Why I Am Against Homogenous Worship Services (Especially In America)

Recently I've been reading John Piper's book Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian.  This book talks about his plight in fighting racism in his own life and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ broke that chain.  In the book, I came across this sentence:

"If Christ died - mark this, Died!- to make the church a diverse, reconciled body of Jew and Gentile - "red and yellow, black and white," and every shade and shape in between - then to glory in the cross is to glory in the display of the fruit of that cross."

In the context that Dr. Piper is referring to, he's talking about what I would describe as the big "C" Church as opposed to the little "c" church*.  Jesus' death and resurrection unified the Church; there is no more Jew or Greek, there's only of Christ and not of Christ.  That's Dr. Piper's main point.

I'm taking it a step further: because of Jesus' death and resurrection, church's should not be seperated by race, ethnicity, or worship styles.  Now admittingly, I'm only a worshipper.  I'm part of the worship team at my current church and I've been a gospel choir director for my alma mater Messiah College and Harrisburg Brethren in Christ Church.  So I'm not too deep into church politics.  However, what I do know is that there probably isn't a much larger battleground in church structure than worship.  As a worship leader, I've been in the mix of some of the wars, so take my comments with that grain of salt.

With that being said, we are called to unify.  To declassify.  To shed off our own skin and become united with Jesus and when we do that, we are united with the body and when we do that, those in the body are no longer just my friends, they are now my brothers and sisters.  

So I ask this question: How can [honestly] I love my brother and sister if I don't take the time to understand them?

Now Michael, what you're saying is that all believers should just join one (small "c") church!?  No.  That's not what I'm saying.  Obviously there are legitimate reasons for SOME denominational splits, especially when theologies are on different ends of the spectrum, aka Protestant vs. Catholic/Orthodox.  But, despite those differences, there is absolutely no reason why there shouldn't be diversity in two ways (with one leading to the other).  Firstly, there needs to be diversity in the congregational body and that leads to diversity in the worship styles.

I will probably never find a church that I agree with it's theology 100%.  Probably because I don't even know what I believe sometimes (other than the core of Gospel -- Jesus lived, taught, was crucified, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is coming back).  But if I can find a church of which I agree with 75% of the theology, I feel secure.  As a result, I would surmise that most protestant congregations, theology-wise, I would be comfortable in.  

So why do we only stay with our race, ethnicity, or group that makes us feel "comfortable?"

There is absolutely nothing comfortable about being a Christian.  In fact, when we feel comfortable, we run the risk of becoming complacent or lukewarm, and that is not what we are about.  If you are comfortable every day of your Christian journey, then there is probably something wrong with your Christian journey.

This boils over to a homogenous congregation.  When I'm around people that look like me (racially and/or ethnically), think like me (culturally), and act like me, I'm probably not going to grow.  I'm not leaving room for my faith to be stretched.  This is why when I came back home from Messiah College, I could not join the largest African American Church in Philadelphia, PA called Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church.  No knock on Enon, but I didn't feel comfortable being around people that only looked like me anymore.  I needed to be challenged...

When the congregation structure begins to change, worship styles are going to have to change. One of the largest challenges in the diverse church is worshipping on a song style that just isn't your cup of tea.  But, it's necessary.  Many cultures are best defined by their music.  In many ways, it's our identity.  Wait a minute, Jesus should now be our identity, not the worship style...I digress...

In an effort to shorten this blog post, I'm going to reiterate what I said earlier whether you agree with me or not:

There is no way I can [honestly] love my brother and sister if I don't take the time to get to know them.

If I just stay in my comfort zone in church, I won't grow as much as I could.  

Oh, and newsflash, when we get to heaven we are all going to be together worshipping Jesus, our Lord and savior anyway.  So let's start now!!

-MJA

-I may need to write a part 2 on this one, but we'll see.-

*Big "C" Church is referring to the entire body of Christ.  Little "c" church is referring to the individual worship services.

The Bastardization of Christian Worship Music

Have you ever had a friend (or maybe you're that friend) that tries wayy to hard to fit in.  This friend will at times bend his or her morals just to feel accepted, just to feel in the "in-crowd?"  I know that I've been like that at times and from experience, your popularity won't last very long. Either your popularity runs out because people realize that you are a phony, or you lose the drive continuously being something you're not due to its draining effect.

That is what's happened to Christian -- "God" Music.  What first started as an experiment of blending new music and sound to reach new generations, have lost, what Charismatic People call: "anointing."

