GRACE... AGAIN (part 2)

GRACE, AGAIN. (part 2).

In this blog, I continue the thoughts about the Grace of God, how we understand it, versus what the Bible teaches. (please see below for part 1)

COMING TO GRIPS WITH GRACE

Romans 8:1 :"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
Romans 8:5-8
"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Galatians 6:8
Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit."

JESUS, THE TRUE VINE

Read this passage twice:
John 15:1-8
“ I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."

In Me

I want you to notice two things:
1) the phrase "in Me" is in this passage 6 times;
2) 5 times it is preceded by the word Abide.
The true key to our Christian life is in this passage in a nutshell: We are to abide in Christ. To be grafted in the vine means that the vine has to be cut in order for the graft to be inserted. The graft then has to take on all the nutrients that flow through the vine to assure its survival and ability to bear fruit.
If you have ever had a go at grafting, you will have found that sometimes a graft doesn't take. The graft then has to be removed because if it doesn't it will draw unnecessary nutrients from the vine that will not benefit the graft and may cause damage to the vine. Once the graft is removed, it is destroyed.
Note also the warning that Christ gave in verse 2: "Any branch IN ME that does not bear fruit, He (the Father) takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes that it may hear more fruit"
In this verse I see judgement and grace.
In Me means grafted. No fruit means no change. No change means the Father cuts off that branch and throws it away. This is judgement.
Bearing fruit means that God by His Grace prunes us: SO THAT WE MAY BEAR MORE FRUIT. Grace makes up the shortfall. God wants us to be fruitful, and then he prunes us (takes away the stuff that holds us back) so that we may bear more fruit!
I saw a great definition of grace on Facebook the other day: "Grace: God's divine power exerting Influence upon the heart of man. Grace doesn't grant us permission to live in the flesh, but the power to live in the Spirit." Col Stringer.

GRACE: WE DON'T DO THIS ON OUR OWN

Let's look at this next scripture:
Hebrews 12:1-2
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
You know what? Life isn't easy. Doing things God's way can be tough! But God gives us the instruction manual AND His Holy Spirit to help us and guide us. And the great cloud of witnesses are cheering us on!! God knows the pitfalls and downfalls of this life. Jesus walked this earth and experienced all the troubles, problems, challenges and temptations that this world offers and He overcame. We too can overcome. The Bible says in Revelation 12:11; " by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony." hallelujah !!

GRACE, SHEEP, AND LITTLE CHILDREN.

I want to pull one more scripture about grace out and present it to you. It is the parable of the lost sheep.
Jesus talks in Matthew 18 on the subject of who is the greatest in heaven. Basically He says that unless you become like a little child, you can't even get into the kingdom of heaven! (vs3)
He then likens greatness in the Kingdom to the humbleness of a little child. Ok keep that thought in mind as you travel to verse 12 & 13:
Parable of the Lost Sheep
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety- nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety- nine that didn’t wander away!"
This is a great passage on God's grace. Jesus will come looking for you when you become lost! And before you think about grace applying to people in rebellion, I want to point out the Jesus is still talking about little children. Little children are easily trained and corrected and when lost, they want to be found.
When thinking about the sheep I also think of the passage in John 10:27-29
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand."
Don't you just love Grace??


I hope this study has helped you as it has me get a better understanding of the Magnitude and the Magnificence of God's grace. I pray that you don't abuse it, and that you learn what it means to abide in the Vine.
If this has helped you, or if you disagree, please drop me a note.
Sorry it is such a long subject, but I think we are far from finished with the discussions and the discoveries of this thing called Grace.
Have a great week!
Erick

GRACE...AGAIN (part 1)

 Grace again. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about the subject of grace... again. 

It seems to me that as Christians we have very different understanding about God's Grace; how it works, who it is for, the types of grace, etc. 

I've asked a lot of people questions, (people I know and trust, who have a good knowledge of the word of God, and an understanding of God's undying love for His creation), and had some deep conversations with them about this subject. Having said all that, I do not count myself as an authority on the subject, just a student with a desire to know and understand what is the depth our heavenly Father's grace. 

FOUNDATIONS OF GRACE

First of all, I want to make it clear that the Bible teaches that it is not the Father's will that any man should perish. John 3:16 says that "God so loved the World..." This is an all encompassing statement. 

