us a sense of their enthusiasm. No doubt many of the Israelites following behind the choir were strongly affected and influenced by their passion (i.e., they were impressed).

Their confidence – Jehoshaphat told them to have faith in the Lord their God and in his prophets (verse 20). They were completely confident that through him they would succeed.

Their excellence and preparation – Jehoshaphat told them what to sing as they began their march toward the Desert of Tekoa. It was a familiar song Jehoshaphat chose, so they most likely didn’t need to practice it. They were already prepared and ready to sing. (We, too, need to be well prepared. People don’t want to hear us practicing on them during the worship service).

Their authority – These singers weren’t the least bit timid about what they had to share. They knew that what they were singing was the absolute and undeniable truth that had come straight from God.

Ultimately, our FIRST responsibility is to WORSHIP God. Our “leading” and our preparation and our rehearsals, etc, should always be from a posture and place of prayer and worship. As always, it’s our privilege to lead people into a place of worship in a group setting through music. Let us always be mindful that there are several layers that can make those times of musical worship a sweet and sincere offering to the Lord.

One of those layers is how we “impress” people. Or better said, how our postures, our countenances, our stage presence, our skills, our preparation, our leadership, basically, everything we have and use to lead worship, leaves an impression on people.

So do you lead worship to impress people?

Please visit NextLevelWorship.com and support Dwayne Moore and this awesome ministry. Pure Praise is a wonderful devotional to take your worship team/ministry through (and to go through individually as a leader). The Worship Community highly recommends this study!

Related posts:

1. Leading Worship: What’s Your Preference?
2. Don’t Try to Impress Me
3. Leading Without Love

In Imagine That: Discovering your Unique Role as a Christian Artist, Manuel Luz, the Creative Arts Pastor for Oak Hills Church in Folsom, California, compares Jazz music to Biblical community, claims that the Levites of the Old Testament had the “ultimate gig” and makes a convincing case for art as a spiritual discipline.

Luz’ unique personal history (he’s been both a Jazz musician and a rocket scientist and now is a Pastor) makes me want to sit across the Starbucks table from him and just ask him to talk about his life.  This and the fact that he really doesn’t like the commercialism of “Contemporary Christian Music” as a genre make for an interesting and compelling book (he describes Jesus casting out the moneychangers in the temple as an example of Biblical era commercialism).

He deftly weaves through a discussion about “Christian art” and claims that as a Christian with a true Christian worldview (a set of assumptions that affect our view of the world), our art cannot help but express this in some way.  If Christ is in us, He will “escape” in our art.

He writes about God as the first artist:

“…God loves music. He is passionate about it.  He is the original audiophile.  And more so, it is one of His love languages.  …He derives great joy when we express ourselves to Him with music.  He inspires us to sing, and we sing.  He inspires us to compose and play, and we compose and we play.  And He inspires us, in part because He simply loves to hear us play, loves to hear us compose, loves to hear us sing. …We musicians were created, in part, to play the gig to end all gigs.  …We have the privilege and honor of playing and singing for the God of the universe. …He taps His foot to the beat.  He smiles at the clever turn of phrase. He anticipates the key change, hangs on every note in the solo, leans forward in His seat when we hit the final chorus.  He applauds when we finish each song. (page 32)

And as a non-musician writer, I can only believe this is the same about all art:  writing, music, dramatic and visual arts included.  God in enamored with my meager attempt at creating art even though He is Supreme Artist, and this alone is inspiration enough to keep pursuing my art even when I feel like I’m finger painting next to a Monet.

Luz talks about his own struggles as a young musician and preacher, including the sin of pride, false authenticity and the traps of success.  He humorously recounts a sermon he gave on pride. He says, “I remember preaching on the sin of pride once.  I thought I did that great.” (page 95)

He tackles the definitions of beauty and art and reminds us that God is the ultimate author of beauty and that “anyone who is moved by beauty is closer to God than they realize.” (page 57)

Luz calls for excellence in artistic expression and encourages musicians, artists, dancers and writers to spend time and energy honing their craft.  It’s important to be good at what God has called you to do.

I was engaged and encouraged by Luz’ writing.  I enjoyed his perspective about the church and its relationship to the artist.   I especially connected with his section on reconciling “secular” art with “Christian” art.

