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It was 2:45am when I collapsed into bed next to my wife Megan, completely exhausted from the full day. Ten worship pastors from around the country had been living with us all week, and I was ready for some rest. But then an unexpected sound drifted into our room and we began to giggle. Within a few minutes, we couldn’t stop laughing.

Apparently, the guys had burst into a spontaneous big-tent-revival worship-set on the beat-up piano in the basement, which happens to sit directly below our bedroom. I think the Holy Ghost had shown up too, because they were making quite a pentecostal racket.

At one point I’m pretty sure we heard square-dancing.

Many times now we’ve fallen asleep to the sweet sounds of worship and prayer rising through our bedroom floor, but this was not that; this was just plain funny.

During the 12 years of our marriage, Megan and I have never had as much fun doing “ministry” as right now, and one of the sweetest parts is doing it together. I’m often out leading or teaching worship, and Megan is often busy with her relationships and ministry leadership, but never have our individual giftings come together and complimented one another like they do when we’re hosting, serving, and loving on guys.

And I’m learning that having young leaders into my home may be far more important than having them in my band or on stage. My pastor, Buddy Hoffman, says, “You don’t reproduce what you want; you reproduce what you are.” If reproduction is the goal–and I believe it is–what happens when we never let people in close enough to see who we really are?

For better or worse, worship leaders are shaping congregations. Worship leaders can help us deeply love God. But what happens if our worship leaders don’t even deeply know God? Worship leaders should set the pace in passion for the Word of God. But what happens when we just settle for the most talented musician in the room? Worship leaders should lead out of vibrant marriages, healthy families, and rich communities–setting the pace for joyful life and godliness. But what happens if we only ever see them in an appropriately balanced glow of fog and stage lights?

I mean, how many worship leaders do you know who would still be leaders in their churches without their instrument?

Yes, young worship leaders need to learn how to lead a band well, but more importantly they need to learn how to lead their families well. Young songwriters need to grow in their craft, but more importantly, they need to know how to hear God. We need more than classrooms; we need discipleship of the kind we see in the lives of Jesus, Paul, and the early church.

A worship leader leads songs, but a worship pastor leads people. My hope is to see a generation of godly and gifted young worship pastors arise who could be elders in their churches. I’m praying for a movement of anointed and empowered worship pastors who would lead their churches without their musical contributions.

The Lord and his Church deserve much more than mere songs.

But this shift won’t happen in classrooms; this will happen in living rooms (or maybe in basements around a broken-down piano). So I want to challenge you to open up your life beyond the perfect, polished, public projection and let people see who you really are. It may be difficult and leave you feeling uncomfortably vulnerable, but it will be fruitful. Sometimes it may be exhausting–especially for introverts like myself–but God promises a “crown of glory” for those who shepherd well and offer themselves as living examples for the flock (1 Pet. 5:2-4).

And that, to me, is worth far more than a few extra hours of sleep. Besides, who doesn’t love to fall asleep laughing to the rowdy sound of “When I think about Jesus”?

Years ago, a friend of mine asked me what I thought about some big artistʼs new worship CD, and I remember taking the opportunity to (ever so subtly) slander the artist. I was able to word it in a way that it sounded impersonal, objective, and merely a matter of opinion, but deep down I was giving in to a nasty little sin.

Soon after, I started studying through the relationship between Saul and David in 1 Samuel (chapters 16-19). What I saw in Saul was disgusting, even pitiful, and what’s worse was that it was exactly what I was seeing when I looked in the mirror.

Saul started out legitimately loving David, even “greatly loving him” (16:21). Saul was the first king of Israel, and for a while things were going pretty well for him, but no amount of external success could’ve protected Saul from what was growing within his heart. Before long, David was becoming wildly popular, having singlehandedly delivered Israel from the hand of the Philistine army, and something switched in Saul. His disposition toward David moved from great love to suspicion (18:9). And then the spears start flying as suspicion turns to fear (18:12), and fear grows into outright dread (18:15). The result? Saul commands David be put to death (19:1).

