"I'm with the worship team"

         Over the years, the regular model of a worship band has drastically changed from where it was in the past. Most of the article writes about comparing a worship band (local church worship ministry) to a band. The article points out how an LCWM is much different in a band, the main point of a LWCM is to serve. We need to be inclusive and open to everyone in the community. It's really good to allow others to join in your worship. This is the way God wants it to be, he wants as many people to be involved.
   
        As a worship band member, it's really important to take all of these things into account in my life. I remember last year, we did gove opportunities to students outside of the worship band class to perform in chapel. I really enjoyed those times, and I thinks it's important for us to do. If we are open to the student body, they may be more open to us as a worship band. The more we get people involved, the more God will be pleased with our work.

Why aren't we singing?

In this video, the speaker talks about how people at his own church often don't sing. He talks about some of the things he does in order to improve this, and some of the challenges he has faced. He said that when you sing heartily, your whole body is involved, not just your voice. He believes that people tend to sing more to songs they know and songs that are easy to sing. Another point that he makes is that people need to come to church not to worship, but to already be worshipping. If we put everything we have toward worship, we will be doing it correctly.

I think the things that graham says in the video can be applied to both my life, and our bands performances. I think it's really important to use songs that are well known to our community, when we do them people get involved. We need to not focus on how entertaining we are, but rather, how to get the student body involved. It's very important that we are very genuine with our worship while on stage, but it is also important to take that genuine worship and give it to those around us. If we make it clear that we are not worshipping for the students, but for God, they might get more involved.

Living in our elements

The video we watched in class from Dan wilt was something I think we all know, but need to be reminded of. It's important to use our gifts to glorify God. This is what we were put on earth to do, to glorify him. When we live in our elements, through being grounded, inspired, empowered and communal. These 4 things will keep us living for God and keeping our faith.

Dan wilt made me really think about how are band does things as well. I think we do a decent job at keeping and living in our elements. Whenever I'm playing, I known am doing the right thing for God. Playing in the worship band is what really puts me in my element. It wasn't until this year that I thought that I might continue to do this for the rest of my life, in order to use my gifts for God.

Artist highlight: Zach Bolen

       Zach Bolen is the singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the Christian Rock band Citizens and Saints. He and his band, based out of Seattle, Washington, combine skilled instrumentalists and fantastic songwriting to create a unique sound to worship the Lord. The group released their first full album in 2013 under the title of "Citizens" and later, the groups name changed to "Citizens and Saints" since there was another music group based out of the U.K. With the same name. Today, the band is still recording and just released a new album last month, called "A Mirror Dimly"

        Zach Bolen himself was born in Maryland, and was basically raised through music and sports. When he was five years old, his father passed away, so he used those things to cope with his loss. He accepted Christ when he was 14 years old, at the site of his fathers grave. As he grew up, he wrote songs as he progressed through his high school career. When he graduated, he moved to Savannah, Georgia to pursue his career in music at art school. He he started playing at a church and also met his wife while he was in college. A few years later, he and his wife ended up living in Seattle where Citizens and Saints was formed.

        The groups most well known song is "Made Alive", which was released on their first full album "Citizens". The song mostly talks about how God has forgiven us for our sins and brought us out of sin, making us alive. Musically, the song sounds like an 80's Rock track, and combines that with the lyrics for a very bright sound. Another very popular song of theirs is "In tenderness", which also came off of "Citizens". Zach Bolen leads one of the most unique Christian groups to worship, and hopefully they will find continued success.

Are you insulting God in worship?

      In this article by Sam Storms, we focus on keeping our priorities straight in worship, and sam focuses on the simple word "for". Storms explains that even though it is a simple word, it means a lot. We need to make sure we are worshiping for worship, not for performance. We need to be careful with our words and our attitude. We need to be careful with our wording, God does not need our worship, but we need him.

