No Spec Work - Rewarding Creativity Properly

What should we expect on the news-worthy date 21 December 2012? Prophecies and speculation of 2012 have multiplied, sweeping from the menace of Judgment Day to the miracle of a planetary shift of consciousness. Together we’ll analyze this now in detail.

One creator of a 2012 end times book believes that 2012 is not a harbinger of end times, but that it is the beginning of an enlightened new age. This perspective throws out conjecture that the Earth’s pole will make a powerful alteration. Rather, the 2012 end date for the Mayan Long Count suggests the close of one age and the start of another, per the consensus of this author.

The 2012 end times end times survival guide survivalists are at the opposing end of the continuum — these alarmists anticipate cataclysm from abrupt changes of the Earth’s poles and magnetosphere. There are those trust that 2012 will undergo increased sunspot activity. If that were to take place at the same time that the magnetosphere continues to grow less powerful, problems with the climate linked to global warming are predicted to exponentially increase.

From a strictly astronomical perspective, here is what will transpire on December 21, 2012. The sun will reside in the Sagittarian star formation, the direction of the center of the Milky Way galaxy. On the winter solstice of 2012, the sun will lie precisely between the Earth and the absolute center of our galaxy. Whether that will offer any specific impact is suspect.

Learn about 2012 and read popular reviews of eight 2012 end of the world books at wpo.net.

Church on mission is definitely a trendy title that is anywhere you look these days. the notion that we have to categorize church buildings, missional, has since the beginning of creation been somewhat odd to me. come on, shouldnt all church buildings be missional in their very essence? Shouldnt a church, at its very essence, shoot to engage their culture and neighborhood with the message of Jesus as a missionary would in a different country? Isnt this what the bodies of Christ is challenged to do in the sending out by Jesus in Matthew 28:19? Our own city requires this style of church. Austin church is slowly transitioning to what Christ instructed in the Bible.

Jesus gives the charge in Acts 1:8 saying, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 personifies this idea as, right before Jesus Christ ascends to Heaven, He commissions the disciples on a journey that would launch right in their individual community. He begins with their area of Jerusalem, and then enlarges the call to the far parts of the world.

As believers, we are not urged to loneliness, but to be missional people who are aggressively going out and connecting with others right where they are with the gospel. We have noticed this throughout history: God motivated Abraham on a mission to exit his country and his people and go to the town that God would show him (Gen. 12:1), God sends Moses on a mission to rescue an enslaved people and lead them to relationship with God (Exodus 3:8-10), God sends Jesus on a exploration to earth to restore all things to Himself through the blood of Christ (Colossians 1:20). And now God is sending us on a story to engage homes, cities, people groups, and even nations with the story of Christ(Matt. 28:19 Mark 6:7 Luke 10:1 John 20:21 Acts 1:8). If we abandon this motivation and continue to perceive the church buildings like a invite only country club ” encouraging that people resolve their act, pay their deposit, and come to our church God will continue His exploration without us.

Anyone who has read their Bible would have to concede in principle at least that it does say that God loves to bless his children. It also does promise that if we are giving individuals we should expect to have many wonderful blessings returned to us as a result. These promises are unquestionable. Christ said that if we gave that men would give to us good measure pressed down and running over, Luke 6:38. The principle here is not in question; it is the use, and or rather the misuse of this principle that causes all the trouble. Anyone trying to prove that the Bible does not promise God’s blessings to the generous giver would come up woefully short. So how does this doctrinal new kid on the block, the abundant life gospel, succeed in the wake of its highly suspect proponents and their methods?

The first thing today’s prosperity gospel lacks is universality. Can this gospel be preached to everyone in any place throughout the world? The answer to this question is a simple, no. Other than in the United States and Western Europe this gospel is impossible to preach and in large part it is mocked. Americans make up about one sixth of the entire worlds population yet they consume almost fifty percent of the world’s food. Even in the burgeoning economies of Europe, China, Japan and South Korea it is common knowledge that America is still number one in wealth and waste. Why has the country that already has the most, become the birth place of a gospel that says we should be getting even more? As two thirds of the world sends its children to bed each night with hunger pains, we are asking God to give us the money to go to an expensive spa to lose weight.
One prosperity gospel preacher was recently called out on the carpet for spending ten thousand dollars a night for a lavish hotel suite in Indonesia. By contrast a missionary magazine tells of the humble pastor in some third world country who is rejoicing over a new bicycle he has been given. Now he can pedal around to make his visitations that cover an area of about twenty five square miles. Prosperity then, is figuratively in the eye of the beholder. That the prosperity gospel cannot be preached in every place is proof that it is not the real gospel. The real gospel is that Jesus Christ came into the world, spoke words that give life, died for the sins of the world, rose from the dead and promised to return to the earth and judge the living and the dead. This can be preached everywhere, at anytime throughout the world and it will produce the same effect that it has now for twenty centuries.