Bottom line:  I liked this book.  And sometimes I’m a hard sell on books. I thought it read well and easily and was broad in its scope regarding art.  I didn’t feel that as a musician, he left me (a writer) out of the discussion.

I would recommend this to musicians and worship leaders, writers and journalists, dramatic and performing artists, as well as visual artists.

Well done, Mr. Luz.  And I’d love to come hear your Jazz trio sometime.

Related posts:

1. “Imagine That” Review
2. Imagine That – Book Review

Imagine That
by Manuel Luz

“We create because we are made in the image of the Creator. We simply cannot help it.”

Dear Manuel:

I was recently asked to read and review “Imagine That.” I was eager, and quickly moved through the book, soaking up the words. After reading, it only seem fitting that this review really be a letter to you. It’s the only context in which my response will make sense.

I’ve been an artist all my life, both in visual and musical expressions. Aside from directly leading worship, I’ve struggled to merge my faith with my art. As a Christian, I am compelled to make a difference in this world. To touch lives for the sake of the Gospel. To glorify God through my life. Because of this, I’ve felt obligated to either create hyper-preachy work, or to trade in my guitar pick for activities that have more well-defined place in the church. This struggle has always centered on the nagging question: What role do artists play in the Kingdom of God?

For far too long, these two core areas of my life have been at odds with one another. I saw my creativity as a cathartic hobby. A self-indulgent activity. So I indulged. Compelled by my own soul, I drew, painted, wrote songs, wrote poetry, designed logos… My life felt incomplete without some form of artistic expression, but I felt a small pang of guilt in seemingly fruitless creativity.

Within the context of that struggle, I picked up your book. Like oxygen for my gasping soul, you penned the answers. I found permission in your pages: “…we as artists can glorify God simply in the creation of our art. We are like the flowers of the field, each of which glorifies our God simply by being what He created it to be. God created us to be artists, and thus we give God glory by simply exercising the act of creativity.”

Every chapter held enlightenment for me. From acknowledging that we were created in the image of a very creative God, and should express the creativity within us. To explaining that Christian artists don’t have to create overtly Christian pieces, but should let our work flow from our honest soul-stirring perspective on life. To helping me understand that we must live in community – not only within the camaraderie of the creative community, but also bringing our quirkiness, neediness, and controversy into the Church. To reminding me that, without discipline, an artist won’t grow and mature in her craft or faith. To validating that inner urge – that inner “call” – to create and communicate a worthy message for the sake of my soul and the sake of others’.

Manuel, thank you for committing careful time to the words of this book. You raised the bar for us. You called us to a high moral standard, and to a high creative standard. You’ve pulled us out of the safe walls of our church, into the more competitive and critical culture around us. You’ve challenged us to brave this world for the sake of our message. You’ve encouraged us to take the power of our art, and use it to inspire and educate others.

As I read your description of the Christian artist, I was compelled to want examples. Names of artists within various crafts who were actively living out what you’ve laid out in the pages of “Imagine That.” I would love to look up their work, peer into their “ministry,” and see how they have merged their faith, their culture, and their art. Now that I know it’s possible, I want to find others that are doing this. I’m determined to keep my eyes open for the Christian creatives, whose lives I can watch in order to see how this all works out together.

Thank you for making this freedom a reality for me. Thank you for giving a clear and concise “theology” of Christian artistry. I’m breathing easy now.

Kindest regards and gratitude,
Mandy Thompson

Related posts:

1. Imagine That – Book Review
2. Imagine That by Manuel Luz
3. Book Review: Untitled by Blaine Hogan

I recently received a copy of the new book by Len Wilson and Jason Moore titled “Taking Flight with Creativity: Worship Design Teams that Work.” Since getting started in worship media and design I’ve followed their career and writings since they were involved with Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio. They now run Midnight Oil Productions.

Wilson and Moore have written many other books related to technical and creative aspects of worship. They are well known for their passion of using metaphor in worship to communicate truth. The book itself is built around the metaphor of the Wright brothers and their pursuit of the first sustained flight by mankind.

Of all their books, this has been their best yet. They deal less with the technical aspects of media based worship and more with how to design worship in a way that is creative and effective regardless of style. They deal with theory and make it practical through personal examples so you are not left wondering what to do next. You don’t finish the book feeling as if you’re hands are tied to a specific implementation.

