WorSHIP!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of leading worship at Life Community Church in Shippensburg, Pa. I remember one particular moment during the first congregational song where my mind went blank on the lyrics. I recovered in time by looking down at the video monitor, but that initial fear of having to stumble through the wrong lyrics (or worse yet stop the song) crept into my mind. The service actually went very well and the song in question flowed smoothly, but my initial reaction of fear is what is prompting this post. For the next 3 songs in that service, my attitude of reverence and awe for God was dampened by a fear of forgetting lyrics. Worse yet, I found myself hovering around the video monitor and glancing down frequently even though I knew the lyrics well. During the prayer before the last song, I heard God asking me "Why are you afraid? Am I not in My own house?". The last song I was finally able to turn that fear over to God, and we collectively offered "You Are God Alone" to Him as a heartfelt prayer. I'm thankful that God reminded me in such a direct way that fear has no place in our walk with Him.

Following in the shoes of Steven Curtis Chapman?

Sunday I had the pleasure of returning to Pocono raceway to provide the worship music for chapel at the Pennsylvania 500 NASCAR race. Prior to the event I was feeling much more relaxed and confident compared to my first NASCAR event in June, since I knew what to expect this time around. That confidence, however, started to ebb when I spoke with the Motor Racing Outreach (MRO) race coordinator to learn that the music at chapel for last week's NASCAR race was provided than none other than Steven Curtis Chapman!!! Seriously, the last person the drivers, crew and families heard play in this setting was one of the most famous Contemporary Christian recording artists on the planet, and now they'll be comparing my musical offerings against the high standard he set the week before? Well, needless to say I was a little unnerved initially, but then an amazing thing started to happen....God started to adjust my perspective to see a glimpse of His perspective. First, I was reminded of a conversation with a friend I had just that morning about how worship leading in its purest form is done for an "Audience of One" and not anyone else. Then just prior to service I was speaking with the MRO chaplain about what songs I would be playing that morning, and I saw his jaw drop and face crack a knowing smile when I said one of the songs was a contemporary adaptation of "The Lord's Prayer". Despite the fact that I had never communicated to anyone at MRO the song choices for the service, God had designed it such that Pastor Tim's message was based on, you guessed it, the Lord's Prayer! Through these gentle reminders God gave me the confidence to continue by realizing that He had everything under control all along and that I was leading chapel at that very moment by His design!