Worship Skills and Sensitivity
In the first verses of Psalms 33, we’re urged to make music to the Lord, sing to him a new song and play skillfully. I know this is speaking in the context of musicians and there instruments but I would like to turn it to a different angle and approach it as our instruments being the Cameras, switcher, computer and sound board or whatever it is we are working on. The word skillfully here means 2 things first we are to be the best that we can be with our instruments – as practiced and prepared as possible. And second we need to learn how to play (operate) sensitively, with an ability to flow with the Holy Spirit in our times of Congregational worship.
Technicians may have great techniques but with out the sensitivity we can often distract from worship rather than add to it. In I Chronicles 25 you read about the Levite priest who took care of worship in the Temple and who were trained and skilled in music for the Lord. We sense here a dedication to their calling, and so it should be with us. Whatever we do we should work at it with all our hearts, spending time developing our gifting and learning to improve on them.
We have the opportunity here to be a part of worship each and every day and we are truly blessed to have so many talented musicians within the body. It is easy to get wrapped in the technical parts of the service and loose focus as to why we are really here. Don’t misunderstand me in that I believe we should strive for technical excellence each and every week but keep in mind the real reason we are here is to glorify and Worship God.
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise; risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible. This is going to be one of my goals this year as we strive to create an excellent support for the worship leaders in the church. Our pastors are tasked with the responsibility of preparing and presenting the body of the church to the word of God and to the very presence of his throne where we can experience worship. We are also tasked with that responsibility, as we are all Worship leaders regardless of the position we are filling any given weekend. It is very easy to be a distraction in the service with out ever knowing it. A jerk on the camera, a missed microphone, feedback, and late slides can all be a distraction. I like to refer to the media team as one part of the body as there are many parts we simply make up a few of them, the eyes, ears, and even the ability to change the mood of a specific part of the service rests squarely up on our shoulders.
While this can be overwhelming at time we need to remember this with out Christ we can do nothing but with him all things are possible. I look forward to worshiping together in the future and it is my prayer that each and every one of you are blessed and your families are blessed with an extra period of time with you for all the sacrifices you make here each month. It is a joy and honor to be a part of such a wonderful team and I look forward to improving our skills and abilities to further his Kingdom.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
March 2008 Thoughts
Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21 ). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant" ( Matthew 25:21 ). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — "I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake."
"Do you love Me?" Then, "Feed My sheep" ( John 21:17 ). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.
This is copied from my devotional this morning, My Utmost for His Highest, and it really reminded me of why I do, what I am doing. It is not for man that I chose to get in to this profession and it was truly God that called me in to the ministry. You see I served in the music ministry and tech team for 13 years in Florida, and for various reasons never wanted to work for the church. I was offered the Media Director position at that church, on more than one occasion and turned it down each time. When I got the call from Nan here at Providence to send in my resume, I put it off and didn’t take it at all seriously,(thank God for a praying wife). You see I had it made, so I thought, traveling the country. Working for myself, great income, everything I thought I should have and more according to my plan. I for the first time in my life then experienced a dry spell for work, I have never been with out resources and had always been able to provide, or at least I thought was providing for my family, and serving at the church as often as I could, I was a good person doing good things. Then God made it clear he was calling me in to ministry full time, not exactly what I had in mind, you see it didn’t fit my plan.
I resisted and argued right up until the day we pulled out of Florida too come to Raleigh, that was 5 years ago this month. I know see what God had in store and still anticipate what is to come. I have been blessed beyond my furthest dreams, with friends, coworkers, and a tech team that is, as far as I am concerned the best group of folks any where in the World. You all do more to bless this church and me personally, than you will ever be able to be rewarded for here on earth, I am sure your rewards in Heaven will be great. Serving can sometimes be a complicated and trying at times, as we all sometimes get to much in our life’s, and easily become overwhelmed. It is often easy to get caught up in the negative and frustrating issues we deal with, and loose sight of what we are really doing. I really feel like we, as a team have grown significantly since Christmas, in our sound checks, implementing the Wednesday rehearsal, for Sunday services. We are also going to be having members of the praise team join us in the tech areas, so that we get the chance to spend time with them, as well as they getting to know us, and see what we do. We have already had 2 different members join us in the back on Wed. evening and it has been a ball.
