Is THAT the best you can do?

Jeff Foo and I were at the coffee shop near my block eating dinner. We were talking about the notation in my book and worship ministry in general. And he mentioned something VERY interesting about Elijah fleeing from Jezebel after he challenged the prophets of Baal.

For those of you who need the reminder, the Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a showdown in 1 Kings 18. He called down fire from heaven in the name of the LORD God of Israel when the prophets of Baal couldn’t. The Israelites who saw it repented from Baal worship and killed the prophets of Baal. Great victory, right?

But in 1 Kings 19, when Jezebel heard about the entire incident she sent Elijah a death threat. And at that Elijah turned and fled. After facing down 450 prophets of Baal, one woman could frighten him? That didn’t make sense to me for years. Until Jeff offered his conjecture: maybe Elijah felt that calling down fire from heaven was the strongest card in his deck? And if Jezebel rejected that he had no cards left to play?

When studying human motivation, a key technique is to watch out for the turning point in the behavior. What you suspect a motivation to be MUST be able to explain all the subject’s decisions. For example, when Macbeth was being goaded by Lady Macbeth to kill King Duncan (that’s from Shakespeare, for all you non-literature-savvy people) he kept resisting the temptation, giving all kinds of noble sounding reasons, until Lady Macbeth told him how he could perform the foul deed and yet not get caught. And with that he immediately changed his mind and agreed to the murder. This showed that all his noble sounding reasons were just a cover-up for his fear of being caught.

Applying this to Elijah’s odd behavior, we have the perfect explanation now. He subconsciously assumed that once he pulled off his great feat there was nothing significant he needed to add. And so Jezebel’s opposition, irrational and mild compared to what he just accomplished, threw him mentally off-balance, sent him running for his life, and left him despondent and suicidal.

It’s all interesting theory, great speculation, until it happens to YOU. And this has been my experience ever since I last posted.

You see, I subconsciously assumed that once I complete my book I would have a breeze with everything else after that. I chose to release my work as an e-book via the internet to cut out the hassle of huge publishing and publicity costs of an actual physical product. I also found a point-and-click e-commerce service that was (so I thought) able to help me with all the techie stuff while I just relax and take a well deserved break. (If you don’t agree that I deserve a break, go write YOUR own book!)

Then I ran into loads of grief over the website. It seems that I signed up for the service just when they were transferring THEIR servers, so their point-and-click had glitches that season. And because of that I bypassed their point-and-click to use cpanel to upload my html and other files. In the meantime I went into the tags of the autoresponder system that came with my e-commerce package (using the time-tested method called trail-and-error) to prepare all the follow-up I carefully crafted for my site and e-book. I also had to create an additional SQL database (to install an automated digital delivery system) and work out various FTP details in order to register the above system. Let’s not forget settling the online payment system and getting that set up. And the ioncubes! How could anyone possibly forget the ioncubes! And now the whole thing just flipped on me, and I keep getting an internal server error anywhere I go on my precious website. *sniff*

Now tell me honestly, did anything in my previous paragraph make it sound like I actually KNEW what I was doing? ‘cause I don’t. It was like watching someone else do it. You know how you can watch kung-fu movies, see the stunts and yet not know how to do it yourself? That kind of feeling.

One of my techie friends, with whom I shared the story, was amazed at how quickly I grew to manipulate the various elements of techie world, and amused at how I could describe me doing his day-by-day activities as high drama.

When you run into unexpected problems (no, they weren’t problems, they were tragedies!) you have to watch your emotions, because anything can trigger you off and you can take things personally. Check out Elijah’s emotional state:

1 Kings 19:14 - He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." (NIV)

And this is how he describes things just after he brought the people of Israel back to repentance. You can figure out what his emotional state was like, I mean, absolutely no mention of the great victory the LORD just worked through him. And he also exaggerated his problems too. It was actually one person, Jezebel, who wanted his life, and yet he said “they (meaning a whole group) are trying to kill me…”

That is what was happening to me too. Even the support personnel’s email saying that he was going on leave, and was handing my case over to his colleagues made me think, “What? Trying to fix MY problems got him so stressed out that he needed to go on leave?” *SOB!!!*

And at this point, it was Jeff’s conjecture that helped me keep my perspective. In the light of the rest of my available ministry time on this planet, is my book the very best I could do? Or does God have even higher mountains for me to scale, even more revelation for me to share and even greater deeds for me to accomplish?

In other words, can I still learn more and do more, even the techie stuff?

The reason I am sharing all the above with you all is not to garner sympathy for myself. Right now I don’t want sympathy, I want my website running properly! (And besides, I’m sure more of you are laughing at me than sympathizing with me…) I am sharing it because we tend to have subconscious limits to what we think we can accomplish in Christ. And when we pull off what we consider our absolute best (overcoming cancer, writing a book, building a successful ministry or business), any minor setback or glitch after that can drive us to despair, because we don’t believe we can do any more, that we’ve got no better cards in our deck to play.

So let me tell you right now: whatever you’ve done so far may be your best for now. But as you continue to grow to maturity in Christ, you will find that you can do more and achieve more. Your best will keep growing and growing, and will grow to include even things you NEVER thought you’d be able to do (like me and html…)

OK, here’s the unplanned update on the continuing epic saga of JJ and his precious e-book. Hopefully (and prayerfully) the next update is about my site being up and running, and you can all buy my e-book then (was that hint subtle enough?) J

Be blessed, everyone!

5 loaves and 2 fishes

I was at Acts Centre last Sunday and the pastor preached on Jesus feeding the multitudes, first the 5 thousand with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, then the 4 thousand with 7 loaves. I found it interesting that in the account of the feeding given in the Gospel of John, it was Jesus who took the initiative and drew his disciples’ attention to the hunger of the crowd.

“Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:5, NIV)

And the answer from Philip was about how expensive it would be to just give each person in the crowd just a bite. I think he was probably surprised that Jesus would even think about feeding the people, and pressurized at the enormity of the idea, finding food for so many. I mean, it was a remote place. Who’d set up a bakery there?

Applying that thought to the worship ministry, when I first looked at the task of teaching praise and worship to the rest of the body of Christ I felt pressurized too. The task was enormous and the responsibility was heavy. “God, why not you send something else?” Well, it seems that I am not the first to want heavy responsibilities passed to someone else. The disciples did the same thing.

Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said “Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging…” He replied “You give them something to eat.” (Luke 9:12, 13, NIV)

And when the disciples failed to push the task away, they were then struck with how woefully inadequate their resources were for feeding the people.

“Here is a boy with 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (John 6:9, NIV)

And that’s what I felt too. I know what I do is effective. But would I be able to teach it correctly to other people? And how will I be able to serve so many people, when I am only just 1 person?

We know how that whole crowd-feeding incident turned out. Jesus blessed the bread, the food multiplied and the disciples fed the people with the food Jesus multiplied for them.

All this came to mind as I was organizing my materials for the book. I looked through my blog to see if there was stuff I could reuse in my book. I soon realized that a lot of what I posted there isn’t really relevant to the book, so I can’t just copy, paste and edit. And yet I came up with 16 chapters of material on various topics. Most of those topics I never mentioned before on the blog.

And I remember when I first started the blog. Do you know that I only had 4 topics in mind when I started this blog? I could only think of 4 topics to blog and email you all about. What was I going to do once I run out of things to write about? And now the whole blog has grown and grown, and from the looks of things will continue to grow even if I consciously keep out things that I might develop into more teaching materials.