2Peter3:9 says that "the Lord is ...not willing that any should perish..."  Here God extends to us His saving grace. He holds out His arms and says: Come! "Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" and again "To as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the children of God." and: "...that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" 

 See, we need God, but we are so far separated from Him and His goodness, that we could never of ourselves attain or earn salvation. Romans 3:10 says no one is righteous, and vs 23 says " all have sinned and fall short of God's Glory" This is clear indication that it is God's saving Grace that brings us into His family. When we receive Him, we by the saving Grace of Jesus Christ are empowered to become God's children. We are saved, by grace. Amen! 

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE SAVED? 

Well, that's it then, you say. If I receive Jesus Christ and believe in Him,  I am saved forever because God loves me and wants me to be His child. 

Well, I agree with almost all of that last statement. God does love me, and He does want me to be His child. However, there are conditions. 

Put off the Old, Put on the New

In John 1:12 we read the following:"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name".

Believing in Jesus and His power to save is pivotal and foundational to our relationship with God.  However, faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, requires of us obedience to Him and separation from the former life. 

Paul instructs us to put off the old man and put on the new man. Ephesians 4:22-24:

"...that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." 

Please understand here that putting off the old and putting on the new is not a 2-minute process, this is something we do organically (as we grow,)and continuously. There will always be things in our lives that require "putting off". This too is the grace of God, that He allows us to change as we grow; He doesn't demand instant perfection.

To the Romans Paul writes: " ...to be carnally minded is enmity against God (8:7) and in the next verse: "Those who are in the flesh can not please God" 

Galatians 5:24:"And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Galatians 6:8:"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

Galatians 5:22-25

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self- control. Against such there is no law.  And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

You can plainly see the instructions given throughout the New Testament on Christian Living, and the changes in our lives that God requires of us in our call to Holiness. Note again though that we are not doing this of and by ourselves; Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit, our helper. And where we fail, grace makes up the shortfall! 

GRACE AND THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL

When I purchase a new car, it comes with lots of options and features. The salesman does his best to give these to me in a 2-minute nutshell, but then he opens the glove compartment and pulls out the vehicle instruction book. This details all of the car's features and benefits and a detailed list of do's and don'ts and maintenance instructions, which, if carefully followed will give me a vehicle which will run to its optimum specifications with the maximum performance and problem free running.  

One thing many people seem to forget is that the Bible is written for and to Christians (especially the New Testament). It is our instruction manual for life. When we follow life to the manufacturer's specifications according to the manual, the reader will get the optimum out of the Life as given to him/ her by the designer and manufacturer (author and finisher : Heb 12:2)  

Now here is where the key difference to all other religions comes in: God knows that we are incapable of following His commands to the letter. We are a sinful being, living in a sinful world, who continue to get it wrong. We are in need of God's grace to make up the shortfall. Thank God for Jesus! Thank God for His Grace! 

I’m going to break this blog in parts as it’s too long to post in one hit.

Please let me know your thoughts so far, and I will continue this next week.

Have a great week!

Keeping the worship passion alive!

By way of introduction. This blog is dedicated to my pastor Brian Clothier who preached on the subject of " Having a fervent spirit for serving God".
The blog is based on my notes taken during the message.

Life is tidal.
It has its highs and lows, its ups and downs. One day you feel great, the next day not so great. You will hear the preacher exhort you from the pulpit: "Don't allow your feelings to determine your level of greatness. "
That's easier said than done. Bad things happen to good people. Life can be tough, and the pain of life is sometimes insurmountable. Excitement wanes, and it causes us to reconsider; do we want to go on and continue doing what we have been doing, or do we just give up altogether?
Here are 5 keys which I believe will help you keep the worship fire well lit and the passion alive:

1) God will give you the energy to keep going.
When we are in ministry, and obedient to God's call, the Holy Spirit energises us. Jesus said: "my food is to do the will of God"(John 4:34). What God has called you to do and what He has gifted you in will energise you. I have known of friends in the ministry and even myself, who, even though tired from the ministry workload, are continually amazed at the strength and vitality they continue to have when doing God's work. My brother once shared with me about a time he was ministering overseas, and the people kept coming to him for prayer. The Holy Spirit was moving in a mighty way and miracles were happening left and right. My brother said that even though he knew he should be really tired as the time was well past midnight, he was amazed at the amount of energy he had. This continued right up until he was back in his hotel room and he collapsed in bed and slept 10 hours! God made sure he had the energy to continue in his anointing as long as was necessary.