In seminary an old professor once told his class that his church was praying for him that God would keep him humble while they would help by keeping him poor. This is one extreme and another is a new book offered by a TV evangelist entitled…How to be Rich and Have Everything You Ever Wanted. What is wrong is that something is missing. The missing element in the pop Christian doctrine of the abundant life is…balance. It would be hard to balance the book just mentioned against the well known saying of Christ derived from the beatitudes…Blessed are the poor Mt 5:3. Balance nevertheless is what this doctrine is calling for. That God has not always promised a blessing in kind is balance John 14:27. That much of the promised blessings were not a material blessing at all is balance Romans 14:7. Carefully checking the motive of our giving is also balance. Are we giving to get? You may as well keep it! God does care why you’re giving. He may notice the figures scribbled on a check but He is still checking the hearts and trying the motives of believers.

America is a success worshipping society that thinks that being rich, powerful or famous is the sign that one has made the heights. That this notion is so pervasive is reflected in our preoccupation with those who have achieved these lofty goals. In India a Guru is a Gandhi like figure, in America they could be a Wall Street investor. Regardless of what they actually are is a matter of perception which is often given precedence over reality. What is clear is that we are continuously questioning, prodding a probing our success icons for information about the keys to their success. From late night television to the New York Times Bestsellers list the line breaks forth replete with all the memoirs, tips, secrets and how to manuals of the rich and famous. Now Christianity has its own success gurus who seem ready to tell us their secrets as well. Unfortunately that secret usually comes in only one flavor. Send me, my ministry and my programs your money to get God to bless you. Many of these ministries are indeed doing wonderful things for the poor and the promotion of the gospel so we can’t put them all in one big heap. What we can do is be a lot more prayerful about where we send our funds and why. While we are praying let us not forget that someone as close as next door may need our help right now.

Rev Bresciani is the leader of a non-denominational ministry in the New Orleans area. He has written many articles over the past thirty years in such periodicals as Guideposts and Catholic Digest. He is the author of two books available on Amazon.com, Alibris, Barnes and Noble and many other places. Rev Bresciani wrote, Hook Line and Sinker or What has Your Church Been Teaching You, published by PublishAmerica of Baltimore MD. He also wrote a book recently released by Xulon Press entitled An American Prophet and His Message, Questions and Answers on the Second Coming of Christ. Rev Bresciani has his own website at americanprophet.org

As the Chritmas season approaches, I figured it’s a good time to submit the following article:

THE CHRISTMAS VICTORY

A logical and practical interpretation of Is.7:14 in the light of context and language.

As you celebrate Christmas, sending out cards, putting up the tree with bright lights and decorations and getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of gift-buying, do you stop to ask yourself what is the real meaning of Christmas? If you do, what is your answer? Simply that a babe was born in a manger 2000 years ago?

But then, do ask how does it apply to me? I’m sure some of you would say that of course the babe was our Savior, who would later die for our sins. True, but even this doesn’t go quite far enough. In fact, it makes Christmas seem somewhat subordinate to Good Friday, which, according to some, should be the major holiday we celebrate and not Christmas. I believe however that if we would realize the full intent of His coming as given by God in the Holy Scriptures, we would see that we have good reason for making Christmas the major holiday it is and for celebrating to the hilt.

What, you ask, is the full intent of His coming? It is not
simply that without his birth there would not have been His
death, but rather that His birth was, in itself, a sign and
guarantee both of this death and of the salvation it would bring in all it’s fullness. This fullness includes not only a future eternity, but also a present victory and freedom from fear in our everyday lives.
In Matthew 1:20-21, Joseph is told by the angel not to be afraid to take Mary for his wife because “that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who will save his people from their sins.” The very name “Jesus” means “Savior,” or more literally, “Deliverer.” It is the transliteration of the Old Testament name, “Joshua.” Just as Joshua led his people into victory in the land of Canaan, so Jesus leads us to victory in the land of our Spiritual heritage.

