48. Don't let musical shortcomings discourage you. Balance the last point Maj. Russell Chun's (Turkey) observation that in some settings, it's okay to start out with raw talent and "grow in front of the audience. Making a joyful noise is what is important." Paul David Cull (Brazil) echoes this: "To us at the moment musical excellence isn't the priority. It's amazing how much the Holy Spirit can 'show up' when we're using such simple equipment (no band, a CD player etc). I'd love to have a professional quality worship group but not having one certainly hasn't prevented the Holy Spirit from moving powerfully among us during our worship times."

49. Make the hard decisions about worship team members. Sinful attitudes such as pride short-circuit worship. If a leader won't confront sin and deal with it, the worship will be hindered.

50. Practice as a band enough to where you know, trust, and understand one another musically. Like any other worthy endeavor, leading in worship requires much hard work.

Dress Appropriately

51. Make sure that your clothes communicate what you want to communicate. Again, ask your youth what they think of the way you and other leaders dress. Like it or not, we make statements to them with our clothes. A worship team dressed in black, complete with eyebrow rings, colored hair and tattoos would certainly distract a traditional adult church crowd on a Sunday morning.

Has it occurred to you that a worship team dressed exclusively in the latest preppie Ambercrombie clothes could be just as distracting to alternative kids? The leaders' outfits shout that this youth group isn't for alternative, or perhaps even that Jesus isn't for them. If you minister to a mixed group, you may want band members representing different subcultures.

52. If you're doing a performance to communicate truth, outlandish dress can communicate positively to certain crowds. In my opinion, it's appropriate in certain performance contexts. If you're leading in worship, you'll want to dress in such a way that your appearance doesn't deflect people's gaze from Jesus to you.

Pay Attention to Musical Technique

53. In a band, sometimes less is more. When solo keyboardists join bands, they must realize that they no longer have to carry the entire musical weight. On many songs they may need to play only simple chords or a simple melody line to blend with the other instruments.

54. If you have more than one vocalist singing in unison, choose voices that blend over voices that are uniquely solo.

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Right on Time I am often seeking more and more about Worship. I asked God for a fresh anointing of my ministry and Steve you have captured it all. I am a minister of Song and Dance. This will help us all. This is truly a message for God. I plan to share it with...more Submitted by: Carl E.Long Location: Dallas, Texas Talk about a prayer answering God! After our Praise & Worship Rehearsal on last evening, I prayed and asked God to help me as Praise & Worship leader to express the need to cater to the people of God through worship and praise. God directed me here and everything that we discs...more Submitted by: Cynthia Harris Location: Beaufort, SC Home Runs Much gratitude for this article. It is inspiring and encouraging. All the bases are covered and the home runs are all over the place. Good job and a true blessing. To God be all the Glory!!!!! May we continue to prepare a place that God will inhabit....more Submitted by: Paula Kay Location:

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