The Wellspring of Thanksgiving

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
Come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

PSALM 100

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! A day dedicated to giving thanks… and eating WAY too much. Every dinner table will have its own traditions, decorations, characters, and portion sizes. But I would venture to say most of us actively celebrating Thanksgiving in any “thankful” fashion will have at least a brief moment of… giving thanks. Some of us will have that moment at the dinner table where each member of the family has to say something he or she is thankful for, and in a lot of cases, we’ll hear the warm-fuzzy comments about family, friends, country, and of course the food on the table. At my Grandmas house it will look like a bunch of hoodlums lingering around the spread of food only to be told to stand in a circle, hold hands, and share what we are thankful for before praying to bless the food.

But as a Believer I wonder where true thanksgiving comes from. Not just the holiday… but the idea of being thankful. Where does that wellspring of thanks find its source? The kind of sincere, heartfelt thanks-giving that I think deep down most of us wish we felt all the time.

Psalm 100 is a Psalm written with the sole purpose of giving thanks, and in it the psalmist gives us several things for which we can be truly thankful. Near the end he writes, “For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” Did you catch that? For us this means that we can give thanks because the LORD is good and His love endures forever, and because He is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow… His faithfulness continues through all generations!

We’ve all heard the overused question or sermon point, “What if you woke up with tomorrow what you thanked the Lord for today?” Sure… it’s a good thought and a good reminder to be ever thankful and to express that gratitude in worship, praise, and obedience to the Lord, but I am thankful because that is not the case! We serve and love a God who blesses beyond measure and without reason! Our lack of acknowledgement doesn’t tie His hands or hold Him back! I am truly thankful because “the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Notice verse 3, “Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” Christian… God has made you His own! Bought you with a hefty price! We see throughout the Old Testament the narrative of God making the Israelites His own special, chosen people, but we too can read this Psalm and mean every word of it! Newflash… if you have been saved and are a Christian, this Psalm is for you! You are one of God’s own, special and chosen people. This is cause for giving thanks because it means God has made a covenant with you, and I, as well. Our source of thanksgiving comes in the sealing of that covenant, which Jesus Christ did on the cross. Erasing our sins. Giving us access to God. Guaranteeing for us a future that will not end. I am thankful because, “It is he who made us; and we are his.”

I am His. I belong to Him.

For many, these round table one liner “thanks” are the extent of their Thanksgiving. A one-time, get-it-out-of-the-way holiday that reminds them to reflect on how blessed they are. Too often and too quickly, people resort back to being ingrates. But God wills us to be thankful all the time, in all things. That’s the point of 1 Thessalonians 5:18 where Paul says,

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

So if you’re saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering, you have one thing left to do in order to follow God’s will… be giving and expressing thanks.

If you have trouble coming up with things to be thankful for tomorrow at the dinner table, think for a few moments on what the Lord has done for you in the Gospel. It’s at the foot of the cross, at the entrance to the empty tomb where we will find a never-ending fountain of thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Leading without Music… Off the Stage

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Anytime someone asks me what my job is I almost dread to tell him or her that I am a full-time Worship Pastor. The reason for that is that I consistently get the response, “so you get to play music one day a week as your job?” Sometimes it isn’t worth the explanation and I just smile and respond with, “I guess you could say that.”

Being a Worship Pastor isn’t just for those with exceptional musical talent. Being a Worship Pastor takes exactly that… being a pastor.

In my opinion a worship ministry is very limited without the presence of a pastoral figure. Hear me out! People may worship along with that ministry… individually, but without someone nurturing them, protecting them, and caring for them we truly are just giving them a song to sing. A true Pastor watches over his flock to see that they grow spiritually. A Worship Pastor wants to see his congregation and team grow as worshipers. The term “Worship Leader” seems to place the emphasis on leading a service (which we do). “Worship Pastor” takes the emphasis off of the service and places it onto the people… the sheep.

Do you lead the singing portion of the service or do you lead people?

As a “music person” do you spend more of your time worrying about the songs or the message? The arrangement or the people? I come from a musical background and it would be really easy for me to focus in on the musical portion of my job and push the limits of what we are currently doing, but with what price?

I do ministry different than many “Worship Pastors” or “Worship Leaders” do, I actually spend more time pastoring the people than I do listening to the newest and most “relevant” song. Now don’t jump to conclusions… I do spend TONS of time finding, writing, rehearsing, and planning songs. My team has a routine and knows when they can expect new songs, worship plans, and when to be at church for rehearsals. I approach our music with Biblical excellence, but a couple of years ago I had a revelation that went a little bit like this: “Do our people even care about how good the music Sunday was, and are they looking forward to singing next Sunday?” Then, it dawned on me. I need to be thinking about my people throughout the week, and thinking about what they are thinking about throughout the week! The only way I can Pastor them well throughout the week is to be with them throughout the week and to live as they do… alongside them.

