What to Do During the Praise and Worship Part of Church

Q. I like to sing the songs but what am I supposed to do during “the instrumental?”
A. In short, engage in worship. Close your eyes and think on what the song is saying. Perhaps there is a word or phrase that particularly speaks to you. Use the instrumental time to talk to God about that. Still yourself before the Lord. Listen for his Presence; focus on the peace of his Holy Spirit. You may be surprised at how much you experience God’s love when you’re not singing, praying, or doing anything at all – only being still. Worship along with the instrumental. The musicians use their instrumental as their own “real time” acts of devotion and worship. Listen and “pray along” with them, much as you might listen and pray along with anyone else who is praying on behalf of others. Sing. Instrumentals provide a unique time for the worshipper to draw closer to the Lord. Singing is a way to do that. Not loud singing; but soft, worshipful melodies that flow with the key and tenor of the music. Some people hum. Others repeat a phrase, such as “I love you,” or “I bow to your will in my life.” Others use their prayer languages during this time. Regardless, singing during these “non-singing times” can be tremendously edifying.




Q.What do I do with my hands during worship?
A. In short: use them.
Lift them up. In the early church the default prayer posture was “hands raised, palms up” It was considered a symbol of the worshipper’s complete resignation of the before the every merciful God. Sometimes people lift their hands straight up, fingers forward. This can either be a cry for desperation or complete, un-abandoned worship. (I have a friend who told me once the reason she paints her fingernails such bright colors and adorns them with diamonds and other forms of bling-bling is because, “if the Lord comes back when I’m praising him I want to be the first thing he sees!”) Of course, the lifting of hands isn’t mandatory in worship, but it is an expectation of the way our Lord has established worship. Fold them. Folded hands before the Lord in worship is a powerful act of devotion. Lay them on someone else. Occasionally, it is appropriate to place your hands on a loved one during the singing of a song. God can use the laying on of hands in life-changing ways. The words of the song can be transformed into a prayer for that particular person. We see this happening quite often with parents and their children during the singing of the Benediction (The Lord bless you and keep you…) at our church.


Q. What about clapping, rocking with the beat, jumping around, and other movements of our bodies in worship?
A. I don’t have a problem with it. It actually encourages me in my role as a worship leader.
The Bible actually commands us to clap our hands to the Lord and even come before his presence with shouts, hoots, and hollers of joy. These types of outward displays of enthusiastic worship may seem foreign to our us, but God enjoys seeing the sincere enthusiasm of his children towards him just as much as we enjoy seeing our children lifting our names in praise and honoring us in radical ways. Dancing is also prescribed in the Bible – as is bowing before the Lord. The point is this: it is not the worship postures in themselves that are important in our worship - but the hearts behind them that matter to God. It’s an odd mix – and a delicate balance to behold. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves yet, on the other hand, we don’t want to hold back our worship in any form, either. A good standard is to engage in outward displays of worship that fit both the inner poster of the worshipper and the overall worship happening with the congregation. For example, it would be completely distracting for a worshipper to clap their hands and shout “Thank you God – You are awesome!” during the singing of the Sanctus or during a song like “Sanctuary.” However, during the Doxology or in a song such as “You Are Mighty!” that type of expression would be very appropriate and even invited. Sometimes a person who would ordinarily be quiet may choose to get more boisterous. That’s perfectly fine, as long as it is an outward display of his or her heart. Never fake it in worship. There is a term called the “sacrifice of praise” and that is basically intentionally choosing to praise him even though your heart isn’t in it, thereby making it sacrificial. This type of praise, when presented this was as “offerings,” are very pleasing to the Lord because he sees that you’re out to praise him even if everything in your life would scream not to praise him.


