God's Justice in the Light of Recent Events

In light of the recent tragedy in Connecticut many people are asking the question,"Where was God?" I know many of you, my readers, live in other countries and haven't heard of this shocking massacre. This past Friday a 20 year-old man broke into an elementary school and killed 26 people with a high powered rifle. The majority of those murdered was most of a kindergarten class of children 6 years of age or younger. The other 6 casualties were teachers. The gunman killed himself when confronted by the police.

How could God let this happen?
I don't have any specific answers for this question, but I do have a perspective different from most. The gunman was evil, plain and simple. He was depraved, dead in his sins. Most likely his conscience was seared to anything sinful. The origin of this sin is found in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve sinned against God. From that point on any descendants from them would be dead in their sins, completely depraved with nothing but a conscience by the grace of God to keep them in check. This gunman was sick with sin. His murders were a proof of his depravity. I do not know the exact reason why God didn't stop this from happening, and I wish I could.

Why didn't God stop evil in the world?
God allows evil to persist for a time because He is patient with mankind to respond to His love. You might be thinking, "Are you kidding me? God's "patience" allows innocent people to be assaulted and murdered? Your God is sick, man!" I completely understand why you would think this, but let me show you a new perspective. If God was to rid the world of evil, He would have to have a standard to go by to compare would-be evil actions to, and He has: the Ten Commandments. Let's look at the last 6..

#5. Honor your father and mother.
#6. Do not murder
#7. Do not commit adultery.
#8. Do not steal.
#9. Do not lie.
#10. Do not covet what isn't yours.

There it is. Anything that breaks these laws is considered evil by God. So if God were to get rid of all evil, He would have to get rid of anyone who has ever disrespected their parents, murdered another person, has had sex outside of marriage, stolen, lied, or desired something that belongs to someone else. Have you done any of these things? If so, how many times?

Many people don't know this, but Jesus elaborates on some of these laws. He says that you don't have to physically be sexual with someone to commit adultery. In fact, He says that all you have to do is look at someone with sexual lust and you've already committed adultery/fornication in your heart. Jesus also says that you don't have to physically kill someone to be guilty of murder in God's eyes. All you have to do is say a hateful word to them and you're guilty. In fact, the Bible says later that hating someone is murder in your heart. How many times have we done this?

Getting rid of evil..
If God were to get rid of all evil in the world, if He were to get rid of all suffering and wrongdoing, if He were to purge the world of every evil person, He would have to not only get rid of people who murder innocent children but also thieves, haters, and liars. Why? Because every act in opposition to God's laws are infinitely evil in His eyes. If you stepped on a bug, it wouldn't mean much. You wouldn't go to jail. If you killed an animal, you would probably go to jail, but it still wouldn't mean that much. If you killed another human being, that's a big deal and you would go to jail (possibly get the death penalty). If you killed a police officer, that's a big deal and you're in big trouble. If you killed the president of a country, you are in probably the most trouble anyone could ever be in under the law, and you'd most likely be put to death. Now these are just small comparisons to put into perspective this question. If you break the infinite holy law of an infinite holy God, don't you think that there will be an infinite consequences? Follow logic on that one..

Why is God being patient?
God cursed the earth and all of mankind because of Adam and Eve's sinning. Those were the conditions God gave to Adam when He created him. If Adam sinned, he would be cut off from fellowship with God and left spiritually dead in sin. Intense, no? God didn't just curse the earth and man and just leave it at that. He made a promise. He promised to send someone to redeem mankind from this curse so they could be restored to the intended relationship God wants with His creation. Jesus was prophesied 4,000 years before His birth.

When Jesus was born, He was born perfect. I don't mean with 10 fingers, 10 toes, and a cute, chubby little body. I mean He was not born under the curse of sin like everybody else who has ever been born. He wasn't like you and me. He lived a perfect life. He was tempted by every sin we have been tempted by, yet He didn't sin. He preached righteousness and peace. He cared for the outcasts and healed the sick, yet He was delivered to the religious and state authorities on false charges under unlawful conditions, and this is where God's promise to Adam and Eve began.

He was blindfolded and beaten. He had His flesh ripped open by toothed whips. He had to carry His own instrument of execution, a cross, to the outskirts of the city. He was spat on, mocked, and ridiculed. He was laid naked on the cross, having nails driven into His hands and feet pinning Him to it as they lifted Him up in a vertical position. There He was left to suffocate. Every breath He tried to breath was agony because His open back scraped along the splintered wood of the cross as He lifted Himself up.

God the Father turned His back on Jesus in that hour. Jesus wasn't just in physical agony that day. He was also in spiritually agony. Since before the creation of time Jesus was in perfect fellowship with the Father and Holy Spirit (being that God is a Triune God: three Persons, one Deity). When the Father turned His back on Jesus, that was first time in eternal history that the unity of God was broken. Jesus took on sin in our place. The very evil that God hates was placed on Jesus that day in our place. The very essence of sin was placed on the shoulders of Jesus in our place so that we could have a way back to a right, perfect relationship with God. In His last breath Jesus joyfully and victoriously cried out "It is finished!" They payment for sin had been made.

This shows two things.. First, the magnitude of our evil is so great that it cost God His very life to pay for it. In those three hours Jesus was on the cross He suffered more than any other person ever would in hell. Second, God's love goes to such lengths to save lost humanity.

Jesus didn't stay dead in His grave though. Three days later He rose by His own power and walked out of His tomb. He proved that the payment He made for sin was sufficient. He proved He has power to redeem mankind through the Gospel. This was the receipt of His transaction with the Father. Now anyone who would cry out to God for mercy, who would turn to God and place their trust in the payment of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, who would believe He is no longer in the tomb but risen, they will receive pardon from God for their sins, have their heart changed, and be restored into a right relationship with God.

Now how does this come into play with God's patience? God's love for mankind is so great that He gives everyone a chance to their dying breath to turn to Him. This last week hundreds of thousands of people died around the world, and God's patience was with every single one of them. Justice was met for every single one of them. Many murderers, rapists, child molesters, adulterers, thieves, liars, and idolaters found their justice in eternal punishment paying for their sins in hell. But there were also many murderers, rapists, child molesters, adulterers, thieves, liars, and idolaters who are in heaven with God because they took the offer of Jesus payment for their sins. I will be bold enough to say that Jesus' sacrifice is great enough to cover the sins of the worst person on earth, and in all reality, we are no different that that worst person because we have all broken God's laws many, many times. We are all guilty and deserve punishment for our sins just as much as we think that gunman in Connecticut deserves to be punished for his atrocious crimes against the people of Newtown.

God's Justice
I do not know why God allowed this massacre, but I do know this. Eternal justice is being served right now as we speak. And the lives of those who survived the shooting and the lives of those impacted by the loss of loved ones can be mended by the love of God. For many this tragedy may result in a wake-up call to their own imminent appointment with death because we all face our own appointment with death that can come at any time by any means.

So what's it gonna be? Are you going to stand there and shake your fist at God for this great self-perceived injustice He has allowed? Or are you going to fall to your knees in repentance knowing your death date is unknown? There are many tragedies in the world every day, but there is no greater tragedy than a person having to spend eternity in hell to pay for their sins while God offers forgiveness and salvation to them. God is being patient with you right now. He is calling you to repentance through this very blog! God has not wiped out evil in this world yet because He is offering to you salvation from your own evilness, but one day He will. So He is offering to you His own payment for your sins! Turn to Him today! Trust in Jesus' offer for payment for your sins today!

If you have already trust Jesus, worship Him today with thanksgiving. Mourn with those who mourn. Weep with those who weep. Be a light to this broken world by the Gospel of our great God. Be patient as God is patient. Be gracious as God is gracious.

Blessings,
Nick

2 Peter 3:8-13
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Take a Step Back

The year is winding down and the holidays are upon us. Some of you may have led worship or served in your ministry/ministries without missing one meeting or service all year. This is a great feat that many people can't do. We all get tired and may even burn out, but those of you who work hard in your ministries look past this for the joy of serving Christ and His body of believers. Your reward in heaven will be great... But now let me propose an idea to you that might be foreign to you. It might even sound selfish or sinful, but rest assured that it is perfectly biblical.

Take a step back and look at your life, spiritual and physical. Ask yourself when was the last time you took a break and was refreshed by someone else's ministry. The best example I can give is about being a worship leader, but I think it can be applied across the board.

Leading worship week-in and week-out can become a tiresome and stressful ministry (no matter how big or small the band is). Much of the time we can get so focused on how we need to nail that one song transition perfect so the song doesn't start off awful or whatever that we forget to worship. Even if everything goes as smoothly as possible, most of us still don't/can't usually focus 100% on worshipping God. This can become a hindrance to your spirit during corporate times of worship. Yes, God blesses us for pouring out lives and hearts into this ministry, but we need to be served also. We need to take a break sometimes.

Now this is where I think I differ from a lot of people. A lot of people think taking a break from ministry (even if it's for one Sunday) is staying home to watch the game, going away on a vacation, or just sleeping in. I'm not saying that it is a sin to do these things. I mean, it's definitely needed to refresh your body from the stresses of life, but I don't think that's how one can be fully refreshed in their spirit.

