Worship x Performance

I’ve thought about writing on this subject for a long time, but until now I hadn’t had any encouragement or the right words to begin with. Last Saturday, watching American Idol I had an insight from the Spirit by Jennifer Lopez words to a contestant:

“There must be a connection between the singer and the song, the words that are being sang. I couldn’t see it coming from you today”.

I’m not writing against the fine arts nor exhaustive reharsals, music degrees, theology degrees or so, cause if were I doing a thing such as I would be writing against the Word: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1.17.

EVERY good gift, there’s no exception. Designers, architects, fashion stylists, writers, song writers, handy people for handmade stuff, cooks – secular or sacrate – every good gift comes from the Father of Lights.

In Exodus 31 versus 1-6 God himself says to Moses about who were the people he had chosen to work on every little detail he had told to Moses.

And if you can check in your Bible you’ll see that God FILLED – exaclty word – those men with one core ability so they could perfom the duties:

And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, Exodus 31.3.

God didn’t give to Bezaleel and his assistance wisdom, understand and knowledge in all manner of workmanship! those are simple gifts he gives everyone around the globe and throughout the years, I can mention some like Michael Jackson, Beatles, Elvis, etc… but Bezaleel received the SOURCE OF ALL GIFTS – The Spirit of God.

It’s only by the Spirit of God acting out on us that our gifts touches lives with transformation, restauration, salvation, healing, because what is touching them is the Spirit of God  – this is the “connection” between the singer and what is sang – as Jennifer had told.

Nowadays we have seen more and more “worship leaders” completly disconnected with the WORDs.

Our songs are so deep in intimacy, in renouncing, in lifting Him up, but the time spent in reharsals and degrees had taken away the time spent at Jesus’ feet, at the Cross, at his presence! Just like the disciples.

See what was told about Peter and John when they were preaching right after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them:

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4.13

Don’t get me wrong, but the more the church has valued the B.A, MBA, etc, the more it has lost the reliabilty in God.

It’s easier reading a resumè and picking up the more qualified candidate rather than fasting, praying for leaders as God’s heart.

And then, what we’ve got is a forefront of a christian temple – we even got an enourmous cross up there!, you see? – but inside we got an outfit of a concerthouse and underneath the lightspot there it is – the performer! the speaker! and no longer the worshiper and preacher!

We had studied so much, we had dedicated so much time in shaping up our leaders in training and doctrinal studies, or music charts that we have no need to receive the Spirit of God, otherwise my diploma is hang up in my office in vain, so we better had hang up Jesus at the Cross in vain rather than our diplomas!

Again, I’m not against music degrees, theology degrees, I just need us to get aware that if we don’t have the connection with what we sing, with what we preach, if we don’t mean it, people will not receive what they need to inside of our churches.

It’s time to stop performing! People are supposed to go to church to celebrate a worship service and not to watch it.

The audience is not yours, the message is not yours, though it’s sent through your voice and chords.

Psalm 33.3 – Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

A new song is required more than a skilfully performance, otherwise Michael Jackson and plenty of others secular artists would be the best worshipers we’ve heard about, but it’s not like that.

When you perform you want the audience to see you. When you worship, you want the audience to get into God’s presence with you! It completly changes the perspective.

When you worship you can be in the center of the stage, but completly aware that you are just a reference, the center is in Him!

When you trust in your diploma more than in the Spirit of God you develop an own way to believe on what is written at the Bible, and then you are no longer being a fountain of living waters – John 7.38 – To do so you must believe in Jesus as the Scripture says, and to believe as the scripture says you need to have the Spirit of God communicating it to your heart! Romans 8.16

And now…if you want to worship rather than perform, you need learn the secret that Jesus shared with that woman in Samaria when she asked him about the right place to perform worship.

So He answered: God {is} a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship {him} in spirit and in truth. John 4.24

He meant to say that a real worship service has nothing to do with the outfit or place where it happens, it is all about your relationship with the Spirit of God (in spirit) and your lifestyle (in truth).

My prayer is that you can choose the best part of serving him, which will never be taken away from you!

 

Count on my prayers,

 

Danilo.

