Quality Worship Leading

The person I chose for this assignment is Jimmy Needham because I believe that by taking worship back to hymns, he takes worship back to its most pure form, lifting our voices to God above all else around us. Acoustic worship is something that goes overlooked quite often, but it's something that Needham does very well in and excels at. He also bears a fair amount of talent given to him by the Lord, and he is doing a great job of lifting it back up to God. He encorporates many morals and lessons into the songs he chooses to perform and write, which makes his music stand out, even apart from the conventional worship song. His music is impactful, and his fingerpicking is superb.

My favorite song by Jimmy Needham is "It is Well With My Soul" because of his explanation of its message in a separate video, not to mention it's a very good song which he performed excellently. Its message is something that we all struggle to learn and live through our life because the concept is something against our human nature. It's a story about a man losing his wife and daughter in a shipwreck, shortly after losing everything he had when he moved to the newly discovered land. His response to this tragedy was to say that the Lord gives, and he also takes away. He understood that the Lord has dominion, and agreed that since it was in God's will that his soul could be at ease even through this whole catastrophe that had just happened to him.

THE WORSHIP ANSWER BOOK: A forward by Rick Warren, Rick Muchow

This book promises and offers an answer to these tough questions that we as worship leaders will all face eventfully. In the introduction alone, the authors ask a plethora of questions that may stump us if our hearts aren't in the right place or if we are unprepared for what we face. Some of the harder questions in the intro are: is there a certain age you have to be to worship? Can non believers worship/should they? How can we know what God is realty like? What is an act of worship? I will answer these questions one by one. In the Bible, it was never specified as to when one is to start worshipping, but one is expected to start worshipping when they are called no matter what age they are at the time. As a believer, the answer that makes the most sense is when they are able to believe and follow out their faith with maturity and diligence. Non-believers are always welcome into the church, we as Christians are called to invite them and to spread the word of God out to all they meet. Inviting outsiders in a way is a test of our faith in God, the worse the person can say is no, but if one is truly a Christian, their hearts will still burn for whoever they want to come to church with them. As to them worshipping, if they are called by God to start worshipping then they will no longer be non-believers, which is encouraging to think of. We can know much more about God if we simply look into our own lives: testimony is a true stamp of his glory. Being in a position of worship should say a lot in itself, we don't deserve to be in the place we are in, but God will always forgive and exalt us even when we don't deserve anything. If we do anything in the name of the Lord, it is an act of worship. We have to stop putting worship into the box of it only being music and the beginning and end of a church service, but make it an every day thing no matter what we're doing. We must always do everything into the Lord.

This video's sole purpose was to convey to the viewers that worship is something that is bigger than ourselves and is something that should be approached and gone about in the most respectful of ways. As a musician, sometimes it can be easy to think that the whole show is by us and for us. However, this cannot be farther from the truth. Worship  is meant to glorify God, the one who sent his own son to the cross to die for our sins even though he was blameless. The least we can do is come to his cros because of the love he has and the obedience we must show. It is not about what we sound like or look like, as long as we do our best, that's all that God wants.

I completely agree with what the video said, especially about the guitar part.

Worship Team Handbook 2016-20117

This section of the handbook (page 7) explains how God's attitude towards humanity is and how we respond with him through worship. It is a dialogue, meaning that worshipping God is like a conversation. As he reveals himself too us, we lift him with our voices. Jesus is why we worship, because without him there would be no open connection to us and God for the every day human. Worship is meant to adapt with the times because it is contemporary, the words used in today's songs are not the ones from hundreds of years ago, but they still carry the same if not greater impact in their messages. However, it never loses root in tradition. Worship is meant to encompass every part of our life. It doesn't end when we leave church, it starts there. We can carry worship to everything we do. We can all participate at all times, even if you're not a Christian, you're still a child of God therefore are included in worship if you so choose.

Why aren't we singing?:

The reason most people don't sing during worship is simply because they are singing towards those who are already singing, making it a bit of a challenge almost. The songs can be too difficult sometimes, and other times people just aren't warmed up to sing or are even aware that our voices can be meant for singing. The group of worshippers must be led by the singers through a sort of "warm-up" if you will, with simple melodies such as hallelujah or humming of some sort, just to sink it in that the crowd can sing and so that they feel more encouraged to sing. People can also just take the worship as just another source of entertainment, not an action being taken upon by the worshipper. Once the worshipper is made aware of the fact that the band is not to perform, but to lead, they will be more inclined to be spiritually and sometimes physically active.

Graham Kendrick really put his words of wisdom into an easy to comprehend format, stating that people always expect worship bands to do all the worshipping for them so that they can just watch from a distance. Worship is an act for the listener as much as it is an act for the musicians.

Andy Mineo

Hip Hop and Rap are rather new to the music world in general, having only originated from the early 70’s in The Bronx, New York. On top of that, Hip Hop is very new to the Christian genres of music. Typical worship and Christian music is played in a contemporary or alternative style, so now that there is Christian Hip Hop, Christian music is being revitalized by its Rapper pioneers. Among those rap artists who are pioneering their faith alongside their craft, is Andy Mineo; He is one of the most popular Christian rappers currently in the music industry because of his unique style and use of articulate and loaded vocabulary.

Andy Mineo first started his musical journey while he attended high school in Syracuse, New York, spending his time producing beats and soundtracks for him and his friends to listen to. When he graduated, he joined a Syracuse sponsored label with his group known as Fat Camp. Shortly after his stint with his rap group, he had a revelation with God, and realized just how faint his spiritual growth had been getting. He wasn’t satisfied with where he had been headed in life, and for this reason he decided to re-commit himself to living a Godly life. This meant he had to leave his rap group, and start anew on his own. He was rather inactive in his music until he provided hook Vocals for another Christian hip hop artist named Lecrae, which got him passionate about rapping about God. He started producing on his own music in 2009 when he released his first mixtape as a stand-alone rapper, titled Sin is Wack. Since then, he has blown up with popularity. Having been featured a song called Power Trip by Lecrae, the two artists among other featured artists won the best Gospel album in the 2013 Grammy Awards. My opinion on Andy Mineo, is that he is the Eminem of Christian Rap. His words are full of meaning, and his creativity works hand in hand with his skills on the mic. Aside from having a testimony to write lyrics about, he is very wise for realizing his faults. To me, Andy Mineo is very Spiritually aware and is listening to what God is telling him every step he takes through life.

ARE WE INSULTING GOD?

This article was about the importance of our hearts and even very little words that are used in worship. Words can be the divining factor in life or death, heaven or hell, and depending on our hearts desire when we use our words, we can either be insulting to God or extremely worship oriented. It all depends on small words like "for", we cannot forget that we technically don't have to do anything FOR God, he really does not need us. We are only here because God loves and created us, and for us to love Him back with our own free will is up to us. It brings him joy, but words can make a big difference on what we desire most.

I really do agree with what this article states on some aspects, but others I find harder to understand. To me, it is all about our hearts while we worship, words do mean a lot and certain ones have impact, but at the same time God knows what we desire before we say it or do something, meaning we don't necessarily offend him with our mouths.