The book is logically laid out. They begin by talking about the why of creative worship design as a team, and then talk about actually forming and implementing the team. The later sections are especially valuable because they write about the “intangible necessities” of functioning as a team in the body of Christ doing worship design and what to do when there are relational challenges. There are great sections dealing with leadership, not being a gatekeeper, keeping ego under control, finding consensus, brainstorming, and working for the spiritual growth of the whole church.

Some lines that really stood out to me:

- When people worship (verb) together in corporate worship (noun), transformational things happen.

- This is the power of team planning – that exponentially more ideas emerge that wouldn’t have been considered alone.

- In teams, leadership is function, not position. This means that the position of leadership means very little.

- Many teams form, but many fail. What separates those that take flight is an elusive quality called koinonia, the transformative synergy of Holy Spirit-driven team collaboration that would be impossible if attempted by any one person. Koinonia is the purpose of having teams in the first place – the experience of being a part of something great. Koinonia is truly living as the body of Christ.

- It is difficult not to get ego and identity tied up in one’s ideas and work.

- A service can be absent a strong visual metaphor but still work if there is a single main idea and everything moves toward that one idea.

This is just a small sample of the great stuff in this book. Even having been exposed to these ideas in other ways, it was a great refresher for me while also expanding my understanding of this concept. If you’ve never thought through worship design as a team, or you’ve been doing it for a while, this book would be a great investment as we work to tell and remind people of the greatest story there is.

Related posts:

1. Imagine That – Book Review
2. Book Review: The Sacred Journey
3. Book Review – Energizing Children’s Ministry in the Smaller Church

Twice this Summer I found myself in conversations with pastors of large churches who were frustrated by the severe lack of theological understanding among otherwise very skilled worship leaders, especially among many of the most creative. Both pastors had generally come to the conclusion that creativity and talent rarely go hand-in-hand with any more than the most basic of Biblical understandings.  As a worship leader, I am convinced that to worship Christ fully we must know him truly, but I can understand these pastor’s frustrations because over the course of my years in ministry I have run into plenty of worship leaders who were far more interested in the latest and greatest fads of the faith, constantly exploring and chasing down the next mystical experience, rather than studying, and standing firm on a solid, Evangelical understanding of the Word of God.  Worship leaders, if you are impatient with systematic/Biblical theology, but are willing to take a step towards having a bigger, more full-orbed picture of the Biblical Jesus, then read on – this book will be of interest to you.

JARED WILSON is an immensely POPULAR BLOGGER, and missional church planter/pastor, with impeccable theology, and a decent sense of humor to boot.  His book, YOUR JESUS IS TOO SAFE, is an excellent correction to the man-made Jesus of our imagination, pointing clearly to the Christ of revelation.  The style reminds me of Mark Driscoll’s personality, N.T. Wright’s historical insight, and the basic doctrinal leanings of Timothy Keller, all put in a blender.  That is just to say, that this book would serve as an excellent corrective for us worship leaders to all the false-Christ’s we are often tempted to pursue.

You see, for being the most popular – or at least most well-known – person in all of history, we have a hard time at agreeing on who Jesus is, even within the church.  Jared spends most of this book debunking each of our own Jesus myth’s – some of which may surprise you – and replacing them with a full-orbed, Biblical portrait of Christ.

The highlight of the book is Jared’s excellent overview of the life of Christ, which is both easy to understand, yet nuanced enough to take into account the complexity of modern historical research. It really brings the gospels to life, and gives fresh insight into those books, without having to read the academically dense work of N.T. Wright.   Chapter by chapter he then begins to unpack each insight of that short summary to rebut the many common misconstrued interpretations of Jesus we accept all too easily, in a way that is both interesting, often humorous, and for many, I imagine, quite enlightening.

Overall, Your Jesus… is probably my favorite book so far in ’09: an easy read, and one I would particularly suggest for Worship leaders seeking to build a more solid, Biblical foundation, to their understanding of Jesus – ie; ones who want to worship the real Jesus, or no Jesus at all.

Very well recommended, indeed!

Related posts:

1. Review – Jared Anderson
2. Review: Come Away by Jesus Culture
3. Jesus Culture: Awakening CD Review