Chapter 14 - ...Thereby Motivating The Gathered Church...

"My Example:  If I'm magnifying the greatness of God in Jesus Christ, I'm in the best place to motivate others to join me.  They'll see it on my face, hear it in my voice, and observe it in my physical expression."  (p.123)

This was a good reminder to me that as we lead worship through music, we aren't leading only through what we sing, play, or say,  we are also leading (and perhaps to an equal extent) through our expressions.  Do we smile while we lead, or are we just straight faced?  Does it look like we are enjoying praising our God, or do we just stand motionless with our feet glued to the floor and our eyes glued to our music? 

I know for myself it's really easy to forget about this part.  I get caught up in little distractions and forget that I need to be doing more than just playing the music right and singing my part right.  I need to be fully involved in what we are saying and singing to God and listening for His response as well.  If I keep my focus on God, where it should be, then it doesn't take any work at all for that to show through to other people.  It can be anything from smiling, to clapping, raising my hands, closing my eyes, tapping (or stomping) to the beat, and the list could go on and on.  Now, I'm not saying by any means that we should be forcing ourselves to do these things and fake that we are worshiping, nor am I saying that these things are necessary for someone to be able to worship.  What I am saying is that when we do keep our focus on God while we are singing and playing, these physical expressions can be a natural way of showing what we are feeling in our hearts.  And when others see these authentic expressions that overflow from our heart, it can help encourage them to worship also.  So lets keep in mind that our physical expressions (even if it's as simple as smiling) can be as much a part of leading worship as playing and singing the music well.  This ties nicely into Kauflin's reminder to us at the end of the chapter that on a Sunday morning we are not just a bunch of individuals seeking our own personal experience with God apart from everyone else, but instead we are His body corporately worshiping God together.

Chapter 13 - ...With Music...(Part 2: Planning Sunday's Songs)

This chapter is all about planning the song set list (as well as other pieces that fit in or between songs) for a Sunday morning (or any event where we are gathered to worship through music).  All of what Kauflin says in this chapter is really pretty straight forward and practical.  Much of it what he has written in this chapter are the kind of things that are going through my head as I work on planning the music each week (though I still am learning new things about planning a service almost every week and I'm sure that I will have to be continually learning throughout the rest of my life). 

I know that this chapter is more directed at those who are actually planning a music set each week, but I hope that you will read it with the goal of gaining a better understanding of what we are after in a set for our Sunday morning services.  Keeping some of these things in mind will also help each of us to make suggestions (yes, I am always open to suggestions) that are not just personal desires but that are based on improving the service as a whole and will help the congregation to meet with and bring glory to God.

Was there anything that was surprising to you in this chapter or that you hadn't considered before?

Chapter 12 ...With Music...(part 1: what kind)

Why do we use music in our worship of God?  Well for starters God tells us to many times in His Word.  The example that Kauflin gives is from Psalm 47.  "Sing praises to God, sing praises!  Sing praises to our King, sing praises!"  God enjoys music that comes from His church that glorifies Him.  On another level that Kauflin points out, "Music stirs up and expresses God-glorifying emotion." (p. 98)  Music can be used to move our emotions.  However, this is where we have to be careful.  True worship cannot be simply an emotional experience. 

As we've discussed before in previous chapters, truth has to be the center from which our worship flows.  However, sometimes when we hear truth spoken over and over again, we tend to become somewhat cold to it and no longer respond to it the way we should.  But when we add music to truth, it has a way of making the truth that we have become cold to suddenly become alive again as our emotions are moved by the music.  These emotions can often help us to act on the truth that we are hearing and singing and cause us to move closer to God by doing so. 

We have to be careful not to grow attached to just the emotional experience.  Kauflin warns us against emotionalism.  "Emotionalism pursues feelings as an end in themselves.  It's wanting to feel something with no regard for how that feeling is produced or its ultimate purpose." (p. 99)  There are many "worship" songs today that can really draw people into an emotional experience but that have very little truth in them, and sometimes even things that aren't true at all!  That's when our "worship" can become ineffective or even idolatrous.  We must maintain our focus on the truth of God (which comes from God's Word) and then allow our emotional experiences to enhance that truth in our lives.  Glorifying God and moving into a closer relationship with Him is the goal.  Music that stirs emotions is simply a tool that can help us along the way and is not the end in itself.

"Vibrant singing enables us to combine truth about God seamlessly with a passion for God.  Doctrine and devotion.  Mind and heart." (p. 99)


There are many other great points in this chapter but I'm a little short on time and want to just briefly mention one other very practical area that Kauflin talks about in reference to the arrangement of the worship team.  "Most...musicians think that being up front means you should always be playing.  WRONG.  Varying when we play, how loudly we play, and what we play affects how people hear the words.  The larger the team of musicans [this includes vocalists] the more each member should be listening to and making room for what others are doing." (p. 102) 

This is such an important piece of being a part of any musical group and especially a worship team.  We always need to be thinking of how we can make the song as a whole better.  Often times that means not playing or singing and leaving space for other instruments or voices in a section of a song or even an entire song.  When I'm recording and mixing a song I try to think about it like this:  Every part (instrument or voice) that I add takes away a little bit of how well I can hear each of the other parts already in the song, so if I'm adding a part it needs to be something that is helping or adding to the song as a whole.  If it isn't adding to the sound of the song as a whole then I shouldn't add that part.  This can take a lot of time and practice to learn (I'm certainly still working on this myself and probably will be for the rest of my life) but it is an extremely valuable ability and each of us should be working on our listening ear to see what we can add to each song as a whole by either playing and singing or not playing and singing at any given moment.

I really liked the idea of one of Kauflin's closing thoughts.  "As I understand it, the best music [for worship] enables people to genuinely and consistently magnify the greatness of the Savior in their hearts, minds, and wills." (p. 106)  This is what we as worship leaders in our church need to be striving to bring to the congregation every week, music that "enables people to genuinely and consistently magnify the greatness of the Savior in their hearts, minds, and wills".

Chapter 11 - ...Skillfully Combining God's Word...

Wow!  This chapter has done a bit of bashing to me!  Much of what Kauflin says in this chapter I already have known in my head and have even attempted and practiced at times, but it has made me realize how remiss I have been in my duty as the worship leader to bring direct Scripture and Scripture informed prayer to the music portion of our worship time.

One of the things that was a bit of a wake up call to me was when Kauflin was talking about reading Scripture between songs and says, "People should be aware that the words they hear aren't ours, but God's." (p. 95)  The first thought that went through my mind after reading this was, "Why have I been depriving people from hearing the very words of God during our worship time?"  I know that Jim always teaches out of God's Word and I know that many of our songs are direct reflections of God's Word (I always make an effort to choose songs that are Biblically accurate and true), but shouldn't there be a greater emphasis directly on His Word intermingled with the music portion of our worship?  "True worship is always a response to God's Word." (p. 91)  When we incorporate Scripture into our singing time it gives us something to respond to (and certainly songs can do this on their own by proclaiming Biblical truths, but sometimes it is good and necessary to include direct Scripture in order to make the connections between God's Word and the words that we are singing).

So to conclude this little confession time of mine I ask that you would help to remind me of our need to keep God's Word included in our worship times.  I'm sure I'll keep it in the forefront of my mind for a while, but I know that as the weeks go by I'll have a tendency to forget and get distracted by other things.  Also I would encourage each of you to let me know if there is a particular Scripture that has been speaking to you during any given week that you might be willing to share or have me share on a Saturday and Sunday that might help lead us into a song that week.

This is just a small bit of what God used to speak to me in this chapter.  How has God moved your heart in this week's reading?