Essentials Green ‘09 Final Creative Project An Analysis of “Kingdom Expectation”

An Analysis of  of the Song “Kingdom Expectation“ and Chord Chart

During the Essentials Green Course we analyzed the importance of Kingdom expectation. A quote from my post on Kingdom expectation states:

“God says that those who approach God must approach him and believe that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). This is key wisdom because it comes straight from God. This is not a suggestion; it’s an active law of spiritual physics.”

This value is so important because when we fully trust God he is able to demonstrate his power and love fully in us and around us. This passion comes from knowing, studying, and experiencing the goodness of God. As Worship leaders we need to cultivate an atmosphere of holy expectation and in faith expect for the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in His people.

We must also be aware that God frequently does not move in a way we expect and we need to constantly surrender our agenda and philosophy of what a good Worship Service looks like. (I’ve been guilty of imposing my expectation of what Worship is supposed to look like on Gods people.)

In the Song Kingdom Expectation I write about approaching God only by the sacrifice that he made. We simply can’t approach a Holy God in our own righteousness and religious philosophy; we must approach Him through Jesus sacrifice.

In the Chorus we can reflect on the Love and Grace that God has so generously given us simply because he is good which motivates us to Worship him knowing He is faithful! We also muse on the things that God has planned for us in the future as well as trusting that Gods Kingdom will manifest on earth as we patiently wait, yet fervently expect the manifestation of Gods Kingdom. As we set our sights on Christ and allow him to manifest himself through us, we can witness His Kingdom manifesting in the World through us.

In the Second verse we invite Holy Spirits will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, acknowledging that He “breathes the Fathers heart” and “lives the Fathers Will”. All too often we can look at Holy Spirit as a lesser part of the God head, so hopefully through these lyrics we can understand that He is literally the Spirit of God the Father upon the Earth!

In the Third verse we yearn to be transformed into the image of Christ, realizing that the Kingdom of God is neither here, nor there, but found in us. We finally realize that God is joyfully enthroned in Our Hearts!

Luke 17:20-2 “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, ²¹nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

Cross Burdensome (Essentials Green ‘09)

I had some ponderings about the C.S. Lewis Giving all to Christ as well as the other excepts in Preparing for the Spiritual Life. The common theme is that of surrender and total commitment yet the ambiguity for me lies in on whose shoulders that burden lies.

We often associate Christianity as meaning:

“Whosoever does not pick up His cross and follow me cannot be my disciple”.

The Christian journey is often placed on our shoulders yet Christ states:

” 28″Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

So whose responsibility is it for us to truly follow Christ? Is it ours or Christ’s or both? I think that we can place too much pressure on ourselves and beat ourselves up even though there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

Clearly the most important commandment is found in Mark 12:33 – “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Indeed God is not requiring sacrifices from us, he is requiring us to be a sacrifice!

I understand one definition of love to simply be a decision, commitment and a covenant, a choice.  We love God when we choose to trust Him. When we choose to Love God we choose to trust God. The scripture in Mark is referring to us choosing to follow Christ with all of our being, choosing to Love and live for God! It is not placing a burden of lawful thinking and bondage on us!

I’ve found that every battle fought in my Life is won in learning how to simply trust God with child like faith. When we pick up our cross Jesus does not expect us to attempt this awesome feat on our lonesome, but is rather an invitation for us to follow him and He carried His cross.

He invites us to partake in His suffering that we might partake in His Glory. What I believe the Lord is saying here is that we will suffer in this Christian life yet “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us”.

We must come to the realization that “unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor, labor in vain” – Psalm 127:1.

Our decision lies in whether we pick up the cross or not. Can you become accept the gift of Salvation and not carry your cross, yes. But in order to become Jesus’ disciple, or become like the Good Teacher you must choose to pick up your cross daily. But please do not attempt to pick of this cross by yourself, for you will be in utter misery. You will carry the cross indeed but you will not be resting and trusting in the lord. Rather you will have carried the burdensome cross without the help of your Lord!