      One of my favorite things storm says in the article is that God does not need us. I remember that this is similar to a message I heard when we were at hume last winter. When we are serving and worshipping our God, we are doing a good thing, but at the end of the day, we aren't doing much compared to what he does for us. The speaker talked about a time when he was washing his car with his children, and they were using toothbrushes to help him. They weren't doing much, but their father was happy with their help, just like how God sees us. No matter what we do for him, God loves us.

Get off the platform

       The basic topic of the article is about keeping our minds focused on performing for God, rather than for ourselves. People in worship often fixate on "gaining a platform", which is definitely not where our minds should be. When we focus on the wrong motives, we become toxic for our band, we would do more hurt than help. The article talks about how we could use the platform to promote our faith and transfer it to others.

          I really liked this article because I know that putting ourselves on a platform can be something that is easy to do. We can use our class time to talk and reflect about how to avoid this in our worship. I often find myself thinking more about performing than about worshipping. Although our performance is really important, it is more important to worship God. If we have him on our mind first, he will work to make the worship effective.
     

NBA worship summary

This video is definitely meant to be a joke. I feel like sometimes worship can be like it is shown in the video, competitive and not meant for God. As worship leaders, we need to focus on our worship, rather than ourselves.

Chapter 29

           One of the things that is very important in worship leading is stepping out of your comfort zone. For many people, getting in front of your congregation and playing music for them makes them really uncomfortable, but we need to be able to do that. If we stay in our comfort zone, we will never grow as worship leaders, and that is never good. In order to become the best we can, we need to be able to be uncomfortable.

           For me, playing in front of chapel is something that was a little bit nerve racking for me. I think it has definitely been the best thing for me. By going out of my comfort zone and doing worship band, my life has definitely been improved in my faith. If it weren't for this class, I definitely wouldn't be the person I am today. This is our last blog and you guys probably won't read this, but I want to thank each and every one of you guys in the class and Mr. Coates for challenging my faith this year and pushing me out of my comfort zone.

Chapter 28

        In chapter 28, krauter talks about understanding and learning from our worship experiences. When we lead people in worship, we need to make sure we are worshipping God ourselves. The work we do for our community would not be at all authentic without real worship. leading others in worshipis impossible to do without taking the time to understand who you are worshiping.

      Krauter mentions that we need to take the time and understand what the meanings are behind the songs we play and sing. This will make our worship better, since we can form our own personal connections with our songs. We can apply this by listening and deconstructing the lyrics and meanings to make our worship better.

Chapter 26

       Chapter 27 focused on being mentally and physically prepared to worship, but this one talks about being spiritually prepared. We can do this by showing up early to times when we need to lead, so we can get in the right mindset. If we get in the right mindset, our leading will be so much better than we would without God.

         I think that we do well to spiritually prepare ourselves, especially by praying before we lead. In past weeks, I think Gid has definitely made sure we do well even if we weren't actually prepared, just because we were spiritually prepared. Being pspiritually prepared is more important than being only mentally and physically prepared.

Chapter 27

     As worship leaders we need to always be planning for events or performances we will have. We need to be spiritually, mentally, and physically prepared to lead worship for others. We need to constantly be praying and gaining guidance from God, especially when we don't personally think we are prepared.

      With our group, I think we always do our best to be prepared for our performances and for leading others. Sometimes, we don't have too much time to prepare for our chapel days, but we usually are focused and prepared to perform. We spend time in class and outside of class practicing for our worship.

Chapter 15

This chapter is about using leadership and solving problems through diplomacy. Most of our problems can be solved by using peaceful speech and conversation. Diplomacy is the best way to solve problems in this kind of group, especially at church or in school.

Diplomacy is something that can and should be used to solve problems in our band. If someone doesn't practice or doesn't do their work, we need to talk it out with them to find a solution. Sometimes we use it and, although it may be hard, it is the best way.

Chapter 14

          Tom Krauter writes this chapter mostly about caring for the church congregation, while also worshipping. As worship leaders, our job is not only to worship God but to minister to our congregation as well. We need to see others as more important than our own needs in order to be good worship leaders. By caring for the congregation, we can show our love for God through our love for others.

