Preparation

I've always been a firm believer in preparation.

When I first decided I wanted to become a worship leader, I immediately planned my first worship set and the songs I was going to use. I also practiced all those songs on the guitar, since I wanted to use the guitar, rather than the keyboards for leading worship.

How long did I spend practising my first worship set? If I remember correctly, it was for months. I learned more songs as I learned more chords. Then I started playing guitar for worship in cell group. Even though I felt I was ready to lead worship, the cell group kept putting up other people to lead worship, people who didn't really know what they were doing either musically or spiritually. So that just went on for months while I just continued preparing, planning and practicing my worship sets. I did that even though I was not leading worship for my own cell group.

How many people would continue preparing to lead worship if that happened to them?

It was really funny, in the end I finally got to lead worship for a prayer meeting at another church. For 6 months, I led worship for their prayer meeting every week. Suddenly ALL my preparation became useful. Everything I prepared came in useful during those 6 months.

--------

I had other people telling me that they wanted to become worship leaders. And I always tell them the same thing: prepare one set of worship songs and we'll discuss that. And God knows, many times they would tell me "But I don't know when I will be leading worship!"

I tell them "It does not matter. Prepare first!"

And they never do…

Especially amongst charismatics, some people believe that preparation goes against the leading of the Holy Spirit in worship. It's sad, because it shows that they don't believe that the Holy Spirit will guide them in their preparations. They seem to think that the Holy Spirit is just waiting for the chance to throw some surprises on them to catch them off guard, and if they do not manage to follow the Holy Spirit 100% they will miss whatever blessing the Spirit of God has planned for them for that meeting.

There are two types of preparation that came to mind as I think about worship leaders.

1) Levitical Preparation -

The Levites were set apart for the service of the LORD, to serve at the Ark of the Tabernacle (Num 18:6). They initially started serving from 30 years old onwards (1 Chr 23:3) and that was later changed to 20 years of age onwards (1 Chr 23:24). But one thing remained constant – to be born into the tribe of Levi meant that you were chosen for serving God.

And that also applies to us, as New Testament believers. We are set apart as royal priests onto God (1 Peter 2:9). And just as a Levite knew from birth that he was meant to serve God, and his parents were to raise him up accordingly, so are we meant to serve God. And from the moment of our spiritual birth into the Kingdom of Heaven we should prepare ourselves with that same seriousness and dedication.

2) Prophetic Preparation -

Jewish tradition claims that Samuel set up schools of prophets. They trained people in prophecy and music (1 Sam 10:5-6). By the time of Elijah, these schools were so established that even after Jezebel had killed off many of the prophets, Obadiah could still find 100 prophets to protect (1 Kings 18:4).

For us that refers to specific training we receive for a particular ministry. Is it possible to be effective in serving in worship ministry, for example, without having gone through formal training for it? Yes. But some form of preparation IS necessary.

If even prophets, who learned to speak as they were moved by the Spirit of God (2 Peter 1:21), could benefit from being trained and mentored, how much more us worship ministers?

And the preparation never stops. Even as we step up serve with what we have, God is still continually at work within us. He wants us to get ready for further service.

• Are you serving God on just one music instrument? God may be nudging you to learn another.
  
• Are you leading worship with only a few familiar songs? I am certain God is nudging you to learn more. Why am I certain? Because the Bible doesn't talk about worshiping God with new styles of music or new instruments. But the Scripture DOES tall about singing a new song to the LORD (Psa 33:3, 96:1, 144:9). And if we want to emphasize what the Bible emphasizes, we need to pay more attention to learning and using new songs in worship as well.
  
• Are you limited in your music instrument skill? God may be nudging you to get out of familiar ground, to learn something new on your instrument or just patch up the weaknesses you have.
  
  Quite a lot of keyboardists I know can't play comfortably in all the keys often used for a worship set. If they are using a keyboard that can transpose they may think they are doing OK. Don't be lazy! Just put in the practice and you will get the skills. And you'll make it easier for your worship leader to flow with the Spirit of God and the dynamics of the people during the worship set.

Conclusion:

Get started! If you have not started serving yet, keep preparing. As I learned from my early worship leading experience, your preparation is something God can use. If you are already serving, I hope this post will stir up within you the desire to prepare yourself for the next step in your ministry as well, to keep pressing on to fulfil the work God has planned for you to accomplish in Christ Jesus.

Be blessed!

Why Look to David?

