Leading with Confidence

I once heard an academy award winning actress say, "50% of acting is confidence...".  I've come back to that quote many times in my life.

We are often given leadership roles based on our skill set, or at very least, the willingness to fill the position.   I was given the role of Worship Director at C3 Church Atlanta, in part, because I can play piano, sing and I love to worship.  These skills come naturally to me and I've been developing them since the age of 13 (although my mom would say since the age of 2).  But, those skills alone don't make me a leader.

Several years ago, being one of the newer worship leaders in our church, people would come up to me after I would lead and say "Great job!"  For a while, this was how I measured my "performance" as a worship leader .  I remember clearly one night God saying,  "You may not always receive accolades, but I am always pleased when you lead others into my presence."  That changed everything.

Psalm 57:7 says "My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!"  This doesn't just apply if you're a worship leader, we're all called to glorify God through what we do for Him.  It's dangerous to base our success on others' approval because, frankly, we can't please everyone!  We must place our confidence in the One who gave us life and opens doors for us.

Remember that no one can manufacture confidence for you.  If your leader has given you a position based on your skills or willingness, you should honor them by leading confidently.  You may not always make the right decisions, but great leaders would always rather correct a little along the way than be in a constant state of frustration because you won't move forward.

Always ask God for wisdom and guidance.  If we're listening for His voice, He will help us navigate through difficult situations.  Be open to correction when it comes (and it will).  Place your confidence in Him and honor Him by believing that He can do great things in and through you.

My humble beginnings :)

The Value of Worship

Worship services are not rock concerts, nor are they the entertaining bit before the message.  Sadly, without realizing, people can tune out or miss the first few of minutes of a service because they don't feel they will miss much.

The challenge is to train your congregation to understand and value worship.  Worship services are not a 4 song set then on to the next thing, it's an opportunity for God to fill us as we exalt him in our lives.  This is a challenge worth pursuing.  I've been in many meetings where God began to move so much that we just ended up staying in worship for the whole service.  People can sometimes feel uncomfortable or get tired and want the service to move on, but the bible says "wait on the Lord and He will renew your strength" ~ Isaiah 40:31.  I'm not suggesting that we get rid of messages in our services; scripture and teaching bring revelation that people need in order to live fuller lives.  I am suggesting that we train and challenge our congregations to go deeper in their intimacy with God through worship.  Quality over quantity.

Worship opens people's hearts to receive more out of your services.  It softens us and opens our eyes and ears to heaven's perspective.  Worship cultivates good soil in us, so that God can plant seeds of revelation that will flourish.  Worship moves God back into his rightful position in the center of our lives.  God created us to worship Him and this is what our future in heaven will consist of!  Teach your churches to value worship on a deeper level and watch their lives transform because of His presence!

Embracing Frustration

James 1:2-4 MSG

v2.  Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.

v3.  You know that under pressure your faith-life is forced into the open and shows it's true colors.

v4.  So don't try to get out of anything pre-maturely.  Let it do it's work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in anyway.

WOW!  This passage is speaking very strongly to me this past week.  Everyone of us faces seasons in our lives where things don't go our way.  Sometimes we have control over them, sometimes we don't.  In any case, we are presented with a choice to let these frustrations take us out or take us up.

I love that Paul calls tests and challenges a gift.  Our natural response to challenges is to back away from them.  Gifts, on the other hand, are rarely refused.  Seeing a challenge, not as a problem, but as an opportunity to grow us will cause us to embrace it.

Walking through a challenge is never easy and when the pressure is on, reality can overwhelm us.  This is when leaning on God is extremely important.  But, filling ourselves with His Word and keeping our prayer life vibrant is just as important in the good times as it is in the bad.  We would not expect to run a race without training first, therefore it's important to invest time into our relationship with God so that we're stronger in crisis.

Growing up I was not very active.  I played softball and enjoyed it because there wasn't a lot of running involved and usually it was only in short spurts.  If faced with a running drill I would sprint as fast as I could to get it over with-usually ending in a sad, lung-burning walk half way through.  Endurance was not my specialty and I wanted nothing to do with it.  This all changed a few years ago.  Through participating in triathlons I got a revelation of the importance of building endurance in life.  I learned that sometimes you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, sometimes you have to tell yourself 'just keep going' to the rhythm of your cadence until you've completed your race.  My friends and I joke when we arrive at a race, asking each other why we keep putting ourselves through these events.  We put ourselves through it because of what we feel at the end.

Frustrations are a part of life but they're usually the catalyst that enlarge our capacity, elevate our faith and prepare us to live the life God has called us to!