2) Don't burn out.
When God finished His creation work, the bible says He rested. Was God tired from making all that stuff? Certainly not! I believe this was set in place for our benefit. No one can continuously work seven days a week. Sure you can do it for a time, but sooner or later you are going to crash and burn. We are not designed to just keep going constantly without a break. What am I saying? Keep a healthy balance between work, ministry and down time. I have been in situations that have required me to work hard and long hours to provide for my family, my Saturdays were then taken up with looking after the maintenance around the house, and looking after kids, etc and then the expectation was for me to be at church early on Sunday morning, ( usually around 7:30am) and be there until 12:30, go home, have lunch and a quick break, ready to start back at church at 4.00pm to get ready for the 6.00pm service thigh would take me through to about 8.00pm. By then I would stagger home, looking for a weekend! This is not sustainable!!! If you are a worship leader and have that sort of demand placed on you, be careful; you run the risk of burning out. Make sure you get down time, and if at all possible, share the load.
Romans 12:11 says: "Don't burn out, keep yourself fuelled and aflame in serving the Master. " God wants us all to serve Him with fervency and zeal.
Successful sports or business people constantly reinvigorate and re-invent themselves. Don't be so driven that you burn out. Maintain the balance of work, rest and play. If you stretch yourself too far you will snap.

3) Passion and Persistence Pays.
Education and/or intelligence by themselves are not enough to make you successful. You may have great musical ability and a beautiful voice. I have met plenty of people with lots of technical knowledge about music and song structure , and yet they have not been able to turn that knowledge into great worship. There is a difference between being really talented and being passionate. Recently I watched a music class give a performance. There were 2 young ladies in particular who both had nice voices. The stand out difference between the two was one girl's passion with which she presented her song. My observation was : she was living her music.
Persistence, consistency, tenacity, passion, desire and enthusiasm are the ingredients that will make an average person superior. Lethargy, complacency and indifference are the ingredients for making a superior person average.
People are looking for strong leadership (including in worship) and generally it is those with a passion that will draw followers, rather than just great and knowledgable thinkers who have no spunk.
If you don't want your fire to go out, watch out for complacency.

4) Watch out for familiarity.
After having done the same thing for so long you become bored with it. We see it in marriage, work, friendships and on the stage. Worship leading is not just about putting together another bunch of songs for this Sunday's service.
How many times have you found a new app for your iPhone, or a new fad going around your circle of friends; you are totally taken in by it and consumed by it until after a while you become bored with it and it dies its natural death.
We often hear about a familiar spirit, one which causes us to lose respect for people or things we should consider sacred or holy. Familiarity is a very dangerous attitude in the ministry. When we become too familiar with worship leading, complacency can cause us to lose our passion. And, let me say, people will notice, and so does God. And I want to warn you, this is not acceptable to God. In fact I believe it is offensive to Him. The anointing will be affected.

5) Let others' passion rub off on you.
God's call on your life is about impacting people for Jesus. It is important to be around fervent people, whose excitement will rub off on us. Be spurred on by the passion of others.
John prophesied Jesus would baptise us with fire
Matthew 3:11 says: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
Get together with God and ask him to revitalise you. Rekindle the fire in your spirit by prayer, reading God's word, getting around great worship, and letting others rub off on you. Don't forget, a jug can not pour out what is isn't filled with. And once you empty a jug, you have to refill it before you can pour more out. I know that statement sounds really simplistic, but the truth of it runs deep. You can not continue to give of yourself in ministry without filling yourself up.
I love going to other churches where I am not known and drowning myself in their worship. I love listening to great live worship music while I travel, and I love getting around my good friends and pastor who regularly encourage me and whose passion for Jesus keeps me charged up!

Well, there you have it. Five important keys to keeping the passion alive. Be encouraged, worship leader; you have an important role to play in the economy of God and in the worship service. Treat your ministry with the honour and respect that God deserves. If you are offering your worship to God, let it be a sweet smelling fragrance to Him. It will be the most important thing you do this Sunday.
Have a great one!



Erick

Life changers, World changers.

The Man in the mirror

Michael Jackson got it right. In the song : "man in the mirror" he sings 

I'm looking at the man in the mirror

I'm telling him to change his ways

No message   could be any clearer

If you want to make the world a better place

You gotta look at your self and make the change"

…Change the world, begin with yourself. 

World Changers

Each one of us has a purpose in life; a holy calling. 

