Worship Podcast
I’m often asked how I choose songs.
Let’s face it. There are thousands upon thousands of worship songs. Even with all of us combined, we could never sing them all.
There are many worship songs I like that I never lead. There’s also a lot of worship songs others lead that I don’t like.
I have a specific criteria for how I choose them.
These 8 questions give me a framework for choosing songs. I hope they’ll help you too.
One of the hallmarks of a great leader is communication.
If a leader doesn’t communicate a vision or keep followers in the loop as to what is coming next, team members will disengage. Even worse, they will come up with their own vision of what is going on.
That’s why I love Planning Center.
It’s too easy to misunderstand worship.
You’ve heard the cliches.
It’s not about music. It’s all about God. It’s not about excellence. It’s all about passion. It’s not about a song-list. It’s about flow.
Then you read the Bible and see how God doesn’t look at the “outward appearance” but also see how King David created instruments for praise. He appointed the Levites to stand before God and play music.
The Bible obviously emphasizes ideas that seem to be at odds with one another. Rather than saying which is right and which is wrong, it’s best just to step up to the diving board and plunge into the tensions.
Are you with me?
If you were raised in church, congregational worship is normal.
You know the ropes – raising your hands, singing, bowing down before God. But for many in our churches today, this is completely foreign.
And to be honest, a little weird.
It’s not that people are disengaged.
It’s not that they hate your songs. It’s not that they don’t want to worship.
They just don’t know how.
Worship leader, you may not be as “cutting edge” as that other church.
You may sing worship songs that are 12 years old.
You may not write your own songs like that uber-talented friend of yours.
You may feel irrelevant. Old. Ill-equipped. Unqualified. But guess what? It’s OK.
There’s a different war you need to be fighting – more important than relevance, innovation, and keeping up.
What is the war? Staying amazed by God.
No matter what you do, don’t cut corners when it comes to gazing upon Jesus in wide-eyed wonder.
Let that sink in. Drink it in deep. Let your heart feel the weight.