Today, I will start a series of blogs covering the difference between praise and worship. I have heard many many different sermons on this topic, not many of which really seem to satisfy a wanting for good biblical support, but rather opinion and experience. I will attempt to give good biblical principle here as well as my views. I believe that it is very important to know the difference in the two, because it is such a vital part of our relationship with God as well as our church going experience.
Let's start with praise. Here is a brief excerpt from a word study I did on praise. In the bible, here are the meanings of some of the words that are translated into our english word "praise": psalm, praise, confession thanksgiving, to praise glorify, to stretch out the hand, confess
The word comes from a Latin word which means price, or value, and may be defined generally as an ascription of value or worth. True praise consists in a sincere acknowledgment of a real conviction of worth.
Without going into too much more depth of boring details, the language of the explanations I read of the word praise, was that of more outward expression of thanksgiving and exaltation. It seems more celebratory in nature. It is usually expressed vocally as well as bodily in things as dancing and such. It is the picture you get when you think of a congregation singing, jumping, clapping and shouting, "you are awesome God!" It focuses much on his works and goodness. Praise of God can even be expressed from person to person. You find this in songs that are written in third person. Also, something interesting that I find is that praise can be expressed by more than just people. The bible states that all creation praises God. It talks about the trees and angels, and all sorts of things praising Him. That to me says that praise is much more superficial if you will than worship. Even still, it is a command of God that we give Him the praise due His name. When I study the word praise, and then think of praise and worship, I get strong since that true praise of God sort of sets you up for worship and is a precurser for something deeper. If you look at the temple in the old testament, it even bares this out. The outer courts was a place of praise and thanksgiving. As a matter of fact, the Bible says in Psalms, "I will enter your gates with thanksgiving in my heart. I will enter Your courts with praise". The interesting thing is that you had to go through that outer court to get to the inner court or holy of holies. The temple is a type and shadow of our relating to God on a personal level. It is amazing to me how people want to take worship and leave praise alone. Really though, they come as a package, and in order to experience God to the fullest, you must become comfortable with both.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
As I have said before, our mission statement of our Praise Team is: to escort all listeners to God’s throne by engaging and instructing them in vibrant praise and worship.
Today, I want to touch on that word vibrant. Websters defines vibrant as: pulsating with life, vigor, or activity. Think about your worship from two different angles. First, think about it on a personal level away from church. Is that a picture of what you practice during the week? Then think about it from the angle of a leader at a church service. Is that what you project as an example of worship when on stage? I believe that as worship leaders, sometimes we focus on the heart so much so that we discount our outward physical actions. Don't get me wrong. We need to focus on our hearts and make sure that is right first and foremost. We don't however need to abandon the concept of our outward display. If you are a leader, that means people need to be able to follow. They can only follow what they see. If with their eyes, they look and see a picture of someone who is merly standing with no action that portraits vibrancy, that is what they have to follow. It is our duty and calling as worship leaders that when folks look up to the stage, they see visible signs from us that we are vibrantly worshipping our God with passion.
I want to encourage you today to ask yourself the question, "what picture do I project physically while I am on stage". We can instruct the people with our mouths all day, but a picture is worth a thousand words.
Today, I want to touch on that word vibrant. Websters defines vibrant as: pulsating with life, vigor, or activity. Think about your worship from two different angles. First, think about it on a personal level away from church. Is that a picture of what you practice during the week? Then think about it from the angle of a leader at a church service. Is that what you project as an example of worship when on stage? I believe that as worship leaders, sometimes we focus on the heart so much so that we discount our outward physical actions. Don't get me wrong. We need to focus on our hearts and make sure that is right first and foremost. We don't however need to abandon the concept of our outward display. If you are a leader, that means people need to be able to follow. They can only follow what they see. If with their eyes, they look and see a picture of someone who is merly standing with no action that portraits vibrancy, that is what they have to follow. It is our duty and calling as worship leaders that when folks look up to the stage, they see visible signs from us that we are vibrantly worshipping our God with passion.
