Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast & Blog

How to Handle Failure & Success in Ministry

Sometimes you can’t shake the feeling. Questions plague your mind. Doubt settles in. Am I really “called” to do this? Have I chosen the right career path?

And then there are other times where you feel on top of the world. You ‘feel’ anointed, called, gifted, used by God, important.

Whatever ministry you engage in, worship, preaching, pastoring, small group leadership, announcements, greeting, coffee preparation, you’ve had feelings of inadequecy. There have been times in my ministry where I’ve felt, “God, did I choose the right thing here?”

I’ve already addressed what to do when inspiration lacks. In this post, allow me to ease the tension by saying it is normal for anyone in ministry to feel this way. The goal of a minister should not be perfect execution but perfect trust in God. If you are basing your calling on your performance, your emotions will take you on a wild ride you don’t want to be on. Whether we “feel” effective or “feel” we’ve failed, God loves us and God is using us. Isn’t it true in ministry that when you’ve felt you’ve missed the mark someone heard exactly what they needed to hear from God?

Weakness. God likes to shine through our weakness.

I’m not saying to go intentionally suck at what you do for God to use you. Yikes. Work hard. Pray hard. And then just do it. Trust God with results. Stay faithful.

Be encouraged today. You belong to the God of the universe through strength and weakness.

How I Combat Hurry Sickness

I once read a book by John Ortberg where he introduced me to the phrase “hurry sickness”. In our day we are always rushing, never fully engaged in what we are doing and stressed beyond belief. I have found that when I intentionally slow myself down I enjoy life more. I focus on single-tasking instead of multi-tasking. I focus on being in the moment rather than being somewhere else. I focus on the present rather than the past or the future.

Here are some simple things I’m doing to stay more engaged with my world. While some of these may not specifically apply to you, I hope it just gets you thinking as to what you could do yourself.

  • read my physical bible first thing every morning (no online or iphone version to get me distracted)
  • check email only after I’ve accomplished an important work-related goal for the day
  • limit my email checking to 2x a day (late morning & late afternoon)
  • writing all my ideas down using Action Method
  • worship and pray out loud. No information intake. Just me and Jesus.
  • listen to and engage in conversation with my wife
  • pray out loud for APEX and the APC worship ministry
  • read physical books
  • exercise daily
  • consume coffee 🙂
  • listen to ambient, instrumental music throughout the day
  • less emails, more phone calls
  • smile more
  • engage with people in public places. Talk. Be a Christian. Share Jesus.

While I don’t always perfect this art, this is what I’m shooting for.

What about you? What are you doing to battle “hurry-sickness” and stay engaged where God has you?

How to Write Better Worship Songs (Part 1)

Why is it that you love the songs that you do? What is it about them that is engaging? While this is rather a subjective question (different people like different songs), I think there are some tips to writing congregational worship songs that assist in their success (And by “success” I don’t necessarily mean songs that the global church is singing and make a lot of money. I’m referring to songs that really connect with a local congregation whether they are ‘discovered’ or not.)

Enjoy:

  • Say something old in a fresh way – there’s nothing new under the sun. As worship songwriters we’re not trying to write about new ideologies and revelations. We are looking to shine a spotlight on the revealed truth of God in a way that connects with a modern listener.
  • Keep it singable – I understand your voice sounds great singing those high G’s and A’s but the average churchgoers eyes are popping out as they attempt to sing it. Keep it in a singable range and keep your phrasing  out of the ‘rap music’ category if you want people to sing along.
  • Avoid cliches and too much rhyming – Example: “God, we call on your name, and give you all the praise, and love all your ways, you never cease to amaze, God, take away this haze.” Yuck. Sometimes it sounds better not to rhyme or use half-rhymes.
  • Know your congregation – what is God doing in the midst of your people? What are they experiencing? What is your pastor preaching on? Write to that. You want to give voice to what is in their hearts.
  • Don’t depend on melodies and arrangement…until later. If you have a killer voice, great melody, impeccable arrangement, but an awful song, it’s not a success. Work on your lyrics so they express exactly what you want to say.
  • Write and rewrite and rewrite again…and again – Don’t fall for the “God gave me this song just as it is. I’m not changing it” speech. Don’t blame God for your lack of hard work. I like what Brian Doerksen says, “God doesn’t give songs…he gives seeds. It’s our responsibility to grow the seed.”

Allow me to leave you with a song that I love. I’ve posted this before but still love it. Matt beautifully articulates a great theme and takes you on a journey that culminates with a fantastic bridge. Beautiful lyrics, melody, and a consistent theme throughout. Notice this song is about one thing – God’s saving power. Get’s me every time.

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Play it Safe or Act in Faith?

Every day I wake up, I have a choice – play it safe or act in faith. The choice is mine. Will I act on what I know, what I can manage, and what is comfortable, or will I step into the realm of the unknown, ask God for the impossible, and inconvenience myself for the cause of God’s kingdom on earth?

I’m an expert at rationalizing risk out of my life. I’m an expert at playing it safe.

I don’t want to do that today. While it would be easy to blog about stepping out in faith for the rest of my life, I know my weakness. I’m going to start with today – this very day that is right before me with endless possibilities.

What about you? What are some ways you are stepping out in faith? What chasms are you crossing? What prayers are you praying? What territory are you taking?

The Lost Discipline of Personal Worship

How is your worship behind closed doors?

Do you know the importance of a personal worship time?

I believe your ministry will rise and fall on it.

My hunch is that we just don’t carve the time for it because, in our fast paced culture, our minds are trained to constantly process information. From checking facebook, to updating Twitter, to checking the news, to listening to a few podcasts, we feel the need to stay occupied and connected.

But God calls us to rest. He calls us to worship. Has personal worship become a lost discipline? Has it been replaced with an onslaught of media?

Get alone and be with Jesus.

Perhaps it has. But I would love to offer some suggestions for taking it back. If you want your heart to be spiritually alive, you need to worship God…on your own.

But what does one do if there’s no worship leader, no congregation, and no light show?

Glad you asked.

  1. Carve out a few minutes – while I love the idea of ‘worshiping on your way to work’ or ‘sing while you do the dishes’, I think it’s important to have times dedicated to being with Jesus. Try once a week for now and gradually build up to more.
  2. Get alone – I’m always distracted if someone is in the room. Even if they’re being quiet, it’s difficult for me to really ‘let go’ because I’m always thinking about that person.
  3. Move around – this has been incredibly helpful to me. I typically like to worship in the early mornings. If I don’t pace, I’m tempted to fall asleep. Put on some good worship music, or my preference, great ambient/instrumental music and begin to worship.
  4. Read Scripture out loud – this is what really gets me going. If I’m being honest, sometimes I just don’t know what to say or pray so I’ll open the Psalms, read a verse, and then close my eyes and worship God based on that particular verse. It’s amazing to worship God with the Bible. It can give voice to a distracted heart like mine.

This will not always ‘feel’ emotionally charged like a Chris Tomlin concert in the XCel Energy Center. But it is always time well spent because the more you do this the more inclined you are to praise God when difficulties arise. You’re re-capturing the lost discipline of personal worship.

Would you add anything? What do you do in your personal worship times? You can leave a comment by clicking here.