The Impact of Worship

Morocco was such a thrill. I love teaching and training musicians in worship and ministering to people through fellowship. I give and I receive so much at the same time. This year's trip was not as long as the previous time I had been. Nevertheless the images and scenery will always remain with me.

It amazes me how much building is going on in and around Casablanca. Housing developments, malls, theme parks, restaurants, hotels, resorts, and more housing, and yet, the average monthly income for someone who works in these malls is around $300. Who is paying for all this development? These malls are full of the high end merchandise. Some of these retail associates never leave from behind the counter because NO ONE goes in the store...no one can afford that stuff.

Not having enough can seriously influence how we live our lives. There is so much to have. David, in Psalm 4:6-7 says:

Why is everyone hungry for more? "More, more," they say. "More, more." I have God's more-than-enough, more joy in one ordinary day...

This really is how many of us feel but certainly do not actually live. I want you to watch what happens when people worship; what kind of an impact it has on people's lives. These people are among the many who don't have much but they do know who they belong to, and that gets them excited.

Just a quick note, there was a young Moroccan woman who had a curiosity to see how Christians worship. She is not allowed to go to church so to get around the issue of attending on a Sunday morning, she attended this "Night of Worship," with a friend. She was truly touched.

the impact

in acts chapter 16 we can read about the account of a "robust" worship service taking place in a prison. consequently, the circumstance changed for those two within that jail cell. it wasn't the fact that it was paul and silas, two giants of the early church, who were singing that made the difference. rather, it was the fact that god was receiving praise and honor. glory was attributed to god simply because of who he was...awesome.

worship has a profound impact on our lives. most of us who are church members, know it even though we may not be able to admit said impact. believe it or not, praise and worship impacts the worshipping individual, body, soul, and mind. filling your mind with god's awesome character in praise and worship guides our understanding of truth and gives us knowledge of these said benefits.

in the presence of god, worship unto him impacts one in such a way that a holy zeal for his name is found. singing about him reminds us of who he is. have you ever been in the presence of god and clinched your fist so tight and pumped it in the air like rocky balboa at the top of the philadelphia museum of art? maybe you are a dancer, maybe you are a shouter, or maybe you love to kneel quietly before him in adoration. a holy zeal will most definitely change your life; i am not talking about energy, but zeal, passion, sheer desire, for his glorification.

in the presence of god, worship unto him impacts one in such a way that a boldness for the proclamation of his standards rises up inside. some could refer to it as zeal, but what really takes place is what you would find in acts 5. the apostles are in the temple praising and worshipping god then began preaching in the name of jesus. the pharisees pull them out and again command them to not preach in jesus' name, their response, "it's necessary for us to obey god rather than men." the impact of worshipping and glorifying god is a boldness for his name and proclamation of his word.

in the presence of god, worship unto him impacts one in such a way that a contentment in him resides. it's an assurance of the relationship, the covenant, the faithfulness of him to his people; he cannot deny himself. shadrach, meshach, and abednego demonstrated this when they refused to worship the gods the king had commanded them to worship. they only worship god, and would rather be thrown in the fire than worship those gods. they go as far to say, in daniel 3, that even if god didn't save them, they still wouldn't worship nebuchadnezzars gods.

in the presence of god, worship unto him impacts one in such a way that perspective of god's design is understood. in the midst of worship our mind becomes transformed, we are beholding from one glory to the next his awesome majesty. the holy spirit moves amongst our hearts shaping our walk with him, gaining a discernment for seeing things the way god sees them and even appreciating why he does things the way he does them. it is easy for followers of jesus to be overwhelmed by the condition of sin in the world, and the toll it has taken on our fellow man. worship transforms our minds and hearts and leads us even if we are not completely sure what is taking place around us.

in the presence of god, worship unto him impacts one in such a way of refreshment. we were, in the end, never meant to carry the angst and worry that we choose to carry so frequently. because of the fracture of sin we can find in many parts of the world the door to despair is wide open. we never really can escape the clutches of this fracture, this side of the grave. thankfully jesus paid the price so that we don't have to live under it. jesus is our joy and satisfaction. in 1 samuel 16 we see clearly the power of worship over a lost and despaired individual. david played as to ease the tormenting spirits that frustrated king saul. the anointing found in worship unto him is the most refreshing our souls can find while we live in these earthen vessels. like i always told my mom when i wanted to sleep in church, "there is no better place to sleep, than the presence of the lord."

if worship is not impacting our lives, it is not because god is doing something wrong, it is because our hearts are not engaged. we could easily sing songs in bars, at home in the shower, or let the musicians do it on the radio; worship has meaning, it has purpose and god's design is for it to impact our lives.

discipling your band

the greatest key for a lasting desire in a group of individuals who play together is the bond running deeper than the music or instrumentation.