Q. I love our church but we spend alot of emphasis on music. Can worship be done with out music?
A. Yes.
On the very first day I went to Trinity Episcopal Seminary for the Ministry we had chapel. During the Offertory the Lord laid it upon my heart to place a guitar pick in the plate as it passed by. When I questioned the Lord about that he said, “I want to teach you how to lead worship without a guitar.” I can only imagine the ushers counting the money that day and their surprise to find a pick! That entire year was a year of rest away from the guitar. I learned, among many other things, that music and worship are not synonymous. Everything is Worship. From the moment we begin to the dismissal, it is ALL worship. Worship covers not only our outward motions, but our inward thoughts – even our listening. Less obvious things - like saying the Creed, giving monies, and waiting in line to receive Communion - are all actions of the worship.


Q. What is one piece of advice you can give me to get closer to God in Church?
A. Come prepared to meet God. Get there early and arrive with expectation, like you had front row seats to a Coronation. It is a wonderful privilege to attend church and worship. Many, however, race in at the last moment and are unable to shake off the responsibilities coming up later in the day. So they spend their church time so preoccupied with life that they leave falling short of where they could have been that day. Worship involves preparation. In the OT it involved the literal seeking out of an unblemished lamb to present to the priest (non of this automatic cash deposit there!), which took a lot of work – and time. Today is no different. Even a simple Sunday morning prayer said before you hit the ground running, thanking God that it’s Sunday and opening yourself to anything he would have for you at church, is a wonderful way to prepare your heart for worship. There used to be a time when we took Communion once a month. Holy Eucharist was considered so sacred that it took three weeks to prepare for it. When is came around you can be sure that hearts were examined and people were ready to the Body of Christ. There is a direct correlation with the attitude of the worshipper and the overall fulfillment of that day’s worship. When people come in expecting to hear God, expecting to pray and glorify him, they will walk out having done that. Others who show up with dispositions that wont allow for God to bless, touch, or love them will leave fall short of where they could have been. I’m not suggesting that you need to “pump yourself up” spiritually in order to have good Church. For God loves to surprise people – even people with the most anti-Chistly hearts (remember the conversion of Saul in Acts?) Yet, I am saying that one needs to have a posture of openness and sincere honesty when coming into the sanctuary of God - or at least is willing to admit their harness of heart before God, in order for worship in both “spirit and truth” to happen.


Q. Is there a preferred dress code for worship?
A. No. Of course we know that praise and worship is a spiritual activity lifted before our spiritual God and, thus, God is less concerned with how we look than with the condition of our hearts. God radically changed my life when I was in baggies and a filthy t-shirt on a beach some 30 years back. But, today, as I begin to comprehend who God is – more important than my boss, any diplomat, Prime Minister, President, or King of the earth – I have learned that dressing up for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords isn’t all bad. People dress up when they go to work, go to the Rodeo, or even to a wrestling match. Why not dress up to meet Jesus as well?

Q. When people are really worshipping I sometimes find myself wanting to look around. Is it alright to watch others when they worship?
A. Yes. But do so with honor and grace. As I watch people worship it actually draws me into worship. When I see hands up, love on their faces, I too am forced to turn to God, having been boosted by the worship of another in my expression of worship. It is never appropriate to stare at a person in worship with feelings of judgment, mockery, or laughter (in a derogatory sense). A person’s personal expression to God is uniquely theirs and God dwells richly in that sort of intimacy. We never have the right to interfere with that relationship, regardless of what we may know about that person. God punished Micah severely for laughing at and insulting her husband David during his personal expressions of worship. We would be wise to heed that example.


Q. As a songwriter, do you receive royalties?
There are churches that use Blomquistian Music many Sundays of the year. They are scatterd across the USA and are other contries as well. Blomquistian Music is licensed as a publisher and I am lisenseced as a songwriter with CCLI (Christian Copyright Lisencing Incorporated), Portland OR. Any church that is doing music needs to do it legally. While there are many companies that provide copywrite services for churches, CCLI is by far the largest. And, as a part of a church's copywrite requirement, they are surveyed once every couple of years as to what music they do during theruy worship. The survey serves a two-fold purpose: it gives CCLI a peak into the "hot songs" across the country, the songs God is highlighting at any particular time across the world; and it provides royalty payments to those songwriters and publishing companies that the churches have listed in the surveys.

