CHURCH - take a moment today & listen to this powerful song about the nearness of our God.
“Oh God”
Words & Music by Zach Bolen of Citizens from album “Already/Not Yet”
In the valley, oh God You’re near
In the quiet, oh God You’re near
In the shadow, oh God You’re near
At my breaking, oh God You’re near
Oh God, You never leave my side
Your love, will stand firm for all my life
In my searching, oh God You’re near
In my wandering, oh God You’re near
When I feel alone, oh God You’re near
At my lowest, oh God You’re near
Oh God, You never leave my side
Your love, will stand firm for all my life
Height nor depth nor anything else,
Could pull us apart
We are joined as one, by Your blood
Hope will rise, as we become more,
Than conquerors through,
The one who loved the world
Oh God, You never leave my side
Your love, will stand firm for all my life
Can you handle the truth?
An original post by Hans Molegraaf, leader of the marriage ministry at Church Project.
One of my favorite movie scenes of all time is from, “A Few Good Men” with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. Lt. Kaffee (Cruise) is questioning Col. Jessep (Nicholson) in court trying to get him to admit ordering a “Code Red”. After a long and increasingly heated Q and A, Lt Kaffee demands the truth from Col. Jessep to which he famously and angrily responds, “You can’t handle the truth!” I get “goose bumps” every time!
Can you handle the truth? About yourself? What if it’s hard to hear? What if it’s sandwiched between lies and exaggerations? Do you want to know?
Beth’s Story is a journey of faith and grace. Watch and share with your friends.
The “Throw Away” Song: Setting Worship Culture From The Downbeat
By Guest Writer, Daniel Pratt
(via The David Project Blog)
Last week, I had a discussion with a great friend and worship leader who I meet with regularly. We were discussing another conversation I had been having with worship leaders about the importance of the opening song in a worship service.
I’ve heard, on many occasions from various musicians and worship leaders, that their first song is considered a “throw away song” or an “opening song.” Their logic is pretty simple: why waste a great song when people won’t be there on time for service or aren’t yet ready to fully engage in worship right from the start? Here are a couple of thoughts in response:
1. Where is my heart? As a worship leader, this is probably the most important question. Am I so caught up in the approval and participation from people that I am willing to sacrifice precious time in the presence of God? I find myself fighting this battle constantly. What I need to remind myself of is the truth: From the moment I wake up that morning, and every morning for that matter, I should be giddy with excitement over the chance to usher people into the presence of God. I should be excited because I’ve been in the presence of God throughout the week, and now I want desperately for my church family to experience it as well. I truly believe our time together in His presence is life altering, and I want to give people the opportunity to engage from beginning to end. The Bible is clear that meeting together as a group to worship and study the Word is vitally important to our understanding of the Gospel of Jesus. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” And then there is Matthew 18:19, which states, “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” I believe that if we, as leaders, truly understood this, we would look at our time together on Sundays a bit differently, and with much more purpose.
2. We set the culture. I recently read this quote: “People who walk into church late on a continuous basis clearly don’t believe Jesus is present.” This is probably a bit more of a challenge for our leadership than we would like to admit. If the culture of our church is consistently late, and not ready to engage with Jesus from the very start of the worship time, whose fault is that? The people? The parking? Of course not! It’s OURS. Here is a part of worship that we, as the music/worship leaders, can control and affect for the good of our people. If we consistently start late, our people will consistently arrive late. If we view the first song as a “throw away,” our people will see the first song in the same light. We set the tone from beat one of a worship service. And if we aren’t excited and engaged in our first song, we have wasted precious time in the presence of Jesus, and we allow a culture of consumer-driven worshippers to set the pace in our worship services, not vice-versa. Think about your typical worship service: Is the first song you choose engaging for people? Is it singable? Is it a call to worship Jesus? Or are you using it as a band warm up, to show off some of the talent on stage because many are still in the lobby? Is it upbeat just for the sake of being upbeat? Are you using the beginning of every service as a teachable moment for people to come ready to engage in worship to God?
Not easy questions to answer. And not many of us are really willing to take a good hard look at the worship culture in our church and realize that our congregation is a direct reflection of the pace we set.
This is a challenge to us all, myself included: Don’t waste precious limited time in a service with a “throw away” song mindset. Instead, prepare your heart to make every moment matter. Be intentional in understanding that how you approach every second in your service affects the people you lead. With that mindset, there is simply no such thing as a “throw away” song.
Daniel is Worship Pastor at Church Project in The Woodlands, Texas. He is also a good friend of The David Project and an occasional songwriting coach for our classes and workshops.
If you are interested in being a guest writer for The David Project blog, visit our website and fill out the guest writer application.
For more information about The David Project, visit our website at thedavidproject.com.
LIFE, DEATH, RESURRECTION: WORSHIP 101
An original post by Daniel Pratt, Worship Pastor at Church Project.
As we go through this week leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus I try and focus my heart and mind on who God is and the amazing price He paid for us. I keep coming back to a few of verses again and again:
