Daring To Love God Pt 2

NOVA~ Hillsong United

Let all the earth declare your name, voices resounding heaven’s fame. Our God be Praised forever.

 

What is it really all about?  I have pretended for the last few years that I had it altogether when it came to worship. I mean why shouldn’t I feel confident? I had been leading worship since I was 15 years old. Writing worship music since I was 17. I attended great worship conferences.  I learned from the industry itself. I worked along some great worship leaders and led worship all over the world. Yet my attitude when I went to church and heard a song that maybe I wouldn’t have done I would just break it down, as if somehow some song from 95 wasn’t written with heart and passion.  I finally broke down and wrote myself out of a worship team in Afghanistan that I had been leading. Even with the chance to be “known” as a Marine Worship Leader, I knew there was a cancer in my spiritual life. The cancer was the sin of pride. I was so “proud” I have become a vocalist and musician overall that I could walk into most churches in America and be leading in a heartbeat or so I thought. Last summer (2011) I was getting bites left and right from churches all across America, but then it dried up, because I had dried up. I had allowed myself to look at what "i" could do vs what God could do through me! 

 How did this “sin of pride” affect my worship to God?  I was not focusing all of my energy and emotions into worshiping him. I was holding back. I was focused on technical rather than really praising him and thanking him. I have always heard the phrase from people, “Man I got SOO much out of worship!!”  They are not wrong and yes that is an outcome, but is that really the most important aspect of our worship? Instead of about what I can give to God it became what I can get from him. Even as a worship leader I had to wake up and smell the open sore of this cancer called pride.

 This question led me to explore a new avenue in my walk and worship, to learn how to serve others in my leading worship. So I had to step aside, get out of the way and let God speak. I needed some fresh air in my life. So what do we do when we are exhausted? burn out? We need to get refreshed. Examine our worship. Our relationships. Our time. This week make a song of worship your theme song. Below is what I chose.

 

 This week I was listening to Hillsong United’s song “Nova”.  In the lyrics the writer describes, “Let all the earth declare your name, flood all the earth with endless light, raise up the streets from death to life. Our God be praised forever.”  What an  anthem!  The song is a shout and declaration to say let our lives come alive with your glory.  That is exactly what happens when I am truly focused upon him and only him. 

Daring to love God! Pt 1

What if I told you that worshipping God is not about you or what you get out of it?

What does it mean to be caught up in grace like an avalanche?  What is it to be swept away? What does it mean to truly pour out all that I am? We sing powerful lyrics, but yet we turn from the teachings of Jesus on a daily basis. We put him right back up on the cross, not because we want to, but because we cannot turn off our appetite for self.

Stop what you are doing right now. Are you on Facebook? Twitter? Linked in? Can you remember your friend’s last 10 posts? Who are you following, the voice of a celebrity or the words and teachings of Jesus?  We are so accustomed to marketing and advertising that we don’t see the pain that is going on in our own spiritual journey. We have all become zombies.  Not quite dead but not quite alive.  

The next 40 days of my journey are going to be rough.  I am attempting something that I have never done before in my walk. For 40 days I am going to worship, worship like my life depends on it.  My marriage and my relationships cannot be fulfilled without it. Only a relationship with God through Christ Jesus can fulfill them.

We need to hear the call, the call for worship! Jesus tells us that we are to worship in spirit and truth. 

John 4:23-24 (NIV)

^“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Over the course of the next 40 days I am going to investigate what that means for me and what it means for others.This journey of course encompasses so many different phases: physical, mental, and emotional. I approach this as a Love Dare.  I dare you to love God for 40 days with me! We are going to dive into his word about worship.  Are you ready?

 

Daring to love God!!!!

The Opposite of Authentic

 

Authenticity is the common thread for all the worship leaders I have come in contact with. What does being authentic mean to you? Merriam Webster defines it as: a means of undisputed origin or genuine.  How are we to going to be able to speak of real relationship, with a real God if we are in a fake relationship with him? How will we lead others if we aren’t even following the same things? God desires ALL of us. This Sunday are you going to sing, “I surrender some, Oh I surrender some, Only part of me to Jesus, Oh I surrender some?” Ok. I realize most people will never openly admit they are holding back an area of their life, but are they being real with God? For any relationship to thrive it must be authentic.  We must be authentic in our relationship with God!

You can’t fake a relationship with God. Sure, you can make everyone else think that you are spiritual by sporting religious apparel and even boasting about your faith, but eventually you’ll the truth will surface. There will come a time when you’re tempted or disaster occurs.  If you are faking it to make it your faith will not be strong enough to help you stand up in the face of adversity. The older I get the more I see this to be true in my own life. I have an intense need to spend more time with God every single day and to be more honest with Him about my struggles. I have become utterly dependent upon His grace. If for some reason I miss a day of confession, and reading my Bible, I just feel “out of sorts”.  Think about how you feel if you make it to work without that first cup of coffee and then times that by a thousand.

I haven’t always desired authenticity with God. It’s embarrassing to admit, but in years past I would go a few days without praying and without reading my Bible. But when it came to letting God steer my decision-making process, or needing Him to help me refrain from sinful habits, I had very little power to do so. I would allow my duty to the Marine Corps or my obligations to fatherhood/husband hood to swallow me whole. When this happens I lose sight of how to have a relationship that matters.   There are 3 signs of a fake relationship with God: 1. How you see people will be different. Without a real relationship you can't love people like God loves people. 2. You begin finding reasons not to go to church or spend time with others who are going to church. Don't abandon ship and its leaders. If you are reading this SPEND some time praying for your team, small group leaders, and your friends who are going through this. 3. You will be fruitless.  (Gal 5:22-23) Walking with God means your life will produce these things! You won't have to fight to produce this. It just happens according to the relationship!

Thankfully I woke up and saw the light.  Along the way I made a conscious decision to be more disciplined about spending designated time with God, daily. That discipline has produced fruit in my life. It has provided me with the ability to hear from God more clearly and to let His Spirit lead me.

I’m not sure how often you spend time with God, how much you read your Bible, pray, and listen to Him, but I want to encourage you to be very honest with yourself and make an assessment. Ask yourself the question, “Am I keeping it real or just faking it?” Maybe God is leading you to exit this website and either head over to http://churchofthehighlands.com/bible or open up your hard copy Bible and spend some time reading His Word and listening to His voice.