Anointing.  That indescribable feeling when you hear an artist sing or play that you can just feel; that ministers to you.  Too many of our music is now lacking this.  Too many of our mainstreams songs are being made just to grab a buck.  While money is nice, the Bible reminds us that the love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Tim. 6:10)

An artist that produces music that is intended to impact a Christian-seeking audience (and also a Christian artist that wants to reach out to secular crowds) shouldn't have the primary motive of making money.  Our primary motive, in all that we do, is to glorify God and to draw people closer to Jesus.  And while peppering Jesus' name throughout a song might satisfy your conscious for a while, you are essentially turning Jesus' temple (which is everywhere) into a "den full of thieves."  Of which Jesus drove out. (Matt 21:13)

Some people might think that the title of this blog is kinda harsh and I would be inclined to agree with them.  However, as a worship leader who dabbles in artistry (bass player) as well as spent a good portion of my life directing choirs, I'm getting sick and tired of Jesus-music being made just for the money.  Or even worse just so that the artist can become famous.  Or even worse, the artist has become famous, has a loyal following, and has allowed the love of money get to their head which puts their lovers at risk.  So yes, I am annoyed thus the harsh title.

What happened to that music where you can listen to the first verse of it and just feel the Holy Spirit moving through it?  For example, I'm sitting in my bed earlier in the year watching the Passion Conference in Atlanta.  All of a sudden this woman starts singing, of whom I'd never heard of, but you may know her as Kari Jobe.  She sang the Revelation Song (which I'd never been too fond of).  Right when she starts singing the verse, I felt an instant shutter.  By the end of the song I was BLOWN AWAY because that song had anointing.

I will be the first one to admit that I'm an overly emotional black man when it comes to worshipping and I'm not ashamed.  But if you aren't feeling something by the bridge..Then maybe I'm just insane.

A fellow blogger Dan asked me a question about Christian Bands, and how do I perceive them.  My response is that I have no problem with huge bands; from little garage bands to organs to orchestral sympathies.  If you were to look through my iTunes you would see a range of all different instrumentation; it doesn't matter.
For example: (another Kari Jobe example--you can see how much I like her)

I don't wanna take up too much space, but I can go on..and on with different musical styles.  I'll admit it, this whole anointing thing can be accused of being subjective.  Nevertheless, I believe that when the Holy Spirit is on a song, anyone that's in tune can feel it.  I'm not a big fan of Southern Country music such as the Gaithers.  I would be remissed, however, to say that their music doesn't have some anointin.

My God is not one of limits.  I'm not going to call out people of whom I feel have "sold out" to mainstream ideal of M.O.E. (Money over Everything).  I'm just a worshipper who wants some genuine new songs to worship to.

For all of my gospel loving brother and sisters, here's a gospel song that I feel when it's sang:

I would love to hear your comments.  Who knows I might need to write a Pt. 2.

This blog is written in concurrance with Michael Gungor's "On the Problem With the Christian Music Industry"

--MJA

The Challenge of Being Still

On my iTunes account I have a specific playlist of which I affectionately called: Spirit Worship.  This playlist is the array of songs I elect to go to when I'm down in the dumps (because we already know about the Sacrifice of Worship) but also, I use it when I in the need to be still.

I know that it has been a while since I've blogged (as a matter of fact this is probably the longest I've gone without blogging...yikes!), but the lack of blogging is because I'm at this phase, this crossroad in my life where I am desperately trying to discover myself.  Now I know the overarching principle that I am a child of the Most High God, but who is the blogger/man Michael Adams is a struggle for me sometimes especially in this busy busy American Life.

As a result, a focus of mine has been this phase of Being Still.  There is an ever popular and overused phrase in the Bible that says in Psalm 46:10: "be still, and know that I am God."  Yes, that's a great theoretical concept, but do we actually follow that concept?

I am under the firm belief that we learn more about ourselves, about God, about our environment when we are consciously practicing the art of Being Still.  Being Still is you telling the world, telling your mind that you've had enough of the multitasking; that you are going to focus on one thing and one thing only.  This is a practice that our ancestors were much more proficient at it than we, but it's not a lost cause.

My aforementioned Spirit Playlist consists of 30 songs which is composed of different genres: Gospel, Contemporary Christian, Christian Hip Hop, & yes, even Christian Rock.  At fact value these songs seemingly have very little in common, but for me, they all have that ability to give me goosebumps no matter how many times I listen to them.

With that being said, I'm going to open you up to two of my songs.  One will be Gospel and the other will be Contemporary.  Here's a free peak into my head, don't take this too lightly!