One thing I have learned the HARD way - don't head over to any worship forums for a 'quick' look just before bedtime. The questions and thoughts I get can have me so excited I can't sleep!

One recent example is this question Peter Goh brought up on Worship the Rock. He pointed out that many Christian leaders teach worship from the Old Testament models of worship, such as Levitical worship or David's materials instead of looking at the New Testament. In John 4:23 Jesus revealed that there would be a massive change in the nature of worship "... a time is coming and has now come (NIV)" so why look at the older models of worship if God doesn't think they are good enough?

John 4:23 (NIV) - Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

To start we first need to look at what it means to worship in spirit and in truth. I wrote about it in detail before but to quickly sum up, to worship in spirit is to relate to God on the basis of our relationship with him through our new birth (John 3:5-6) rather than what we can achieve out of our flesh (Phil 3:3). And to worship in truth is to realize that there is nothing for which we can claim any credit or glory for, since every good we have done, including our worship, all came from God and was done through God in the first place (John 3:21).

This is a simple definition of spirit and truth, looking at John 3 and letting Scripture interpret Scripture. We can also say that to worship in spirit and truth is to relate to God based on the new covenant. And the new covenant means that all our sins are forgiven (Heb 8:12) and therefore we have a very good reason for total confidence and boldness in approaching God (Heb 10:19-22). Therefore praising God is a very natural fruit of such revelation (Heb 13:15).

The contemporary worship scene is more influenced by the Davidic model than the Levitical model (many people aren't keen to go back to sacrificing animals) so for now let's just consider: Why Look At David? I'll give a couple of reasons.

Firstly, David had an understanding of God that far exceeded what the Scriptures available to him revealed. We can see him as being very much a new covenant worshipper in the following areas:

1) He saw himself as a son of God - He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.' (Psalm 89:26, NIV)

2) He knew he needed the forgiveness of God and that God was willing to forgive - Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD "-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:5, NIV)

3) He knew that he had nothing in and of himself to offer God, and that whatever he had came from God in the first place - Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand (1 Chron 29:14, NIV).

People can argue over whether David was worshipping God in spirit and in truth. But what is obvious to us is that David, because of the faith he displayed in worshipping God, shows us very clearly how we ought to relate to God as new covenant believers. David was so confident in God that he believed his songs were more precious to God than even the animal sacrifices required by the Levitical priesthood.

I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. (Psalm 69:30-31, NIV)

How many of us have THAT level of confidence when we sing to God? Or do we come to God with trepidation, not believing in the fullness of the finished work of Christ? Remember, without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). David definitely had the faith that pleased God. We would do well to learn from him.

Secondly, the New Testament points us towards the Davidic model of worship. We know that the whole of Scripture is God-breathed by his Spirit (2 Tim 3:16) and yet there are three specific parts of Scripture explicitly tied to the Spirit of God. They are

1) The Words of Jesus (the words in red) - The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63, NIV);

2) Old Testament prophecies - For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.(2 Pet 1:21, NIV); AND

3) The Psalms - be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph 5:18-19, NKJV).

And God considers the Psalms, the fruit of the Davidic model of worship, so important, that we are admonished twice (Eph 5:18-19, Col 3:16) to feed on them, to talk to God and each other about them. And we have a direct endorsement of the Davidic model given us in Acts 15:16, when James declared that the Gentiles (non-Jews) turning to Jesus is a fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy announcing God's intention to rebuild David's tabernacle (Amos 9:11-12). If God likes the David model of worship so much that he wants to restore it, and even ties the salvation of non-Jews to its restoration, it must be something VERY important to God.

And that means it ought to be important to us also.

Disclaimer: I'll be the first to admit that there are problems with the way some people look at the David model of worship. I personally disagree with using the Davidic model of worship to justify a song-and-dance routine that is based on professional worshippers rather than the entire body of Christ. And that's because of 1 Peter 2:9 which teaches us that ALL of us are royal priests, called to declare God's praises.

But even though there are people who misunderstand the Davidic model of worship, there will always be something useful for us to glean from it (as from ALL Scripture, 2 Tim 3:16). And I believe that we will understand the Davidic Model more and more in the future, as we continue to humble ourselves before God and ask that he open our eyes that we may see wonderful things in His law (Psalm 119:18).

May God himself teach us from His word and make us fruitful in His service!

P.S. if you are not yet on my Invisible Worship Musician mailing list, get over to my page and get in now! I'm going to hold a special sale to celebrate my upcoming California ministry trip. Stay tuned!