The 5 loaves and 2 fishes I offered to him multiplied. It’s an awesome feeling.

And of course, I am proud that I have not used my blog as a complaints department to rant and bemoan all the unfair things that have happened to me in my life. Growing the volume of my blog in that way (like many others do) is not something to be proud of, right?

Anyway, my book is pretty much done. I am now editing it to make it more readable and clear. When I started to write this book I wanted to make it a basic reference text for all my students, so that I need not repeat certain things over and over again. My students will also have a ready answer if they are questioned about some of the more non-conformist things they are taught. And now that it is done, I really can’t see how I can possibly top this project. There is a sense of completion to it, that anything else I do will build upon what I have written about in this book, but this book can achieve what it set out to do just by itself. It stands alone.

Anyway I have decided that when the book is done I’ll give all of you on my list an opportunity to buy it first at half-price. That window of opportunity will only last a few days, because after that I’ll have to raise the prices to pay for the advertising of the book and for the commissions of those who help me market it. So once the website is up I strongly urge you to go there and get your copy of the book as quickly as possible.

So that’s about it for this update. There’s still a lot within my heart that I can’t really put words to for now, but I’ll post it up in due time. Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement this season. It means a lot to me, and I really appreciate it. Be blessed, everyone!

Submitting to Judgment

The book is completed! I’ve finished putting down everything that I wanted to say, what I believe will be a firm foundation of knowledge and understanding for anyone aspiring to the worship ministry. Thank God!

It was a difficult journey, because writing the book forced me to clearly define my position and make my stand really clear. In doing so I became even more convinced of the importance of what I am sharing in this book. Is the hardest part over for me? No. Now I’ve to submit my book to pastors for judgment.

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. (1 Corinthians 14:29, NKJV)

In my book I quote that verse and apply it to musicians who claim that they are playing prophetically by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I say that if they are not willing to submit their playing for judgment, they do not have the right heart for the ministry of playing prophetically.

Now that I’ve written my book and spoken out what I believe God is telling me to speak, I’ve got to do the same thing. And it’s really scary…

Why? Because I am not confident of my Scriptural interpretations? No. I am extremely confident, and in my book I have boldly spoken out on the many errors that I’ve come across in the worship ministry. Even a popular worship song that has lyrics that are based on a misinterpretation of Scripture hasn’t been spared, you know, the one that implies that we are to bring God MORE than a song, for a song in itself is not what God requires. The lyrics state that God goes much deeper within than the way things appear and he looks right into the heart.

The scary part is this: all it took for me to discover that the song in question was a misinterpretation of Scripture was a quick flip to the original passage and having an elementary understanding of the concept of sacrifice in worship. Many sincere people in worship ministry, pastors included, have missed this obvious error. And instead of feeling superior to them I keep asking myself: Is there a Scripture interpretation I am teaching that has an error that is so extreme and obvious but I have missed it?

I’m sure the writer of the song in question would be heart-broken if he ever discovered that he has taught the wrong idea to God’s people. I know I would be…
And so I humbly ask for help, for pastors who would be willing to help me judge my book. Just as I submit my playing prophetically to the judgment of the worship leaders and the rest of the musicians I play with, so do I now submit my message to the judgment and evaluation of people God has called to the ministry of shepherding his people and teaching his word.

And there have been responses already from pastors who have offered their help. And I am thankful. Some of you didn’t get my email asking for help (those of you using hotmail, I noticed), so I’m telling you all again: I’ve finished the text of my book (the music notation’s not included yet) and I’m looking for pastors willing to help me with proof-reading my Scripture interpretations. So if you know pastors who are willing to help me out, get me in touch with them so that I can ask them for help.

Do continue to keep me in prayer during this season. God willing, the book will be released by the last week of this month. Pray that I will continue to remain strong, courageous and teachable at this time. Thanks, everyone! Be blessed!

Bible Regime

“…reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.” (1 Tim 4:7, NKJV)

Though you know by now that I am a worship leader and musician, not a Bible teacher, a number of people have commented favorably about my grasp of Scripture. I’ve been asked if I was a seminary student at some time. Flattering!

For those of you who have the New Year’s resolution to have a firmer grasp on God’s word this 2008, I decided to share two of my basic attitudes that have helped me tremendously in this area.

The first is found in 1 Tim 4:7, “…exercise yourself toward godliness.” The NIV has it as “…train yourself to be godly.” This tells me two things: first, that godliness is NOT natural for us. If it was we wouldn’t need to train ourselves for it, right? Second, that godliness can be uncomfortable. We need training to get past the stage of discomfort and godliness becomes a trained reflex, an ingrained reaction.

Applying it to the Bible, it means that if we want to know the Bible, we need to put in sustained consistent effort on a particular aspect of it. Talk with runners and sportsmen, people who are intimately acquainted with the nature of exercise, and they will tell you that you will not get the full benefits of a particular exercise by doing it just once and leaving it alone for a year. They will recommend doing the same exercises daily, or at least 3-4 times a week, for 4-6 weeks. So if we take this idea and apply to studying the Bible, we should have 4-6 weeks of reading the same book, chapters or verses over and over again in order to get intimately familiar with it. 

One thing you will discover though, is that once you start getting into the swing of seriously studying one part of the Bible, you take less time to understand other parts. After I spent a lot of time training myself in the book of Psalms, (I tried to memorize about 30 Psalms, spent more than a year on them) I found that I could recall other parts of the Bible (like the Gospels) more easily when I needed them. This did not make sense to me when I first started, but now I realized that, after all, it’s all by the same writer, the Holy Spirit, right?

The second idea that has been useful to me is that of the Scripture being food. In Hebrews 5:12 the truths of God’s word are both milk (for infants) and solid food (for the mature). Here’s something to ponder: Do you honestly think a baby contentedly feeding at his mother’s breast understands or is aware in any way about the immunoglobins, antibodies and the colostrum in his mother’s milk? And is he shortchanged in any way by his lack of understanding or awareness?

I knew that in Matthew 13:19 it says that if we do not understand the word of the Kingdom sown into us, the wicked one snatches the word away. But here’s my question: how then can we get ourselves to the point when we do understand God’s word?

“Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you to understand all these things.” (2 Tim 2:7, International Standard Version)

And the word for ‘think’ in that passage is noieo, which literally means “to exercise the mind towards” (Strongs #3539). Yes, the idea of exercise again! That suggests to me that the understanding will not always come easily, but that we need to spend time on the Word, thinking about it.

Our job is to think, to meditate, and to exercise our minds towards God’s word. The Lord’s role is to give the understanding. If we do not fulfill our role in this matter, we are making it difficult for the Lord to fulfill his.

The key point of what I am sharing is this. Very often we hear testimonies of people sharing about encountering God in a very real way in his word. They tell us about how the eyes of their understanding were opened on that special occasion and share the powerful insights they receive from the Bible. And we go back home, open up our Bibles, and, like every other day, nothing much happens, at least, nothing that we can see, feel or even articulate in words. And we think that means nothing is happening within us as we feed on God’s word.

Because we want something tangible quickly, it is tempting in this day and age to let other people do the thinking and studying of God’s word for us and then turn up for their Bible study classes. That way we at least have some information that we can share or articulate with other people, and we believe that we have benefited from the time spent exposing ourselves to the Bible.

Also take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17, International Standard Version)

Having spent a significant amount of time training in kenjutsu (Japanese fencing) believe me when I say that you can truly acquire skill in using a sword not by simply watching others swing theirs around, but taking one up yourself and seriously spending time on it.