           At school, our congregation is our classmates, so we need to make sure we care for them. People don't care about how much you love God, until you show how you love them. If we can show Gods love to our community, they will understand how much we care for God, and understand our worship. They will feel moved to worship him as well.

Chapter 13

        Krauter is talking about what our priorities in life should be, and makes it clear that we need to be thinking about them. He begins the chapter which a list which is, loving God, loving our family, and working in your ministry. He said that we always need to be keeping this list in the back of our minds in order to make the right desicions. We may have our own priorities, but we need to make sure that we keep the ones Krauter has given us in mind. As leaders, we need to focus on these priorities in order to do an effective job.

       I feel like we could easily integrate this list in the band we have now. If we have God as our first priority, there's no way we can't be a bad leader. We can also integrate our friends in to the list of family to love. I know that our band is very close and if we focus on loving each other we can play better and lead better as a group. And we can work on our ministry by practicing on our music outside of class.

Chapter 12

God has given each person on earth at least one unique gift. Sometimes, we ignore our gifts, but if we do that, our talents will be wasted. Krauter emphasizes that we need to develop our God given gifts in order for them to be useful. In order to be effective worship leader we need to use the gifts he gave us, which for most of us is music, to glorify Him. We need to make sure our lives are not wasted by abandoning our talents.

I think God has given everyone in our band a special gift, and like I said earlier, most of us have musical talents. I am so glad that most of us have found the way to glorify God with our gifts. I think that most of us will end up finding a way to glorify Him throughout our lives, whether it is with music or without it.

Chapter 11

Tom krauter starts this chapter by explaining the pressure he felt while just starting on the worship band at his church. He said that he really didn't like having the pressure of being an example at first. He was focused on worshipping God, which isn't a bad thing, but he did not focus on letting others follow him, which is what leaders do. It may be tough to be a leader, but it is what our job is. If we are worship leaders, we need to focus not only on worship, but being leaders as well.

This can definitely apply this concept to our own lives as worship leaders. I think I do a good job leading my peers, but I think that I can always improve. It is really difficult to act in an exemplary manner in front of others while we are off the stage. Sometimes, being in front of the entire student body is easier than being a leader.

Chapter 10

This chapter tells us the importance of self discipline. He tells us that it may not always be fun, but it is essential in being an effective worship leader. I definitely agree that self discipline is extremely important, and we need to modify our lives to become more mature. We need to set a good example for our peers and fellow leaders. If we show our discipline to God and others, He will reward us.

I really agree with what Krauter talks about in this chapter. It is a lesson that is commonly taught to us, but that is because it is more important than we may think. We need not ignore these lessons, even though they are easy to overlook since we are constantly asked to have discipline.

Chapter 9

         This chapter shows a story from kraeuters perspective. He talks about how we have to not be too arrogant in our position in a church. We need to make sure we are leading for the right reasons, not for our own gain and be away from arrogance. It is extremely important to be loose with our positions, we need to always remember that God is more important than our position.
       
         As worship leaders, it is so difficult to remember that worship is way more important than playing music for the band. I remember that when at first I didn't make the worship band, I was so mad. I realized soon later that as long as I stay stronger in my faith, the fact I play in the band won't matter. I am overwhelmingly joyful that I am able to play in the band, but not making it at first gave me a different perspective while playing with you guys.

Chapter 8

      The author emphasizes that as worship leaders we need to be mature both in faith and in life. It is obvious that we need to be good role models for our peers and friends. He mentions that we can get a friend or role model to help keep us accountable in our faith. If we do not show others that we can have self control, we shouldn't be leading them in their faith. Asking someone to be their accountability is the first step in showing your maturity.

      We can apply this to our lives by asking a friend to keep us mature and accountable. It will help us grow in faith and in life. If we can keep each other accountable, we will all benefit. In order to lead people in the right way, we need to show that we can keep ourselves accountable and mature.