Before I go on I need to make one thing clear. When we gather together to worship God and hear from His Word, we do so as one body. The purpose of this is to serve one another and refresh one another in the Spirit, but this is not where we gain most of our spiritual strength and nourishment. That comes from spending time alone with God and seeking His will through reading the Bible and prayer. We all should be doing this on our own. After all, we claim to have a relationship with God, don't we? When I say we need to be refreshed in the spirit by being served, I am not taking away the importance of being separate from others to spend time with our Lord, but rather we can still grow weak and need the ministering of others to help us stay strong.

With that being said, worship leaders, you should take the time to gather with the body while someone else leads worship. Maybe that means you have take a break one Sunday to let someone else lead. It might even mean going to an earlier or later service than the service you lead in to worship our Lord with the body of Christ. You may even have to go to a sister church during the week to be be served in this way. Trust me, you need this more than you think you don't.

For too many years I have watched those in ministry gather with the body of Christ when it is their scheduled time to serve and they only serve. This burdens my heart. I don't profess innocence to this, but rather that I know what my fellow brothers and sisters are missing out on. Yes, ministry can be tiresome. We have to sacrifice time out of our lives to serve others, but that doesn't mean that we can't be served either. We aren't Super Worship Leader Man, Wonder Sunday School Teacher Woman, or Aqua AWANA Man.. We get tired and weary, but I encourage you not to quit. Rather serve and be served for the bettering of the body of Christ.

Jesus gave the purpose for His ministry on earth in Matthew 20, "...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” But being human He had a finite body. He was God, but He had flesh. He was able to become tired and weary. In Matthew 4, after He fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, the angels came and ministered to Him. They came to refresh Him for the ministry He was about to begin.

So don't neglect the fact that you need to be served and refreshed in your spirit. Take the extra time to be served by others for the refreshment, encouragement, and strengthening of your spirit so you can better serve others.

To those of you who may not be serving in ministry but are rather served by others when we gather together, seek out a ministry to serve with so those who are serving week-in and week-out can be served also. I pray that God will open these doors for you to serve. If you are not willing to serve, I pray that He would convict you so you can repent of not being a servant to others. There is great joy in serving your brothers and sisters in Christ. If we work together, we can build each other up and as one body have strength in the Spirit.

Worship Christ through service. Worship Him with each other. Serve one another in the love of Christ.

Blessings,
Nick

Spoken Word

Hey everybody!

Here's a little project I've been working on. There's been a trend picking up in the Christian community called "spoken word". It's nothing really new, but definitely new to me. I thought I'd have a go at it, and here's my first spoken word..

http://youtu.be/_uitcycFkxs


Worship Christ today!
Nick

Spiritual Fitness: Are You in Shape?

"But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." -1 Corinthians 9:27, ESV

My fitness failures...
Over the past few years of being married I've gained quite a few pounds and shape. I've tried many different workout routines and videos, but never stuck with them. I've seen results and lost those results. My wife, on the other hand, is a fitness junkie. She loves to eat healthy, exercise, and treat her body with the respect that God intended her to have for it. Until recently I treated my body to the pleasures of fast food, dessert, and unhealthy snacks. I've been sticking with a workout routine lately (I'm pretty sure it's the longest I've ever actually stuck with one too!) and I'm beginning to see a spiritual truth behind fitness and keeping your body as healthy as you can.

The Athlete
Athletes push themselves over their limits every day. They deny their bodies junk food. They tackle their pain and weakness with fierce aggression. They seize their moments of weariness and use it to their advantage. Their eyes are always on the prize. They can't afford laziness and only rest to be able to work harder. They can't afford to skip meals because they need that fuel to work out later. They can't afford unhealthy food because it will slow them down. They can't afford distractions because it will throw them off their game. Discipline is their only hope, and they hang on to that dearly.

The Sluggard
Now on the other end of the spectrum there is the sluggard. Sluggards have no desire to push themselves. They do whatever is easiest and most convenient for them. They entertain themselves with brainless television shows and movies. They fill their bodies with foods filled with empty calories and fake flavors. The only exercise they get is walking to and from their car when going to and coming home from work, and some don't even want to work. They can't afford to work out because they will be sore the next day. They can't afford to eat healthier because it takes too much work. They can't afford to be distracted from their television and movies because they might miss the next big twist in the story.

Are you in shape?
So I ask you Christian as I am asking myself.. Are you a spiritual athlete or sluggard? Do you beat your fleshly desires, wants, and inclinations into submission to what is holy and edifying to your spirit, or do you let your desires and wants control you? Your physical living is the perfect analogy of spiritual living. You can talk about walking the Christian walk all you want, but if you aren't practicing what you preach, you are just like an obese man walking into a gym saying how much he just ran, bench pressed, how many calories he burned while eating a Snickers, never actually doing anything. The only difference between the two is that you can tell the obese man is a liar.

What are you going to do?
If we are honest, we'd all say that we are more of the sluggard than the athlete. If this is you, use your physical life to help motivate your spiritual life.

Resist
Resist bad food like you would resist sin. Choose to eat foods that will honor the health of your body over junk food just like you would choose to read the Bible over a sexually perverse novel. Choose to supplement your diet with fruits and veggies over candy and chips just like you would choose worship music over the increasingly immoral "Top 10" song charts.

Push
Just like an athlete would push himself to do just a few more reps or run one more mile push yourself to show the Gospel of Christ where you normally wouldn't. Just like an athlete looks for new challenges to take on look for a ministry to get involved in or find new goals for the ministry you are currently in. Just like an athlete pushes their endurance and strength push your faith, rely on God more.

The more I find myself getting fit in my physical life the more I find myself wanting to get fit in my spiritual life. I see the struggle I put my body through and realize that this is the same struggle I need to put my spirit through. Yes, it's painful, but it's worth it! If I continue, if you continue, to do this, one day when we see our Savior face-to-face we will hear "Well done My good and faithful servant. Enter into rest."

Worship the Lord with me today as we discipline our bodies along with our spirits to the glory of Him who created us!

Blessings,
Nick

Upcoming blogs..

Hey everybody,

It's been quite a month. I've had some topics rolling around in my head, but haven't been able to get to blogging them. I need to repent before I blog one of them: worshipping with your wealth. On top of that, my eldest Aunt suddenly passed away so I've been spending time with my family. Praise God she is a believer and is enjoying His presence as we speak! Lastly, I had to get a new iPhone (which is what I blog from) due to some software issues and lost all my apps and backups.

With all that being said, more blogs are coming soon! Keep on worshipping our great God! Give Him all the praise and glory!

Blessings,
Nick

Prepare Yourself: Part 3

"Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. ’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me." -Jesus, John 15:20-21

Most of us have heard of the way many of the early Christians were martyred. They were crucified, stoned, beheaded, burned at the stake, fought against gladiators, and were eaten by wild animals in the Colosseum. Why though? Why would anyone want to harm people who promoted peace with God and peace amongst mankind? The answer is simply this: the world hated Jesus and they will hate Christians too.

I want to pause for a minute and focus this next portion to those who are not Christians (and to those who think they are) because I may have started losing some of you with that last sentence.

Now some of you may say, "Come on, Nick. I don't hate Jesus. Jesus was a good man! It's those Christians that I don't like." There's one problem with this line of thought. Everybody loves Jesus. Even Muslims love Jesus. He was good to people, loved people, and healed the sick and lame. But you can't just love a person because of what they have done. You have to consider what they taught in order to understand their philosophies and intentions. You can't love Jesus based on His actions or part of what He taught. You have take into account everything He said. Especially because He said this, "For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26)."

Let's take a look at some of these cringing quotes:

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' (John 14:6)" Jesus is the only way by which one can receive eternal life, not Muhammad, Allah, Buddha, or any Hindu god. Only Jesus.

Next, some men and women told Jesus that a few people were murdered and a few others died in a building collapse. At the time, if something bad happened to someone, it was believed to be because they had done something bad, but Jesus responded to that false notion asking if anyone that was killed was worse then anyone still alive. He answered His own question, "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:3)." The moral of the story is that everyone is equally bad and everyone must turn from their sins and to God or they will pay for their own sins. God cannot and will not accept any person unless they come through Christ. That means leaving a lifestyle of sin behind you: lying, stealing, any kind of sex not between a husband and his wife, drugs, drunkenness, hate, lust, and the list goes on and on. Jesus' message has always and will always be "Go and sin no more (John 5 and 8)."

Lastly, Jesus said, "And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:26-27).” You can't have a half-truth Jesus, an ideal Jesus based on the works He did. You have to accept Him as a whole, His words and deeds. So the question posed to you is do you still like Jesus but not His followers as Ghandi claimed, or do you have to say "Never mind.."?

Jesus came as a Shepherd first, but He is coming as a Judge next. How will you stand on that day without a payment for your sins? As I have been pleading in my last few posts, I plead with you.. Prepare yourself, but not for the hardships of life (at least not yet). Prepare yourself for this day of judgment. Trust His sacrifice today. (Read more about this in my "Are you roughed up yet?" blog post).

