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August '99 Issue
Is this your first visit?
Welcome to Worship World! Do take a minute to hear a welcome on RealAudio G2®, or sign the guestbook. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy your visit!
A Lesson of Patience...
Okay... confession time... how many of us are impatient people? I certainly am guilty of that. By nature, I'm a go-getter, if I want something or want to get something done, I'll do it and won't stop until I get it done. Woe to the person or thing that gets in the way! He/it will get steamrolled. I live in a country whose drivers are not known for their patience too. However, God has been dealing with me these past few weeks about that. I realize that impatience is the exact opposite of God's character. "..He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9b) Patience is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Numerous things have happened to me to totally convince me of the need for more patience. Firstly a truck rammed into the back of my car which was parked out on a street in a Chicago suburb - one of those "hit and run" incidents. Trying to contact my insurance agent to claim damages was a real month-long lesson in patience indeed! Then my friend's lawn-mower broke down. After I fixed it, I spent the entire evening trying to start it again (one of those which require you to pull the string to start it), and became really moody, praying to God to "git that darn thing going". The next day my friend tried the lawn-mower and it worked... only that it started to rain and I couldn't finish mowing the lawn that day. And my P-150 laptop has started to show me the dreaded blue screens quite often. Anyone who's had their computers crash and their data lost know how much perseverance that develops! In my prayer life, there had been some items I had been praying for months.. not without, I admit, a touch of impatience. Finally, God fulfilled these requests, I could imagine, almost with a "Told you I'll answer it when the time's right!" sigh.
I realize that as worship leaders, we too need to be patient... patient to wait for God to move in the worship in the way He wants, when He wants it... patience to help our congregation "catch up" and help them enter the presence of God. And rushing into the presence of God is definitely not the wisest thing to do. When King David wanted to bring back the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, was he in such a hurry to get it done that he put the Ark on a oxen-cart, even though that was not the way God commanded the Ark to be brought around? Look at what happened (1 Chr 13:9-10). Finally David got it right two chapters later. This time he got Levites to carry the Ark. Definitely slower, but this was the way God wanted it done, and this was respecting the presence of God.
Thus the moral of the story is, be patient, wait on the presence of the Lord, don't do anything rash by your own strength, and you'll have a lot less frustration in your worship and in your life.
Example of a Small Group Worship
The last few months I've had several opportunities to lead small group worship. I've included here the first worship I lead with my Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship small group in early May. IVCF sings a lot of songs found on Vineyard worship albums. "Psalms 19" was a special request from my small group leader, Matt.
- I Could Sing of Your Love Forever (Martin Smith/Kingsway Thankyou Music) D Major
- You're Worthy of all my Praise (David Ruis/Maranatha Praise) D Major
- Psalms 19 (Terry Butler/Mercy/Vineyard Publishing) C Major --> D Major
- In Your Hands (Reuben Morgan/Hillsongs Australia) G Major --> A Major
"I Could Sing" I started singing slowly with minimal guitar accompaniment, then a full guitar introduction launches the medley singing it fast, going straight on to the chorus of "You're Worthy", including one time without accompaniment, slow ending. Transiting into the slow worship time, we sing "Psalms 19" twice through to familiarize the group with this new song, then a time of silent meditation on God's faithfulness as a guitar solo takes the key up, and the final chorus is in D Major. A quiet beginning to "In Your Hands", which builds up in intensity and fades away to a quiet ending repeating the last line "you'll never let me go..".
Like our New Home?
You may have noticed that Worship World has a new home. Praise God, we finally have our own domain name! www.worshipworld.com now resides on fast Apache servers in California, with plenty of space for expansion. Because of the added space, we are now able to offer a really fast text-only version for those who believe that the pleasure lies in simplicity. Also, we now offer a mailing list to keep you informed about the latest happenings at Worship World. To all our regular visitors and friends, thanks for all your encouragement and help that has made the vision of Worship World possible!
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What's happening...
Wow Worship is out! Those who've heard of the Wow '96-'99 contemporary Christian music collections and Wow Gospel will know what this is about. It's a collaboration between the Christian music giants Integrity, Maranatha and Vineyard, a collection of some 30 best-loved worship songs which should be part of every leader's repertoire! A list of songs is available on the Integrity web site.
Festival of Praise '99 with Hillsong Australia
Darlene Zschech and the Hillsong worship team will be leading worship for this year's Festival of Praise. The speakers are Rev. Brian Houston, from Hills Christian Centre Australia, and Rev. Selwyn Hughes, from England, and author of Every Day with Jesus. Look out for more details about an experience you won't forget!
What's new...
Besides new worship album and sampler reviews, Worship World is privileged to have Chris Tussing, an experienced worship leader/drummer/percussionist, to share his articles with us. "Playing with Other Musicians" is good advice to the aspiring church drummer about two essential skills he or she needs to develop to be able to minister edifyingly. "Drums and Worship" is a discussion of principles that the worship leader will need to consider to decide whether drums are right for his or her church, and if so, how they can best be introduced. We are glad also to have Rev. (Dr.) James Cheong to share his views about the sharp traditional versus contemporary separation which occurs commonly today. He brings out a strong argument against this separation. What do you think? Let us know!
- Drummers - Playing With Other Musicians Chris Tussing
- Drums and Worship Chris Tussing
- Reflections on Worship Rev. (Dr.) James Cheong
Latest reviews
- It is Now (John Koh)
- Lifting Him Up (Book - Ron Kenoly and Dick Bernal)
- Passion - Better Is One Day (Charlie Hall)
- Shout to the Lord 2000 (Darlene Zschech)
Sneak Preview
A close co-worker of mine and myself hosted a Worship Leading Seminar in my church a couple of years ago. He has graciously given his assent for some of the valuable handouts to be reproduced on this site. Look out for them on a future issue of Worship World!
Welcome and Thanks
A warm welcome to Mark Brady , the new Java and Design specialist for Worship World. Definitely one of the smartest and most capable people I've ever met, and a patient friend and co-worker. I'd also like to express my warmest appreciation for Rev. (Dr.) James Cheong and Chris Tussing for their contributions to this issue of Worship World and their encouragement. God bless your ministries!
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God is really doing an amazing work in His church today! This Quarterly update hopes to chronicle any new "happenings", and provide bite-sized knowledge for today's worship leaders. Submissions are welcome. If you have a ministry or an event to share, please do not hesitate.
The Mission of Worship World
- Provide important resources and advice to new worship leaders, helping them to gain confidence in leading
- Provide resources for experienced worship leaders to broaden their knowledge of worship leading
- Encourage sharing of ideas and prayer requests from different worship leaders and ministers
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