It takes time to get really familiar with a tool to the point when you can use it not only for its obvious applications, but for others which are not so obvious. There will be seasons of frustration when you think you aren’t making any progress at all. But you have to persevere through these seasons in order to reap the benefits of regular consistent training.

So it is with God’s word. Talk with those who spent years in full-time study of God’s word. You will discover that most of the time it was ho-hum and nothing exciting. And yet through that time God was sharpening their understanding of his word. But it takes faith and patience to persevere to that point they have such a grasp of the scriptures.

Do your best to present yourself to God as an approved worker who has nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of truth with precision. (2 Tim 2:15, ISV)

During difficult seasons, I faced the upheavals and trials oftentimes using the very same passages that have brought me through previous tough times. When everything is changing and not all the changes are good, facing difficulties with a familiar sword in hand (the crisis Psalms, what else?) is a source of comfort. The more familiar we are with the Scriptures, the better we can adapt to the increasing challenges we face as we mature in Christ.

Well, here are my thoughts on becoming skilled in our handling of God’s word. I am sure there are other viewpoints and ideas that are useful also, but I thought sharing my own ideas on this might be useful to some of you.

So have a great and blessed 2008, and may God’s word come alive to you even more than it has before!

Standing Your Ground

It's amazing how writing a book can bring back so many memories. "THIS is how I learned the right way. THAT was when I really got it. THAT was the day I finally understood." And so on and so forth. God has been gracious to teach me many things, especially in the area of praise and worship.

When you place yourself in a position to learn things from God, expect a lot of trouble to come into your life. Look at this passage:
 

Hebrews 10:32 (NIV) - Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.

When did the Hebrew believers encounter great suffering? After they received the light. And that is what you should expect also. Expect opposition and suffering after you receive the light about something. What kind of light did the Hebrew believers receive?

Hebrews 10:35-36 (NIV) - So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

From this passage we see that they received the light about the promises of God. Whenever we receive any promise of God, the Devil will try to intimidate us away from standing firmly and confidently in it. The last thing the Evil One wants is for us to persevere in the promises of God to the point when we receive what God has promised. Why? Because he knows that once we know that we can receive one promise from God, we can receive another. And another. And another. Once that happens the only limit we have is the word of God. The Devil's only hope is to try and stop us before we get to that point.

By the way, this is why for me I see the receiving of the first promise of God as a major turning point in the growth of any believer, because he/she then learns two important lessons: First: God's word can be depended upon; Second: it is possible to outlast the Devil!

All that is when we receive light from God.

What happens when we receive great revelations?

2 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV) - "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."

People have debated the meaning of this passage for ages. Many have taken it to refer to physical infirmity. Many have also wrongly used it to describe their own troubles in this life. I personally don't believe it refers to physical infirmity. Why? Because in the Bible thorns in the flesh have NEVER been used to describe infirmity. In fact, they have been used only to describe people.

Numbers 33:55 (NIV) - But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.

And another point: we need to remember that Paul was given a thorn in the flesh ONLY after he received surpassingly great revelations. How many of us can say that we have received great revelations? If we haven't, then let's not think too highly of ourselves by calling our problems that or using Paul's experience to justify our own…

But what WAS Paul's thorn in the flesh? I am sharing this with you because I believe that some of you are right now at the point of receiving great revelation from God. Some of you will do so in the future and I want you to be prepared and not blindsided by the Devil.

Let's go word for word into this:

The thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan. What do messengers do? They bring messages, right? What was that message from Satan? When we look into Job 1 and Zechariah 3:1-2, we see that Satan accuses and condemns. Therefore, the message that Paul was afflicted with was the message of accusation and condemnation. THAT was his thorn in the flesh.

For us, in our modern vernacular, the messenger of Satan might say "Who do you think you are? What makes you think God will show you things from Scripture that others have not seen? And who are you to carry this revelation anyway? You are demonstrating the very heights of presumptuousness! Just look at your life!"

By the way, the "Just look at your life" line is one of the best lines ever invented by the Devil. Because it naturally slants us towards looking at our lives in terms of where we are weak and struggling, not where we have seen the workings of God's grace and victory. Sneaky, right?

But whatever the line, whatever the accusation, the end purpose of Satan is the same: to get us to stop looking at the God who entrusted the revelation to us, to stop sharing that revelation with the body of Christ and to get us all wrapped up with ourselves, our shortcomings, our failures and our weaknesses rather than Jesus. Don't let him succeed!

2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV) - That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Weaknesses in any area of our lives give us the choice: will we look to ourselves or look to God? Insults sting ONLY if there is some element of truth in them. Will we let that element of truth bring us down? Or will we look to the grace of God that covers our shortfall? Hardships can lead us to doubt the undeserved favor God freely gives us. The accuser will often present the hardships as our own fault (often quite true) and therefore that we are unworthy of carrying the revelations and truths of God.

That's why we go back to God's grace for everything.

Even our sacrifices of praise are acceptable only when offered through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 13:15) and the only way to nullify the work of Christ in our lives is to seek to be made right with God through obeying God's law (Galatians 5:4) Which shows the sheer wickedness of Satan's accusations, because if we listen to it we will either give up (which is what he wants) or try harder to live a better life (which nullifies the work of Christ in our lives, which also serves his purpose).

The point of all that I am saying is this: I am in and of myself unworthy of carrying the revelations that God has entrusted me. Those of you who know me better know my past, my weaknesses and my struggles. It wasn't my hours spent in Scripture each day or my dedication in ministry that qualified me for all these revelations. It is entirely of the grace of God that I know what I know today. And God wants me to teach, share and impart it with the rest of the body of Christ while looking to his finished work on the cross, not at my own weaknesses and failings.

And that is what God wants you to know as well.

You have your own role to play in the body of Christ. Your effectiveness in that role will depend a lot on how much revelation you have received in that area. And when revelation comes, accusation will usually follow, to try and shake your confidence and intimidate you from continuing. Don't let it succeed! Remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! It will be sufficient for you, to sustain you and carry you through.

"He who began a good work in you…"

Be blessed, everyone!

Are Your Days Numbered?

Earlier this year I shared with you about my friend dying from cancer. As you might have guessed, losing a friend to cancer before she was even 30 hit me quite deeply. Couple of weeks ago I got the news that the lead singer of the first band I played with died in a diving accident. Two friends gone, within a year…

“So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12, NASB)

What does it mean to number our days? To count them? Try this test. Without taking out a calculator, how many days do you think an average human will live on this earth? If we take 80 years as a normal life span, it’s 29220 days (including leap years). 

That’s not that many, is it? When we start to treasure and account our days to God, the Scripture says that we will present to God a heart of wisdom. The NASB suggests that we already have a heart of wisdom, but some of us are not presenting (showing) it to God in our day to day living.

I personally hold some reservations about deriving any Scriptural interpretations and teaching solely from Psalm 90. Why? Because there are some verses in it that do not apply to us as New Testament believers. For example, verse 8 says “You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.” Does that verse apply to us today?

Hebrews 8:11-12 (NASB) “for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more.”

We can see then that not all of Psalm 90 is applicable to us. But how about the admonition to number our days?

“Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17, Amplified)

In this passage, making most of the time, treasuring and making use of every day, is deemed wise. Whatever measure of wisdom God has given me has largely been the result of this attitude I hold, that everyday is precious and not to be wasted. Try it, it’s amazing how much clearer your thinking becomes when you begin to number your days unto the Lord.