There is one thing I ask however.  That right now, you become still.  That at this time you will Be Still. You can listen to one song, both songs, or even choose your own song (I won't be offended).  But when you do, stop what you are doing, and listen/watch the videos.  I would even suggest putting your best pair of headphones in and embracing the moment.

After the moment, if you are inclined, comment below on how you feel, what your experience is.  If it's a private feeling write it down & talk it over with a loved one and/or God.  Don't take this challenge lightly.  You'd be surprised what you hear when you are intentionally still.

The Gospel song I chose is: My Life, My Love, My All by Kirk Franklin.  This songs literally plays with my emotions every time!  You'll see what I mean.

The Contemporary song I chose is: Still by Hillsong United.  Once the peak of this song hits, I am GONE!

--MJA

Making Sure That My Worship is For Real! (Worship At It's Best Part 2)

I'm beyond ecstatic that my brotha Moises posted a blog about Worship earlier today (Worship At It's Best) because ever since the article (posted at the bottom of his blog) went viral there have been many thoughts swirling through my head.

If the readers out there don't really know who I am, I was a Gospel Director for 2 choirs for the past 3 years.  I've been known as being a bit eccentric  crazy, wild, and just about any likewise definition you could think of.  There's only one way I can really portray how I am when I direct and that's to show you.  So here's a video of my Alma Mater, Messiah College doing Kirk Franklin's Song Hosanna.  Now I'm not directing the song but I want you to guess which one I am...

Sometimes when I watch this video I cringe at how crazy I become when I'm praising my God.  But if I'm honest, I wasn't always like that.  Long story short, I didn't become like that until I freed myself.  I'm naturally an introvert, but when I worship the Lord, I don't care who's watching and what I do.  My God is great and is greatly to be praised!

However, I will be the first to admit that there have been times as a worship leader where I haven't felt like worshipping.  Where I didn't want to be up there directing because I was having personal issues with God.  When that happened 1 of 2 things occurred   

The first time it happened I forced myself to be the man that everyone expected to see.  It's like I had my head on wrong.  When I first came out of my introvert shell and just danced like David danced I surprised myself.  I didn't know that that much Jesus love was in me.  After a while though, you hit that point where you start to get a little burned-out as a worship leader/choir director.  When that point reached, I was putting on a show.  I was trying wayy too hard.  I was like the worship leader in the aforementioned article.  I staged and planned everything.  The worst (actually, probably the best) part about it was that people could tell.  I was trying wayyyy to hard to put on a show and when I was approached by a couple of friends in my church, I denied it.  I didn't see it, I thought my mask was secure.  But it wasn't.  After that point I talked with Pastor Woody about it and he reminded me to just be myself.  Stop trying to hard.  You see we as worship leaders get into trouble when we try to impress others with our style.  When we try to impress the crowd with what we do.  That's a dangerous problem  to have.

The second time I caught myself in a rut however went a little bit differently.  I was leading the school choir before chapel and I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  I wasn't gonna really hide how I felt too much; I wasn't really into the directing thing but I couldn't just stop because I was the Student Director.  So I just chugged through the service.  BUT GOD had other plans for me.  As we sang our last song (which to be honest wasn't one of my favorites), God worked on my heart ya'll.  The hook went "Lord Have Your Way in This Place."  And just kept getting repeated.  All of a sudden I felt something on my heart.  By the end of the song I was about to be into tears because of how great God is.  For the first time in my life, I was about to weep for Jesus.  Mannnnn that was one of the best moments of my life even though I still don't like the song very much!

What am I trying to say?  We, as worship leaders, choir directors, music ministerials need to make sure we have our hearts in the right place at all times!  There are going to be those days where you just ain't gonna feel like goin up there.  But we have a job to do, we have a responsibility to be respective leaders in our churches.  So when you go up there just be yourself.  Don't put on a show.  I'd rather a leader go up in front of a church and admit that he or she is struggling than for someone to put on their Sunday's Best and act like they are lollygagging through the flowers.  Church is about real people with real issues so let's start being real with each other.  Life sucks sometimes and that's ok.  Let you brothers and sisters in Christ come around you and support you.  That's what they are here for! :)

One of my favorite moments as a choir director was a couple of years ago when UVP (Messiah's Gospel Choir) did Byron Cage's rendition of the Praise & Worship song Breathe.  I'll be the first to admit that the first part of the song was rehearsed but that was just the primer.  But when you move out of the introduction and allow the Holy Spirit to enter into the sanctuary, things happened.  I can't explain it ya'll. But to this day, I relive that moment in my head over and over again.  Be a vessel for God. Since you are up there leading other people you HAVE to make sure your head is right.  Don't put up a front.  Just...Let Em UZE Ya! Cuz when the Praises go up!  The Blessing come down! (Psalm 67)

--MJA

Worship at its Best

Hey all,

It feels like many years since I've blogged about anything. If you haven't already checked out Mike's recent post, you probably should because it really does hit home.