As we continue to grow we are discussing a way to expand the team and eventually add a couple positions. Look for that plan coming real soon. You all are the greatest, and I know that you serve with all your hearts, and I will never be able to thank you for all your service here at PBC. Continue to serve with a servant heart, a positive attitude and with excellence, all for the glory of God. I look forward to many more years’ service with each and every one of you.
"Do you love Me?" Then, "Feed My sheep" ( John 21:17 ). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.
This is copied from my devotional this morning, My Utmost for His Highest, and it really reminded me of why I do, what I am doing. It is not for man that I chose to get in to this profession and it was truly God that called me in to the ministry. You see I served in the music ministry and tech team for 13 years in Florida, and for various reasons never wanted to work for the church. I was offered the Media Director position at that church, on more than one occasion and turned it down each time. When I got the call from Nan here at Providence to send in my resume, I put it off and didn’t take it at all seriously,(thank God for a praying wife). You see I had it made, so I thought, traveling the country. Working for myself, great income, everything I thought I should have and more according to my plan. I for the first time in my life then experienced a dry spell for work, I have never been with out resources and had always been able to provide, or at least I thought was providing for my family, and serving at the church as often as I could, I was a good person doing good things. Then God made it clear he was calling me in to ministry full time, not exactly what I had in mind, you see it didn’t fit my plan.
I resisted and argued right up until the day we pulled out of Florida too come to Raleigh, that was 5 years ago this month. I know see what God had in store and still anticipate what is to come. I have been blessed beyond my furthest dreams, with friends, coworkers, and a tech team that is, as far as I am concerned the best group of folks any where in the World. You all do more to bless this church and me personally, than you will ever be able to be rewarded for here on earth, I am sure your rewards in Heaven will be great. Serving can sometimes be a complicated and trying at times, as we all sometimes get to much in our life’s, and easily become overwhelmed. It is often easy to get caught up in the negative and frustrating issues we deal with, and loose sight of what we are really doing. I really feel like we, as a team have grown significantly since Christmas, in our sound checks, implementing the Wednesday rehearsal, for Sunday services. We are also going to be having members of the praise team join us in the tech areas, so that we get the chance to spend time with them, as well as they getting to know us, and see what we do. We have already had 2 different members join us in the back on Wed. evening and it has been a ball.
As we continue to grow we are discussing a way to expand the team and eventually add a couple positions. Look for that plan coming real soon. You all are the greatest, and I know that you serve with all your hearts, and I will never be able to thank you for all your service here at PBC. Continue to serve with a servant heart, a positive attitude and with excellence, all for the glory of God. I look forward to many more years’ service with each and every one of you.
Serving With Excellence
Ephesians 6:7
Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise,
Risking more than others think is safe,
Dreaming more than others think is practical,
And expecting more than others think is possible.
Our goals and expectations are just as demanding and should be treated with the same consideration that the pastors use in preparing their sermons or as the musicians and singers prepare for each and every service. Worship is not just a time during the service but should be a daily part of our lifestyle. So many folks rush in on Sunday morning typically just in time to make the service and have so much going on that they often miss the opportunities to be drawn in to the worship experience and ultimately miss out on the chance to sit at the feet of our God and Creator.
Imagine having the opportunity to sit across from the President or any world leader regardless of our political influences. We would want to listen to what those placed in leadership have to say. We have an even greater opportunity than that – we can sit before the greatest authority ever. He created those world leaders just as He created you and me. How prepared would you be for a service if we found out the President was coming to our service this Sunday? What an honor! I suspect we would have extra rehearsals, plan every detail out, and try to put our best foot forward.