Below I want to briefly discuss three things that have been goals and good reminders for me to make sure I’m shepherding the people I lead on a Sundays on a weekly basis. Let’s think together.

  • Know the People

As a Worship Pastor or Leader do you get off the platform?

Do you truly know the people you lead on a weekly basis? Who is that lady on the right hand side of the third row? What is her story? What are her spiritual gifts?

Something about knowing the people makes leading them that much easier and that much more impactful. At the church in which I serve there are all kinds of people in need of things… some need physical healing, others need finances to pay their bills at the end of the month, some have children who have strayed or spouses that have died, the list goes on and on… but I know them and they trust me with their stories. That makes the singing of songs that declare God’s faithfulness and goodness super powerful and real. It brings the worship to a whole new level when you know what people are declaring and what that truly means in their life at the current moment.

After every worship service that I lead, I try to get off the platform and speak with the people, pray with the people, and get to know the people. You can’t possibly expect to nurture them if you don’t know who they are or what they need.

  • Be Visible and Available

As a Worship Pastor it is really easy to become isolated. In an artistic ministry we can spend as much time as we want in our particular area and we will never run out of things to do or things to practice. To truly Pastor we must fight this mentality… we have to get out of our area and be visible and available for people to see and interact with.

I personally try to be at events that our church puts on that have nothing to do with my ministry area… worship. For instance, just a few weeks ago our kids ministry put on a Harvest Festival. To be honest, as a guy with no children I really did not want to go… but my wife and I ended up going anyways and what I noticed was that it connected me with people from our church that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Being involved in the life of the church outside you ministry is healthy because it allows the people within your church to see you in an element outside of leading them in worship. It provides opportunity to have conversations and build relationships. So, if there are any events that your church puts on, try to be there and get to know your people outside of something you’re having to lead at or oversee.

  • Live with the Sheep

True discipleship and pastoring takes place up close… on a personal level.

John 10:11-14 says,

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.

I have found it interesting that the word pastor is derived from Latin where it literally means “shepherd” and relates to the Latin verb “pascere” which means, “to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat.” Shepherds in Biblical times lived amongst their flock. They consistently worked with them and taught them the best way to go. The sheep responded to the voice of their shepherd and trusted that he would not lead them astray. At night a shepherd would gather their flock into a pen or cave and sleep across the entrance in order to protect their sheep from predators that lurked around in the night. Shepherds cared for their sheep, and they demonstrated that caring by being there beside them and tending to their needs.

Are we being pastors? Are we being shepherds? If roles were reversed and you were in another person’s shoes would you trust YOUR “sheep” to you?

Proverbs 27:23 says,

Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.

How can we truly know our flocks condition if we aren’t living alongside them? A Worship Leader who is a Pastor doesn’t have a one-way ministry. He’s not exclusively in the music department, but is involved in the body life of the church… he’s in touch with the congregation as a whole. I think that’s important on a number of levels. Shepherds know their sheep. They’re aware of the needs of the sheep. I think that’s going to be really important when it comes to song selection, but also in terms of how you love the flock well. I don’t want to see a guy just hanging out in the green room not being involved in the life of the church. With that, I would encourage the Worship Leader who is a Pastor to be accessible. Don’t allow yourself to be viewed as inaccessible, as someone on a platform, a rock star, etc. We should be seen out there mingling with the people.

I believe all these things are very important and very vital for us as Worship Pastors because it allows us to lead without a guitar on our back and a microphone in front of our face. It takes us from the stage and into the flock.

Sheer musical talents and abilities won’t cut it. Let’s set out to be Pastors together. We want to bring more than a song. Let us pray together for the compassion and patience it takes to shepherd God’s people. Let us pray for wisdom and the ability to carry each other’s burdens. Let us pray for sensitivity, and most importantly let us pray for change.

Developing Leaders

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

I’m a guy who likes quick results. I don’t like to wait for the long-term results, and I don’t like to rely on other people to accomplish a task. Often times our churches are the same way… some of our churches operate like the New York Yankees. They prefer to “buy” talent on the free agent market rather than grow their major league roster from their minor league system like the St. Louis Cardinals. Many times in church we rely on those who present themselves to us as pre-formed and developed leaders to carry out the tasks at hand, and when the well of “pre-developed” leaders runs dry we freak out and wonder how things are going to get done!

But, healthy churches are developing and raising up leaders from within just like the Cardinals and their long-term MLB strategy. When we take that approach, we know the person, their commitment to our DNA, and their commitment to our vision and values. We are truly able to know their track record. When we hire from outside, we hope it works out and they buy in and do well.  If we believe “everything you need to reach your city is already in your church,” you focus on a homegrown strategy.

Today, we’re going to talk about developing leaders and why we should do it.

Definition wise, I want to talk about development for a second. I think a lot of times people use the terms development and discipleship interchangeably and they’re really not.

