Lessons Learnt During Praise & Worship Ministry - II

Dear all,

(Continuation of the previous posting with the subject "Lessons Learnt During Praise & Worship Ministry - I")

• (Not a real incident. This is for example only)
  In the Indo-Pak border the Army captain was pressing on hard to contain the infiltration problem. He had two companies of army posted at two key locations. The captain instructed the commanders of the 2 groups (each with 10 members) to shout "Vande Mataram" when they need to charge towards the enemy. When the time came, the commander of the 1st group thought - "Why should I waste my energy in shouting 'Vande Mataram'. No one in my group doubts my patriotism. So he said the slogan "Vande Mataram" but with an average voice. The group members felt that the commander is less confident, eventhough the enemy group were only 8 soldiers. Though they did their best, they got terribly assaluted by the enemy who charged upon them with full josh. Meanwhile the other commander was facing an enemy group of 15 people. He shouted "VANDE MAATARAM" with all of his heart, mind, spirit and strength. The group members could feel patriotism in the air... they were all set to lay their lives for their MOTHERLAND. It look less than 5 minutes only to finish all the 15 of the enemies without losing even 1 soldier, managing with minor injuries only. Thus everyone realized that the command to shout VANDE MAATARAM was not jusst meant to give honour to the country, but also to give strength and victory to themseslves.
• Some people think that Christian life is one that is very peaceful. NO.... It's the fiercest battlefield, in which you are not going to get enough rest until you finish the race. Here the enemy doesn't sleep. But the good news is that our Heavenly Father is always at work, and so is Jesus (John 5:17). To keep going, we should frequently confess with our lips our God, the name of Jesus and the salvation that He brought us. This confession of faith reassures our faith and the faith of the community. The voice of the world is loud, with the enemy ready to deceive us with his lies, and to be in focus we need to raise our voices uttering the truth.
• In fact praising our Creator is far more meaningful and fitting than to shout slogans for the motherland. "The HOLY ONE of Israel inhabits within the praises of His people." (Psalm 22:3). How much more it re-vitalizes those who utter His praises!! How much more it scares and scatters the enemy!!
• A good time of Praise and Worship prepares the way for the WORD OF GOD to produce 100 fold fruits - repentence, healings, deliverance, decision makings, reception of spiritual gifts/charisms etc.
• Two things that the Worship Leader/Team should go after - Presence of the LORD, Anointing. One is not independent of another, one brings the other.
• Music Ministry plays an important role here. Though people call it Music Ministry, it is or rather should be in fact Worship Ministry. Music in itself does no good here if it does not lead one to Praise and to Worship. A well known worship song puts it most beautifully - "I bring you more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required... You search much deeper within, through the way things appear... You're looking into my heart. I'm coming back to the 'heart of worship' that is all about YOU... all about you, JESUS"
• If a song is sung just as a song rather than as a praise/worship, it does not help much to experience the Presence of the LORD and his Anointing.
• You can't command Anointing of the LORD by the choice of your words and songs, but your humility and thirst for it can. "Water flows only towards the low-lying area."
• What is the role of the Music Ministry?
  
  • Is it to sing/play songs? No
  • Is it to sing praises? Yes, but that's not enough!
  • It is to lead people to praise and worship the LORD. They must not only praise & worship, but should help the entire congregation to do so
• So, their role is to complement the Worship Leader's job to help the congregation sing praises and offer worship to the LORD, with apt songs.
• Worship leader with his words declares "ABOUT THE LORD", His works, His nature and qualities that encourage the congregation to praise the LORD; Music Ministry complements with songs of praise.
• Worship leader with his words helps the congregation to utter words of love, honour and worship "TO THE LORD"; Music Ministry does the same with songs of worship.
• Until recently I thought that songs of praise are fast numbers and songs of worship are slow and soothing songs. I was not clear the difference between praise and worship, until I saw this link http://www.reference.com/motif/Society/difference-between-praise-worship.
  
  "The difference between praise and worship is that the praise is usually comprised of songs that talk about the goodness of God. The songs also sing about what the Lord has done for us and what the promises of God are. The songs talk about how good the Lord is. Worship are songs that are singing directly to God. You are singing about how you adore Him, thank him, trust him, admire him, exalt him, etc. Another way to show that you are worshiping God is to do what the word of God says that you are supposed to do. A great example of someone showing that they are worshiping God is when the Lord says in the bible to love your neighbors as yourselves. When a person begins to love someone that is unlovable you are worshiping God with your actions."

(More to come in the next edition)