What Are We Chasing

I have been blessed in my life to be afforded the opportunity to be involved in church planning. By that I mean I have led worship teams, been on worship teams, helped plan youth events, got to be in conversations about the direction of the church, and have been involved in a greater community of ministers and church musicians thanks to social media. I love thinking and dreaming about the future of the church, I love that people who play music in church take it seriously, and I love that people who serve (preachers, musicians, greeters, planners, sound engineers, light guys, designers, videographers, photographers, ect.) are always aiming to  get better at what they do! I honestly believe that the glory of God's name deserves the best that we can give and not a "good enough for church" mentality. The King of Kings deserves above and beyond and not just "good enough".

There is a danger in all of this that I think anyone who has ever been involved in planning understands; it is all too easy to miss the purpose of it all in the midst of the details. Our conversations start talking about the details: which songs we sing, what guitar pedals we use, what colors the lights are, budget issues, what we could buy to do church better, what the preacher/worship leader could do better, and what kind of coffee is best. All these things should be considered by the appropriate people, but the danger comes in dwelling on the details.

I recently went to a wedding (not Elizabeth and Aaron's beautiful wedding; congratulations!!) which may have been the most beautiful and thought out weddings I have ever been to! After the ceremony we went outside for the reception and one of the bridesmaids joined us at the table. She started talking about all the things that went wrong and all the details that didn't get finished. I was thinking, "Are you kidding me?! One of the most beautiful and sweetest weddings I have ever been to and all you can do is think about the details that don't matter." I wish she could have enjoyed the wedding day just like had!

I find that I often do the same thing in church. I get consumed with doing my job on that day, that I forget why I am there. And the danger in planning that way is that neither people nor attendance rise because of these details. 

A well-produced service can't save anyone. Guitar tone doesn't bring people in the doors. A cool video cannot deliver anyone from darkness. Only the presence of God can do it. 

Gold has been stirring this in my heart over the past week. I spent most of the week doing design work for the church, and I know that was important. But I know nothing was as important as Wednesday night when then people of God were declaring "it is well" and he met us in that place.

If God has given vision for a big, powerful, and influential church it will never happen through great programs but only by the presence of God. When you hear the stories from guys like Bill Johnson at Bethel Church coming up and the new wave that began at the virtually unknown Toronto Airport Vineyard Church with Randy Clark who no one knew 20 years ago you begin to understand that the Lord blesses the people that value his presence with his presence and that people come and are delivered as a result!

So let's have a renewed pursuit of the presence of God instead of a pursuit of better services. Let's go after God instead of cooler songs. He is all we need

-Patrick Hawkins

On Worship and the Lord's Doing

Greetings to all you beautiful people!  I hope this finds you loving life and living it to its fullest.

I'd like to share and encourage you guys today with a story that I heard shared by someone else earlier this year.  It's been an ongoing revelation for me in my worship and something that I believe is exciting for us to grab on to.

In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah found themselves as a target to be destroyed.  A few other groups of people had come together to form a vast army and to hunt down Jehoshaphat and his people.  Jehoshaphat was alarmed and probably scared.  What in the world was he supposed to do?  Where was he supposed to go?  Everything was closing in on him. Since there was no promising hope in anything else, he decided to seek the Lord and proclaim a fast for all of Judah.  Everyone came together to seek and inquire of the Lord.  As they gathered together, Jehoshaphat stood and said (in verse 6), "O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven?  You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.  Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you."  He acknowledges that the Lord is greater and rules over all but still feels the pressure caving in on him as we see in verses 10-12: "But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir.... See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.  O our God, will you not judge them?"  The circumstances were not in Jehoshaphat's favor.  Things were closing in and time was running out.  Everything was crashing down around him.  He then utters a crucial confession of dependency and speaks a powerful declaration: "For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

After this, the Spirit came upon another man in the assembly named Jahaziel, who spoke this to Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah in verses 15-17: "'...This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army.  For the battle is not yours, but God's.  Tomorrow march down against them....You will not have to fight this battle.  Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.''"  What an incredible reminder that the battle belongs to the Lord, and we just simply need to believe Him.  Exodus 14:14 says, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."  Praise Him for His rest!

The story only gets better.  Jehoshaphat and the people decided to take the Lord at His word.  They decided to go ahead the next morning and began to simply march down against the army coming to attack them (still not really knowing exactly how things were going to unfold).  In the midst of this, they actually began to worship the Lord and sing His praises.  And here's the good part (verse 22): "As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated."  It was during the people's worship that the Lord literally defeated their enemies!  It even goes on to say that the enemy troops began to destroy and annihilate each other.  The people of Judah were able to truly worship the Lord, and therefore receive the promise of victory, because they simply continued to look at Him and believe Him.

The Lord does some incredible things in our worship.  Enemies are defeated.  Chains are broken.  Healings take place.  Broken relationships are restored.  People are filled with joy, a peace that passes understanding, hope that doesn't make sense, a love that never stops, and on and on.  No matter the situation we find ourselves in, may we all choose to look at and believe the Lord moment by moment and naturally worship Him in all of His goodness.  He will show Himself faithful.

Love you guys,
Josh

Welcome

Welcome to our blog. We hope to have various members from the band post pretty regularly. You can check back to hear about what is going on with the band and what God has been teaching each of us.

If you use Blogger, you can follow http://www.restorationworshipband.blogspot.com/

We look forward to seeing and hearing from you soon,

Patrick