Discipleship and development are kind of close cousins, and they really can’t accomplish much without the other. So let’s define discipleship for a minute. Discipleship is spiritual formation. It’s walking beside someone in partnership in order to accomplish the task of being as much like Jesus as we can be. Discipleship is something that every born again believer should be doing. It’s a spiritual disciple and definitely in the Christian Basics 101 textbook. You should be pouring into someone spiritually. Point blank… the end.

Development is a little bit different. Development is taking someone from point A to point B in order to achieve their best potential. So… leadership development would be walking beside and training someone to be the best leader that they can be. Development is focusing on someone’s leadership skills, giftings, and capacity.

I’m thinking about discipleship and development working together and there are some caveats. If you just disciple someone, and pour into them spiritually… maybe you teach them hermeneutics, eschatology, have them read their Bible from cover to cover, and you have them read Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology cover to cover, then you’re going to have this person who is a deep well of spiritual information.

A deep well can really satisfy and sustain a whole city when you think about it. The problem with the well is that it takes someone to get the water out. The problem with the well is usually only one person can get that bucket in there and get that water out. You’re going have a person who is extremely well versed in the Gospel but possibly unable to take the reigns of leadership in order to quench the spiritual thirst of many.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you take development alone and you teach someone to hone their skills, sing the right songs, speak eloquently, put together the most moving services, and create the best atmospheres but they don’t know anything about theology or doctrine. Then you’ve got a dying star, you’ve got someone who is going be great on the outside for a short time, but eventually they’re going to fizzle out because they don’t have anything inside them. So discipleship and development have to work together.

So… why should we disciple and develop leaders? Let’s think together!

  • Jesus set the Example

I love watching videos of kids trying to mimic a parent or sibling. There is just something super adorable about a little boy in a pull-up pushing a plastic lawnmower behind his Dad as he mows the grass that gets me every single time!

The first reason that we should disciple and develop leaders is that Jesus did it… we are like that little boy following and mimicking the actions of his Dad. If you look at Matthew 4, Jesus has just been baptized by John the Baptist, He’s just been in the desert and tempted by the Devil. He’s about to begin His ministry here on Earth, but before He heals anybody, before He preaches a sermon, and before He teaches on the steps of a synagogue Jesus walks by the sea and He sees two brothers fishing. He says,

You follow me. I’ll teach you to be fishers of men.

Immediately they drop everything and start following Him. He sees two other brothers working with their dad, fixing the nets, and says,

You follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men.

Immediately they drop everything. They leave their father and follow Jesus.

Before He did anything else in ministry, He chose men that He was going to develop. He knew His time was short. He knew He didn’t have long, He knew He wasn’t going to have an endless amount of time on Earth, so He chose men to develop first. That’s what He did first in ministry. We should do it too.

In the Middle Ages, specialized artisans raised up future generations through an intentional apprenticeship process. Young apprentices served as understudies alongside a mentor who patiently provided careful instruction and guidance.

We can look to Jesus as the preeminent mentor, he turned a ragged group of social and spiritual misfits into world-changers. In fact, we are the legacy of this mentoring relationship. How did this happen? It took time with the master. He invested diligently in the lives of folks who just couldn’t quite seem to get their acts together. In fact, they bumbled the message and often missed the point as they followed him. But they watched and observed Jesus the master teacher, and He provided an atmosphere of trust, mentorship, and risk-taking. When they were sent on their first mission assignment, they were in way over their heads. But they had seen what Jesus did, and they had clear instructions. They gathered themselves together and the world hasn’t been the same since. Christianity is what it is today because Jesus developed leaders.

Any businessman likes to look at the bottom line and the value of an investment. When Jesus set forth the example of mentorship and development He provided the best example of a good spiritual investment. Mentoring is a risky, costly business. It requires time, effort, and disciplined focus. As ministry leaders, we are tempted to deliver results quickly and efficiently. But remember, deep-impact ministry is found in developing people, not acquiring them. Leaders with lasting impact, the ones who truly change the world, know their greatest impact in life is reproducing other people who have caught their vision and will carry it forward like a virus. If you want to radically change the world, follow the example of Jesus and invest in your volunteers. Disciple and develop them.

  • The Church Deserves It

For those of you who are married think about the last time you were out of town or gone for an extended amount of time. You probably called your spouse right? You checked in and made sure that everything was okay. You wanted to know that they were taken care of and okay in your absence.

Now imagine that you go to the doctor and the doctor says you’ve got three months to live. I would go out on a limb and guess that many of us would make sure with everything in our power, that our spouse was taken care of after we’re gone?

For me, as a husband, I am going take care of my bride.

Ephesians 5:24-27 says,

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such

Now, I think it’s on us as leaders in the church to care for the church… the bride of Christ. Let me let you in on a little secret: Nobody else is going to care about the leading of your people like you do. So we should be thinking about who is going to lead the people when we can’! The church deserves it! The Bride deserves it!

We have to prepare and know who is leading. Hopefully it can be somebody that we’ve trained, somebody we have confidence in, somebody that we know is going to stand on that stage and shepherd our sheep well. It’s on us. We’ve got to take care of the bride! She doesn’t just deserve good things… she deserves the BEST things.