Another practice that will help is journaling. It gives you a good snapshot of where you were before, where you are now, and probably where you will be in the future. You will start to see themes emerge more clearly than if you did not journal. You will also see more of God’s hand at work in your life, just because you decided that you wanted to remember them and took the effort and time to note them down.

One thing about the death of the lead singer of my first band (other than the fact that our reunion tour is gonna be postponed indefinitely) is that it also made me ask questions about what kind of legacy I want to leave behind in this world, and what do I want to invest my time into.

You all know that training people in worship leading is something very important to me. The death of my friend has given me that sense of urgency to codify and set down my worship teachings for people. So I’m officially announcing it to all of you now: I’m writing a book!

This book will explain all the foundational truths that make up my worship teaching. It will include Scripture teachings as well as technical explanations for musicians about how to play REAL worship music, music that really works in ministering to God’s people in worship. This book will take my 13+ years of experience in the worship ministry and distill it so that people can take it and run with it. Just so you know, the last two posts, Why Get Technical? and Worshiping the Heart will certainly be in the book. (In fact, I initially wrote them just for the book, but later decided to share them publicly.)

So pray for me, people, that God will give me the right words to use as I write this book. Pray also that I will use my time effectively to finish this book as soon as possible. Finally, pray that I will be led by the Lord in deciding what to include in the book. Thanks, everyone!

The Heart of Worship? Or worshipping the heart?

“God can use anyone to lead worship, as long as this person has the right amount of money.”

That person is a great worship leader, she really has the money for worship.”

If anyone ever said that to you, how would you react?

I can get imagine all the believers with even an iota of Scripture knowledge drawing their Bibles out to set the misguided soul right. They’ll quote Matt 13:22, when Jesus spoke of the deceitfulness of wealth, Psalm 62:10 when it says “though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” (NIV) and some people maybe even 1 Timothy 6:17 in which the rich are commanded not to put their hope in wealth, because it is so uncertain.

What about those who say “God can use anyone to lead worship, as long as this person has the right heart”? Or those who say “That person is a great worship leader, she really has the heart for worship”? Does not the Scripture say “The heart is deceitful above all things (even wealth) and beyond cure”? (Jeremiah 17:9, NIV) Why do we allow people to hold on to one unscriptural idea but not another?

But that is what happens when people are told to depend on the heart. It has become such a part of accepted worship leading ‘theology’ that people will hold fast to it even when the Scripture teaches otherwise…

Someone may say “But the Scripture says “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV) and “We are not trying to please men, but God, who tests our hearts.” (1 Thess 2:4, NIV)”

Yes, the LORD looks at the heart. He tests the heart. But what does he render onto us? “I, the LORD, test the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:10, NIV) Why? Could it be that if he was to reward us according to the heart, which Scripture says is deceitful above all things, we’ll ALL be doomed?

“Who can say “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?” (Proverbs 20:9, NIV)

Yes, this is the conclusion that we are heading towards since my last post. The teaching that says having a heart of worship as the key to success in leading worship is asking us to put our trust in what Scripture has taught us is deceitful and cannot be depended upon.

Someone once disparagingly said “JJ thinks God shows his hand when he leads worship because of his techniques and his theology.” Well, let’s evaluate the theology of those who look at the heart and see if it is something we want to accept.

If you place heart over technique, you’ll have to explain why many people who have good hearts are ineffective, or effective only some of the time. And you can do that only by finding other hearts to blame (the pastor, the congregation, the ministry team, the rest of the people in that denomination). Or by presenting God to his people as being inconsistent and capricious, blessing his people with his manifested presence one time and not another.

Imagine a father who will provide for his children financially, oversee their education and development, and even communicate with them, but only from a distance. If his children want to meet up face to face or receive his embrace, their eldest sibling will have to struggle and sweat to in order to lead the rest of the children into the meeting, with little assurance that he will do it right and the children can earn the privilege of his presence. We’ll see such a father as being mentally sick, emotionally abusing his children, with the eldest sibling being the most abused.

But when you present the heart (deceitful above all things) of the worship leader or musicians as being the determining factor in leading people into God’s presence, this is exactly how you are presenting God to his people.

Contrast that with presenting the correct technicalities as being the key to leading God’s people into his presence. Yes, it’s so easy! It’s almost mechanical in its ease and simplicity, such that people with little exposure to performance music will naturally use the correct technicalities. I present God to his people and the worship leaders as being so approachable, that there are simple things we can do to encounter God’s embrace.

And I have full confidence in presenting God to his people in this way. Because the Scripture tells me “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10:19-22, NIV) Jesus died to make it so easy for us to enter into God’s presence. Should we present it to his people as being difficult?

Then how about motivation? Should we see the motives of the heart as a valid concern? In order words, what if people do the right things but for the wrong reasons? How does the Apostle Paul view this issue of motives?

“It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” (Philippians 1:15-18, NIV)

It’s clear that to him, as long as the right things are done, even with the wrong motives, it’s worth rejoicing. He doesn’t seem as bothered by it as some are these days. Why?

“I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:3-6, NIV)

The Apostle Paul teaches us this. First, now is NOT the time to judge the heart, that’s only when the Lord comes back. Second, and more importantly, he teaches that when the motives of our hearts are exposed, it is a certainty that we will receive praise from God. Even when we doubt our own motives or the motivations of others, the Apostle Paul is certain that God will judge our motives as right.

How could he be so confident? Maybe he believes that “…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

When it comes to the heart, there are two theological positions you could hold. First, that Jeremiah 17:9 applies even to those in Christ, and the promise of Ezekiel 36:26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (NIV), does not apply yet but sometime in the future. If you do you’ll have to conclude that the heart is not something that the Scripture teaches us is a crucial component of being successful in leading worship (or any other ministry).

Or you can subscribe to the view that Ezekiel 36:26-27 is for us believers right now and Philippians 1:6 means that our hearts are pure in the sight of God already. If so, the hearts of ineffective worship leaders are just as holy in the sight of God as the hearts of the effective ones. Whichever theological position you hold, you will still have to conclude that the heart cannot be the core component to success and effectiveness in worship ministry. You will have to then look at the correct technicalities, those that serve the congregation.

I believe by now I have made it quite clear why I see successfully leading worship as more about the correct technicalities rather than the heart. I've also explained why you wouldn't want to believe otherwise. Pray for me that I'll continue to be able to express my thoughts clearly. There are still even more issues from Praise and Worship Inc. that I need to address in the future. Ok, thanks everyone!

Why Get Technical?

"For God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. (1 Corin 1:27, Ampl)

When I tell people that I train people in praise and worship, the most common admonition I get is "Remember, tell them it's more about the heart than about technicalities."

Now I used to believe that too, because that was what I was taught from the very beginning of my worship ministry life. Then I started actively serving and leading worship, as well as studying people who were effective in leading worship and those who were not. I also developed what people still find an irritating habit, that of checking out clichés and conventional 'wisdom' in the light of Scripture to see if they were biblical or not.

And the more I tested that teaching against the reality of life experience and the truth of God's word, the more I found that to be an erroneous idea, one that hinders rather than helps God's people in encountering God. I found that effective worship leaders all had a few things in common, regardless of denomination, music background, singing skill, personal devotional life and even ministry experience. They would observe certain technicalities, either by accident or on purpose. Through my personal experiences and observing these people, I have come to the conviction that successfully leading God's people in worship is far more about getting the technicalities right rather than the heart.