So, Christian, do you agree with everything mentioned above? If so, you need to prepare yourself for persecution. The world hated the holiest Man to ever live so much that they crucified Him. How then do you expect to strive to be holy like He was and not be hated by the world? How do you expect to stand up for godly and biblical standards and ideals without being ridiculed and mocked? How do expect to voice the Gospel and God's hatred for sin and still have solid relationships with people who aren't Christians?

Jesus loves everybody, but only those who repent and believe the Gospel love His words. Only those who humble themselves listen to the commands of God. Everyone else is opposed to the Gospel. Prepare yourself, Christian, because this world's system does not care for you, just as it doesn't care for Jesus. Prepare for ridicule, harassment, abuse, assault, and even death.

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Worship Him today for His great faithfulness and example to us.

Blessings,
Nick

Prepare Yourself: Part 2

"There must be more than this.
Oh, Breath of God, come breathe within.

We live in a very selfish, lazy generation. Everything is catered to us. We don't have to grow our own fruits and veggies. We pick them up at the grocery store. We don't raise our own livestock for milk and meat. That's what the milkman and butcher are for. We don't have to travel to speak with friends. That's what our iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks are for. We don't even have to go to the library to study. That's what the Internet is for. We take all that we have so much for granted that we start bringing this mentality into church with us. We think that going to church is showing up with a bunch of other people to listen to some cool music, have the pastor talk at us for a little while, and then go home and watch the game. Our culture has corrupted the very essence of why we go we church.

We fill our lives with such worthless things and activities that there is no preparation of our hearts for meeting with the body of Christ to worship our God and serve one another. We spend countless hours watching TV and movies, browsing the Internet, and doing hobbies that we many times neglect doing things that edify our souls and the souls of others. You see, as we do the things God wants us to do, as we spend time with Him learning more about Him, we are preparing to edify the body of Christ (whether it be at church or not). When we spend more of our time with God and doing more godly things we are more likely to open up to the rest of the church to edify them. It's is these things that we use to build each other up, encourage one another, and help those who are struggling. (I want to clarify that spending time watching TV and movies, browsing the Internet, and having hobbies isn't a sin, but rather spending too much time with them and neglecting greater things is.)

Christian, my challenge to you is to not only prepare your mind for church but also your heart. Start saying "No!" during the week to the things of this world that drag you down and influence you against Christ. Begin serving your family, friends, and church selflessly every day as though you were serving God (because all in all, you are serving God). Read God's Word to strengthen your walk. Practice the things that God commands us to do. Implement the mentalities He teaches us to have through His Word. Let God and His work through you be more satisfying than the things of this world. Let your life become a daily sacrifice of yourself as worship to God. It is then and only then that we will have a reciprocated view of church. It is then and only then that we will begin to see that it's not about us but about God and all His glory. It is then and only then that we will view church as a time of worshipping God and edifying His people.

If your life lacks worshipping God.. If you lack joy.. If you lack pleasure in God.. Maybe it's because you have been too focused on yourself and what God can do for you rather than what He has already done for you. It is now time to see what you can do for Him, not as payment back to Him but rather as service from gratitude.

Life is a battle.. Life is a brutal war against sin and the flesh. If you are flirting with your enemy, that is, your flesh, then how can you expect to fight victoriously against your flesh? How can you expect to be satisfied in God when you are serving your foe. I encourage you to prepare yourself for war against sin. I encourage you to prepare yourself for any service that God might call you to do. In doing so you will be prepared to meet together with the body of Christ to serve one another, edify one another, encourage one another, and lift up one another as we ought.

If your heart is not prepared to serve God or His people, ask Him to change it. Ask Him to give you His strength to overcome sin and temptation. Ask Him to give you His compassion for His people. Ask Him to have your heart treasure Him above everything that is worthless in this life. God doesn't leave you alone to work everything out in your own power. He gave you a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to help you walk in this life for the glory of His name and the edification of His people. He gave you all the necessary tools for preparing yourself to serve Him and His people. These tools are found in the Bible.

Worship your God today in selfless sacrifice, laying down yourself as an offering to Him. You won't regret it. In fact, you will find it most satisfying.

Consuming Fire, fan into flame
A passion for Your name
Spirit of God, fall in this place
Lord, have Your way
Lord, have Your way in us

Blessings,
Nick

Prepare Yourself: Part 1

"Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.. For the Father up above is looking down in love.. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.."

The distractions of this world are getting worse, and these distractions have been weaving themselves ever so quietly into the Church where they ought not to be. Our Enemy, Satan, wants to do everything he can to feed our sinful flesh to make us stray and keep us from enjoying God in the fullest way possible: from using the mainstream media to bring more sexualized television shows into our living rooms, to using the box office to produce more pornographic movies for us to go see, to using indecent books of adulterous affairs hitting book shelves for us to read, to using music labels to put out more vulgar and perverted music for us to hear. By feeding our souls with this kind of entertainment we are corrupting our hearts and minds against the Gospel by which we have so graciously received salvation.

You may say, "Now, Nick.. It's just a movie (or TV show, or book, or song)! Get off your high horse and quit judging people. Live a little!" Let me ask you, how can you watch, read, and listen to this stuff without your conscience screaming at you? This brings me to the words Jesus said, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness." How do you expect to live a victorious, joy-filled life in Christ when you fill your soul with things that God finds absolutely offensive?

We must prepare ourselves for the daily battle against our flesh. We must prepare ourselves against the spiritual warfare we fight against this world every single day. How is flirting with the enemy preparing for war? How is entertaining ourselves with sin preparation to fight it? How is giving our minds over to the flesh strengthening to our relationship with Christ? "He that sows to his flesh will from his flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap everlasting life." Our battle against our flesh, sin, and the world doesn't begin and end in Church on Sunday morning. It begins at our salvation and ends at our deaths.

Too often do I hear of people who claim to be Christians going out and partying with the world. Too often do I hear of Christians going to see movies that God hates. Too often do I hear of Christians loving the things of this world over our ever-fulfilling, fully-satisfying God.

To those who say "It's only a movie," I say "It's only treason!" To those who say "Live a little," I say "That's living in death!" Wake up, Christian! We don't fight against nations or peoples of this world. We fight against sin! Put on the whole armor of God so that you can stand against the sinful temptations of this world! Stand confident in salvation as a helmet on your head, wear truth like a belt around your waist, rest assured in Christ's righteousness as armor protecting your heart, have faith in your God as a shield against flaming arrows of sin, wield the Scriptures like a sword defending against all unrighteousness, and spread the Gospel wherever you go.

Wake up, Christian, to the fact that this world is passing away. Wake up to the fact that the sinful pleasures of this world only harm your walk with God. They only harm your ability to march into battle as a victorious soldier. It may even incapacitate you from fighting at all. Prepare yourself every single day you breathe to fight for the Gospel, to fight for the holy, righteous name of our God. Or is your sin more worthy than God?

Worship your God today.. Praise
His most excellent name above all. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Resist the devil and the devil will flee from you.

Blessings,
Nick

Are you roughed up?

Do you know the God you worship? As you stand up from your seat in church, do you know Who it is you are singing to? It's time we rough ourselves up and really get to the core of our faith: God and the Gospel. Really, what's the point of even singing to a Being that you hardly know about? What's the point in giving praise to this Acquaintance of yours that you heard loves you?

It's time to get roughed up.

I'll start out by asking you, "Who is God?" God is the Creator of the universe. He is three separate Persons in one Godhead, a perfect counsel in Himself. He has no beginning and will have no end. He is so powerful and so big that He spoke this universe existence out of nothing and is capable of holding it in His hand. He is perfectly good and perfectly holy. He is perfectly just and perfectly wise. He cannot be overthrown or superseded. He cannot be bribed or coerced. He has perfect knowledge and wisdom. He knows everything everyone has ever thought, has heard everything anyone has ever said, and sees every action anyone has ever done. His wisdom puts to shame the greatest human philosophers of history combined. His words are true. He will judge sinners for their sin, and He will sentence them to their rightful place in eternity. He will reign forever in His Kingdom and it will never pass away.

You might now be asking, "What does this have to do with me?" Well, let me tell you.

Man's Dilemma
You and I have a big dilemma with God. You see, we have all offended Him beyond anything we could imagine. We have all spit in His face with our sins. Every single time we lie, steal, sexually lust after someone, hate, commit adultery or fornicate, covet, or put something before God we are guilty of breaking the Law of God. We are guilty of breaking the highest Law ever given to men. My friends, right now at this very moment there is a case against you in the High Court of heaven, and you will be found guilty of every crime you havr committed against God.

So where does this leave us? Helpless? Hopeless? Frightened? Left with nothing?

Are you roughed up yet?