Being a member of CCLI, I receive a computerized print-out of what songs I've written are being played, how many times they have been played (over the survey time - usually a three month window), and upon what media format they are played on (overhead, projection, video, songsheets, etc.) Along with that print-out I recieve a royalty check reflecting the usage. The royalty checks are quite a blessing. But they fluctuate greatly. My largest check was just a tad over $1200.00 and was sent certified mail! Currently I have a recently received royalty check on my desk here for $24.60. Regardless of the amount, I deposited into an account where it is reserved only for the continuatoin of Blomquistian Music - mostly for recording or the purchasing of music computer programs that make it easier to foster my gift. I also am in the habit of tithing that money to NOEL (National Organisation of Episcopalians for Life) a pro-Life Episcopal Ministry that works with pregnant teens and educates against abortion around the globe. Probably more than you wanted to know about. But money is the last thing on my mind when it comes to doing my music in church. I have'nt looked at it recently. But I'm thinking I get about $.9 (nine cents) each time a church marks a song used by "Bill Blomquist."


Hope that is helpful. Shoot me a comment!

Birds of Prey

In this article, based on readings from 1 Kings 15, Fr. Bill encourages the reader to hold fast to the promises of God by “shooing away” the birds of prey that seek to rob us of God’s words and preparations when waiting to hear from the Lord.

Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.” 1 Kings 15:11

There are times in life when what we see is far different than what God has promised us. This was certainly in Abram’s case. God had promised Abram he would one day be a great nation, numbering greater than the stars in the sky, but this was taking much too long and, to his way of thinking, nothing was happening. In the “lull-time” (the time between the giving and the fulfilling of the promise) Abram sought to make something like the promise happen, and that in his own strength and in his own timing. But God stepped in and reaffirmed the original promise to Abram, “Don’t be afraid, I am your shield and your strong reward.” (1 Kings 15:1b)

God asked Abram to take some animals, divide them in half, and lay them out on an open rock in the plain of day, which he did. In due time, God would cause Abram to fall into a deep sleep, surround him with a dreadful darkness, and speak specific words of hope and promise over him (vv.12-16). But for now, Abram waited for God to meet the preparations of his heart. As the day wore on, certain “birds of prey,” eyeing the fleshy tidbits of Abram’s sacrifice there on the rock, circled overhead. Having their way, they rip apart and devour everything that God was doing in that poor man’s life.

But, rising to the occasion, he got pro-active and “drove them [the birds of prey] away.” (v.15) He wasn’t about to let these vultures tear and shred away the sweet offering unto God he had worked so hard to prepare. He needed to protect that.

Funny thing about the heart that has been prepared to receive the promise of God: it is both a sweet savor to the Lord and an enticing snack for the birds of prey. Both Friend and foe are attracted by the preciousness of the saints’ spiritual vulnerability. With that in mind, one activity of saint is to be a guardian of all God has given him or her. We are to be “scarecrows” over the garden of God’s promises in our lives and, to some extent, over the lives of others.

Abram knew what God had promised and protected it as best he could. He wasn’t about to let his sweet offering unto God be gobbled up by a haggle of high-flying, desert rug-rats. He was quick to “shoo away” the birds of prey. He knew that, in order for God’s precious promises to take root on the Rock of his faith, he would have to actively guard the good deposit laid within him, knowing that one day his preparation would meet with God’s promise.

And, later that evening, the smoking firepot appeared. It moved with a favorable certainty through the issues of his preparation. Thus, we read in Hebrews Abram became the father of the faithful, and God became his reward.

Deep Thought: Followers of Jesus need to be guardians of all God has given. We have worked hard preparing our soil for the seeding of God's promise. Thus we are likened as “spiritual scarecrows” over the preparations of we have made to meet God, in garden of our hearts. Think on are the precious seeds in your field. What have you consecrated to God that needs to be guarded and protected? And, name those certain "birds of prey" vying for that same treasure.

Welcome

Welcome, welcome...you are welcome in this place.