  • We are called to Replicate

Who are you replacing yourself with? Who are you developing to take your job?

I have always told people that if I work myself out of my job then I will be satisfied. It may sound crazy… but I’m not joking. As leaders of the church we should be consistently working on raising up new leaders from within the church to someday lead the people and the ministries of the church.

We are called to replicate.

That’s a word I feel like has been a buzzword in the church culture over the past few years, and usually “replicate” is always kind of synonymous with “discipleship,” but we’re called to replicate because we’re only as good as our last day. It’s true! If I get in a car crash and die on the way home from the office, I’m really only as good as the last day I spent here. If the church misses a beat on the Sunday that I’m gone then I have come short in my ministry area.

Really, when you think about it, the only thing you can do on this Earth with lasting eternal value is invest in someone else, to give a piece of yourself to someone else. At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus spoke what has come to be known as the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:19-20 says,

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Of course everyone who has read the Gospels has read this passage, and the majority of us have heard more messages preached on this topic than almost any other topic found in Scripture. 

Typically, when we hear anyone speak on this message the emphasis is on missions… and it really should be! But, there’s quite a bit more than just that packed into Jesus’ statement. There are four main verbs in this commission or command. They are: go, make disciples, baptizing, and teaching.

So… what is a disciple?

The Oxford Dictionary defines a disciple as: a follower or student of a teacher, leader, or philosopher.

What I find even more interesting than the definition is the word’s origin though. The English word that we know comes from the Latin word “discipulus” which translates to “learner.” A disciple is a learner. We as Christians are called to make disciples of Jesus and to disciple others. That means we should be teaching and replicating what God has shown us into them! We should be replicating ourselves!

It is easy for us as believers to build a castle, surround it with a moat, and live isolated in our own “kingdom.” But… that isn’t how life was meant to be lived and ministry was meant to be done. 

We can look to scripture and see the example that Paul set forth in replicating himself in Timothy. We can see that Timothy was Paul’s son in the faith. We see historically that Timothy was considerably younger than Paul, but that didn’t stop Paul from making a substantial investment in Timothy. We can see that Timothy was the recipient of mentoring at the hands of Paul and it paid eternal dividends and carries substantial weight in the Kingdom of God.

We must become someone else’s “Paul!” 

What an honor that is! We need to be making and effort to be consistently pouring into someone for their benefit and growth… not for what they can do for us. If you are like myself you may be thinking that you have a lot of work to do on yourself before you can begin to mentor someone in their life and faith… but let me assure you that there is always someone who will be blessed by your intentional spiritual and educational investment in their lives.

If we all can grasp the concept of developing leaders by replicating ourselves then we will begin to create and develop a cycle that carries on and benefits the church as a whole for years to come. 

Finding a “Timothy” can be viewed as our spiritual “paying it forward.” We have been blessed by our “Paul,” and then in return we continue the cycle and seek out someone we can bless as we have been blessed.

Do you have a “Timothy?” Who are you pouring into? Who are you replicating and replacing yourself with?

These are just a few surface level reasons to spur on some deeper thought about our personal development of leaders. Why are you doing it?

The Opportunities within the “Moment.”

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

If you are a regular attendee of New Hope Community Church, where I serve on staff and worship, then you are aware that compared to many other houses of worship the services seem… different. Some say it’s the music, others say it’s the preaching or our congregational prayer time, and still others have no clue what is going on but many will recognize that it is indeed… different. What’s the difference? Let me share with you what the I believe the biggest difference is, it is following the Holy Spirit’s leading for each and every segment of our corporate gatherings.

You might be saying, “Hey, my church worships the same as yours and any other church.” You may be correct, but I would ask what you mean by worship.

The ever-popular English etymology (history of the word) of worship can be described as “worth-ship,” or ascribing worth to another. But the Bible’s own language presents a more complex picture that can be organized in three word-groups.

The first word-group is the Hebrew word of hishtakhavah and the Greek word proskuneo. These words used in substitute for worship stress submission to another. Translated by the term “worship” in our English Bibles, they describe “bowing down” before another who is worshiped. This represents an ancient way of showing one’s vulnerability and, therefore, submission to the one worshiped. Those who bow down in “worship” indicate that they are consciously stating to God that He is in control of all things that relate to their life.

A second larger word-group presents worship as service or obedience to another, where the worshiper performs what God asks of him or her. Worship as service grows directly out of worship as submission. If I submit to another’s rule, then I am responsible to fulfill the wishes of the one whom I worship. Here we begin to see the unity between worship as “lifestyle” and worship as “praise” for both are ways in which I am doing what God asks of me. In Romans 12:1 Paul says,

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

This idea of worship stresses how one honors God in all things. Therefore, my worship is how I fulfill God’s desires for my life in every aspect and fulfill my responsibilities as outlined in the covenant He has made with me. This idea of worship focuses on a relationship founded on obedience. All of life reflects my worship of God. So I worship through both submission and service/ obedience.