Then in verse 21, Matthew explains “Now All this took place that what is spoken by the LORD through the prophet might be
fulfilled, saying, “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL, WHICH TRANSLATED MEANS ‘GOD WITH US.’ Before we look at the quote, we must notice the word “fulfilled.” In the original Greek, its literal meaning is “filled up” or “completed” or “completely filled.” Also let me mention at this point, to avoid misunderstanding later, that the word for “virgin” in Matthew allows for NO other translation. Verse 23 is a direct quote from
the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures) of Is.7:14, which uses the Greek word specifically indicating one who is a virgin.

Please keep the meaning of these three Greek
words in mind as we continue. “Jesus” = Deliverer,” “fulfilled”
= “completely filled up,” and “virgin” = “virgin.”
Yes, there is no question that in Matthew the word “virgin” can only mean “virgin.” When we come to original Hebrew Is.7:14,
however, the case is different. The Hebrew language, being much broader in its word usage than Greek, allows for several related meanings to be attached to one word within a general context or circle of meaning. For example, the word “shalom” not only means “peace,” but also “welfare,” “blessing,” “hello,” and “goodbye,”
among other things. The same sort of thing is true of the Hebrew word “alma,” which was translated as “virgin” by the King James translators in Is.7:14 The word has a broad meaning of “a young woman of marriageable age, one of whose characteristics may or may not be that she is a virgin.” (See I Chr.15:20, Ps.68:25, Prov.30:19, Song 1:3 & 6::8) Thus, the translators of the RSV
translated it as “young woman.” They were roundly criticized, although this is a perfectly allowable translation, and one that fits more readily into the context as we shall see.

One of the main principles of interpretation is to check the
context. In this case the immediate context would be the 7th and 8th chapters. Forget for a moment the prophetic nature of verse 14 and try to picture yourself back in the time of Ahaz and
Isaiah. In the beginning of Chapter 7, we see that we are
involved with a situation of actual physical warfare. Ahaz, king of Judah is facing two enemies, Rezin, king of Syria and Pekah,
king of Israel, and he’s scared to death. Thus, the LORD sent Isaiah to tell Ahaz not to fear, because these two kings would be
defeated. Sensing Ahaz’s doubt, the LORD asked Ahaz to as Him
for a sign, but Ahaz, in a false piety, refused. So the LORD
said that He would give Ahaz a sign. Thus, we come to verse 14.
The fact that the message is addressed to the “house of David”
does not negate its being intended for Ahaz, as he was the ruler,
and thus the representative of the nation. If we translate
“alma” as “young woman” and continue reading through verse 16, we
see clearly what the sign to Ahaz was. The LORD is saying that a
child will be born, and before the child is of age, the land
whose two kings Ahaz dreads will be forsaken. If we continue on
into Chapter 8, we see that a child is indeed born. Isaiah had a son, whose name means “hast-ye-haste-ye-to-the-spoil,” and a
similar statement is made in verse 4 to that of 7:16, tying
Isaiah’s son in with the prophecy of physical victory made to
Ahaz. The child is even called “Emmanuel” in verse 8.
Now you have a clear picture of what verse 14 meant to Ahaz.

“But,” you ask, “How does all of this relate to Matthew’s
quotation of verse 14, and the use by Matthew of a word which
could only mean ‘virgin’?” I believe the answer lies in
typological interpretation. Do you remember the other word used
in Matthew, which is translated “fulfilled”? Remember we said
that it literally means “completely filled up.” The prophecy was
only partially fulfilled in Ahaz’s time. The complete
fulfillment would come later on. Thus, Isaiah’s son, whose very
name has the ring of victory in it, was BOTH A SIGN TO AHAZ AND A
TYPE OF THE ONE TO COME, WHO WOULD BE TO US A SIGN OF SPIRITUAL
VICTORY. In 8:18, Isaiah says that he and his children are for
signs and wonders in Israel, and the word used here for “sign” is
also translated as “type.” (A type is a real person place thing
or event in the Old Testament, which also represents, by way of
looking forward to, a corresponding Spiritual reality, [called
the “antitype”] in the New Testament.)