It has been dawning on me in recent weeks that God has put us in this world at this time and in this place for a special purpose. There is a reason why we exist, why here and why now. This is a very important thing to realise, because it validates who I am and who you are. Our place and time on this earth is no mere accident, no matter what anyone says. 

Throughout time there have been people whose actions have had a major influence on the course of history: Some to a large extent and others to a small extent, but history makers none the less. These people I call World changers.

Heroes

In a previous blog, I spoke of the Biblical heroes of the faith who died not ever having seen the fulfilment of the promise of God. Did that make them failures? Certainly not! The fact that they obeyed God in the face of defeat, without seeing the fulfilment of their purpose made them heroes. These people were life changers whose actions changed the World. God had radically influenced their lives to bring them to a complete change of direction. Through their obedience and faith, God was able to change the course of history to set it in the right direction to achieve His ultimate purpose. 

I wonder sometimes what my purpose in life is, and how I could ever make a difference I this world; how I could change the course of history. You know, I may never know. 

Your calling and mine are no different. Who knows just what God has planned for the people that we touch. 

Worship Leader, Life Changer

I love that as a worship leader, I have a privileged opportunity to bring people into the very throne room of God. Only God knows what he will do with that person in that place.  And if that one has an audience with the most high and has a revolutionary revelation, which  changes their life and in turn the course of history, we share in that. I can't stress enough how important you are in the scheme of things.

We have an amazing opportunity to be used of God to be life changers.  

Every piece in a puzzle is needed to complete a picture. I don't know if you have ever completed a puzzle, perhaps one with a piece of blue sky in it. There are many pieces which all look the same. You might say their position in the overall puzzle is not important; they don't display any particular colours or shapes which set them apart and give an obvious clue as to their position in the picture. However, when the puzzle is done and all the pieces are in place, if a piece of that sky is missing, the puzzle would not look right, the missing piece would leave a very obvious hole, and the picture would not be complete as the designer intended it to be. Not only that, but no other piece will fit in its place.  Do you see? 

As a worship leader, your part in the church is vital; you are called to be a life changer. When you lead your congregation in anointed worship, you are bringing them into a life-changing place where miracles happen and where God meets his people face to face. 

As a Christian you are called to be a life changer. Find where you fit. There is a special place for you, and the Designer is looking for you to fill that gap and be that part of the puzzle designed uniquely for you! 

Have an amazing week. 

Erick. 

=

Letting Go!

Someone else’s turn

The other day my daughter led worship, and again she did a great job. 

Her song choice was good; her song order was well set out. However, some of the song arrangements were not the way I would have done them. 

This of course was a test, not for my daughter but for me; I already said she did a great job. Everything went really well.  So what was my problem?

Personality reflected

One of the special privileges of being a worship leader is God's ability to use an individual's personality, taste and flavour in a worship service. This means that every worship leader should be unique in their leading.  God has given us a unique personality as individual as our fingerprint. He has created us individual to be a unique blessing to this world. 

In worship leading this is no different. God is not about cloning the "successful" worship leaders of this world, he never wanted me to be Phil Keaggy. If He did, I would be a really good guitarist. Instead He created me an average guitarist, with an anointing to lead people into His throne room through worship. People respond to the way I lead worship, because of my unique anointing. I can't expect the up and coming worship leader under my tutelage to imitate me in the way I lead (although imitation may be a compliment to my leading); I need to encourage them to find where the Spirit is leading them in their ministry. My ego would like nothing better than if there were a dozen or so mini Ericks running around leading worship just like I do. However I get the distinct feeling this would not go down terribly well in the heavens.

My challenge then, is as demanding as the young bird who is about to learn how to fly. I need to let my apprentice fly: not so I can watch her fail, I am there still and ever to back her up and take over if the situation demands it. No I need to let her find her wings. I need to enable her to find her unique anointing and empower her to pursue that calling in order to bless God and bless the house. In short, I need to learn to let go. 

Worship Leaders with personality or Clones?

I was talking to a friend of mine recently who has been a successful worship leader for some decades. He is anointed in bringing the congregation into the throne room of the Most High. He has a unique style and uses a vast repertoire of songs. He was asked recently to lead worship in the church he has just started to attend. "no problem" said he and he proceeded to prepare his worship service. The music director then said to him that he could only do the songs which she sanctioned and those songs just happened to be a group of songs from one particular church and brand new, which meant he wasn't familiar with the songs or their arrangement. And in looking at the songs, he wasn't so sure that they would fit into his unique style of worship leading anyway. He put his case to his music director and in short she replied that he could only do the songs which she said he could do. Out of exasperation he replied: "You don't want a worship leader, you want a clone!"  His music director was not prepared to let him go. 

