Three Clues for True Success

Three Clues for True Success[1]

We’ve looked last time at, “Why would God elevate us?” and then “How are we elevated?” I want to take a look at one final question, “When are we elevated?” The answer is we are elevated in God’s perfect time. First Peter 5:6 says God will exalt us “in due time.”

Of all the questions we have looked at this may be the most discouraging. In fact, “anti-climatic” might be a better way to describe it! After all, how could waiting for someone else to act be a plus? I don’t like to wait in line at Wal-Mart. I don’t want to wait weeks, months, even years while my hopes and dreams fade out of sight!

Do you sense the fear, the impatience in those words? That’s how the world feels, but we are not of the world.  Our God has a plan for us; our every step is already determined by Him. And in His good time, He will raise us up as He sees fit.

This should bring us serenity. Rather than fretting about the future, we can focus on the present-on the awesome opportunities right before us now.

The Discipline of Difficulty

In her book Jesus, CEO, Laurie Beth Jones tells the story of a meeting with some real estate developers. They had gathered to discuss a possible joint venture. Much to everyone’s surprise the organizer of the group stood and began to describe in detail one of his greatest failures. One by one, each of the men revealed His less flattering side. When the youngest member was reluctant to share his mistake, the leader chided him, saying, “If you have not experienced failure, you cannot be a part of this group.” Jones drew the conclusion from that leader’s words: “If you have not been tested by fire, you do not know who you are. And if you do not know who you are, you cannot be a leader.”[2]

In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat and the children of Judah were certainly given the opportunity to discover “who they were.” Of course, that was not the first time God’s people had been tested by fire. Research any great Christian leader from the Bible or since, and you’ll find the same pattern: Every one of them experienced deep and difficult trials.

Sam Cathy, an evangelist from Oklahoma, focused on affliction in a message entitled, “The Discipline of Difficulties.”

In this sermon, Rev. Cathy shared an illustration about a rock tumbler. While on vacation in Arizona, he stopped at a rock shop. Standing at the counter, he noticed a banging noise coming from behind the cashier. Then he saw a small barrel rolling over and over. He asked the man behind the counter about the barrel.

The man pointed Cathy’s attention to several small stones lying on the counter. Some were rough and unattractive. Others were smooth, shiny, and beautiful. He explained that all the rocks were the same kind. What made their appearance so different was the tumbler. As he picked up a rough stone he said, “That barrel you see is tumbling a rock like this very moment. When the rock comes out it will look like this,” and he picked up a beautiful, smooth stone.

Cathy, amazed at the difference, asked how the tumbler worked. The man said, “The rock remains in the tumbler until all the rough edges have been removed. The tumbler doesn’t go too fast or else the rock will break. It doesn’t go too slowly, or the process will take too long. It rolls at exactly the proper speed according to the control of the master tumbler.”

In John 15:1-3, the Master Jesus speaks of His father as a gardener who prunes the unwanted and unhealthy parts of our nature to make us more like Him. Notice what we as “branches” are more able to do as a result of this pruning.

In the New Testament, fruit represents the products of our Christ-like lives (Matthew 7:16; Galatians 5:22-23). God’s pruning shears are required to make us more and more fruitful for Him.

Look back on your difficulties and be encouraged. Every valley must have two mountains! Perhaps you have found the mountain on the other side of your deep valley of trouble. Or maybe you are still so low that you are unable to see beyond your pain. It is true some difficulties don’t seem to end. How do we process those trials and turn them into victories? Paul prayed three times that God would remove his, “thorn in the flesh.” But the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is make perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9).

My Daily Surrender

I want to share one final story from Sam Cathy’s message. During a revival meeting, Cathy and the local pastor were invited to eat lunch with an elderly lady. During that visit, the woman told Cathy she wanted him to look at a picture she had of Daniel and the lions’ den. She asked him to describe everything he saw in the picture. He described Daniel looking up at an opening above him from which rays of light flooded in. He pointed out that the lions were lying around Daniel with their mouths closed. After a couple of minutes, the wise old saint placed her hand on Cathy’s shoulders and said, “What I want you to see is that Daniel doesn’t have His eyes on the lions.” Later he said, “At that moment I knew all hell could not defeat me.” That lady had shown him the secret to true success.