Thereʼs a little subtext throughout this story thatʼs worth mentioning. Look how the Bible says it: 1 Samuel 18:10 Now it came about that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saulʼs hand.

Youʼll start to notice how often it speaks of David and his harp, and conversely, Saul and his spear. If it weren’t so sad, it would be comical (see 19:19, see 20:33, where Saul chucks his spear at his own son, and then see 26:7, where Saul is now sleeping–SLEEPING!– with his spear).

So you have David, with harp in hand; and you have Saul, with spear in hand. One was an instrument of healing, the other an instrument for hurt. One was used to deliver, the other to destroy. One was a tool for soothing, the other for striking.

I have to ask: What’s in your hand? What would people who are close to you say is in your hand? Are you constantly speaking life, peace, and help to the hurting? Do you seek to go out of your way to bless, intercede, and deliver people who are under spiritual attack? Or are you more about nailing people to the wall, driving your point home, and tearing people down? Do you look for the opportunity in a conversation to get your subtle slurs in?

The Bible has so much to say to the significance of our words; In the tongue is the power of life and death, In the tongue is the power to bless and curse, the lips of the righteous nourish many, etc. But what disgusts me in this story isnʼt only that Saul chose the spear, but that so often, so do I. The reason I do is the same reason Saul did – I am insecure. Iʼve had to ask myself, “Am I like Saul? Insecure? Am I plagued with jealousy? Do I believe God canʼt handle this situation? Do I just want to be in control, on the throne (or on the stage)?” And my honest answers broke my heart.

If I was honest, Iʼd have to say that I was hoping to cut somebody else down a little bit, so I might be lifted up a little bit. Sounds so stupid doesnʼt it? (Sin always does, after the fact.)

Itʼs always the insecure, ineffective, in-the-flesh leaders who will throw spears. Youʼve seen it in people, you may have seen it in yourself; jealousy is an insidious tenant of the heart. If you find yourself throwing spears, constantly using sharp words, always having to make your point and drive it home, ask the Lord to search you and reveal whatʼs really going on–inside you. Truth is, youʼre probably revealing more about yourself than the person youʼre slandering.

So what do we do? How do we come against it? Look what David did–he ducked and never mentioned it. It happened again, so David ducked, again. And he got out of there.

Saul is insecure and carnal; David is anointed and walking in the fear of God. And David never threw one spear back. Seems if anyone couldʼve really proven successful with a spear, David wouldʼve been a prime candidate. But David wouldnʼt dare; in fact, it broke Davidʼs heart to even cut the hem of Saulʼs garment. Such was the respect of David for the anointing of Saul that heʼd say, “Far be it from me to lay my hand on Godʼs anointed” (I Samuel 24:6).

What powerful words. When you are secure in who you are and what Godʼs called you to be, you are able to recognize and respect Godʼs anointing on others, and the anointing you respect can be the anointing you can receive. David had such esteem for the anointing of God on Saul that even in Saulʼs madness and rage, David wouldnʼt disrespect Saul without it violating his own conscience (1 Samuel 24:5).

“Far be it from me to lay my hand on Godʼs anointed.” If God has anointed someone, if God is using someone, we would do well to “keep our hands off” them. We need to shut our mouths and stop the petty gossip, slander, and smearing.

In Deuteronomy 20, God is giving Israel instructions on what to do when theyʼd go to war to besiege a city. Thereʼs a fascinating little verse (19) where God says, When youʼre laying siege to a city, be careful not to destroy any fruit-bearing trees, because you should eat of their fruit. If trees were bearing no fruit, they were to use those trees for their weapons, ramps, battering rams, so on. But itʼs a key for us: In your wartime mentality, do not let your axe fly indiscriminately! In a war, itʼs easy to let our axes fly, after all, itʼs intense! But if weʼre not careful we can (inadvertently even) end up cutting down that which the Lord has given for us to glean from.