i've played with several worship teams and with several different worship leaders. the greatest of groups to play with are those that have a preference for unity that overshadows their preference for music. music is such a powerful weapon/tool and has been such a hot topic when it comes to church membership. you don't have to go far before you hear a rant on style, technique, volume, era, etc.

the worship leader who reaches his team and desires a bond outside the music will find musicians running to play/perform right along side of him. i have had some great mentorship in my day. over the course of my musical career i have grown to love the back-up position (mainly because of the pedals). i can tell if a leader on the stage is reaching and discipling his teams. it shows when they play together and it directly influences the congregation.

the privilege that is amongst those on stage in the united states should never be taken for granted. many musicians playing just twice a month are receiving the equivalency of a pastors salary in some european nations. getting paid to play is a wonderful benefit, cherish it, lord knows i would love to get paid playing music. however, even in my experiences of paid musicianship i found myself longing to be along side my heroes of praise and worship, all of whom were not paid to play on the stage.

to kosovo with love

you have captured my heart. you have shown me once again that there is a god who is real and is actively involved with his creation. your love for each other and your passion for the bride of jesus is overwhelming. please keep going, don't stop.

i had little idea of what to expect when i came to see you. i had never ventured this far southeast in europe so i was not sure what to find. i recall telling many of you, "i'm speechless because i am taking it in." i was impressed, and i cannot imagine living my life without returning to your wonderful hospitality.

every smile, every spoken "falemnderit" (thank you), and all of your passion to be worshippers unto jesus in a land that is overwhelmed by opposition, has left a mark in my heart.

stand strong, keep the faith, don't lose sight of the glorious inheritance after fighting this fight. you may be woken every morning to a voice of intimidation and oppression, but fear not for god will make a way where there seems to be no way. he calls you to be holy as he is holy; be assured that he will make a way for you to live this commandment. you may be persecuted for following jesus, you may be cut off from your family and friends but let me encourage you that god's love is great and can find a way even into the darkest places of anger.

continue seeking how you can grow in your pursuit of worship. continue challenging the church to follow the voice of the holy spirit for the sake of growth and maturity that will not prove to be hollow inside.

men, lead well. develop a passion, a desire, and a zealousness for a holy leadership. don't turn to the left or the right but stand strong on the word of god. teach the young men of your congregation to honor authority in their lives. teach young women that their value worth are found in their creator. show them this value by treating them as though they are fragile and precious jewels in your life.

women, find your beauty in the presence of your king jesus. demonstrate to the other women of your land that their is a higher value than what the world calls valuable. let your voices of praise be heard within your houses and churches.

i am praying for the bride of jesus in kosovo to be radiant and pure for that glorious day he calls her home.

beautiful beauvais

a few weeks ago i had the privilege of teaching a worship seminar and doing a night of worship as renaissance accepted the invitation. this was an exciting opportunity because it came out of being apart of another ministry event earlier in the year. so the word is catching on about what god has given us to impart to the church here in europe.

beauvais, france is a beautiful place that boasts to being home of one of the largest cathedrals in europe. beautiful city, land, and hospitable people are but some of the things you can expect upon landing in this city. we trekked out after allyster got off work at nearly 10:00pm on a friday night. the conditions were very well suitable for a long distance journey. danny lankenau served as my co-pilot as the back seats were filled with liz, my boys, maeva, laetitia, and allyster. a few red bulls were the aid in alertness for the night.

we arrived safe and sound with little time to sleep before having to begin the all-day seminar the next day. the teaching and instruction went smoothly. i taught along with allyster and laetitia. the subject was songwriting and it proved successful upon completion.

one lady had written a song and we performed it that night in worship as a testimony to the workshop earlier in the day. it was a wonderfully well-constructed french song that she wrote in nearly 2 hrs. the response was wonderful and you could see how god was imparting vision for french worship to those in attendance. we felt satisfied with our work and left with a passion to come back and do more ministry in beauvais. however, this wasn’t even the best of the news.

we had received an update from the organizer of the event. on the night of worship we had the opportunity to prophecy and speak in one of the leaders of the church. he wasn’t a pastor but was looked at for leadership. i am excited to report that after the blessing and prophetic words were spoken over him he has been given an opportunity to pastor the church in which we had the seminar! he is now walking in such wonderful agreement with the words that were spoken over him. those that made him pastor were not even in attendance that night.

but this is not all...

the young people in attendance on the night of worship were filled with such passion that they have began meeting since we left. they are hungry for revival in beauvais! think about it, a group of young people who did not have a pastor, all received a desire to unify and submit themselves under leadership for the sake of growing in their commitment to the Lord and building his kingdom! god is so good!

keep praying for his name to be great in europe.