Jesus showed us this example in Matthew 27:32″Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.” Understand that Jesus wants us to WANT to carry our cross; the soldiers (representative of evil) want us to be forced burdensomely to carry the cross.

Do not think it that you are the power behind your Christian life is your own intelligence, or strength; this is selfish ambition and religious and an evil way of thinking. Instead boast only in the Lord “and I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” – Phil 1:6

Accessibility, Relevance and Fearless Expression! (Essentials Green ‘09)

Zach I totally agree…

“….Although I think that some of it should be, I also think that our culture clearly proves that people can connect through listening and experiencing as well… which opens up a world of possibility.”

Accessibility, Relevance and Fearless Expression! (Essentials Green ‘09)

In heaven I believe there are going to be huge cooperate  gatherings and smaller “stages” with all sorts of different music. I believe that people will Worship God in whatever style they  enjoy the most as well as appreciating every Worship other style.

Just because we don’t all appreciate quantum physics like the quantum physicist doesn’t mean we cant appreciate the space between atoms.

And who says complexity is bad. God created an infinitely complicated universe. But just because we cant full understand it doesn’t mean we cant take something from it.

I believe we do have to be relevant but at the cost of true unhindered freedom? I agree we should try to sing songs in Keys that are doable but should that be the Golden rule?

The more I think about this, the more I realize that there must be room for both accessibility and cultural relevance, as well as Holy Spirit controlled outlets for fearless expression of our God given talents.

I like to sing songs that are easy for my church family to sing, but there are times that within those songs I humbly allow my passion for God to shine. Not to show off (at least most of the time hopefully!), but to creatively use God given talents to Worship my Savior. As I do that I find that this actually sets people free.  I mean we are taking about being “fully alive” right.

Should the Christian Astrophysicists teach simply and humbly? Absolutely yes! But there are times when he is compelled to use all of His acquired technical and intellectual prowess in a scientific journal for Gods Glory and anything less would be cheating himself, humanity and ultimately God! lol

As Worship Leaders we must be careful to create an Atmosphere that is both accessible and relevant to the culture, but keeping in mind that we were created to fearlsessly use and multiply our talents for the Glory of God!

“Our Hearts Joined as One” Final Essentials Blue 09’ Essay

An analysis of the Song “Our Hearts Joined As One” written by the author, David Abreu

Chord Chart Here!

During the Essentials Red 09′ Course we analyzed our learned theology and its monumental application to how we lead Worship through various creative expressions (including being fully alive and Worshiping God in everything we do!).  Three impressions of deeper revelation that I mused on are: the understanding that Worship although free and sometimes radical is also a Royal Act of allegiance to the King, that we are the frequently the fearful and hurting body of Christ in need of restoration, and that Gods desire is that each member of the body of Christ be unequivocally unified in love to fight against darkness.

In the battle against darkness, we must always remember that we are not alone, that we are united under the banner of Our Warrior King.  I believe that in Western Churches we tend to forget that there exists a real enemy with a purpose to “steal kill and destroy” and that God has commissioned us into his Kingdom army to be witnesses and to make disciples. Jesus is Our King who is summoning an army of love to be witnesses in the World through His Holy Spirit and perfect love.

We would do wise to consider Psalms written in the Spirit and truth of realizing that we all fear and fail. We don’t typically sing these types of Songs in Churches even though the Psalms are full of battle cries, hurt and desperation, doubt, confusion, fear, insecurity and indignation.

A largely ignited passion (at least in my own life) is the importance of pure cooperate Worship.  In an age of Individualism (the Worship of oneself as God and center, unlike individuality with is good and God given) in America, we must realize that we Christians belong to the cooperate body of Christ. In John 17: 21 Jesus prayed “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” Romans 15:5-7 is a great synapses for the heart of Jesus towards His church:

“ ⁵ May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. ⁶ Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  ⁷ Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.”

As we work together we come into the fullness of the body of Christ. When the holy Spirit arrived in the book of Act they were all gathered in one place and in one accord. They were baptized in the Holy Spirit and became powerful witnesses to the Jews and then the Gentiles. We too have access to this collaborate power of unity and of boldness as we witnesses for Jesus Our Warrior King.

P.S. My Generation likes hard music for hard heads, same message different package!

Praise God for Creative differentia and Individuality! (not Individualism!)

Praise be to the King who died and will come again for His beloved bride.

“Reflecting the Image of God as Worship (Essentials Blue ‘09)”

Saint Irenaeus stated that “The glory of God is Man fully alive”. I’ve often thought that “Worship is any expression that brings glory to God”. Referring to the restorative work of Jesus Peter states in 2 Peter 1:4: “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature“. Through the work of Jesus, we are again restored to Gods original plan for humans to be “like God”.

Our Goal as Christians is to rehumanize the culture into what God originally intended us to be; partakers of his glory, his character, his activities as acts of Worship to Our Creator. But before we can rehumanize the culture we must first understand who we are in this grand picture of Gods creation.

Genesis 1:27 states “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them”. We created in the image of God! When we understand that God gave himself as a ransom for the entire World he tells us that he values us as much as he values himself!

That was a strong theological statement, but consider Jesus own words “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Jesus never commanded us to do something that he didn’t do first hence we love Him because He loved us first. Jesus loves us as much as he loves himself consequently he states to love your neighbor as you love yourself. He loved us so much that he actually died for us.

Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means agreeing with darkness in stating that we are Gods and should strive to dethrone the Lord (not like we could!). Satan said in the garden: “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

Satan was trying to take Gods place and was not content with his place in the created order and convinced us that we should strive to take Gods place through individualism (the Worship of oneself as God and center, unlike individuality with is good and God given) or through humanism (the cooperate belief in humanity itself as being Savior and Lord). Consider Jesus words in the Gospel of John:

John 10 ³⁴ Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures that God said to certain leaders of the people, ‘I say, you are gods!’ ³⁵ And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people who received God’s message were called ‘gods,’ ³⁶ why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’?

Jesus is making it very clear that people that accept the message of God through faith are “gods”. I know this is touchy but Jesus was referring to Psalm 82:6 which states, “I say, You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you”. We are like our Father in Heaven thorough our gifts, talents, creativity, family structure, our body, soul and spirit in the form of the trinity, and most of all our love but we are most certainly not God, the great “I am”.

Let us life life’s that in whatever we do we reflect the majesty, love, mystery and joyfulness of our creator God. Though God mercy we are allowed be partakers of Gods glory once again. If you haven’t been born again you can receive Jesus as your Savior, admitting to sin and asking God to cleanse you eternally by His own blood on the cross.

Whether you’re a musician, painter, administrative worker, nurse, farmer etc, let your good works glorify God and be an image bearer of the characteristics and glory of God through everything that you do!

Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.”

“Human Creativity and Free Will (Essentials Blue ‘09)”

God has granted us free will. Our choice in creativity is attributed to our up bringing, environment, religious beliefs, experiences and even race. People may attribute their creativity entirely on chemicals and brain structure, but what about free will? Do we have an active part in our desires, deep yearning, and creativity? Does God give us creativity that is unchangeable? I believe that there exists a combination of both; A wonderful mysterious blending of God given gifts and talents as well as our choice to pursue certain pleasures and discoveries.

I have been playing guitar for about ten years now. My dad had a new nylon stringed classical guitar that I wanted to learn how to play after listening to various artists. I learned from a good friend of mine in high School that taught me basic chord structures and rhythm management. After a few years I felt the call of God to lead Worship. Was this Gods plan all along? Did he plant the seed for interest in playing or did I decide that myself and then did He have His plan wrap around my desires?

I discovered that I could sing decently in my second year of college being that I tried out for the catholic choir and made it. After that I wanted to combine my guitar playing with singing. Person said “wow you sing very well” and I thought “are you crazy?”. See, I had this gift for Singing that I never knew I had until it was unwrapped. I discovered I had a divine given gift to reproduce pitch and key very well.

I have known a woman who had four different vocal instructors a learned how to sing and she is incredible! Although she had a huge passion for singing she had to birth the gift through instruction. I on the other hand had no desire to sing at first until I realized that this was something God wanted me to do for his glory. So some our gifts are born out of divine inspiration and some out of our personal desire but all are gifts from Our Father in Heaven. (The Bible makes it clear that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father according to James 1:17).

The mystery lies in that although all godly inspiration and gifts come from the Lord, God finds a way for our own personal free will to run free and be in balance with His desires for our life. When I realized I could sing I fought it, but then discovered that I absolutely loved it! God is so unbelievable, that he grants us the desires of our hearts as we delight in Him as Out Father! Proverbs 37:4.

“Gods Trinitarian Presence upon the Earth (Essentials Blue ‘09)”

God has created time the very fabric of history and has interceded in history. Some have seen Gods initiation and intervention in time, and we all have created our own perverted interpretations of it. God had an original plan of for us humans for peace, purpose, and relationship with him. Not just some casual relationship with Him, but a relationship in which God is lovingly the foundation to our whole existence while we maintain individuality not individualism (the worship or ultimate dependence in ones self). We cannot see Gods plan unless God grants us Revelation, for there has been a thin veil placed over our eyes, sort of like the scales over the eyes of Paul one might say.

The Trinity is the inner community of God. It’s comparable to our make up, Will (or soul). Body and spirit. Since we are created in Gods image He Himself is God the Father (Will or Soul), God the Son Jesus (the body) and the Holy Spirit (the Spirit). Lets look at how each part of the Trinitarian whole has interceded in the earth. Throughout history God has been active in the affairs of man. The problem is we cannot see him as a God of love unless he reveals this to us.

God is our God who is a loving Father, a Judge and creator of all things. God the Father creator of all things created and talked personally with Adam and Eve. He is unlike many earthen Fathers; he is involved, loving and passionate about his children. From before the onset of time, he already had a plan for the redemption of man, for he knew that we would choose to like apart from him along with the fallen Angels. He would ultimately send his Son, an literal part of himself to the earth to satisfy his judgment upon a wicked humanity that was destroying itself.

God is the Son Jesus Christ, the loving embodiment of our Father. He and the Father are one and no one can come to the Father except by Him. He is the great I am. His mission was and still is to draw all men to Himself so that they might see the Father. He died a tragically beautiful death upon a cross suspended between Heaven and earth as a mediator or advocate between God and man. Through Calvary he opened the door of grace to all who would enter. He is our Messiah and our Savior. He started the Love Revolution.

God is the Holy Spirit living upon the earth. After Jesus ascended into Heaven he sent God the Holy Spirit to be our comforter and teacher. The Holy Spirit grants us gifts according to 1 Corinthians 12. God promises in the Old Testament that we shall be his people and that he would live among us and in us. We as Christians have become Gods dwelling place, our bodies his Sanctuary.

Let us live lives that are pleasing to the God who created, rescued and lives in us, not out of fear, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, but out of a heart filled with Love for what God has done.

“The Way in which We can Live (Essentials Blue ‘09)”

Gods desire is that  we should be fully alive. Saint Irenaeus said that “man fully alive is the glory of God”. What does it mean to be fully alive? How do we live out this abundant live that Jesus has purshased for us. We must start by understanding who we really are, what we’re really here for, and who God is.

Marianne Williamson said that:

“Our biggest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
or gorgeous or talented or fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be?
You are a child of God. You playing small doesn’t serve the world.”

When we understand who we are (children of God) it frees us to live unafraid to display our talents. This is not a license to brag or boast about oneself but to let ones light shine fearlessly and furiously for the Glory of God and for the benefit of mankind.

As Worship Artisans we cannot be afraid to display our talent because we don’t want to be misinterpreted as not humble. Not to be abrasive but If we have the right heart about serving then we should give it our all and allow the possibility of people to think of us egotistically. This is always remedied through relationship and love.

When we look at the life of Jesus we see the living God in the form of the humblest man that walked earth. He however knew that he was a child of God and he was unashamed to make known exactly who he was (in proper timing of course!). Not only that, but he also preformed miraculous deeds which spread him name across the land. He was not cocky or arrogant and he let his light shine for the world without self inflicted hindrance.