There are people in your life and people in mine who we are tempted to cut down, to belittle, to let the axe fly. If there is any fruit in their life: Donʼt do it. Realize: the enemy is the enemy. Remember what Jesus told Peter? “Put away your sword Peter!” Why? He was hurting people with it! What would happen if all the energy we spent arguing over doctrine or style actually went to fighting the real enemy? If thereʼs fruit, donʼt cut it down. If Godʼs anointed somebody, hands off!

Look, thereʼs a difference between constructive criticisms and throwing spears. Thereʼs a difference between rebuking and maligning. Randall Wallace, writer of Braveheart, said, “When I criticize someone, it’s a quiet whisper in their ear, but when I praise someone, I shout it from the rooftops.” And this is the key to freeing yourself from the trap of jealousy: Celebration.

Celebration is the antidote to the poison of jealousy. If you feel tempted to throw spears, choose instead to celebrate–publicly praise–that person or ministry. And if you canʼt find anything worth praising, try what your mother told you when you were young: If you canʼt say something nice, shut your stupid mouth! (My mom could be feisty.)

Iʼve learned to do this. I now look forward to getting to publicly celebrate people. When a name comes up who I feel may threaten me or set off my insecurities, I love to compliment and celebrate them. In fact I had a chance to meet the artist I referred to above. I had to confess my junk to him; told him all about it, why I slandered him, and asked him to forgive me. He was more than gracious. Today he has become a friend and trusted counselor whose fruit is a significant blessing to my life. Who knows what God might do as we humble ourselves, celebrate one another, and let the Lord free us to really be who Heʼs created and called us to be.

Unite my heart to fear Your name from Buddy Hoffman on Vimeo.

Psalm 85 says, “Surely his salvation is near to those that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.” And then Psalm 86 says, “Teach me your way oh Lord, I will walk in your truth; Unite my heart to fear your name.”

I believe God is calling our church to whole-hearted worship and fervent fear of the Lord, which will result in an outpouring of his glory and his presence in our land.

The first song in the Bible is the Song of Moses, found in Exodus 15. We know the story: Israel has been living as slaves for 400 years when God sends a deliverer; through a series of incredible miracles and plagues, culminating with the death of the Passover lamb, the Egyptian king (Pharaoh) relents and let’s God’s people go.

The Israelites leave Egypt and slavery with “high hand” the Bible says. They were celebrating the victory of God, and for a brief moment, everything looked good. Before too long they’d marched to something of a dead end though, Migdol on one side, Pi-hahiroth on the other, and the Red Sea straight ahead. And on the horizon behind them they could see dust clouds rising from oncoming chariots and the hard hearted Egyptian king and his army.

The people complain and prepare to kill their leader, Moses, but Moses stretches out his hand. Psalm 114 describes the scene and says “The sea looked and fled.” Psalm 77 says “The waters saw you O God, and were in anguish.” What an awesome image: the waters running off in fear, dividing to the left and right, to let the King of Glory pass.

In Exodus 14 we see Israel walk through the divided sea, from death into life. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 10, saying this is a picture of baptism. Just like Israel, we too are saved from our oppressor and captivity by the death of the Passover Lamb–Jesus the Christ–and, like them, we part the waters in baptism as a sign of moving out of death, and into life. Out of bondage into freedom.

Exodus 15 then is Moses’ worshipful response to that experience. They sing this glorious song; look at some of these lyrics:

V1 I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.
V2 The Lord is my strength and song, He has become my salvation; This is my God, I will praise Him.
V3 The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is His Name.
V6 Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power
V11 Who is like You among the gods, O Lord?
Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?
V13 In your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed;
in your strength You have guided them to your holy habitation.

And then Moses wraps up his song with a summary statement. After everything Moses has seen and experienced, see his final lyric. Note that it’s just as true for us today as it was for Moses thousands of years ago:

V18 The Lord shall reign forever and ever.

For a few years now I’ve been considering writing songs about God being a warrior. I know myriad songs about Him being our Father, our Savior, our King. I’ve sung countless songs about his love, his mercy, and his grace, but I can hardly think of one song I know of that addresses God being a warrior.

