The Main Idea.

I have many many post ideas that will be coming up, but this is sort of where all those ideas branch from. Just a note. Anyway:

Don’t you love it when you hear a really good talk, a really good sermon, in a really powerful worship service, and you try to explain it.
“It was so amazing. I’ve never felt so excited about worship before. He just spoke so well…it was…just…really good.”

Well yeah, that’s kind of how I’m feeling right now. You just had to be there. We just finished the WorshipGod08 conference, and it was amazing. Bob Kauflin is anointed by God, it’s really spectacular how he just draws you in right away and engages you. As a worship leader, it’s just breath-taking, singing those songs with him and the little church band. Unfortunately, I can’t say all what’s been said in the sessions here. However, you can find a lot of stuff on this site: www.worshipgodconference.com
But the most important thing of all worship is simply this: meaning what you’re singing, saying and living. I’m mainly talking about singing right now. And there are two different aspects of it that I just want to touch on. And it’s just touching. If you want something in depth, go to Bob Kauflin’s blog, because he’s way smarter about worship then I will ever be. This is merely an encouragement to you. (what, is that a death sentence? A blogger telling people to read someone else’s blog?)
:P
But anyway, the first thing is simply this: what you think while you are worshiping.
Frankly, you will not die if you do not sing the words written. Often times, I just want to listen, and hear the truths sung to me. It is much easier for me to weigh the words like that. But a lot of people just love singing. I love singing, I’m sure there are other people out there that love singing, but I don’t know how many times I sing because I like music. That’s right, music. Not God, not that these songs are my war cry, my victory song, my chant, my anthem, but that music sounds good to me. And, by the way, this song has a cool melody in the chorus.
I just like this song.

It’s sad, but it’s awfully true. We should be singing these songs because we have mercies to sing of. We have problems to lay at Jesus’ feet. We have things we don’t understand, but all we know is that God reigns, God saves, and we will rejoice in that. Yet, we still think worship time is the time to be thinking about lunch, or our friends, or our kids, or why our expecting mom’s would crave pickles and chocolate sauce.
The only reason that worship band is up there, and those lyrics are flashing across the screen, and those mixing and tech guys are doing what they do, is to help you worship God. They want to assist you, get you thinking. That is, about the Truth, not the latest style of converse shoes.

It’s funny how our minds work. See, since I told you ‘think about what your singing and the truths,’ you will be doing one of a couple of things. You may just think about the bible in general. ‘oh that was a nice story. Oh yeah, Jesus died on the cross.’ You might be imaging the scene. Like from the song ‘Amazing Grace’ and the chorus Chris Tomlin added. ‘My chains are gone, I’ve been set free…’ Then you picture some slave being released, maybe even the movie Amazing Grace popping into your head. Both of the previous options are not good. Why? Because they don’t make you grow. Martin Luther didn’t sit down one day and decide what the right way is to worship, and then we caught on. No, it’s a. What gives God glory and b. what makes you grow in a relationship with God. (that is the most watered down definition of worship you will ever find)
The entire point of this is: you can sing, you can shout, you can cry, you can jump, but why are you doing it? Well, because that’s just what you do first thing in a church service. It’s just what you do. No thought put into it, it just happens. So worship, so praise to the God who took us out of black and put us into light, it just happens? You don’t even think about what you’re doing, you just do it?

If this is what is happening my friends, then there is a serious problem. Why? Because we have a clear reason to sing. Every Sunday, you’ve had seven days of mercies, or new mercies to happen, for God to give you. Those mercies should make you sing. Them alone.
So, where does this put us? If you are truly a Christian, and know that God saw that speck and decided to save it from the flames, and you follow God will all that’s in you, then it only puts us in one position. When we go into that auditorium, that classroom, that living room, whatever it may be, on Sunday Morning, we go because we want to sing. We WANT TO SING! We want to let it all out! We don’t care about who made the soccer team, or who has a dirty shirt on, because does it really matter? No, not in the slightests. What matters is that God Reigns. He saved you. And you want to sing to him, you will sing to him with every breath that is in you.