When it comes to writing worship songs, nobody has it all figured out.
If you stop developing, you stop being effective.
Worship Podcast & Blog
When it comes to writing worship songs, nobody has it all figured out.
If you stop developing, you stop being effective.
Last week we talked about characteristics that make a leader worth following.
Something I didn’t mention is that great leaders are great leaders because they learned to be great followers.
Can’t believe today marks the end of 2010. While I should be relaxing, reading, sleeping, or hanging out with my wife, here I am blogging. I’m obsessed đ Well, I wanted to leave you this year with YOUR FAVORITE POSTS from 2010. These were the posts with the highest traffic this year.
Enjoy. And Happy New Year!
11 QUESTIONS EVERY WORSHIP TEAM MEMBER SHOULD ASK
In a previous post I talked about questions worship leaders should be asking. Here are some questions if youâre part of a worship team: Am I listening to the other musicians or lost in my own world? Is my heart right with God? Do I hold my ideas loosely and submit to the worship leader?
7Â DISCIPLINES OF A GOOD WORSHIP LEADER
Yesterday at the Ignite conference I taught a breakout session on 7 healthy disciplines of a good worship leader. I hope these are helpful to you. 1. Lead out of your story
- Are you leading out of a âNOWâ faith or yesterdayâs encounter?
- What has God brought you through?
- What is God currently doing in you?
Last night at APEX we tackled the controversial issue of dating. Quite fun. I shared a number of principles that I offer for your viewing pleasure. Much of this is from the teaching of Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church. Enjoy: Christian Dating Principles for Both Men & Women
- Maximize your singleness for God.
- The most important thing about the person you are dating is their relationship with God. How are you helping that?
- Donât pursue a relationship until you are ready to marry
- Be reasonable â donât set your expectations too high or too low
5Â WORSHIP ALBUMS YOU NEED TO HEAR… IF YOU WANT TO
LESSONS LEARNED FROM 4 GREAT SONGWRITERS
Iâm of the belief that the best way for you to become better at what you do is to seize it. Donât wait for a mentor to approach you, seek out your mentors. As a worship songwriter, I always observe other writing styles â what melody works, what doesnât, what lyrics are unique, which arenât, etc. In this post I just wanted to outline a few worship music songwriters that I admire and what Iâve learned from them. My desire is that you use the same curiosity with the music you like and apply what you learn from them. And also, study these guys. Theyâre the best.
I always wonder who comes up with this stuff. The best worship songs ever? Who decides? Is this Godâs top 50? In all seriousness, what is your current favorite worship song?
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE – MIA FIELDS (HILLSONG)
*Mia Fields is a songwriter from Hillsong Church in Australia. Hillsong wasnât just given great songwriters⌠they are people living in community, challenging one another. Songs come out of righteous living, but also out of grace. Why songs?
HOW TO PLAN A GREAT WORSHIP SET
A great worship set does not just consist in the type of songs you choose, though that is crucial. A great worship set must also have space for the Holy Spirit to do what He wants to do. I understand that some reading this post may come from an evangelical tradition that is more liturgical in form and not so contemporary. I hope we can all benefit from these tips:
THOUGHTS FROM A TOURING BASS PLAYER ON PRACTICING WELL
I donât know about you, but I started out with a pretty glamorous view of music. The stage, the lights, the ripping guitar solos; thatâs what I saw. What I didnât often hear was the amount of work it took to get to that point. I was always attracted to the finished product but never wanted to think about the time spent alone home practicing. Well, now we recognize that if we want to be great, itâs going to take some practice. Here are a few points that have helped me greatly in my journey to be deliberate about my practice time. Hopefully theyâll help you in yours.
COMMON WORSHIP LEADING BLUNDERS
Besides the ever so subtle shouting of âcrapâ instead of âclapâ from the stage (who has ever done this?) there are some common things that worship leaders do that Iâd advise against (and I think your senior pastor would appreciate it too).
Engagement. Itâs a word we use a lot when it comes to worship, donât we?
Because itâs important. Corporate worship isnât about finding our own voice as worship leaders. Itâs about helping the Church find theirs. Worship leadership is mostly about getting out of our own way.
As Iâve traveled the country this last year, thereâs many lessons Iâve learned about worship. What Iâve noticed about great worship teams and worship leaders is their effectiveness depends on their ability to help people feel a part of the experience. Iâve been in churches where the music is incredible but everyone is watching. And Iâve also been in situations where the music is horrendous and people are watching. It goes both ways.
The best teams? Itâs not always because of standout talent. Sure, a one-of-a-kind voice can light up a room, but thatâs not what weâre after in worship. We donât want our churches to depend on a talent or ride the emotional high of songs. We want to lead them to spirit and truth, simple, pure, Christ-exalting worship that prepares them to worship in the real world.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how is your relationship with your lead pastor?
Or if you’re a lead pastor, is the connection with your worship leader strong?
We all know this is the most important relationship on a worship team, but itâs rare for this partnership to be healthy. At best, they tolerate each other. At worst, itâs an all-out war of misunderstanding.
But it doesn’t have to be. It’s time to be intentional about it.
Iâm talking about more than just being a âyesâ man. Iâd even venture to say your lead pastor is looking for more than just someone to fulfill orders. He wants a partnership. He wants your input. But he also wants you to understand the vision, buy into it, and work it out within your volunteers.