1 Chronicles 6:32
And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their office according to their order.

I ran past this and wanted to share this really quickly...

In the above passage, a family of worship leaders (The whole 6th chapter is a genealogy of worship leaders...!!) gives us a model for how to operate in our office today. After Solomon built the house of the Lord, the Bible says that they waited on their office... The word waited is translated as stand or stay...

Picture this...You're in line to go to P.F.Changs...There is an hour wait...When you grab the little buzzer...You are committed to that table as soon as it is available...Surely those who arrived earlier will get to a table before you, but after a while you will be seated...So you stand/stay in line....Knowing that there is a seat for you...

This is what these worshippers did...With the realization that a return to the "floor" was inevitable they stayed and waited on their office. We must remember that we are worshippers at all times...Not just on the worship floor, but between Sunday's we should be deliberate in studying and meditating on the Word. Praying with all manner of prayer, and singing in the natural and the Spirit...The worship leaders in the text remained committed...They remained faithful to their office..I was reading a Joe Pace book and noticed a definition...He defined faithfulness as staying committed when you could easily leave...

Let's remember to remain committed to our Lord...Behind closed doors...On our jobs..In front of our children...At all times...God Almighty is watching...

35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? 39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

John 1:35-51 (KJV)


Dearest Tribe of Judah:



Well,well,well...Did you catch that opening passage..? Here we see John as lead worshipper. I know we've talked about some "not so popularly mentioned" worship leaders in these e-blasts...Moses, Abraham, the 10th leper, Elijah, all not so popular or recognized as David. But the logic in that is to show that David was not the only worshipper that God loved...He loved them all, and yes..He loves you just as much...No matter who does it, it is worship that God desires from us all...If you can see the most unlikely person in the Bible worshipping God then it will be very easy to see you as well as one who can sit in the Father's arms, lay your head on His Chest and feel his heartbeat.

But what happens after you feel His heartbeat...? After you've had revelation of who He is...? After your private worship walk has brought revelation and inexplicable truth to His realness and authenticity..? The next part is displayed beautifully in the above passage...John (as worship leader) ignites an excitement and passion that causes him to completely LOSE "the crowd" or his followers and causes COUNTLESS MILLIONS to encounter Jesus Christ. John sees his cousin Jesus and says Behold, See!! Look!!! It's the Lamb of God walking by...Now...I did not add the exclamation point to that scripture passage...If you look in your own Bible you will more than likely see it there as well...That exclamation point captures the passion with which he ministered...A man who had knowledge of Christ was saying to his followers (congregation) STOP LOOKING AT ME and BEHOLD THE LAMB...! STOP FOLLOWING ME & FOLLOW JESUS!!! Now if that ain't the essence of worship leading then I should lay down the mic and join the sewing circle.

The passion can not be overstated... John had proclaimed for YEARS that Christ was coming and even HERE and when Jesus was walking by, Andrew did not have to think twice...He left John to follow Jesus. But the beauty inherent is John's faithfulness in leading worship in the wilderness...Painting the picture...Paving the way...Making His way straight and clear. The second beauty in that is John wanted to turn his followers AWAY from himself...He was deliberate...In this passage and in the other passage where he sent them to ask..."Are You the Messiah or should we seek another"...In effect, John was saying to all who followed him..."Y'all better quit looking at me and find Jesus...(Boy...This'll preach for sure...) John had effectively, in all of the years of his ministry, painted a vivid picture of who Christ was... So vivid that Andrew did not wait for the hammon B3 to swell...He did not wait for lightning and all of this other modern-day "confirmation"...(Which is most folks way to say, let me stall or procrastinate from doing the will of God...It's still disobedience...Only in slow motion.)

What if we, who were called to lead worship, did just like John and said There He is,follow Him... to our congregations...? Do you see that the above passage typifies what we today call the "domino effect" where one left and got another one, and that one convinced another one, and so on and so on, until, if the truth were told YOU came to follow Christ as well... John started the chain reaction that caused YOU to follow Christ... Now your responsibility is to lead others...Away from yourself, and into Christ...Wel...l What does that mean...? Well...The truth is...There should be no one in your local church that is waiting for you to lead worship over another member of your team. Your leading should not be worship "running" where your vocal ability is the focus of the service...The way that you play should not get "the crowd"...If you "get" them let me ask you this...Can you heal their body...? Can you deliver them with an outstretched hand...? Guess what...Jesus did...Jesus could...And do you know what He did..?

33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. 35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. 36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me.

John 5:33-37 (KJV)


He pointed people to the Father...There is sooo much more to see here...When Christ turns and asks them What are you searching for...When they ask where do You live..When He says Come and See...I'll tell you what...Since I've heard that I am rather lengthy, I'll cut it short right here...But Ultimately, if we are effective leaders, then people in our congregations will encounter Christ in much the same way...And I'm not talking about the snotting and crying on Sunday morning...I'm talking Monday- Saturday...Where their walk of worship draws their neighbors, friends, and co-workers...Not necessarily to your church...But to Your Saviour....Not only them, but our families, friends, co-workers, classmates, and everybody else will recognize that they've been led into the Presence of Jesus where ALL of their needs can be met...Our first lady Missionary Colbert preached a message on Jonah one Sunday a few years ago that I will never forget. In that message she said that Jesus's favorite word was Come..That's His ultimate will for everyone...When we show them the way to get to Jesus, He will do the rest..He will tell our hungry congregations, Come and Dine....Come without money and without price... And when the Lord's Body hears that on their worship floors every Sunday, then they will know the voice of the Lord when He says Friend, come up higher....Praise God...!

