Prevailing Prayer

"To pray for others, and to be heard and answered by God in our prayers, serves greatly to increase our love to God in the form of affection and our love to others in the form of benevolence. No one ever prayed for another, with real prayer, without feeling an increase of love toward that person no matter whether it is for a stranger or an acquaintance. So if a community or a church prays for some individual, the more they pray, the better they will love. Prayer creates a bond of union between our souls and the souls of those whom we love. Let one pray for others till he prevails."
-Charles G. Finney (from the book Principles of Devotion)

Don't Talk Too Much

"For worship leaders all I am going to say is 'don't talk too much'. Too much of anything great takes the greatness of it away. We lead the worship. The pastor will preach the message. If he ever asks you to preach the message that will be a great honour and a privilege and you will do an awesome job... but until that time let's just stick to leading the worship and doing what we have been asked to do. If you are only committed to just doing what you do, and forget about everything else, then what are you really contributing?"
-Darlene Zschech

God's Display of Power

Rosa Parks pasted away recently. She was 92. The ugliness of segregation brought her to a crossroads in life. She would not sit at the back of a bus because of the color of her skin. When asked to, she simply said..."no". What she did wasn't easy, but it was right. The power of her stance proved more effective than a violent display. It sparked a movement changing the landscape of American society. What about our lives? Is it possible, standing up and saying "no" could change the landscape of our lives? Have you ever shuffled through the clutter of life and come to the place where all you wanted was God's will? Unwilling to accept anything less. Steve Fry writes in his book "I Am - The Unveiling of God" (published by Multnomah Publishers Sisters, Oregon) "...God's greatest display of power is in getting small creatures of dust, who live only because of the breath of God in them, to voluntarily do the will of their Creator. Our requests for quick fixes are often rooted in self-serving motives, not the undiluted motivation to glorify God-for the one who truly wants to see him glorified will celebrate the hidden ways by which God persuades the human soul to do right. As we've seen before, he conquers by love; he doesn't coerce through threats or entice with bribes. The power of restraint is often greater than a show of force, and God's ability to let freedom run its course, yet still accomplish his purposes, is the evidence of his power." The scripture tell us being pressed into the image of society is a very real risk (Romans 12:2). Often, God's will and societies way of doing things are at odds. We've been given freedom to choose. What influence will we give God in our decision making? Thank God for the hidden ways He uses to help us make good decisions. Sometimes we must stand and say no, anticipating God's help in that right decision. For the sake of our own lives and future generations.
- Tim Covert

A By-Product

Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product.
-Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) American writer and First Lady

It's All About MeeeYou

I read in a devotional recently, "The greatest heights to which most Christians, in their shortsightedness, seem to rise, is to strive for resignation to things they cannot alter and to seek for patience to endure them. As a result, thanksgiving is almost an unknown exercise among the children of God... Moreover, I am afraid a great many not only fail to give thanks, but they do exactly the opposite and allow themselves instead to complain about God's dealings with them. Instead of looking for His goodness, they seem to delight in picking out his alleged shortcomings and think they show a spirit of discernment in criticizing His laws and His ways. We are told that "when the people complained, it displeased the Lord" (Num. 11:1); but we are tempted to think that our complaining is special because it is spiritual complaining and is a sign of our great zeal and deep spiritual insight." Hannah Whitall Smith (from the devotional God Is Enough). I was reminded of my apparent thankless attitude recently after I struggled to lead our congregation in worship and wanted to talk about it privately. It would be wonderful if every time we stepped up to minister problems disappeared. During another worship set, concerned once again about mechanics, I misspoke words in the song Jesus, Lover of My Soul. Instead of singing "It's all about You Jesus", I sang, "It's all about meeeeYou Jesus." What kind of slip was that? As Hannah Whitall Smith pointed out, personal difficulties have a tendency of narrowing the focus to "me" instead of embracing "Him" in the problem. I was greatly encouraged recently when I read the words again, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." 1 Pet.1:16 As P.C. Nelson has stated, God will never be satisfied with us till He has wrought (formed) His holiness in us. Eph. 5:27 tells us that He will form His holiness in us until we are without "spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it (the church) should be holy and without blemish." Sounds like God is committed to us. Aren't you thankful God doesn't throw His hands up in the air and say, "it's no use, these people are beyond my help!" Instead, He works with us forming His holiness in us. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I am painfully aware of wrinkles needing to be smoothed out regarding my response to life. I thank God for allowing me to be in the process He's developed.
-Tim Covert

Success Brings Focus

When a person is focused, they develop a sense of destiny and purpose and start to believe in themselves. Suddenly, destiny is attainable, focus is sharpened and you develop that 'iron' or determination in your soul. Awesome! If we don't focus on the right thing we are in trouble. There's a temptation to focus on the gift, and not the gift giver. This leads to striving and comparing, discontentment, greed and jealousy. Yuk! Don't even go there! If we get our eyes off the prize, we focus our efforts inward rather than outward...and that, my friend, is dangerous ground. Focus on the Lord, and not just all His benefits.
-Darlene Zschech (from her book Extravagant Worship)

The Searching

As a youth pastor, caring for teenagers became an everyday occurance. It was a privilege and a joy to serve them. Watching them during weekly services was always interesting. Some would come with an incredible emptiness, searching for God....absolutely alone in that quest. Others liked the social aspect of youth group and found safety with church peers. Still others arrived simply because parents made them. Either way, they were all there and I (along with my wife and a leadership team) made a point of telling them how Christ could make a difference in their lives....while we roller bladed, biked, prayed, played, Sumo wrestled, walked, rocked, listened, ate, spent all-nighters together, attended retreats and events together. I'm getting tired just thinking about it! Relationship and being an example were absolutely key. Whether I was successful or not would best be described by those attending those services and events. Privilege and joy give rise to concerns as a Youth Pastor or in my current position as Minister of Music because it's hard for me to overlook teenagers obviously uninterested during corporate worship. I see adults too, but being a former youth pastor, my eyes gravitate to youth.... and well.....I've seen that uninterested look before. I don't think it's a function of style as much it is a function of isolation that causes the lack of interest in our teenagers. Most of what happens in the sanctuary is directed toward adults. Let's face it, it's a difficult task trying to get 12-92 year olds tracking on the same page. I read something recently regarding teenage lack of interest with worship written by Bob Metcalf, editor of Pastor's EXTRA! on lifeway.com. His fourth point on the subject "Reasons Teens Give For Not Attending Worship" was "Worship Doesn’t Make a Difference in Their Parents’ Lives". He writes, "These dropout teens went to worship because their parents told them that it was important. But once they discovered that it was a show for their parents and their lives were no different because of the experience, the teens decided that worship was unnecessary and unreal". Ouch! The other three reasons were as follows: The Sermons Don't Speak To Teens, Teens are Too Often Stereotyped, and Teens Feel That They Aren't Understood by Church Leaders. Wow! What do you think?
-Tim Covert

Happiness

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
-Epictetus (Greek philosopher)

Crossroads

The crossroads between church and culture must contain quality artistic signs in order to direct travelers off the wrong path and onto the one that leads to righteousness.
-Kent Morris

Mr. Perfect

Chosing the congregational worship songs for the coming week can be an interesting task for music pastors. Particularly after you've read the latest "how to" article by worship experts or experienced the power of silent refusal from a segment of the congregation. I'm not one to spend all day in prayer and fasting accomplishing this task. That's not to say I don't pray, because I do, or fast, yes I do. As a music pastor, knowing what facilitates true worship in your church should go with the territory. Our local church congregation is multicultural, multiethnic, multigenerational, multieconomic, multi-everything and we like it that way. Our musical style is contemporary, but not a concert format. We use songs that include the words "me" and "I" to increase the discipleship dimension of worship. Our worship songs convey our personal commitment to live and example bibical truth. We haven't placed any restrictions on our music such as...no pre 1980 songs allowed. Neither do we sing the songs of only one song writer or group of song writers. We sing at least one hymn in every service. Our church hasn't placed it's hope in technology (which we have a fair amount of). Our facility is adequate... hey, who couldn't use better facilities? Our choir is on the platform when we lead worship. We don't process in with banners, we file in from the sides. We've thought about the latest fads and cultural forecasts. We know we're living in a post-modern era and experts tell us things should be done a certain way to reach the unchurched. But the bottom line is this. In your church services, are you as a music pastor working with God, creating an atmoshere where God's people can truly worship, or not? Do you think it is happening? What does the Senior Pastor think? What do visitors think? How about visiting ministries? Is God inhabiting the praise of His people with a purpose? If not, God will help you make the right change. If it's not happening with the people in your church, it will not happen for the unsaved stepping through your front door. I've often said tongue in cheek, balanced music ministry means nobody is fully happy. We don't do everything perfectly. But, if you're called to music ministry, God will help you... and the congregation. Don't forget, using us was His plan not ours.
-Tim Covert

Keeping It Real

Our ultimate worship leader role model is not Zschech or Redman or Smith or Hughes or Doerksen but the Christ of the cross. Jesus is the only perfect worshiper. The place where our worship is rooted and so stays authentic and creative is the Church of Christ. In Christ and in His Church, that is the place where we keep it real - the beginning and end of worship.
-Mike Pilavachi

Partnering with God

Because of my interest in sport fishing, I was given a book titled "Incredible Fishing Stories". Among the many facinating stories in this book, it is reported that Walter Kummerow set a world record for freshwater casting. His throw, confirmed by the International Casting Federation, measured 574 feet, 2 inches - nearly the distance of two football fields. Now my first reaction was........COME ON! Nobody can cast two football fields. I expected to read next that Walter was 90 pounds and 90 years young! Unbelievable. Maybe I'm a cynic at heart. The too good to be true is often...too good to be true and not true. Even so, as a Christian Pastor I am often engaged in circumstances inviting me to believe the unbelievable. And so based on the Word of God, I must change my mind about the impossible. For, "without faith it is impossible to please Him." Heb.11:6 My reality must match up with God's. Maybe it's a precious elderly man we are believing God to bless. Or, it's an infant at the other end of the spectrum of life struggling to survive with impossible odds. Or the pastor of a local church trying to "turn it around" with little to no resources. One thing is for sure. Novice fisherman often think, if I can just get way out there I'll get better results. When in reality, the fish could be a few feet away. It's not the distance of the cast that matters, but the effectiveness. So when it looks like we're in a fog, remember partnering with God makes the impossible possible. That is a certainty. The answer may be closer than you think. And I like that.
-Tim Covert