Christmas Time Is Here

There’s something wonderful about the celebration of Christmas. Who can deny that our rich family traditions create such enjoyable and memorable settings? Each Christmas, Luke’s version of the Christmas story is read in our home. Often we have a house full of family and friends. It amazes me how the room quiets as those precious inspired words are read. I can’t read the story without marveling that the life of our Savior was placed in such a small container and heralded by an angelic host. I wish I could have been there to see the shepherds! Who can deny God’s planning and purpose in the perfect gift given to mankind? Each year our church takes time to plan with purpose the re-telling of this incredible story. It never gets old. Some churches will have flying angels and use real animals in their manger scenes. Many will drive great distances to see. But I’ve found, regardless of the church budget, most people come with quiet hearts simply to hear the story of Jesus’ birth told once more. It is a hopeful message. One, as worship leaders and music ministers, we’re privileged to share every week of the year. If ever the world needed the Savior it’s today. Each of us have to wade through various non-essentials to get to the true celebration. So clear the way for your friends, neighbors, family members and church members. Often the children see this most clearly. When a pastor asked the class, ”Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem?” a boy raised his hand and replied, “Because his mother was there.” (Rev. Wm. Armstrong S.J.) A Sunday school teacher was telling her class of fourth graders the Christmas story about the three Wise Men bringing gifts to the Baby Jesus. A little girl who had recently become the big sister of a brand-new baby brother said: “Well, I guess gold and all that stuff are all right, but I’ll bet Mary really wished somebody brought some diapers.” (Jim McDonough, Stone Mountain, GA) We’re called to a child-like faith as we trust in God’s plan. Often I’m so busy with musical preparations I’m tempted to feel a little cheated. Can I be so honest? But deep down I know ministry is all about facilitating for others. The joy I experience comes from watching parents watch their children participate in ministry. And sensing God’s presence invade our sanctuary creating a sense of peace for those of every background and age. May the Prince of Peace invade the ministry of your church this Christmas season causing hearts to turn toward Him. Joy to the world! The Lord has come.

God is good,
Tim Covert
Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship

Flexibility and Willingness

One of the privileges I enjoy representing worship and music on the district level is the chance to talk exclusively on the subjects with those seeking ordination credentials. I mentioned in previous issues the book Worship His Majesty (by Jack Hayford—Regal Publishing). Of course the central focus of the book is the heart of the worshiper. Certainly everyone agrees, as Hayford generally articulates so well, that “First, God is to be the focus of our praise; second, He had always planned that in worship we would find joy, blessing, fulfillment and purpose.” During the discussion portion of the class inevitably corporate worship rises to the forefront becoming an important topic particularly for those looking for immediate solutions. Each Pastor has a corporate worship vision regarding his or her local church. And finding a compatible associate to facilitate that vision, whether it’s a staff member or volunteer, takes time. But in all of this, one theme resonates in every session I teach. Flexibility and willingness are assets that provide far more opportunities than music theory or command of any instrument. Honestly, the greatest criticism of musicians is their inflexibility and unwillingness. Encourage those you are mentoring. We are ministers first. More often than not, the most challenging circumstances we encounter are conquered through patience, flexibility and willingness that (by the way) translate into loyalty, teamwork and trust. When I think I have mastered these, some twist of circumstance arises reminding me I can always improve. Ha! Next month spring begins, or so the calendar suggests. What once appeared dead and barren will again grow with visible signs of life, just as loyalty, teamwork and trust produce it’s own visible signs of life. It’s been said, “You can’t hire someone to practice for you.” That certainly is the truth. The next time you get a chance Google 21Suggestions for Success by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. I’ll quote #2-4. “Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.” Okay, all of us have room to grow. It’s a fact! Working for God, advancing His kingdom is worthy of my time and talent. Positively and enthusiastically giving more than is expected—that sounds like the Lord working in someone. Let it be me!

God is good,
Tim Covert
Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship

Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize

Greetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m so thankful for each of you—led to a place of ministry in the great state of Michigan. What interesting challenges all of us faced this past year. And what abundant provision awaits those trusting in the promises of God. Amen! We’re in a fight brothers and sisters. And I’ve never been more thankful to be a soldier in the army of God. What does God have to say about 2009? It’s time to rise up worship leaders. An atmosphere of praise and worship in our churches has never been needed more. It’s time for God’s people to go to war with their praise. God’s word tells us, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Gal.6:9-10. Wow! Where will God set you up to do good unto all men? Ask God to reveal that, then keep it at the forefront of your thoughts as you look for opportunity. It’s easy to get caught up in things that are not the true focus of the Great Commission as it relates to the lost. That cannot happen in 2009. I encourage you to take some time to prioritize in the area of music ministry. I’m sure many of you have already done this. If you’re not connecting with those you’re ministering too within the church, let God help you figure it out. He will. If a recommitment to the basics is needed for the worship band, take the time to articulate it and then implement it worship leader. When we’re strong as a team, God blesses. Maybe certain specifics need attention but you don’t know how to fix them. Ask for help! Ask for prayer support. Take a stand. Don’t allow yourself the option of being discouraged. When we’re strong “doing good unto all men” becomes possible. Our state is filled with discouraged people. It’s time to make a measureable difference in their lives friends. We have the answer. We’re all in this together. If I can be of assistance, don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me. I am available to assist you upon your request. If this Michigan Contact page reaches you and you’re not on our current email list of Michigan worship leaders, please consider writing me with your email address, phone number and place of ministry. If possible, I look forward to connecting with you at a district function -Conference On The Ministry or District Council. And as always, may God bless His unfolding plan through your ministry in music.

God is good,
Tim Covert
Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship

Faithfulness

There’s a worship song that says, “Faithfulness, faithfulness, is what I long for, faithfulness is what I need.” In a chapter titled Talent vs. Faithfulness from the book Extravagant Worship, Darlene Zschech writes the following words, “Faithfulness… not such a popular word in today’s world, but one which Mark and I have seen, when applied over any area of our lives, brings great blessing. It’s about being faithful to the cause of Christ. Faithful to His love. Talent has almost nothing to do with it. Your gifts and your talents are God-given. And while they are a much sought after commodity by the world… they are very low on God’s list of ‘must haves’ to qualify you for living an effective, purpose-driven, Christ honoring life. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says ‘For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.’ We must continually remember the cause of the Kingdom, the reason why we do what we do. If you see the church as an avenue for your gift, an opportunity, an outlet, a way for people to experience what you have, a way to success… then you’re in the wrong place.” How true! The Bible says in Isaiah 43:19, “Behold I am doing a new thing, how it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wastelands.” As worship leaders we long to experience streams of God’s renewing presence in wastelands created by the lies of our adversary. We despise the wasteland and want to see it transformed! And one of the most striking aspects effecting this transformation… is faithfulness. The idea that God’s ‘new thing’ can begin to spring up but not be perceived is unfortunate. Maybe it’s because what springs forth often does so in very small beginnings. Faithfulness is one of those essential elements of Christian life necessary for proper perception. For we soon learn, how can we perceive the new thing God wants to do through us without it? In the overwhelming wasteland we can quickly forget that every prayer, every minute spent in planning corporate worship, every moment spent nurturing budding musicians, every decision to follow those in authority over us, becomes a planted seed that will eventually spring forth. Investments take time to grow. Often more time than we think they should. Through faithfulness God makes a way in the desert, streams in the wastelands, providing blessing for His people that others will eventually perceive. But you must perceive it first.


God is good,
Tim Covert
Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship

The Power of Praise

First Assembly of God of Greater Lansing was built on the outskirts of East Lansing in 1977 where (at the time) only a few homes existed. Over the course of the last 30 years the surrounding landscape has changed dramatically. Nearby homes are being torn down making way for more office buildings, banks, etc. What once occupied a place of importance is now a memory. In 2 Chronicles 32 King Sennacherib of Assyria prepares to attack Judah. He boastfully taunts the people of Jerusalem, casts doubt on their king and makes light of God’s ability predicting Judah’s demise. But King Hezekiah, sensing Judah was about to become a memory, calls for the prophet Isaiah. Together they cry out to the Lord and God miraculously answers their prayer by sending an angel to the Assyrian encampment. Over night the Assyrian army and leadership structure is destroyed, silencing Sennecherib's boasting. But in the shadow of this incredible personal victory King Hezekiah becomes deathly ill. Out of options, Hezekiah again reaches out to the prophet Isaiah. This time Isaiah tells him plainly, “Set your affairs in order for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.” The king wonders, why now? What about your plan for my life? What about my leadership? What about the people? There's so much more to do." Hezekiah was one of a few truly good kings. Realizing his God given abilities were powerless over illness, Hezekiah finally throws out the clutter and declares in Isaiah 38, “for the dead cannot praise you; they cannot raise their voices in praise. Those who go down to the grave can no longer hope in your faithfulness. Only the living can praise you as I do today.” The power of praise is an incredible thing! Powerful enough in fact it caused God to reconsider and Isaiah was sent back to Hezekiah giving him 15 more years of life. There is a place within man created by God where only His presence should dwell. But life tends to encroach on this place—filling it with desires, thoughts of self sufficiency and self importance. God will eventually expect the clutter to be removed. It's all about Him, not us. Praise to God from a truly humble, repentant, thankful heart can be like a bulldozer knocking over dwellings on property intended for something else. A house that once took up a large space after the leveling fills two large dumpsters. So it is with man's thoughts of self importance. It occupies too much space on very valuable real estate. Good King Hezekiah’s tendency was pride. Whatever tendency encroaches God's plan must be recognized and adjustments made. Ultimately, it's the Lord working that brings about anything worth mentioning. All praise to Him!
God is good,
Tim Covert
Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship

Multiple Worship Leaders

Recently, I read the Profile section of nationally published Worship Leader Magazine and noticed one of the worship leaders from South Haven First Assembly of God (Senior Pastor Rev. Eric M. Jarvis) was featured in the July / August issue. South Haven’s story is one of true perseverance and God’s blessing. As many of you know (having participated in the voting) South Haven’s worship team entered Worship Leader’s video contest titled “Upgrade Your Stage Giveaway”. After producing a DVD chronicling their development, South Haven was voted the winner in April. Pastor Jarvis comments, “You can’t look for immediate results, you have to think long term.” The Jarvis’ pastorate began in 1996. Initially, the church’s heartfelt and humble worship ministry began with a’cappella singing and simple rhythm instruments. Soon after a CD player was purchased and split tracks were used. As the church grew, Tricia DeVries led worship as musicians developed their skills and became involved. Eventually their numbers grew to the point they needed to divide. Today the teams are led by Tricia DeVries and Lisa Schneider. Their contest win provided admission to the National Worship Leader Conference, an electronic drum set and $5,000 worth of worship resources from LifeWay. What an incredible journey, praise God! I appreciated Lisa’s comments in the article regarding favorite worship resources. Her list included: Worship Leader Magazine, Song DISCovery and the Modern Worship Series DVDs (Paul Baloche) which can be purchased at leadworship.com. Churches throughout our district understand the importance of corporate worship. Developing a worship team is not easy. Lisa describes coming to the place of leadership, mentioning “One awesome thing about God is that when He calls you to do something, He supplies everything you need to accomplish it.” Those I have spoken with over the years vocalized great desire to get to point D like South Haven. But understand the real challenge is working through points A, B and C to get to D. A consistent work ethic and incredible commitment must be exampled. The leader (or leaders in this case) like all of us may not have all the answers, but this person finds the answers and sacrifices time investing in people for the future. Starting from scratch takes time. I’ve often said, depending on the level of musical ability at point A, it may take 5 years to get to point D. South Haven started in 1996. Be patient and persevere. Not bad for church with an active membership of 40. That's right... 40. Well done South Haven A/G, Pastor Jarvis, Tricia, Lisa and worship teams!

God is good,
Tim Covert

Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship

Michigan District Council

Each May Senior Pastors bring their non-credentialed worship leader volunteers to our District Council Music Ministers Luncheon. What a great time to make new connections and renew familiar ones. Attendance for the luncheon has been good - of course, we would love to have every worship leader that ministers in the state. I encourage Senior Pastors to help by having their worship leader email me his/her name and email address. We are developing a mass email list which will more efficiently and directly provide worship related information.

Also, District Council offers challenging insights leading to personal and corporate evaluation of ministry. Those who have run the race well have my attention! This year was no exception. Dr. Ed Stetzer spoke of God’s ministry assignments concerning various commissions given by our Lord. He reminded us of one ministry assignment—reach people who are different than we are. This assignment (if approached effectively) will filter through every aspect of church vision... including our worship. Differences are vast on a variety of levels within most local churches, but Dr. Stetzer reinforced something relating to musical style and form that cannot be overlooked— the effective articulation of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and the empty tomb validating it’s effectiveness to wash sinners clean. If there is a place to begin, it must be here. If we fail in our lyrics to articulate why we worship the Lord, are we really facilitating worship? When style becomes a distraction to the message then we need to adjust. Here’s an example. Some cringe at the thought of singing hymns with lyrics obviously from another era to un-churched Teen Challenge members. Is this a style distraction? Why do we run from things that aren’t familiar? Over time these same men and women learn what those words mean. They come to appreciate “Grace, grace, God’s grace; grace that will pardon and cleanse within.” What about using Hillsong United with the elderly in service? There’s room at both ends of the spectrum for accommodation. Adjust, re-arrange if you need to. It will never be easy. Ultimately, it’s all about the message and stylistic balance.


May God richly bless your ministry assignment.