This typological interpretation allows for the full meaning of
“alma” to come into play. Ahaz heard it as “young woman” and saw
it fulfilled as such in his time with the birth of Isaiah’s son.
But, looking back, we can see that this was not all that God
intended. God had more in mind than the birth of Isaiah’s son.
He was also looking down the corridors of time to when He would
send His son, through a virgin. Thus the prophecy was completely
filled up by the birth of the antitype, Jesus, as recorded in
Matthew. Hopefully, we can now see more of the reason that Jesus
came and why we can celebrate his birth to the full. Ahaz feared
two enemies. We also have two enemies, which we need now no
longer fear. I mentioned Is.8:18. This verse is quoted in the
New Testament in Hebrews.2:13 in reference to the incarnation of
Christ, and in verse 14 & 15, we see that he came to set us free
from the fear of death. Paul also speaks of this in
Icor.15:55-57. The second enemy that Jesus came to defeat is the
enemy of sin, mentioned by Paul in Romans 6, saying in verse 14
that it shall not have dominion over us. He combines these two
enemies in Romans 8:2, saying that Christ has set us free, or
“delivered” us from them. Thus, as He tried to tell Ahaz, we
need no longer fear them.

Of course, Rezin and Pekah may also represent your own personal
foe or foes. Whatever your Rezin & Pekah are (the multiple of
things the Devil may use to get you down), do not fear, but know
that Jesus came to deliver you.

This is the real meaning of Christmasthat Jesus came to be our
sign of victoryto show us that we need no longer fear the
multiple forces that may be arrayed against us in the Spiritual
realm. It is evident as well in Chapter 9 of Isaiah, where the
specific promise of the birth of Christthe son to be given in
verse 6is couched in the language of warfare and victory (vs.4 &
5). It is further confirmed by the prophecy of the angel to Mary
in Luke 1:33, and in the Magnificant of Mary and the Benidictus
of Zacharias (Luke 1:46-55 & a68-79), especially vs.69, 71,
&74-75. These especially present the idea that Jesus delivers us
for fear-free service to God. Read these wonderful portions of
scripture and rejoice in the fact that victory can be yours
through faith in Jesus, whose birth we celebrate at this time of
year. May the bright lights beautiful decorations, and fancily
wrapped gifts we see this season serve to remind us of the
glorious victory which can be ours through the one whose birthday
we are celebrating.

Rev. James M. Becher, M.Div., Bible teacher, Publisher of the “Inspirational Succcess Tips” E-zine (to subscribe, send a blank email to:
inspirationlsuccesstips@Freeautobot.com), author of the novel, “OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM, A Novel of Biblical times,”
(visit http://www.publishedauthors.net/jamesmbecher/index.html

Everything one does in his life, irrespective of whether he remembers or not, is recorded in one’s soul just like a memory bank of a computer. The images of these records create spiritual waves which resonate the spiritual waves of the others, irrespective of whether the others know that it is caused by you. Unaware of these unseen spiritual waves, the parties involved are nevertheless affected and confined by the force of karma.

Most people contribute unreasonable problems in their lives to fate and do not understand that fate in reality is simply the results of karma. This undetectable force of karma is not affected by space or time and follows everyone. It was there in one’s previous lives; it is there in one’s present life; it will be there in one’s future lives. It will last forever.

Karma is the natural law of the universe. For every action or cause there is reaction or effect. The existence of all substances and beings in the cosmos is a product of causes and effects of karma. Nothing can exist without a cause. Cause is the essence of all elements and lives, fate is the force that brings them together and effect is the end result. A life is born due to the parents cause and fate.

When a parent’s emotions and desires bring them to heat, they send off a certain wavelength of spirit. As a soul with the same wavelength picks up this signal and starts to resonate, it homes in and enters the womb. This forms the relationship of parents and child. The emotions, minds and habits of parents pass on as heredity in their children, forming the effects of the children’s lives. All memories built into the mind in this life become the cause of the next life. This sequence feeds on itself and becomes a cycle. The force of the cycle decides a person’s fate and this is karma. Death is the end of one’s life and also the beginning of another life.

Everyone wants to live in peace and the best thing to do is to be forgiving and gracious to all sentient beings. If someone tries to hurt us, then we repay him with good deeds. If someone treats us with anger, we repay him with peace. If someone treats us with insincerity, we accept it with sincerity. If someone says hurtful words to us, then we respond in a soft manner. If someone speaks sarcastic words to us, then we keep silent in return. If we meet people who try to deceive us, we try to move them with our sincerity. If we meet violent people, we treat them with a peaceful manner, thus causing their violent tendencies to vanish. If we treat all beings with righteousness, then the atmosphere of evil will vanish.

