New Life Worship

Mark 12 Worship-Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength

newlifeworship — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:16:13 +0000

Mark 12:29-31

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Jesus gave the religious leaders this commandment as the greatest. I think there are several things in this commandment that help us as worshipers/worship leaders to love the Lord, which helps us in turn be able to lead people well.

1. With all your heart

This is the most important piece because your heart is the place where your life begins(Prov. 4:23). Your heart can be open or closed, soft or hard, humble or proud. We know that God wants our hearts to be fully his, open, soft and humble.

2. With all your soul

God is emotional. We are emotional. Our emotions should play a role in our worship The Bible talks about joy, dancing, clapping, shouting, etc. these are emotional responses to a revelation of who God is and what he has done. Should we rely on our emotions or an emotional experience to fuel our worship? Absolutely not. But we shouldn’t leave our emotions at the door either. Who God is, and what he has done should be the driving force of our worship, and our emotions should participate.

3. With all your mind
Have you ever lifted songs to God during worship, but never really thought about what you are saying? I have. There’s a discipline to connecting your mind to what you’re doing. It takes intentionality to actually mean what you’re saying. I always tell our team that even in rehearsal, if you mean it, it’s real! Make it a practice that whenever you sing and worship God, you mean what you’re saying. Never put it on auto-pilot, always leave it in manual.

4. With all your strength
I think this can relate to our physical bodies. The Bible is filled with examples of people worshiping God physically. We know David danced before the Lord. The Psalms are filled with encouragements to “praise” God, many of which translate to physical acts. Bowing, kneeling, singing, clapping, laying prostrate, dancing, these are all physical acts of worship and we should embrace them, not discourage them. Jesus gave his all for us, and he deserves nothing less than our all in return, even down to our physical bodies. If we truly are the temple of the Holy Spirit(and we are), then let God be magnified in this temple.

When we worship, it should involve our entire being-Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength

The Psalm 40 Worship Leader

newlifeworship — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:24:06 +0000

These first three verses of Psalms 40, in addition to the rest of the chapter, outline what I think are some great requirements for worship leaders:

Psalm 40:1-3

40:1-For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.

40:2-He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

40:3-He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

1. Wait Patiently
Make sure you make time to wait on the Lord. Minister to Him. It is in those moments that you learn how to be the worshiper that leads others. Lead yourself first, then you will get to lead others. His response to the waiting is to hear you and answer you. That’s how you become effective.
2. Remember what God has done
We have all sinned and fallen short(Rom 6:23). It’s important for us to remember where we were without God, and how He lifted us out of the mud and mire.
3. Stand up and start walking
God has work for us to do, so He sets our feet on solid ground. In other words, He puts us in a place of strong foundation so that we can start moving. When we start to move, He will steady us along the path, keeping us in the right line so that we can accomplish His purposes.
4. Sing the Song that God puts in your mouth
Worship is the response that comes from being with God, knowing who He is and remembering what He has done. When we sing the song that God puts in our mouth, that’s when people hear it and respond. That’s our call as Worship Leaders. Sing it out so that people can respond to Him, not to us. When we do what God has called us and enabled us to do, that’s when we see His hand and His plan at work. Not our own.

When we have been obedient to these things, many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

Brad Parsley

EASTER - CUDDLY BUNNIES AND BLOODY CROSSES

newlifeworship — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 22:25:07 +0000

This morning we had a huge Easter egg hunt at our house. Roughly 40 kids between ages 2 and 8 and about 300 eggs. It lasted all of 10 minutes. Kids are quick these days, especially in a field of candy.Earlier, as we were preparing for our friends to arrive, my boys (6 and 5) were looking at a program from The Thorn, the Easter production put on by my great friend John Bolin. There were pictures of Jesus hanging on the cross with the crown of thorns on His head and bloody whip markings all over his chest. The boys didn’t recognize him. They asked me if that was Jesus. We chose not to take them to The Thorn this year because of the graphic-ness. We went to The Crown instead which is a concurrent production for kids.This weekend the clash is so evident in my mind. Its hard to know how to celebrate a death and a resurrection in one weekend. Do we mourn or party? Do we flog ourselves or crank the rock-n-roll. I guess I’m up for all of it. There’s just so much to unpack. I love that its called “The Passion” because to me its “The Death”. The fact that He rose feels so obvious and natural. He’s God. Why wouldn’t He kick everyone’s butt. But the fact that He let Himself die……..and we call it “The Passion”. It still shocks me.This year the shock is my response/worship………in the midst of candy and crosses.

Jared Anderson

Writing Process

newlifeworship — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:32:00 +0000

This week I was invited to give a talk to worship leaders and teams about songwriting. I have a lot to learn about communicating and public speaking, especially when its on-command. I find it very natural to take a break during a night of worship and “pour my heart out”, but a formal lecture environment still scares me.

But on the way over, I did manage to come up with three things that might be helpful for the writing process.