The third word-group is often overlooked in worship studies: it is a word group that can be summed up as “remember.” The Old Testament Hebrew word zakar focused on God’s promises for his people in their worship. Every festival, sacrifice, and memorial was designed to promote the worship of God and was instituted as a “memorial.” The idea of a “memorial” is ultimately to “remember” something. We can view the Passover as Israel’s quintessential act of “remembering.” It repeatedly affirmed God’s unique act of covenant whereby he created Israel as a distinct people for himself.

Now these “definitions” or word groups mean nothing if we can’t relate them to today and how we worship… and most importantly how we follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in our worship. We must realize that some people have differing opinions about worship services and what they should look like, sound like, and accomplish. But… whatever we think our worship should be should be firmly backed up with Scripture. We all have opinions on how we should worship, what we should be doing and sometimes, we just aren’t going to agree. Rather than using our own opinions to shape our beliefs and our worship, we must see what Scripture has to say on how we should live, what we should be doing, how we should worship, and what we should believe.

When it comes to the Holy Spirit, most evangelicals fall into one of two extremes. Some seem obsessed, relating to Him in strange, mystical ways. Their experiences with the Spirit always seem to coincide with an emotionally ecstatic moment created by an atmosphere or soundscape. Other Christians neglect the ministry of the Holy Spirit altogether. They believe in the Holy Spirit, but they think of Him the same way many of us think about gravity. They acknowledge it is a thing and it is always present, they would never choose to lose it… but they don’t really interact with it. For these Christians, the Holy Spirit is not a moving, dynamic person. He’s more of a theory.

But… we know that isn’t even scraping the tip of the iceberg for what the Sprit is to us! In John 16:7 Jesus makes His disciples an astounding promise about the Holy Spirit. In fact, I believe many of us overlook it because it seems so ridiculous.

John 16:7 says,

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

In this passage Jesus says that it is to His disciples advantage that He return to heaven if it meant they receive the Holy Spirit for themselves!

If you ask Christians whether they would rather have Jesus beside them or the Spirit inside them, which do you think most would choose?

So because of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit as a Helper! Why would we not “tap” into that Helper in the leading of His people in worship? Worship that includes: submission, obedience, ascribing worth, and remembering?

The Holy Spirit appears 59 times in the book of Acts, and in 36 of those appearances he is speaking. “But wait,” some say, “we can’t use Acts as a pattern for our time! The apostles were a unique group.” And I understand that Acts represents a special epoch of apostolic history. But you cannot convince me that the only book God gave us with examples of how the church walks with the Spirit is filled with stories that have nothing in common with our own. John Newton put it this way,

Is it really true that that which the early church so depended on—the leadership of the Spirit—is irrelevant to us today?

So… what happens when we follow His leading in our leading and worship? What opportunities are we presented with in our following? Let’s think together!

  • An Opportunity for Guidance

The Holy Spirit guides us. We’re really helpless in getting accurate guidance and direction unless the Spirit works within us. The Spirit is active and present in all junctures of our life. Again and again, Scripture suggests to us that when we open ourselves to God, the Spirit works in us with power and we can rest in His creative work.

Romans 8:26  says,

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Why is worship different when it is Spirit-led? There are many reasons… but I think one of the primary reasons it is different is because it’s not about us. It’s not about what we want to do, our time frame, our comfort. I have been asked what we have planned during the service and the answer always is the songs, the announcements, and the message. You might be saying, “well isn’t that it?” It might seem like everything is planned… but I believe the goal is to plan with room for the Spirit to manipulate your ideas for what the service is supposed to be.

In my particular case I have a loose 35-minute time frame to play with and I only plan 4 songs the way they are written. I know more… the band knows more… we are capable of playing more. But, we wait for the moment to follow the Sprit’s leading. Our Scripture reading (for the most part), prayers, and speaking that happens in the songs or between songs, are not planned; it is totally Spirit-led. We aren’t challenging or manipulating the Sprit to move, we are merely inviting and waiting. If the service comes where we play 4 songs exactly the way they are written and we have following the Spirit’s leading for the service then it can be deemed a success, on the other hand, if the service comes where we play 2 songs and an extended chorus totally unplanned and in obedience then it too can be deemed equally as successful.

There needs to come a time where we stop to listen and evaluate to make sure we aren’t just singing songs just to sing songs.

  • An Opportunity for Freedom

If we claim to live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Preparation should never breed self-reliance. A secular artist or performer can prepare a wonderful show, but our worship through singing has to be different. What’s the difference? It’s Spirit-led.

A true worship pastor does not walk to the microphone with a polished setlist to perform for the entertainment of the congregation. A true pastor and leader must take the microphone expecting God to work, expecting the Word of God to go forth with power, and praying earnestly for the Holy Spirit do what preparation cannot do… work with power in the lives of sinners to bring about salvation and sanctification. To bring about true life changing Spirit led worship.

