Bring an offering

1 Chronicles 16:29 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
We have been learning about how to worship God, specifically in a worship service setting. We began with a verse in Psalms that is really the same as this verse, only that the line about bringing an offering was left out. King David probably wrote this. He must have left out the line to make it fit the rhythm of the psalm, which is a song. Anyway, this his how you worship God. Give him the glory due his name, praise Him. Worship Him in the beauty of his holiness. And, bring an offering. We believe in tithing, which is giving 10% of all you earn, to the church. I believe that is what we are supposed to do. I understand, though, that we can't expect someone who doesn't fully understand tithing, to do so. But, this verse says to bring an offering. Offer something to God. When you go to visit someone, you expect to be treated with hospitality. It is also polite for you, the guest, to bring something. It could be something simple, like a card, or a pie, or flowers, something. Likewise, when coming to church, you are expecting to be treated hospitably. If you are a guest, you should still bring something. If you are not ready to tithe, don't tithe. Try to bring something though. Why not start with a dollar, or a quarter? Next time bring a little more. Continue doing this until you feel a part of the church, then give how the Holy Spirit suggests to you. You don't have to bring money either. Oh, I hope the church leaders don't read this! Bring a can of food. Bring a towel, or some soap. The offering is used to keep the church running. These other items would have been bought with the money anyway, why not bring them if you have them?
This week we learned how to worship. Now you are ready to worship God to the fullest. And now you can be blessed to the fullest. God bless you.

O clap your hands!

Psalm 47:1 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
I've been highlighting the importance of music and musicians in praise and worship, mostly because I am a musician. This verse is telling all the people," If you don't have an instrument, you can still make music by clapping your hands." And if you can't sing, then just shout unto to God, He loves to hear your voice. And boy are there a lot of people who can't sing, or clap on time. But you know what? We are all worshiping God, and He is cherishing every note. I remember, when I was a kid, there was a lady in our church with one arm. She would clap her hand on her thigh. There is no excuse to not try your best when it comes to worshiping God. Whatever you have, use it.

How to praise God

1 Chronicles 16:8-10 Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

These verses explain how to praise God better than anything I can come up with. This is the attitude we need to have when we start praise and worship. Really this should be done at any time of any day, but I'm specifically talking about the this time during church service. We sing songs giving glory to, and proclaiming the name of, Jesus. We sing about what he has done for us. The most important thing being His crucifixion and resurrection. So next time you are at a worship service, don't just sing along to a song. Sing, sing for Jesus!

Do we need music in church?

2 Kings 3:15 "But now bring me a harpist.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came on Elisha.
Growing up in church, and wanting to be a musician and to play for God, I was told," You don't perform. You are not here to entertain." All while playing Santana and Black Eyed Peas covers. I have come to this realization though, I'm not playing for you. I am playing to God. I believe that any musician should give God his or her best. If you can't sing, or clap right, but that's the best you can do, that's what you give to God. And people will usually say something like," Oh they're doing their best for Jesus." I agree. But, when people who put in the time and effort that it takes to learn to play an instrument well, do their best, they are called prideful. I know, as a drummer, I shouldn't do a twenty minute drum solo like Neil Pert from Rush, but I'm gonna give God my best. I am a rock and roller, but my favorite song of all time is "the little drummer boy." That's me! I don't have a lot of "gifts", I'm not rich, and I am very shy. All I have to offer Jesus is... pa rum pa pum pum. Preachers preach about not holding back when it comes to giving money, right? Well, I am not going to hold back the gift that I have to offer Jesus.
Back to the verse, sorry. When the harpist began to play, Elisha began to prophesy. God told Moses to have a whole tribe, the Levites, dedicate themselves to serving in the church, OK tabernacle. And from there, whole families were made musicians, if they were skillful. Before David was made king, he would play his harp, skillfully, to drive away evil spirits from king Saul. God loves music. There is a song call "Revelation song" that talks about what we will see in heaven. There will be music and singing, and we will be praising God,"Holy Holy Holy, is the Lord God almighty!!!" I can't wait for that day! That is what I was created for.

Monday devotional; What is praise and worship?

Psalm 29:2 "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." There is a song that we do called " Give God the Glory". It says," Give God the glory, and he will give you the victory." Giving God the glory is the same as praising Him. We're saying," God you are awesome, there is no one like you!" Have you ever told someone that they were doing a great job? They usually continue how they were doing, or do an even better job. They had it in them the whole time, but since they know that they are appreciated, they give you all that they have. That's what happens when you praise God! He is the one who created everything. You know that he can do a good job. When we praise Him, though, He shows you what He can really do. And that is amazing.
Then, we worship Him because of his holiness. What does that mean? Probably what is more relevant to us is, God being holy means that He is not hateful. God doesn't put us down if we make a mistake. We are human, He is not. We try to love, He gets it right every time. That is why we worship Him. Praise Him today, He'll give you the victory that you have been after.

Praise Him

"The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the LORD was filled with the cloud." 2 Chronicles 15:13. We play a song from Israel Houghton/Lakewood Church called "Lord you are good". I picture this scene when we play this song. I feel that we are not just playing a song, we are raising our voices in praise to Jesus our king. Then, He fills the church with his presence, and it is just awesome. We as worship leaders, or "the band", have to not act as though we are a band singing a song to a group of people. We have to have the attitude that we are united with all of the people in that room singing praises and worshiping our Lord. Then you have the real thing, and that's when He shows up. But we don't need to all be together to experience this. Where ever you are, you can praise God. Just say, or sing if you like," God you are good, and you love me." Of course, you can say what ever you want. Just do it, every day. You will notice his presence with you more than you ever did before.

Welcome to New Wine Praise and Worship

Our family has been the substitute worship team for our church for a couple of years. We have just been given the OK to lead every other week, and we are excited. I love to worship God, and I am honored to be able to lead that worship with my family. We have some fun songs that we do. We haven't written any original songs, yet, so we do songs that you will have heard if you attend church regularly. We would love to have people come to our church and experience a time of worship with us. We are not singing to you, and you are not clapping for us. Together, we are lifting up praises to the king of all kings. Check in for song lists, encouraging words, and an all around worship experience. God bless you from New Wine!