The only other thing to add is how infectious pointing people to Christ can be...Look at Andrew again in the opening passage...The Bible says that he went to go get his brother so he could follow Jesus as well...Well... Do you remember when Jesus fed the 5,000+....? Do you know who found the little boy and brought him to Jesus so that he could share his little lunch...? Andrew...

JOHN 6:8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 9"There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?

As we all know...All he had to do was get the lad to Jesus...Jesus did the rest...As a result EVERYONE who had the pleasure of being in His Presence were blessed to experience a miracle and eat with the Master....

I salute all of you worldwide who have made the pursuit of Christ your life's goal. To all of you who work in ministry do the work of the Lord, but do not forget the Lord of the work...Hold each other up in prayer that God's Will is ever done by all of us...His will for us to point souls to Him so that He can effect tangible change in their lives and in the lives of those to whom they are connected...

It is Communion Sunday this coming Sunday...Let us remember this week the Lord's sacrifice for us and remember our commitment to sacrifice for Him. No man takes our lives (tells us to crucify ourselves/puts us on a fast...) we lay them down...

Do you remember the exchange that Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman had in Bruce Almighty where Jim Carrey asks him ..."How do I get the people to love me without manipulating their will" (or something to that effect...) and Morgan Freeman tells him (paraphrasing)"...If you figure that out, then you can have this job...." I was praying and listening for God on what to write about this week and came across this passage of scripture...We all know it, but the part where Christ asks where are the other nine literally jumped off of the page as I read it over..... The last e-mail that I sent dealt with God being sick of His children giving him traditional mechanical worship... He knows the difference between what is authentic (spirit and truth) and what is disingenuous ( mechanical and warmed over)..And He hurts over it... The last few e-mails that I sent, both here and to the Deacon board mentioned that we absolutely can not do the work of the and forget the Lord of the work... Sadly stated, this is what grieves the Lord most in this end-time hour....

The other nine, on the surface, went about doing what the Lord told them to do right..? He gave them an assignment to go shew themselves to the priest...And look at the power of God....As they went...THEY WERE HEALED...!! Everything's cool right...? It was...Until one returned....

The advent of Jesus Christ into the world changed the fundamental nature of worship...In the Old Testement worship was call and answer...Look at my man Moses.... Exodus 19:20

20And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

In the New Testement worship was best typified by those who initiated a worship experience without provocation...Like the 10th leper who came back....Like Bartimaeus who just heard that Jesus was passing by and began to cry out.... Like the Ethiopian eunuch who was simply reading his Word and longing for understanding... Once Jesus Christ arrived then all of the old "shadows" of the law were fulfilled in Him. Consequently, there is no longer needs for olden day priests and levites to give us access into His presence... He is the Way...When we forsake Him, (in prayer, fasting, devotion, etc....) we don't get in... He hurts and asks...Where are the other nine.....? Can't you feel the frustration in Jesus' voice there...? He really wanted to know where they were...Why hadn't they returned...? Think about this....

In any given church setting what percentage of people really "enter in"...? As a worship leader Sunday, after Thursday, after program, after conference I literally beat myself up wondering...Did I lead these people into (as Pastor says) meaningful worship....? If 90% didn't "go up" why didn't they...? Aren't we all saved...? Don't we all have a relationship with God...? Was it me...? Was I prepared...? Did I sing the wrong songs....? What happened...????? Before I beat myself to a bloody pulp Christ reminds me that there must be passion for Him...Do you know how pastor says that sometimes he wishes that he could bottle the Word up that he's preaching and just make us drink it..? I believe that even he sees that most just lack the desire for Christ. Look at this....

65And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

66From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

67Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

70Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

71He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

That 66th verse just cuts me to my heart every time I read it... These people walked away from Jesus...Church people....Workers in ministry... He came unto His own and His own received Him not... They went only so far and DECIDED (Here is where volition is key to worship... ) that they would walk away from the Fountain of Living Water.... Just like the other nine...They came to Jesus....And went.......Never to return...Healed.... Doing what what Christ told them to do...(Can I use the B-word....?) Busy....

And again, I reiterate...All would probably be fine were it not for the 10th leper...The 10th leper proves that there is a remnant, (for lack of a better word...) that understands that the truest worship emanates from a sincere heart who can interrupt his daily schedule to turn back to His Healer.... Unprovoked... Without a worship leader.... No Hammond B3... It would be nice to have Dameon playing in our ears everyday so that we can get into worship mode at home and prepare for the worship service...Or have Pastor break down the 91st Psalm every night so that we can take notes...(Remember when he did it at the concert a few years ago...????!!!! That was the whip...Who has that tape...?) But God is looking for our desire towards Him....
Song of Solomon 7:10
I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.... But if I am too busy to worship Him throughout my day is my desire towards him...? And here is where bishop Patterson's story fits (about the couple in the car...) God's desire towards us is unchanging...He SO loved the world and especially His own... So who moved....?

The passionate can not hide their desire toward God...They will worship Him in their private time....When the music stops... On the way to work... At work... They don't mind (Like my man Moses...) turning aside to find out the bush that is on fire is not consumed.... It is there where Moses encountered God.... He was busy....He was working...But the Bible records that he said to himself that I will now turn aside to see why the bush was not consumed.... This is what the 10th leper did... Cleared his schedule to encounter Christ again .. (And there was Christ in the same place where he had first encountered Him....Oh God...Take me back to the place where I first received you....Don't EVER let me forget to return to my first Love...) The result...? He was made whole...His latter condition was better than his former and better than the other 9..... Let's live as worshippers who are determined to please the Father's heart to the point where He is not looking for us...After the consecration... After we're blessed financially...After we get the victory.... Let us not be the ones counted among the other nine....?

To offer true worship is our choice...God will not make us worship Him... But He will miss us when we don't...