oh hello

today has been pretty unproductive for me. i woke up this morning feeling like a few bags of sand were resting in my head. i really hate feeling this way because it keeps me from things i love doing like waking up.

the beauty of my marriage is i am married to the most selfless woman on the planet. i know this because  she got up much earlier than i did to attend to the latest lowrie addition and the first words out of her mouth, after i woke up and told her how i was feeling, were, "you should go lay back down for a bit." i love that woman. sadly, the pressure in my head kept me from being able to relax.

around 9 everyday we leave for the student base where i prepare to lead worship and teach in our discipleship school. today, of course, the last thing i wanted to do was sing and teach. i love that god's presence and praise is more important to me than how i feel.

is experiencing communion with your heavenly father more important than what you feel like doing? unless of course you feel like experiencing communion with him right now then i would say that there is no better feeling.

i will now leave you with a few of my brilliant wife's photos...

i'm loving this

paris has become quite a place of opportunity. this last weekend the opportunity expanded even further. connecting with jeff slaughter here in brussels we were invited to participate in a converge event.

converge is a worship teaching seminar. leading worship, teaching song writing, leading band members in practical aspects of worship, and fellowship are just some of the things that make up these wonderful all day meetings.

we held the event at assemblée chrétienne du bon berger. the turnout was fantastic with nearly 80 people in attendance. allyster and laetitia held a songwriters workshop while danny lankenau and myself took care of the band workshop. it was such a wonderful opportunity to teach the band practical ways of serving their worship leader and imparting just a few ideas on how they could make the worship less about them and more about leading people.

the day was packed from 9 in the morning til 11 in the night. with no room really to rest or have an official reflection on the days activities. the next day we kept it in high gear as we served the local church of the bridge in paris.

the bridge is an international church that meets in a hotel. this 75+ community was such a great experience for our team. meeting new faces and joining with people who literally are from around the world under one roof. one guy i met, named chris, is from australia, married a swedish woman and has a coffee shop in downtown paris! talk about reaching the world in one discussion. i was really impacted by the servants in this church. the situation of the church requires that they set up hours before and tear down moments after the completion of the service. it is not a job for those who are lacking commitment.

after a wonderful chipotle experience we headed home. thankfully we arrived home early enough to gain a great night of sleep. the next day was right back to the grind. meeting with a german pastor who is married to a dutch woman in antwerp. he has a heart to unite the churches in antwerp and it is a massive undertaking. he has connected with me and my friend here helping with the summons discipleship school. he has such a big vision for this, i can't say no to help him.

god is doing some amazing things in europe!
keep praying,
keep supporting, and
keep looking for what god is doing.

au revoir carlsbourg

bittersweet. that was pretty much how i felt for this convention de jeunesse 2012. this isn't the last year that c-j will be taking place but is the last year in carlsbourg.

it is bittersweet due to the fact that i gained so much revelation the first year i attended c-j in this facility. the memories and discussions of the eerie feelings of haunted hallways and our plans of strategic get-a-ways in case of a zombie attack. not to mention i love youth camps and the whole youth conference feel. and yet, this facility is so old and outdated. it will be nice to move to a newer facility that can handle the growing demand of youth wanting to attend. it will also be nice for a facility to have adequate sleeping conditions.

it takes you a while sometimes to get to know something. since our first year in 2008, i feel as though i finally got to know this facility and now that i know it we are moving to another location for next year. but make no mistake, i will never forget this place. 2008, 2009, 2011

i'm already looking ghostly

this wasn't at c-j

less manipulation

within the depths of my heart you would find a longing for a continual flame to burn. the flame that just seems to slowly tenderize my passion for the lord in every area of my life. all aspects, all words, every action, and every reaction i eagerly anticipate to become consumed with this fire until my entire being is formed to the image my creator intends.

often times, as a worshipping aspect of the ministry, it is a risk going into an opportunity not knowing anything about the partners in ministry, namely the speaker. there have been some very embarrassing moments as expectations of what the speaker is desiring are completely misunderstood by the entire worship team. you can see it, sometimes you can feel it, and more times than not you can definitely hear it. it is frustrating to witness these awkward moments when it is completely apparent that the flow of the spirit is missed and the anointing in the service is dropped. please, as one believer to another, do not under appreciate or underestimate the power of the spirit's anointing. especially those of you who aspire to be involved in ministry that puts you in different places at a moments notice.

last weekend there was yet another clear demonstration of the value of this flame for the believer. traveling around and doing ministry in many different cultures, on different continents, with different people groups, age groups, all with theologies ranging across the board one thing must remain essential in order for the proper effect to take place. it is the move and flow of the anointing of the holy spirit that makes the work seamless and the connection between worship team and unknown speaker operate in unity. we witnessed this working in amsterdam this last weekend. not knowing the speaker from the barista at starbucks didn't seem to interrupt what god wanted to do in the lives of young people. all we needed was a look from him to know how loud to get, to change the dynamic, to go big, to go quiet and all of this as we are moving in the anointing that is poured out by the spirit in the moment. after the service chatting with the speaker his comment rang loud and clear with me, "it is so good to work with people who can sense the anointing and move with it." it was as if we had clearly communicated with him beforehand our song list, or style, and who was leading our team.

