Desperate dependence, eager expectation, and humble responsiveness. These three attitudes play such an important role as we try to worship through the Holy Spirit. How often, though, do these attitudes move from our head to our heart and finally to our actions? I've known in my head for a long time that I am supposed to be dependent, expectant, and responsive to the Spirit and I have often even said some of these words in prayers before services, but the problem is that I have often let them just become routine words of prayer rather than honest God seeking prayer. In the past I have prayed things like this, "God, let your Spirit move in power among your people this morning, let our eyes be opened to see You." Did I really expect anything to happen outside of the routine? Sadly, I often have not. Part of the problem though is that I didn't really know what I should be looking for.
"When people grasp something of God's glory, the Spirit is at work. When people are convicted of sin, the Spirit is at work. When people receive hope and strength in the midst of a trial, the Spirit is at work. The Spirit may also choose to demonstrate His presence through a prophetic impression, a healing, or a heightened awareness of His nearness." (p. 84)
These are some of the things that we can come praying for and expecting the Spirit to do. As Kauflin mentions, the Spirit moving doesn't mean there has to be some dramatic spectacle of healing. It could mean that, but I think the Spirit is more interested in changing people's lives and hearts then in putting on a show. When we are convicted through the words of a song or the message that is preached and are brought to repentance as we fall upon God's grace and mercy, the Spirit is there. When we are humbled by the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and we realize our own inadequacy apart from Christ, the Spirit is there. When we are filled with joy, awe, or wonder as we learn about and come to realize an aspect of God's greatness and character that we haven't seen before, The Spirit is there. When we are simply overwhelmed and brought to tears because of the love that the Father has shown us, the Spirit is there. This list could go on and on about the different ways that the Spirit shows Himself and works in our lives but these are some things that we can be looking for both in ourselves and in others.
Our job, as Kauflin has made clear in this chapter, is to be desperately dependent on the Spirit, to eagerly expect Him to work, and to Humbly respond to Him. How? "Prayer is one of the primary ways we show that we're desperately dependent on God." (p. 83) This isn't talking about simply saying "help us to do well, God" before we begin a service. This is talking about a lifestyle of prayer where we are communicating with God throughout our day, every day. In a sense this involves making the Spirit a part of ourselves, allowing Him to take control of our thoughts, our actions. It means submitting ourselves in every way to His leadership. I'll tell you right now, this is no easy task but it is an exciting and rewarding experience that can continue throughout our lifetime.
As we show our dependence through prayer we need to begin looking for the Spirit's movement. After all when we are expecting a package or something in the mail, what do we do? We look for it. We watch and see if the delivery truck is stopping at our house. We go out to the mailbox or post office and check our box to see if it has come yet. This is what we should do in regard to the Spirit as well, only much more so! Rather then waiting around for something random and spectacular to happen, let's start praying specifically in God's will and start looking for the answers.
Then when we are living a lifestyle of prayer and we're looking for answers we need to begin listening with a humbleness and readiness to respond to the Spirit's leading. Humility comes into play as we realize that we are no longer in control of our lives, but that we have handed control over to God. We must not tear the controls away from God when He asks us to do something uncomfortable, difficult, or even painful. Our self-serving nature has to be put aside. We have to humble ourselves and respond to His voice.
These are all things that I'm really wrestling with and working on in my own life and it can be very difficult at times. Reading through these chapters is a great help and writing out my thoughts on this blog is useful to focus and pinpoint the areas that I'm working on. How is the Spirit working in your life? What has He shown you this week? Are you moving towards a greater dependence on, expectancy of, and responsiveness to the Spirit? Take some time each day this week to specifically pray and talk about these things with God. Try to begin a lifestyle of prayer, if you haven't already, by focusing on being aware of the Spirit's presence and leading no matter where you are.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Chapter 9 - ...In Jesus Christ...
"Most people haven't spent much time considering their need for a mediator in their relationship with God. That's because we underestimate the gravity and offensiveness of our sin in light of God's infinite majesty, holiness, and justice." (p. 71)
It's very easy to forget that we don't get to have a direct connection with God the Father. Our relationship with Him is only through the mediation of Jesus Christ. I think Kauflin is absolutely right that we tend to "underestimate the gravity and offensiveness of our sin" to God. I know for myself I can get into the "I'm not as bad as that person is" kind of thinking and I start subconsciously (or sometimes not so subconsciously) elevating myself thinking that I am better than others or that I have some kind of higher standing than other people do. This pride issue is something that many of us fall captive to without even realizing it, but Kauflin gives us a good reminder that every one of us, because of our sin, is completely offensive to God regardless of how much better we might think we are than someone else. It is only through the sacrifice and mediation of Jesus Christ that we can be presented to God in a way that is acceptable to Him and it is only through Jesus that we can present our worship to God in an acceptable way.
