Faith and Cancer

'Thank You Jesus For Loving Me' is an up-beat and joyful song of thanksgiving where we remember Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and what that means for us as Christians. This song would be an ideal way to start or finish a Good Friday service, or indeed can be used at any other time of year.

There are a few blog posts doing the rounds at the moment that focus on a problem many church worship leaders face: Engaging the congregation during times of sung worship. Unfortunately they often criticise or point out the mistakes rather than offer meaningful and practical solutions. So here is my attempt at the latter . . . I love worship music. I love singing. I adore playing my guitar for Jesus. However, I do get disheartened when leading others in worship that they are just not joining in! Or indeed appear to not be joining in the worship experience the band and I have worked so hard at preparing. Recent blog posts have highlighted that this is not an uncommon problem. Indeed, watching many YouTube clips of church sung times of worship recorded 'live' everyone in the band is engaging. The musicians are on cloud nine. The vocalists are jumping up and down, hands raised. But the congregation are stood, looking on. Some with hands in pockets or arms folded. None open

Over the past few years God has been challenging me personally as well as my church collectively to look beyond the mere music within church that we glibly refer to as ‘worship’ and to seek out and embrace the breadth and depth of it. Worship that involves our whole selves, our entire lives (living sacrifices - quote). Part of this challenge for me as a worship leader is to go beyond what I am comfortable with. It is to re-discover some ancient paths of worship that lead up to the throne of God from a different perspective. These ways of worshiping may not be my personally preferred way of entering God’s presence; they may even seem a little strange but as a leader of worship I am called to help people enter the presence of God in a way that works for them – not for me! Just because music and song connects deeply with me, it does not automatically mean that everyone connects in the same way. We are all made differently and connect with God differently (See my blog ‘My Experienc

Photo credit: freefoto.com Creative Commons 3.0 license As I read the news reports of the devastating fires sweeping across Table Mountain and parts of South Africa's capital city, I feel for those whose homes have been destroyed. I watch as the emergency services battle to control and contain the raging inferno. As the winds change direction, so the fire is blown in new directions. As the heat remains high, the fire burns on. Without belittling or undermining the suffering that this fire has brought, I do believe that as I think and pray about it - God has a prophetic word for South Africa: South Africa, the heat of crime and corruption is intensifying. The heat of greed and the oppression of the poor is rising. O Church in South Africa arise! As the heat of the things of this world that displease God increase you need to shine your light like never before. Stand up for truth. Stand up for righteousness. Stand up for the orphan, the widow and the poor. You need to be a lig