Levite Journal

CUTE!! :)

2009-08-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

I really have this thing with little children singing God's praises. this one is so cute that i had to post it here as soon as i saw it. She's only 2 years old. She sings the Lord's prayer in this video and is just very adorable. There's no preachy stuff here. Just the joy of hearing a small voice singing a sweet, sweet sound for God's ears. hope you enjoy as much as I did. :)

the checklist

2009-05-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Getting ready in leading or playing in a praise and worship team is very different from getting ready in a secular band. why? because the audience is different. Instead of playing for a bunch of people, you are playing for the creator of the universe - God. Here are some aspects that you need to be ready at before starting the praise and worship:

1. Spiritual Aspect

God looks at your heart. Anything unblemished is not worthy for Him. Always keep a pure heart (even when you're not leading or playing). Worship is not just songs and dances; it's a lifestyle. Do not be hypocrites singing praises to God but hides a rotten heart inside. People might not see it, but God does.

Praise and Worship is also a battleground between you and Satan. He will try to snatch the congregation from their focus to God and lure their attention elsewhere. During praise and worship, it is your responsibility to kick Satan out and keep him out of the picture.

2. Technical Aspect

Like the secular bands, we also need to be technically ready. Our God only deserves the best and that's why we should give Him our best, not just our average. Being technically ready means that you memorize all the notes, lyrics, beats, etc. of the songs you are going to play. It also means that everything that you need is ready e.g instruments, sound system, projector, mics, etc.

The Levites give the best example for being technically ready. They study and train hard for years before they get in to the ministry. they were experts at what they do and so they CAN give the best for the Lord. Practice. Practice. Practice. That is what we need. Don't just find time for practice, make time for it.

3. Mental Aspect

It is also very important to be mentally ready. I've seen praise and worship leaders black our befre the whole congregation just because they weren'tmentally prepared. You need to think about what to say or do before you start. You also need to be ready for the things that might happen when your already on the stage - whether it be good or bad.

Being ready is also a form of commitment to the ministry and to the Lord. You cannot be ready unless without putting some time into it. So, are you ready to lead? :)

Still think God Can't Use You?

2009-03-23T19:45:00.001-07:00

This is a follow up on the other post i have here entitled "Age Requirement for the Ministry".

So now that we know that there is no one too young or too old to be in Christ's service, what about the other criteria?

What if we are not good speakers, or were not patient enough, or not good looking? Are we still qualified to be workers of God? A teacher once told me that skills are learned and perfected by practice, and another told me that God looks at the heart. The Bible is filled with underdog stories that triumph because of their faith and God's help. Remember, God said "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9). Here's a video of some bible characters whose weaknesses are backed up by God. enjoy!

But wait! Just because God's power will make us perfect, doesn't mean that we are to do nothing already. We should still do our part in practicing and rehearsing and studying and training and listening. notice that I used the word AND. It means that these are not optional - these are required. We NEED to work hard for the skills that we need for by practice and continuous studying comes perfection.

the video can be found at the emerge network

Time for the Kingdom and the King

2009-03-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

Hey here's my message outline for tonight's CYF thursday in church.

Text: Luke 10:38-42 (Mary and Martha)

What happened in the story?

> Martha was too busy preparing for the Lord.
> Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and Listened.

> Martha got upset because Mary wouldn’t help with preparations but Jesus answered:
“Only one thing is needed and Mary chose the better thing to do.”

Martha:
 Martha did nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong in serving the Lord. It is, in fact, great!

• Remember the song “It’s a great thing to serve the Lord……walking in the light of God.”?

 If no one is busy for the Lord, then the Kingdom would fail. No kingdom survives without workers.

• Egypt didn’t want to let the Hebrews go because they wouldn’t have workers to build their kingdom. (Exodus)

 There is a great reward for those who serve. (Matthew 20:26)

Mary:
 Mary did not only do the right thing, but the BETTER thing.
 Our time for the King is more important than our time for the Kingdom.
 What do we get in spending time with Jesus?