"We need to remember that our access to God is not based on last week's performance, today's practices, or tomorrow's potential. Rather, we're accepted 'in the Beloved' (Ephesians 1:6) and need have no fear of rejection as we come before God's throne." (p. 74)
What a good reminder this is. I often get caught up in the idea that I need to try harder, achieve more, and be better in order to somehow win God's acceptance and approval, but there is nothing we can achieve or accomplish to win acceptance or approval from God. If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, then we are accepted by God based on what His Son has done, not on anything we have done or can do. We are called to be Jesus' disciples and to follow Him which definitely involves a lot of work and effort, but it is not based upon that work and effort that we are acceptable to God. Jesus sacrifice was and is the only thing that God bases His approval and acceptance of us on. We can come to worship God boldly knowing that we are accepted not on the basis of our works but on the basis of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
"All our offerings are humbled by the work of Christ because they would be unacceptable to God without Him. All our offerings are exalted because when they are joined to the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, God accepts them as though His own Son were offering them." (p. 75)
It's very easy to forget that we don't get to have a direct connection with God the Father. Our relationship with Him is only through the mediation of Jesus Christ. I think Kauflin is absolutely right that we tend to "underestimate the gravity and offensiveness of our sin" to God. I know for myself I can get into the "I'm not as bad as that person is" kind of thinking and I start subconsciously (or sometimes not so subconsciously) elevating myself thinking that I am better than others or that I have some kind of higher standing than other people do. This pride issue is something that many of us fall captive to without even realizing it, but Kauflin gives us a good reminder that every one of us, because of our sin, is completely offensive to God regardless of how much better we might think we are than someone else. It is only through the sacrifice and mediation of Jesus Christ that we can be presented to God in a way that is acceptable to Him and it is only through Jesus that we can present our worship to God in an acceptable way."We need to remember that our access to God is not based on last week's performance, today's practices, or tomorrow's potential. Rather, we're accepted 'in the Beloved' (Ephesians 1:6) and need have no fear of rejection as we come before God's throne." (p. 74)
What a good reminder this is. I often get caught up in the idea that I need to try harder, achieve more, and be better in order to somehow win God's acceptance and approval, but there is nothing we can achieve or accomplish to win acceptance or approval from God. If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, then we are accepted by God based on what His Son has done, not on anything we have done or can do. We are called to be Jesus' disciples and to follow Him which definitely involves a lot of work and effort, but it is not based upon that work and effort that we are acceptable to God. Jesus sacrifice was and is the only thing that God bases His approval and acceptance of us on. We can come to worship God boldly knowing that we are accepted not on the basis of our works but on the basis of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
"All our offerings are humbled by the work of Christ because they would be unacceptable to God without Him. All our offerings are exalted because when they are joined to the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, God accepts them as though His own Son were offering them." (p. 75)
Monday, September 12, 2011
Chapter 8 - Magnifying the Greatness of God
It seems that a lot of people today think that being a good worship leader means that you can magically usher in God's presence somehow, that you can make Him show up as if you could have some kind of control over what God does. But this is certainly not the case. God is already in any given worship service regardless of what the worship leader does or doesn't do. In fact He is everywhere.
Jeremiah 23:24 says,
"Who can hide in secret places
so that I cannot see them?”
declares the LORD.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”
declares the LORD.
If God fills the heavens and earth, then He's going to be there in our church services. Kauflin does a good job of bringing into perspective what it is that the worship leaders actually do. "Because we lose perspective so easily, God needs to become bigger in our eyes. He never changes in size--it just seems that way...Our great privilege as worship leaders is to help people see through the eyes of faith how great God has actually revealed himself to be. He doesn't change. We do." (p. 62) As we lead worship we aren't trying to usher God's presence into the building, or change God in anyway. He is there and He is mind blowingly amazing! Our job is to open our own eyes and help the congregation to open their eyes to see Him for who He really is and respond to Him appropriately by praising Him and magnifying Him. We (humans in general) have a tendency to forget very easily and so we have to continually redirect ourselves toward God and remember how great He really is so that we can worship Him appropriately.
I liked how Kauflin closed this chapter, it brings us right back to worshiping God with both knowledge and love--both must be present in our worship. "Magnifying God's greatness, then, involves proclamation and passion. Our responsibility as worship leaders is to make sure that in both ways--biblical truth and strong affections--people have every opportunity to magnify and encounter our great and awesome God." (p. 67)
What did God show you in this chapter?
Jeremiah 23:24 says,
"Who can hide in secret places
so that I cannot see them?”
declares the LORD.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”
declares the LORD.