There’s a Time for Everything.

Dears,

God controls everything underneath the heavens and nothing happens without his perception and/or agreement, permission.

When Ecclesiastes 3 was written I think its author was concerning about life, just like I’ve done these days.
There are so many projects I want to fulfill in my life, in my ministry and when I look at the watch,  it sounds that I won’t make it.

There are so many things I dream for my family, and the same thing happens, it sounds that i won’t make it.

But then the Holy Spirit teaches me where I should look at.

I must look at the Calvary. Jesus fully accomplished his ministry in three years. Jesus fully overcome the death in three days, so I understand that if I keep looking at the watch, I really won’t be able to make anything, but if I look at the watchman, doesn’t matter the time, the seasons, his Sovereign will is going to happen underneath the heavens, and it includes my life.

If I keep missing the focus, I’ll keep missing the most glorious part of everything that will happen in my life : God’s hands performing his miracles in every seasons, in each right seasons.

There’s a time for everything and God is in control of it!

God shall be praised all the time!

Experiencing the Fatherhood.

Hey everyone!

Long time I haven’t blogged, huh?

Yeah… many things has happened and one of the most great good news is that our first son, Pedro, was born last Wednesday (10.20.2010 at 2:10pm).

These last months were very busy for me. Running to work, cooking, washing, ironing. He is a very big boy: 51,5cm and 3,655kg.

It’s been so good to take of him, help my wife to bath, clean.

And it all took me thinking of how God is so love  and in taking care of us in every little detail.

The Psalmist was so right in using the image of a father having pity on his children. I could experience it last night, he suffered with colic all night long and there was me, holding him tight to my body, cause masculine body temperature is naturally higher than female’s, and it softened his colic.

How many tims God is there with us, in the middle of a dark night, holding us tight to his body, softening our suffering and pains.

I barely could sleep last night. Would never let my little and undefended boy alone and tears come to my eyes when I think of it, cause God surely has the same feeling for us asI do toward my son.

As a father has pity on his children, so the Lord has pity on his worshippers. Psalm 103.13

Experiencing the Fatherhood is the best thing could ever happen to me. I feel like I’ve become a better person, a better husband, and above all, God took me to the next level of intimacy and understanding of his feelings for me.

True Worship.

Hey!

I’ve just found an article which every worship ministry should read! And make it happen, of course!!

Hope it bless you as much as it has blessed me!

Love,

Dan.

——————

It seems that in today’s world we have made an industry out of worship. We have ‘worship’ CDs and ‘worship’ artists. Churches are looking to hire a ‘worship’ pastor to lead the congregation in singing ‘worship’ songs. But what is worship really about, and how does the bible define worship?

To understand what worship is, you need to understand the difference between ‘worship’ and ‘praise’. Whenever we talk about music in the church we automatically classify it as being ‘praise and worship’. But if you look at what the Bible has to say about worship, it has nothing to do with music or style or denomination or any of those other things.

If you look at the term ‘praise’ in the bible it is always referring to some sort of outward expression: lifting the hands, shouting, dancing, kneeling, singing, playing an instrument, etc. Praise is always tangible in some way. It is seen or heard. Worship, on the other hand, always refers to some form of sacrifice or humility.

In Genesis chapter 22, God told Abraham to go sacrifice his son, Isaac, and Abraham considered it to be worship unto God. Psalm 95 says, “Come, let us worship and bow down.” Romans 12:1 tells us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, and that is considered our spiritual act of worship. In
Revelation we see the twenty-four elders falling down and worshipping the Father. The very definition of worship in both Old and New Testaments is literally to fall down, or to lower oneself. Worship is humility.

Now, let’s look at what Jesus said in John chapter 4 and verse 24. “God is Spirit, and those that worship Him will worship in Spirit and in truth.” What Jesus was actually saying there is that in order to worship God, you must come to Him in Spirit, just as He is Spirit. In the Old Covenant
there was absolutely no way to approach God. Man was completely separated from God because of sin. But because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, Hebrews chapter 4 says that we now have direct access to the Father, but we must first pass through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Only then will we have the Spirit that can have fellowship with God.