1. fall in love with the process - If you see writing as a means to an end, you probably won’t write anything remarkable. I liken this to having children. It’s easy to love the idea of having a big family. It’s another thing to actually learn how to love every stage of raising kids. When Megan and I first starting having children, it was a major adjustment to me. Everett, my oldest, used to scream every time I sat down to the piano. Not what this songwriter wanted to happen with my first child.

Writing is agonizing and you spend much of your time banging your head against the wall just to finish, only to find that its not that good. Then when something good comes out so effortlessly you go back and try to recreate experience only to fail again. AAHHHH!!!

2. give your songs to God - I wrote a song in college about how doing music for a living was like charging tickets to the sunset (I think I’ll charge tickets). This music thing is a gift from God that was freely given. How can I hope to be compensated on something I didn’t pay to get? Seems a bit foolish. Music is a gift and growing in it, practicing it, writing it, singing it is also a gift intended to be given away.

3. no one really knows what they’re doing - Just because I’ve had some songs that have done well and maybe had some opportunities that others haven’t had yet doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing. I used to think Paul Baloche had it all figured out. Now that I’m friends with Paul, I realize he doesn’t know either. Everyone I’ve met that I thought had it together is really just doing the best they know to do and stumbling in the right direction.

Myth-buster: Everyone else feels as clueless as you.

Press on with what God has put in your hands. Don’t give up when it gets hard. Don’t be enamored with what others have that you don’t. There’s no secret wisdom.

blessings,

My Fathers Son

newlifeworship — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:08:15 +0000

I’ve got 15 minutes before Everett has to be picked up from school. Been freaked out of my mind lately. Wondering about direction, game plan, strategy, what to chase, etc. All the stuff that’s important but not urgent. For some reason it’s been really urgent-feeling lately.

My son is 6. Because he’s the oldest, he goes through season where he freaks out easily. School, schedule, not-getting-his-way, getting annoyed with siblings. But he’s 6, as long as he sticks with me, listens to me, does what’s in him to do, then he’ll be fine. The same rules must apply to me.

Anything done out of fear is sin. Anything done out of faith is righteousness. Two people can do much the same thing with two totally different outcomes.

There’s no reason to freak out. I’m my Father’s son. As long as I stick with him, listen up, and do what’s in my heart to do, it’ll be fine.

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6

“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6

The rest points to this.

Unsaved Changes

newlifeworship — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:22:35 +0000

Have you ever had a glitch in your computer and lost information? The screen comes up that says “Are you sure you want to continue? Any unsaved changes will be lost.”

A couple of people I’ve met with lately are overcoming pain caused by trusted relationships. In one of them the pain was caused recently, the other was years ago. Regardless, overcoming offense in an unholy way can lead to a loss of information. A hole that seems to be “leading” you in a different direction.

Holy hunger and a wounded spirit can have the same look to it. One is driven by fear and lack, the other by faith and confidence.

Lord, come and save all my changes. Let the glitches and frustrations of disappointment compel me to the invitation of your presence. Only through this will I do the impossible task of loving my enemies.

Jared Anderson

Electric Guitars by ETodd

newlifeworship — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:16:44 +0000

So we often get asked about what equipment we guitarists use, so I thought I would write a little post about it here so everyone can know! Also, we know that gear can get overwhelming so I included a little section in the bottom called “Where to Start?” with a few suggestions if you don’t know where to go, and want to sound good without spending a fortune.

Hope it helps!

-Erick

ERICK’S RIG:

Primary Guitars:
Gibson Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG Special (with p-90’s)
Fender American Standard Strat (with Seymour Duncan little 59 in bridge).
Fender American Deluxe Tele
Fender ‘72 Tele Deluxe

Amps in Studio:
Marshall 6100 (overdrive)
Egnater Tweaker (overdrive)
Fender Hot Rod (clean)

Live Amps:
Fender Hot Rod or Blues Deluxe

Overdrive Pedals:
Custom Tube Screamer (Similar to Robert Keeley)
Custom Blues Driver (similar to Robert Keeley)

Effects Pedals:
Line 6 M13, for delays, reverbs, and other effects
Budda wah-wah

Strings and Accessories:
D’addario EXL110
Planet Waves picks, straps, and cables

MATT’S RIG:

Primary Guitars:
Gibson Les Paul Standard
Fender ‘69 Telecaster
DeArmond M-75t

Amps in Studio:
Vox AC15
Fender Pro Jr.

Live Amps:
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
Vox AC30

Overdrive Pedals:
Fulltone Fulldrive
Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
Skreddy Screwdriver

Effects Pedals:
Boss PS-3
Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man
Line 6 M9 for delays, reverbs, and other effects.

Strings and Accessories:
D’Addario EXL115
Planet Waves straps and cables.

WHERE TO START?
There are lots of great choices, this is just one idea…

Guitars:
Standard Fender Telecaster
Amps:
Low wattage tube amp like Fender Blues Jr/Pro Jr, Vox AC-15, etc
Overdrive:
Boss SD-1 or Ibanez Tubescreamer (or 1 of the 100’s of copies).
Delay:
Boss DD-7 or Line 6 Echo Park
Strings:
D’addario EXL110 (the most common strings for most players).
Accessories:
Planet Waves are the best and usually a good price.