I’m not saying that we don’t always try and achieve this weekly, but if we were to really examine just our area of ministry, what would we see? Let’s take a quick look and break down the areas of our ministry. I will start with me. As the director, I have been given the responsibility to prepare for, examine and make sure we have the personnel and equipment in place to do what is being asked of us to do. I often don’t start really preparing until a few days before, am I prepared usually not.
Audio can be next. Does the engineer have all the mic cues? Who is playing on what songs? Who is singing what parts? Who has the medley? Are there any solos that need to be reinforced?
Moving on to the PPT operators. Have you looked over both services and made any notes on solos? What is going on during a scripture reading? Video directors, what are your primary shots? Who is leading each song? Any solos to be aware of? How are different people getting on and off stage? What does the stage look like?
Camera Ops, you are the eyes and ears of the director. Are you sitting in on the rehearsal, making notes, talking with the director to help cover shots?(not during the service) What are your primary areas of responsibility or your primary shots?
Recording Engineers, are you ready? Do you have all the blank media you need? Is everything cued and ready?
Stage managers, have you touched base with all the various parties involved? Does the soloist know when and where they are singing? Does the pastor need a podium?
I think you start to get the picture. How prepared are we? That will be our goal this year as we take the media team to the next step: more planning and preparation time for each and every service. My goal has been and will be to have a rotation of being on one week and off two. I feel this gives each team the chance to grow in their skills and gel as a team without burning out anyone. For the most part, we have honored this plan. I also have tried to respect and honor the Tuesdays prior to your scheduled weekend as not being a mandatory time to be here for rehearsal. It is the policy of the music teams that if you are not here Tuesday for rehearsal you cannot play that weekend. I’m not saying that is the case for us. Please don’t misunderstand, all I’m suggesting is that maybe it would benefit us as a team to at least have our directors here to watch and take notes. At worst we should all be here at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday for our production meeting and should be in our positions, ready to go, throughout rehearsal as if it were the service. We should be taking notes and preparing for the services.
Our goal is to always have the stage cleared by 7:45 a.m., allowing you all to meet again for ten minutes and go over any changes prior to the services starting. You should then be at your assigned position at least five minutes prior to a service start time.
I mentioned earlier how prepared we would be if the President was coming to our Sunday service. As powerful as that would be, we have a greater opportunity each and every week. Imagine being a part of a service that allows a person to accept Christ, therefore changing that person’s life forever (eternally). Obviously God is the one doing the saving and He sure doesn’t need any of us to help, but He often uses us to deliver his word or be a part of His plan in bringing people to His kingdom. I suspect that when Pastor David or any of our pastors prepare the message each week they have devoted many hours of research, study time and prayer in to what they are preaching. I also trust that the musicians and singers are preparing and even praying over their part of the service. Our worship time should start the minute we get up out of bed and should continue until we lay down at night.
The service you provide on a weekly basis is also an act of worship that is just as meaningful as the pastors and musicians. We should be as prepared and ready as they are, maybe even more so, to support and not be a distraction as they deliver what God has prepared in them. It is our job as well to eliminate distractions from the congregation and those watching from remote locations and even other countries via our duplication ministry. I appreciate all that you do and have no doubt that you strive for the excellence mentioned above. Now it’s time to step up another notch and see where God wants to lead us. We should never be done learning and always want to do better with the responsibilities He has entrusted to us.
Our walk and personal relationship with Him should be first and foremost – without that nothing else matters. He is the one true friend that will never forsake you or leave you – how awesome is that? You see He is attending every service and even sees us before, during, between, and after each service, as well as all week long, wherever we may be. Let’s step it up, prepare, plan, and be ready to do our part in the eternal work God has given use to do.
Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise,
Risking more than others think is safe,
Dreaming more than others think is practical,
And expecting more than others think is possible.