We also know that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. God is Spirit, and Jesus is truth. John 16 also tells us that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. Now that we have access to the Father we must come and worship as He is.

Jesus said that the Father is looking for those that would truly worship. We no longer have to bring an offering or sacrifice, because that was the prescribed type of worship under the Old Covenant. Paul, however, said in Romans chapter 12 than we now have to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. In other words we must come to God in complete humility and lay aside our will so that God can have his perfect will.

Humility has everything to do with the breaking down of our will. The will is the hardest thing to break, but David said “…the sacrifices You desire are broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart.” (Psalm 51:17) The word there for heart is literally translated the will. God is looking for a will that is completely broken and destroyed, because He cannot have His will when ours is in the way. Even Jesus said, “not my will, but Yours be done”.

So, because of the cross we now have direct access to the Father. The veil has been torn, and the separation has been removed. There are still requirements, however, to come to the Father. If one has not received the forgiveness and the Spirit of God, that separation still exists. But once one comes to a place of receiving the final work of Jesus Christ there is complete access.

To truly worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth one must learn the act of humility. One must learn from Jesus, the ultimate worshipper, who “humbled himself and became obedient unto death….even death on the cross” Philippians 2:8).

By Ruseel Henderson.

Russell Henderson is a songwriter and worship leader. He is also the founder of IGNITE Worship Ministries based in St. Louis, MO. He has led worship for 10 years in St. Louis, MO and in Panama City, FL. He has a heart to see the people of God enter in to true worship and experience a fresh manifestation of the presence of God. He is the worship pastor at St. Peters Assembly of God in St. Peters, MO

Glorious.

Hey everyone!

Last Friday I received an awesome gift from our Glorious God: A song.

And I’m passing by only to share with you those words that has captured my heart and being “our song”.

Glorious.

Your love heals me, Your voice breathtakes me.
I’m overwhelmed by your Holy Fire consuming myself
And transforming me from glory to glory,
And transforming my soul from glory to glory!

Glorious, Glorious
Only you are God
Glorious, glorious
Only you are God

And I fall on my knees before your Majesty
For Your mercy awakes my soul
Like the dawn awaking a brand new day.

My prayer is that every morning you may feel his mercy awaking your soul like the dawn awaking a brand new day.

Love,

Dan.

Fellowship.

Hi there!
I’d like to share with you a small thought about the fellowship we’re gonna have with our junior high team tonight here at home.

The Bible says ” how good and pleasant is when we are together in unity”.

We’re gonna have foundue with them and the fellowship in the body of Christ must be just like it.

Chocolate is good by itself, but with the flavour of a fruit it becomes pleasant. Not so rich as a chocolate neither a simple fruit. Together they taste better than apart.

We as a church must be good and pleasant for the world to see how good is to have Jesus and a bunch of people not to call simply friends, but to call family.

Love u all!

Danilo G.

On the Road – Translating for IPCC.

God bless you all,

I’m so thankful for the opportunities God has given me to get to know his people He had chosen for his own among the nations of the earth.

Our brothers and sisters from IPCC have a wonderful history here in Brazil which I could learn and be so encouraged in the Lord to continue serving our Lord in missions throughout the nations and serve his People.

On Thursday I translated the words of our Pastor and Missionary James Paul Ward, and for me, this was the most remarkable moment of those days and I would like to share with you those words I will never forget.

“My father, Horace Ward, was brought to Brazil by our God and started preaching the Gospel in Pernambuco. His was diligent in serving God, but also in keeping his family. And after the only school we could attend had been closed he decided to take all of us back to America, where his children could have a better education. In tears while preaching in America he urged the people: Who among us is going to go Brazil? Please… Is there anyone here willing to go?

A few months later, missionary Chester Miller visited us in America and told my father that Brazil was in need of him. In prayer Horace said: Lord, I need to preach the gospel in Brazil, but I also need to be a parent for my kids. And God answered him: Yes, Horace, you need to be a parent for your kids, but you know that I can be a better parent for them that you would ever be. After those words he came to Brazil and started what now we can see, the IPCC in Brazil. Times in hunger, being persecuted but he never gave up on the calling God made for him.