If God fills the heavens and earth, then He's going to be there in our church services. Kauflin does a good job of bringing into perspective what it is that the worship leaders actually do. "Because we lose perspective so easily, God needs to become bigger in our eyes. He never changes in size--it just seems that way...Our great privilege as worship leaders is to help people see through the eyes of faith how great God has actually revealed himself to be. He doesn't change. We do." (p. 62) As we lead worship we aren't trying to usher God's presence into the building, or change God in anyway. He is there and He is mind blowingly amazing! Our job is to open our own eyes and help the congregation to open their eyes to see Him for who He really is and respond to Him appropriately by praising Him and magnifying Him. We (humans in general) have a tendency to forget very easily and so we have to continually redirect ourselves toward God and remember how great He really is so that we can worship Him appropriately.
I liked how Kauflin closed this chapter, it brings us right back to worshiping God with both knowledge and love--both must be present in our worship. "Magnifying God's greatness, then, involves proclamation and passion. Our responsibility as worship leaders is to make sure that in both ways--biblical truth and strong affections--people have every opportunity to magnify and encounter our great and awesome God." (p. 67)
What did God show you in this chapter?
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Chapters 6 and 7
There was a lot of great stuff packed into these two little chapters this week. Here are a couple of things that stood out to me as I read.
"Music in the church is important. But is it more important than solid Biblical teaching that helps me grow in knowledge of God and obedience to His Word? In a word, no." (p. 52) A lot of times it seems that people (myself included at times) place more value on the quality of music rather than the quality of teaching at a church. People will often pass up a church that has a great Pastor because the music is only so, so or choose a church with great music even though the church's theology and doctrine is shaky at best. This thinking is so backward! Music is a means of worshiping God, but in order to worship Him correctly we must have good theology and doctrine first. If we have a poor, inaccurate, or even false understanding of God, who He is, and what He wants, we can't possibly expect to please Him with music even if it is excellently performed and the mix is just right. A right relationship with God must be the first priority, only then can our music be a means of worshiping God.
I like what Kauflin says about who a worship leader can be on p. 53. "Anyone who encourages others to praise God can be referred to as a 'worship leader'. Worship can involve music, but it can happen without it as well." As a worship team and as worship leaders we should think of ourselves as encouragers of the congregation as we help them to see the greatness of God and give Him praise.
There are so many other great points in these chapters, but I'm just going to jump to the end of chapter 7 and leave the rest for discussion in the comments. The last lines of this chapter we're a great encouragement and reminder to me and I hope they will be for you as well. "Ultimately, the fruit of faithful leadership is knowing we've pleased the audience of One. Our joy doesn't come from leading the perfect worship time, winning awards, or having a song on the worship charts. Our goal isn't success, popularity, or personal fulfillment. It's anticipating--by God's grace and fore the glory of Jesus Christ--that we'll hear on that last day, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' (Matthew 25:21, 23). And that's a greater reward than anything this world could ever offer."
What encouraged you or challenged you in these chapters?
"Music in the church is important. But is it more important than solid Biblical teaching that helps me grow in knowledge of God and obedience to His Word? In a word, no." (p. 52) A lot of times it seems that people (myself included at times) place more value on the quality of music rather than the quality of teaching at a church. People will often pass up a church that has a great Pastor because the music is only so, so or choose a church with great music even though the church's theology and doctrine is shaky at best. This thinking is so backward! Music is a means of worshiping God, but in order to worship Him correctly we must have good theology and doctrine first. If we have a poor, inaccurate, or even false understanding of God, who He is, and what He wants, we can't possibly expect to please Him with music even if it is excellently performed and the mix is just right. A right relationship with God must be the first priority, only then can our music be a means of worshiping God.
I like what Kauflin says about who a worship leader can be on p. 53. "Anyone who encourages others to praise God can be referred to as a 'worship leader'. Worship can involve music, but it can happen without it as well." As a worship team and as worship leaders we should think of ourselves as encouragers of the congregation as we help them to see the greatness of God and give Him praise.
There are so many other great points in these chapters, but I'm just going to jump to the end of chapter 7 and leave the rest for discussion in the comments. The last lines of this chapter we're a great encouragement and reminder to me and I hope they will be for you as well. "Ultimately, the fruit of faithful leadership is knowing we've pleased the audience of One. Our joy doesn't come from leading the perfect worship time, winning awards, or having a song on the worship charts. Our goal isn't success, popularity, or personal fulfillment. It's anticipating--by God's grace and fore the glory of Jesus Christ--that we'll hear on that last day, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' (Matthew 25:21, 23). And that's a greater reward than anything this world could ever offer."
What encouraged you or challenged you in these chapters?
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