Chris Moerman is a good friend, great worship leader, and gifted songwriter. We’ve written lots of songs together over the past couple years, and he came to my house with some ideas for a song from Exodus 15, the Song of Moses. I loved it! I was so excited, and over the next few months the song came together through Chris, myself, Ben Smith, and Pat Barrett. The four of us lead worship together in our church community, and we’ve had the best time writing and collaborating on songs together. We wrapped it up and sent it over to Graham Kendrick, who graciously (and masterfully) tweaked a few of our lyrics, and we all resolved to send every one of our songs to Graham from this time forward!

We’ve all been leading the song all over the place, and it’s been resonating with a lot of people. It certainly resonates with my own heart. I’ve been calling on God as a Mighty Warrior a lot lately. I’ve been praying some of the more imprecatory psalms, like Psalm 85 (v15), Pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm. Or Psalm 35, Or Psalm 78 (v65), The Lord awoke as if from sleep, like a warrior refreshed with wine, and drove his enemies back. For the sake of my family, our church, the guys we disciple, I’ve been asking God to go to battle, drive my enemies back, and shield us with his strength. And I believe that He is!

I hope that anybody reading this will rise in confident boldness, calling on God as the Mighty Warrior that He is. May you find shelter behind his shield, strength beneath his sword, and victory in every battle.

Postscript:
The Song of Moses is the first song in the Bible. Remarkably, it’s also one of the last. In Revelation 15 we read about a worship set in Heaven; it says they sing two songs: The Song of the Lamb, and the Song of Moses.

Get this: Heaven is still singing the Song of Moses. Apparently, God really loves this song. Not only that, think about this: the worship of heaven is impacted by the worship of earth. The lofty angels in heaven are singing songs written by lowly man on earth.

What could that mean for our songwriting?

The past several years, my wife and I have opened up our home for periods of time (anywhere from a week to six months) to have worship leaders come and hang out, learn, and do life with us. Weʼve had guys from all over North America, from Africa, and Europe, and weʼve had an absolute blast getting to know them all and spend a season–short or long–in comunity together.

We had a great group of men spend a week with us earlier this month for our most recent Worship School Intensive. 9 guys from all over the country came in to learn together, seek the Lord together, and grow together. I wanted to give everybody a cursory glimpse into what these weeks look like, or at least what this past week looked like.

Each of our Intensives (and Semesters) have their own teachings and emphases, so no two are ever the same. Weʼre always asking the Lord to show us what this particular group needs at this particular time, and Heʼs always so faithful to speak into precisely where weʼre all needing to hear.
I believe lifechange happens more through converstaions than conferences, and worship schools provide a dyanmic environment for 6-12 of us to share with each other, pray for each other, and really get into each otherʼs lives in the most beautiful ways.

We started off this past week with David Rhodes and myself pouring into the guys for the first couple days. Dave is a brilliant teacher, visionary leader, and great friend.

We spent several hours with my pastor, Buddy Hoffman, and his wife Jody as well. I take it for granted how wonderful it is to work for a leader and pastor like Buddy, and letting the guys be around him is always a great reminder to me how thankful I am for Buddyʼs leadership in our church, and in my life.

We also had some fantastic and thought provoking video-conferences with some brilliant men whoʼve poured into my own life.

John Mark McMillan has been a contributor to every worship school weʼve ever done; his gifting as an artist is always inspiring, but moreso his love and knowledge of God and his Word make him standout to me from most. So grateful for John Mark.

Other contributors to this past intensive included Stu G (of Delerious?), John Hartley (my own producer and head of A&R for Kingsway Music in the USA), and Chris McClarney, who wrote Your Love Never Fails. Malcolm duPlessis is always gracious to speak into our schools as well; Malcolm is one of the wisest men Iʼve ever known, and his decades of experience in the worship industry has often been the standout conversation that challenges us all to the core.