the greatness of the meeting was confirmed by the spirit and the anointing that flowed. the connection of words from the speaker and songs from the worship team were confirmed by the spirit and the anointing that flowed. the changed lives of the young people was done only through the work of the spirit and not the manipulation of the speaker or worship team as the anointing flowed.

praise the lord for such an opportunity. i thank him for granting me the eyes to see this magnificent demonstration of his power and gearing me up for the next great manifestation through the anointing of his spirit. my heart is highly anticipating his next move!

a new song in my mouth

i am just now realizing how much guitar playing i am doing.

sunday mornings at christian center

morocco

conferences

explosion (renaissance)

fusion

ravi zacharias event

explosion (explosion band)

when this sort of thing begins to happen, not because i have to as much as i want to, my heart becomes overwhelmed with what the lord has given me and the means he has provided to reach an end. i delight in giving back praise and honor through music to my creator who has given me such talent to begin with.

morocco you mo-rocked my mind

everything you thought you knew about morocco is probably outdated. the land seems to strike fear in some individuals. i am not going to lie to you, when i was invited to do this seminar and training of worshipers and musicians i was thinking...

wait, what? morocco? don't they feed christians to the lions?

upon the landing it was quite clear that this perspective could not be farther from the truth. there is a great respect for imams in the land. so when you confess to be a missionary they are taken to that term as you might think of a stranger coming into your home and telling you they are going to raise your children. a lot comes with that very terminology, "missionary," which will be discussed later. however, if you confess to being a pastor or teacher of the word, it seems, they hold a high respect for individuals of a similar fashion to their beloved imams. teachers of holy texts, worshipers of "sacred deities" and things of this nature. this sounds weird, even as i type it, but the mentality is completely different. no matter how many malls they build with massive aquariums and no matter how many wonderful "american" restaurants they invite to build revenue and try to be western they will always have the mentality that they have in common with their islamic brethren from around the world.

yet still, they are very tolerant to internationals. they hate american foreign policy but don't marginalize americans with what washington dictates to the rest of the world. and i echo the evangelical population of morocco with a hearty amen! the king of morocco, mohammed vi, has a very strong resemblance to what we find in the pharaohs of ancient egypt. it literally is allah, mohammed the prophet, and then mohammad vi according to the people of morocco. in reality islam is a smoke screen.

the "underground church" is a cool name that people put towards what really is going on in morocco which is the gospel working through the liberal tolerance that is islam. don't for one second think that god is not at work even in the most wicked of any regime. conversely, don't think you are safe just because you are in a dominantly tolerant society to preach openly in public. the simple message for us is to let christ be the light and the conflict that comes when you are faced with the conviction of your sin. you can be a christian and flourish in morocco. quite honestly they need more laborers as the church is growing faster than the pastors can keep up. one pastor will usually be over several congregations not because he wants to but because the church is growing.

i was tempted to entertain the thought of being apart of this movement for a longer term.

je veux te voire dans ma vie

explanation, give it to me!!! i wish i could. every year i attend the cj i return home stirred, provoked, and inspired to plow a little deeper, dig a little harder, and sow the seed a little farther. this year is not any different.

in reality the cj is where it began for most of the team. this was our 3rd in attendance in just 4 years as a 9th hour squadron and our sphere of influence is growing only by the grace of the lord. confirming what he is saying to us, as a team, he is also demonstrating in events such as these. spontaneous songs, healings, awakened hearts and most importantly transformation into a submitted life unto his calling are all what you would have found here if you had attended.

this year we were able to have more of a direction in the look of the stage. i think this years stage design was one of the best this conference has seen. you can see in some of the photos from our facebook page that we really made an effort in giving the stage a look that would draw attention to whoever was leading worship or whoever was just on the stage.

upon leading worship we were able to lead the group in a few of the french songs that we wrote and there was a great response to these songs. allyster did a tremendous job leading the congregation in french along with laetitia. after one of our worship sets there arose a spontaneous song from the youth. you can see what it was like here:

here is a different video that allyster had filmed while on stage. we, as a band, stopped playing because the expression from the young people was so overwhelmingly marvelous that we just let them express their hearts as you can see they did in the video.

it is really starting to feel ground breaking for me personally. i have been able to witness things that seem to have made an impact. now it is starting to gain momentum and be very consistent. i truly see the lord moving amongst these people in marvelous ways.