I want to encourage you today to ask yourself the question, "what picture do I project physically while I am on stage". We can instruct the people with our mouths all day, but a picture is worth a thousand words.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Worship Instructions (to the worshipper)
Instruction in worship is a vital part of the worship service. When you do anything corporately (in a group), you must have instruction. This week's topic is written from two different perspectives. It is written to the worship leaders, and then it is written to the worshippers. For this reason, I will make two posts today. This one will be to the actual worshipper who is standing in the congregation. The next post (the one below) takes this topic to the worship leader.
I have heard people say, "I don't like it when the worship leader tells me to lift my hands or to clap". We have to understand that in any given service, there are people from various mindsets, backgrounds, and knowledge levels. There will be people who are trained in worship who will just go with the worship team as they are escorted. There will be people who will be uncomfortable with the people around them who are clapping, shouting and lifting their hands, and there will be people who will watch and think, "hey that was a cool guitar lick" as they enjoy their concert experience and get no deeper. We recognize this in the preaching of sermons, but we have somehow neglected this train of thought when it comes to worship. People need instruction. What this must create in the worshipper is an awareness that he or she is not alone. You are in a corporate (group) setting. If you do not need that, just know that there are people there who do. How many times have you been sitting in a service and listening to someone preach and think, "I wonder who he is talking to right now". You know he is talking to someone even if it may not be you. We as worship leaders have taught that we should forget about everyone around us and abandon it all to worship. This is true when it comes to allowing people to distract you, but we also must realize that there is someone next to us who may need encouragement or instruction in worship. So, when you hear from the stage, "come on, clap your hands". Either, #1 lap your hands if you are not. The Word of God tells you to do this when you worship. Or #2 know that there are people out there that the worship leaders are looking at that need to get on board, and he/she is encouraging them to.
Then there are those who just do not want anyone to tell them how to worship because that is between them and God. Well, to that person I would say that there is a deeper issue here than worship. There is an issue here of spiritual authority. Understand that whoever is conducting worship for that 30 - 45 minute time frame before the Pastor gets up to preach the sermon is the one who is carrying the authority in the service. I am not saying that that authority superceeds that of the Pastor. I am merely saying that within those bounds of what the Pastor has given him/her, they are the current appointed authority. Noone has an issue with the Pastor telling them how they should live, worship, think, etc. This is all part of instruction. We recognize that God has given that Pastor a Word for that day to speak to the congregation to move them from point A to point B. As the authority of the church, we listen to that man of God and accept what he has to speak into our lives. Why should this be any different with worship? As a Worship Pastor God has given a direction to go and a destination if you will. In that, the leader must give instruction on how to get there. It is in your best interest to follow that in order to get to that destination. I believe that a big part of why the children of Israel were stranded in the dessert for so long is because they had issues with authority. Examine your heart, and let nothing hinder you from entering in to true worship.
I have heard people say, "I don't like it when the worship leader tells me to lift my hands or to clap". We have to understand that in any given service, there are people from various mindsets, backgrounds, and knowledge levels. There will be people who are trained in worship who will just go with the worship team as they are escorted. There will be people who will be uncomfortable with the people around them who are clapping, shouting and lifting their hands, and there will be people who will watch and think, "hey that was a cool guitar lick" as they enjoy their concert experience and get no deeper. We recognize this in the preaching of sermons, but we have somehow neglected this train of thought when it comes to worship. People need instruction. What this must create in the worshipper is an awareness that he or she is not alone. You are in a corporate (group) setting. If you do not need that, just know that there are people there who do. How many times have you been sitting in a service and listening to someone preach and think, "I wonder who he is talking to right now". You know he is talking to someone even if it may not be you. We as worship leaders have taught that we should forget about everyone around us and abandon it all to worship. This is true when it comes to allowing people to distract you, but we also must realize that there is someone next to us who may need encouragement or instruction in worship. So, when you hear from the stage, "come on, clap your hands". Either, #1 lap your hands if you are not. The Word of God tells you to do this when you worship. Or #2 know that there are people out there that the worship leaders are looking at that need to get on board, and he/she is encouraging them to.