How many songs in your database?

Interestingly, another friend of mine is also a music director at a church, and he has no less than 6 worship leaders, each with their own team of musicians and backup singers. When I asked him how many songs he gives his worship leaders access to, he replied that he has about 460 songs in his data base, ranging from hymns to country and Western to modern day worship music. He told me that each of his worship leaders is so different in their approach that it adds a real unique flavour to the  worship each Sunday. 

He told me that one of his worship leaders loves hymns so she uses them a lot. One of the worship leaders is quite young, and so there's a lot of Planet Shakers songs in his leading, and so on: True worship with individual flavour which brings great variety to the worship service. 

How to Let Go!

In letting go, I don't mean we let the new worship leaders "sink or swim" ; we are still teaching them in the art of leading and pastoral requirements like timing, sensitivity, when not to do a certain type of song; and technical aspects like flow, key change, etc. 

There's a lot still for you to do, but do it sensitively and encourage your new worship leader to exercise their individuality. Most of all, let go the rope! 

God bless you this week! 

If you are looking for more resources regarding this subject, check out our website: www.worshipleaderonline.com 

Erick

How to become a great worship leader.

It looks easy

I have been a worship leader for a long time. I have seen worship leaders come and go. Some have done well, while others failed miserably.

Like any role I'm ministry, leading worship probably looks a lot easier than it really is.  I mean surely it can't be that hard to pick your 5 or 6 favourite songs each week and have great worship where people are touched, healed, delivered, set free:  

Well in my experience I'd say "if only". Over the years I have had some real struggles even just choosing a few songs. If you have read any of my previous blogs, you will have caught my suggestions on preparation for worship leading. 

The first step: Serving

So if just choosing a few songs is not the key to being a great worship leader, what is?

Jesus said that if any of us want to be great in the Kingdom, we have to be the servant of all. Now there is a key! Serving. 

Serving is about being others focused and Christ -centred. It is about taking my eyes off me and how cool or great I think I am or want to be, and looking at ways to serve others. In worship leading, we are doing just that. We are gently taking the congregation member by the hand and ushering them into the presence of Jesus. The same Jesus who says: "come unto me all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you for my burden is easy and my yoke is light.";  is the Jesus that people need to know and be reacquainted with. You see, it's not about me or you, it's about Jesus. 

Step 2: It’s not about me

   Worship leading is not about me and how great I am.  It is about my willingness to serve. 

And if God chooses to raise me up to lead worship in front of thousands, I'd better have the same attitude to leading worship in a home group or a small country church of a congregation less than 20, otherwise I'm not what Christ has commanded me to be. 

Want to be a great worship leader? Love people, honour them where they are at, notwithstanding that their week may not have been as trouble free as yours. Value them; To Jesus they are important enough to die for, let's see them through Jesus' eyes.  

Do all the preparation required to produce excellent worship. Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit and what He is capable of if you let Him. If you are standing in front of a large congregation, your commitment should reflect ( in fact it will be reflected ) in the success of your worship service. 

Step 3: You’re a part of a Team

Remember you are part of a team, who include your Pastor, your fellow musicians, backing vocalists, other Worship Leaders, Your sound engineer, Even the greeters at the door are there for the same reason you are: to bring people into the welcoming arms of Jesus.

Submit to your Pastor in love. Communicate with him (or her) bounce ideas off him, ask him questions like: “What is your theme for the week?” or “Is there any particular song that has been on your heart that you would like me to do?” Work together with your Pastor and Leadership to show Unity and a common vision.

 Step 4: What happens on Stage

You may have any number of co-workers with you on the stage, (unless you only do solo); so value them (your team) as fellow Workers. No one is less or more important than anyone else. I have had people on the stage who could scarcely stay in tune, but their attitude and heart for worship was a vital ingredient to arousing the congregation into Worship. Make sure that the stronger, more confident singers and Musicians are there to support and encourage the less confident members. Remember Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:21 “The eye can never say to the hand: “I don’t need you...”” We need each other. You are an anointed Worship Leader, others are anointed with their instruments, voices, gifts of helps, you get the message...

