WAM Goes Tropical (pictures)

Hey all. It was great to see so many people turn out for our September team "lunch". Thanks again to the Lampis for hosting, and thanks to all for taking some time to just hang out together. Great pics (click for larger images). Until next time...

Patience and Grace

God has this incredible patience and grace. In a spiritual sense, absolutely. He forgives our repeated offenses and continues to offer us the salvation we don't deserve. But Jesus also taught us in such a practical way. Read this passage from Mark 6:

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

I find this amazing. Why? Well... if I were exhausted from serving people all day and decided to get away to a quiet place with my buddies, but found that MORE people were IN our quiet place, wanting MORE from us...man. I wonder if I would have compassion on them and desire to minister to them like Jesus did. Sadly, I think my first thought would be : "What are you DOING in MY quiet place!? I need to rest! Get out!

Hopefully, Christ has taught me more. More patience. More grace.

What would your response be? Who tests your patience? Maybe they don't even deserve your patience, but what does Christ teach us? : To give it anyhow. That's grace. I know. Sometimes that seems impossible. The great thing is we don't count on our own strength to do it. We count on God's strength. The angel Gabriel told Mary: "Nothing is impossible with God."

My encouragement to you: The next time you find yourself short on patience and grace, ask God to give you the perspective that Christ shows us in Mark 6:34. Look at "the crowd". Have compassion on them, then give them more patience...more grace.

Pressure Release

This is an excerpt from an article written by by John Andrew Schreiner in "Worship Leader Magazine":

Lately I've come to the opinion that we are working too hard. As worship leaders, it's easy to feel the weight of expectations from the pastor, staff, congregation, other musicians, and ourselves. We want to be our best (nobody wants to be pro-sloth), and we want to provide music that will lift up the church and glorify God. Still, it seems we might have lost sight of a few things along the way. One is the presence of God. We know that when two or more believers are gathered in His name, He is present in the midst of us, regardless of any of our efforts. If we are a little out of tune, it doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit won't join us; He's already there. Are we acknowledging and enjoying the mysterious presence of God in our midst? Worship is far more than a human work, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. As Hughes Oliphant Old stated, "When we worship, having our minds enlightened by the Spirit, our lives cleansed by the Spirit, our wills moved by the Spirit, and our hearts warmed by the Spirit, then our worship is transformed from being merely a human work into being a divine work." God is present, His Spirit moves in our midst, and we can respond with thanksgiving and without pressure. [...read the rest in the Mar/Apr edition of Worship Leader.]

Our team is full of worship leaders, or as we've said in the past, "lead worshippers". Does this article resonate with you as a lead worshipper? Are we allowing God's presence to be the motivator of our worship? Hope to hear from you.