Iʼm priveleged to call all of these guys friends and mentors, and theyʼre willingness to speak into these weeks makes our time abuntantly rich. Previous worship schools have included input from Chris Tomlin, Bob Kauflin, Tim Hughes, Nick Herbert, Steve Hickok, Jamie Winship, Kristian Stanfill, and many others.

We always make it a point near the end of the week to spend a day fasting and praying in solitude, and when the weather is as nice as it was this past week, we take a sunrise hike (and climb!) to the top of Stone Mountain.

We take communion together at sunrise, set the guys up for their solitude, and then leave them to be with the Lord. The stories that have come out of the solitude have been the most encouraging of all. God is so faithful to speak, to clarify, to direct… Fasting makes our spirits even more sensitive and receptive to hearing his voice, and itʼs always our highest expectation that He will do what only He can do in revealing precisely what each of these men needs to take away from our time together.

We also had a great vocal workshop with Chuck Sullivan, who teaches vocal excercies, vocal health, and workouts. Other sweet moments included time with Matt Reynolds, our Midtown Pastor, and Jon Stallsmith, our Missions Pastor, who shared a bit of their hearts with the guys as well. We always spend time with Ben Smith & Pat Barrett as well; these are two of my favorite worship leaders in the world, and itʼs so fun to see what Godʼs doing in promoting their band Unhindered to higher and higher places of impact and influence.

Another of my favorite parts of the week is always our songwriters night; we all sit around the living room and play new songs weʼve written, or are in the midst of still writing. I teach a session on songwriting and split the guys up into groups to try cowriting together, and itʼs so fun to hear the fresh stuff coming out of these guys. Some of the other songwriters in our church community come join us as well, and itʼs always a special time together.

I was teaching the guys on how I build my worship sets and plan my church services when I realized itʼd be more impacting (and lots more fun) to just do it all together, so we worked through a few things, practiced a bit, and all led worship together at Grace for our Sunday services. 10 worship leaders, all together!

There are no images or words that can encapsulate what God does in our time together, and we feel so blessed to get to pour into so many incredible worship leaders from around the world. My wife and I (and our four kids) love having guys like these come into our community for a few days or a few months, and we believe God is blessing every turn we take in this endeavor.
We fully anticipate the great glory that God will receive through all of these guysʼ lives, marriages, children, discipleship, and ministries.

Please pray that the Lord will continue to provide for this school, and bring us the men (and women) heʼs set apart to lead people into biblical and beautiful worship of Jesus.

I’ve loved getting to know Bryan Brown and Jack Mooring.  Bryan is one of the funniest and most talented guys you’ll ever meet.  (Oh and, he looks exactly like Dave Matthews, only better.)  Bryan writes great songs and is a phenomenal guitarist who’s been playing with Matt Redman on the road for a while now.  Jack Mooring you may know from the band “Leeland” (Jack is Leeland’s big brother) as the warm and haunting voice in the band.  He’s a calm, kind presence who’s never anything but gracious and patient.  These are attractive qualities if you’re writing music together.

The three of us sat down to write together and the verses came out first, these ideas of there being significance in the seasons most difficult in our lives.  We wanted to sing honestly about the fact that we hurt, we weep, we mourn, and even in those times we can rest in the sovereignty of God. But not only can we trust in his sovereignty, we can know learn more about his character in those seasons.  We may have read it before, but not until we’ve gone through that kind of season will we really experience Psalm 34, that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (v18).  Or Psalm 147, how He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (v3).

The chorus came immediately after the verses, with the confident declaration that even though we hurt and struggle, his plans are still to prosper us, and He’s mindful of us.  Of course this is from Jeremiah 29:11, I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. God’s heart for his people is to prosper them, to give them hope.  Psalm 35 says it this way, Let the Lord be magnified, who delights in the prosperity of his servant (v27).  This is foundational to our faith, the core belief that God is good, and that his heart for us is love.  It seems elementary even, but the longer I live the more I realize that if that foundation isn’t resolute, incalculable destruction can ensue.

