Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast

Archives for November 2010

How To Practice Better

Have you seen all the posts on practice?

I think we all know that what makes a person better at what they do is practice. In the book “Talent is Overrated”, Geoff Colvin talks about the massive amount of hours it takes to make someone an extraordinary performer; however, it’s not just practice that makes perfect, it’s what he calls “deliberate practice” that makes all the difference. It’s not just sheer hours; it’s utilizing those hours wisely.

For example, if I practiced worship songs on the piano 4 hours a day for the rest of my life, it wouldn’t make me an extraordinary pianist. It might assist in making me a good worship leader, but in order to be an extraordinary pianist, I need to deliberately practice scales, arpeggios, finger-strengthening exercies, repeat difficult passages till my hands hurt, study music, hire a piano doctor, etc. It’s not just practice; it’s deliberate practice.

Now, I understand your goal may not be to become the Tiger Woods of your field, but are you improving? We should all always be improving what we do in order to better serve God and increase our effectiveness.

Here’s some simple tips:

  1. Study the greats – whether your area is ministry, business, music performance, worship leading, etc, study those who are outstanding at what they do. Great performance starts with intense learning. Ask the question, “Why are they so successful?” I’ve tried to develop a lifestyle of learning. Wherever I am, whomever I’m with, I want to learn something new. Another key: listen more than you talk 🙂
  2. Cut out the non-essentials – I think part of what makes someone a great performer is concentration. They aren’t trying to live a ‘balanced’ life. While the rest of their friends were hanging out, they were practicing. I understand this may sound intense, but practically speaking, if you can let go of that 1 hour of TV (which won’t enrich your life in any way), use that time to practice. Great performers use their time wisely on what matters.
  3. Hire a coach – this may not apply to everyone, but great performers have coaches. Find someone who knows more than you do who can see your weakness and help you get better.
  4. Apply it – make sure you get in the game. Take what you’re learning behind the scenes and apply it to what you do. This is the gauge as to whether your practice is working or not.

What else would you add? What are some ways that you practice?

How Cooks Forest Helped Me Stay Focused

For the past week, Emily and I have been leading worship for a couple’s retreat in Lancaster, PA with our great friends Brad & Rebekah. On our way back to the ‘Burgh, we decided to drive a couple hours out of the way and spend a night at the Gateway Lodge in Cooks Forest, PA.

Beautiful place. Quiet, serene, peaceful, slow.

Did you hear that? Slow.

Mini excursions like this help me re-focus my life on what is most important. For me, it’s not that my job is extremely busy (though there are seasons, for sure) it’s the way I go about my job.

  • I make it busy
  • I’m stressed when I don’t need to be
  • I don’t spend enough time simply waiting on the Lord in prayer
  • I do things I could delegate
  • I race about doing menial tasks rather than focusing on people
  • I spend too much time doing what Scott Belsky calls “Insecurity Work” (Twitter, Facebook, Reading Blogs, checking stats)

Cooks forest is reminding me to focus on what matters. So I decided to write out a mini-list of some of my ‘main things’. I want to use my time wisely to focus and accomplish goals in these areas. Hopefully it will inspire you to write a list yourself.

  • Seek God’s face first thing every morning
  • Spending time with my wife, the most important person in my life
  • Continue to write songs for the church to sing
  • Make this blog an encouraging resource for worship & church leaders
  • Continue raising up worship leaders and musicians at APC
  • Invest myself in creating a culture of worship at APC
  • Raise up leaders and make disciples of young adults in the Pittsburgh area
  • Loving people and leading them to Christ

So what’s your list? How do you keep yourself focused on the ‘main things’ in your life? I encourage you to find a peaceful spot (doesn’t have to be cook’s forest :)) and think, pray, & write. It will go a long way. Go ahead, you have time. Just do it. You can’t afford not to.

12 Audacious Faith Confessions

I am reading through Sun Stand Still, the new book by Steven Furtick. What struck me about these 12 audacious faith confessions is how important it is to speak the Word of God to yourself. He talks about the FAITH FORMATION PROCESS, which is

  • Hear the Word
  • Speak the Word
  • Do the Word

I have known for a long time that speaking the Word of God daily could revolutionize our lives. But why don’t we do it? What would our day look like if we started declaring these confessions?