Author: T.A Chew
Website: http://www.white-sun.com

T.A Chew is a practitioner of Tao after realizing time waits for no man and time will definitely make him an old man. He wants to be a wise old man meaningful to society, live in peace and go painlessly in his sleep. An accountant by profession, he realized the importance of time that he cannot afford to waste.

Jesus saves. He died on the cross for you and me. Because He did, we can have salvation. The shortest prayer in the Bible was from Peter. He was walking on the water, took his eyes off Jesus, and begin to sink. Matthew 14 verse 30 “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Verse 31 “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”

My brother in law once had a 1954 six cylinder Chevrolet truck. This truck was simply built. You opened the hood, and easily had access to the motor. You could work on it. Open the hood of a 2005 Chevrolet. The motors are so complicated these days, that professional training is needed to work on them.

We have often took the simple message of Jesus saves, complicated it to such an extent, that many seeking him are turned off. I remember before the Lord saved me. I was hurting so I went to a local church for help. The pastor talked with me, then handed me a sheaf of papers that I had to read and complete before I could join the church. I didn’t need that; I needed Jesus….and this complicated way of going to Him turned me off. However, a few months later, while sitting at the kitchen table reading the Bible (Psalm 40) that my dear late Mama gave me, I looked up to heaven, and said, “God, if you are real, save me”. Immediately, Jesus came into my heart and I knew I was a new creature.

Which model to we present to others…the 1954 or the 2005?

About the Author

author of My Walk with the Lord, www.selahbooks.com

This article is for worship leaders. And as such, I believe it needs to focus on leadership skills. It is my intent to do this from a Biblical perspective. The only prerequisite for leadership is you must have somebody follow you. I can be just one person or thousands. The definition is still the same - A leader must have someone following them.

Understand That You are a Spiritual Leader

But there is more to leadership than having people follow you. In the Body of Christ you are a not just a leader. You are a Spiritual Leader. Your leadership skills must be in alignment with spiritual ideals.

Spiritual Leader Defined…

A Leader is someone who is called by God with God given capacities and God given responsibility to serve a specific group of God’s people directing them in God’s purpose for that group to bring glory to God.

Now that is a powerful! Go back and read that again. As a matter of fact go ahead and memorize that statement. It is the basis for the rest of this article. It is an important statement that will help you understand your place as a worship leader.

Now what I want to do is break that statement down. There are six important points that I will cover with you. Let’s begin with the first point…

God’s Calling

1 Samuel 3: 8-17 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.

The ministry is a calling from God to do His work. God’s works through His people. He equips them with the proper tools. Things like temperament, abilities, talents and Spiritual Gifts. I believe that every Christian has a specific call in their life to serve God in the ministry. Our focus is of course in the area of music and how that relates to the church. Along with the ability to perform music there needs to be a calling. Let me pose a question to you. Can someone with extreme musical talents not be called to lead a group of people in worship? Yes, it is possible for a talented musician or singer to not be called to become a worship leader. They could very well be called to another ministry. That is of course God’s decision and each individuals responsibility to do what God call them to do.

There are two types of people in the ministry. Those that are called by God to do His work. And those who are attempting to do God’s work yet are not called. Seems rather obvious. But it does happen on occasion that someone is assigned to do a task in the church without regard to any calling on that individual’s life. This usually happens when “The laborer are few”. It is important to note - Unless you are truly called you will be frustrated and discouraged. Your ministry will be ineffective.

How do you know you are called? That is an age-old question and it’s up to you to discover whether you are called or not. Just so you know - I believe that every Christian is called to ministry in one way or another. Each person has a place in the body. There is a perfect fit for every Christian believer. God has purpose for your life. It is you job to allow God to reveal it to you.

Make sure that God has actually called you into your ministry. A good indication of your call is found in your natural inclinations, abliities and attitudes. Which leads us to the next point…

God Given Capacity

Each of us is given the ability to touch people’s lives with the Gospel message. God does this through individuals like you and me. God given capacity is made up of two parts. One part is natural ability and the other part is Spiritual Gifts.

Natural Ability — the tools God uses to glorify Him

The natural ability covers the scope of our intellect and physical prowess. We may be a great mathematical thinker, superior at throwing a ball or a technically skilled musician. From the first day we are born we discover things that we are good at doing. We enjoy the success we have at doing them. And because we enjoy these activities we continue to practice, study and learn about these things. Eventually it becomes a part of our identity. Our Natural ability is the tool by which God can work through us to effect His Kingdom. As a worship leader your tool is music.