But you say, "God is love! You forgot to say God is love and won't punish people because God is loving!" But to you I say this... Yes, God is loving. He gives a love that we can't even comprehend. His love is so deep and so kind that it makes all other love look like hatred in comparison. Yes, He is love, but because He is loving He must also hate. He hates sin with the same intensity of His love. Sin is completely opposite of God. It is completely against His nature and righteousness. He hates it above everything. The scary thing is that all the people who have ever lived are saturated with this sin. We are so completely contaminated with sin that God cannot love us like we've been told He does unless we make payment for our sins. The horrifically terrifying thing is that our sins are so expensive that we can't pay for them on our own. You see, one must pay for their sins in hell for eternity because sin is that evil to God. It is an infinite price for your infinite offenses against God.

Are you roughed up yet?

I have some good news though. There is still hope! There is still a small glimpse of glorious light in the pitch black room of your guilty dungeon of sin! "How?" you say. "How can there be hope for me while there is this air-tight case against me? How can there be hope when I have sinned against the Holiest of all beings in the universe? How?"

And I say to you, "Jesus."

Yes, Jesus! You see, God knew you were going to sin. He knew you were going to be messy. He knew you were going to infinitely offend Him. Yes, God knew you were going to be found guilty of crimes against Him. But now He wants you to know something. He wants you to understand something.

In the counsel of Himself before the universe was even created, He knew you were going to sin. In the knowledge of this He made a plan, a plan to make a way for people to be freed from their sentence of sin and death. This plan is that small light gleaming through your prison wall. This plan was that Jesus would become a man, a part of His creation. In this plan He was to endure temptation, trials, and tribulations as a man to be tested and proven as perfectly sinless. He encountered every temptation you have and will ever encounter, yet He did not sin when prodded or provoked. In this plan He was to be betrayed, unjustly tried, and executed as an innocent man. During this trial He would begin to bear the burden of your sin.

He was beaten with fists and clubs, spat on, and had His beard ripped from His face; each strike taking a consequence of your sins. He was flogged with whips designed to rip and tear away flesh from a human body; each stroke taking the punishment for your crimes against God. A crown of thick, long thorns was beaten into His head; every piercing thorn a payment for your debt of sin. He was mocked as King by having a purple robe thrown around His shredded back; as the blood coagulated and adhered to the robe it was violently ripped from his back, reopening His wounds; a sacrifice willingly made for the justice rightfully due to you. By the time it came for Him to be sentenced to a brutal execution on a cross He was no longer recognizable as a human being; because your sin is a monstrous thing. As He carried the cross through the streets, He displayed the shame of your sin, and when He came to hill to be crucified He joyfully thought of you. He was stripped of His clothes; bearing the nakedness and shame of your sin. He was nailed to the cross; taking the curse of the Law of God against you with Him. It was there that the fullness of your sin was placed on Him. It was there that God turned His back on Jesus because your sin had permeated His being on the cross. Finally, when the Jesus took the last ounce of punishment for sin, he let out a loud cry and said, "It is finished!" There He died.

Your sin cost Jesus, God in the flesh, His life, but He says it was worth it. To prove that He had the power to declare your sin "paid in full" He laid dead in a tomb for three days only to raise Himself from the dead. He defeated death and now He has the right to declare you innocent! He now says to you, "Come to Me, child! Come to Me! Take rest from your sin in Me! Take your satisfaction and your pleasure in Me! I have paid your debt! I have paid your ransom! Come to Me!"

Are you roughed up yet?

Go back and read what Jesus went through. God hates sin that much, yet God did all of this so that He can call you His own for glory of His name. If you do not know this awesome God as your Father, if you do not know the forgiveness and redemption of Jesus' sacrifice, turn away from your selfish, sinful life and turn to God's mercy through the payment Jesus paid for you. Believe that Jesus died in your place, that He took your punishment upon Himself, and that He rose again and still lives today. Surrender your everything to Him! Ask Him to change you into an obedient child. Ask Him to help you hate your sin as much as He hates it. He is most gracious! If you believe this, God declares you "Not guilty!" If you turn to Him, God will see you as righteous, not because of what you have done but because of what Jesus did on your behalf.

I leave you with this. Are you roughed up yet? Worship God for who He is and what He's done.

Blessings,
Nick

Joy and Worship

"Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, Rejoice!"

Did you know that you can have joy worshipping the Lord no matter what situation you find yourself in? Do you believe that God is more satisfying than your most satisfying experience? Do you believe that God can sustain you in the worst situations you will ever go through?

There is joy is the Lord. There is joy in who He is. There is joy in what He has done for you. There is joy in what He is going to do through you. There is joy in Him when you are in the highest of highs. There is joy in Him in the lowest of lows.

Our culture tells us that we should be satisfied in the good times only, and any other less than satisfactory time should be combatted until we are satisfied with what we want. I tell you this, brothers and sisters, God does not want us to be satisfied in Him during our mountain peak experiences only. He wants us to be satisfied no matter what peak, valley, or pit we are in. He wants us to realize that He is our satisfaction. He wants us to combat our destructive, selfish, joy-stealing ways to be joyously satisfied in Him for the glory of His name.

Paul's life was made a living hell by people who opposed the Gospel, yet he still spoke "To live is Christ; and to die is gain." He was shackled in prison and still sang hymns to God. He was ridiculed when preaching the Gospel, but he unashamedly preached on. His health was poor, but his desire was to still visit the churches surrounding him to minister to them. He wrote "Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, Rejoice!" Are you grasping this, brother? Are you seeing this, sister? Our situations don't determine the joy we have in God. God determines the joy we have in spite of our situations.

When you live your life day-to-day, you can worship the Lord with joy knowing that the joy of the Lord is your strength. He is your strength because all things work together for the good of those who love God and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8). Is this not a joyful proclamation? He is your peace because while we were still sinners God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Romans 5, 2 Corinthians 5). How can you not be joyful knowing God paid for your sins? You can be comforted because He cares for you so much that He invites you to cast all of your cares on Him (1 Peter5). Isn't this wonderful? Amazing? Worthy of being joyful?

Our God is a personal God that wants us to have the utmost satisfaction in life. He wants us to have joy. This satisfaction is not the satisfaction this world promotes. It's not the gratification of the flesh that the world wants you to have. Our God made us to worship Him. He is the ultimate joy!

We have talked about how worship comes from knowledge. So I ask you, have you been learning about our God? Have you been seeking His face in the Word? Have you been praying? How can we expect to have joy in the Lord if we keep Him at bay as a mere acquaintance? It's impossible!

The poor excuses of fun and promises of joy from the world are lies and will fade away. They can't sustain the level of joy you were meant to have. They are false fillers that leave you empty and wanting. Christian, find your satisfaction in the Lord. Find your joy in worshipping Him. Your cell phone, video games, and movies are not to replace the joy you have in the Lord. Your drugs, alcohol, and sex are destructive to your joy in the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, I implore you! Repent and be restored to the joy of the Lord! Run to the mercy of your God at the cross. Seek His joy! Seek satisfaction in Him! Quit playing with the "joy" of sin. Quit messing around with the false pleasures of this world! Seek the everlasting joy and peace of the Lord no matter what situation you might be in. Worship your God today with joy in your thoughts, words, and actions!

Blessings,
Nick

Mistakes: "Don't forgot to what??"

Worship.. It's what we do. It's what we lead people to do with us. Whether that be the pastor leading people through the Word to magnify God, a husband washing his wife in the pure water of the Word so he can present her to God blameless, a father shepherding his family for the glory of God, a mother bringing up her children in the light of God's love, or a worship leader leading people in the praises of God. As Christians worship is engrained into our lives, but it isn't always easy. We are still dealing with our sinful flesh and we wrestle against distractions that sway our paths from seeking God. We can get so caught up in worthless activities and whatnot that we forget God should have preeminence in our lives. I have found this to be so true in music ministry as well: we forget that while leading people into worship we should be worshipping God too.

So to answer the question in the title of this post, "Don't forgot to worship."

Amidst the hustle and bustle of set-up, practice, mixing, and preparing for the worship service we lose our main focus. We get so caught up in the technical that we lose sight of the simple. It doesn't even matter how complex your band or worship set is either. You may be the only person leading and still get caught up daydreaming or focusing so intently on your singing, strumming, or ivory tickling that you lose focus on the wonder of God. You may be leading with a huge band and get distracted just hoping that a musical train wreck doesn't happen on your watch, or you start thinking "Man, we sound good!" Don't forget our purpose is to lead worship. If we aren't worshipping while we are leading, then what purpose do we even serve standing in front of God's people as examples and leaders? I am far from guiltless when it comes to this. Since I see it my own life I want to encourage you to search yourself to see if you have need of improvement in this area too.

As an example of how distracting and hectic music ministry can be, this is how my church and I prepare for worship Sunday morning. The tech/media team needs my setlist and lyric order from me by noon Wednesday so they can begin preparing lyric slides for the people to follow along. This is a great way to prepare, but doesn't give me much time to mull over songs and prepare the setlist as I would want to (I'm kind of a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of worship leader). I usually don't get an outline of the sermon until around this time or later which kind of hangs me in a limbo of sorts picking songs that line up well with the sermon topic, but nevertheless our God still works and uses the setlist chosen (when all else fails for topical songs, pick a bunch of songs that sing of who God is and what He's done). Saturday morning is when when the band gets together to practice. This is when we work on all of the technical aspects and make sure everything works for Sunday. The time needed for practice increases or decreases depending on how many people are in the band that week. Not to mention sometimes we don't get to practice on Saturdays because of other church or school events. Sunday morning is very pressed for time. Half or more of my team also leads worship for the previous service which doesn't leave much time except for a few minutes to quickly set up for the next service and make sure our instruments and microphones are working.