Step 5: It doesn’t happen without the Holy Spirit

I have put this last, but it is first and foremost. Without the Anointing of the Holy Spirit we are like the Corinthian Loveless vessels: Noisy gongs and clashing cymbals. Pray constantly for the infilling and outpouring of the Holy Spirit: On your leading, on your songs, on your team, on your Pastor.

Want to be a great Worship Leader? Here’s a few steps to take you towards that goal.

And remember: Your idea of Great and God’s idea of Great may well be 2 different things. Remain faithful, humble, and obedient. You can do it, I know you can!

If you would like more information on how to become a great worship leader or could use some great tools, check out the www.worshipleaderonline.com website. There is also a great podcast with weekly uploads on which we discuss all sorts of great topics on this site. Check us out!

God Bless you

Erick

Making the Most of your Time

Time

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says:

1 For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under heaven.

2 A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

3 A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7 A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

8 A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.

Time

I was reading a devotion today and it was on the subject of time. It got me thinking about that precious commodity and how we are bound by it, ruled by it, and for the majority of us, we try to make the most of it.

The devotion describes our attitude to time like this: "We manage time; we waste time. We spend time; we save time. We wish the time would come; we wish the time would pass. We see time fly; we feel time drag. We watch clocks and carry calendars, creating the illusion that we somehow control time, yet all the while moments flow forward like a mighty river that cannot be stopped, harnessed, or re-routed."

A Time for Everything

The book of Ecclesiastes states that there is a right time for every activity under heaven. 

In the Book of Esther, Mordecai tells the young queen that maybe the reason for her great beauty, the reason that the King chose to marry her, was to bring deliverance to the Jews, for such a time as this. 

Making Time.

It's funny that for how little time we say we have, we all make time for the things we deem important. We are hard pressed for time and pulled in all sorts of directions; with time demands placed on us that at some points seem completely unreasonable.  And yet somehow we manage, we get through another day, exhausted, ready to sleep it off and be refreshed for another crack at it but of course more time has slipped away. 

As I write this, I am attending a family reunion. Almost everyone of my large and ever increasing family has made it to this event. 

 We have come literally from all over the world to be here to catch up and have time together; it truly is an amazing scene. Over the coming weekend, we will take the time to re-aquatint ourselves with family, renew friendships, to forgive past hurts (if there are any), to reach out to that person sitting on their own. Time is short, time is precious, and the only thing you can take to heaven with you is family so this is an important time for all of us. 

Among the range of fun activities lined up, we will take the time this weekend to relax, unwind, have fun, catch up, and make great memories that we can take with us. 

The importance of time

To me family is very important, so is time. Both are precious gifts from God, and God will hold us to account for both: "What did you do with the family I gave you? What did you do with your time?"

Time is a challenge that will not go away. It does not stop or wait, we cannot turn it back. Today, according to our text, it is time: 

Time to plant 

A time to heal.

 A time to build up.

A time to laugh. And maybe a time to cry

 A time to dance.

A time to embrace 

A time to keep and a time to throw away

 A time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

A time to love 

And a time for peace.

How are you spending your time today, this week, this month, this year?

God Bless you as you ponder this thought. 

Erick. 

Turning a bad Sunday into a good Sunday

I never cease to be amazed at the Holy Spirit' ability and willingness to complete what I start.
I was rostered on the lead worship this morning , and to be quite honest, with all the Christmas based commitments like carols by candle light, church production, and other, I was completely unaware that I was rostered on until last night.
Needless to say I felt a little "behind the eight-ball" to start with and unprepared even though I still had plenty of time to get ready.
I went to bed really tired from the Christmas production, with a promise to myself and God to get up early the next morning. I did get up at 5:30 this morning and quietly snuck out to the lounge for my one-on-one with my Jesus. I prayed, looked through the music, read a bit of scripture, did a devotion, and chose a couple songs. I spent a couple of hours doing this and then showered, got dressed, made my wife coffee ( a very important part of my day) and shot off to church.
All the time I felt uncertain about a couple of things. Firstly, how was I going to keep it all together and give the God the best I could give Him in my somewhat depleted state of tiredness.
Secondly I was uneasy with my song choice; and yet somehow nothing else jumped out at me when I was doing the song list. This is when you really have to trust God. I also picked a couple of Just-in-case songs.
Practise was terrible! The sound man wasn't cooperating with me, one of my backing vocalists didn't turn up, another one was having a off day, and I was feeling the tiredness building. Not a good recipe for great worship.
I found myself snapping at the sound man, repeatedly asking the bass guitarist to (wait for it:) turn up the volume, and phoning my wife to ask her if she could please come early and grab a mike, because I was desperately short of confident singers.
In short, I felt a little out of control.
Good thing is, when I am out of control, there is a good opportunity for God to take over.