There were lots of other scriptural themes we wanted to sing as well, such as his ways being higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), his presence being with us even in furious fire (Daniel 3:25), and his being faithful forever (Psalm 146:6).  Other passages that stuck out include Psalm 54:4, how the Lord upholds us, and lifts up the lowly (Psalm 145:14).

Finally, the bridge:  Even what the enemy means for evil, You turn it for our good.  I spontaneously sang that in worship a while ago, and it never left me.  It felt like it fit with the rest of this song, and so we put it in there. This lyric obviously incorporates the Romans 8:28 promise, but even moreso the Genesis 50 line from Joseph to his brothers–who’d functioned as a hostile enemy to Joseph, mistreating, betraying, and abandoning him to slavery.  Joseph’s reaction upon seeing them years later is:  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good (v20). Joseph trusted the sovereignty of God and that led him to being able to soar above resentment and despair.  Oh to God that we would do the same, and praise be to God for being able to turn the schemes of the enemy for our good, and for his own purpose and glory.

Last year I had the chance to connect with Jess Cates in Los Angeles. Jess is a godly, gracious, winsome, and extremely talented guy. It didn’t hurt anything that he’d written a few of my favorite pop songs in recent memory (David Archuletta’s Crush anyone? No? How about Nick Lache’s What’s left of me? No? Then you have no pulse). We sat down and started talking about what we’d like to write about, and Jess had this idea from Isaiah 54: “No weapon formed against me will prosper.” It all started there, with what became the bridge.

I remember that leading us to Psalm 91, a beautiful prayer about the protection we have in the Lord, in the midst of outright spiritual attack. The rest of our song came from this Psalm, and there were several beautiful verses we wanted to incorporate:

V2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust.”

V4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

(We wrote about his faithfulness being our shield and our great reward, which came from Genesis 15:1 where Abraham needed God’s protection, and God said to Abraham–Abram at that time–”Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you, and your very great reward.”)

V5 You will not fear the terror by night.

V7 A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you.

V9 For You have made the Lord, my refuge, the Most High, your dwelling place.

V11 He will give his angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.

And then God speaks this:

V14 “Because He has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high.”

Incredible verses. But it all starts in verse 1: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

This verse has a fundamental priority for our lives with respect to worship and the move of God. Here’s why: There are two different names for God mentioned here in Psalm 91:1. First is El Elyon, the Most High God. The second is El Shaddai, God Almighty.

There’s something we need to understand about these names. El Elyon is a name for God used often in the context of praise, worship, sacrifice, and thanksgiving. Over and over this name is connected to these themes. (See Ps. 9:1-2, 92:1, 7:17) El Shaddai on the other hand is a name for God used often in the context of the miraculous, the power of God, the provision He affords, etc. El Shaddai is how God revealed himself to Abraham when he needed a miracle (See Gen. 17:1).

So note the ordering: He who dwells in the place of praise, worship, sacrifice and thanksgiving, he will abide in the shadow of the miracle working, powerful and providing God.

Often I get the ordering wrong. I pray and ask God for things, subconsciously thinking, “If you’ll provide this for me, If you’ll come through in this situation, I’ll praise you and tell of your wonders!” But it’s backwards. The Bible shows (over and over) that we are to begin praising him in our prayers now, before the answer even arrives. It’s too natural to bless him after the waters part; it’s supernatural to begin blessing him before the wind even starts to blow (more on this in the Song of Moses).

Think about Acts 16, Paul and Silas in prison. They begin to praise the Most High and suddenly the find themselves set free by the shadow of the Almighty.

Or think of Pentecost. 10 days the christians spent in prayer and praise, and then the power of God is poured out, forever changing human history.

Or even think about Jonah. 3 days he’s in that whale until he finally praises God, and the next moment God commands that fish to cast him out onto dry land.

There is more hinging on our waiting and worship than we will ever know.

Jesus would say it this way: Abide in me. He who abides in me bears much fruit. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit. (John 15)

Abiding means dwelling. Being at home in him, being at home in his presence.

So may we be those who dwell in his shelter, and may we then find ourselves delighting in all that is afforded in his benevolent shadow.