Sometimes, it can be a little nerve wracking. There are times where it just seems like the pieces fall together and the will of the Spirit is like a 4 lane interstate that is easy to cruise right down, other times I think the Lord likes to take us down the quiet back roads that wind and bend treacherously. But the road is worth following! Take the opportunity for freedom in your worship!

Galatians 5:16  says,

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Don Potter was quoted saying,

I have been asked by praise leaders and musicians from various churches how they might obtain more freedom in their congregational praise times. “More freedom” usually means playing music longer, playing what they feel should be played, prophesying with song, or playing instrumentally when led by the Spirit, etc. This is a good question because we are told in II Corinthians that, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (3:17 NAS).

If we want the Holy Spirit to be in our worship services, there must be liberty, but all true liberty has boundaries and is gained by our becoming mature and responsible enough to use it rightly.

  • An Opportunity to Respond and Grow

Romans 8:14  says,

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

In our churches often people want to sit and observe, or just sit back and not participate. Following in the Spirit can help us to move past ourselves and begin to grow in His leading. We must allow ourselves to be stretched. Some of us aren’t always going to be comfortable with what is happening even though it is Biblical.

Remember, we are called to be believers and pursue Jesus more than we are any denomination.

Water amazes me. The way it moves and can find it’s way through the smallest cracks and crevices. Water, although unassuming, is POWERFUL. We have recently witnessed hurricanes and flooding, and to imagine the fact that water can over time cut through rock makes my head want to explode!

When you put an obstacle in waters path, it blocks it and the water has to change flow and go around it. Anything that is static in a rivers path, not moving or flowing with the river, is an obstacle to it. When enough obstacles are laid down, it totally blocks the flow of the river, causing a dam. When a dam is built, the flow stops.

Sometimes our unwillingness to respond and follow the Spirit causes an obstacle to His flow.

Since the gifting of the Spirit people have continually stood in the way of the flow of the Holy Spirit by not responding to Him. Some people who think they are being “very spiritual” or “respectful” by not responding to the Holy Spirit are actually being very carnal and standing in the way. Seems ridiculous that our unwillingness to cooperate could cause an issue, but we know that Jesus did all His works by the anointing of the Spirit. Acts 10:38 says that,

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

With that in mind we can take a look at a story out of Mark where we see that the Spirit’s work can be blocked or impacted by our unwillingness. Mark 6:1-6 says,

Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! “Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” And they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”
Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

Here we see that He could do no mighty works. In other words He was prevented or blocked from doing them. This means the Holy Spirit could not do what He wanted to do.

We have to be willing to respond as we are led.

Notice that I said: respond. We don’t initiate the move… instead we should desire to be like a life in a stream that flows where the water takes it. Just like there are different rivers, with different strengths and flows, so there is diversity in the Holy Spirit. There can be different streams that come together and make up a river. The Holy Spirit is diverse. There are multitudes of ways in which the Spirit can move.

What do I mean by respond?

Well it is simple really. If a move of the Holy Spirit comes in in worship, and we all just sit there and look at each other, we are not responding! Not responding is to be as a rock that stands in the path of a river that is trying to flow. The rock becomes an obstacle and the river either has to go around it or is stopped by it.

There are times that we can get so into “our scheduled program” and routine that the Holy Spirit is limited in what He can do. I am not saying don’t have a program, but make sure you have the flexibility to allow Him to change it. If the program says it’s time to sing the last worship song, then have the announcements; and while we are singing an anointing to Praise comes in, then we have a choice: Go with the program or respond to Him.

Flowing with the Spirit can bring greater blessing than just sticking to your program or service schedule.

As a side note:

Don’t hear me saying that we have to be over spiritual and ecstatic extravagant worshippers. Often people only have learned one way to respond to Him so no matter what they sense they respond that one way. Some have learned to shout, so if the Spirit moves in soberness… they shout. If He moves in healing or in revelation… they shout. Because they are limited in their scope of understanding and expressing what He is doing. On the other hand, some have learned to sit in silence, very still and very quiet. There is defiantly a place for this, but if the Holy Spirit is moving in joy and loud praise, that is NOT the time for it! When God told the people to march around Jericho, there was a time He commanded them to shout! If they had stood in silence then, they would have been missing God.


Many people only know, or are confortable with, one response to the Holy Spirit and they have only learned to yield in that way, so every time they sense Him they think that’s how they are supposed to respond. No, there are many ways to respond depending upon what is right according to what He is doing. If the Holy Spirit is moving in peace and intimate worship, then responding with joy and shouting is the wrong response in the same way that sitting in silence during a time of jubilee would be.

We need to be able to tell what He is doing and flow with that! Going a direction He is not going is like trying to paddle your boat upstream instead of flowing with the direction the river is going.

The key is knowing what is right at what time. That takes discernment and learning to understand the way the Spirit moves, interacts, and works amidst His people. This takes developing sensitivity to His flow. It takes spending time with Him in prayer, developing closeness of fellowship and relationship.