I don't say this to complain about the ministry I serve in, but rather to show that I know things can get a little distracting (and I'm not even the person in charge of our music ministry!). I don't want you to read this thinking "Well this guy just sits there and criticizes everyone and everything..." There are many times where I forget to worship because I'm so focused on making sure I do everything right.

Brothers and sisters, God has given us a ministry that He wants to do big things through, but if we keep allowing ourselves to get distracted from the purpose of our mission, how can we be used by God? If we focus upon the technical aspects rather than worshipping God in spirit and truth, how are we leading by example? If we are focused on how much we want to be liked as musicians or how we want to be the favorite worship leader in the church, how do we expect the people to learn how to worship on their own when all they see is us entertaining them? See the urgency of our purpose as lead worshippers! Hold fast to the purpose of our calling!

Don't forget to worship while leading worship. Otherwise you are just a worship song leader and not a lead worshipper.

Blessings,
Nick

Mistakes: Imitation

There is fine line between replication and imitation. In the context of musical worship in church being on one side of this line is a good place to be, but being on the other is dangerous and can demean the intentions of the worship leader. I know I'm arguing semantics, but only for purposes of clarification and categorization.

Replicating the original version of the music you are leading is a good place to be for a few reasons, but there is one that stands out to me the most. It is good to replicate a song because it is how the author intended it to be played. Does it have to be played exactly how it was produced on the album? No, but it should be close enough to the original so anyone who hears your version will recognize it. One of the biggest peeves of mine in worship ministry is when people change the lyrics or music to a song. Honestly, if you don't agree with the lyrics or like the music enough to play it as it was written, don't play that song. I don't want people changing the way I wrote my songs so why would any other author want the same?

Imitation is similar to replication, but instead of replicating the music you are imitating the worship leader. This can be a huge mistake. No longer are you worshipping and leading the people in your own way, but rather trying to imitate the way the other worship leader leads because you think it looks cool or because you want the response you saw him or her "get" out of the people: scripting times to lift your hands, going into drawn out leads or ad libs, or even praying prayers that they pray in the middle of their sets. That's not how we are to lead the people of God. Our ministry is not a science project or talent show. We are ministers of God required to be humble; to lead with sincerity and integrity.

Remember that God can use you, your personality, and your music style to lead others into worshipping Him. You don't need to rely upon yourself. Actually, don't rely on yourself at all. You're just in front of everyone to lead them in song and teach them the truths in the songs. That's it. No more. No less. God draws His people into worship. There is no need to imitate other worship leaders because they get great responses out of the people and you want to see that too. Allow God to work through you as His instrument that He uniquely designed to be its own.

Instead of imitating other worship leaders take tips from their leading (i.e., what do they do to be less of a distraction? What do they do to help lead the team? What do they do to better lead the people?). Instead of being a copycat learn some of their techniques and implement it into your own style (i.e., chords, strumming patterns, dynamics, scales, etc.). Let them help you become a better leader and not a better performer.

The fine line between replication and imitation that I mentioned earlier is a line that is easily distinguishable by you and for you only. I don't recommend going around pointing out who is replicating songs or imitating worship leaders. In fact, I would suggest to you that if you do just that, you will put yourself in a position where you are distracted from your own ministry, trying to point out the "fakers" or "less holy" worship leaders, even to the point of destroying your ministry with your own pride.

Leading worship isn't about making sure you look like a worship leader from Hillsong. That's their example for people to follow during their song sets. Leading worship is about about you worshipping God yourself and having others follow your example during your song sets. Lead the people. Don't lead them on.

Blessings,
Nick

Mistakes: We're on the same page, right?

When you stand up to lead people into worship, it's easy to see if you have the right heart, but what about the hearts of everyone else on the worship team with you? Are they in the right place? How can we make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to leading worship? Is it really that important?

A common mistake that is very tempting and easy for a worship leader to make is to begin bringing people into the band without taking the time to see where they are spiritually or at least understand their theology of worship. Assuming that they are on the same page as you because they go to church, play instruments/sing, or have been involved in worship before is a grave mistake. These people are going to be standing in front of everybody in your church as role models in your ministry. These people will be looked at as examples, and will be examined closely by the people. If they have the wrong heart or bad worship theology, it will hinder your ministry and possibly even discredit it.

Judging a worship leader or worship team by the response they get is not a credible method to measure successful worship. Successful worship is measured by the question "Was God glorified?" Any other means of measurement is trite and should be avoided at all cost. For this reason you should look for people to join your team who desire that God be glorified above all that they are and in all that they do. If you cannot find anyone like this, lead by yourself or with the small team you already have. Pastors, elders, the people, or even your own team may complain that the team is too small or doesn't sound "full", but be faithful to your ministry and to the glory of God. Do not give into the demands of people at the expense of the integrity of your ministry. After all is said and done, who are you seeking to please: God or man?

I would suggest to you the small worship team that sounds mediocre yet understands worship theology pleases God more than the band that sounds amazing yet leads with self-seeking intentions.

Leading worship is not a minute ministry. It is not a disposable ministry that immature people should be thrown into for the sake of the band, gratification of the people, or church attendance. Members of the worship team are leaders whether they like it or not. Members of the worship team will be held to a higher standard than everyone else. Make sure your team understands this. Make sure they understand the gravity of their position as worship leader.

Oh, how I wish this would be the understanding of every worship leader and worship team! Bigger doesn't always mean better, specifically when it's at the expense of glorifying God! Brothers and sisters, do you not understand that a self-seeking heart is rebellion against God? Do you not remember why Satan, one of the highest ranking angels, was thrown out of heaven because of his self-seeking pride? Why would you not want to make sure your worship team understands this? Why would you not educate your team on glorifying God? Are you afraid? Pray for boldness! Are you lazy? Pray for motivation! Are you apathetic? Pray for conviction! Lead your team for the glory of God!

Blessings,
Nick

Mistakes: Cotton Candy Worship

Have you ever been to a baseball game or carnival and bought cotton candy? Go ahead and picture it in your head. A giant, delicious, pink cloud just waiting to be consumed by you. After you pay $10 for the delicious treat you tear off a huge piece and your mouth dances with joy at the sugary goodness! But then it happens... That giant piece of fluff dissolves into a small amount of sugar leaving you with nothing but a sugar rush and an empty stomach. What a disappointment!

So often worship sets are built like this: big band sound, little theological doctrine. The music sounds wonderful, the musicians are very skilled in their music, but there's no substance to the lyrics of the songs. It starts out big and glorious, but leaves you wanting. It hypes you up, but leaves you empty. That sounds a lot like an experience with cotton candy.

The responsibility of your position as the worship leader isn't to lead people from the "Top 10" Christian radio hits. That's just laziness. The responsibility of your position is to find or write songs that are packed with sound doctrine that glorify God. It takes time and effort to find and learn these songs. Don't forget to weed the cotton candy songs out of your music folder.

Leading worship isn't about making an experience for people to marvel at. Leading worship is about making it easy for people to commune with God and marvel Him. Recognition of yourself and your band shouldn't be on the list. In fact, if it's on your list, erase it. Otherwise you are continually being a hypocrite (Gasp! How dare he say that!). Think about it, you are standing up in front of everybody saying "Let's worship God together and look at how well I do it!" This cheats the people, yourself, and it steals glory from God.

Lyrics are very important when it comes to worship songs. You may find a song with a great chorus but the verses are of low quality, or you may find a song with a great bridge but the rest of the song is left on the side of the bridge where the grass isn't so green (or even worse, under the bridge with the troll). This is not a matter of "What songs (or parts of songs) we can use to get a momentary reaction out of the people", but rather "what songs can we can use to worship God in a greater way."

Lead people in songs that leave them satisfied in God, in who He is, and what He's done. Compose your list with songs that give God all the glorification and affection due to His name. Don't try to use the fillers of guitar leads or drum solos to make worship more entertaining to the people. Don't use the fillers of crazy lights and fog machines to replace the beauty of God in the lyrics. Don't use the fillers of poor, barely-Scriptural lyrics to raise emotion and response out of people. Isn't God able to draw His people into worship without our help?

Again, worship is based off of knowledge. Don't feed the people of God cotton candy theology and songs to get a momentary "spiritual sugar rush" response. Feed them songs that agree with the meat and milk of Scripture so they can grow up strong in the faith and worship all the day long.

"God’s glory is a wondrous thing,
Most strange in all its ways;
And, of all things on earth, least like
What men agree to praise."
-Frederick W. Faber

Blessings,
Nick

Mistakes: Christian Lingo

Hallelujah, Hosanna, Maranatha, Praise, Worship, Trinity, Holy, Amen, etc...

How often do we pick songs that use language familiar only to those who have grown up in the Church? How often do we neglect to teach the meaning of these words to the people we are leading? Do we even know what these words mean ourselves?

