Ahhh, the LIST!  You know the one…  The Song list, musician list, instrumentation list, the file list, date list, gig list, event list. And that doesn’t even begin to touch the work list, the home list, and oh, my lands, have you SEEN the kids list?
And somewhere in the midst of it all we still have our spouse, family and well, yes God!  It’s all there, even for the Worship Leader.Funny how the perception is so often that what is seen on stage or seen in the congregation is the summation of all we do and yet… there are lists!  And too often we find that we need a list just to keep up with our lists…  But, this post is NOT about organization.  Nor is it about time management.  This is about priorities.  It is about our focus. Today, we return to the basics… the bare bone essentials of what we are all about…  Our ambition is to weed through the muddled murky mire that too easily weighs us down and blocks up the pipes from which the clear, pure water of His presence should be flowing through our clay built channels  (2Cor.4:7).  The purpose of this post is to set down the list for a moment, place it aside and return to Joy!  Ah, yes that too often elusive and curt, three lettered word – JOY!

Psalm 16:11 says: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  Did you read that with me?  Fullness of JOY!!!  Why does it seem that our corporate worship times are often predicated by erratic scrambling, list shuffling, last minute tuning, and the inevitable panic and frustration that comes with it?  Or better yet, perhaps you’ve felt a God shift in your personal life? Perhaps you have broken through in the spirit and God has begun to open up doors and avenues that will give expression to the gift He’s placed inside of you and during what should be pure celebration, strange arguments and strife are breaking out with those you love, or with your team… What is going on? Where is the JOY?

What’s going on is there is a battle being waged on invisible turf to disarm you!  And what better way than make you completely miserable doing the one thing you “love” to do… Worship!  And what happens most often is that because the Word of God is in us, we find ourselves dashing past its mirror hoping not to catch even the slightest glimpse of the ugliness it has revealed about our response to the circumstances we are confronting.  And rather than look square into it and allow it’s water and grace to purify us, we keep walking and pick up our costume of perfection and “for the sake of the list,” we turn our worship into something other than an honest expression of intimacy with Jesus, and it becomes more of a performance than anything else, leaving us less than satisfied in the process.

However, you’re not alone… Look up Nehemiah 8.  In this passage we see Ezra the priest bring out the Law before the people and read it.  And just like you and I, the people saw themselves as falling short.  Verse 9 says: “all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.”  No one wants to face the reality of their imperfection, and yet His grace is still sufficient… (2Corinthians 12:9)  And Ezra said to them:  “Do not mourn or weep… Go your way and eat the fat and drink the sweet… Do not sorrow, for the JOY of the Lord is your Strength!” Do you hear the freedom in that? Do you hear the grace of God?

And before I write another thing, hear this! “Do not sorrow, for the JOY of the Lord is your Strength!!!”  Right now, put aside the lists that are bogging you down and pick up the list of His mercy… (Lamentations 3:22-23)  Think on things that are pure and good… (Philippians 4:8) And above all, pull up your chair and gather around the table He has prepared for you… yes, even in the presence of your enemies (Psalm 23:5), and “taste and see that the Lord, He is GOOD!” (Psalm 34:8)

This is Building Judah… our purpose and goal is to build you up and encourage you, to strengthen the hands that hang down so that you can fulfill all that God has placed within you to do for His Kingdom’s sake… No gift undiscovered, no skill undeveloped (or under developed)! And not just for the moment, but for every moment He gives until we lay rejoicing and prostrate before Him with our every earthly crown thrown at His feet!  So, come on – “get your PRAISE ON!  And get into JOY – Today – Right NOW – Seriously!  Don’t waste one more second of your precious time doing anything less…

“Never forget you are not growing your ministry, you are simply participating in the ongoing ministry of Jesus.” Gabriel Allred, Christ for the Nations

Matt Redman speaks about how easy it is to get in a little groups with your musos mates and think you know all about which song, which style, which act of worship is best, but it is very dangerous to get into that musical ghetto.

These situations are not new and have been the cause of many broken relationships and many broken churches.  If you are not the leader choosing the songs, don’t pout about a song, or a style, or insist on having on your way. If you are there for the worship, they you are called to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, Eph 5:12.

When listening to the popular opinion, learn to keep your opinions and disagreements to yourself and let them go. God is grieved  when our unity is disrupted. You have to make a commitment to refuse to speak against your leadership, even when you disagree with policies and or decisions.

You have to decide if you are willing to come to the levels and standards that the ministry requires, not the ministry bringing their standards down to you. You do not actually know if you are in submission until you don’t agree. All of the time leading up to that were just periods of agreement. True submission places you in a position of taking on someones ideas or instructions and being able to carry them out with the same heart and spirit as you would had they been your own.

Paul knew how hard it was for people to agree and cooperate. That’s why he had to encourage the people with these words: May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with. Romans 15:5-6.  Without endurance and unity we can’t glorify him with one heart and one mouth.

I’ve been meditating on the word WAVE a lot lately.  God keeps bringing up that word in my spirit and has given me several things about it regarding worship.  Today i was thinking about that it takes for us to be worship leaders and worship team members. Whether you are on a church platform or in a church sound booth, the WAVE process is something that we can all live by. Here is how he laid it out on my heart :

W- worship…  maintain the life of a worshiper on & MOST importantly OFF the stage

A- attitude… the attitude that you take into your role and into your position not only affects how you worship, but how others around you enter in as well

V- value… always be looking at how you can reinforce value in those you are serving and in those you are leading

E- excellence… in all we do, our excellence will shine and speak for us in our ministry.

If we are applying the WAVE process in our life and ministry, God will answer us and release WAVES of his glory, his presence, and his power into all that we do.