Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast

Why I May Never Sing Your Worship Songs

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Aside from the fact that I may never see you in person or physically hear your music, I still may never sing one of your worship songs. To be honest, other worship leaders may never sing your worship songs either.

I wish that wasn’t the case.

Before you leave my blog, labeling me a total jerkface, let me explain. On the one hand, this is OK. We as songwriters should be writing for our local congregations and investing our lives there. That’s what truly defines success.

Faithfulness in the small things over time pays off in the end.

But that’s not what I’m referring to. Actually this post has nothing to do with that. Even if I was your captive audience for an hour and you shared your songs with me, I still may not lead them.

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5 Essential Websites For Using Loops in Worship

[This post is part of a series on Tips For Taking Your Worship Team To The Next Level. Check out the rest here.]

One of the best things we’ve done with our worship team is utilize a click track and play live loops. It improves the quality of your band while introducing new sonic textures.

In this post I’d like to introduce you to a few great online resources for making this happen at your church. I recently did a post on Creating a Click Track Using Garageband, which you may want to check out. Here follows some of the best resources I’ve found.

Anyone use an iPad in worship yet?

Here we go:

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How To Pursue Excellence AND Authenticity in Worship

[This post is part of a series on Tips For Taking Your Worship Team To The Next Level. Check out the rest here.]

Imagine with me. The sound is perfectly mixed. The lighting mood is sublime. The band is grooving. The crowd is enraptured. We all idealize the perfect worship environment.

But how do we pursue excellence in our performance while remaining authentic in our worship?

I’ve been in too many worship services where the worship leader and band performed well, yet their heart for true worship was seriously lacking. Quite a turn off, in my opinion.

Definitely a sweet atmosphere here with the DCB

First of all, what is authenticity? I define it as the ability to blur the line between WHAT YOU DO and WHO YOU ARE. As worship leaders, we have a lot to do. We need to prepare the band, worship God, engage the congregation, sing on key, play the right chords, stand up straight, sing the right words, brush our teeth, etc.

An authentic worship leader does those things but also displays who they are – a worshiper of God. Singing well is not enough. A tight band is not enough. Their own heart is hungry for God and they long for his glory to be seen, experienced, and cherished in the heart of every person in the room. I crave that sort of authenticity.

I remember experiencing a worship service with Matt Redman for the first time. I think Matt is a very authentic worship leader. He’s anything but flashy, borderline boring to watch. He wept, jumped, knelt, and shouted to God in a way that impressed me and drew me into the presence of God. He practiced what he sang. I left that service thinking about God.

So how can we pursue a deeper authenticity in our worship? I think there are at least 5 things we can implement TODAY:

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A Worship Leader’s Heart Preparation Checklist

1. Have I spent time in worship offstage this week?

2. Is my songlist Biblical and true to who God is?

3. Have I submitted my plans to the plan of the Holy Spirit?

4. Have I prepared my team spiritually?

5. Am I rested enough for God to use me in my full capacity?

6. Is the Gospel still the best news in the world to me?

7. Am I loving my wife well?

8. Am I being the worship leader of my family?

9. Have I dealt with my besetting sins with God this week?

10. Have I actively spoken about and shared my faith this week?

11. Have I grown in my knowledge of God’s word this week?

12. Is Christ still the greatest treasure of my life?

13. Am I bringing to God a costly offering?

14. Am I pouring into others or simply promoting myself?

15. Am I leading worship in my thoughts, words, & actions?

What other questions help prepare your heart for worship?

Baby Worship [Video]

OK, so I just came across this and wasn’t sure how to react. I started out by laughing out loud for 5 minutes and then was touched by the beauty of this child in the presence of God. The scary thing is this looks a LOT like my church.

Make sure you catch the subtitles.

Take it however you want, but know, this is pure awesomeness 🙂