Spiritual Gifts — the method He uses to execute His purpose

The day you received Christ into you life as Savior you not only received the awesome gift of salvation, you also received Spiritual Gifts. Every Christian has at least one. The gift He gives you can be small or it can be grand, a gift none the less. Whatever the amount is unimportant, what is important is that you use your spiritual gifts to its fullest potential. Be thankful for the Spiritual Gifts you have.

Now some will debate whether music is a gift. I tend to believe that music is a tool rather than a gift. You are able to take our Spiritual Gift and apply it to music. If you are a teacher - use music to teach. If you are an evangelist - then use music the evangelize.

The best way to learn about spiritual gifts is by reading the Bible. Reading and learning should be helpful in the discovery of your spiritual gifts. First read the following bible verses:

Romans 12:4-8
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
1 Corinthians 12:27-30
Ephesians 4:7-12
1 Peter 4:7-11

Each of these verses categorizes each gift that makes up the Church body. Each one is important.

God Given Responsibility

Matthew 25:13-29 Tells is a story about a man who gave his servant each a talent according to their individual ability. Two out of the three invested their talent and it grew. The third one who happened to have the smallest portion did nothing with his talent. This did not please the man in the story. What I glean from this is that we are responsible to take what God gives us in talent and use it.

Responsibility is about stewardship. Stewardship is the effective management of the resources that God gives us. It is a matter of “taking care of business” for the Kingdom. In the kingdom of God you have no rights. That’s the opposite of our society today. We are led to believe that our rights are paramount in everything. But, in reality God has given us worship leaders a responsibility. The Bible makes it clear that we are to be “Doers of the Word”. Responsibility requires commitment to do what God has called you to do.

We can look at the parable of the talents and see that God requires us to be responsible steward of what He has given us. The main lesson here is that you must take what God has given you and make it profitable for Him. Otherwise there will be severe consequences. You have spiritual gifts and natural abilities. Now it’s time to take those gifts and use them for God purpose. Of course, nothing is done in a vacuum. Therefore you must take responsibility for your action. Both good and bad.

To serve a specific group of people

John 13:13-15 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Jesus was the perfect example of a servant. He washed the feet of the disciples. This was a radical move on the part of Jesus. The lowest person on the social scale did the washing of feet. It was Jesus who came to serve us. And by His example we are to serve others.

Look around you - Who do you see? People! At least I hope that your church has some people in it. This is your specific group of people. God in His wisdom and Glory placed you in the exact spot that He chose for you to minister.

Now we can examine the people a little closer. There are big one and small ones - There are young ones and old ones - There are men and there are women. People come in all shapes and sizes.

Moses was called by God to serve a specific group of people. He took the Israelites out of Egypt and delivered them to the Promised Land. As you know there were a few snags along the way that caused these people to wander in the desert for forty years. But, these were the exact people that Moses was created to serve.

As a worship leader in your church, you have a responsibility to serve that group of people for the season of time God keeps you there. Spiritual Leaders are servants to those around them. Jesus was the perfect example of this.

Directing this group of people toward God’s Purpose

Help people become effective tools for the Kingdom - do these three things…

1. Help them to Discover their place in the Body of Christ

2. Help Them Develop spiritually

3. Help them Deploy their place in the church.

Three things to remember…
Discover -> Develop -> Deploy
Once you know your team member’s individual Spiritual Gifts it is your responsibility to help nurture those gifts. Discipleship is key in the development phase.

Nothing is worse than unrealized talent. Or talent that is wasted sitting on the shelf. Therefore it is vital that each person deploy. That is “go into all the world.” You see someone with a calling on their life; you do a disservice to the church by hindering the execution of that part.

To Bring Glory to God

The ultimate Goal it to bring Glory to God. As musician it is tempting to pursue ego gratification. Your performance in judged not by how well you did - It’s based on how well you related to God and His purpose. The object of your worship is God. It is our job to take our Gifts and Talents and use them to give God glory.

There are entertainers and there are worship leaders. Each one has a different objective. An entertain often times bring glory to themselves. And music is entertaining. Yet it is also a tool used by God to be used by the Church to worship Him. There is a distinct dividing line between doing something by our own strength or allowing God to do it.

You bring glory to God when you die to self and serve the people with song. You bring glory to God when the people are able to focus on their Creator and Savior. In many respects you are a tour guide. Helping people to have an intimate relationship.