To prepare ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities the Spirit provides in the “moment” we must worship through the week. We must pursue God each day and allow Him to speak into our lives. When we seek God through the week, Sunday will mean that much more to us, and on Sundays we must come expecting and believing God to do an incredible thing!

A Call to Share

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Studies show that one in five Americans don’t believe in a deity. Many of you might look at those numbers somewhat optimistically… but when compared to the numbers the Hartford Institute of Religion Research have on church attendance the real issue begins to show it’s head. The numbers on church attendance show that more than 40 percent of Americans “say” they go to church weekly. As it turns out, however, less than 20 percent are actually in church. In other words, more than 80 percent of Americans are finding more fulfilling things to do on weekends and then answering differently on questionnaires or polls. Those same Americans “believe” in a deity… but their beliefs aren’t impacting their actions or decisions.

Psychologist Jean Twenge of San Diego State University has said,

The large declines in religious practice among young adults are also further evidence that millennials are the least religious generation in memory, and possibly in American history.

That’s a scary thought… but a harsh reality. How do we right this ship?

Matthew 28:19-20 is a passage referred to as the Great Commission that we are familiar with. It says,

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Evangelism was born with a simple command from the risen Jesus to “go.”

Our task is as Believers is well defined: outreach. Our territory is well laid out: the world. Our message is plain: Jesus. And fortunate enough for us all we need is made available: “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

No congregation, no pastor, and no Christian can afford to ignore the call of evangelism. 2 Timothy 4:5, says,

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

In this passage we can see the apostle Paul writing to the young pastor Timothy, affirming that the work of the evangelist is inseparable from gospel ministry.

Christian missiologist Ed Stetzer has said,

It’s essential to understand that, regardless of our personal comfort level, we are called to share our faith because Christianity is a missionary faith. Despite the change in our culture and the way our faith is regarded, Christians are commanded to tell people about Jesus. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus called fishermen as his first disciples and told them he would make them “fishers of men.”

His disciples are still called to be fishers of men.

Even in our multi-faith environment, this calling should not be offensive to those of other faiths or no faith at all. Evangelism does not mean coercion. We can and should respect each other and strive for tolerance across varying beliefs, but that does not require pretending those differences do not exist. One of the core beliefs of Christianity is that Christianity should be propagated.

It isn’t necessary for every Christian to rent a stadium to proclaim the gospel to thousands. Most Christians can gain a hearing for the gospel while exchanging life stories at the coffee shop, taking a meal to a hurting family or standing for justice in an unjust world.

What evangelism requires is that when we care for a friend or speak out for a cause, we tell others that our faith is the reason. We tell them the good news that was told to us.

Evangelism can be defined as the person-to-person outreach of believers to nonbelievers with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the act of leading those who do not believe to repentance and to acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. All too common is the notion that this work belongs to the pastor alone, but the fact that the pastor is called to lead does not relegate the work of evangelism exclusively to them. So… you might be asking, “How can I be a successful evangelist?” Let’s think together!

Be Ready.

Having traveled playing music and been around musicians off all ages and genres I always find it interesting to see what an artist is like when they are off the stage. Many of them aren’t at all like they appear to be on stage. Sometimes in the hours leading up to the show you can watch them physically and mentally prepare and morph into what their fans expect. If you were to catch them “off guard” and throw them up on stage early they might not be able to perform to the best of their ability and give the people what they want.

The first key to successful evangelism is to always be ready to evangelize! 2 Timothy 4:2 says,

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season.

Successful evangelism is not seasonal. Nowhere in Scripture is there even a hint that evangelism should be a seasonal endeavor. On the contrary, Acts 2:46-47 indicates that accessions to the truth occurred daily. That passage says,

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

The church must remain true to the Great Commission and rescue evangelism from the realm of the “occasional” and anchor it where it belongs: in the down-to-earth, ongoing, daily life of the congregation. Evangelism is not something that may be turned on and off like a light switch. It is a year-round way of life mandated by God to invite “whosoever will” to come into God’s kingdom.

If we are to be ready “in and out of season” then we are going to have to have the Word of God “dwelling in us richly” because we know that Romans 10:17 says,

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Being prepared for successful evangelism is rooting ourselves in a healthy biblical theology. God is passionate in His desire to save. No matter how much we may “psych” ourselves up for evangelism, unless our understanding is rooted in the reality of God’s unquenchable desire to save, His ability to save, and His purpose to employ us in the saving mission, we run the risk of leaving many of the vast resources God has provided to His people unused, which will leave us disheartened or dissatisfied.

A healthy biblical theology will guide us to a complete dependence on God for the mysterious work of conversion that He alone can accomplish.

We must be always ready by being always dependent on God, his Word, and the resources that He provides.

Be Present.

In Colossians 4:5-6 Paul tells the church to,

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Paul isn’t just saying evangelism is our responsibility; he’s telling us to do it “in person” and wisely, “making the best use of the time.” Unfortunately, to a lot of us evangelism can seem like an out of body experience because we aren’t comfortable with or “present” in the moment.