Write a prayer completely surrendering your will to the Lord. Ask him to show you ways, gifts, or treasures you may be holding back from him. Surrendering them now could save you some painful pruning in the future.

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[1] This material is taken from DeWayne Morris’ book, Pure Praise (Loveland: CO: Group Publishing, 2009), 98-109.

[2] Laurie Beth Jones, Jesus, CEO (New York: Hyperion, 1995), 4-5.

The Law of Divine Elevation

The Law of Divine Elevation¹

   Do you love a good puzzle? Well, I've got one for you. What is the meaning of real success? There are countless books on library shelves that attempt to answer that age old question. But even crime scene investigators, with their state-of-the-art techniques, would be hard pressed to solve this one.

   Psalm 75:6-7 tells us: “For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up; but it is from God who executes judgment putting down one and lifting up another” (RSV). This verse tells us that our focus should be to go deep in our relationship with God and trust God to open the doors of opportunity He wants us to enter.

   Of course, this goes against our human nature. We want things to happen our way, in our time. Our carnal nature tells us we must scratch and claw and do whatever it takes to get to the top. That is why we must define and then settle for nothing less than authentic success in both our ministries and our lives.

   It doesn't take much research to discover the secret to God's definition of success. In fact, the law of divine elevation is certainly not a mystery. Read James 4:10; Job 5:11; Luke 14:11; and Proverbs 3:34. All of these Scriptures point to one fact: we are not to be “the show.” That honor is reserved for the Lord only. As John the Baptist said, Christ “must become greater” and we “must become less” (John 3:30). Yet, the promised result of our humbling ourselves is phenomenal. God will promote us! I know of nothing more profound for any Christian to learn. The law of gravity says, “What goes up must come down.” The law of divine elevation says, “What comes down through humility will go up through Christ-like exaltation!”

   But how can we know for sure that we would really prefer the success God would bring us to the prosperity, power, and popularity society offers? The clues are found in the second half of 1 Peter 5:6: “in due time He may exalt you” (RSV).

Three Clues That Verify True Success

   Though I am not a professional investigator, I've always heard that a good starting point is to ask probing questions. So to get to the bottom of why God's success is true success, let's start by asking, “Why would God elevate us?” To find the answer, we need to carefully examine the word exalt. How did God respond to Jesus' humbling of Himself? Because Jesus willingly lowered Himself and became a servant, “God exalted Him to the highest place” (Philippians 2:9a).

   The same Greek root word that is used for the word exalted in this verse in Philippians is also used in 1 Peter 5:6, where God says He will exalt us. The word includes the idea of elevating above others. In other words, those who humble themselves before Him will receive the same kind of lifting up that Jesus experienced. The only difference is that He has, of course, been lifted up the highest, above all of us.

   Understanding that God elevates us in the same manner He does His Son, we now need to ask another “why” question: Why did God elevate Christ? The answer is simple: to bring glory to Himself. Obviously, therefore, God's intent in elevating us is the same as with His Son: to be glorified by our lives.

   So now we have Clue 1: We are elevated in order to bring God glory.

How is that evidence that God's success is best? Again, the answer is simple. We were created for God's glory. Therefore, glorifying Him brings us the most fulfillment possible. You might say that God's success strategy comes with a huge tag that reads, “Complete Satisfaction Guaranteed”!

   The next question we need to ask is, “How are we elevated?” Our key verse (1 Peter 5:6) clearly says that God lifts us up. Yet how often do we run out of patience as we wait for His uplifting? We want to forgo His plan and manipulate our circumstances. However, for God to elevate us to our highest possible level, we must be faithful at each stage of experience and opportunity. We can't expect God to trust us with great responsibility down the road if we don't properly handle the small, “less significant” tasks He assigns to us everyday.

1 This material is taken from DeWayne Moore's book, Pure Praise (Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2009), 96-97.

Four Levels of Effectiveness

The Ministers¹

What we can we learn from the people God handpicked in 2 Chronicles 20? What qualified them to be ministers? Let us begin by looking at those who lead music or worship in church. What qualified them to be ministers?

Four Levels of Effectiveness

The lowest level is the song leader level.

These are people who show up and help with a few songs. They put no thought into planning or purpose. They prefer to play and leave. They avoid rehearsals and planning sessions.

God has little use for those content to stay at this level which at best produces mediocrity. It's better to have 10 people who are sold on music ministry than 100 who are just showing up.

