thoughts on worship you may have heard already.

Sometimes I sit and really pay attention to the songs when i'm in a worship service. Not really as much when playing but being in the crowd. Once i stop criticizing now bad the mix is or whatever other bologna i wanna complain about, i start to pay attention to the words. like to the point that my head might explode. have you ever thought about one word in your head over and over till it doesn't sound like you're even speaking english anymore? its like that.

what i've found sometimes is that some of the songs we sing are ridiculous. i'm sure i'm not the only one that thinks this. i wonder about the people that seem like they're writing out of obligation and not out of overflow. (someone else has said that before, i dont remember who.). but i get mad at the people who write those kind of songs. they may be really awesome people but i've always been annoyed by songs that sound like they were put together from a worship word bank. i wouldn't question how genuine the songwriters are, but sometimes i wonder if they think about what they're actually doing. they are writing songs for thousands and thousands of people to sing and some of these songs have really bold statements in them. and if we're really honest with ourselves, we don't mean most of the things we say when were singing worship songs. or we don't take the time to understand what were singing. i mean, come on. we are totally into worldly things. i know i am. i'm not all about money or clothes. i know my life here is a vapor. but still. my flesh absolutely desires the things around me, even though they are nothing compared to what eternity has to offer me. so i find myself hesitating and thinking before i sing such bold statements like "all i need is you." i know its true, but i want to be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is all i WANT. At the same time, i would hate for someone to not worship because they are digging too deep into the language of the song and just end up frustrated. if thats the case, do something else. pray, kneel, jump around, do whatever. just as long as you know you're being yourself and you mean it.

Maybe its the worship leaders responsibility to think about what songs they're gonna sing, but its those certain phrases that really make me anxious. "You are the only thing that thrills me" or "You are all i want, "All i have is yours." i mean, what if you said that and God was like, "fine, i'm going to blow up your house." chances are He won't but, you probably get the idea. i guess my point is that the average person, especially the non-musical, artistic, poetic, whatever person, wants you to do the work for them. which is fine. thats not their fault. i am terrible at math. i always want the lady at the bank to add stuff up for me when i am depositing multiple checks and getting cash back. its not something i trust myself to do. and i am lazy. my point is that the worship leader is just giving words to them instead of letting them do it themselves. thats just the way it works. you cant go in a room play chords and expect everyone to make up something themselves, or start speaking in tongues, or whatever. alls i'm sayin is, if people act like robots during worship gatherings, they're gonna lie to themselves, and worse, lie to God. This is bold to say, especially since i'm not a songwriter, and I have only been leading worship on a small scale for a couple years. but i still urge people to think about the words on the screen before they memorize them and let muscle memory spit them back out the next 400 times the song is played.

What's awesome about worship songs is we get to declare the truth through music, and I love when the truth (the Word) can hit you differently when its put with a melody. So make sure that you're acknowledging the truth by telling the truth when you sing. Be honest with yourself. You're not fooling God, only yourself. And thank you worship songwriters for writing songs for those of us that can't. I apologize if i'm saying the same thing you've heard from someone else already, its on my heart and i assure you this is the result of serious thought, not hasty emotion. and please, correct me if i have been untrue or twisted the truth in any way.

oh and im kind of a fan of these