1. We get to know Him more.
2. We establish a personal and intimate relationship with Him.
3. He will teach us heavenly secrets.
4. We get to enjoy eternity with Him. (analogy: outing with barkada)

 What happens if we do not spend time with the King?

1. We will not know Him more.
2. We cannot have an INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP with Him.
3. He will disown us when comes back.

Both:
Yes, we can do both. We can serve the kingdom AND spend time with the King. I believe that God wants us to work FOR the Kingdom WITH the King.

 Benefits of doing both:

1. God will be more pleased.
2. We enjoy working WITH Him.
3. We receive ALL the benefits of the two.

Conclusion:

Serving the kingdom is good, and spending time with the King is better, but God always wants only the best for us; and we can only achieve that by having time with both the Kingdom and the King.

Age Requirement for the Ministry?

2009-03-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

So is there an age requirement to enter God's ministry?
Do we have to be of certain age before we can be used by God to bless other people?
Well I don't believe so!

Samson, from his birth, was dedicated to the Lords service, Samuel was also dedicated to God's service from childhood, Timothy was a teenager when he started in the ministry, and Jesus first lead a form of Bible Study when he was 12 years old.

We are called to service since our birth! We were already chosen even before we were formed.

Brothers and sisters, as young or old as you are, i urge you to start working for God's kingdom. Its never to early nor too late to serve God right?

I saw this video from TANGLE and was just inspired by how this child blesses the congregation, even if they do not understand what he says. (You may want to stop the edge radio player first) Please watch this.

Worship Commentary

2009-03-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

As I was searching for some topics to share with you here, I came across this commentary and I am so happy to share it with you. I hope this gives you more purpose and reason in your worship to God as it did in me.

So here it is..indulge! :)

Read: Psalm 150:1-6

The last psalm appropriately focuses on praising the Lord. As with each of the last five psalms (146-150), this psalm begins the first verse with “Praise ye the LORD” and ends the last verse with “Praise ye the LORD.” In six short verses, we are commanded to praise the Lord a total of thirteen times. This passage certainly gives a proper closing benediction for the book of Psalms.

Notice especially the second verse, which states, “Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.” This verse points out one of the primary divisions in the glory of God. First, we are to praise Him for His “mighty acts.” This points to the work of God; what He does. We can praise Him for the works of creation, preservation, redemption and more. God is great because of what He does. Make sure you praise Him for His works.

Second, we are to praise Him according to His “excellent greatness.” This refers to God’s very being; who He is as a person. This includes His inner qualities such as His eternity, holiness, righteousness and power. These are often called the attributes of God. They are the qualities of His personal character. We should praise Him for these perfections as well as for His wonderful works.

Even those who praise God, tend to emphasize His works over His perfections. We should balance our praise of God, remembering both His mighty acts and his excellent greatness. Do you praise the Lord in your time of prayer? Do you praise Him in your daily walk of life? List at least three of His works and three characteristics of His greatness and remember to praise Him for those things today.

My Insight:

So why do we worship God? Not just because of what he did, but also simply because HE IS GOD! Worship literally means to bow down in reverence to something, or to give value for it. Well come to think of it, who else deserves WORSHIP?! GOD ALONE!

Another thing that I would like to add is We worship God for what we are. Always remember that we are made to please God. We are made to give God honor and praise. That is our life's purpose (purpose driven life). God says that if do not worship, stones and rocks will rise and they will worship God.

i hope you learned something in this post. Feel free to post your comments! :)

(I'm sorry I forgot to get the name of the writer but I'll try to edit add it later.)

Sharing Time!

2009-03-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I would just like to share my experience in the church service early this morning. Here goes.

I am assigned to lead the praise and worship for the whole month of March. I really wasn't ready but I believe that the Lord has great plans for me regarding this so I got my line ups until the fourth week planned out (one lineup to go! :D).