  1. I am fully forgiven and free from all shame and condemnation
  2. I act in audacious faith to change the world in my generation
  3. I have no fear or anxiety; I trust in the Lord with all my heart
  4. I am able to fulfill the calling God has placed on my life
  5. I am fully resourced to do everything God has called me to do
  6. I have no insecurity, because I see myself the way God sees me
  7. I am a faithful spouse (if you’re single, you can slip ‘future’ in there) and a godly parent – our family is blessed
  8. I am completely whole – physically, mentally, and emotionally
  9. I am increasing in influence and favor for the kingdom of God
  10. I am enabled to walk in the sacrificial love of Christ
  11. I have the wisdom of the Lord concerning every decision I make
  12. I am protected from all harm and evil in Jesus’ name

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pitfalls of "Professional" Worship Leaders

I’m somewhat leery of the term “professional” when it comes to leading worship. What makes someone professional?

I know I offer a lot of tips on this blog. How to flow in the spontaneous and some qualities of a great worship leader and even how to lead a great rehearsal. These are great things. But allow me to challenge you today:

Beware of becoming too professional.

The Bible says that “knowledge puffs up”. As worship leaders we don’t want to become so professional that we lose the simplicity of what we do.

As I prepare to lead worship for this weekend, I don’t just want to do it professionally. I want to approach my Daddy God like a child. I want to be lost in wide eyed wonder. I want my love for Jesus to compel me.

When you started leading worship, you probably didn’t sing that well. Maybe you were clumsy in your speaking. Maybe you started a song in the wrong key. Maybe you accidentally said ‘crap’ instead of ‘clap’ (who does that? 🙂 )

But I bet you were passionate to be in God’s presence.

Don’t approach God with anything less than wide-eyed wonder this weekend.

Question: How do you guard your child-like passion as a worship leader?

5 Ways to Improve How You Lead Spontaneous Worship

Part of what makes a time of congregational worship alive and fresh is the spontaneous. It’s the moments in a service where we don’t just ‘read the script’ but actually engage with God in the moment.

Imagine a guy taking a girl on a first date. They both get dressed up and hit up the nicest restaurant in town. This guy is even wearing a bow tie. Come on people…a flippin’ bow tie. They sit down at the table ready to engage in romantic conversations and the guy pulls out his new iPad. Instead of gazing in her eyes and speaking from his heart, he proceeds to read a script he’s written. He never looks up to hear her heart, listen to her speak, or veer from the ‘plan’.

Seems ridiculous, right?

Without spontaneous aspects to our worship services, our worship of God can seem like this. We don’t stop to listen to what He has to say. We don’t allow a fresh song to arise from our hearts in the moment. We just read the script.

In this post I’d like to offer some suggestions on how you as a worship leader can improve how you lead in the spontaneous.

  • Know your congregation – before you take the dive into spontaneous waters it’s wise to know who you’re leading. Are they new believers who will have no idea what’s going on? If so, do it in such a way that they’ll understand and stay with you. If it’s a group of seasoned worshipers, you could probably get away with long stretches of spontaneous worship & intercession. Takeaway: always make sure the people are with you.
  • Know the proper timing – unless God audibly gives you direction, it’s probably not wise to open a service with a spontaneous tribal chant in tongues or a prophetic rebuke. Utilize good songs to engage people and listen and look for the right time (you probably never want to utilize the prophetic rebuke :))
  • Practice by yourself – don’t expect to just be good at this right away. There are two ways you can practice by yourself: practice listening to the Holy Spirit and practice singing spontaneous songs. I am personally always singing my prayers. Constantly. I probably sing prayers more than I speak them. Also, the more you get accustomed to the Holy Spirit’s voice in your personal life, the more likely you will hear Him as you lead worship. Listen as your praying at home, at the grocery store, walking through the mall, in a restaurant. Always tune your antennae.
  • Practice in a small group – after you practice by yourself, find a small group and practice there. There’s less at stake if you mess up by yourself or in a small group of trusted friends.
  • Just say it – sometimes all you need to do is just step out. Just say what you feel God is saying. Just lead where you feel God is leading. Don’t cue up the shofar lady and shout ‘thus saith the Lord Christ Almighty’. Just be yourself. Gently say and lead where God is moving and wait. This can lead to breakthrough in worship.

Worship Leaders: did I cover everything here? What would you add to the list?