A Musician's Key Scripture - Psalm 33!

A few days ago I was reading Psalm 33 and ran across a great couple of phrases that showcase the value God has on musicians and songwriters. The Psalm begins with the idea that singing and praising God is simply what those who love God do, period. Next we see how instruments enhance this practice of singing and praising God, and specifically (to my liking), STRINGED INSTRUMENTS! Finally, in the third verse or phrase of this Psalm, we see that playing well, or skillfully, is extremely important. Musicians, vocalists and writers must be offering our best to the King - it's crucial to the overall worship of the people of God! What an awesome yet incredibly weighty task we musicians have! I pray that God would help me shoulder this great burden and assist me in being the kind of musician and songwriter He needs me, and the other church musicians I work with, to be!

Worship Opens Doors...

I was reading Psalm 34 this morning and I was blindsided by a great phrase Eugene Peterson uses to translate verse 9 - check it out: "Worship God if you want the best; worship opens doors to all His goodness" - wow! That phrase has stuck with me...that when we give God the worship from our very depths it opens doors to the very best life has to offer. Sometimes I treat the worship of God way to unimportant. Worship should be center in everything we do whether working, playing, resting, etc. I want God's best - and, I think many would agree with me. Let's be 24/7/365 worshippers y'all! It's the KEY to open the doors to God's best!

How Did Sunday Go?

Sometimes when people miss a Sunday morning at Common Ground, they'll come up and ask me 'how it went'? I confess, I have no earthly idea what the answer to that question should be. Would I say, wow, we had lots of people there? Or, maybe, wow, we had a big offering that day? Or, maybe they want to know if the sermon was good or that people generally had a good time? Now, I'm not trying to be contentious here, but, what should the measure of a great Sunday morning worship time be? Beyond having a big crowd of people who are genuine and generous, how do we really gauge a great Sunday? I guess if you were to ask me how I measure Sunday morning's 'success' (beyond techinical stuff and musicality), I'd say simply that if people encountered and worshipped God, it's a success! I think its a success if we walk away from a Sunday morning feeling encouraged, inspired, and more in awe of God - what about you?