Then there are those who just do not want anyone to tell them how to worship because that is between them and God. Well, to that person I would say that there is a deeper issue here than worship. There is an issue here of spiritual authority. Understand that whoever is conducting worship for that 30 - 45 minute time frame before the Pastor gets up to preach the sermon is the one who is carrying the authority in the service. I am not saying that that authority superceeds that of the Pastor. I am merely saying that within those bounds of what the Pastor has given him/her, they are the current appointed authority. Noone has an issue with the Pastor telling them how they should live, worship, think, etc. This is all part of instruction. We recognize that God has given that Pastor a Word for that day to speak to the congregation to move them from point A to point B. As the authority of the church, we listen to that man of God and accept what he has to speak into our lives. Why should this be any different with worship? As a Worship Pastor God has given a direction to go and a destination if you will. In that, the leader must give instruction on how to get there. It is in your best interest to follow that in order to get to that destination. I believe that a big part of why the children of Israel were stranded in the dessert for so long is because they had issues with authority. Examine your heart, and let nothing hinder you from entering in to true worship.
Worship Instructions (to the worship leader)
Instruction in worship is a vital part of the worship service. When you do anything corporately (in a group), you must have instruction. This week's topic is written from two different perspectives. It is written to the worship leaders, and then it is written to the worshippers. For this reason, I will make two posts today. This one will be to the worship leaders. The next post (the one above) takes this topic to the actual worshipper who is standing in the congregation.
There are some that say, "if I worship, they will". I beg to differ. If that were the case, the same could be true about salvation, serving God, tithing, and any other thing. You will have some people that will just worship because they see you worship, however there are also some that will not, regardless of how much you worship. We have to understand that in any given service, there are people from various mindsets, backgrounds, and knowledge levels. There will be people who are trained in worship who will just go with you as you escort them. There will be people who will be uncomfortable with the people around them who are clapping, shouting and lifting their hands, and there will be people who will watch you and think, "hey that was a cool guitar lick" as they enjoy their concert experience and get no deeper. We recognize this in our preaching of sermons, but we have somehow neglected this train of thought when it comes to worship. People need instruction.
So, how can you as a worship leader instruct the people in worship? The first is by your action. Some people will follow you in what you do. You can step this up to another level by actually making your actions bigger. You can engage the people in your action. For example, you have seen people start to clap over their heads. That is the universal sign for people to clap with them.
The second is by your words. Have you ever heard a worship leader say something like, "come on clap your hands". That is vocal instruction. I want to encourage you if you are on a worship team and you have a mic in front of you (if you are permitted) to instruct the encourage the people if you find an empty spot in the vocal part of a song. One place is during solos. Other places are during transitions from song to song, intros, outros, instrumental tags, instrumental transitions into bridges or prechoruses. There are many places. When people other than the Worship Pastor do this, it breaks the monotony of the same person instructing, and it also engages the rest of the team on stage and gives a united front so to speak.
The third way is just in your conversation. You have all had people say, "you did a good job today in worship". Use that opportunity to spill on that person the heart of worship rather than just saying thanks and letting it go.
I believe that if we step out and instruct our people on purpose, it will make a difference in the long run in our services and in their hearts and experiences in worship.
Now, for the worshipper
There are some that say, "if I worship, they will". I beg to differ. If that were the case, the same could be true about salvation, serving God, tithing, and any other thing. You will have some people that will just worship because they see you worship, however there are also some that will not, regardless of how much you worship. We have to understand that in any given service, there are people from various mindsets, backgrounds, and knowledge levels. There will be people who are trained in worship who will just go with you as you escort them. There will be people who will be uncomfortable with the people around them who are clapping, shouting and lifting their hands, and there will be people who will watch you and think, "hey that was a cool guitar lick" as they enjoy their concert experience and get no deeper. We recognize this in our preaching of sermons, but we have somehow neglected this train of thought when it comes to worship. People need instruction.