Here's my thought for today:
I am 1 of 4 guys in my household that happened to be PKs (Pastor's Kid). We grew up with a fascination for playing musical instruments that whenever we reunite, my brothers and I would always be ready to play our own instruments/ sing.
Growing up, I thought leading worship was the easiest song as long as you have an instrument and your right singing voice. God eventually taught me that a beautiful voice, fancy tricks on the drums, and admirers does not impress God if there isn't a true reverence and adoration for Him. In fact, a horribly singing person (you're probably thinking of someone at your church right now...) could sound like something beautiful to God if that person's passion and reverence for God is found in that worship.
Webster defines worship as "extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem" 
What I'm suggesting is that even if the newest mainstream worship song can move people to emotions, what is your main objective in that worship? Is it really to help others shed some tears and once the music stops, have those people leave the same way they came in? Or worship with a pure heart while inviting the Holy Spirit to do what it came to do and become just someone in the background?
It's time to worship in spirit and in truth, not in an emotional movement and intentions that hinder God from fully moving in church.
-Moises


For more on this topic, read this amazing article! I recommend this to worship leaders:
Confessions of a Former Worship Leader

The Sacrifice of Worship

What do you do when you've done all you can and it seems like you just can't make it through?  What do you do when you are down on life.  Maybe a relative passed away.  Maybe you lost your job.  Maybe you aren't succeeding in life as much as you would like.  What is the quickest, easiest way guaranteed to get you out of your funk?

Well I'm glad you asked these great questions.  I have the magic answer: You Worship God.  I can tell you from experience that when I am feeling down and out, the quickest and surest way to get out of my funk is to just starting singing the songs of Zion.

Listen, God loves us.  God wants nothing but for us to be happy.  But sometimes, things happen.  Life is an emotional roller coaster.  But the one constant in our life is the Love the Christ has for us.  Everything that happens, whether it's negative or positive, will ALWAYS work out for our God. (Romans 8:28) It may not be the immediate or foreseeable feature.  But, that's a promise that the Word of God gives us. But I would be naive if I didn't acknowledge the fact that it still sucks when bad things happen in life.  Like sucks A TON.

It's at these moments however, where God really needs to shine in your hearts.  There are sooo many great things that God has blessed us each with and we need to be thankful for that because the cliche holds true: it could ALWAYS be worse.

It's at these moments that you, as a creation of God, need to extol him.  Need to thank Him for all he did for your life.  This is called the "sacrifice of Worship."  When you are feeling down, sing.  When you are feeling depressed, sing.  When you are feeling suicidal, sing. I guarantee that if what you are singing is coming from the heart, you will get out of that funk.  In Psalm 22:3, the Bible tells us that God "inhabits the praises of His people."  Now it doesn't say that we have to be in the best mood when we praise.  Quite frankly, a lot of the times that I end up having to lead Praise & Worship in church or when I have to have my mini praise session, I don't feel like it.  The devil was getting to me, attack ing my soul.  But the beauty is that as long as I'm praising, extolling God, he will inhabit it.

Now what does inhabit mean?  It means to dwell, to live in.  Where will he dwell in?  In our hearts.  To calm the storms of our life for that moment.  Notice I didn't say permanently, but he will give us that peace that surpasses understanding.  Like out of nowhere, we will feel amazing.  Don't believe me, I have 2 great examples. One personal and one testimony.

I don't know if all my readers know, but one of the things I pride myself in, is directing Gospel Choirs.  My senior year of college I directed 2 choirs, one at school and one at church.  So, in essence, music is my life.  But this story comes from one of the choir members in the school choir who was a Sophomore for the 2011-2012 school year.  This was her first year in the choir after a rough freshman year filled with heartbreaks and disappointments.  And it's safe to say that she was having a rough relationship with God.

So she joined the choir after seeing us perform during the 2010-2011 school year (her Freshman year & my first year directing the choir) the next year having those thoughts looming around in her head.  For the first half of Fall 2011 she was still down, still having a plethora of thoughts running through her head constantly asking God: "Why? Why? Why?"  But, the more she sacrificed or forced herself to sing, the more peace she started to feel about it.  The situation in itself wasn't necessarily getting better, but she was gaining that It is Well With my Soul peace.  By the end of her Sophomore year, I'm sure she will tell you that forcing herself to praise God even though she didn't feel like it, realllly reallllly helped her.  Because God inhabited her praise.