Now before people start stoning me for going against what they've taken as holy writ, let me specify what I mean by technicalities for leading worship. I'm talking about pitching songs in a key comfortable for the congregation to sing in, how congregations differ in singing range and how to provide musical support that unifies the worship and points the people to God rather than the musician. And of course other ideas and issues as well, all based on supporting the worship leader and serving the congregation.

Some of you have been my students from the very start of your musical journey. You wanted to learn praise and worship music, and from the very beginning I have taught you with all these factors in mind. So all these ideas aren't new to you. But those who have previous music training, or have me come in to work with you halfway in your ministry journey, are almost always surprised to find that it is so much easier to play what works for worship than to play what doesn't work. It's so much easier, such that beginner worship musicians usually stumble across a few powerful core principles by accident, use them and see God's people being blessed in worship.

In fact, this is usually what happens at the very beginning. We have a small church or fellowship group with only one person willing to step forth and serve in worship. He/she usually plays a beat-up guitar, knows only a few songs (even fewer chords) but offers it onto God in worship. Because he/she only knows a few songs, they keep doing the same song over and over again, and as the people sing louder he/she plays louder, bringing the congregation to a powerful encounter with God. (Core techniques, very naturally used by people with little exposure to performance music)

But once the church grows and the worship ministry expands, this same worship leader is pressurized into doing what other more established worship ministries do, which is to play performance music. The pressure is subtle, the big churches, the overseas churches, the "worship" CDs are doing it. You head over to the praise and worship section of a Christian book shop and that is what you'll find too. Let me restate my position. I classify something as either worship music or performance music not based on the hearts of the people producing it (I'm not God, who am I to judge the heart?) but on the effect on the congregation, whether it draws the people into singing God's praises.

Of course, performance music is attractive both to the musicians and the congregation. It sounds better, fuller and far more interesting. But it encourages people to sit back and listen rather than stand up and worship. It does not invite participation And when the congregation doesn't participate in worship because the music hinders rather than helps, people usually blame the heart, either that of the congregation, the worship leader or the musicians. (for more on this, re-read my post "Get Outta Their Way!")

Because what works for worship is actually very natural for people to do, I find that worship training is very often stating and explaining the obvious, what is natural for people to do. And I also teach the reasons behind the techniques, so that in future you can test all ideas against the criteria of whether any idea or technique you are taught will serve the people or distract them.

I am teaching you, in terms of praise and worship, how to "…test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." (1 Thess 5:21-22, NIV) And you test by the criteria of serving the congregation.

What never ceases to sadden me is how hard some people resist this. They want to see worship and worship leading as the same thing. And they want to use their sincerity and heart as the justification for doing things their way at the expense of the congregation. Are they justified in holding that attitude?

"I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed." (Romans 15:30-32, NIV)

The Apostle Paul, whom we most associate with going fearlessly into dangerous situations to preach difficult messages, wrote the above passage. He would teach, admonish and rebuke with all authority. He was certainly not a man-pleaser. And yet in the midst of his boldness and confidence he urged the believers in Rome to pray, not that God will be pleased with what he did, but that his service would be acceptable to the saints. He saw himself as a servant of God's people. He valued serving God's people effectively. Shouldn't we?

At the core of it all, the people who teach that worship leading is more about the heart than about technicalities have confused worshiping God with leading worship for his people. They teach what applies to worshiping God and apply it to leading worship at congregational level. That's a massive mistake. Worshipping God is about giving attention to God, leading worship requires you to also give attention to God's people, to serve them. Scripture teaches that they both come under different rules. (Will teach on that soon).

May I just share my heart openly? The reason why I am so serious about technique over heart being more important is this: I am an effective worship leader. I unify the praises of God's people easily and effectively. And I do it better than many other worship leaders I know.

If effectiveness in leading worship is more about heart than technique, then we have to conclude that my heart is better, purer and holier than those other worship leaders. And some of these are people who have shown their hearts by faithfully serving for years. People who have held on to God in the midst of trials that I would probably have collapsed under. People who have so edified me by how humble and teachable they are, willing to give me a hearing even if they've been serving God even longer than I've been a believer.

If you believe and teach that the heart is more important a factor than technique in leading worship, you will be insulting the sincerity of such people and causing them to doubt their own hearts. Speaking plainly, is that the right thing to do?

Now, the Sacrifice Merchants of Praise and Worship Inc. have perpetuated the belief that worship leaders should depend on the heart rather than the correct technicalities. That idea has caused more trouble for sincere and well-meaning worship leaders than any other erroneous belief popular in the praise and worship circles. Pray for me that I will be able to explain from the Scriptures clearly why this belief is building a house on sand rather than rock. In the meantime, be blessed, everyone!

Ephesians 4:3 – Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (NIV)

I discovered something interesting: after you spend a lot of time and effort working towards unifying the worship, you start to value, to truly value, unity in the Body of Christ. And that is one of the most profound changes that happened to me as a person as I left the realm of performance music and started playing with the congregation in mind.

More importantly, this guards your heart against pride. For example, I can achieve holiness with just my relationship and fellowship with God. The Levites in Exodus 32 were set apart for the LORD (made holy) by obeying Moses’ command to slay the Israelites who had fallen into idolatry. They didn’t need unity with the rest of the congregation in order to become holy unto the LORD. “The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, "You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day." (Exodus 32:28-29, NIV)

But you CANNOT achieve unity without the cooperation of others. This is something you need others in order to achieve. And that means you need the rest of the Body of Christ. Yes, even those members who have a different theology from you, those who slandered you behind your back, those whom you just don’t like because they rub you the wrong way. You need them.

Are we humble enough to admit that we cannot achieve our goal (on a deeper level) as worship ministers without them?

This, by the way, is a fundamental difference in the mindset, one that separates the performers from the worship ministers. The performers can succeed without the unity of the people. They just need to get their act together and maintain that connection to the Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. But if you are a genuine worship minister, you will find that being a peace-maker (not peacekeeper, there’s a difference), valuing and esteeming unity in the body of Christ, will grow in your heart the more you serve.

And that is what will protect your heart from the root of bitterness and pride. Performers, because what they do need not take the specific needs of the congregation into account, can end up separated from the rest of the Body of Christ. If they ever encounter any opposition or misunderstanding from the body of Christ they face the danger of ending up offended and resentful. They can see themselves as modern-day Jeremiahs, misunderstood and persecuted by some elements in the body of Christ, and they start being defensive and easily offended. Once they go that route it is only a matter of time before they become hardened and calloused in their hearts. They start to hold ideas like “As long as God is with me, I can ignore the rest of those back-slid, lukewarm, pew-warming people who are pitiful excuses for Christians. I don’t need them…”

But if you seek unity, you will ALWAYS have your heart broken and tender towards even the weakest in the flock or those who oppose you. You will find yourself crying out to God for them, that he will show them the mercy and grace he has shown you. Your heart will be always open to find ways you can serve them, because you know that you yourself can reach your completeness and fullness in Christ only when they too rise up and mature in Christ.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in ALL THINGS grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as EACH PART does its work.” (Ephesians 4:15-16, NIV)

This is the attitude that will protect your heart from bitterness and pride when opposition comes.

And opposition WILL come.

Two posts ago I briefly mentioned Praise and Worship Inc. To further elaborate, it is a mindset (I hesitate to use the word “spirit”) in the worship business that seeks to achieve financial gain at the cost of the actual praise and worship itself. This paradigm is administered through Sacrifice Merchants, those selling the cattle, sheep and doves for the worship of God in the temple courtyard.

