Heart of Worship

As I have mentioned numerous times in numerous posts, I once had the privilege of serving under a great worship leader and with some truly great musicians.  I would be lying if I didn’t say I reflect on that time quite frequently and am so appreciative of the many blessings God gave me during that time that I sometimes overlooked while I was in the midst of it.

Part of what I believe made him such a great worship leader is the fact that his heart was aligned with his mouth.  So many worship pastors say (sing) one thing with their mouth, but you can tell by their heart and their life that they struggle in that area. 

Being a worship pastor is a hard job.  There is so much you have to know and do, but not only that, it is an easy place for satan to attack someone. So many are given the job because of their voice or their talents, and while their heart most often starts out in the right place, it can quickly become what can I do to make this bigger, better, or make people respond more. It is so easy that what really makes things “bigger and better” and ultimately help people respond more is a true heart of worship. 

A heart of worship doesn’t start and end on the stage, it’s a lifestyle. 

A few years ago, my wife started buying me a collection of DVDs by Paul Baloche.  The series covers the basics of leading worship, musicianship, vocals, theory, and a few others.  I loved the series and watched each of the DVDs multiple times.  Occasionally I would loan them out for others to watch and hope that they would bring someone else as much joy and clarity as they did me.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I loaned a few of them out and somehow at some point three of them were lost.  I was very disheartened when I realized I had lost them.  Knowing that I wanted to get them again, I reached out to Paul’s online ministry to see if they would give me a discount if I bought the three again.  I explained a little as to what had happened and it wasn’t too long before I got an email back.  One of the gentleman said that he just went ahead and shipped me the ones I was missing.

After receiving the DVDs in the mail, I was slightly saddened that the ones he sent were not the ones I had lost.  That was until I began to watch them.  Two of the ones that he sent were very similar to the ones I lost, but the gentleman also sent two others that were nothing like the ones I had lost.  As I began to watch them, I realized it had to have been a God thing.   The DVD’s I didn’t get were ones I didn’t need, and the ones that I really wanted to watch now had more material and covered more about the heart of worship. 

As I began watching the movies with Marcey I was reminded even more how important a heart of worship and a heart of serving is necessary in a ministry.   The musicians were all there to serve, Paul was there to serve, and the whole atmosphere drew me back to the musicians that I used to play with.  It was energizing and refreshing. 

Anyway, what I really wanted to share was the last couple weeks I have been down a little from where I wanted to be.  This weekend through the DVDs and spending quality time with my wife and family, turned out to be a refreshing weekend that provided me hope for the future.

Secondly, If you are in a worship ministry, I would encourage you to check out Paul’s DVD series as he gives a lot of great ideas on how to build a band and worship team that truly leads others through worship not only on state, but also reflective in the lives they live.