We worship, we war

So last week something interesting happened. 

I was very enthusiastic about service but also nervous at the same time as my pastor had asked me to coordinate our service-aka minister. But I was still excited for praise worship. 

On getting to church,  I realised that the keyboardist who is always punctual hadn't arrived. The drummer was around. Most choir members were around. So we prayed and committed the service into Gods hands. Keyboardist still hadn't arrived. I then checked my phone and realised he couldn't make it and a replacement was on the way. Nooo!!! I don't want a replacement today-legit not in the mood. It's too late to go through the songs. Will he know the songs, what key will I sing on now? (All the things going through my head. Our church is in the process of building up a team of musicians so we currently use an agency).  

Immediately, I told the Holy Spirit how tired and unprepared I was for this. Simultaneously, I changed my prayer ‘Lord please just help me’. With much courage, I pick up the mic ready to start without the keyboard and just embrace what the spirit of the Lord wants to do. 

1st issue, the mics started messing up. They were perfectly fine beforehand but once we started singing, it kept cutting off. I'm like what the heck! We start swapping mics, sound guys are running up and down. I eventually just put the mic down and carried on singing, closing my eyes and focusing on Jesus. 

I hear someone running in pressing the keys on the keyboard to find out what key I'm on. My mind is like, but we didn't pray together- 😩. 

Then I literally saw someone else run towards the conga drums. I'm like wait, what?! Hahaha this is funny.  

Is this praise worship or competition to create the most commotion? I couldn't take it anymore so I stopped everything. Told the sound uncles not to bother with the mic, told the keyboardist not to bother pressing anymore keys, asked the drummer to please refrain from using her sticks and asked everyone to focus. 

Let's forget the list, forget all equipment and just worship. Wanna know what happened? There was such a peace that came with that-we totally flowed together as a church, singing old school devotional songs and personally I felt like this was much better than anything else. 

Let me take you back. The night before I was writing to God and I remember the impression God laid on my heart. He kept asking me to pray for the service. I was like what's with this constant request, can I please talk about my issues? Honestly, it was such a tug but I only prayed a general prayer. I can't remember if I was specific about anything. 

When I narrated this story to one of my worship mentors, I was made to understand that we are not worshipping but we are 'warshipping'. This is warfare. The devil will do ANYTHING, he can to disrupt service, praise worship and personal devotional times. 

A few things I'd like to pass on to choir members and worship leaders 

1. Cover yourself in prayer. This is no longer about you. Yes you have a heart and love for God but you’re in battle
2. The worship team is not a playing field. It's a battle field. You're either ready for it or not. The attacks will come. What I spoke of is minute compared to what I've experienced in the recent past 
3. Be spiritually sensitive. This is tied in with number 1, start by consistently praying and praying in the Holy Ghost. Jude 1:20, Romans 8:26
4. Be open minded. When it comes to praise worship, be led by the spirit. I had my list all ready to go and I had to adapt last minute. This may not be the scenario in all churches but let the Holy Spirit be your compass 

I hope my little Sunday story helps you as it has taught me something fresh. I'm grateful to God for this gift and totally enjoying this journey. Expect more posts on this topic! 

With love,

Rubo 

Lessons learned

Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone--especially to those in the family of faith. (Galatians 6:10 NLT)

Hi everyone,

There is a concept in project management called 'Lessons Learned'. It's simply an evaluation of the different points within the project. Some themes include improvements that could have been made along the way, logs of different mistakes that occurred and conversations ruminating around action points that can be taken onboard for the next project. 

I find it to be a useful tool as, in my view, small improvements over time produce excellent results.  
Having said that, these are my lessons learnt from last month and I intend to take these forward from now on, so follow me as we continue...

1. You can't influence the expectation's people may have of you 
This!!! Honestly, brethren, you can only do so much. I thoroughly hate the idea of people bondage, yet it is one thing I find myself constantly fighting against. It's time to embrace who we are, including our limitations and look only for God's approval. 

2. The dynamics of certain friendships will change...
and you have to be ok with that. It does not mean that something terrible happened, it could  just imply that friendship has run its course. There's no need to pull at frayed strings. 

3. Excellence is worth striving for 
I recently realised that it didn't matter what field, talent or product it was, as long as it had exhibited excellence of some sort, it attracted results. Excellence is universal and people are naturally drawn to excellence. Surely it means because of this, I should be drawn to pursuing it. (There are other reasons as well, might I add).

4. We are more connected than we think
This world is small and we ought to be good towards all when we are in contact with them. I have been in several situations of late where I met someone from my past. Thankfully, it was pleasant and loads of good memories were flooding in. Imagine if I had been such a horrible person towards them in the past? 

5. If one door shuts, another will open
I saw this happening in my friends life. He's quite a passionate and somewhat misunderstood young chap and recently a door was closed if I can use this phrase. In a roundabout way, the same door that was closed was now opened for him. It was so unexpected but mehn, I am ecstatic for him. If this is you, wait on it...it is coming. 

6. Every relationship will teach you something 
How do I put this phrase in a better way? What I mean is even though the relationship did not work out, there was something in it that made you a better person. Something was gained through that experience-it served a purpose. Having said that, please don't waste your time in a relationship that CLEARLY isn't going somewhere. It is not every rope that you need to hold on to.

7. We all have a lane
Everybody has a unique part of them that makes them different from everybody else. Find it, embrace it, use it.

and finally the UK has no sense of seasons. Torrential rain in summer *sigh*

That's all for now guys,

Much love 

Rubo