Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast

Dating Questions

Last night at APEX we tackled the controversial issue of dating. Quite fun. I shared a number of principles that I offer for your viewing pleasure. Much of this is from the teaching of Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church. Enjoy

Christian Dating Principles for Both Men & Women

  • Maximize your singleness for God.
  • The most important thing about the person you are dating is their relationship with God. How are you helping that?
  • Don’t pursue a relationship until you are ready to marry
  • Be reasonable – don’t set your expectations too high or too low
  • A date is not dating, but can become that
  • Never go on a date or date a non-Christian
  • Only date one person at a time
  • He initiates; she responds
  • Only invest in a relationship with someone you are attracted to entirely (physically, emotionally, spiritually, ministry gifts)
  • Guard your heart (Prov. 4:23)

Christian Dating Questions for Men

  • Are you overlooking good women?
  • Are you honoring God, her, her family, her friends, etc?
  • Is she modest?
  • Will she follow your leadership?
  • Does she have noble character (Prov. 31)?
  • Can you provide for the lifestyle she expects?
  • Do you want your daughters to be like her and your sons to marry someone like her?

Christian Dating Questions for Women

  • Do you want to help him and join his course of life? (Gen 2:18; I Cor. 11:9)
  • Is he tough enough to remain strong in tough times? (II Tim. 2:3)
  • Will he take responsibility for you and your children? (I Cor. 11: 3)
  • Is he considerate and gentle with you?
  • Will he be a good faither?
  • Is he a one woman man? (I Tim 3:2)
  • How valuable are you to him?
  • Do you want your sons to be like him and your daughters to marry someone like him?

Where am I and what am I doing?

I started reading the book of Revelation today and I was struck by this statement of John, the author:

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9).

I feel immense challenge in that statement. John was stranded on an island because he spoke the word of God and bore witness to Jesus Christ.

I can’t help but ask, “Where am I and what am I doing on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus?”

Has there been a significant change in the course of my life because of Jesus Christ? Am I facing opposition from the world because of my stance as a follower of Jesus Christ? Am I living everyday on account of His Word and the testimony of His death and resurrection?

Or am I simply maintaining a form of religion without a life of stepping out for Christ?

How about you?


The Album Leaf – "Until the Last"

One of my favorite artists to listen to is The Album Leaf. Particularly the instrumental tracks. I love the electronics. I love the strings. I love the rhodes. I love the emotion. This is one of my favorite tracks off the new record.

Enjoy.

DS

A Worship Leader's Playlist

On this blog I talk a lot about the heart of a worship leader. The bottom line is we need to worship if we want to be a worship leader. Worship leading doesn’t begin with musical talent, great vocals, music knowledge, or leading a team. It starts with worship. What is your story? How are you pressing into God on a daily basis? That’s where we must begin.

However, worship leading involves music. It involves writing music, listening to music, arranging music, leading music. To focus solely on the heart at the expense of the practical is irresponsible and wrong. The music needs to serve the heart but the music cannot be ignored.

In this post I would like to ask you, what are you listening to? What inspires you? Here is my opinion as to what a worship leader should listen to. This is not found in the Bible. This is a personal suggestion and a look into what is on my playlist:

  • Worship Music – a worship leader should listen to a wide variety of worship music. We need to be constantly inspired by what is happening globally in the church. This should be a mixture of studio and live albums. I recommend studio for hearing the songs and live for learning from the experience.
  • Creative Music – too often we listen to the same music over and over and it is reflected in our boring sounds. Listen to music that is a bit different than what you’re used to. Experiment with using a different instrument in your services. Be inspired by some artists who are different. What I’m liking right now: Sigur Ros, Fanfarlo, The Album Leaf, Phoenix. Helps to inspire.
  • Hymns – There are a lot of great modern hymn records out. Modern in the musical sense. Ancient in the lyrical sense, which is what makes it awesome. We stand on the shoulders of incredible men and women of God who have lead worship through the centuries. We would be wise to listen. Suggestions: Passion Hymns: Ancient & Modern, Keith Getty, Stuart Townend.

Anything else you would suggest?

Worship Team Refresh Night

In this post I would like to share with you something we have done for the last few years as a worship team. We call it “Refresh Night”. All good things in life have the tendency to drift from special to mundane over the course of time. Think about it. If you don’t continually invest in your marriage and keep it fresh by ‘pursuing’ your spouse, it drifts into simply a ‘tolerating’ of one another. If you don’t keep in touch with friends, the relationship dies. If you are a musician and you choose to stop learning, the boredom leads to stagnation.

This is true of local church worship ministry as well. The awe-inspiring truth that we have access to approach the Holy God of all creation as a corporate body every week is truly a miraculous event. Yet often it becomes: “What musical arrangements will intrigue me this week?” or “Are we doing my favorite song?” or “Crap, I messed up that chord progression!”

With our annual ‘Refresh’ Night we have tried to breathe some vision into the beginning of our year as a worship team. We want to approach our weekend services prepared to meet with God and connect with a people on a journey with Christ. We want to be God-centered, Christ-enabled, Spirit-led, Missionary-minded, Glory-expectant, Acts-balanced, and Willfully-expressed. “Refresh” Night helps us do this. We take a normal Thursday night rehearsal, meet in a home, and spend some time in worship, prayer, vision, and fellowship. The Holy Spirit always does something very special.

What do you do to focus as a worship team?