This article is an excerpt for the new book by John Pape, Jr titled “Building a House of Worship” You can get a copy of this book at…

http://www.mediatunes.com/bhow/

SPECIAL NOTICE: Please feel free to publish this article in your e-zines, newsletters, on your website or in your book. I only require that you publish the Resource Box and the end of the article.

As you will see in the Scripture verses I will list in this article, God the Father places an extremely high value on the pursuit of knowledge - especially spiritual knowledge. He says that gaining knowledge is greater than all the silver, gold and material things of this world.

The Bible tells us we have to grow in the knowledge of God. Once you get saved - that is just the beginning. From there, God expects you to grow in the knowledge of Him, His Son Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit and all of Their ways. As I mentioned in the article I did titled “The Power of the Word of God” - the number one way that you grow in spiritual knowledge on this earth is by reading and studying the Bible for yourself. There is no other way.

God has arranged to have all of the spiritual knowledge that we will ever need about Him, His Son and His Spirit to all be contained in this one Book. You also grow in the knowledge of God through your own personal adventures that you have with Him in your own daily walk, along with learning from other Christians - especially those who are anointed and gifted to teach from His Word.

Once again, God uses some very intense language in these verses. You can really tell that He is trying to let all of us know the extreme importance of growing in this knowledge. The reason for this is that God’s ultimate aim for us is our sanctification and transformation. He wants us to become more holy like Himself.

However, before God will allow this sanctification process to really kick into full gear through the Holy Spirit - He wants you to fully understand exactly what He is doing and why He is doing it. In other words - you have to have the knowledge as to what God is doing and exactly why He is doing it.

Even small children will pick up on this principle very quickly. Tell a child that he is not to do something - and what is the first thing he will do? He will ask you why he can’t do that particular thing. And then if the child is old enough to understand what that reason is - you then proceed to tell him why it is not in his best interest to do that particular thing. In other words - you are giving your child the knowledge that he needs to have so he knows why he should or should not do something specific.

It’s the exact same way with God the Father. God loves to transmit knowledge to His children across the board on anything that they may need His knowledge on in this life - but what prevents many of His children from receiving this knowledge directly from Him is that they have never been taught how to hear from Him when He does start to try and communicate with them or they do not press in and enter into a seeking mode with Him to get Him to release this knowledge to them.

If there is one major secret I have learned from the Lord on getting Him to release more of His knowledge to you - is that you have to go into a seeking mode with Him. God will not spoon-feed you forever. The Bible says to ask - and then you will receive. Seek - and then you will find. Knock - and then the door will open be open to you. Notice in all three of those conditions that you have to be the one to initiate it. You have to be the one to ask, to seek and to knock. If you do - then God will answer you, open doors for you and let you find the answers to your questions and problems.

King David tells us that we have to meditate on the word of God. To meditate does not mean to blank your mind out waiting for God to talk to you. Meditate means to think about, to chew on, to try and figure out what specific Scripture verses mean and how they specifically apply to your life.

What I have personally found out is that the Holy Spirit will literally guide your thoughts into the revelation that you are seeking after as you are trying to figure out what the answers are. In other words - you will find the knowledge you are needing as you are seeking after it. The Holy Spirit can either guide your thoughts into what the correct answers are by you just using some of your brain power to try and figure things out or He will guide you as to where those answers are located at.

You can literally learn how to “pull” knowledge directly from God by going into these seeking modes with Him! As you will see in some of the Scripture verses I will list below - it is the job of the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us things in this life. In other words - the Holy Spirit is our personal guide and personal teacher in this life. The Holy Spirit can and will communicate to you if you are open to receiving this kind of supernatural communication from Him.

I will be doing a much more in-depth article in the near future on the wide variety of ways that the Holy Spirit will communicate to you - especially in the area of receiving knowledge from Him. But for this article - I just want to give you the main foundational verses from the Bible to let you know that God does want to transmit His knowledge to you across the board on anything that you will need His knowledge on in this life. Not only can God give you all the spiritual knowledge that you will seek after - but He can also give you His knowledge across the board on anything else that you may need His knowledge on in this life.

God can give you His knowledge on how to become better parents for your children, better spouses for your mates, better at whatever specific job or jobs He will be calling you to do. If God is calling you to be a policeman, an attorney, a doctor, a nurse, a stay at home mom, an architect, a laborer, a sports star - He can give you His knowledge in each of those specific areas so as to make you better at each of those jobs. There is absolutely nothing that God cannot give you His knowledge on if you are open to receiving it and are not afraid to start seeking and pressing in after it!