Our goals and expectations are just as demanding and should be treated with the same consideration that the pastors use in preparing their sermons or as the musicians and singers prepare for each and every service. Worship is not just a time during the service but should be a daily part of our lifestyle. So many folks rush in on Sunday morning typically just in time to make the service and have so much going on that they often miss the opportunities to be drawn in to the worship experience and ultimately miss out on the chance to sit at the feet of our God and Creator.
Imagine having the opportunity to sit across from the President or any world leader regardless of our political influences. We would want to listen to what those placed in leadership have to say. We have an even greater opportunity than that – we can sit before the greatest authority ever. He created those world leaders just as He created you and me. How prepared would you be for a service if we found out the President was coming to our service this Sunday? What an honor! I suspect we would have extra rehearsals, plan every detail out, and try to put our best foot forward.
I’m not saying that we don’t always try and achieve this weekly, but if we were to really examine just our area of ministry, what would we see? Let’s take a quick look and break down the areas of our ministry. I will start with me. As the director, I have been given the responsibility to prepare for, examine and make sure we have the personnel and equipment in place to do what is being asked of us to do. I often don’t start really preparing until a few days before, am I prepared usually not.
Audio can be next. Does the engineer have all the mic cues? Who is playing on what songs? Who is singing what parts? Who has the medley? Are there any solos that need to be reinforced?
Moving on to the PPT operators. Have you looked over both services and made any notes on solos? What is going on during a scripture reading? Video directors, what are your primary shots? Who is leading each song? Any solos to be aware of? How are different people getting on and off stage? What does the stage look like?
Camera Ops, you are the eyes and ears of the director. Are you sitting in on the rehearsal, making notes, talking with the director to help cover shots?(not during the service) What are your primary areas of responsibility or your primary shots?
Recording Engineers, are you ready? Do you have all the blank media you need? Is everything cued and ready?
Stage managers, have you touched base with all the various parties involved? Does the soloist know when and where they are singing? Does the pastor need a podium?
I think you start to get the picture. How prepared are we? That will be our goal this year as we take the media team to the next step: more planning and preparation time for each and every service. My goal has been and will be to have a rotation of being on one week and off two. I feel this gives each team the chance to grow in their skills and gel as a team without burning out anyone. For the most part, we have honored this plan. I also have tried to respect and honor the Tuesdays prior to your scheduled weekend as not being a mandatory time to be here for rehearsal. It is the policy of the music teams that if you are not here Tuesday for rehearsal you cannot play that weekend. I’m not saying that is the case for us. Please don’t misunderstand, all I’m suggesting is that maybe it would benefit us as a team to at least have our directors here to watch and take notes. At worst we should all be here at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday for our production meeting and should be in our positions, ready to go, throughout rehearsal as if it were the service. We should be taking notes and preparing for the services.
Our goal is to always have the stage cleared by 7:45 a.m., allowing you all to meet again for ten minutes and go over any changes prior to the services starting. You should then be at your assigned position at least five minutes prior to a service start time.
I mentioned earlier how prepared we would be if the President was coming to our Sunday service. As powerful as that would be, we have a greater opportunity each and every week. Imagine being a part of a service that allows a person to accept Christ, therefore changing that person’s life forever (eternally). Obviously God is the one doing the saving and He sure doesn’t need any of us to help, but He often uses us to deliver his word or be a part of His plan in bringing people to His kingdom. I suspect that when Pastor David or any of our pastors prepare the message each week they have devoted many hours of research, study time and prayer in to what they are preaching. I also trust that the musicians and singers are preparing and even praying over their part of the service. Our worship time should start the minute we get up out of bed and should continue until we lay down at night.
