However, we have to remember that – in the end – the emphasis is on God, not on what we feel. And the same is true for worship leading. Though some were skeptical of preaching that elevated emotions, Jonathan recognized that if God is GREAT, is it our job the help them respond to God’s truth whole heartedly. He noted that some people who responded with great emotion to God’s call then fell away, while others stayed the course. Stephen had me from the outset by quoting Jonathan Edwards in the intro: “ I should think myself in the way of my duty to raise the affections of my hearers as high as possibly I can, provided that they are affected with nothing but truth, and with affections that are not disagreeable to the nature of what they are affected with” (Jonathan Edwards, via Stephen Miller)Įdwards, a key players in the Great Awakening, had great wisdom about “affections”, or rather, the things people feel strongly about.
How I wished this book had existed back then.
But I wasn’t a “worship leader”, at least not in any Godly sense. I wanted to be the next Bono, or Sting – if you gave me a platform, I’d take it. Don’t bother that I had only arguably been a Christian ( that’s a long story in itself for another b log ) for a few months, & had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what worship WAS ( “You want me to spice up these awful songs with a few friends in front of 400 college kids, 65% of which are girls? I’M IN!” the young college me responded wholeheartedly), I was encouraging fellow students to sing along, while – quite literally – going to FISTS with others on the team in the hallway before and after our set. Two added bonuses: it’s a speedy read, & the price is RIGHT!Īs a baby believer in college, a local campus ministry realized I was 1.) a Christian & 2.) a musician, so I was given a prominent roll on the worship team. Worship Pastor/Artist Stephen Miller has penned a helpful little gem with Worship Leaders, we are not Rockstars – one that will be added to my “must read” list for all beginner worship leaders, & a suggested read for anyone in worship ministry in general. It’s hard to keep up sometimes with the deluge of new music & books, so sometimes one gets overlooked.
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