Destitute, Desperate, and Insufficient
 | Worship Articles
by Donna Patrick
Contributing Writer
April 21, 2008
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Lay Down Your Talent
Choose songs that God wants. Forget what man wants—forget what the choir members like. Forget your image. It’s not about the music – and it’s not about you! It’s all about Jesus! (Psalm 115:1) Forget your skill, forget about your experience, prestige and recognition. Worship is not for us – it’s for God. Use your instrument to get somebody delivered! Ask God to anoint your heart and your hands, in that order, to prophesy on your instrument. The goal in worship is to experience God’s glory.
Sometimes we get so caught up in what we’ve planned for the service, that we miss worship. That is not our intention, but because of the job we do we have to stay alert as to the order of service; and in so doing, we may not get our praise on, or worship the way we’d like. Some of us even get caught up in ourselves, and as a result miss worship. As musicians, and as worshipers, we must come to the point of total insufficiency; desperation, if you will, such that we rely on no one but God. (John 15:5(b)). We must lay our talents and our lives at the foot of Jesus and allow Him to teach us, so that we can teach others in the way He chooses.
It takes time, effort, spiritual discipline, and a lifestyle of walking close to the Holy Spirit to train our choirs and praise teams to give God glory; not only on a professional level, but on a personal one as well. We must be about pleasing God and not the people. To teach others we must be teachable ourselves. Jesus said in His Word, ". . .greater works than these shall ye do. . ."(John 14:12). The Lord always wants us moving upward-not staying in the same place forever. He has called us to do greater things for His glory, and as we yield ourselves to Him, He will take us to new levels we never imagined.
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.