Worship Mistake #3

Mistake #3 - I did not connect with the group.

Since I knew the most I was better than all of them. They were all amateurs that had to do whatever I said. I ruled through fear, not through love. If something went wrong the yelling would commence. Hitler would have been proud. Now I try to see things their way, understand that they don’t have the training that I do, but that I can help bring them up a level by Sharing my knowledge. If something goes wrong, we learn from it, getting angry will not solve anything.

Question #3: - Are you connecting one on one with your group?

By this I mean: Do you know them? Really know them? What do they aspire to? Why do they want to become a part of the worship team? If you do not know who your followers are, you can not lead them. People will follow you if they know that you have their best interest in mind and will not look to put your interests before them. Remember, these are volunteers that you are working with. If you can not connect with them, they will leave and you can not hold them back or threaten them.

It's Christmas Time.....

Christmas is right around the corner!
It's amazing how time flies, but it's now that one magical month out of the year, where even on the radio you can hear songs dedicated to our Lord Jesus. It also presents a different challange for most modern churches: blending classical music (given that most Christmas songs were written centuries ago) into their comtemporary styles. Just as with traditional hymns, some songs are really challanging and require modifications if you want to blend them into your service. Also, depending on your congregation you might want to consider that for some people all these hymns are new, some might be used to a Santa-based Christmas, so don't be surprised should you hear comments like "Why are we singing these old boring hymns?"
But, oh, there is truly no season like the Christmas season, this is when we forget about our differences & wish good will towards men. We remember how Christ humbled himself & left his throne in heaven to come to the earth for us sinners.

Back! (Finally......)

Well, all, after a crazy summer & fall things are finally slowing down and I can get back to work on this!
I apologize for the long delay, but new posts will follow this one......

Off to Europe!!

Vacation time is just around the corner! It is off to Europe for three weeks.
I will be trying to write daily about our adventures in the old world and as long as I have internet access I'll be posting to them to my MSN Live space.
Of course, pictures will follow eventually, I will be posting the best pics I take to Google Earth.
You can see the ones I have already uploaded here: http://www.panoramio.com/user/584618
Thank you all & until the end of the Month, God Bless!

Worship Mistake #2

Mistake #2: - I was not a leader.

So, after all, I was now in charge of the worship group. Well, since I knew the most about music given that I was in an orchestra, had played in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Centre, and was going off to College to study music; I was the logical choice for being the Worship Leader. Right? Well, not really. Knowledge is NOT the same as leadership. I THOUGHT I knew it all, but in reality I did not know a thing about what was really important. I thought that being the leader meant knowing more than everyone else & because I knew the most assumed that everyone else had to follow me.

Question #2: - Are you a leader or do you just have knowledge?

Having more knowledge than others does not nessesarily make you a leader. To illustrate this, just think back to any high school themed film: The ‘geeks’ could not get anyone to vote for them for president, but the ‘jocks’ had all the votes. Why? The ‘geeks’ had all the knowledge, but the ‘jocks’ had leadership, charisma, they connected with the people, and that is why they were elected class president. People are looking for someone to lead them, not to fill them with knowledge. Now, this is not to say that knowledge is not good, for to be a truly great leader you have to be competent as well, but in it's most basic form what being a leader is is having people follow you. As Dr. John Maxwell said, if you think you are a leader but nobody is following you, then you are just going for a walk. Become a leader, not a know-it-all. Learn how to have others follow you & become someone people want to follow.

.........next week: Mistake #3 - I did not connect with the group

Intro & Worship Mistake #1

Introduction:

I remember that day; it was a Saturday morning. At the time I was in middle school, about fourteen or fifteen years of age. I have always been a night person, so having to go to school early in the morning, hockey in the afternoons & video game hockey at night took its toll on me so Saturday was my ‘sleep-in’ day. That particular Saturday, however, I was abruptly awakened by some strange noise. I went down to see what it was and saw my dad there with my cousin, and a few members of church. My dad had just taken over the praise and worship group at church when the previous minister had left. That Saturday he had decided to have rehearsal at our house. My cousin had fooled around with the drums before, so he was the drummer. The other two were the singers. You can imagine the sounds of beginner musicians and singers who have no training (or sense of pitch for that matter) combined with amplifiers. Not good. Not good at all. Well, I could not fall back asleep so I decided to see what was going on.
That day changed my life………..

Mistake #1: - I Got Started for the Wrong Reasons.

So, that is how I started helping out in the ministry, for the sole purpose of saving my ears from that torment! Now, don’t get the wrong idea, I know that God had been preparing me and had set me apart for that purpose. I had been taking Piano lessons for a while, was in the school orchestra, band & chorus, so I had plenty of musical background in all levels. However, at the time I had a different agenda. I was just more interested in myself, playing hockey & video games or practicing music. Looking back now, I wish that I had taken initiative for a different reason, that I would have decided to step forward and say, "hey, God has given me this talent, can I use it to glorify Him?" instead of keeping it to myself. But, God works in mysterious ways, and I eventually came to.

Question #1: - Why do you want to become a Worship Leader?

If you have any other reason than to glorify God, you are not getting started for the right reasons. Search yourself, pray, and ask God if His will is to use you in this ministry. If the answer is yes, go forth and remember the sole reason you are doing this: to glorify God.

Worship Mistakes Series - Intro

Hello everyone.
A while back I was working on something called "Worship Mistakes" or Learning to be a better Worship Leader though the mistakes of others. We are by no means perfect and one way to learn is by saying to yourself "wow, I have to make sure I don't do what they are doing."
In this series, my desire is for you to not commit these mistakes yourself, but rather that you may learn from my experience. Or, if you are currently guilty of one of them; that you realize it before it is too late and fix it.

Thus, each week I will be posting a "worship mistake" to share with all my fellow worship leaders. These 'mistakes' will be in a story - question & answer format. I will give you the background of why I came up with that mistake then ask you to reflect upon it and show you a possible solution.
Please feel free to comment on each lesson, let me know if you have been guilty of it as well, and what you did to solve the situation.
Also, if you feel that this information is useful, please feel free to share this site with anyone you deem would benefit from it.

God Bless!