The service you provide on a weekly basis is also an act of worship that is just as meaningful as the pastors and musicians. We should be as prepared and ready as they are, maybe even more so, to support and not be a distraction as they deliver what God has prepared in them. It is our job as well to eliminate distractions from the congregation and those watching from remote locations and even other countries via our duplication ministry. I appreciate all that you do and have no doubt that you strive for the excellence mentioned above. Now it’s time to step up another notch and see where God wants to lead us. We should never be done learning and always want to do better with the responsibilities He has entrusted to us.
Our walk and personal relationship with Him should be first and foremost – without that nothing else matters. He is the one true friend that will never forsake you or leave you – how awesome is that? You see He is attending every service and even sees us before, during, between, and after each service, as well as all week long, wherever we may be. Let’s step it up, prepare, plan, and be ready to do our part in the eternal work God has given use to do.
Post Election Thouhts
I’m David Burton and I approve this message, ok I had to get one more in, if your at all not ready for these ads to be over you need to have a check up. I have talked with several people over what happened yesterday, and whether your guy won, is not important. As I got up this morning I realized one thing, the sun still rose, it was still raining at my house, and I was still breathing and able to get out of bed. God is still the same God today he was yesterday. We all have our political views and each of us have an opinion as to whom we wanted to win and why. David Horner asked a tough question last Sunday evening, when you pray do you pray for your political opponent. Taking that further you could ask, do you pray for those people you don’t really like? Believe it or not some one just popped in to your mind when you read that line. We all have those people in our lives, we would rather not have to be around, or just have that gift, to get under our skin. I told one friend last night at the station, that God already knew the winner, and that he was still God. He has the ability to change the hearts of kings, and in our case Presidents, Mayors, Governors, whatever the office may be. I trust that God has a plan bigger than any of my ideas and thoughts as to how the races all over the country came out. I also had to remind my self of this, I am to be busy with the Father’s work. I did do my homework, and voted, as responsible as I could based on my convictions. I also have to ask myself about my personal walk with the lord, and am I serving him with my best, or do I just give him enough to get by. There are so many things going on right now in people’s lives that affect so many areas of the church and including our media ministry. I some times find myself questioning my abilities, and the reasons God allows things to happen as they do. I often have to remind myself he is in control and not me. It saddens me to have to share that we loose several members at least for some time. Luke and Rockie are expecting any day, and are anxiously waiting there little one. They will be back after some time, but will be missed in the short time they are away from us. I also have to say good-bye to Lawrence and Janet Wilson from our team and church body. They have made a decision to pursue some other options for a church home; they will be missed on our team. This also brings me to our next challenge. We talked on the retreat in September about bringing one friend to the team. I still make this challenge to you, as we grow as a ministry more and more positions are going to be needed, and more personnel are needed to fill those spots. I know times are challenging right now, and it’s an easy time to back out of duties, with so many good reasons to use as an excuse. I believe you all know where I stand, as far as serving with you all. You are some of the most dedicated faithful servants I have ever been around. I pray that each of you serve because you want to serve and not out of a sense of guilt or manipulation. I know it’s hard getting up early on a Sunday to be at the 6:45 meeting, yes the time has changed to 6:45 effective this Sunday. I change the time because we are now getting a chance to look at the service n Wednesday evenings now. I also understand how hard it is to leave around 1:00 and be back at 4:30 every other Sunday. It’s also easy to get caught up now in the services, as they are all the same, and get in to that rut in the 3rd service. Remember this each time we do a service, it is the first service for those people sitting in the chairs, and what we do could have eternal affects in some ones life. What we do when we are not behind the equipment is also noticed. I have been reminded of this lately as I have had several people say to me that they noticed, how we as a team communicate with each other, how we hang out together on Sunday mornings, and how they have observed us, doing our thing. That is alarming to me that people notice so many things we do, that are not even technically driven, Always be conscious of what you say, your body language, and facial expressions say alot. I am as guilty of this as anyone. You all are the best; I have said before, and will never grow tired of saying this. I have never in my life been so blessed to work with such a fine group of individuals in my life, you bless me each and every time we are together, thank you for serving.
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