My father was there when my siblings and I graduated. He wasn’t there when our children were born, but the best thing a parent can give to their kids my father has given us, indeed. He taught us by his example of passionately loving God and preaching the Gospel. Fifty-nine years were past since I had been in Brazil, I barely could remember much, but now I can see so many fruits of the seed my father had planted here, years ago, and now it must continue with the same passion and devotion my father first did, encouraged by the Holy Spirit”.

I could not hold my tears and we could hear the cry of the nations bidding us to wake up for the urgency of the Gospel.

On Friday, Pastor Clyde exorted the church: “If we are not missionaries, we are sinners, for the Power of the Holy Spirit came down over us for testifying and not for our own benefit. If we don’t do missions supporting, praying or going, we are part of those that need to be evangelized, for the Gospel is a calling to go and preach and not the opposite”

And on Sunday, Pastor Damron Bradshaw also exorted us: “We say of the gospel as Good News, but they are not good news if it doesn’t get there on time for those who are desperate in need of hearing of them”.

I trust in the Lord that, after those days, our lives won’t ever be the same again. And this is my prayer for you who are reading them.

Let the Holy Spirit empower us to go and testify of the Lord among the nations.

Count on my prayers,

Danilo Garcia.
Daily Worship Ministry – Brazil.

He is Risen.

Hey everyone!

Now I’m back for good in this English Version of our Blog and I’d like to share with you some words God has spoken to my heart.

Sometimes prayer may sound difficult, we may think that that praying is a time surrounded by religious rituals and we forget that praying is nothing but talking to our Father.

We forget that by the sacrifice on the Cross we have free pass to the Holy Presence and now, he’s not only our God before who we must be in religious clothing and rituals just like in the Old Times before the Cross.

Now that we have the thorn veil and the empty grave we can be before the throne of our Father and talk to him as simplly as a child call on his father when having a nightmare.

As simply as a bride talks to her groom.

Jesus is risen and is before God praying for us, he’s our lawyer!

And God, our God is our Father and the Holy Spirit testifies it to our very heart, so we can call upon the name of the Lord everytime, everywhere.

He is Risen. I talked to him a while ago =)

Be blessed!

AirFrance Airbus Accident

Hi!

It’s been such a long time I haven’t blogged here for lack of time, but now it’s a time of urgency and we,  the Church, are called out to show God’s love for those who suffer.

Now is the time for the Body of Christ to show compassion and love for the relatives of those who are lost. They may never see them again and only God can be their shelter on this time of loss and pain.

God has called us to be Jesus disciples and I’m positive that all He wants now is to touch to bring comfort, peace and healing for their hearts.

If you can get near to those who suffer and embrace them, just do it. But for sure, all of us can bow our knees before God and pray for them.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they’ll be sheltered (translated from portuguese)

We can be those blessed. Now we can show God’s love to the World while we cry with those who are in tears.

God is able to uphold them on this difficult time. Shall he count on you for that?

Let’s pray for them!

God’s Calling!

Hi dears!

Yesterday God talked to my very heart about his calling to my life and ministry.

Ezekiel 2:
¹ He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” ² As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

As God had called Ezekiel,  He’s been calling men and women to be reference to their generations.

When God spoke to Ezekiel he told him to stand up.
And everytime God’s talking to us, He is expecting us to take a position before him.

That’s what happen to Ezekiel, He stood up, and it doesn’t mean he only had gotten on his feet, it means he had made his mind about what God had called him to be like.

It must happen to us! God has been calling you and me to stand up before him.

These verses say that the Holy Spirit raised him.
It was happening simultaneously. while Ezekiel was taking a decision in his heart, the Holy Spirit firmed him before God!

It is all about you and me! God wants to raise our lives like banners to guide the world into his presence, but it takes something…

There’s a price, a decision to be taken, a choice to be done…a life to be surrendered and a calling to be answered and fulfilled.

I don’t how long you are planing to wait till take the decision of answering God’s calling to your life, but let me tell you that He’s calling you out today!

Take this decision! And live a meaningful life!

God bless you and your ministry as you seek Him!