Worship leader, I want to encourage you, when all you have to offer God is 2 widow's mites worth of preparation and practise, He will value that as more than $1000 worth of profession and polish.
That does not negate the need to be prepared, practised and polished, we need all that to be ready at all times. You can not withdraw money out of a bank without first having made a deposit.

So what transpired this morning? The worship went great! God was in the house, and the songs I had picked somehow miraculously worked their way into a beautiful theme of God's undying love, His amazing, consistent and unceasing provision, and how this gives us the ability and capacity to sing :It is well with my soul!" a theme which our pastor picked up on, ran with and a base from which he immediately launched into his message.

When you submit to God and prepare your service, No matter how ill- prepared you feel, God will not leave you hanging. After all didn't He promise in John 14 to send you another Helper?

Have a great Sunday!

Erick.

Vocal Preparation

The other night I was at a music practise. 

  We were preparing for a Christmas presentation and being a Thursday, everyone was nearing the end of a "full on" week.  We have busy lifestyles and I know that in my business things start to become manic at this time of year. Needless to say, I have had no time to even think about singing or practising outside of the designated commitments. 

It was interesting to hear out music director giving instructions to singers about voice conservation and preparation. 

So I thought I can feel a blogpost coming on. 

The importance of warming up

I have been a singer ever since I could string a row of words into a sentence. I remember my first big part, I guess I was about 6 or 7 years old and I had to audition for the part. In the end it was between me and this girl, and I got the gig.  The only other thing I remembered about my first brush with fame was that I swallowed in the middle of a line! … nerves… 

I have sung to congregations as small as a hand full and as large as 10,000. Every time I have done so has been a privilege. 

Because I was young and I sang constantly, I never saw the need to practise or warm up. The vocal warm ups to me back then seemed a little silly at best and a complete waste of time at worst. 

Of course, now that I am a little older, I have also become somewhat wiser... Or at least I'd like to think that. 

When you sing all the time, your vocal chords and throat muscles are constantly being stretched and exercised.  And like any muscle there are keys to keeping your throat and vocal chords in good shape. 

I want to share with you what I have learnt over the years. 

How to kill your voice

Some years ago, when my children were still in primary school, our family went to a large Christian convention. There we were among thousands of adoring followers, and pretty soon swept up with the proceedings. Everyone was excited. So was I. So excited in fact that I couldn't contain myself, and soon I too was screaming at the top of my lungs until something went' pop. That day I lost the top 1/3 of my vocal range. And it didn't come back For a long time. 

How not to kill your voice

This is my number one point; don't strain your voice. Don't abuse it by throwing your voice into compromising situations. Last week I sang Using a mike that was faulty. The result: voice strain. For the past few days I have had a rough throat. 

I have been sucking on vitamin C and drinking heaps of water.  

Learn how to be loud

Don't scream and shout. If you need to raise your voice, do it with your head voice. 

If you can yell high pitched ( bit like a siren) this should not affect your  voice. You need to exercise extreme caution at all times when raising your voice. Voice projection is a skill that can be learnt.

Diet

What goes past your gums is really important to the quality of your voice. 

I know that different people respond differently to each other but I have learnt that the majority of people are at least the same. 

High protein and low dairy are what I eat. Dairy gives me the gurgles. If I have anything like cheese, milk, yoghurt or ice-cream, I end up with that much phlegm I could start a collection service.  

I also think it's really important that you watch your food intake prior to singing. Personally I never sing on a full stomach. This means if I am leading worship on a Sunday morning, I fast until after the service. 

If I am doing an evening gig, I make sure there is at least 4-6 hours of no food intake before I sing. 

There are drinks we definitely should be staying away from before and during singing: like coffee, alcohol and milk drinks. I have already explained about dairy. Alcohol is to be avoided not least because of the altered state it can produce but also because it is a diuretic which can de-lubricate your voice. Coffee has the same effect. I love coffee, but can't drink it before I sing. 

