It's the soft spot where the Devil loves to strike!
Shields Up!
Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a big time lover of scifi shows; well, some of them. I LOVE "Stargate SG1". It's the one that Macguiver's on. I just think that even with the "teddy bear" fights, the glowing eyes and the snake implants, it's still the best thinking man's scifi show out there.
And one of my favorite phrases of the Star Trek series is, "Shields UP!" which usually meant that the enemy was about to strike and if you didn't get those "shields" up, and I mean fast, you'd be toast!
Today I'm crying out to the Spirit Filled church to get our shields up to full strength and to get them up fast! The enemy of our souls, the enemy of the Spirit, has found a crack in the church, a crack in the arena of our worship.
Ok, I know this is not news to most of you. I don't mean to sound as if I have some new revelation that no one else has ever thought of or experienced. This battle over worship has been a hot object of prayer for the church since the early 90's at least.
But the thing that I am concerned most about isn't the wars that have been fought over the style of worship. My spirit is being broken over the heart attitudes of those who lead us in worship!
Ask any pilot and he or she will tell you that the attitude of your airplane will determine the altitude at which you will soar. The attitude of the airplane has to do with the position of the nose of the aircraft. If the nose is lifted HIGH, then you might climb higher in altitude, but only if you have sufficient power. Usually if the nose is lifted HIGH it will cause the plane to stall out and drop. Pilots have an old saying that goes something like this; "Keep thy air speed up (that is, apply enough power) or else the ground will rise up and smite thee!"
If you keep the attitude of the nose too low, you will certainly lose altitude and fall. You have to keep the attitude of the nose straight and level in order to fly an altitude that is straight and level.
Our attitude determines our altitude. How we think and act out our thinking will determine how high or low we soar for the Lord.
There's nothing more crash worthy for a praise band, a choir, the musicians or the worship leader than to have the wrong attitude. It will cast them downward in their altitude.
I truly believe that the leaders of our worship, and that includes the director, musicians and choir as well, our worship leaders must work at having a Spirit Filled attitude just like preachers and pastors must do as well. There is no difference! I have seen perfectly good presentations of the Word of God fall and crash and burn because the altitude of the worship before it was wrongly oriented in it's attitude. We have got to have the right heart condition in order for the Holy Spirit to use us in the Kingdom's work.
I know that we are struggling through many conflicts over the style of worship. Should it be all praise and worship, or should there be a mixture of hymns and choruses? These ARE important matters to define and respond to. But it doesn't matter if you have heavenly tongues with flames of fire spewing forth the most glorious of praise if the attitude of your heart is sinful and wrong.
What are some of the altitude course corrections that could be made by choirs and praise leaders?
Well, how about being personal worshippers of God for starters?
If you are not a person who worships God with genuine abandon, how are you going to lead me to worship that way? I'd rather have a half baked soloist who is short on talent but who has been with Jesus as a regular way of life than to have the greatest singer in all the world try to lead me in worship.
Then you've got to have your pride in check.
Most musicians are by nature very prideful. I believe in a healthy form of Godly pride. Or perhaps I might ought to call it confidence and determination rather than pride. But when you feel like you are the best musician or singer in the world and everyone else could learn a thing or two from you, you're walking on thin ice and lining yourself up with the attitude of Lucifer when he fell from the presence of God! A worshipper is one who gets into the presence of God. And to get into the presence of God humbles a man!
True worshippers are people of humility.
I think worship leaders need to have a healthy dose of the fear of God as well.
We worship God because we love Him, because we are grateful for what He has done for us in the death and resurrection of His Son. But I also freely admit that I worship God simply because He IS GOD! It's awfully hard to be prideful, self centered and have the wrong attitude of heart when you are bent over by the fear of God within His presence!
Having a Philippians 2 attitude is appropriate for worship leaders. Jesus had the attitude that though He was equal to God, He humbled Himself and took on the form of a man in order that He might be obedient to the death of the cross!
Wow! If you are a worship leader, you need, no you must have this attitude if you expect God to show up and show out in your presentation of worship! How can you soar with the altitude of a worshipper if you are disrespectful to another band member, or if you're mentally degrading the choir member standing next to you as being less perfect in performance than you? Or if you feel that your authority and performance as a worship leader/director would be better than the actual leader God has elected to serve? A Philippians 2 attitude like the one Jesus had puts the other person's needs before your own, it makes the other person more important in your estimation than you feel about yourself. If you expect to lead others in worship, you must be willing to be obedient to the very attitude that will usher in His Presence.
Shields up, my friend. The enemy of our souls is attacking the worship of the church. If he can win this battle, he will succeed in destroying the church altogether. But, I don't believe, I refuse to accept that the gates of hell shall ever prevail against us! Not if we keep the right ATTITUDE!
Worship is showing, telling and demonstrating to the Lord His WORTH to you. Dear worship leader, help US do this. Show us how someone can have an attitude that will raise our altitude where it needs to be so that we can show Him His worth to us!