One day I stopped and asked myself what the temple courtyard was like with all the sacrifice merchants inside. Two things came to mind. First, do you think the cattle and sheep miraculously became house-broken the moment they stepped past the threshold of the temple gates and entered the courtyard? Or that they left cattle droppings all over the place, so that the fragrance from the incense of the temple became mixed with the ‘aromatherapy’ that arose from the droppings?

Try worshipping God with all your heart when you are constantly inhaling cattle droppings. And let me know how it goes. (No thanks, I’m not going to try it myself…)

Or how about the noise level? Do you think the cattle and sheep manifested a reverent silence once they stepped across the temple threshold? Or were they still carrying on (as sheep and cattle always do) while their handlers and merchants shout to each other and the customers to be heard over the prayer and praises offered within the temple itself? (“Those people inside are so irritating! Why must they pray so loud?”) Would all that shouting from the courtyard help the worshippers within to focus on God? Or be a massive distraction?

But the sad fact is that as time goes by people get used to all this. To them it is just part and parcel of praise and worship. Even worse, some have been convinced by the sacrifice merchants that the way things are is the way things should be. Don’t mess with the status quo!

And on my part, I have taken the sacrifice merchants for fools. I thought that if I quietly stay in the background, clear up some of the cattle droppings and teach you people to do the same, the sacrifice merchants will leave me alone. How foolish could I get? Of course those sacrifice merchants will realize that if I oppose cattle droppings in the courtyard, it’s only a matter of time before I oppose them bringing the cattle (the source of the droppings) into the temple courtyard itself, right?

John 2:18 (NIV) - Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"

Notice that when Jesus cleaned the sacrifice merchants out the temple courtyard, nobody said what he did was wrong. They only questioned his authority to so such a thing. They indirectly accused him of being presumptuous, going beyond his limits. (What a thing to say to the God to whom the temple belongs…)

Now because my guard was down, not expecting any backlash from sacrifice merchants trying to maintain their hold on the minds of people, I was taken aback when I was whacked for clearing cattle droppings. Yup, it really happened to me. So what was I to do?

2 Timothy 2:24-26 (NIV) “And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

For you, I admit I haven’t been preparing you for any backlash from the sacrifice merchants. Other than my post “Who’s the mediator?” 13 July 2006 I’ve not directly addressed any of the teachings that help keep the sacrifice merchants in place and Praise and Worship Inc. in power. All that changes now.

Pray for me, that God will guard my heart from bitterness and give me his wisdom as I try to systematically explain all the areas from which I believe the Word of God teaches differently from what the sacrifice merchants would have you believe. This topic is so deep, pray that I will be careful and wise in the way I present it to you, that God will give me the right words to use to bring across what is on his heart. Pray also that my family and I will be protected from the attacks of the evil one as begin to teach what God has entrusted me.

Thanks, everyone! Be blessed!

Serving the Master...

Proverbs 27:18 - He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored. (NIV)

As I was preparing for the Petra keyboardist workshop, the above verse just came to me. It really expresses very well my major emphasis as I train and equip worship musicians, giving the worship leader what he/she needs.

What would you think of a man who tries to tend a fig tree without knowing about trees in general and fig trees in particular? Not very wise, right? But that is what is common in worship training these days. Very little (if any) emphasis is given to what worship leaders actually need. How well can you serve worship leaders if you don't know what they need?

And please don't give me the cliché of "My master is Christ, not my worship leader." There are people use that as an excuse to not work with their worship leaders, expecting their worship leaders to conform to their whims and fancies. They then throw in the claim to be led by the Spirit to do things that give their worship leaders problems (such as play their musical instruments in a disorderly manner, drawing attention to themselves rather than to God) and you have the right mix for dissension, division and conflict.

That such things can be accepted or tolerated is the result of the idea that the Holy Spirit's working in praise and worship is an unpredictable, anything-goes, anti-technicality kind of thing, as I mentioned in my last post. I'll address this misunderstanding in greater depth some other time. It requires greater attention, because these problems come out repeatedly in worship ministry and cause great confusion and damage.

So when I talk about looking after your master and how it applies to you, as the worship minister, let's get specific. If you are serving only as a worship musician, you are serving the worship leader directly and the congregation a close second. Therefore any training as a worship musician has to specifically teach you what a worship leader needs and how to use your music to provide that for him/her. And this also means that you need to know what a congregation needs so that you can provide that.

Any worship training that doesn't include those two closely linked elements doesn't deserve to be called worship training. I'm serious. You can get music training using worship songs, and even have deeply spiritual devotionals as part of the course, but if you are not taught how about the people you serve in order that you may serve them better you've been led up the garden path...

Now, because of all the current confusion about what worship music is about, what your worship leader wants may be very different from what he/she needs. And at that point of time, please don't get all offensive on them and tell them "My job is to give you what you need, not what you want. And because you're so misled you don't know the difference! JJ said so..." Please, this is an offensive message already and I already am an offensive person, with frequent bouts of Foot-in-Mouth Disease. Don't help me make things any worse!

What you could do in such a situation is to refer your worship leader to my blog. And if he/she resonates with what I write there we could arrange a meet and just talk. If there's an opening for me to serve more directly I've prepared workshops that introduce various facets of what I teach in a simple to understand manner. And we can see how things go from there.

Now what if you are a worship leader? Then besides knowing how to serve the congregation you'll also have to understand how your pastor thinks and study what your pastor needs. And what I said about worship musicians not getting me into any further trouble with worship leaders also applies to you too. Don't go telling your pastor "You don't tell me what you want! I'll give you what you need! That's what JJ taught me!" Please, I have enough enemies of my own. I don't need help in getting some more...

In today's terms I'd be seen as being very unspiritual, very materialistic, because I emphasize the specific technicalities that minister to the congregation. There will be people who feel threatened by my emphasis on understanding the congregation and worship leader (because they don't teach that but want to pass off what they do as worship training). They may say that you need to understand worship from God's point of view (which is true) and imply that if you know that you don't need to understand it from the congregation's angle (which is not true).

In reply to them I'll say that when Jesus was asked to choose ONE commandment as the most important, he couldn't. Think about it, the living Word of God himself couldn't narrow the commandments to one. He said the most important is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your strength and your mind AND to love your neighbor as yourself. He had to give two. If you read the account in Mark 12:29-31 he said that loving your neighbor is just like loving the LORD your God.

So if we see worship leading as part of serving God and loving him, how can we leave out from the equation what Jesus himself could not leave out, the loving (and serving) of our neighbor?

Prayer time: Thank God! I just led worship for Acts Centre last Sunday and God gave his people great release in worship. I had supportive musicians who actually played what enhanced the worship rather than distracted from it, and the congregation was more ready for a deeper level of worship than I had given them credit for. (Which explains why God told me to use a more intense worship set than I originally dared to use.) I'm still basking in the afterglow of that even now!

My restructuring of my teaching (to fit into my current lifestyle and schedule) is pretty much done and God is opening doors for me to expand my territory. So I am really very thankful. Thank you for your prayers, everyone! They mean a lot to me, and I thank God for you!

They Already Knew...

As I go around and share with the Body of Christ what revelation God has entrusted me, I increasingly realize that people already know at a subconscious level what I am talking about.

Church elders, pastors and experienced worship leaders tell me that they’ve long sensed that something has gone drastically wrong with the state of praise and worship in Singapore. The problem is that most of these people are not musically technical. So they are unable to instruct their church worship musicians on the right way to play for worship.