Many, many Christians are missing out on this part in their walk with the Lord. God will supernaturally communicate His knowledge to you - but you first have to realize that He does want to communicate His knowledge to you and then you have to learn how to pick it up and properly read it when He does start to communicate to you. Again - I will go into much more detail on how to really hear from God in another article - but in this article, I want to show to you by the Scripture verses I will list below, that God really does want to impart and transmit knowledge to you.

As you will see in the way that I will present the appropriate Scripture verses on this subject to you - we are dealing with an incredible profound reality - in that God Almighty Himself - a Being with perfect knowledge on all things - is willing to communicate and transmit His knowledge to us through the Holy Spirit - who is literally living on the inside of us! Think about this - that you have the knowledge of God already residing on the inside of you in the Holy Spirit who is already living on the inside of you!

The Scripture verses I will list below will show you the extreme importance that God is placing on each and everyone of us in that we seek to obtain this kind of knowledge from Him. In some of these verses, God is making some very powerful and profound statements. He says:

That we are to GROW in the grace and KNOWLEDGE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

That His people are literally destroyed and will go into captivity for lack of knowledge.

That gaining His knowledge and wisdom will help you walk safely in this life, help preserve you and help keep you on the right path that He has set up for you to follow in this life.

That gaining knowledge, wisdom and understanding is better than all of the gold, silver and rubies of this world and that it does not even begin to compare to anything else that you may desire in this life! In other words, gaining the knowledge of God in this life is bigger and better than any materialistic thing that you could ever buy, want or desire in this life!

To think that God Himself is making this kind of statement in that acquiring knowledge is more important than anything else that we can acquire in this life is as big and powerful of a statement that He can make about what is really most important in this life!

Notice in the first bullet point above that we are to grow in the knowledge of God. I believe that the main reason God is telling us that gaining knowledge is more important than anything else we can seek after in this life is because we cannot grow in God unless we obtain His knowledge and then seek to implement these truths into our lives and walk with Him.

After you get saved - God then expects you to start to spiritually grow and mature in your walk with Him. You cannot become more holy, more transformed and more sanctified unless you are spiritually growing. And you cannot start to spiritually grow unless you are first seeking after the knowledge that will cause this spiritual growth to occur in the first place!

If you really study the people who are most alive in this life - it is the seekers - it is the people who are constantly learning, constantly trying to improve their knowledge base on whatever it is they are seeking after. It is the knowledge seekers that are making the great discoveries that are changing the course of human history with the discoveries that they have made. And they could not have made those discoveries without first seeking after the knowledge that would eventually lead them to those specific discoveries.

As you will see in some of the profound Scripture verses I will list below - God will make you seek and search after knowledge - much in the same way treasure hunters will search for buried treasure. Talk to any true knowledge seeker - and they will tell you that most of their joy comes from the journey of trying to find the knowledge that they are seeking after. Once the discovery has been made and they have found everything that they may need on a particular subject - then it is off to the next great adventure.

Nothing will stimulate your mind and emotions and make you feel more alive than seeking after the knowledge on something that you may really be interested in and be very passionate about. However, many in our country have become “brain dead” and mentally lazy as a result of becoming couch potatoes by watching too much TV. God has incredible knowledge adventures set up for each and everyone of us if we are willing to get up out of our ruts, step out of our safe boats and start seeking after the things that He wants us seeking after.

Before I go into the Scripture verses on all of this - I will leave you with one last thought.

The knowledge of God is like a treasure chest that has no bottom to it! There is no limit to the amount of knowledge that God can release to you if you are willing to dive into that treasure chest and start seeking after it. Think about this long and hard - that the one and only all powerful and all knowing God of the entire universe is willing and able to transmit His knowledge to you on whatever it is you are wanting His knowledge and wisdom on.

Every single Christian has this incredible treasure chest of knowledge and wisdom literally residing on the inside of them in the person of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is only too anxious and just waiting for you to tap into Him to get this knowledge to start to be released to you!

This incredible knowledge adventure is waiting for each and every Christian who is willing to get off the couch and start using the brain power that the Lord has given to each and everyone of us to start to seek after this kind of knowledge.

Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bible commentary and teaching. They currently have over 100 Bible articles. All free of charge.
The article was an excerpt from Michael’s E-book titled, Seeking After the Knowledge of God You can go to their site and download the book free of charge. © 2005 by Michael Bradley. All Rights Reserved.