I’m reminded of the more passive Christian who “checks” evangelism off their list by wearing a “trendy” Jesus t-shirt, hat, or WWJD bracelet while secretly hoping that nobody acknowledges it, or that it doesn’t create an evangelistic opportunity (although I never have seen that happen). Or, on the alternative side I think of the zealous Facebook Christian who posts Bible verses, Christian memes, or might troll statuses and pages in order to start conversations to defeat arguments, while losing people in the process.

Don’t allow the comment section to become the new street corner. 

Matthew 6:5 says,

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

There are only 3 ways of viewing time: past, present, and future. We must evangelize in the present. The above approaches are foolish and not “present” because they treat people like projects to be completed, or arguments to be won and not persons to be loved. It is looking at what they could be in the future instead of what they are now.

Have you ever been on the other end of an evangelistic project? Perhaps from a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon at your door. You don’t feel loved; you feel used, like a customer being pressured into a sale. Go to any restaurant around with a wad of cash for tip money and you will find someone willing to be your “friend,” go empty handed and see the difference.

In the above passage out of Colossians 4 Paul says, “know how you ought to answer each person.” This means that most of our Gospel explanations will be different, not canned. It also implies that we are present and listening in our evangelism. How can we know how to respond to each person, if we don’t truly know each person? This advocates a present and relational evangelism strategy fueled by the love for people with “no strings attached.”

When Francis Schaeffer was asked how he would spend an hour with a non-Christian, he said,

I would listen for fifty-five minutes, and then, in the last five minutes I would have something to say.

Evangelism is not a program but a way of life. For each of us it is an opportunity each day to witness to others about the power of the crucified, risen, and soon-coming Lord.

Be Committed.

What’s the difference between wisdom and knowledge? Wisdom comes with a requirement of gray hair!

In Colossians 4 Paul isn’t just telling us evangelism is personal; he’s telling us to do it with wisdom. Wisdom possesses more than knowledge; it expresses knowledge through understanding. In evangelism another word for this is love.

By many peoples standards love is inefficient. It slows down long enough to understand people and their objections to the gospel, and views them as more than projects. Love recognizes people are complex, and meets them in their need: suffering, despair, indifference, confusion, etc…

A successful evangelist is committed for the long haul.

Unfortunately the “fast facts” way of evangelism that many of us have been “trained” in for a long time is ineffective and almost seen as an insult anymore. Rehearsing a memorized fact, “Jesus died on the cross for your sins,” isn’t walking in wisdom even though the whole statement is truth.

We need to explain and display these important truths not simply assert them, and that takes commitment and relationships. It takes a love for people.

We need to see evangelism as a long-term endeavor. Stop “checking the list” and defeating others with your knowledge of the Gospel and your machine gun mouth. Slow down and practice listening, and most importantly… love them for who they are and not for who they could be! Most conversions are not the result of a single, point-in-time conversation, but the culmination of a personal process that includes doubt, reflection, gospel witness, love, and the work of the Holy Spirit, and those things take time!

Don’t feel pressured by numbers. Successful evangelism is measured by faithfulness to the task. If faithfulness is measured by numbers, then Noah would probably be considered a failure. Noah started building the ark when he was 480-years old. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:7 that Noah moved with fear,

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Prior to the Great Flood the earth had never flooded in that manner (some would even argue that it had never rained, see Genesis 2:5-6 and Hebrews 11:7, but I do not wish to enter into that conversation); yet God told Noah He was going to flood the earth with rain. Now when God gives Noah the command to do this, it is 120 years until the Flood. This is what you would call a long-term project. Noah preached the Word of God, gave warnings to the people, and was ignored and ridiculed. Only his family boarded that Ark.

We learn from the experience of Noah that faithful evangelism doesn’t so much have to do with the numbers and response as it has to do with proclaiming God’s message boldly out of obedience and love.

In sum, if you evangelize apart from love you will be holistically unsuccessful. With love comes patience, and that means we are evangelists for the long term.

In conclusion, we are all called to be evangelists. We will all be presented with differing opportunities and platforms. Many of us will see different “measurable” successes. The parable of the seed falling in different kinds of soil puts things in-perspective for us. Inevitably, the word that we proclaim or teach falls, like the sower’s seed, on a variety of surfaces. That is why successful evangelism cannot be linked exclusively to numbers. A great part of the success is that we have simply delivered the message faithfully. Our task is especially to care for those who are represented by the good ground, and to continue to pursue the others in the hope that the ground of their hearts will soon be receptive to the seed.

Successful evangelism is well within the reach of every person. Paul’s admonition to young Timothy to do the work of an evangelist is framed in a context of a call to faithfulness, consistency, and longsuffering. The evangelist who has these qualities will succeed.

And remember, don’t put pressure on yourself; conversion is in God’s hands. We just get to share the incomparable news of Jesus!