Compounding the problem is the confusion that has arisen in the Body of Christ over the way the Holy Spirit leads in worship. Powerful and influential people have propagated the idea that the Holy Spirit’s working in praise and worship is a unpredictable, anything-goes, anti-technicality kind of thing. Swinging to the other extreme, some have demanded the wrong technicalities, those that glorified the musician but didn’t edify the people or glorify God. And they laid a heavy burden on the backs of the musicians, calling it a spirit of excellence. By their choice of words they covered a horrendous mistake with a holier-sounding veneer. But a mistake covered is still a mistake none the less.

Worship ministries that have embraced either of these two schools of thought and supported them soon found something: More money was involved with doing things wrong rather than doing things right. Which was fine if YOU were the one getting the money, rather than spending it, hoping that your nagging doubts would be answered in the next worship course, the next worship seminar or conference, the next “worship” CD or the next instructional DVD from your ministry of choice. The carrot of being effective in leading worship is forever dangling in front of you, just a little beyond your reach. If after all these years what they have taught you hasn’t really worked, when are you going to realize that they are about as clueless as you are, just that you are paying them for imparting their cluelessness?

If the blind lead the blind…
It never occurred to me before, but when I read John 2 earlier this year about the first cleansing of the temple, I suddenly saw that the merchants that Jesus threw out were selling the animals used for the sacrifices of worship unto God. When Jesus said “How dare you turn my Father’s house into a marketplace!” he wasn’t talking about insurance agents hawking their wares amongst a congregation. Or about MLM-ers trying to build their downlines in their home church. He was referring to a system that started innocently and grew over the years to the point when it was in the praise and worship business but getting in the way of people connecting with God.

I call this system Praise and Worship Inc.
Praise and Worship Inc. isn’t a new phenomenon. It existed long before human history. Recognizing it sheds more light on the following passage of Scripture, one that didn’t make sense before:

“You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned.” (Ezekiel 28:11-16, NKJV)

This passage is widely accepted as referring to the fall of Satan when he rebelled against God. It is the source people refer to when they say that Satan used to be in charge of worship in heaven. In the NKJV it describes Satan as being made with musical instruments as a part of his body.

What I didn’t see before was the motivation that led to his fall. It says here “by the abundance of your trading…” In other words, Satan was already seeking to establish a worship business, Praise and Worship Inc. even while he was in heaven. And God cast him out.

Returning back to our time and place now, the pastors and elders I mentioned earlier told me they realized that something was wrong. But they couldn’t really put their finger on it. We’d agree on the list of all those artistes and singers they’ve found to be performers drawing the attention to themselves rather than effective worship leaders drawing the attention to God. But these church leaders couldn’t articulate clearly what was wrong, what led to their ineffectiveness. So oftentimes they just simply say “this person is just not a true worshipper” when they mean that he/she isn’t effective.

I used to be guilty of that too. Until a few days ago. I met up with a worship leader and was explaining to him the thrust of my ministry. He then asked for my opinion on certain artists, whether in my system and paradigm they were genuine worship leaders. Halfway through God spoke through me (and to me) saying “What we are judging right now is their effectiveness. Not their hearts. Who are we to say, just by listening to a CD, that we are able to discern a person’s heart?” And I proceeded to share with him the account of how a big-shot “worship” performer reacted when he was in Singapore to perform his usual worship concert and the auditorium he was in experienced a power shortage. Total black-out.

He junked all the fancy stuff he had prepared and, in the stuffy auditorium using just his voice and an un-amplified guitar, proceeded to sing God’s praises, leading God’s people into a powerful time of worship. So from this we see that it’s not for us to say an ineffective worship leader doesn’t have the heart for worship, right? All we can say is that what they do isn’t effective. 

Of course, it’s sad when what they do is so ineffective that the easiest way to make things better is to cut off the electricity…
How about music instruction? The musicians go for training. Either they go for secular instruction, which will not address the specifics of how to play for worship, or they attend lessons from believers who either don’t know these specifics or don’t want to demystify worship. As for “worship” training from believers, there is constantly the struggle between teaching people what they want versus teaching them what they need. Because teaching what people need can be done very quickly, you drastically reduce your potential for having many long-term students. I mean, the principles that work are easily applied in worship, and after you truly understand them you can extrapolate from there what works and what doesn’t. Why take lessons after that, right?

As I said, there’s more money to be made from teaching the wrong things rather than the right things. Further courses, advanced modules, instructional DVDs, worship seminars and conferences. And this continues because the students, worship leaders and pastors don’t know any better. Or can’t articulate clearly what is the right way to do things for worship.

In the midst of all this I unapologetically tell people when what they’re doing is wrong. I tell them exactly what to do, putting my reputation on line behind what I say. I do my best to give people as big a picture as they can handle at that moment, but the test of all I say is when THEY try it and see clearly if what I teach works or doesn’t. And I don’t give people or myself the cop-out of saying that if it doesn’t work it’s because of issues of the heart (the worship ministers or the congregation).

This, people, is what I have been meditating on the past couple of months or so. I’ve been trying to articulate all these insights in a clear fashion. Wanted to email you all with updates, but I’ve been struggling about how to explain all these things in a coherent way. Two nights ago I did a worship keyboard workshop for the keyboardists of Petra and everything, especially the part about how money has entered the equation, just fell in place as I was explaining the essence of playing for worship.

So that’s my update. I’ve been preparing for keyboard workshops, refining my drums for worship training and continuing to further think through and clarify the message God has given me in the area of praise and worship. I just kind of skimmed through, without much detail, on the clarifications I’ve received over the past few months. Of course there’s more. I haven’t been resting on my laurels…

Thanks for your prayers. Pray for me that I continue to receive clearer instruction about what are the steps to take. Pray also that I’ll continue to be open to God’s teaching from Scripture about the added dimensions of the message he has given me.

Thanks, everyone! Be blessed!

Get Outta Their Way!

My last post raised lots of eyebrows, I know. The way I summed up everything I teach with: always keep the congregation in mind. Isn't that what most of the worship ministry people are already doing?

No, they're not. And that's the reason why I have to make it my message.
Examples? Look at the majority of what people call worship songs. How many of them have a wide vocal range? The low parts are really low and the high parts are really high (examples: Ancient of Days, Did you feel the Mountains Tremble). No matter how you shift the key of the song, either the guys or the gals in the congregation can't sing it comfortably. In fact, only trained singers can manage the song. Making the average congregation member try it only frustrates them. Whoever wrote those songs didn't keep the congregation in mind.

Or how about the rhythm of the lyrics? Are the lyrics in a rhythm natural for people to speak? If not they're not natural for people to sing. If it's not natural people pay more attention to trying to sing the song correctly than to the God they're supposed to sing to. Do the lyrics go into syncopated sixteenth-beat (semi-quaver) patterns? These are too floaty, hard to people to sing with passion and intensity. (example: the verse from You Are My World) Whoever writes songs like that didn't keep the congregation in mind.

Or how about the worship leaders? Did they give clear directions through out the song? Did they structure the song to maximize the impact of the song? Or were they more interested in showing off their singing skills or the instrumental skills of their musicians? Those who do that aren't keep the congregation in mind.

I think you get the picture by now.
What happens when people structure a worship session without keeping the congregation in mind for every aspect? Very simple, the congregation just doesn't respond. Is it any surprise? They were not given what they need to sing their praises to God, worship songs which touch the heart (rather than just tickle the head) and appropriate music that encourages singing to God rather than listening to the band. What else do you expect?