Lastly it’s really important to lubricate your voice while singing. But here is a big important key: Don't drink sweet drinks, don’t drink coffee, don’t drink cold. The best thing is water at room temperature or slightly warm.

Vocal Warm ups.

There are a number of exercises that work really well as warm ups and stretches:

 I like sirens. This is a technique whereby you start low and wail like a siren, increasing pitch to the most comfortable pitch and then ease back down to the lowest you can go. Repeat this any number of times, gradually pushing your voice both higher and lower. You'll be amazed at the progress you make. 

Breathing is another good one. One singing teacher I had years ago would get us to fill our lungs with as much air as possible, and then in a very controlled manner pronouncing each letter accurately,  recite the alphabet as many times as possible. Again the more you do this the better you will become. Give each letter no more or less time than it takes to pronounce it properly. 

Another good beginning warm up is humming scales. 

The good thing with this exercise is that you don't have to do this at the top of your voice, so you don't annoy or scare anyone, especially at 6.00am. 

The humming exercise involves humming harmonic scales, increasing one semi-tone at a time until you reach your top register. 

Don't sing tired. 

I really want to encourage you to be conscious of your rest patterns. Like most other parts of your body, your voice involves the use of muscles, and these need to be well rested to be at the top of your game. 

If you are a singer, your voice is your instrument. You never heard of a violinist leaving his Stradivarius lying around e exposed to the elements, not being cared for?? Treat your voice like that Stradivarius! A good example is Celine Dion. Check out what she did and does  to preserve and protect her voice. 

You are blessed to be a blessing, use the God given gift to His Glory!

God bless you, 

Have a great week! 

Erick

Karma and Grace

Good Karma, Bad Karma

I was listening to a guy on the radio the other day and he was talking about Karma. Basically he was saying that there is good karma and bad karma, and depending on how you live your life, either one will happen to you.  

Karma is defined as a reaction caused by an earlier action; cause and effect. 

They say that for every action there is an equal reaction. In Biblical circles we may refer to it as sowing and reaping. When someone is experiencing a tragedy in their life, an observer may say "he had it coming to him after all he's done!" that's bad karma. 

Or we see someone who has been doing it tough but always was kind and had a good attitude all of a sudden experiencing a miraculous turn around in their fortune, our response may be:" it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person" that's good karma". 

Karma vs Grace

The problem with karma is that it is based on the law of sin and death. In a lot of ways, it leaves no room for Grace, as when we have spent a lifetime being "bad", doing nasty things to people that they didn't deserve, then in reality we are signing off onto the rest of our lives in misery, and if you're that way inclined and you believe in reincarnation, you will come back in the next life as a cockroach or something and have to purge your soul in that next life to earn your way back into the following good life, and so on it goes, I think.  Confusing isn't it?  

I love the concept of Grace. I love that God sent His son Jesus to die on a cross for my sin; He who knew no sin became sin in order that we may have life. He took upon Himself our punishment so that we could have relationship with Him forever. And all we have to do is receive it. 

That's grace! 

The prodigal Son

I love the story of the son who spent his inheritance, which he demanded off his father even before his father had died, in prodigal living. It was a bit like saying:"I wish you were dead, give me now what's coming to me when you pass away, old man". Not exactly the most respectful thing you would do your parents? 

For those who are not quite sure, "prodigal” just means living life wastefully, spending money on wasteful living, living it up. 

So there were a number of insulting, humiliating, and bad things that happened to this young man as a result of his bad choices…I guess you could say the result of his prodigal living was bad karma because of how he'd treated his father when he demanded his inheritance. 

However, grace steps in where karma can't rescue the young man. The Bible says, when he came to his senses, he said to himself; how many of my father's servants have enough to eat and a place to sleep, and here I am having to fight it out with the pigs for a feed. I'll go back home to dad and see if he can't hire me as a servant. 

This is the grace bit, for when he is yet a long way off, his father sees him coming home and before the son even has the opportunity to give his well rehearsed speech about how bad he was and how he is prepared to come back and work as a hired hand, his father runs to him with arms wide open, falls on his neck and kisses him, puts a brand new coat on him and orders a ring to be put on his finger (a symbol of sonship). Then he throws him a welcome home party the like of which the neighbourhood has not seen. 

See, when we are in relationship with our heavenly Father, we are under His grace. Karma and the law of sin and death no longer apply, because God sent His son to take upon himself the result and effect of our prodigal living. 

Don't you just love grace? 

Have a great week!

Erick