The next level is the music minister.

These are people who want to have input in making music the best it can be. They are not content with just showing up. They like to be prepared, and they want to know the music is planned. They struggle sometimes with seeing past the music and getting everything just right. They know what and how to sing and play, but sometimes they forget why they are doing it.

The third level is the minister of music.

God can greatly use folks at this level of effectiveness because they understand that music praises God and ministers to others. They want their music to change those who are listening, just as David's harp soothed Saul (1 Samuel 16:23). While they appreciate and even strive for excellence, they are also committed to pleasing and blessing God.

The Levite musicians were mostly Level 3 ministers of music because their priority and their goal were to use their music to minister to God.

Please read 1 Chronicles 6:31-32. Notice what ministry or service they were to perform. Now read 1 Chronicles 16:4. Notice specifically where some of the Levites were to minister. Interestingly, Strong's Concordance defines the Hebrew word ministry as “service.”

The fourth and highest level for church musicians is to be ministers through music.

People on Level 4 still desire the excellence of Level 2. Like those on Level 3, they see great blessing musical praise can be to God and other people. However, Level 4 people realize that our music is not the minister; we are the ministers. God did not ordain the music to bless Him and others, but He ordained us to serve Him. And we are responsible to serve whether we are making music or not.

The singers that Jehoshaphat appointed in 2 Chronicles 20:21 certainly qualified as Level 4 ministers. Many of them were probably Levite musicians, so their “job” was to sing in the Temple. Yet they willingly went way beyond the call of duty as they marched in the opposite directing from the ark and the Temple. They weren't just ministering before the Lord; they were now waging war.

A minister through music is first and foremost a servant. God must smile when we see ourselves as His servants-nothing more, nothing less. Blessing others with a servant-like heart will keep on blessing God long after the music fades.

My Daily Praise

Read 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; and Jeremiah 23:6. Thank and praise God through at least one of the eight ways to praise: singing, shouting, clapping, kneeling, dancing, testifying, playing an instrument, and raising holy hands.

My Daily Surrender

How much do you like ministering to others? How willing are you to serve others after the spotlight's turned off?

1 This material is taken from DeWayne Moore's book, Pure Praise (Loveland: CO: Group Publishing, 2009), 90-92.

Essentials of an Effective Worship Service Part III

Essentials of an Effective Worship Service Part III[1]

4. Power of the Holy Spirit.

Without this fourth element our worship services will have no lasting impact. Only God’s Spirit can draw a person to saving faith in Christ (John 6:44), only He can convict the world of guilt (John 16:8), only He can guide us into all truth (John 16:13), and only He can sanctify us to be conformed to the image of God’s dear Son (Romans 8:29). Unfortunately, too often the church has downplayed the vital importance of the Spirit in the daily life of the Christian. Zechariah 4:6 makes this clear: “It is not by force nor by strength, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies” (NLT).

Jim Cymbala, pastor of The Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York City, writes, “Our attempt at ministry will be an absolute exercise in futility if we are not experiencing divine help through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not enough to teach and preach about the Spirit. We must experience Him personally in new depths, or we accomplish little. Without the Holy Spirit there is no quickening of the Scripture. Worship is hollow. Preaching is mechanical, never piercing the heart.”[2]

Reliance on the Spirit is evident in the story of Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. As they waited for instructions before the Lord, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel” (2 Chronicles 20:14a). It was the Holy Spirit who gave the words that caused the children of Judah to rejoice.

According to Luke 3:21-22, Jesus began His ministry the day the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. In Luke 4, the Holy Spirit’s power was on Jesus, causing the news of Him to spread. And the very first public words of Jesus’ ministry credited the Spirit’s anointing of Him. Furthermore, it was not until after the Spirit filled and empowered Him that Jesus performed His first miracle (see John 2:1-11).

If Jesus needed the Holy Spirit’s power in His life to be effective, how much more do you and I need the Spirit’s anointing in our lives? You may be thinking, “Well, that is Jesus. I could never do the things He did even with the Holy Spirit.” But that is not so. Jesus said to all His disciples, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father” (John 14:12 NLT).