For me, my one of many examples came from my Senior Year of College.  Where the school choir was scheduled to perform that morning and I rolled out of bed completely in the wrong spirit.  I legitimately rolled out of the wrong side of bed.  And when I direct, I don't just stand there and move my arms, I have energy, I engage the listeners and hype up the singers.  But that day...I just didn't feel like it and I know people could tell on my face.

So, the rehearsal right before the we sang i was just flat.  And when the actually moment came for us to sing our first few songs I was out of it.  I grabbed the mic started engaging the audience, and it was just....flat.  So I just stopped trying and just focused on the choir.  But the longer the service went the better I was solely starting to feel.  We sang approx... 3 songs and then the speaker for the morning spoke who was amazing by the way.  By the time the speaker was done speaking, I started to feel the Spirit but I needed that finial push.  So the choir went up to sing its final song which was a simple song called In This Place.  Where the main line is: "Lord have your way in this place."  This song, in its simplicity never really did anything to my spirit before.  But this wasn't any ordinary time.

For the first time in my life.  I started crying because of the Holy Spirit.  It was tears of joys.  It actually had a little trouble directing and thankfully made it through it.  But when it was over, I just sat in my chair and just started thanking God silently with my head buried in my hands.  That was the legit moment where I felt the Spirit move the most in my life and it ironically came at the time when I felt the worst initially.

See brethren!  You gotta force yourself sometimes.  The Sacrifice of Worship.  It's not about how you feel.  It's about recognizing the sovereignty of God.  That despite it all, The Lord Has Been Sooo Good to you.  I'm going to end it with the first verse and chorus to one of Kirk Franklin's most famous songs (I told you that music is my life) which was actually probably his first legit hit called Why We Sing.

Someone asked the question:

Why do we sing?

When we lift our hands to Jesus;

What do we really mean?

Someone may be wondering,

When we sing our song;

At times we maybe crying

And nothings even wrong.

-

I sing because I'm happy

I sing because I'm free

His eye is on the sparrow

That's the reason why I sing.

Glory Hallelujah!

You're the reason why I sing!

It's A God Thing

I know that its been a while since I've posted, but a lot of things have been going on with the end of J-Term and the beginning of the Spring Semester that I've been slightly overwhelmed, but I'm back!

I head a sermon on January 30, 2011 at Enon Taberbernacle that really made me think.  It was titled, "It's a God Thing" and the primary basis of it was that God has his hands in everything that we do.  

Have you ever had one of those instances that something amazing or spectacular happened that you know that there is no way you could've done it?  No matter how big or how small this accomplishment was, God had His hands in it.  Sometimes I just have to give him PRIASE!

*I, I gotta praise...I gotta praise and I gotta let it out...I got a praise*

I don't know what you, as the reader is going through or what miracles He has pulled you through but what I DO know is that everyday he does something amazing in my life which is waking me up in the morning.  Yes, sometimes I don't feel like gut I am getting out of bed because I'm a lazy, grumpy, human being, but, I am blessed that he woke me up.

For some people waking up is not a miracle, some people may need more evidence, and what I have to say about that is that God works on HIS time, not our time.  He doesn't have to prove Himself to us, and we should NOT expect things just because we ask for it.  He knows our life and our needs better than we THINK we know it.  He is OMNIPOTENT, ALL-KNOWING, and ALL POWERFUL.

There has been a miracle in my life that happened on monday during the United Voices of Praise practice.  Today was the first day for auditions and I honestly didn't know what to expect.  Fall Semester's turnout was really good, I would estimate about 75 people were there.  This rehersal had an astounding 88 people in it.  I told the choir that I never thought I would see a number bigger than the Fall Semester but praise the LORD I did.  And it wasnt from anything that I did.  I would love to boost my ego claiming that it was my doing or even the choir's doing in persuading people to join with their performance but in reality....IT'S A GOD THING.

There have been performances that I've been nervous because not enough people showed up in my opinion, but guess what? We still rocked it.  Why?  It's a God Thing.  So, anything concerning UVP, I am no longer worried about because I know that He has his hands on this choir.  Originally, I was quite nervous about the studio session that we will have ina week but I'm not now and you already know why......BUT if you don't know I'm gonna let you know....

IT'S A GOD THANG!!