God is good,
Tim Covert


Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship

Change of Pace

Summer is on the way! It’s a season I always enjoy because things settle down a bit for me. For many music ministers this time of year offers opportunity to focus on specific projects. Examples of projects may include: organizing worship music, organizing choir music, working with platform changes, sound related organization, clean up of sound areas, drama storage room organization or lighting issues. The list is endless. Because music ministry’s scope can be large, I try to pick at least one project a summer. I include department leaders in the planning and the project itself. Some areas are continually being dealt with while others may get attention only once a year. The project may or may not be my idea. But the approach is a team effort. The goal is not to make things better just for you, but for everyone.
Also, summer is the time of year when music ministry changes slightly. Beginning in June the choir gets a break. We offer the same ministry provided but in a different format. We subdivide The responsibility of choir ministry is subdivided into various groups such as Women’s Chorus, Youth Ensemble and Mixed Ensemble. We even have a men’s quartet . This arrangement provides a change of pace and works well for those wanting to spend additional time with family over the summer. For those who want to remain involved, there is every opportunity since choir members can be in more than one group. For those who chose to remain involved, one of the ensembles offers reduced preparation and ministry load.
Finally, as outdoor activities become possible, take the time to offer something for the whole family and gather the different groups associated with music ministry. This offers drama members a chance to hang out with choir people and technical people an opportunity to hang out with the dance team, etc. These relaxed events are always a source of great fun.
Summer is a wonderful time for thorough housekeeping, organization and fellowship. A little planning can go a long way. And those in the trenches with you week in and week out will appreciate your considerations in their areas of ministry.


God is good,
Tim Covert

Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship

Your Assignment (If You Choose to Accept It)

District Council offers great insight and challenge that leads to personal and corporate evaluation of ministry. Those who have run the race well have my attention! This year was no exception. In the Thursday morning session Dr. Ed Stetzer spoke of God’s ministry assignments concerning various commissions given by our Lord. He offered revealing insight regarding our assignment. We’re all on assignment. I guess the question from his message begging to be asked was, who’s assignment are you on? We are called to reach people who are different than we are. Music ministry worship style and form will forever be critiqued because of the upfront role it plays. That shouldn’t bother us because every generation will and should have something to say about it. But one factor in every musical style and form that cannot be overlooked in corporate worship is the effective articulation of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and the empty tomb validating it’s effectiveness to wash sinners clean. If we fail in our lyrics to articulate why we worship the Lord, are we really facilitating worship? Is it possible to leave Christ out of a worship service featuring a worship style instead? When style is a distraction to the message then we need to adjust. Facilitating worship for people from different walks of life is challenging. Some cringe at the thought of singing to Teen Challenge members hymns with lyrics obviously from another era in our history (as we do). Is that a style distraction? Who talks like that anymore? But over time these same men learn what those words mean. And they come to appreciate “Grace, grace, God’s grace; grace that will pardon and cleanse within.” There’s room at both ends of the style spectrum for accommodation. Re-package, re-formulate, re-arrange if you need to. Ultimately it’s all about the message.
May God richly bless you on your ministry assignment.

God is good,
Tim Covert


Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship

Somthing To Think About

Each January, after the hustle and bustle of Christmas is over, our church family takes time to focus on the coming year. We gather on a Friday night to seek the face of God - 10pm Friday to 6am Saturday morning. Our night of prayer is broken up into various prayer themes and devotional times. We’re given different options listed on a prayer guide. This year during the devotional time, I began reading “They Walked With the Savior” (Charisma House) by Scott Hagan. It was early in the morning when I read “The Story of the Sinful Worshiper”. We all know this story of the women forgiven of much, shedding tears of thankfulness, lavishly anointing the feet of Jesus with expensive oil and the smug embarrassed Pharisee who watched the scene play out before his very eyes. Hagan writes, “Earnest worship involves both a physical action and a loving intent, both a leaning forward with the body and a reaching out with the soul to touch with both life and lyric the divine magnificence of the Father.” But there’s a disturbing flip side to this scene as Hagan gives his assessment of the Pharisee. He writes, “We don’t worship because we don’t feel forgiven. And we don’t feel forgiven because we don’t feel that we were much of a sinner in the first place. You see mediocre sinners make mediocre worshipers.” Our initial response is “yeah, I know people like that” but the story isn’t about those people. This story reminds each of us that we must be an active participant in worship and not simply an observer, whoever we are and whatever our position in the church.


For the Music Minister or Senior Pastor struggling with concerns about corporate worship, here are a few suggestions I humbly offer.


When was the last time worship was a sermon topic or series?
What does authentic corporate worship look like (what am I comparing too)?
How much tangible preparation have I given to this valuable part of the service?
What possible distractions exist that could be fixed
(wrong style of music for the congregation, music too loud, too soft etc.)?
Who am I investing in to assist in the facilitation of corporate worship?


None of this is easy, I know. It all begins with prayer and brutal honesty. But I can be brutally honest (even with myself) if I know it will help others. The Lord will lead and use me in the process if I remain open and listen to His voice.


God is good!
Tim Covert

Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship