Changing Perceptions at WorshipArts

This past week I have had the privilege of hanging around some awesome people at WorshipArts camp. It has been thoroughly enjoyable. One of my favorite things to do is worship God with my musical gifts. But even better I REALLY enjoy teaching it.

There is something about using your gifts. It not only lets you pour out. But it comes back to pour in. There is so much I have learned from teaching music/worship. It forces you to think through things better. It gives you new ideas (even those thought up by the students). When you are in the place where God wants you, He will bless you with more wisdom. This has happened to me while helping out at WorshipArts.

Something happens when you go from being on stage to being off it and teaching. Its like changing from being a child and getting scolded for touching beautiful crystal that just catches your eye at the store, to a parent who is scolding the child because they know that the child will break the crystal if he/she picks it up. The child didn’t realize the importance of obeying their parents until they became one. That is the kind of experience I have had. Seeing from different angles and perceptions.

Things I have learned so far:

Practice makes perfect. Well, maybe not perfect…. But it strives for perfection. When I was taking piano lessons I only could understand that I needed to practice to get better. I didn’t know beyond that. I didn’t know that if I practiced I would be able to go to college and get a music minor. I didn’t know that if I practiced I could TEACH it to others. I didn’t know that if I practiced I could earn money to pay for college. The same goes for the aspect of worship. I must be in the practice of worshiping. As a leader I must continue to play my instruments and to sing wholeheartedly before the Lord. I must practice focusing on Him only and not my instrument. I must practice praying. I must practice. If I practice worshipping at home it makes it easier for the Spirit to move within me and through the congregation. Practicing worship gets the focus off of my nerves and unto the Lord. Practicing worship gives me ideas and new creative thought to add to my next set list.

Joy. Little did I know when I worshiped the Lord that I had a somber face. When I stepped into the teacher role I noticed the students didn’t smile, didn’t CONSISTENTLY show joy in what they were doing. How then will that reflect on the congregation? The congregation will follow what the leaders are doing. I have also noticed that “For the joy of the Lord is our Strength”. So much truth goes into that! When I push the students to play and sing with joy or energy they seriously SOUND SO MUCH BETTER! Its like someone just turned a light on. That much difference. Even slow songs become interesting at that point. I learned from watching the students that I need to show more joy in the Lord. And honestly I still struggle with that.

Words. There is SOOOOO much power in the words of the song. SOO much. I have found it necessary to sit down and read through a song and write notes on what the words mean just so when I sing it later that I fully grasp the meaning of the words.

Worship vs. Ministry Time. I have discovered the true meaning of worship. To praise or give thanks to God with whatever you have to offer at the time. I have found that we use this word “worship” foolishly. I like calling it worship when we are singing songs with words only giving God the glory. I don’t want to sing a song about myself and how much I want his presence when I should be focusing and thanking him for all that HE has done. I don’t like singing songs that have I or Me during Worship Time. I also like calling it Ministry Time when we want to sing songs to lead the congregation in time of prayer. Ministry time gives the church to minister over each other. It also changes people lives by giving them new things to think about. “How He Loves” is a great example of a ministry time song. It’s a beautiful song that talks about how God loves us.

Teaching. One of the teaching methods I like to use (A VERY COMMON ONE ;-) ) is the moving in steps idea. If you get you student to learn and do one thing… then you can teach them to learn something in that criteria with a more in depth study. I have realized that after finally getting the idea of being joyful across to the student at WA, that I need to take it a step further. I go around the room rating them on how many smiles they show me. Now I feel like this was just the first step to where God wants them. They would casually glance at me and smile at me every couple of seconds and in between that they would go back to being concentrated on their music. Now I want to teach them to be consistently joyful/genuine. Don’t push being happy but show how much you seriously are enjoying it. God knows how much you are… but if you show it outside of yourself then others will feel more open to show their joy to God as well. (a mirrored image)

These are my reflections from WorshipArts.

All in all, I have learned alot. There are more things that I could write down but that would make it a VERY long blog and I don't want to bore you. Thanks for reading!

Hannah