We practiced last night and I just know that something was off. The songs were great songs but something was not right and so when I got home, I pulled out my laptop and just flooded my playlist and kept it playing until the batteries died (and I was asleep..hehe). In the morning I felt lighter but still that same burden weightens me. I prayed to God and asked Him to get it off me. I told Him that I can't lead like that. It wouldn't be effective (my nerve for suggesting to God eh?).

I got to church early and I brought my trustee laptop with me. Nobody was in the sanctuary but me. I prayed again but this time i prayed harder. After that, I took the liberty of playing some songs from my PC, hoping that some light would come to me by doing this. After some songs I came over a particular song. It came to me like it was the missing piece for the worship's line up, but there's another problem - My musicians didn't know the song so we had to cram practice it before the service starts.

By God's grace it all worked out. After the service, I heard positive comments about the praise & worship (ehem! all glory goes to God.)

The lesson here is not that we can cram practice and have an effective worship, but to be sensitive to the works of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we got our future so planned out that we leave no space for God's ideas to fill in. Remember that our lives are already pre-written by God years before we were born.

I hope you can bear with my storytelling skills (if we may call it skills. LOL.) I'm really rusty in these stuff but I just have this desire to share with you my thoughts and hopefully help you in your ministries as well.

PS.
here are the lines that made our line up complete

I only want to be where You are
I only want to be where You are

Holy, Holy is the Lord
King of glory, Forever!
Savior of the world

-need you here by hillsong

Beware All Ye Christian Rockstars!

2009-03-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

After our growth group meeting, me and my groupmates decided to hangout for a while. We were surfing the net and eventually found ourselves browsing about satanic gestures. For a time now, I already knew about this hand gesture but seeing the reactions from my groupmates, I decided to post this here as a warning. I thought everybody knew.

This is a sign used by most rockstars (actually most people). They say its the sign language for "i love you" but guess what?! Its also the salute for SATAN! This hand gesture is used in some rituals for the satanist church. (as shown below). Helen Keller, the gal that invented this hand gesture for the deaf, was actually an Occultist. Now its coming to have sense right? thought so too myself.

So please...stop using this gesture, posing all over your friendster, multiply, facebook, hi5, and christianster sites & waving it around when you're leading worship. Remember dudes, praise and worship leaders are not rockstars. We sing only for one audience - and that is the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. This gesture does not suggest that you believe in Jesus Christ at all. It actually does the opposite.

Band Dynamics

2009-03-06T17:54:00.001-08:00

In rehearsal situations...

Be punctual. It’s important. It’s an indicator of how much we respect the other members of the band – both arriving on time, and ending on time.

Be receptive – the older we get, the more experienced we get the harder it is to receive input. Don’t lose the joy of discovery. There are other ways of doing what you’re doing. We’re all on a journey. This is worth nothing if
you’re a band member of a leader.

Keep it simple – Often the individual members of the band are responsible for doing most of the arranging of their particular part. A tendency when it’s not working is to think that it needs something and so I better add something. But typically it’s not what’s not being played that’s the problem. It’s what IS being played that is the problem.

It’s not the notes you play – We don’t need to play all the way through the song, or all the way through the set! Making space is just as important if not more important than filling space. When was the last time you sat out
of a song?

The goal is ‘one’ – The band makes up a whole – and each member of the band is a fraction of this whole. To make the whole work we each need to play only a fraction of what’s being played.

Ultimately, the band is simply there to serve the congregation. If the band is not needed, it need not play. The most fundamental instrument in our worship is the voice, and as such the instruments are there to serve the
voice.

General tips...

Be a team – encourage one another. Very often what is happening relationally in the group is reflected in the spiritual atmosphere of the worship. Be followers of the leader.

Be a communicator. Assume nothing administratively or musically. If you’re not sure what someone means when they nod their head at the end of a verse ask them! Listen to each other musically.

DISCLAIMER: I did not write this article. I only copied it from www.worshiptogether.com