So, how can you as a worship leader instruct the people in worship? The first is by your action. Some people will follow you in what you do. You can step this up to another level by actually making your actions bigger. You can engage the people in your action. For example, you have seen people start to clap over their heads. That is the universal sign for people to clap with them.
The second is by your words. Have you ever heard a worship leader say something like, "come on clap your hands". That is vocal instruction. I want to encourage you if you are on a worship team and you have a mic in front of you (if you are permitted) to instruct the encourage the people if you find an empty spot in the vocal part of a song. One place is during solos. Other places are during transitions from song to song, intros, outros, instrumental tags, instrumental transitions into bridges or prechoruses. There are many places. When people other than the Worship Pastor do this, it breaks the monotony of the same person instructing, and it also engages the rest of the team on stage and gives a united front so to speak.
The third way is just in your conversation. You have all had people say, "you did a good job today in worship". Use that opportunity to spill on that person the heart of worship rather than just saying thanks and letting it go.
I believe that if we step out and instruct our people on purpose, it will make a difference in the long run in our services and in their hearts and experiences in worship.
Now, for the worshipper
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Enthroning God
As a worship Pastor, my mission is to escort all listeners to God’s throne by engaging & instructing them in vibrant praise & worship.
Let's look at the word throne in this mission. You may be saying, "huh", but this word carries a whole lot of weight in worship. The fact is that when we enter into worship, it is actually an enthronement of God in our life. If you read the book of Psalms you will read over and over the word "Lord". Lord is one of those words that I think we as Christians have used so much that we forget the significance of it. If you look up the word in the dictionary you will find that it has more to do with authority and position than it does anything. It is not just God's name. It is a title of enthronement. When we say things as you are Lord of my heart, we are not just saying that He has a home in our heart. We are saying that our heart literally falls under His dominion of authority and He may go and do as He pleases. When we worship Him, it is really about us setting up His throne in our life and relinquishing all authority to Him.
Think about the different acts of worship that you find in the Bible whether it be bowing, lifting hands, laying prostrate before, or kneeling. These are all things that were done in the days of kings to honor and proclaim their authority. It is no different in our worship. We are honoring the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Now take this from a worship leader's point of view. It is our job to not only enthrone Him in our lives, but to assist the listener to do the same. Between now and the next time you stand on stage I want you to think about this question... What can I do to better aid the congregation in front of me to enthrone God as Lord in this place.
Let's look at the word throne in this mission. You may be saying, "huh", but this word carries a whole lot of weight in worship. The fact is that when we enter into worship, it is actually an enthronement of God in our life. If you read the book of Psalms you will read over and over the word "Lord". Lord is one of those words that I think we as Christians have used so much that we forget the significance of it. If you look up the word in the dictionary you will find that it has more to do with authority and position than it does anything. It is not just God's name. It is a title of enthronement. When we say things as you are Lord of my heart, we are not just saying that He has a home in our heart. We are saying that our heart literally falls under His dominion of authority and He may go and do as He pleases. When we worship Him, it is really about us setting up His throne in our life and relinquishing all authority to Him.
Think about the different acts of worship that you find in the Bible whether it be bowing, lifting hands, laying prostrate before, or kneeling. These are all things that were done in the days of kings to honor and proclaim their authority. It is no different in our worship. We are honoring the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Now take this from a worship leader's point of view. It is our job to not only enthrone Him in our lives, but to assist the listener to do the same. Between now and the next time you stand on stage I want you to think about this question... What can I do to better aid the congregation in front of me to enthrone God as Lord in this place.
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