Now I am a worship leader myself, and I cannot accept the idea that any worship leader will mess up the worship of the people on purpose. I prefer to believe that they are just mistaken or inexperienced. But the damage is done nonetheless.

Let's think of it from a worship leader's point of view. He has taken his favorite songs from the latest, greatest "worship" album by some big-name church or singer, enthusiastically tried them in church, and fallen flat on his face. He'll probably think it's because of the musicians he's working with, that they're not skilled enough.

So they get sent for worship seminars (re-read my post on those) and special classes. They spend hours and hours in practice sessions, drilling the riffs from each song. They now can play what's on the "worship" album note-for-note. The worship leader now goes up to try those same songs again. And falls flat on his face again.

(Hey, in one of the largest churches in Singapore they think copying the "worship" album note-for-note shows their level of skill and excellence. If not for their choir and back-up singers singing their hearts out every Sunday, they'd soon discover the shocking truth that despite how anointed their senior pastor says the worship is, the congregation JUST AIN'T SINGING!)

So now he thinks it's the question of spirituality, that he or his worship team isn't anointed enough. He then implements team prayer time, special Bible studies on worship, and brings the whole team for special worship retreats where they encounter the presence of God in a powerful and personal way. Finally he is certain that the whole team (and himself) is spiritual enough to lead worship. He then goes up to try those same songs again. And falls flat on his face again.

At this point, the worship leader has to decide if it's because of his pastor (not supportive enough, not spiritual enough, not a true worshipper, and other excuses) or because of the congregation, that they're resistant to true worship, unwilling to give their all for God, and are lukewarm or backsliden. Or that what he's taken as an example of what church worship is supposed to be like is mistaken, that he's been taken for a ride by the people who he thinks are worship experts just because they have the best-selling CDs or have written best-selling books on worship.

More often than not, the worship leader tends to place the blame on the congregation. This then leads to a sense of resentment and frustration. Spiritual jargon may be used to cover up these feelings, but the end result is that the worship leader loses his respect for congregation.

If you are such a worship leader, let me tell you something about the congregation of your church. They did their darned best to wake up early on Sunday morning and get to church on time. On the way they probably quarreled with their spouses, children or parents and are feeling lousy about it. They're now at church, tempted to arrange for a last minute "emergency ministry counseling" appointment at Ya Kun (Coffee, tea and kaya toast) but deciding against it because deep in their hearts they truly wanted to worship God. They step in and see you, the worship leader, realize that you're going to try those weird songs that they can't click with, and STILL decide to stay. Now, what are you going to do?

As I told many worship leaders before, the people turning up on time really want to worship. The only question is this: are you going to frustrate them further? Or get outta their way?

I shudder whenever I think about the times I sat in the back half of the hall/auditorium and heard the musicians playing away and realized that from the later half of the place onwards no one was singing. What a tragedy! Whether it’s a fully charismatic church or semi-traditional one, when the worship team forgets to keep the congregation in mind the congregation isn’t going to respond. And how much you practice or pray or how pure your heart is isn’t going to make a difference. If you are not going to give the people what they need they are not going to worship.

In fact, in one of the mega-churches the senior pastor often remarks that the worship in the early days of their church history was more powerful, more sincere and more anointed. Having been around I'd say the only difference is that the musicians didn't have the music standard to try any performance stuff before. Now that they have the standard (and the freedom), they started doing performance music rather than worship music. And that is the path taken by many a mega-church. Believe me, in such a church the congregation also longs for the good old days. Only the worship team is happy because they play what entertains and amuses them musically. And call that ministry done with a spirit of excellence.

Well, most of us are not in a position to do anything about what is going on at church level. But we are to be faithful with what influence God has entrusted to us. And when we have shown ourselves faithful with the little and are being entrusted with much, let us keep our perspective and remember that greatness in the Kingdom of God is the result of serving his people (Mark 10:43-44) Keep the congregation in mind in what you do. Either that or get outta their way, right?

Prayer Time: Getting a deeper understanding of teaching worship at this time. Really grateful to God. Will share with you the revelations over time. Be blessed, everyone!

Don't Drown Them!

I see this happening so often it’s sad. An unprepared, unequipped music student is thrown into the deep end of the pool of music ministry, pressurized into playing for worship before he or she is ready.

The usual excuse given is “He’s grade 08 in piano/guitar. I’m sure he can do it, after all the other guy is only grade 05 (or has no formal training) and he plays so well for church!”

And the poor unfortunate soul is plunged into the deep end of the pool, thrown in to either sink or swim. More often than not they sink. So that’s why I say, don’t drown them!

Let me make this really clear. There’s a world of difference between classical music and contemporary music. And between the contemporary music used for entertainment and the type used for worship.

Thinking that a person with extensive classical training is able to manage contemporary playing is like thinking that a person who has studied Chinese is able to manage Japanese also, since they use a large number of common characters. The only people who can believe that are people who don’t know either language. The grammars of the two languages are radically different.

Just as people who know Chinese can fully utilize Japanese ONLY if they’re been sufficiently exposed to Japanese AND given some teaching (because you can’t learn pronunciation without some form of help), likewise people who know classical music can utilize contemporary music only with some help. The concepts and ideas (the grammar, from a language point of view) are radically different. That’s a huge gap we have here.

And just as large is the gap between contemporary music for performance and contemporary music that works for worship.

Performance music gets people to sit back and listen, to go “wow! What are they doing? How did they do that?” Music meant for worship gets people to sing their praises to God. If it’s working no one notices the music. They’re too busy worshipping God and the musician(s) just kinda fade into the background. Can you see how the two are diametrically opposite?

The problem is this: True worship music isn’t attention-getting and it isn’t appealing to listen to, in fact it’s quite boring. It fulfills its purpose ONLY if people are singing along with it. And that’s not what we hear from the so-called ‘worship’ albums and CDs that are being sold these days and that our church musicians find inspiration from.

So what’s a classically trained musician to do? Seriously, they are starting from scratch. In fact, they often have lots of unlearning to do. And frankly, the ‘worship’ trainers that I know of are not much help, teaching performance music and calling it worship. Not only is performance music more complicated, it doesn’t work in worship and leads to serious problems.

Why don’t more people want to teach true worship music, music that edifies the people of God instead of entertaining them, music that doesn’t distract the people from worshipping God? It’s an absolute mystery to me. Can it possibly be that people just don’t get the secret to worship music?

Let me spell it out for you right now. If you get this simple principle and know how to apply it to any instrument or to worship leading, you don’t need me to teach you anything. It’s this: always keep the congregation in mind!

That simple principle has been the foundation of all I teach in the worship context. I don’t care if it’s not fancy enough to create an intellectual property asset that will rake in tons of money, it’s what I’m doing and I’ll stick with it.

So if you’re thinking of getting worship training, get the real thing. Evaluate what you are being taught with the principle I’ve just explicitly shared. And if it’s true worship music, use it to bless the people of God.

God knows, they really need it!

Prayer time: In the midst of everything else I’m doing I’ve just started a special intensive worship drums course for a couple of drummers from Petra. Pray for me to be blessed with wisdom and discernment, because I am holding myself to higher standards of teaching now, to get more skill imparted in a shorter time. Pray also that I will manage my time effectively to get my next post out to you quickly. It’s something that has been on my heart for nearly two months. Thanks!

Be blessed, everyone!