Leading a song without explaining what it means, specifically those strange Christian words, is theologically dangerous. If the people don't know what you are singing, how can they sing with you in agreement? Even worse, if you don't even know what the song you are leading means, how can you know that it is doctrinally sound? This is nothing short of foolishness!

How can we expect God to be pleased with our worship if we aren't singing songs that are affirmed by the Bible? I am not saying that our worship can be pleasing to God apart from Christ making it pleasing through the debt paid on the cross and His intercession for us, but rather that we should be singing songs that God agrees with. The only way for that to happen is if we compare them to the Bible. Not only this, but do you expect God to not hold you accountable for songs taught to the people that aren't biblically sound?

We use words in our Christian circles, church meetings, and worship songs that have great heaviness of meaning (propitiation, holy, righteousness, substitutionary atonement), but if they aren't explained to the people, what good are they? What good is it to talk amongst each other, teach the Bible, or sing songs using these words if the people don't even know what they mean? We shouldn't assume that the people know what these words mean or that they are able to be understood with the rest of the lyrics.

Never once in all my years of leading worship have I ever heard a worship leader explain the words in a song to the people. I'm sure there are good leaders out there who do, but why aren't there more leaders like them? I recently found out what the word "Hosanna" means, and the sad part is I have been singing songs with the word "Hosanna" for years! My logical conclusion was to look it up so I could know what it means and then teach it to the people. After learning what this word meant 40 minutes before the worship was to begin, I had a new satisfaction in the song I was going to be leading! It was such an exciting moment to lead the people in a song that we both now understood correctly!

Worship leaders, Pastors, Christians, don't neglect teaching what words mean. Don't be so foolish as to teach, sing, or talk about things you don't properly understand. Read the Scriptures, be studious and research what it teaches, and be diligent to help the people of God come to a greater knowledge of our amazingly infinite God.

Blessings,
Nick

Overwhelmed

How often do you as a worship leader wish that the people would stand in awe of God during worship? How often do you make it your goal to give the people a worship set that makes them respond with lifted hands, claps, shouts, and cries?

Might I propose a few questions to you? Meditate on them and see which one best describes your worship leading...

Is it your aim for the people respond to songs, or is it your aim for the people to respond to God?

Being in a state of wonder of God only comes through knowledge of Him and experiences of Him working in one's life. I don't want to limit God in what He can do, but I don't want to sit on lazy song sets that sound cool. A lot of the time these sets have no theological nutrition for the soul, yet they tug on the heart strings of the people.. Which leads me to my next questions.

How do you expect people to be overwhelmed with God when you pick song sets that focus on men instead of God ("Draw Me Close" vs. "How Great is Our God")? And how do expect them to stand in awe of God when they are standing in awe of your overly-produced music?

Bring people to the throne of God so they can worship Him. Use the lyrics of the songs in your set to paint a picture of who God is and what He has done. This is so much greater than singing trite, man-centered songs. People will be overwhelmed with God during worship when they are given songs with theology, not heart-felt songs that appeal to an emotional response to the music instead of God.

Final questions...

Worship leader, do you worship while you are leading worship? Are you drawn to the throne of God or are emotional songs making you worship the experience?

Don't succumb to the trite worship of the day. Worship God and give people great songs filled with theology that gives God glory for who He is and what He has done!

Blessings,
Nick

The Heart of a Worshipper

What should the heart of a worshipper be? We could make a list of a few things: willing, serving, humble, delighted in God, and satisfied in God are a few.

Now what should the heart of the worship leader be towards the people? What should his goal and aim be second to glorifying God?

I will venture to say that the aim of the worship leader should be the desire that people enjoy God the same as he or she does; that the people are enraptured by God and not the music.

I challenge you, worship leaders, to be satisfied in God more than a successful practice. I challenge you to be satisfied in God more than the response of the people during worship. I challenge you to make your satisfaction in God rather than in yourself. Lastly, I challenge you to lead the people of your church, Bible study, home group, etc., with the aim of helping them to be satisfied in God just as much and more than you are.

I challenge you, people of God, to be satisfied in God more than the music. I challenge you to be satisfied in God more than the drum fills and guitar solos. I challenge you to be satisfied in God more than yourself.

Worship leaders, there is so much that we can bring to the stage: guitar riffs, drum solos, synth sounds, soft pads, sound effects, videos, lights, etc. But what good is all of this if we aren't satisfied in God? What good is our leading if we are leading by our talents and not our satisfaction, pleasure, hope, and faith in God? How can you expect to lead people in worshipping God when you aren't even focused on God? That's not leading people into worship of God. That's leading people to worship an experience, or even worse, to worship you. Do we lead for a response or to glorify God?

People of God, so much can be and is laid before you during a time of worship. I've said it so much before and I'll continue to say it: don't worship the experience. Be satisfied in God over the music. Worship God and not the music! Church, look and see how despicable of a sin it is to make the central satisfaction of your worship someone or something other than God!


I ask you, worship leader where is your heart when you are leading?

People of God, where are your hearts when being led into worship?

If your hearts aren't focused on God, repent and ask Him to satisfy you with Himself. Worship Him for who He is and what He's done. He is worthy of our praise.

I want to leave you with this last quote from Charles H. Spurgeon. It is taken from a sermon ("The Dumb Shall Sing") on how before we were saved we were unable to speak or sing the praise of God, and how we should now be joyful and praise God for what He's done...

"O! Ye unworthy ones, ye saints that feel your deep natural depravity, and mourn over your ruin by the fall of Adam, lift up your hearts to God! He hath delivered you from all the impediments which Adam cast upon you; your tongue is loosed, it is loose now; Adam had made it dumb, but God hath loosed it; your eyes that were blinded by Adam's fall are opened now; He hath lifted you from the miry clay. What Adam lost for us, Christ hath regained for us; He hath plucked us out of the pit; and 'set us upon a rock, and established our goings, and hath put a new song in our mouth, even praise forevermore.' Yes, 'the tongue of the dumb shall sing.'"

Blessings,
Nick

Two Prayer Requests

Hello my brothers and sisters in Christ,

Please if you would, pray for a brother and a sister in Christ. Both have been diagnosed with cancer.

Brent Yim is married and a father of two young boys. He has been diagnosed twice with an aggressive brain tumor. The second diagnosis revealed that the tumor is non-operable. You can check out his story at Brent Yim Fund.

Daisy Merrick is 7 years old and just had her third cancer diagnosis in as many years. You can follow her journey at Pray for Daisy.

Pray for God's will in their healing, that He will comfort their families, and that our Lord would be glorified above all.

Worship the Lord today as we lift up our brother and sister in Christ.

Blessings,
Nick

Stealing Potential Glory from God

Today I'm going to stray a little bit from the norm and write a little more controversial post on a subject that has been in the political and religious spheres for almost 40 years here in America. This subject has been the cause of much turmoil amongst many, whether that be within churches, religious groups, political parties, relationships, and even marriages. This subject is abortion

I could go into all the medical and philosophical reasonings against abortion, but I want to take an alternate route (thanks to John Piper). That route being the glory of God. Every person on the planet lives on this planet either giving glory to God or stealing it from Him. We are either clinging to His salvation and living by faith, or we are living rebelliously in sin worshipping ourselves. Abortion takes away both of these lifestyles from the little person in the womb. To murder a baby in the womb is a sin, but it isn't the greater sin. The greater sin is killing off a human being that could potentially give glory to God here on earth.

Many times doctors tell expecting mothers that their babies may or do have signs of physical or mental diseases and advise that the pregnancy be terminated. Let me ask the question, who are we to decide whether or not a person can or can't give glory to God with such conditions? Who are we to decide that God can't use a person with disabilities to glorify His name and further His Gospel? Who are we to decide whose quality of life isn't worth living because they won't be "normal"? Your baby is a special gift from God to be cherished and nurtured for His glory.

Many soon-to-be mothers become pregnant unintentionally and don't have the means to take care of a baby, and definitely don't want their child to go into the care of the State. Don't kill a child for this reason. There are many Christian people who would love to adopt a baby to care for as their own. There are many Christian couples who can't have children and would jump at the chance to love and care for a child, even if it's not biologically theirs. Don't think you don't have a choice. Pro-choice means you choose what's best for your baby over yourself.

Many soon-to-be mothers who accidentally become pregnant don't want a baby. She would rather deal without a child, or she is ashamed and doesn't want the world to know she got pregnant. Abortion is viewed as their savior in these situations. What a perfect way out of a stressful life, right? Wrong. Killing a child because he or she might make your life stressful (as a parent or because you're afraid that people will judge you) is still stealing that potential glory from God. You're destroying a possible instrument that God can use for His glory. Be pro-life and give your child the best life possible, even of that means giving your child up for adoption to a good Christian family who will raise your child with love and cherish him or her.