Ask, Believe and receive His Fullness,
Brother Buster
Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a big time lover of scifi shows; well, some of them. I LOVE "Stargate SG1". It's the one that Macguiver's on. I just think that even with the "teddy bear" fights, the glowing eyes and the snake implants, it's still the best thinking man's scifi show out there.
And one of my favorite phrases of the Star Trek series is, "Shields UP!" which usually meant that the enemy was about to strike and if you didn't get those "shields" up, and I mean fast, you'd be toast!
Today I'm crying out to the Spirit Filled church to get our shields up to full strength and to get them up fast! The enemy of our souls, the enemy of the Spirit, has found a crack in the church, a crack in the arena of our worship.
Ok, I know this is not news to most of you. I don't mean to sound as if I have some new revelation that no one else has ever thought of or experienced. This battle over worship has been a hot object of prayer for the church since the early 90's at least.
But the thing that I am concerned most about isn't the wars that have been fought over the style of worship. My spirit is being broken over the heart attitudes of those who lead us in worship!
Ask any pilot and he or she will tell you that the attitude of your airplane will determine the altitude at which you will soar. The attitude of the airplane has to do with the position of the nose of the aircraft. If the nose is lifted HIGH, then you might climb higher in altitude, but only if you have sufficient power. Usually if the nose is lifted HIGH it will cause the plane to stall out and drop. Pilots have an old saying that goes something like this; "Keep thy air speed up (that is, apply enough power) or else the ground will rise up and smite thee!"
If you keep the attitude of the nose too low, you will certainly lose altitude and fall. You have to keep the attitude of the nose straight and level in order to fly an altitude that is straight and level.
Our attitude determines our altitude. How we think and act out our thinking will determine how high or low we soar for the Lord.
There's nothing more crash worthy for a praise band, a choir, the musicians or the worship leader than to have the wrong attitude. It will cast them downward in their altitude.
I truly believe that the leaders of our worship, and that includes the director, musicians and choir as well, our worship leaders must work at having a Spirit Filled attitude just like preachers and pastors must do as well. There is no difference! I have seen perfectly good presentations of the Word of God fall and crash and burn because the altitude of the worship before it was wrongly oriented in it's attitude. We have got to have the right heart condition in order for the Holy Spirit to use us in the Kingdom's work.
I know that we are struggling through many conflicts over the style of worship. Should it be all praise and worship, or should there be a mixture of hymns and choruses? These ARE important matters to define and respond to. But it doesn't matter if you have heavenly tongues with flames of fire spewing forth the most glorious of praise if the attitude of your heart is sinful and wrong.
What are some of the altitude course corrections that could be made by choirs and praise leaders?
Well, how about being personal worshippers of God for starters?
If you are not a person who worships God with genuine abandon, how are you going to lead me to worship that way? I'd rather have a half baked soloist who is short on talent but who has been with Jesus as a regular way of life than to have the greatest singer in all the world try to lead me in worship.
Then you've got to have your pride in check.
Most musicians are by nature very prideful. I believe in a healthy form of Godly pride. Or perhaps I might ought to call it confidence and determination rather than pride. But when you feel like you are the best musician or singer in the world and everyone else could learn a thing or two from you, you're walking on thin ice and lining yourself up with the attitude of Lucifer when he fell from the presence of God! A worshipper is one who gets into the presence of God. And to get into the presence of God humbles a man!
True worshippers are people of humility.
I think worship leaders need to have a healthy dose of the fear of God as well.
We worship God because we love Him, because we are grateful for what He has done for us in the death and resurrection of His Son. But I also freely admit that I worship God simply because He IS GOD! It's awfully hard to be prideful, self centered and have the wrong attitude of heart when you are bent over by the fear of God within His presence!
Having a Philippians 2 attitude is appropriate for worship leaders. Jesus had the attitude that though He was equal to God, He humbled Himself and took on the form of a man in order that He might be obedient to the death of the cross!
Wow! If you are a worship leader, you need, no you must have this attitude if you expect God to show up and show out in your presentation of worship! How can you soar with the altitude of a worshipper if you are disrespectful to another band member, or if you're mentally degrading the choir member standing next to you as being less perfect in performance than you? Or if you feel that your authority and performance as a worship leader/director would be better than the actual leader God has elected to serve? A Philippians 2 attitude like the one Jesus had puts the other person's needs before your own, it makes the other person more important in your estimation than you feel about yourself. If you expect to lead others in worship, you must be willing to be obedient to the very attitude that will usher in His Presence.
Shields up, my friend. The enemy of our souls is attacking the worship of the church. If he can win this battle, he will succeed in destroying the church altogether. But, I don't believe, I refuse to accept that the gates of hell shall ever prevail against us! Not if we keep the right ATTITUDE!
Worship is showing, telling and demonstrating to the Lord His WORTH to you. Dear worship leader, help US do this. Show us how someone can have an attitude that will raise our altitude where it needs to be so that we can show Him His worth to us!
Ask, Believe and receive His Fullness,
Brother Buster
posted by Dr. Buster Wilson at 10:43 PM
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