It is not enough for His Spirit to live in us because we’ve accepted Christ; we must be filled with His Spirit every day. In Ephesians 5:18 we read, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Every day that is not a Spirit-filled day is a wasted day. In his book, The Secret of Supernatural Living, Adrian Rodgers writes, “In my estimation, the cause of Christ has been hurt far more by Christians who were carnal and not Spirit-filled than by Christians who were drunk.”[3]

If we’re not filled up with God as we stand to represent Him before the people, we are doing nothing more than putting our flesh on parade. And here is the scary part: What if those watching don’t realize we are full of ourselves? We could literally lead them away from God rather than closer to Him. We must be filled with His Spirit. Nothing less is acceptable as ministers and Christians.

5. Pastoral Direction

You might be thinking, “Ok, Bryan, you have slipped one in on me. It’s nice of you to think so highly of yourself.” It is not that I think highly of myself. Well, just don’t ask my wife. If you look at our foundational story in 2 Chronicles 20, what names do you remember? If I were a betting person (which I’m not) I would say the name you remember is Jehoshaphat. In fact, other than a reference once to Jahaziel, Jehoshaphat is the only one who is even recognized in this account. His name appears 11 times in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30. How is it in a gathering of thousands, one person’s actions and words are highlighted more than anyone else’s? In a word: leadership. Leadership is God’s formula for directing His people. Other notable leaders include Moses, David, Solomon, Joshua, Paul, and of course, Jesus.

2 Chronicles 20:18-21 (NASB):

⁸ Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹ The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

Enemies Destroy Themselves

²⁰ They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.” ²¹ When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 

It was Jehoshaphat who was the first to fall on his knees. He led the way for the others to praise. Furthermore, it was Jehoshaphat who appointed the musicians, not the other way around. He even told them what He wanted them to sing. Now, that tends to cause some church musicians to cringe just a bit. Who really wants the pastor (or anyone else for that matter) choosing songs for the worship service?

However, in the Bible, the “overseer” (pastor or bishop) was the worship leader-or lead worshipper to be exact. Of course, unlike Jehoshaphat, pastors are not kings and should not act like them. Nonetheless, the lead pastor should be involved to some degree in putting together and overseeing the worship gatherings of the church. Even the most talented and experienced music ministers need some level of support, participation, and encouragement from the “under-shepherd” of that flock. This is God’s formula for His people. It is a pastor’s role to give leadership and direction and to entrust and empower other capable staff and lay leaders to help and lead as needed. 

Acts 20:28 (NASB):

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Note that it is the Holy Spirit who gives the pastor or “overseer” authority.  Notice what Peter says:

^“You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5, NASB)

My Daily Praise

Jehovah-Rohi is the covenant name for God that appears in Psalm 23:1. Read Psalm 23 and praise God that He is the “Shepherd and Overseer” of your soul (1 Peter 2:25).

My Daily Surrender

Read back over all five essentials of an effective worship service. Then ask yourself if you are personally demonstrating these elements while you are at home, work, or school each day. Write a prayer to God asking to help you strengthen those areas in which you are weakest.

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[1] This material is taken from DeWayne Moore’s book, Pure Praise (Loveland: CO: Group Publishing, 2009), 84-89.

[2] Jim Cymbala, Fresh Power (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), 99.

[3] Adrian Rodgers, The Secret of Supernatural Living (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982), 43.

Essentials for an Effective Worship Service Part II

Essentials for an Effective Worship Service Part II[1]

2. Planned Spontaneity

The second necessary element for an effective worship service is sometimes misunderstood. Few aspects of church life have brought more confusion and disagreement than the place of planning and importance of spontaneity within a worship service. Many might say these two ideas are an oxymoron, that they cannot equally coexist.

Just think of the churches you have visited or been a member of. Some of them probably printed a detailed order or worship for the Sunday services. In other churches it might have seemed that little or no thought had been given to the order of worship. I have been in many churches and I have yet to see any fellowship approach this in the same manner.

On the one hand, if you are choir member, instrumentalist, or production team member, you know how important a written and well-communicated schedule can be. A certain comfort comes from knowing what to expect and how to prepare. A schedule also helps avoid some potential problems and hindrances.

On the other hand, recall worship services you've been in. Which ones stand out in your mind? What made them memorable and life-changing? Was it the fact that they stayed on schedule? Probably not. Was it that the music was well-rehearsed and excellently performed? That may have helped, but most likely that's what not set those services apart. What I believe you will find consistent in every one of them is a worship experience in which God's presence was evident and people responded to His Spirit's leadership in unpredictable and amazing ways. That was the part no one could plan for; that was the “God-factor” that we must spontaneously obey.

Proverbs 16:9 sums up the idea of planned spontaneity perfectly. Solomon wisely said, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”

In our foundational story we have a good example of man planning his course and the Lord determining his steps. It's likely that in advance of their gathering Jehoshaphat had planned to call them to pray (2 Chronicles 20:3a). He had already spread the word to fast, and everyone had been told where to gather (verses 3b and 4). Most likely, Jehoshaphat had planned to start with prayer and had considered the general contents of that prayer. Everything was completely impromptu. Jehoshaphat prayed, they all waited, the Spirit of the Lord moved a prophet to speak, and then they all responded with worship and loud, joyful praise.

If you read 1 Corinthians 14, you will notice that the congregation in Corinth were very “free” in their worship. However, some people in their church were edifying only themselves. Paul, therefore, gave a gentle rebuke and some much needed direction to their worship services. If you read verses 26-35, you will notice the specific instructions Paul gives that make it clear he is advocating order during a church service. Now look closely at verse 30. Apparently, Paul expected that at times there would be unplanned and spontaneous revelations during a worship service.

Paul was teaching that unexpected interruptions-when they are motivated by the Holy Spirit, of course-can be a good thing. He wrote in verse 26 that everyone in the body of Christ has something to offer during worship services. Christians are supposed to be more than spectators! The entire congregation of saints should be willing to participate in orderly, appropriate, and church-strengthening ways.

All spontaneity must be founded on thoughtful and deliberate structure and planning: “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:40). Also, we must “test everything” and “hold on to the good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

3. Pliableness

What happens when spontaneous worship actually occurs? How should we respond when our plans are suddenly change? The third element that is necessary for a worship service to be effective is the willingness to be flexible.

Anybody who has planned church services could tell stories of how God got the glory even though the plans got changed. Of course, it's one thing to be forced into flexibility (kicking and screaming), but it's quite another to willingly allow our plans to be thwarted right before our eyes. That requires trust.

As described in 2 Chronicles 20, the people demonstrated their trust in God as they quickly recognized the need to be flexible. Consider this: (1) Jehoshaphat had to be flexible because he'd never fought a battle in this way before-with praise rather than with swords. (2) The people of Judah had to be flexible because they had never stood around waiting to hear, rather than suiting up to fight. (3) The choir had to be flexible because they had never led worship from this vantage point before-from the front lines of an army going into battle.

At first, Jehoshaphat and the children of Judah no doubt felt forced to give up their own plans and turn to God. After all, they were having a normal and comfortably predictable day with everything going on as usual. Then, out of the blue, they got the news they never wanted to hear. Three vast armies were coming to destroy them. They were backed into a corner and had no way to look but up. Most likely, more than a few of the people standing in that huge crowd around the Temple grounds were somewhat bitter about their little “situation.”

Joyful praise was almost surely the last item on their priority list at that moment. Yet, with just a few words from one man's mouth their circumstances downgraded from desperate to merely demanding-demanding of praise that is.

2 Chronicles 20:15-17:

15 “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.”

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (NKJV). The people of Judah heard the Word of God through His prophet. Can you imagine how relieved they must have been? In the same way, once we've heard from God and know He is directing us through a worship experience, we can relax and trust Him to move it any direction He wants.

My Daily Praise

How has God revealed Himself to you over the past few days? Has he reminded you of His faithfulness through a particular situation? Take some time to praise God for what He has shown you.

The Bible tells us to “shout to God with the voice of triumph!” (Psalm 47:1, NKJV). Try shouting to the Lord as loud as you can. Imagine you're watching your favorite team, and it's about to score. Now apply that same level of enthusiasm to your shout of praise to the Lord.

My Daily Surrender

How do you feel when your plans are changed at the last minute? Are you sometimes tempted to grumble or be uncooperative if your pastor or worship leader feels led to go in a different direction right in the middle of a worship service? What about in other areas of your everyday life? What is your reaction to changes in general?

Write a prayer asking God to help you trust Him and surrender to His work of bending and shaping you into His image. Ask Him to increase your spiritual flexibility.

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[1]     This material is taken from DeWayne Moore's book, Pure Praise (Loveland: CO: Group Publishing, 2009, 77-84.