Time Off

I will be taking a sabbatical from this blog until March 2nd.

Wednesday's Brian Teaser

In the spirit of the Olympics, find the hidden countries. In each case, the letter indicates the first letter of the country in question, the number represents the number of letters in the country. For example, E7 would be England.

Z6, L10, I9, E7 (not England), B6, and J7.

Prize to the winner!

Created To Worship

We were created to worship God and bring Him glory. However, worship is often viewed as a Sunday morning activity. Throughout the rest of the week, God is placed on the back burner.

God has a much better plan for us today. From the beginning, God created us to be in relationship with Him. As Vernon Whaley stated throughout his entire book (Called To Worship), worship is an intimate relationship with God.

Worship is an everyday occurrence. When God made us, He was planning on a 24/7 relationship. The more we worship Him, the closer we will be with our Maker.

"I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live." (Psalm 104:33)

Solos

After taking two Sunday mornings off, it was nice to lead worship again. Overall, the services were powerful. There was great singing, playing, and solid work from the tech booth.

Personally, I was reminded of a great lesson in music: Supporting the overall ensemble is more important than any solo, riff, or vocal enhancement of a song.

I have played with many musicians. Typically, the better a musician is, the less he or she will play in a song. This musician will stay in the background and support a song with appropriate chords or rhythm. Given the right time, however, this musician will enhance this song with impressive riffs and showcase musicianship.

Yesterday, I led with two virtuoso musicians: Lyle (electric guitar) and Christy (violin). They have the ability to amaze an audience with their talent. Throughout the worship service on Sunday, they sat in the background, and only soloed when necessary. For example, Lyle played a wonderful solo in Let The Praises Ring. Christy played a meaning lead part in Center. Together, they did an outstanding job of playing off each other. When the church was dismissed, the band jammed using an earlier song. Lyle and Christy traded solos and the band sounded great.

Despite not soloing through every song, these two were recognized by myself and people in the congregation for their outstanding talent. By limiting the number of solos and perfecting their riffs, the electric guitar and violin parts were showcased more and enhanced the overall sound.