{"id":40,"date":"2011-08-06T14:23:13","date_gmt":"2011-08-06T14:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/?p=40"},"modified":"2011-08-07T19:29:42","modified_gmt":"2011-08-07T19:29:42","slug":"camps-retreats-and-much-much-more-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/?p=40","title":{"rendered":"Camps, Retreats and Much, Much More&#8230;(part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Worship Depends on the Quality of the Band&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Over the last 7 months, I have had the privilege of speaking at many different places and to many different groups.\u00c2\u00a0 I have decided to take time to just evaluate those opportunities and to see what God has been teaching me through this time.\u00c2\u00a0 The first lesson I learned, and that I wrote about in the first posting in this series, is one of true humility.\u00c2\u00a0 The second lesson, from the last posting, was one on God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sovereignty. \u00c2\u00a0I could stop right there and that would be enough, but let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s continue down this road a bit more.<\/p>\n<p>A third lesson that I gleaned, or rather was reminded of, is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<strong>it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter how good your band is, the worship should stay the same<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>With working at so many different camps and retreats, I have had the privilege of partnering with many different worship leaders and bands.\u00c2\u00a0 All of them have not been the same in terms of quality, but all of them have been equal in the quality of worship.\u00c2\u00a0 Let me explain.<\/p>\n<p>So many times, people base their worship experience on the quality of a band or the voice of the lead singer.\u00c2\u00a0 If the band is exceptional, then the worship experience is exceptional.\u00c2\u00a0 This type of worship is man-based and centers on the talents of the creation, rather than the characteristics of the Creator.\u00c2\u00a0 If our worship is based on the quality of the band, then our worship changes, because bands change.\u00c2\u00a0 But, if our worship is based on the character of God, then our worship remains the same, unhindered, exalted and honorable.<\/p>\n<p>May we be a generation and a people who worship, not because the song is great or the rhythm makes us move or the lead singer has a phenomenal voice, but may we worship because of God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greatness.<\/p>\n<p>Let your worship reflect what you think about God, not what you think about a band.\u00c2\u00a0 Let your worship bring praise and joy to the Creator, rather than screams and cheers for the creation.\u00c2\u00a0 Let your worship be filled with a sense of awe\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6awe of the True, Eternal God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Worship Depends on the Quality of the Band&#8230; Over the last 7 months, I have had the privilege of speaking at many different places and to many different groups.\u00c2\u00a0 I have decided to take time to just evaluate those opportunities and to see what God has been teaching me through this time.\u00c2\u00a0 The first lesson [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}