If you have aborted a child, you may be filled with guilt, shame, and depression. The Bible calls taking the life of an innocent person murder. Even beyond that you stole from God the chance for your baby to glorify Him. The Bible says "Do not be deceived!...Murderers will not inherit the kingdom of God..." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). God views life so precious that He wrote into His law that murder is wrong (6th Commandment). Jesus explained this law of God even further in the Gospel of Matthew saying, "If you call anyone 'Raca!' (idiot or moron), you are in danger of hell." The Bible says later in 1 John that if you hate someone, you are a murderer. How many times have you said something spiteful or hated someone? That is murder in God's eyes also. Sin goes beyond just murder and hate. Have you ever lied, stolen, looked with lust had sex outside of marriage, or had an extramarital affair? These are all sins against God too. God is a just Judge who will judge you according to your sins, and being just doesn't mean weighing your sins against the good things you've done. It means punishing you for the bad things you've done. How many times have you sinned against God? If you are honest, you've sinned more times than you could count.

We (I include myself) are sinful beings. We deserve to be punished in hell for eternity for infinitely breaking God's laws daily. But God is rich, unimaginably rich, in love and full of mercy. He is so full of mercy that He became a man in the person of Jesus, lived a life perfect without sin, and died on a cross to take the punishment of your sin and my sin upon Himself in our place, and three days later He rose from the dead proving that the price of sin was paid for and that death had been beaten.

If you will turn away from yourself to God, trust in Jesus' payment for sin upon the cross in your place, believe that He rose from the dead, and believe that there is nothing you can do apart from Jesus' work to be forgiven, your sin will be washed away forever! It's like this: salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone for His righteousness alone apart from any deeds of your own for the glory of God alone.

Do you understand what that means? It means that if you place your trust in Christ to pay for your sins, He took the punishment in your place for you killing your baby or even babies. He took the punishment for every lie you've told. He took the punishment for everything you've stolen, every time you hated someone, lusted sexually after someone, fornicated, and cheated on your spouse. He took the punishment for every single sin you have ever committed or will commit.

Beloved sister, until you trust in Christ you are an enemy of God and your sins are great. But God who is rich in love died for us while we were still sinners. Jesus who was perfect became our imperfection for us on the cross so that we might become the perfection of God in God's eyes through Him.

If you have trusted Christ today for His righteousness in place of your unrighteousness, rejoice! Your sins are forgiven! Your slate is clean! Now go live your life for God in the shadow of His grace and mercy, reading and following the Bible, giving Him all the praise and glory until your last breath.

Please take the time to watch 180 Movie. It's only 33 minutes long and it will change your view of abortion forever.

Worship Him today.

Blessings,
Nick

P.S. Please, if you would, read through my blogs. I pray they are an encouragement to you and help your walk with the Lord.

Worship is Not Entertainment

"Be my everything! -Tim Hughes

Much of the time after a hard day's work, a stressful day of taking care of the kids, or maybe just a tiring day of school and homework we like to unwind and relax, entertain ourselves with thoughtless things: TV, movies, or games. We all look forward to the weekend and our days off when we can relax and do nothing, after all our chores, of course. When tuning out our brains to the things of this world like work and responsibilities of the week with entertainment, we often tune ourselves out to the things of God, and in turn, tune ourselves out in church. Church is supposed to be one of the most engaging times of the week where we get to learn about God and His character, worship Him in song, and serve our brothers and sister in fellowship.

Worship is not a time for entertainment to empty our minds and relax. Worship is engaging wholeheartedly with the Holy Spirit, singing songs of great doctrine, praise, and thanksgiving! Yes, we empty our minds of the things of this world, but then we fill them full with the things of God.

To the Leaders
To the leaders and lead worshippers, don't just give people songs to sing and hope they engage in them. Teach them the songs. Teach them the doctrine of the songs through Scripture. Encourage them to engage and not be disengaged from worshipping our great God! Remember to not be tuned out yourself. All too often I catch myself disengaged and going with the flow. How foolish of me that I would neglect the praise and worship of my God! Worship is not entertainment.

To the People
To the people, make the effort to praise God. If you don't know how or don't have the heart to worship, pray. Ask God to give you a heart and mind focused on worshipping Him. Don't disengage yourself from worship to daydream, to think about what's for lunch after church, to people watch, or to sleep. Don't entertain yourself with distractions that in turn make you not think about the time of worship. Engage yourself, put your engine of worship into drive, and praise your God!

Personal Time
Even more so than in times of musical worship in church is your time of worship by yourself. To both leaders and followers, don't thoughtlessly entertain yourself day to day. David wrote in the Psalm 1, "Blessed is the man...who delights in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night." Don't miss this! Brothers and sisters, please get this! Blessed, happy, are you when you delight in the Word of God, when you meditate on it day and night! We weren't designed to thoughtlessly entertain ourselves. We were designed to mentally engage in the Scriptures and the things of God. So grab your Bible, a book by Spurgeon or Edwards, or talk with a Christian brother or sister and engage in the things of the Lord. Find a ministry to serve in instead of being served. This is where it all starts. This is where you begin to engage in worship.

Commune with your God day to day, seeking Him first. He is not a God of thoughtless entertainment. He is a vastly deep God with no limit of understanding, no limit of glory, no limit of holiness. Commune with Him. Make your delight in Him. Make it your aim to get to know Him. Don't put Him off six days of the week thinking you can come to church on the seventh day and have a wonderful time praising and glorifying Him. You will never enjoy worship like you could if you neglect Him like that. No wonder you lead worshippers lose focus and just go with the flow! No wonder you stand so statuesque during worship, people of God! I beg you, don't let yourself become apathetic in your day to day walk with the Lord that your personal worship is forgotten and worship in church becomes thoughtless entertainment.

Pray with me today. Ask God to give us a heart and mind that is delighted in Him above everything else, that we wouldn't become apathetic in our relationship with Him, and that worshipping Him would become so natural to us that it flows out from us.

Blessings,
Nick

Worship is Not a Concert

Help me get back to the reason I sing for you. -Jimmy Needham

I want to expound a little bit on something I said in my last post. I know there are many who would disagree with me on what I'm about to say, and that's fine. But I also want to clarify that my view of the atmosphere of worship is not the only correct view of worship. These are just my convictions, but I do hope we all agree that the heart of the lead worshipper should be able to focus on God while leading His people in songs of praise and adoration.

I would like to speak to two different people. First to the leaders, and then to the followers.

Worship Leaders
You are not leading a concert. Concerts are designed to focus upon the musician. That is not the design of worship, nor is it the heart of worship. It can be summed up into this: are you giving people an atmosphere to worship an experience or God?

Concerts are for musicians to engage with the people to effort a response, whether that be internal or external. Internal responses would be something like "Wow! This guy is good! I could listen to him all day! He's so cool! He's so handsome! He's so talented!" External responses would be something like screaming (just think of the Beatles concerts, and if you're too young for that, think of the Jonas Brothers or the Backstreet Boys), fainting, reaching out to you, being star-struck, etc. Both of these categories of responses are focused on the musician. As Christian musicians we are most likely to only get that internal response, but that doesn't change the fact that our pride firmly grasps onto these things when we have the mentality of how worship should be a concert-like atmosphere.

We all have watched those Hillsong videos and aspire for our times of worship to be just like theirs: to have everyone raising their hands singing and praising God while having awesome vocals and musical sounds. In response to these videos we try to copy their every movement, every guitar solo, every laser light, and fog thickness thinking "If our worship only looked and sounded like that!" All I can say is let me encourage you to be yourself when you lead. Don't copy someone else's worshipping or the atmosphere in which they conduct their worship. You yourself worship God in your own way and let the people see that, not a Xeroxed version of someone else. God works through you, not your imitation of a YouTube video.

What I'm Not Saying
Now I'm not saying we should go to acapella-only worship, organs and hymns only, no drums, or no lights and fog machines. Certain people have different styles of music they relate to most. I can say that I probably wouldn't be akin to country worship music, but other people are. Just because someone doesn't like one style of worshipping doesn't make that style wrong or a sin. Please don't forget that. This is something I've had to come to terms with in myself. Pride and arrogance is damaging to yourself, your relationships, and your ministry.

Pragmatism
Sadly, today the mentality of many churches is more equals success. More people attending or respones means we're doing something right, but less people or responses means we're doing something wrong. Pragmatism is sin because it is dependence upon man-made efforts instead of God-given grace. If your focus as a lead worshipper is to get more people into a church service by making the time of worship to look like a concert, then you might want to take a step back and see exactly how much you're relying upon God. Even worse, if your focus is to get more people to come see you and your band by making the time of worship look like a concert, maybe it's time you took a sabbatical to reassess your theology of how God won't share His glory, let alonenwhy you're even leading worship on a stage in the first place. Penning words by Jimmy Needham, "maybe our success is measured best by nothing less than our obedience." Numbers don't equal success. If that were so, then God would be a failure because Jesus said of salvation, "road is narrow, and few there be that find it."

Tech Teams
To the technical and A/V teams, make your effort to not "put the spotlight" on the musicians but on God. Reduce the thick haze of fog, turn the lights off of their seizure-inducing rotations and flashings, and make the lyrics on the screens not flashy and distracting. These aspects of the atmosphere around the people being led into worship are just as distracting or even more distracting than the band itself. Remember it is your aim to give God all the fame and glory.