We must always remain humble, but as the apostles in Acts we must pray for boldness to encounter a sinful world but also to let the light which God has given us through creativity shine brightly!

Join me saints as I discover this and live fully through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Final Essentials Red 08’ Essay An analysis of the Song “A Place” written by the author, David Abreu

“A Place ” Chord Chart Document and Myspace link

During the Essentials Red 08′ Course we studied the languages of Space and Time and we remembered specific points in our lives which have shaped us as Worshipers and Worship Leaders. These moments remind us that we are not mere mortals, that we are eternal beings created to worship the one true eternal God. In these places we become synchronized with our spiritual atmosphere and encounter our God completely and utterly beyond words.

God meets us in distinct places through out our lives. We’ve all had moments where we knew that God had miraculously entered into our miniature world and saved us from pure self destruction. It’s a moment in time, a single place where we remember that God entered into our personal space. Unfortunately, these epiphany’s happen during very traumatic, life threatening or just life changing events like salvation perhaps. I believe that we can experience these monumental moments through Worship in everyday life, where we know for a fact that God is living and moving in us and in our lives.

God wants to meet us in a place of pure spirit and truth Worship. In this place we find who we are in God and that we were created to walk with God and be in perfect unity with him. It’s a place of safety where we can be comfortable with who we are and express Worship in a very unique and sometimes radical way. It’s a place where God has us wrapped in his arms and loves us dearly for who we really are, his children indeed. It’s a place where we enter eternity here on earth.

In this place of Worship, the song describes us losing “our selfish pride” and seeing the world as being grander than that of our own making. It speaks of us knowing that God lives inside of us by choosing to make us worthy of his dwelling by the blood of his own son. We need to realize that there is a “place in our heart” that God created for himself that nothing else in this world can fulfill. In this place God is the “King of every hill”, which are the mountains that we have to endure in this life. The Psalm acknowledges that he is King over every situation and distress and yet still meets us in this life with compassion, love and understanding.

This is the place that we are lead to by the Holy Spirit when we are willing to die to who we were and worship with everything we are (Living a life of Worship not just in creative arts expression). Finally, when we enter into Gods presence we find that “everything falls into place” and into heavenly perspective.  In the words of Jesus: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”.

Praise be to the King who died and will come again for His beloved bride.

“Future Worship (Essentials Red Fall 08)”

“For:The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt”

In John 4:23 Jesus states that:” Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

God wants mercy rather than sacrifice, love and truth rather than lip service. He is not unconcerned about form but instead adamantly passionate about the condition of our heart in Worship (1 Samuel 16:7). The Church has gotten so fixated on the art of assimilation that we’ve hindered freedom of expression in love and humility.

In church history and modernly we have often “boxed” Worship to reflect one culture and one expression. We get stuck in certain times and spaces, not allowing the emerging culture to influence the Worship Arts.

There is no doubt that God created to us to Worship corporately and individually. We must understand that we were not created to Worship the same but to Worship simply in Spirit and in Truth. This is Our Kings main concern, that we approach him in honesty and bring true offerings of love and adoration to His throne.

I think of the well known story of Cain and Abel. Although Abel may have been a Shepard and brought a “better” offering of meat, it was not the meat that God was concerned about, it was the attitude behind his offering. Cain’s offering would have been joyfully accepted by the Lord had his heart longed to please God with an offering of Love.

It is difficult in a culture of “survival of the fittest” (when indeed it’s the survival and abundant life of the humble!) to realize that we were meant to complement not compete with each other. The Arts are supposed to build upon each other, inspiration inspiring inspiration, not to destroy and take the place of others creative works.

Our example is heaven, and if our prayer truly is that Gods will be done here on earth as it is in heaven, we must allow room for the worship arts to flourish with out hindrance from our personal preferences. As we look to the future, we should dig up the jewels of the past, clean and purify them with humble hearts and than let them propel us into the rich, abundant, joyful celebration of future worship.