To the People
Worship isn't about you either. It is not the lead worshipper's job to cater to your fancies of how you would like to be entertained. If you make any time of worship about you, you are just as guilty of reserving glory for yourself. This can be anything like worshipping the experience, getting overly upset when the leader doesn't sing a song you love, purposely singing loud so everyone can hear you, or doing anything else to get people to notice you (raising your hands, swaying, dancing, or even shouting out stuff). Worship is not about you. It's not a concert for you to attend in order to be entertained.

A time of worship is for you to offer songs of praise, prayer, supplication, adoration, and thanksgiving to God. It is a time to commune with the Holy Spirit. It is a time for you to prepare your heart to receive the Word of the Lord from the sermon being preached. It is a time to give God glory and fame due to His name. This is not a time about you...

Well that wasn't brutal [insert sarcasm], but I believe it needs to be said. All too often the time of musical worship before church is viewed as that little concert or routine before the sermon. All too often people think that it's okay of they miss the worship because the sermon is the real part of church. Don't fall prey to this false notion of musical worship being non-essential or of little importance! It is a special, reverent time before the Lord. It is intimate, loving, humbling, and satisfying to the soul to sing praises to God! Don't diminish it to a concert or distraction. It's not a concert.. It's communion.

Pray with me today and ask our God to help us make worship less about us and more about Him. Worship the Lord with all your heart, mind, should, and strength today and you humbly walk before Him.

Blessings,
Nick

Worship is Not About You

Worshipping God is not about you and it's not about the people.. Period.

If it were, it would not be worship. It would be idolatry. Too many people leading worship are caught up in making worship appealing to those being led rather than appealing to God to whom we direct our worship. This is not to say that we bring in a leader who has no skill leading and see what happens. There should be skill, planning, and effort put into worship, but not at the expense of the reduction of giving God glory He rightly deserves. This is very repetitious in my blogs, but very essential. Here are a few ways to keep the eyes of the people off of you and on God, not to mention your eyes off of yourself..

Worship
You yourself should be worshipping too. If you have so much going on on the stage that you can't focus on worshipping, how can you expect to lead the people into worship? Cut back on a few things that will make it easier for you to worship. Put the team on rotations so they have a chance to engage in worship apart from being on stage (believe me when I say that this is more essential than we could ever understand). Even put yourself on a rotation if there is someone else like-minded in worship theology that can rotate leading with you. All this to say that it so so important for you to be engaged in worship on and off the stage.

Simplicity
This one goes out to both the band, sound guy, and A/V team. Reduce excessive physical stimuli on the stage and around the room. We all have seen the Hillsong videos where countless adults and teens are raising their hands to God worshipping, and we think to ourselves "Wow! If only we do that song and have lights like that, we could make our congregation have the set response!", but in the end we learn we have failed miserably. Our focus was on ourselves leading people to a response, our atmosphere was too cluttered with laser lights and fog, our drums were too loud, the synth was going crazy, there was only supposed to be one person with a guitar solo, the singers were trying to sing parts they were never predestined to sing (little Calvinist joke there, haha!), and the congregation is doing one of three things: worshipping, entertained, distracted, or thinking "What in the world was that?" Make worship simple, or at least sound simple. If you're going to have lights and fog, make it flow together without being distracting. Also, don't make the music so loud people cant focus or hear themselves sing. Remember that this a concert and you aren't Hillsong.

Musical Prayer, Supplication, Thanksgiving, Praise, and Adoration
Leading the people in song is a time of prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, praise, and adoration. It's not a time for you to show off your skills. It's not the time for you to be a distraction. Let the people respond to their God, not the band. David poured his heart out to God through song so let the people pour their hearts out to God. Respect that time for them.

It's not your job to make the people respond but to give them the opportunity to respond in a controlled atmosphere free from as much distraction as possible. It is your job to humble yourself before the Lord and present yourself and the time given to you in leading worship to be a sacrifice, laying down your pride and self-satisfying eagerness, and be a worshipper yourself so you can lead the people of God into adoration of their most wonderful God.

Blessings,
Nick

Worship is Not...

I'll be starting a new series on the topic of what worship is not. It is highly important that as lead worshippers we don't fall into the lies of what worship is not, eventually taking glory and attention from the people that rightly belongs to God. So I ask that you take these next few blog posts as warnings to your leading and alerts to the pitfalls ahead of you.

Please follow me as we tackle the important behind-the-scenes issues of the lead worshipper's heart. Please be open to the fact that there might be some things you need to confess and repent of, as will I. Let us ask God to search our hearts and expose any evil thing in them, especially when it comes to leading His people into worship.

I leave you with these two verses:

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 'I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.'" -Jeremiah 17:9-10

"Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" -Psalms 139:23-24

Blessings,
Nick

Futile Satisfaction

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." -John Piper

We filter everything we do with the thought of "Will I be satisfied by this or in this?" No matter what comes up you will always ask yourself "How will this be good for me?" So with that in mind, what are things that you find satisfaction doing or being a part of?

Satisfaction is gratification of a desire. As humans we have desires out the wazoo! Food, water, friendship, love, sex, drugs, alcohol, sensuality, television, music, etc... But the question is what can we satisfy ourselves with that will be pleasing to God?

First and foremost, not everything is a sin. I want to make that very clear because some people want to take some of these things and declare them 100% sin. A few of these things that are not always sinful are food, sleep, sex, alcohol, drugs, and money. If these are done with boundaries and moderation, they are not sinful to satisfy yourself with. Let's stick with these for now and I'll expound upon them.

Food
Food is a huge part of the American life. Big breakfast, big lunch, big dinner, big desert, and a big midnight snack. Gluttony is a gigantic problem in our culture. We worship our stomachs and please ourselves to the point of pain and suffering just to taste the delicious food that is put before us. Proverbs 23:21 says that the glutton will come to poverty. Why? Because he is spending all of his money on more food than he needs to nourish his body. In verse 20 the Bible says that you should stay away from the glutton. Even the smallest influence can cause you you fall into the dangerous and unhealthy life of a glutton. Use food to glorify God by eating to live and not living to eat. I don't mean to say only eat what is necessary, but rather don't over-indulge yourself with food. It's more along the lines of enjoy healthy food to preserve and take care of the body God has given you.

Sleep
Oh, how we love to sleep! Many of us love sleep to the point of neglecting our responsibilities. God even mocks those who are lazy by telling them to go look at how hard the ants work! How embarrassing that we are such sluggards that God has to use ants as an example for us to be hard workers and responsible! Use your sleep to rest your body to do work for the Lord.

Sex
Uh oh! Not this topic! Yes, and please don't shun this paragraph because of the topic. Sex is a basic human desire. It is in our nature to have a sex drive. When done in the bounds of marriage between one man and one woman, it is a good thing and pleasing to God (because He created it for a husband and wife to enjoy each other and produce offspring). When engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage it is a sin. Fornication (sex before marriage), adultery (sex with some who is not your spouse), homosexual activities (sex with a person of the same sex), and beastiality (sex with animals) are all sexual activities that are regarded as sin and anyone who claims to be a Christian should be abstain from them.

Alcohol
Alcohol is a huge topic that many people get hung up on. Alcohol in and of itself is not sinful. Drinking alcohol is not sinful. It is sinful when a person become intoxicated by it, when drunkenness is brought forth by it. In moderation alcohol is okay, but that "little bit too much" can be enough to set you over the edge into sinful drunkenness. I can understand why so many people would believe and teach alcohol is a sin. Sometimes it's better for people to stay away from it. If you are tempted to drink yourself into drunkenness, stay away from it for your own soul's sake. If you feel guilty drinking alcohol, you should stay away from it. If something goes against your conscience, even if it is falls within biblical boundaries, stay away! It is a sin for you to engage in it. On a side note, if you are a Christian who drinks not to drunkenness and you find your conscience giving you an okay, then don't proclaim it to your brothers and sisters in Christ who can't drink with a clean conscience. Romans 14:22 says to keep it between yourself and God. Otherwise you are taunting them to the point of thinking you are in sin. You may even drive them to go against their conscience and sin by drinking, and that will be on your hands.

Drugs
This one won't take long to explain. Drugs are to be used to help your body and mind be in a more healthy state. If you are sick, take medication to help you get better. Anything that damages your body or alters your state of mind is a sin. Many times people get addicted to drugs and their desire is be in that altered mental state. Their flesh is gratified by the effects of the drugs beyond their helpful purpose. There are even drugs that have no other purpose except to put a person in an altered state of being.

Money
"Show me the money!" The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. If you look back at all the things I just wrote about, you will find that they can all be attained by money. Along with those things, the desire to gain wealth for yourself for the glory of yourself is sinful. Money should be looked at as gift of God to further the Gospel to all people, sustain the life of you and your family, and help those who are less fortunate than you are. Use it wisely because God has not given it to you to throw at worthless things.

There are things all throughout this life that you will have the option of satisfying yourself with. The question and responsibility you have is whether or not you will choose futile or God-pleasing satisfaction in all things.

Worship the Lord by letting your satisfaction be completely in Him always.

Blessings,
Nick